Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 526 Exchange
Three days later, in Jiankang City.

The morning bells of the various Buddhist temples had not yet faded, and Zhuque Avenue was already filled with surging crowds. An elderly man with white hair, leaning on a cane, stood shakily on a high place, his cloudy eyes fixed on the end of the avenue; a woman held a lovely child in her arms, but had no heart to comfort him, only occasionally tiptoeing to look around…

The men clenched their fists, their nails digging almost into their palms. They had already heard the scholar read the proclamation and knew that Ren Yuan was going to exchange Chen Qingzhi for the Emperor's Sword. If he didn't come, Commander Chen would be executed by the Emperor…

Xiao Yan's perverse and self-destructive actions naturally aroused the indignation of the people. Unfortunately, they were powerless to resist and could only place rough pottery bowls by the roadside, filled with water and mugwort, to pray for the safety of Ren Yuan and Commander Chen according to custom...

As noon approached, a clear, resonant dragon's roar suddenly echoed across the sky, as if the sun were being obscured by a massive shadow. The people looked up and saw a dragon, tens of feet long, break through the clouds and descend from the heavens.

The dragon's scales shimmered with golden light, and its whiskers danced wildly in the wind! Standing on the dragon's back were four dashing men and one woman, the leader of whom was none other than Ren Yuan, who was once famous throughout the capital.

"General Ren!"

"It's General Ren, who eliminated the four villains!" The deafening shouts instantly echoed throughout the entire street. Ren Yuan's deeds of single-handedly eliminating the four villains who were plaguing the capital, retrieving the Imperial Seal of the State from afar, and following Marshal Chen in the Northern Expedition to achieve meritorious service were already well-known to every household.

Children waved faded paper flags of the "White-Robed Army," old men leaned on their canes and waved desperately, and women burst into tears, as if they had seen a savior.

In the eyes of the people, he is a great hero who speaks up for them!
Ren Yuan looked down at the surging crowd and waved his hand heavily before leading the group to leap down. The five of them lined up in a row and landed steadily on the Heavenly Street!
At this time, the main gate of the palace was tightly closed, only the side gates on the left and right were open. A eunuch was waiting at the left side gate, and upon seeing this, he hurriedly called out, "Enter the palace through this gate to receive an audience..."

Ren Yuan ignored him completely. With a flick of his sleeve, chaotic energy surged forth, and the main gate of the palace swung open with a deafening roar.

The five men strode confidently through the Grand Marshal's Gate into the palace.

Behind him, the cheers of the people were like rolling thunder, lasting for a long time.

"General Ren, you must save Marshal Chen!"

"May you all return safely..."

~~
The sun was high in the sky, and the sunlight reflected off the golden roof of the Taiji Hall was so bright that people couldn't open their eyes.

Ren Yuan and his entourage ascended the thirty-six white marble steps, flanked by golden-armored guards who looked at them with a hint of admiration and expectation.

Although these guards were all from military families, they had long been impressed by Chen Qingzhi's outstanding military achievements and were filled with indignation at the great injustice he had suffered.

Unfortunately, they are even worse off than ordinary people; they don't even dare to voice their opinions.

The five men entered the hall without waiting to be announced. No one dared to stop them.

Inside the Taiji Hall, the light was dim, as if it were in a completely different world from the bright outside.

The main hall was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood, and a Buddha statue was placed on the golden platform where the throne was originally set up.

With a scar on his head and wearing an apricot-yellow monk's robe, Xiao Yan sat cross-legged on a plain-colored prayer mat in front of the Buddha statue, chanting Buddhist scriptures while moving the prayer beads in his hand.

Seeing the five men storming into the hall, he remained unperturbed and slowly addressed Ren Yuan:

"Does Your Excellency know that your grandfather, Ren Fang, was one of the Eight Friends of Jingling with me? During the elegant gathering at the West Residence, he wrote 'A Memorial Impeaching Liu Zheng,' his words resounding and powerful; I discussed the affairs of the world with him, staying up all night..."

He sighed and said, "Back then, we all aspired to govern the country and bring peace to the land. We swore an oath of brotherhood, our bond stronger than gold. Who could have imagined that today his grandson would storm the palace and confront me?"

"Stop using old grievances as a pretext!" Ren Yuan remained unmoved, sneering, "Besides, you caused the Ren family to be destroyed, and you still have the nerve to talk about sworn brotherhood and unbreakable bond?" "Pah, I'm ashamed for you!" Chen Baxian spat fiercely.

"There were many misunderstandings about what happened back then, but haven't they all been cleared up?" Xiao Yan sighed.

Ren Yuan's gaze passed over Xiao Yan and landed on the three-zhang-tall pure gold Buddha statue behind him. The hanging necklace swayed in the light and shadow, and the Buddha's eyes were lowered, with a smile that was not quite a smile.

He said in a deep voice, "I am not here to reminisce. Since we have agreed to exchange a sword for a man, I ask Your Majesty to keep your word."

With that, he threw a sword wreathed in purple-gold onto the gold bricks with a clang.

Xiao Yan glanced at the precious sword and said in a deep voice, "Bring the person up."

Amidst the screeching sound of chains dragging on the ground, armored soldiers escorted Chen Qingzhi, who was bound hand and foot, out from behind the curtain.

Yang Zhong and Chen Baxian rushed forward and took Chen Qingzhi's sword. Two armored soldiers also carefully held up the purple-gold sword and bowed to present it before the emperor.

"Commander Chen!" Ren Yuan saw that Chen Qingzhi's eyes were closed and he was completely unconscious, so he quickly removed the demon-binding rope and talismans binding him.

An unnatural flush appeared on Chen Qingzhi's pale face, and he let out a muffled sob. Ren Yuan subconsciously leaned closer, trying to hear what he was going to say.

Unexpectedly, a cold light flashed in an instant, and Chen Qingzhi actually revealed a poisoned dagger, which he plunged straight into his navel acupoint!

"Watch out!" A Yao's exclamation and Chen Baxian's roar rang out simultaneously. The two attacked Chen Qingzhi at the same time, but both missed their target.

Chen Qingzhi's figure appeared from the side. He didn't linger in the fight; having landed a blow, he tried to escape. But suddenly, darkness fell from above, and a chaotic hand descended upon him, binding him tightly with chaotic energy. It seemed there was no way to escape...

"Stop!" a majestic female voice rang out. The compassionate face of the golden Buddha statue suddenly rippled, and its right hand, which had been hanging down, shone with golden light. It raised itself and clashed with the giant hand of chaos.

The violent blast instantly ripped off the roof of the palace, and the palace doors and walls on all four sides were as fragile as paper, spraying out various furnishings from inside the palace.

Even the imperial guards were knocked to the ground, and many of them were seriously injured and fainted.

When the smoke and dust cleared, the Taiji Hall looked as if it had been bombed. The golden hall, now just a frame, was in a mess, except for the Buddha statues, which remained intact.

Wu Yang and Wu Gu appeared before the Buddha statue, the former still in the gesture of extending their palms. 'Chen Qingzhi' landed awkwardly beside Wu Yang, also revealing his true form, which turned out to be the Fifth Dimension in disguise.

On the other side, Ren Yuan was also completely unharmed. Having experienced that day in the prison, how could he not be wary of this trick of switching things over?

He looked at the three of them and said sarcastically, "You guys have really broadened my understanding of gods."

"Isn't your Emperor's Sword fake too?" Wu Yang sneered, flicking a spark of divine fire that landed on the Emperor's Sword in Xiao Yan's hand.

The sword was melted into molten gold, clearly indicating it was a fake.

Ren Yuan, however, said without batting an eye, "Isn't this because I expected you to cheat? If you want the real Emperor's Sword, hand over the real Commander Chen!"

(End of this chapter)