Chapter 272: The Heavenly Lord Manifests Before the Entire County
Chiliarch Wolf was spurring his horse forward, his entire focus on Fang Wushang.
Suddenly, he heard a whistle of air, and an arrow flew straight at him. It startled him, making him quickly tilt his head back. The arrow grazed past his nose, a hair's breadth from his face, leaving him thoroughly rattled.
By the time he straightened his head, Fang Wushang was already upon him. The long spear in his hand arced up and, with a sickening thud, struck Chiliarch Wolf square in the chest.
The thick armor he wore stopped the spear's tip, preventing direct injury. Yet, the sheer force behind the thrust sent him toppling from his horse.
He landed on the ground with a heavy thud, rolling several times before he managed to scramble back to his feet.
No sooner had he risen than Cheng Xu stood before him.
Chiliarch Wolf cursed, “Damn it!”
He barely managed that single word before Cheng Xu seized his neck. With a sickening crack, his neck snapped. Almost simultaneously, Fang Wushang's long spear followed through once more, and this time, with another thud, it slipped between the armor plates, piercing Chiliarch Wolf's body.
Cheng Xu clapped his hands and hopped away. “Damn it, you almost ran me through!”
With that single exchange, the two men immediately separated, each returning to their respective tasks.
Cheng Xu resumed loudly rallying the Gao Family Village Militia, while Fang Wushang reined in his horse and circled the rebel forces once more.
With Chiliarch Wolf dead, the rebel forces instantly lost their will to fight.
The various centurions were already contemplating escape.
But the Chengcheng County side saw their morale soar. Fang Wushang's hundred subordinates surged forward with irresistible momentum. These were, in fact, soldiers originally trained by Cheng Xu, and they had absorbed the essence of their old superior's philosophy: if the enemy was strong, they were cowardly as mules; if the enemy showed weakness, they were brave as tigers.
Behind them, Liang Shixian's household guards, yamen runners, and hangers-on, along with the city's local militia and refugees, also gained immense courage. They threw open the city gates and rushed out with loud shouts and battle cries.
The sheer force of their charge was overwhelming.
The rebels saw this and thought, "How can we possibly hold them back?"
No one even needed to give an order; with a collective cry of alarm, they turned and fled.
However, Li Daoxuan couldn't let them escape this time.
He had allowed Li Ying's forces to flee last time because they were, at least nominally, "government troops." Though they had the bad habit of preying on wealthy households and ordinary folk, they still knew to exercise some restraint. They wouldn't indiscriminately slaughter innocent civilians, lest they be impeached by civil officials.
But these before him were "rebel forces." They had long forgotten what "restraint" meant, having plundered, burned, and slaughtered their way from Guyuan, becoming even more savage than common bandits.
Li Daoxuan absolutely could not allow this group to scatter back into the countryside.
He mused for a moment, deciding the time was just right!
After laying so much groundwork and planting so many seeds of anticipation in the county town, most of its inhabitants must have heard the name "Dao Xuan Tian Zun." If he didn't reveal himself now, when would he?
With a click, he donned the Infinite Gauntlet, flicking the switch on its surface. Instantly, several "Infinity Stones" lit up, bathing his entire right hand in a dazzling, multicolored glow...
He lowered his gaze to the box and said, “Yiye, announce loudly that I am about to make my move.”
Gao Yiye's spirits surged. She proclaimed loudly to the devout believers around her, “The Heavenly Lord is about to act, to punish evil and promote good!”
The devout believers rejoiced, immediately shouting, “The Heavenly Lord is about to act!”
By this point, there were already many devout believers. Hundreds of voices, speaking as one, roared the phrase in unison. Their shouts resonated for miles, echoing from the city walls...
...and across the entire battlefield, almost everyone heard their fervent cries.
“The Heavenly Lord is about to act!”
Liang Shixian, standing on the city wall, let out a surprised “Eh?” “What do the Li family members mean by that?” he wondered.
His Shaoxing adviser shook his head. “I don't understand.”
Liang Shixian was slightly annoyed. “There's a battle raging! This is a serious time. Isn't it inappropriate to pull out those spiritualist tricks now? Don't let these decent folk become like those White Lotus demon cultists...”
He hadn't even finished his sentence when the clouds in the sky parted. A massive golden hand, pushing aside the mist, descended directly from the heavens.
Liang Shixian: “!!!”
The Shaoxing adviser: “!!!”
On and below the city walls, everyone: “!!!”
The colossal golden hand pulsed with a kaleidoscope of lights—the revered "Heavenly Lord's colors," just as the rumors in the marketplace had described...
The devout believers, who had witnessed the Heavenly Lord's divine miracles before, roared triumphantly: “See? The Heavenly Lord's hand! I told you all along, I saw the Heavenly Lord manifest outside the city in the small grove, but you stubbornly refused to believe! Haha, do you believe us now?”
The colossal hand plunged rapidly!
With a thunderous crash, it struck the ground incredibly close to the rebel forces.
The earth shook and mountains swayed. The remaining few hundred rebel soldiers, who had been scrambling for their lives, suddenly saw the giant hand block their path. After the tremendous roar, the colossal hand lifted, revealing an enormous palm print on the ground, at least ten zhang wide and ten zhang long.
That single strike utterly terrified all the rebel soldiers, making them lose control of their bladders.
Rather, due to their psychological conditioning, upon seeing such a colossal hand descend before them, their first thought couldn't possibly be of a "deity." Instead, they immediately perceived it as a "demon." They weren't just scared enough to suffer heart attacks; they were utterly petrified, losing all control.
They weren't from Chengcheng County; they hadn't read The Heavenly Lord Dao Xuan's Demon-Slaying Chronicles, and thus had no psychological preparation whatsoever. The hundreds of rebel soldiers all felt their legs turn to jelly, collapsing in various strange postures—falling, slumping, sitting, kneeling—a crumpled heap on the ground. Many wet and soiled their trousers.
Li Daoxuan slowly withdrew his hand and commanded, “Apprehend them all, seize their weapons, and send them to Labor Reform!”
Gao Yiye loudly relayed the divine decree, and the devout believers cheered, then surged toward the rebel forces.
At that moment, an eerie atmosphere settled upon the area beneath Chengcheng County's walls.
The devout believers, who had long believed in the existence of Dao Xuan Tian Zun and had even witnessed his divine miracles firsthand, were undoubtedly the happiest of all. The tables had instantly turned for them, as no one had believed their impassioned words before.
The entire city had seen the Heavenly Lord's divine miracle with their own eyes! How could anyone still dare to disbelieve? Hahaha!
As for those who had previously disbelieved in Dao Xuan Tian Zun, they were now utterly shaken. Their feelings mirrored Bai Yuan's when he first arrived at Gao Family Village, witnessed the Heavenly Lord's divine miracle with his own eyes, and then watched person after person around him drop to their knees.
After a few seconds, they cast aside their inhibitions and joined the devout believers in a fervent roar: “Heavenly Lord protect us! Heavenly Lord protect us!”
“I saw the Heavenly Lord with my own eyes!”
“Heavenly Lord, forgive me! This humble one was blinded by foolishness and actually dared to doubt your true existence. I was wrong! From this day forward, I am a devoted follower of the Heavenly Lord Dao Xuan Sect!”
Amidst this thunderous clamor that shook the mountains and seas...
...the Chengcheng County Magistrate, Liang Shixian, stood with his mouth agape, gazing up at the sky. For a long time, he couldn't utter a single word. “The Li family's household deity... is actually... a real god?”
Comments