The True Lord has arrived

Chapter 148 The One Who Surpasses Immortals, Gods, Demons, and Monsters

After parting ways with Li Longji, Ao Xuantao and Zhou Yan returned to Wugong Town.

Of the three assassins, the sorcerer was backfired by Zhou Yan's cultivation, coughing up blood. His seventh-rank unorthodox Xuan Guan techniques were almost completely destroyed. Even if he later received elixirs and medicines to nourish him, it would be difficult for him to recover to his full strength.

The internal organs of the Yinshan lineage were shattered, leaving only the ability to exhale and not inhale.

On the contrary, the martial artist with the Heavenly Human Lineage, even though he was hit by a drought demon fire, was able to withstand it for a while due to the limitations of Zhou Yan's own cultivation and magical power. After Zhou Yan returned, the two local earth gods took the three of them to the outside of the Ancient Locust Village.

Xuan Zhuzi was summoned to treat the three people.

The young Taoist doctor examined the patient's complexion, took his pulse, and then administered acupuncture.

Xuan Zhuzi remained silent.

Then he said, "It's hopeless."

"It can't be cured."

"Farewell."

He picked up the green bag and turned to leave.

With Zhou Yan holding his shoulders down, Xuan Zhuzi stubbornly tried to step outwards, saying, "How can we treat this? One has his internal organs shattered, another has his brain damaged by the backlash of his own magic, and the third is facing off against the Heavenly Man's Dharma Vein and the Drought Demon's Fire."

"It's hopeless, there's no hope!"

"Let's buy a coffin!"

Upon hearing this, Lü Taiyu's face was filled with sorrow. He leaned against the wall, looked at the young True Monarch, and said, "No need. I know that my own Xuan Guan realm can only hold out for a short while longer against the Drought Demon Fire."

He raised his arm, looking at the once strong muscles twisted in agony. The fierceness in his face was gone, replaced only by the terror of facing death and ultimate helplessness. He muttered to himself:

"This is my retribution and torment."

"Master, may I have acupuncture done on these acupoints?"

"I will tell you anything you want to know."

Lu Taiyu pointed to several major acupoints on his body. Xuan Zhuzi looked at Zhou Yan, who nodded. Then, Xuan Zhuzi flicked his finger, and several golden needles flew out, carrying a trace of energy, and directly entered these acupoints.

Xuanzhu swept through the air like plucking a zither string.

The threads formed from primordial energy trembled, and needles were inserted into the air at the same time. A blush rose on Lü Taiyu's face, as if he had regained his vitality. Xuan Zhuzi warned, "This is forcibly stimulating your vitality, but it is only a last gasp before death. Even with the Heavenly Human Lineage, you cannot survive."

Lu Taiyu thanked him, stood up, and clenched his fist.

Tall and imposing, with a menacing aura, he seemed to have regained his full strength. Looking at the swordsman lying on the ground, trembling with pain, he knelt down and gently pressed his friend's face. The swordsman looked at Lü Taiyu with pleading in his eyes.

Lu Taiyu placed his palm on the swordsman's eyes, and suddenly his internal energy surged forth.

It directly severed the vital energy nodes around the swordsman's body.

The swordsman froze, then died. Lü Taiyu withdrew his hand, and the swordsman's eyes finally closed. Lü Taiyu swayed and appeared next to the sorcerer, whose face was blank and eyes were unfocused.

Lu Taiyu struck the sorcerer's throat with his palm, producing a crisp sound.

The sorcerer's eyes lost their luster, and he collapsed onto Lü Taiyu's body.

With his back to the two men, Lü Taiyu said in a barely calm tone, "His Ghost Vine cultivation failed in his ambush, and he was struck back by your cultivation, which damaged his mind. Rather than living in such a daze and being captured by the Inner Guards, he would rather die by my hand."

Lu Taiyu said, "We are orphans who were brought back to the palace. We grew up together since childhood and are as close as brothers. We were taught the three major lineages and cooperated with each other to deal with some obstacles that the royal family had to deal with."

"Among them are corrupt officials, powerful families, and upright ministers."

"Zhou Yan, is that right? Although you are... that kind of person, after we die, there will most likely be successors, many of whom will possess special secret techniques. You'd better hide well."

Zhou Yan asked, "What's Li Fuguo's reason for ordering you to kill me?"

Blood slowly trickled from Lü Taiyu's mouth as he said, "He is a member of the An Lushan rebels."

"They are also the enemies of the sages of today."

"For the Secret Guards, the reason mentioned earlier is actually unimportant. Anyone who is an enemy of a saint is a target. We have killed far too many people with our swords, regardless of good or evil, young or old. Such an ending is, in a way, normal..."

Zhou Yan analyzed the situation.

As expected, Li Fuguo was unaware of everything.

Zhou Yan's identity as the "Lord of Mount Tai" was exposed only by Li Heng. The extent of the exposure was smaller and more controllable than Zhou Yan had anticipated. When Zhou Yan thought of Li Heng, he thought of Li Longji, who had rediscovered his youthful mindset.

Judging from Li Longji's words...

He will personally return to Chang'an to deal with Li Heng.

But now Li Heng is the ruler of the world, the sage of the Tang Dynasty. Can Li Longji, who has lost his purple aura, really deal with him? And what should he do?

Lu Taiyu gently laid his two teammates down, reached out and closed their eyes, thinking back to when they were young and were taken back together, training and cultivating together, and the promise that they could leave the Secret Guard and live ordinary lives if they had the chance.

Sure enough, it was just an unrealistic illusion.

My body is stained with too much blood. Every time I wake up in the middle of the night, I think about so-called retribution. Under such circumstances, it is really too naive to still hope for a peaceful death...

Everyone has to pay the price for their choices and actions.

However, we had no choice from the very beginning.

He suddenly remembered when he was young, he was taken into that courtyard, and saw the little boy huddled up, the proud older brother who said he would serve his country in the future, and the sickly girl.

Lu Taiyu coughed up blood, then suddenly reached out and struck his own heart.

It severed the lineage of the Heavenly and Human Dharma.

His body swayed, and he knelt down before his two teammates who had died at his hands. His head drooped, and his muscles and veins charred black as if burned paper, collapsing and dying.

"If I could, I would really like to live in an ordinary family."

Zhou Yan watched their retreating figures and said:
Were you taken away for training from a young age?

"May you be able to live a normal life in your next life..."

Xuan Zhuzi looked at Zhou Daoren, who had clearly crippled the three of them himself, and noticed that the expression in Zhou Yan's eyes was not fake. It was not a deliberate mockery, but rather a mixture of killing intent and compassion within one person.

As Zhou Yan stepped forward, flames erupted from the earth's veins, incinerating the three corpses.

………………

After leaving Wugong Town, Li Longji and his entourage quickly headed back towards Chang'an. They were not far from Chang'an and would arrive soon. Li Longji then dispatched Gao Lishi to rescue one person.

This person was the one whom Li Zhenyue petitioned Li Longji.

He was also the county magistrate Yu Hongjin, whom he captured while pursuing Zhou Yan and his men on orders from the Shuofang Army. At that time, Yu Hongjin was within his duties and made excuses for Zhou Yan and Shen Cangming. Li Zhenyue captured him according to wartime regulations and imprisoned him.

Now that things have come to this, both Zhou Yan and Shen Cangming have been exonerated.

Given the actions of the Pei family, Li Zhenyue naturally knew that Yu Hongjin was innocent and hoped to get the old county magistrate out of trouble.

The only merit of this escort mission was the hope of saving the county magistrate's life. Nothing else.

After learning the details, Li Longji naturally agreed.

In prison.

Yu Hongjin's eyes had lost their former cunning and become somewhat numb.

He spent a long time in prison; the old man's grandson was even born. He leaned against the prison wall, staring blankly out at the weeds growing in the cracks of the wall, thinking about his fate, fearing he was doomed.

The worry and fear on his face had disappeared.

All that remained was a numb acceptance of one's fate.

Inside this prison, he lost track of time and could only replay past events in his mind, imagining his wife crying her eyes out and how fortunate his parents were to be gone, otherwise he would have caused them more pain.

Thinking of his son, and of his unborn grandson or granddaughter.

I wonder if the child will like the toys I bought for him.

Thinking back to what he had done, he helped that wandering knight to cover it up.

He complained about himself back then many times.

But after he finished cursing, he became depressed because he knew that at that point in time, no matter how many times, he would still do the same thing, which was a terrible mistake.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps, and the jailer holding him unlocked his chains.

Yu Hongjin was no longer afraid; he only felt a sense of relief that the end had finally come. He straightened his clothes and said:
"Are they finally going to sentence me?"

He saw that the county magistrate had arrived and wanted to make a few jokes, but he found that the county magistrate had stepped back and was waiting to the side. His expression was extremely respectful. Among the crowd, an old man, holding a whisk, stepped forward and revealed his face, which was white and beardless.

Yu Hongjin suddenly trembled; he recognized the person.

He had met the sage once before, when the old man didn't have so many wrinkles and was standing beside the sage. Yu Hongjin was completely bewildered. The magistrate urged him in a low voice, "Old Yu, you've been pardoned, why don't you get up quickly?!"

Yu Hongjin was stunned, seeing the white-faced, beardless old man sweep his whisk:
"County Magistrate Yu Hongjin, who has been kind to the Emperor and is loyal, brave and just, has been pardoned by the Emperor Emeritus and bestowed with a scroll of calligraphy by the Emperor himself..."

Yu Hongjin was completely bewildered, not knowing where he was.

It wasn't until he came out and saw the warm sunshine, his wife, and his son that he felt like he had returned to the world of the living. Under the sunlight, he suddenly burst into tears.

Good and evil have their end.

As Gao Lishi looked at the elderly couple reunited, he suddenly thought of that person.

His face showed a sorrowful expression.

In December, on the day of Bingwu, Li Longji finally returned to Chang'an. His son, the current emperor Li Heng, dressed in purple robes, led civil and military officials to welcome his father.

Li Longji, whose hair and beard had turned completely white, looked at his son, whose face was streaked with tears.

Looking at the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, at his enemies, and at one of the six paths who plundered the Dao Fruit of Mount Tai, his face was also wet with tears, yet he truly looked like a loving father and a filial son.

The retired emperor personally fetched the imperial robe and draped it over Li Heng.

The father and son looked at each other.

"Father, you're back."

Li Longji gently placed his hand on Li Heng's shoulder, the aged emperor smiled, and said, "Heaven's will and the hearts of the people both belong to you..."

Li Heng also suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

Li Longji personally draped the imperial robe over his shoulders, but there was one thing, something he had longed for but could not obtain, that was not perceived by him. He raised his head, and the two emperors faced each other.

Li Longji suddenly smiled.

Heaven's will and the hearts of the people both belong to you.

However, there is still one thing that was not given to you, and will not belong to you!
In that instant, Li Heng, who was carrying the great treasure and standing at the pinnacle of human destiny, suddenly felt an immense fear. In that instant, he seemed to be that weak prince again, facing his father who was like a god.

In a daze, Li Heng felt that his father had almost transformed into another being. The majestic aura of a human monarch pressed down on him, and under the watchful eyes of everyone, Li Heng realized that he had been tricked by his father.

[The Emperor Emeritus descended the tower, and the Emperor stroked the robe, weeping. The Emperor grasped the Emperor Emeritus's feet, sobbing uncontrollably. The Emperor Emeritus asked for a yellow robe, which the Emperor himself put on, but the Emperor prostrated himself, kowtowed, and firmly declined. The Emperor Emeritus said, "Heaven's will and the people's hearts are all in your hands..."] — *Zizhi Tongjian*, Tang Dynasty Annals, Volume 36

In that ancient locust tree cluster.

Zhou Yan thought about the old man. After Li Longji left, he actually felt that the old guy was quite nice. He gave him guidance, was easygoing, could take a joke, and was sentimental. He just didn't know what kind of short sword the old man had given him.
It's not like I don't have a sword.

They opened the box given to them by Li Longji. Inside, there was no sword, but a letter.

When the letter was retrieved, something fell out.

It was a small seal.

The following eight characters are engraved below:

"[By the mandate of Heaven, may your life be long and prosperous]."

As a result, the expression on the young Taoist's face gradually froze.

Just like Li Heng.

In an instant, he realized many things. At this moment, Zhou Yan knew the significance of these strange objects and treasures in this world, so he did not think that having this thing in his hands was a good thing.

Shit!

Li Sanlang, you old bastard!!!

You schemed against me!

While Li Heng was terrified and speechless, and Zhou Daoren was cursing and giving him the middle finger, Li Longji laughed loudly. Surrounded by his ministers and elders, he was helped up the tower by Li Heng himself. Although he was old and had lost his youthful aura, the flame of youth still burned in his eyes.

A struggle for supremacy ensues, the reclining Buddha is embroiled in intrigue, and gods, immortals, and demons roam the land.

The one who wins by one move.

Li Longji!
As he ascended the stairs, he looked back with a wicked grin. Surrounded by his ministers, he mimicked the young Taoist priest by raising his middle finger. No one noticed the Emperor Emeritus's subtle gesture. Li Longji smiled and then gracefully flicked his sleeve.

Such a vast world, magnificent and turbulent.

Do you dare to enter the world?
Little Taoist priest?
However, you have no choice but to join, after all, I am the emperor.

I won't consult you!
He turned around, laughing heartily, carefree, bold, decadent, the glory of the Tang Dynasty, the decline of the Tang Dynasty. In this way, he sent out the last force that could influence the world, calmly walking towards his own end.

"I am back."

"Chang'an."

Riding a horse and drawing a bow, the spirited young Li Sanlang of the Tang Dynasty spoke thus.

(End of this chapter)