Scourge Messenger

Chapter 228: I will abandon my red tape here
Duke of Wei, Chu Luoyan!

Looking at the destitute and frail old man with white hair before him, Yaoshi Yuan could not reconcile him with the Duke of Wei, one of the Six Pillars of State, from his memory. During Yaoshi Moke's reign, although his power reached its zenith and he could decide all matters of state with a single word, there were still some people in the court who were beyond his control, and Chu Luoyan was one of them.

Whether the local area was stable or the central government brought peace to the world, Chu Luoyan's achievements and resume were more numerous than all the staff of the Duke of Jin's mansion combined. He was one of the few ministers who dared to openly contradict the Medicine Master Moke, and was regarded as a role model by countless scholars. Although the Medicine Master Moke disliked him very much, he never harmed him, at most pushing Chu Luoyan to a local post.

Ultimately, Chu Luoyan's opposition was not excessive, nor did he attempt to conspire to rebel like Zhao Yuanbao and others. However, he had high prestige and strong governing ability, so after much deliberation, the physician Moke had no choice but to reluctantly employ him.

The last time Yaoshi saw him was three months ago when he came to the Duke of Jin's mansion to meet with his father. At that time, he was over fifty years old but his temples were still black. He stood up straight, neither humble nor arrogant, and spoke calmly and behaved elegantly. Among the people Yaoshi knew, the only one who could compare with him in terms of demeanor was Liang State's Prime Minister Shang Xuanwen.

The next news of him came along with the news of his father's death. Chu Luoyan was appointed as the Attendant-in-Ordinary and Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, assisting the emperor in eliminating the remnants of the Medicine Master Moke's faction. Although the Medicine Master himself would have also given Chu Luoyan an important position if he had been appointed, Chu Luoyan's immediate appointment to a key central post could only be because of his outstanding contributions to the coup, a reward from the emperor fulfilling his promise.

Thinking about it carefully, even though the apothecary Changqiu has passed away, the palace is still under the control of the apothecary Moke. The young emperor has no ability to set up a murder plot. It is only possible that he colluded with important officials outside to rebel... The core of the coup is most likely Chu Luoyan.

After returning to Chang'an, the pharmacist had too many important things to do. Every night, she was so angry from arguing with Yan Qing that she felt suffocated. Naturally, she didn't pay attention to Chu Luoyan and the others, and she didn't know that he was actually imprisoned in such a place. If Chu Luoyan hadn't revealed his name, who would have thought that this withered, white-haired old man was actually the prime minister of Zhou who had climbed to the pinnacle of power half a month ago?
"Hey."

Yan Qing stood back to back with her and said in a low voice, "You'd better not use your full strength... I'll deal with the constables from the Divine Marquis's Mansion, you hold off this old man."

"Are you any good?" Pharmacist Yuan raised an eyebrow: "Every time I ask you if you're good, my sister only says that you can sleep a lot, eat a lot, and fart a lot... If you're not even ten years old this year, then I admit that you are indeed quite good."

Yan Qing really wanted to say firmly, "Watch closely, this slash is going to be really cool. I'm just a legend, don't idolize me..." Unfortunately, he couldn't. If it were Shang Xinlei, he might have been fooled, but Yaoshi Yuan was a born fighting master. No one understood Yaoshi Yuan's talent and abilities better than him. As long as he showed his true strength, Yaoshi Yuan could see through him at a glance that he had no strength at all.

However, Yan Qing had anticipated this. Although he had tried to avoid combat in his previous two crimes, he couldn't always be so lucky. This time, he would finally have to fight personally. But even though he lacked the strength, in a messenger's battle, could the key factor be the messenger's skill?

of course not!

Yan Qing flicked his hands, planting eight white iron longswords into the ground! If you looked closely, you could see that he was wearing storage rings on all ten of his fingers!
To be honest, although everyone knows that you can wear a ring on any finger, very few people actually do it, mainly because there isn't that much of a need, and storage rings aren't cheap. People like Yaoshi Yuanshang Xinlei usually only need to store their weapons, spirit jade, and blood-replenishing pills in storage rings, and wearing two or three rings is the maximum. Wearing more than that might even lead to mistakes in the rush.

Yan Qing dared to do this because his storage ring was almost entirely filled with white iron straight swords, so it didn't matter to him!
The pharmacist, seeing his actions, immediately understood his intention and could barely contain himself: "Now? Here?"

"Now, right here!"

Yan Qing raised the Bingzi pepper forest, and the pharmacist voluntarily stepped aside to avoid being affected.

Her gaze toward Yan Qing was a mixture of envy and disdain. The envy stemmed from her having witnessed the complete liberation of Bingzi Jiaolin, who was practically a walking death knell. The disdain arose from the fact that this guy had revealed his biggest trump card right from the start. If it were her or the Bunny Girl, they could at least have dealt with one or two of the Divine Marquis's constables first, minimizing the risk as much as possible.

But Yan Qing didn't care about her opinions. He had spent so much time raising so many alt accounts and running so many dungeons, all for this moment of pure enjoyment! Now he had enough strength to defend his weakness; this was the power of accumulation!
I'll leave my formalities here!

Overturn the Heavens, activate!
All eight straight iron swords shattered, and the blade of Bingzi Jiaolin shone with a dazzling orange light. Inscriptions were engraved on both sides of the blade. On the left was the inscription "All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows," and on the right was the inscription "Like dew and lightning, thus should you perceive them." Yan Qing's spiritual power instantly dried up, and a strong shockwave burst forth, forcing the approaching constables from the Divine Marquis's Mansion to retreat!

The power surged forth!
Although he had already used the Overturning Heaven mode twice in the game, only by experiencing it firsthand could Yan Qing fully feel the terrifying power of Overturning Heaven. The Bingzi Pepper Forest seemed to have transformed into an extension of his hands. With just a thought, it could extend and retract freely with the blade's light. After being strengthened to the second job advancement, its maximum attack power bonus reached 600 points. Now, this blade was as light as a feather and so sharp that wind resistance was almost non-existent.

Even more astonishing was his 'unshakeable state'. Yan Qing felt the weight of his equipment completely disappear, making him as light as if he were walking naked on the grass. The intense heat from the surrounding earth flames was also blocked, and the air he breathed into his nostrils was no longer hot air... Not only enemies, but even insignificant factors such as air, gravity, and temperature could not shake his state!
This is what it means to be strong... I am strong!
At the same time, Yan Qing absorbed the Hundred Jade from his pocket with his left hand, replenishing his spiritual power once more. As he charged towards the constables of the Divine Marquis's Mansion, his entire body shone brilliantly; his Lingbo Boots gleamed with golden light, and his Hundred-Image Hand shone with orange light! Bingzi Jiaolin - Overturning Heaven!

The Hand of Forging a Hundred Aspects - Direct Strike!

Secret Technique: The Naraku Curse!
Yan Qing's blood was boiling, but his whole being became deep and mysterious. The Heaven-Covering Blade light continuously slashed across the bottom of the dungeon, hitting the constables of the Divine Marquis's Mansion with sharp and precise strikes. In the blink of an eye, it cut bloody marks on their bodies. The blood fell onto the scorching ground and evaporated in a few seconds.

Normal people would be affected by such injuries, but the constables of the Divine Marquis's Mansion were not affected at all, because they were not human at all, but demons who descended from the secret realm. Neither injury nor death could stop their advance!
But now they were slowing down. The copper-stamped constables at the back even fell to the ground, only to get up quickly. The closer they got to Yan Qing, the slower they moved. If you looked closely, you could see that their knees, heels, and other important joints were all bleeding profusely and on the verge of breaking. If it weren't for the special physical mechanisms of demons, they would have already collapsed to the ground, unable to move.

This is the effect of the second secret technique that Yan Qing has mastered: the Naraku Curse!

Although it looks like some kind of curse, it is indeed a secret sword technique with a very peculiar effect: the messenger's attack on the joints will cause blunt force damage, causing the enemy to become sluggish. In actual operation, the moment Yan Qing strikes the knee joint, he suddenly twists his wrist forcefully, using the blade or the edge of the blade to strike the knee, disrupting the enemy's center of gravity.

This is not a secret method of killing; it is a punishment that destroys the enemy's ability to move. According to Shang Xinlei's description, the so-called Naraku Curse is to plunge the enemy into the deepest hell, where they are cut into countless pieces without dying, each cut severing the enemy's hope for life.

The purpose of the Naraku Curse is not to kill, but to make people wish they were dead.

Yan Qing was quite surprised that he had drawn such a brutal secret technique from the random secret technique book. He actually preferred a cool and powerful secret technique like the Sword Drawing Technique. But now Yan Qing had to admit that the system was very good at judging people, and the Naraku Curse was indeed to his liking: he just liked this kind of disgusting yet safe way of playing.

The constables of the Divine Marquis's Mansion, whose joints had been destroyed by the Naraku Curse, experienced a significant decrease in speed, allowing Yan Qing to easily kite them. Finally, at the ninth second, one of the bronze-badged constables completely lost a leg, moving at a snail's pace. Then, like dominoes falling, the other bronze-badged constables quickly lost their legs as well, and the situation tilted dramatically in Yan Qing's favor.

Some might wonder why other messengers don't suffer limb damage when fighting demons in the Secret Realm. The reason is simple: the demons' physical mechanics are the same as game characters. They need to inflict a large amount of damage to certain parts within a certain time to cause limb dismemberment. Unless there are special limb dismemberment items or burst damage characteristics like Rainstorm, it is difficult for messengers to inflict a large amount of damage in a short period of time.

Yan Qing was able to sever limbs so easily for several reasons. First, the Secret Technique: Naraku Curse itself has a limb-severing bonus. Second, he now has 11 points of Calamity Power, so true damage can also effectively sever limbs. Third, these Bronze Badge Constables are only second-tier demons, while Yan Qing, as a third-tier messenger using Bingzi Pepper Forest, has output that is completely excessive for these demons!
At the fourteenth second, although Yan Qing's attention was entirely focused on the silver-badged constable, he still managed to accidentally kill a bronze-badged constable.

"I have failed you and must take my leave first!" Constable Tong Zhang collapsed to the ground, saying with a sigh, "I will protect you from the underworld!"

Three plumes of bloody energy emerged from his corpse and flew into the bodies of the other constables. Immediately, most of the injuries of the Shenhou Mansion members were healed, and the severed limbs of the Bronze Badge Constable were completely restored. Their momentum surged dramatically, and they roared with bloodshot eyes as they charged toward Yan Qing!
Although the Naraku Curse was still effective, the demons of the Divine Marquis's Mansion were much faster than before, and Yan Qing could no longer stop them from getting close!
boom!
Yan Qing used the speed of his Lingbo boots to turn around and avoid their charge. The ebony rock wall behind him was slashed by them, as if it had been scratched by the claws of a huge beast, leaving three hideous scratches.

If the bronze-badge constables were previously only level 20-25, they are now definitely level 29. The silver-badge constables are now around level 35, and their normal attack power alone surpasses Yan Qing's.

This mechanism isn't hard to understand. The demons of the Divine Marquis's Mansion must have some kind of bond. When one of them dies, the others will receive his blessing, their strength will temporarily increase, and they will recover some of their injuries.

Yan Qing now has two choices: one is to kill the Silver Badge Constable first, at the cost of the Bronze Badge Constable likely leveling up to level 30 or higher; the other is to kill two Bronze Badge Constables first, but the Silver Badge Constable will definitely level up to level 39, equivalent to the combat power of a third-tier Demon King!
This is a bit tricky. Yan Qing let out a long breath, a bitter smile appearing on his lips beneath the yellow dog mask, but his eyes were brighter than ever before.

But the demons of the Divine Marquis's Mansion wouldn't give him time to think. Shouting about dreams, justice, and comrades, they attacked Yan Qing again!
The only saving grace was that the demons' hatred seemed firmly locked onto Yan Qing; otherwise, it would have been quite troublesome for Yao Shiyuan to deal with this group of mad dogs... Thinking of this, Yan Qing glanced at Yao Shiyuan and wondered if she could hold on, since the other party was just an old man.

But what Yan Qing saw in her eyes was Yao Shiyuan, who had drawn a steel spear!

(End of this chapter)