Devouring Evil Martial Arts, Eliminating Demons from All Heavens

Chapter 102 The wind arrives, and golden energy fills the air.

The moisture in the hall either condenses into water droplets and flows down the beams and pillars onto the floor tiles.

They'll either be blown outside by the wind.

With insufficient heat to replenish the steam, the fog in the hall had dissipated, and the scenery became clearer.

The medicine bowl left to cool on the table had already lost much of its heat.

Because he needed to avoid the light, Chu Tianshu did not allow Hai Donglai to remove the cloth covering his head.

His needlework technique, even through the fabric, was applied perfectly.

A dozen or so silver needles of varying lengths stood upright on Hai Donglai's head.

The needle tip was swaying slightly, and sometimes seemed to be tinged with a faint red.

That was the glow of the soldier's soul power within Hai Donglai's body.

The spirits of soldiers don't matter whether their manifested abilities are wind, fire, or ice.

Their essence is yin.

Moreover, they are actually the characteristics of the military leader's mind, mixed with the energy of the spirit world, and have a very high degree of compatibility with the military leader's mind and body.

When a normal spirit enters the body, it brings both stimulation and amplification, but also a great burden. However, the burden that a soldier spirit places on the soldier master is very small.

If the spirit of the soldier is allowed to dissolve within the body, its effectiveness will be dispersed, and it may even escape, so the benefits to the soldier master will not be obvious.

However, if the soldier's spirit is moved to the areas with the most severe inflammation, Chu Tianshu will then apply acupuncture to the location of the soldier's spirit.

Guide the spirit of the soldier to suppress the most severe inflammations first.

At least they saved Hai Donglai from the brink of sudden death.

Other things can be treated and nurtured later.

"Okay, I've protected the head first."

Chu Tianshu had a few beads of sweat on his forehead. He breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down in his chair. "I'll treat my heart and lungs again in a little while."

Hai Donglai asked, "If we were to leave a sliver of hope for my soldier's soul, would it significantly slow down the healing process?"

"will not."

Chu Tianshu finished his tea and said, "Even if you use up all your soldier spirit, you won't be able to engage in intense battles for at least six months."

"Instead of doing that, it would be better to retain some of the soldier's spirit and transfer it to a new weapon later."

Cheng the Blind sat beside him and, noticing that Chu Tianshu's voice was still dry, pushed the untouched teacup next to him towards him.

Chu Tianshu took it and drank it all in one gulp.

Hai Donglai closed his eyes, checked his physical condition, and revealed an undisguised surprise on his face.

"Your medical skills are so effective for my injuries."

Hai Donglai took out a handful of gold leaves and placed them on the table, saying, "This reward is far from enough."

"If you wish to acquire gold, silver, or other valuables, I would like to ask Lord Zheng to advance the funds. If you have any other requests, I will do my best to repay them."

Hai Dong's face showed regret as he said this.

"My greatest value originally lay in my ability to kill, but now that I'm injured, that value has been greatly diminished..."

Chu Tianshu turned to look at him and held up one finger.

"Lord Hai, I'll repeat myself: you cannot engage in strenuous combat for the next six months, or you might die before the fight is even over, and then all my efforts to heal you would have been in vain!"

Hai Donglai laughed and said, "I still cherish my life."

"I have gone to great lengths to earn this reputation and power, all for the sake of enjoyment. As long as I live, I will enjoy this fame and power for one more day."

He said casually, "If I die, these things will have no value."

Chu Tianshu was holding a new cup of tea brought by the butler, and he stirred the tea leaves on the surface of the water.

"Indeed, the dead can't even get a drink of water."

Chu Tianshu asked, "So, you always wear a red umbrella and red clothes just to make it easier to become famous?"

Hai Donglai said slowly, "That's right. I joined the Inner Guard as the leader of the martial arts masters in Chang'an, and that was also a consideration."

"If I join the army, I will eventually have to follow the rules and regulations, and the relationships between superiors and subordinates will be complicated. I may not even get the credit for my own work. I don't mind killing a few people who try to steal credit, but it will still be troublesome."

The blind man, who had just brought out a cup of fresh tea, froze in mid-air upon hearing this.

"Did Captain Cheng think of himself?"

Hai Donglai suddenly said, "Back then, a few people, led by the military governor of Weibo, rebelled."

“Your battalion was defending the city and doing its utmost to stop the rebels from advancing south. I was looking for an opportunity to assassinate the rebel general nearby and secretly met you.”

"Listening to the wind, slaying Loulan, not bad. I thought I would see your name on the merit list, but I later learned that your battalion was almost wiped out."

"The military intelligence did not mention your whereabouts at all. On the contrary, the son of the Vice Minister of War who led the troops to the rescue at that time was credited with great merit."

click!
A crack appeared in the blind man's teacup, and hot water flowed through his knuckles.

"What they stole wasn't my achievement alone."

The blind man lifted his eyelids, revealing white pupils that exuded an unyielding chill.

"They're even taking credit for the achievements and reputations of the dead! Is this still the Tang Dynasty? Are these the generals of my Great Tang?!"

Hai Donglai said, "The Lu family refused to abide by the Two-Tax Law and secretly formed cliques for personal gain. I happened to find out about what happened back then, and both the father and son were beheaded by my own guards."

"If you had joined the Imperial Guard, you could have taken your revenge long ago, and you could have redressed the grievances of many more soldiers like you."

The blind man was stunned for a moment.

After that incident, he was bedridden for over a month, his eye condition worsened, and he became disheartened, so he became a ghostwriter on the border.

He thought he had seen through the ways of the world and learned to protect himself wisely, but in the end he still managed to control the wicked young master of the Yuwen family.

Even more unexpectedly, his old enemy, who was in a high position and used to manipulating the world, was already dead.

"Ah!"

The blind man smiled inexplicably and let out a long sigh of relief. "The hot-blooded die, the cold-blooded die. So it turns out that it doesn't matter if you're hot or cold-blooded."

"Haha, good riddance." He seemed oblivious to the recruitment intent implied in Hai Donglai's words, and without responding, he suddenly stood up.

"Brother Chu, if you need any help, just let me know."

"Right now, I just want to go see what new tricks Wenjing has up her sleeve today."

Chu Tianshu smiled and said, "Go ahead."

Hai Donglai sighed slightly: "It seems that although he still has a sense of loyalty, he has lost his ambition."

Chu Tianshu took a sip of tea to moisten his mouth and said, "Not everyone needs lofty ambitions."

Zheng Hui hadn't spoken up before, fearing it would disturb the treatment.

Now it seems that Hai Donglai is at least not having any major problems with speaking.

He couldn't help but ask, "What exactly did Lord Hai come to Nanzhao for?"

Hai Donglai's expression turned serious: "For the sake of the inner guard."

“Nanzhao was a place of particular concern to the Inner Guard, and there were quite a few secret post stations and pigeon lofts set up here.”

"Ten years ago, after Nanzhao surrendered, things relaxed a little. Recently, the court is going to use force against Tubo, and Nanzhao's attitude is very important."

“When I re-examined Nanzhao, I found that the Nanzhao internal guard had been significantly reduced.”

“Especially in this area inside and outside the royal city, there isn’t a single Imperial Guard left.”

Zheng Hui was taken aback: "All dead?"

"Do not."

Hai Donglai said, "If so many guards had died within the territory of Nanzhao, I wouldn't have only noticed something was wrong now."

"Many of the Imperial Guards did not die, but were unknowingly transferred to other places, to the border, or even back to Sichuan in the past few years."

"Some of these transfer orders were handled by the Left Division, and some by the Right Division. Some of those who handled them have already lost their lives, and some have already been imprisoned."

"Some of them are still alive, but when I asked them why they issued such transfer orders, their explanations were reasonable; they were normal judgments made based on the circumstances at the time."

Zheng Hui discerned the key point: "There are people in the Tang court who are very knowledgeable about the Inner Guard, and they are colluding with the people of Nanzhao to subtly dilute the distribution of the Inner Guard in Nanzhao?"

The military governor of Huaixi could not possibly have such influence over the Inner Guard.

Hai Donglai said softly, "That's what I think too. There's a big traitor in the court."

Zheng Hui exclaimed in alarm, "Since he is such a treacherous person, the traces he left in Nanzhao will definitely be extremely difficult to find."

Why doesn't Lord Hai stay in the court to investigate?

Hai Donglai calmly said, "The situation in the court is complicated, and it would be troublesome to investigate. The time for the court to launch a military campaign is approaching, and we cannot afford to delay like that."

Chu Tianshu smiled and said, "The fact that the person targeted the Inner Guard in Nanzhao shows that Nanzhao was a key part of his plan."

"Even if we don't know who that person in the court is or what his plans are, as long as we get to Nanzhao, we can see what major events are happening soon."

"By eliminating the ringleaders who are detrimental to the Tang Dynasty, the trap set by these conspirators will be torn apart."

Hai Donglai raised his eyes, a smile already appearing in them.

"You are truly a kindred spirit!"

Hai Donglai's expression turned cold and dark. "But I never expected to encounter the Tibetan high priest and more than thirty high monks who guard the royal family."

Zheng Hui sighed, “People from the Tang Dynasty court, people from the Huaixi military governor, people from Tibet.”

“Our Nanzhao Kingdom has actually colluded with so many forces.”

“The rumors of hatred towards Chinese people are probably part of their plan.”

Upon hearing this, Chu Tianshu's face revealed a mysterious expression, as if most of his face was hidden in shadow.

There are always people like this, heartless and cruel, who treat the lives of the masses as mere pawns to be tossed aside at will.

Duan Zhong was ambitious, and the Huaixi region was practically in rebellion. The Tubo had been waging war against him for a long time, so it was still acceptable.

However, there were also high-ranking and powerful people in the Tang Dynasty who did the same thing, treating the Tang people as less than human beings.

Even though I know it's something that has happened in every dynasty, I still feel disgusted.

"Killing just one local outspoken tyrant from Nanzhao is not enough."

Chu Tianshu tilted his head back and drank all the tea leaves into his mouth. Chewing on the stem, he said, "Give them a chance, let them all jump out, and then kill them all."

Zheng Hui looked troubled: "It sounds similar to Lord Hai's original plan, but our current strength isn't enough, is it?"

"It may not be enough."

Chu Tianshu retorted, then laughed, "Besides, Lord Hai's original plan was to wait for the other side to show themselves and then rush up and kill them on the spot, right?"

"Let alone whether such a small force can succeed, even if it does, the battle is too short and there isn't enough time for the enemy's allies to hear about it, get nervous, and then jump out."

Hai Donglai asked with great interest, "What are you going to do?"

Chu Tianshu said, "First kill one of them to give them a shock, then create a situation that even the government can't refuse, attracting worldwide attention while giving them enough time..."

Zheng Hui focused on listening to the second half, specifically on how to do it.

Before Hai Donglai could hear his explanation, he said, "Your first sentence was full of murderous intent. You've been wanting to kill that person for more than just a day or two, haven't you?"

"You seem like a straightforward person, so why did you wait until today and make up so many excuses?"

Chu Tianshu readily admitted it.

"I hate it when people point a crossbow at my head. I've wanted to kill him for a long time."

"However, the world is full of countless ravines and valleys. Even if you are as free as the wind, you can easily run into obstacles if you blow randomly at first."

"Only by finding the key points can we overcome setbacks and build up an invincible momentum."

Chu Tianshu's eyes were sharp. He swallowed the tea leaves in his mouth, his breath filled with a fragrant yet deadly aroma.

"I'm not waiting; I'm always moving forward. It may seem like I'm taking it easy, but I'm never stopping."

Now, there are signs of a golden aura emanating from the wind!

(End of this chapter)