Daqin Zhentiansi

Chapter 534 Eliminate the root of the problem to prevent future troubles

"Cheng Wushi, come out and see me—"

The angry shouts echoed through the flying snow.

Outside Qingsongbao, snow fell like a waterfall, and the iron chain bridge extending in front of the fort resounded in the north wind.

Luo Dashan knelt on one knee in front of the broken monument, his palms crushing three inches of frozen soil. Crimson true energy spread from his knuckles to his forearms, like a swirling blood demon.

After a fierce battle, from outside Jingyang Town all the way to Qingsong Fortress, even though he was at the Innate Realm, he was already exhausted.

Ahead, a group of soldiers in straw raincoats and leather robes advanced slowly with grim faces.

The leader was the same captain who had previously conducted the search in town.

The sharp edges of the swords and spears in the soldiers' hands shone with a chilling coldness in the night snow.

The troops, when formed into battle formation, possessed the combat power to encircle and kill someone in the mid-stage of the Innate Realm.

They pursued the enemy all the way to the outskirts of Qingsong Fort, where the soldiers finally completed the encirclement.

A middle-aged martial artist wearing a fox fur coat stepped out of the formation, his bronze badge from the Martial Guard Office at his waist covered in frost and snow.

Cheng Wushi, Commandant of the Military Guard of Linshui Prefecture.

Those who should have fought alongside Luo Dashan have now become his pursuers.

"Brother Luo, that ledger in your arms is worth ten lives."

Cheng Wushi walked slowly forward, his gaze passing over Luo Dashan and looking at Qingsongbao, where flames were soaring into the sky not far away.

“It’s either your own life,” he said, his fingertips gripping the hilt of the goose-feathered sword at his waist, “or the lives of those orphans and widows in the cellar…”

"Cheng Wushi!" Luo Dashan's low roar shook the fortress wall, causing icicles to fall in a flurry. "Back then at the bottom of the Chenhan River, I tore through three layers of iron caltrop netting for you with my bare hands!"

His response was the sound of crossbows turning their strings, and ten heavy crossbows emerged from the snowdrift.

Luo Dashan's pupils shrank suddenly, and his body rushed forward with a roar.

As his palms unleashed a thunderous roar, shattering three crossbow bolts in mid-air, seven dark figures suddenly sprang forth from the snow—

The Iron-Clad Guards kept by Prefect Cao Xian!

These martial artists wore black iron knuckle dusters, and the force of their punches even produced the sound of wolf howls.

Seven figures instantly surrounded him, and the Xuan Tie brass tiger slammed down towards Luo Dashan's chest.

Breaking Mountain Fist.

In Jiujiang County, the Poshan Sect is a lineage.

Luo Dashan roared and advanced instead of retreating, taking three Mountain-Breaking Fists head-on with his left shoulder. With a cracking sound, his right palm shot out like thunder.

"Bam—"

The first Iron Guard's breastplate was slapped open with a palm print half a foot deep, his sternum shattered, and he fell backward, gushing blood from his mouth, mixed with shattered internal organs.

"Om-"

A pillar of light, representing the lifeblood of a fallen Innate Realm martial artist, rises forth.

One strike, and he killed a master at the early stage of the Innate Realm!
Cheng Wushi, who was standing not far away, subconsciously took a few steps back.

"Thirteen Forms of Thunderclap, a rare and powerful style." A hundred feet away, in the darkness, Zhang Yuan sat in the carriage and murmured softly, his hand stroking the scabbard of his sword.

"boom--"

The palm strike was as loud as thunder. Luo Dashan had landed a successful blow, and he turned around and raised his hand to strike down with his palm.

The second Iron Guard crossed his arms to block, but his hand bones were shattered by the lightning force.

Luo Dashan spun around and kicked up the frozen earth, the clods of earth mixed with lightning energy blasting the heads of the two crossbowmen into a bloody mist.

"Wow--"

A black iron chain shot out from under the ice and wrapped around Luo Dashan's right leg, the barbs at the end of the chain digging into his shinbone with a teeth-grinding grinding sound.

Luo Dashan's body swayed and he fell to the ground in the snow.

Cheng Wushi, who had been retreating to the rear, moved swiftly, drawing his Mandarin Duck Axe from behind and thrusting it through the center gate, aiming for Luo Dashan's neck.

"Snapped--"

Just as the Mandarin Duck Axe was about to slit Luo Dashan's throat, the blade was caught between Luo Dashan's palms.

"Click——"

Luo Dashan exerted force with both hands, shattering the Mandarin Duck Axes with his true energy. He then grabbed Cheng Wushi's wrist with one hand, and the Thunderous Force exploded along his meridians in an instant.

Cheng Wushi cried out in pain, broke free of the arm, and staggered backward. Luo Dashan shook his legs, shattering the chains binding them, and straightened up.

Cheng Wushi gripped his wrist, his face pale, and gritted his teeth as he hissed, "You've actually mastered external martial arts to this level..."

Luo Dashan stood there, his fists clenched, breathing slightly heavily.

“Cheng Wushi, we’ve been comrades for a long time, I don’t want to kill you.”

“Cao Xian abused his power for personal gain and killed our brothers. I, Luo Dashan, will never forgive him. If you remain obstinate, you will not have a good end.”

Luo Dashan's voice was hoarse, lacking its previous loudness.

He took the blow head-on from the Mountain-Breaking Fist, and his internal organs were already injured.

"Luo Dashan, you don't understand who you're fighting against. You think Prefect Cao is just—"

Cheng Wushi paused, then looked up towards the direction of Qingsongbao.

The cacophony of shouts and cries filled the air, making Luo Dashan's expression grave.

The snow curtain was torn open by torches, and more than twenty women, children and infants were pushed into the breach in the fortress wall.

"Commander Luo's Thunderclap Hand can shatter stones and split monuments, but I wonder if it can outrun the blade in my hand?"

A voice rang out from the fortress wall, carrying a hint of mockery and smugness.

A young man in a brocade robe held a sword in his hand, the blade pressed against the throat of a pregnant woman.

"Young Master Cheng is truly resourceful." Despite the pain in his arm, Cheng Wushi managed a smile.

Luo Dashan looked up at the fortress wall and recognized Cao Yu'an, the nephew of Prefect Cao Xian.

"Luo Dashan, we've surrounded Qingsong Fort long ago, just waiting for you to arrive." Cao Yu'an couldn't hide his smugness.

"You sent a message to the people of Qingsongbao to leave, but tonight is New Year's Eve. Who doesn't miss home?"

A hint of madness flashed in Cao Yu'an's eyes as he drew blood from the neck of the woman in front of him with the blade of his sword.

"Damn it, tonight is New Year's Eve! I should be enjoying a life of luxury in the city, with beautiful women by my side, but instead I have to suffer in these mountains!"

With his long sword pointed at Luo Dashan, Cao Yu'an's face was full of hatred: "Luo Dashan, you guards are nothing but my uncle's lackeys, why do you have to betray your master?"

“Look at Cheng Wushi, how good he is, obediently behaving like a dog. My uncle gives him a few bones to gnaw on.”

Cao Yu'an's words made Cheng Wushi's face twitch, but he didn't say anything.

Luo Dashan stood there, his boiling true energy and blood slowly subsiding.

"Cheng Wushi, you said the ledgers could be exchanged for ten lives."

Luo Dashan's voice was deep.

His clenched fists slowly loosened.

Just as his palms fell to the ground, seven bone-piercing nails were driven into his major acupoints from different angles.

Several Iron-Clad Guards leaped up, their dark blue iron chains fastening around his collarbones.

Cheng Wushi stepped forward, pulled a blood-stained account book from Luo Dashan's arms, and showed delight on his face.

"Young Master, the account books are here!"

He held up the ledger and shook it a few times as if to show off his achievement.

On the fortress wall, Cao Yu'an's eyes gleamed with a cold, sharp light, and his voice was as frosty as ice.

"Now that the account books have been found, there's no need to keep these people alive."

"Cut the weeds and eliminate the roots to prevent future troubles."

As his voice fell, the soldiers escorting the women, children, and infants raised their long swords.

"Zheng!"

Luo Dashan suddenly drew the sharp blade from his shoulder, but before he could unleash his lightning power, he froze on the spot—

The soldiers on the fortress wall were frozen in strange poses, each with half an ice shard embedded between their eyebrows.

They remained in their slashing stances, snowflakes still falling from the blades.

A dense "rustling" sound echoed on the snow.

A monotone sound came from deep within the snow.

A dark figure suddenly emerged from the shadows at Luo Dashan's feet, reaching out to grab the top of the Iron-Clad Guard's head. His five fingers, like iron cones, pierced the skull, freezing the red and white fluids into ice crystals before they could even splatter.

(End of this chapter)