Chapter 4: A Gnat Rises Against the Wind |
Li Shun did not need much effort to persuade Feng Guan. Everything fell into place naturally.
He had no concern that Feng Guan might report him to the authorities or betray him.
For one, he possessed the heaven-defying trump card, Threefold Self-Reflection. No matter how today’s plans unfolded, success or failure would be no more than fleeting illusions, like reflections in water or flowers in a mirror.
For another, after spending most of their lives struggling together in the mire of Lengshan County, Li Shun understood Feng Guan’s nature all too well.
The man was timid and easily swayed, his resolve weak and his will soft. Yet toward his friends, he carried a kind of foolish sincerity.
Orphaned at a young age and left all alone, Feng Guan had once scraped by with a few crude tricks learned from the fringes of novelist school. Unfortunately, he was later forcibly conscripted into labor at Lengshan County. Once he stepped into this place, he remained trapped for the rest of his life.
…
In truth, during previous cycles of Threefold Self-Reflection, Li Shun had already subjected Feng Guan to numerous harsh tests. The results proved that, at least under their current circumstances, Feng Guan was someone he could rely on.
The reason Li Shun entrusted him with placing the Reflection Coins was simple. This body of his was crippled, making movement extremely inconvenient.
By midday, he came running back, panting heavily. Yet contrary to expectations, there was no guilty fear on his aged face. Instead, it carried a strange, almost feverish excitement.
“Cripple, I’ve hidden all the Reflection Coins exactly where you said and activated every single one! Damn, that was thrilling. The whole way back, I was terrified someone would notice…”
Li Shun gave no response. He ignored the words entirely.
Silently calculating the time, he estimated that the moment when the Xiang remnants would make their move was drawing near. Without hesitation, he grabbed Feng Guan and swiftly slipped into the dark underground cellar.
Once the tunnel was sealed, Li Shun flicked his fingers repeatedly, activating all ninety mother coins connected to the Reflection Coins.
In an instant, faintly glowing images appeared in midair like shimmering mirrors. Though they could not cover every corner of Lengshan County, they captured the most critical areas of the city.
Li Shun fixed his gaze on the scenes before him and waited patiently.
At around three in the afternoon, the change came abruptly.
A pitch-black figure shot across the sky like a meteor, arriving from the horizon and halting directly above the county yamen[1]. It simply stood there in midair, utterly brazen.
Such blatant provocation immediately alerted the constables guarding the yamen.
As they drew their blades and prepared to shout, a massive, sinister phantom of an eight-armed demon god suddenly manifested behind the figure.
A terrifying wave of killing intent crashed down like a tidal surge. The constables did not even have time to scream before they collapsed to the ground like wheat flattened by a storm, utterly incapable of resistance.
Clang, clang, clang…
The alarm bell rang out sharply across the yamen. A thick, earthen-yellow barrier rose from the ground, enveloping the compound in protection. At the same time, the Black Armored Army stationed nearby reacted swiftly, rushing in from all directions fully armed.
Everything unfolded exactly as it had in Li Shun’s “yesterday.”
“It’s… it’s real! Rebels really are attacking! How did you know in advance?!” Inside the cellar, Feng Guan’s voice trembled with shock. By now, he completely believed Li Shun’s earlier claims.
Li Shun paid him no mind, his eyes locked onto the shifting light screens.
The events played out like a predetermined script. The eight-armed demon god wreaked havoc, while the elite Black Armored Army crumbled like clay chickens and pottery dogs before its might. Under the relentless blaze of raging flames, the yamen’s protective barrier visibly dimmed, teetering on the brink of collapse.
Boom!
With a deafening explosion, the projected images from the Reflection Coins flickered violently, some of them shattering into darkness.
“Destroy Qian, restore Xiang, the day is today!”
The furious roar of the Xiang remnant leader echoed once more across the skies of Lengshan County.
At the same time, frenzied voices erupted in response from all across the city.
The remaining Reflection Coins captured glimpses of several of these Xiang remnants.
Li Shun narrowed his eyes, engraving their faces deeply into his memory.
“So there really are a few familiar faces.”
“I thought they were just pitiful laborers like me, people forced into this life against their will. Who would have thought they were spies of a fallen kingdom, hiding in plain sight?”
While Li Shun was rapidly calculating in his mind, Feng Guan beside him had already fallen into an icy abyss. The faint excitement on his face had long since vanished, replaced by uncontrollable fear and trembling.
Even in his wildest dreams, he had never imagined that these rebels would be so ferocious. They had actually managed to break through the county yamen, the very symbol of the Great Qian Dynasty’s supreme authority.
Li Shun knew Feng Guan’s nature too well. With a single glance, he saw the man’s resolve faltering. His voice immediately turned cold as he barked,
“Old Feng, it’s your turn.”
Seeing Feng Guan still struggling and hesitating, Li Shun added in a chilling, deliberate tone, “Once the arrow leaves the bow, there’s no turning back.”
Feng Guan shuddered violently at those words. Gritting his teeth in despair, he could only nod and steel himself.
This time, the vessel for his technique was no longer the ant from “yesterday,” but a tiny flying insect Li Shun had painstakingly captured in advance: a gnat.
These insects were rampant throughout Lengshan County. No larger than a speck of dust, they were nearly impossible to notice under normal circumstances. In the current chaos of smoke, fire, and flying debris, they were all but invisible.
Feng Guan was not entirely spineless. With no path of retreat left, he stopped hesitating.
With a ruthless expression, he yanked out a stalk of Lengshan Grass and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing down both its intense bitterness and his own fear before swallowing.
Then his fingers formed seals as he invoked his secret art once more: “Listening to the Wind, Skimming the Shadows…”
In an instant, his murky eyes turned eerily pale again, while his aura grew unstable and hollow. The tiny gnat at his fingertips trembled as it flapped its wings, ready to take flight.
At that very moment…
“Spirit Division and Life Transformation.”
Li Shun’s voice sounded faint and distant.
After a lifetime of relentless labor, coupled with twenty-six years of tireless, extreme refinement by the puppet within the Fangcun space, Li Shun’s mastery over this technique had already reached perfection. In all of Great Qian, it would be hard to find another who could rival him in this art.
The moment the technique was activated, Li Shun felt as though a portion of his very essence blood had been severed by an invisible blade. A powerful wave of weakness washed over him.
Yet in stark contrast to his pale, weakened state, the gnat hovering in midair stabilized instantly. Its form even became visibly stronger.
At the same time, an indescribably profound connection formed between Li Shun and the insect.
“You can go now.”
At Li Shun’s quiet command, Feng Guan manipulated the gnat like a puppet on strings. It slipped silently through a crack in the tunnel and flew outward, heading straight for the county yamen.
Through the thread of essence blood linking them, everything the gnat saw appeared within Li Shun’s mind like rippling reflections.
Feng Guan might be trustworthy.
But when it came to a treasure like the Lengshan Venerable, nothing was more reliable than seeing it with his own eyes.
The gnat darted swiftly through the wind and smoke. Before long, it arrived near the ruined yamen.
Rather than approaching recklessly, it merged seamlessly into a swarm of similar gnats flying about in chaos, observing the battlefield from above.
At this point, all resistance from Great Qian within the yamen had been completely slaughtered. Dozens of Xiang remnants had taken full control of the area, spreading out to search frantically for the Lengshan Venerable.
Their burly leader hovered in midair, hands clasped behind his back, overseeing everything with a cold expression.
Because of Li Shun’s strict warning beforehand, Feng Guan suppressed his curiosity and did not dare focus on the leader. The gnat simply followed the swarm in erratic flight, keeping its attention fixed on the search patterns below.
Time passed quickly.
After half a day, they had nearly turned the entire yamen upside down, yet still found nothing.
Left with no choice, they began expanding their search outward.
Finally, at sunset, as the sky burned red like blood, an excited shout rang out from afar: “Jin! We found it!”
The scattered Xiang remnants leapt into motion, gathering in an instant.
“What a joke. Something this valuable wasn’t stored in the yamen, but casually kept in a concubine’s residence…”
The absurdity of the situation clearly caught the man called Jin off guard. His brow lifted slightly. With a flick of his finger, a strand of crimson flame shot out, instantly reducing the trembling woman beside him to ash.
“Great Qian will fall!”
As if inspired, the surrounding remnants raised their arms and roared in unison,
“Great Qian will fall!”
“Hmm?”
At that very moment, Jin seemed to sense something. His expression shifted slightly.
He suddenly turned his head. Spreading his fingers, he grasped toward the empty air outside. A sneaky gnat hidden among the swarm was instantly dragged into his palm.
“Interesting…”
With a light squeeze between his fingers, he crushed it. His hawk-like gaze pierced through the dusk, locking onto a specific location within Lengshan County.
The next instant, his body transformed into a streak of light and vanished.
At the same time—
The underground cellar where Li Shun and Feng Guan were hiding was blasted open with a thunderous roar.
“Cowering rats, skulking in the shadows.”
Jin descended like a demon god, looking down at them with a cold snort.
Under the terrifying pressure of the eight-armed demon phantom, Feng Guan’s body stiffened completely. He lost all ability to speak.
But Li Shun, facing death for the second time, relied on the lingering adaptation from “yesterday” to forcibly endure the terror. With great effort, he managed to move his throat.
Raising his head to meet that destructive gaze, he sneered mockingly, “And aren’t you the same? Hiding your head and showing your tail?”
Jin paused for a brief moment. Then his eyes narrowed, his voice cold enough to freeze the soul:
“Listen well. The one who kills you is a descendant of Great Xiang, the last blood of its royal line. Xiong Jin.”
As his words fell, boundless flames poured down like divine punishment.
And swallowed Li Shun whole.
[1]:- Yamen was the historical administrative office and residence of a local magistrate in imperial China, acting as a grassroots government unit.
Comments 6