Starting with the divine power of the Great Vajra, he traversed the heavens.

Chapter 360 One-Ear Reappears

Miaoyuan Creek, Xin'an County (Quzhou).

Originally, in early summer, it was a place of beautiful mountains and clear waters, like a fairyland.

It has now turned into a ghost realm.

Waterbirds fluttered above the river, staring at the water's surface, their eyes reflecting a faint blood-red hue.

A gentle breeze swept by, and suddenly the air was thick with the stench of blood!
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
Under the shade of a tree, a short Taoist priest in a Taoist robe sat slumped and died.

He did not die peacefully; his neck was ripped open, his eyes were wide open, his face was as white as snow, and there was a pool of blood on the ground beside him.

He still held his sword in his hand, which was engraved with the words "Qingcheng".

The one who possesses this sword is Chu Tiecheng, a first-rate master of the Qingcheng Sect and a swordsman as famous as Xiao Xilou, known as "Thousand Transformations and Myriad Swords".

Such a great swordsman was killed by a single blow that severed his major artery, causing him to bleed to death.

A few feet away from him lay two old monks, their staffs broken in two, and the monks themselves broken in two.

His eyes were closed, and he passed away peacefully.

This man was named Mu Die, the abbot of the Shaolin Chanting Hall. Beside him were Mu Ye, the head of the Bodhidharma Hall, and Mu Chan, the head of the Arhat Hall, both of whom died tragically.

Both were sword wounds between the eyebrows, and the back of their heads were shattered.

Blood mixed with brain matter, red and white, spread far and wide. As far as the eye could see, corpses, one after another, in patches and piles, were scattered all over Miaoyuan Creek.

The grasslands and dense forests turned into a blood-red swamp.

These martial arts figures came from extraordinary backgrounds, including the Thunderbolt Hall of Jiangnan, the Five Poisons Sect of Miaojiang, the Wen Family of Lingnan, the Iron Sword Sect of Chengdu, and even the "Four Sticks" of the Yangtze River waterway, the Murong Family, and the Nangong Family.

In short, they are all rare and extraordinary figures in the martial arts world, renowned and powerful masters of various factions.

They turned into mountains of corpses, scattered everywhere, near and far.

On the official road, there were eighteen charred corpses, but the look of terror still lingered on their faces.

Many people discarded their weapons, and even threw away their sword sheaths.

Judging from the way they fell, these people were clearly fleeing, but they had been stabbed in the back and were burning with flames. In such pain, they didn't even dare to look back.

Meanwhile, on the official road ten miles away...

Rumble~!

A donkey cart engulfed in flames is speeding forward.

"parking!"

"Die to me!"

"You three villains, you killed my junior brother and harmed my Shaolin monks! Today, this old monk will not let you live!"

Around the donkey cart, a dozen or so figures appeared, including monks, Taoists, men, and women, who chased and blocked it, their legs moving so fast they became blurry.

Ren Shaoyang sat upright in the carriage, driving it forward. Looking at the pursuing crowd, he said calmly, "Those who kill will be killed. What nonsense are you spouting?"

The leader was Master Longhu of Shaolin Temple. He was furious and shouted, "Bah! You evil spirit, how dare you argue!"

A man followed behind, none other than the Wudang Guardian Taoist, who shouted, "Master, why waste words with him?"

"Correct!"

"Smash this car!"

With a whoosh, two more people arrived. The four of them shouted at the same time, and with a sudden thud, they slowly pushed out their palms, creating a strong gust of wind, as if they were being torn apart, squeezed, or suppressed.

Ren Shaoyang sneered and swept his sleeve out, with a series of hissing sounds and explosions in mid-air.

Strangely enough, as soon as the sleeve was flicked out, black light spread and swept in all directions. When the palms of the four people collided with the black light, they were pushed back. The force was powerful and heavy, even stronger than the combined force of the four people.

The four had no choice but to retreat two steps, then swung their palms rapidly, unleashing several attacks in quick succession to finally neutralize the attack.

"what!"

Several people suddenly leaped up and pounced on the car.

They grabbed the edge of the car with all their fingers, and with a whoosh, they swung up.

Seeing Ren Shaoyang right beside them, the men all shouted:
"Kill, kill him!"

"Zheng!"

"Zheng!"

"Zheng!"

……

Swords and blades were drawn simultaneously.

The cold light was dazzling, like a forest of knives.

Ren Shaoyang glanced at it, his five fingers swirling, and a black light flashed.

Chi chi chi~!

The five sword energies resembled blooming black lotuses.

It seemed to be waving casually, or perhaps it was a greeting.

Within a mere ten feet, a massive vortex arose, and almost nothing could survive where the black sword's blade pointed.

"Hiss~!"

Suddenly, several muffled thuds were heard, and everyone in the car exploded at the same time. Blood mist shot out backward, and bits of flesh and broken bones splattered all over the people behind the car.

Master Longhu and the others exclaimed in unison and leaped backward.

The Taoist priest, covered in filth, was terrified. He thought to himself, "What kind of martial art is this? Could it be that what everyone said was true, and this person is indeed a reincarnated Rakshasa?"

After this obstruction, the white donkey suddenly leaped forward, leaving the blood-red donkey cart ten or so feet behind.

Master Longhu and Master Shouque shouted loudly, and the group chased after them desperately, disregarding everything else.

Ding'an then climbed from the carriage onto the roof and fired his prosthetic arm, sending out bursts of flame.

The flames, like a dragon, rushed backward.

Master Longhu and his companions were caught off guard as the flames swept past them, sizzling and searing their flesh, causing them to cry out in agony.

Master Shouque shouted and swung his palms, creating a strong gust of wind that scattered the flames. But to everyone's surprise, the fire danced along with the wind from his palms, as if it had a spirit, and would occasionally slip into the gaps.

Shouque was greatly alarmed. He had no choice but to stop and repeatedly strike with his palms to prevent the flames from getting close.

He turned around and saw everyone rolling on the ground, their bodies engulfed in flames that grew stronger and stronger. Even Master Longhu had his chest caved in, was spitting out blood, and collapsed to the ground.

Seeing that everyone was burning badly, the monk Shouque kicked them one by one into the river.

Chi!

As billowing steam rose, the screams ceased, and the people lay on their backs on the water, lifeless.

Shouque's face was ashen as he stared into the distance, where no trace remained, and he said in a trembling voice:
"A great demon has descended upon the world; is it truly destined to plunge the world into chaos?"
-
A light drizzle fell on Lin'an City.

Inside the imperial palace, the morning court session had ended, and the civil and military officials, divided into two lines, exited from the Daqing Hall. Many officials, seemingly afraid of getting their official robes wet in the light rain, quickened their pace and hurried towards the palace gates.

Nowadays, everything inside and outside the court is frightening, so the hurried footsteps are mixed with whispers and discussions.

"The Emperor is angry again."

"Ugh, how can I not be angry? That bastard Yang Yizhong has probably disappeared somewhere!"

"Hahaha! Good riddance!"

The crowd chuckled softly, then continued:
"Did you hear? The angel who went to Bianjing has been killed again!"

"Oh dear, what a horrible death! His chest was completely smashed open by a single blow!"

Are they the three villains?

"No! They're in Xin'an County, how could they be in the north?"

"Not necessarily. It's said that the 'blood donkey cart' travels a thousand miles a day. Maybe it's already headed north again?"

"Shh!" someone pointed a finger. "Watch your words!"

The people spoke in hushed tones, glanced around, and continued to whisper among themselves.

"The three villains have slaughtered their way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. I'm really afraid they'll head straight for the capital."

"Don't be afraid, they're coming here!"

"The Emperor, the Emperor..." Someone shook their head and sighed, "Alas."

"Alright, mind your own business," someone else sneered. "A whole country's army can't even handle three bumpkins, what do you suggest we do?"

These people sighed deeply, and after leaving the palace gates, they each got into their sedan chairs and quickly disappeared into the rain.

Qin Mansion.

This is a magnificent mansion with a towering and wide gate that allows carriages to pass through smoothly. Inside, the buildings are tall and the corridors are winding, with artificial hills and strange rocks adorning the interior.

Amidst its luxurious elegance, a sense of vigorous solemnity suddenly emerges.

This land was bestowed upon Qin Hui by Zhao Gou because of his merit in "establishing a peace treaty."

Qin Hui built the "Yide Getian Pavilion", and Emperor Gaozong personally inscribed the plaque. Its scale was the most magnificent in western Zhejiang.

To the north of the Qin residence was the former residence of Prince Zhao Shen (later Emperor Xiaozong of Song), known as the "Prince Pu'an's Residence".

The two are adjacent to each other, only two or three miles away from the Imperial Palace.

Zhao Gou greatly favored this place, believing it possessed "royal aura."

When Zhao Shen was first allowed to "leave his home and establish his own household" to live alone, this place was specially chosen.

After Qin Hui died, Zhao Gou specially took back Qin's mansion and rebuilt it into "Deshou Palace," where he moved after his abdication.

Wan Qixie and his subordinates, all bowing and scraping, anxiously reported their duties to Qin Hui.

Upon hearing that even the combined efforts of the sixteen factions had failed to stop it, Qin Hui's expression changed drastically: "Useless!" A murderous glint appeared in his eyes as he looked at Wan Qixie, "What exactly happened?"

"Prime Minister Qin, please forgive me!"

Wan Qixie knelt down and kowtowed, "Prime Minister Qin, I just learned that Shaolin and Wudang suffered heavy casualties. The corpses piled up and even the Miaoyuan Creek stopped flowing. Blood was gushing out, and the downstream area was all blood red!"

Qin Hui's face turned ashen, but he couldn't lose his composure. He gritted his teeth and laughed, "Fine, fine! Does our Great Song Dynasty have no one capable of dealing with these three villains even with the full strength of the nation?!"

"Prime Minister Qin, I asked them," Wan Qixie said. "Both Shaolin Tianzheng and Wudang Taichan said that the three villains are powerful and no less than Yan Kuangtu from fifteen years ago. The only way to deal with them is to use one tiger to devour another."

"Using one tiger to devour another?" Qin Hui snorted. "Tell me about it."

Wanqi Xie said, "We can gather masters such as Yan Kuangtu, Li Chenzhou, Zhu Datianwang, Wanyan Heng of the Jin Kingdom, Tianzheng of Shaolin, and Taichan of Wudang in the palace, and promise them the palace's secret treasures, wealth, gold and silver, and empty fame and righteousness, and let them fight like dogs!"

Qin Hui frowned and thought for a moment, then said calmly, "That makes sense, very much so!" He looked around, "Do you all think that makes sense?"

"what?"

Yes! Absolutely!

"Lord Wanqi is indeed a modern-day Zhuge Liang, with extraordinary wisdom and strategy!"

Everyone present gave a thumbs up and exclaimed in admiration.

"Haha, cripple, why are they always so wise after the event?"

Suddenly, a sweet, cheerful female voice rang out, as melodious as a clear, babbling spring.

A clear voice laughed and said, "Because meat-eaters are contemptible."

"What do you mean?" a simple-minded voice asked.

A clear voice said, "I forgot the beginning, I forgot the end, just remember they were idiots."

"Oh"*2
The sweet female voice and the simple male voice both said "Oh" in unison.

Wan Qixie flew into a rage and shouted towards the door, "Who goes there?!"

Bang!

The door suddenly burst open, and a gust of wind carrying rain swept in.

Upon suddenly witnessing this scene, everyone's faces changed in fright, and they all covered their faces with their sleeves.

When the wind and rain subside, lower your sleeves.

Three figures stood at the doorway, gradually becoming clearer through the rain.

One white, one red, one black.

There were three people: a man, a woman, and a simpleton.

"Prime Minister Qin, be careful!"

Wan Qixie hurriedly rushed towards Qin Hui, pulling him behind him to protect him. He looked at the three of them and shouted angrily, "You audacious madman, how dare you force your way into the Prime Minister's residence! Guards! Guards!"

Ren Shaoyang smiled faintly and glanced at him sideways.

With just one glance, Wan Qixie froze, his eyes bulged, and he was drenched in sweat.

Seeing Wan Qixie's body trembling uncontrollably, Qin Hui couldn't help but ask in a trembling voice, "Lord Wan Qixie?"

Suddenly, Wan Qixie barked twice, then turned around abruptly, drool dripping from his mouth, his face contorted like a vicious dog.

Qin Hui gasped when he saw the man's face contorted in a grotesque and monstrous expression, feeling as if he had fallen into an abyss.

"Ow~!"

Wan Qixie suddenly opened his blood-red maw and lunged at him.

Caught off guard, Qin Hui felt a sharp pain in his ear as Wan Qixie bit down on it and yanked it hard!
Splatter! Blood gushed out.

"Ah, ah, ah!!!"

Qin Hui covered his ears and screamed, half of his face was torn open, and blood was flowing all over his hands, "My ears, my ears!"

One ear reappeared in the world.

(End of this chapter)