Daoqi Huangcheng

Chapter 4.4. Imperial City View

Inside the carriage, Song Chen's heart suddenly started racing.

Thump!

Thump!
He jumped faster and faster, so fast it seemed like it was going to burst out of his dry throat.

'It's just raining, it's just raining!'

He strained to keep his eyes open, desperately trying to reassure himself.

He didn't know why his premonition of danger was so strong at this moment.

Suddenly, a shrill scream came from the front of the carriage. This scream, so close to his face, made his blood rush to his head.

It's the coachman! The coachman is in trouble!
Just then, he felt a large hand suddenly grab him from the darkness. The hand was so fast that he could feel it, but he couldn't dodge it at all.

The moment the large hand grabbed him, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder bone, followed by being pulled.

He lost his weight and his body floated into the air.

The thick curtain at the entrance of the carriage was flung open, and Que Shenyun grabbed the boy's shoulders and dragged him out of the original enclosed space.

Song Chen's mind went blank, and his eyes were simply recording what he saw instinctively.

He saw the strong coachman on the driver's seat lying on the side with his eyes wide open, blood trickling from his temple.

The scarlet lantern swayed precariously in the sudden rain, its red glow illuminating the driver's terrified face.

Just then, he heard a dense series of "dududududu" sounds.

The sound was coming from the wooden planks of the carriage.

All of this happened incredibly fast, in the blink of an eye, as if time itself had been put on slow motion.

He was carelessly tossed onto the muddy ground.

Immediately afterwards, he heard a clear, sharp sword cry.

He vaguely saw a sword fly up, emitting a golden light.

He then saw Que Shenyun merge with the golden light and shoot into the depths of the heavy rain.

He sat there, and time seemed to stand still.

Que Shenyun rose into the air on his sword, glancing at the stunned, frozen youth on the ground. He thought to himself, 'Some extraordinary encounters in this world are integrated into the soul. This kid's luck and comprehension are both rather sudden; I should search his soul again. I hope he doesn't die here.'

The thought flashed through Que Shenyun's mind, and he had already locked onto a ghostly figure in the desolate pavilion in the distance.

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes, and with a flick of his finger, a sword light shot out from the air.

Song Chen sat in the rain.

His heart felt like it was being gripped by a dead man's hand; the fear was indescribable.

His fingers finally twitched.

He moved closer to the carriage.

He noticed that the horses pulling the cart were also trembling, standing motionless, as if they had sensed something extremely terrifying and were so intimidated by that aura that they dared not move.

He struggled to climb into the driver's seat of the carriage and sat down next to the dead coachman.

The rain lessened a bit, but the terrifying sounds of the battle still reached his ears. They weren't the sounds of weapons, nor were they the sounds of humans.

He glanced at the pitch-black road in the distance, so dark he couldn't see anything at all, and wondered if he should run away.

Suddenly, a rapid, loud shout came from afar.

"Do not kill me!"

"Do not kill me!"

"I am a cultivator from the Imperial City Temple. This is the outskirts of the capital. If you kill me, you won't survive either!!"

Upon hearing this sound, Song Chen felt his hair stand on end and a chill run down his spine.

That's Que Shenyun's voice!

Que Shenyun has been defeated!
The next instant, he felt a spray of blood fall from the sky with the rain, landing on the coachman's corpse not far from him. A hissing sound came from the corpse, followed by intense heat.

Song Chen even felt a wave of heat rising from the blood.

A thought immediately popped into his mind: This isn't human blood! How could human blood be so hot?
Immediately afterwards, he became happy again, because Que Shenyun seemed to have injured that ghostly thing, which was most likely the one that killed Brother Lin and the other two.

However, his joy was short-lived, as the sound of coughing came from the heavy rain in mid-air.

He heard the whistling sound of heavy objects coming from the sky, growing louder as they approached.

Bang! !

The heavy object slammed down beside the carriage, snapping the neck of the horse, which had been standing still, into a crooked position.

Horse, die!
The entire carriage tilted downwards as a result.

The lantern swayed with a whoosh, casting its crimson light onto the heavy object that had crashed to the ground.

Song Chen rolled into the mud, his pupils constricted as he stared at the distant object, which was none other than the dying Que Shenyun.

The ghostly figure high in the sky seemed somewhat wary of it, and was not in a hurry to fall, but rather seemed to be patiently waiting for its prey to die.

Que Shenyun raised his hand, made a few grasping motions in the distance, and made a strange "hehe" sound in his throat before his hand fell down with a "snap".

This descent made Song Chen's heart sink as well. But the ghostly figure in the sky was in no hurry to fall. It seemed to be observing whether Que Shenyun was truly dead or was pretending to be unconscious in order to launch a full-scale counterattack.

In an instant, Song Chen understood the ghostly figure's intentions.

So cunning, yet so cautious!
Song Chen suddenly stood up and stumbled through the mud and rain towards Que Shenyun, grabbing his arm and crying out, "Sir, sir, how could you die?! How could you die?!"

His crying didn't show much sadness; it was easy to tell that he was faking it, that he was acting. Therefore, people concluded that "Que Shenyun is most likely faking his death."

He wanted the ghostly figure above to make that judgment.

For him, every extra breath he could live was precious.

At first, Song Chen still had a sliver of hope: what if Que Shenyun was really faking his death?

But after clutching his arm and sobbing a few times, his heart had turned completely cold.

He already felt that Que Shenyun was completely dead.

He is beyond help.

Large drops of rain fell from the ends of his hair, and a look of madness suddenly appeared in Song Chen's eyes.

No, there's more!

He had previously hesitated to use the treasures in the Book of Three Lifetimes, fearing that a finger falling from the sky would crush him.

But now, he's going to die whether he goes left or right, so what's there to be afraid of?

"At worst, we'll die together! Let's die together!!"

Song Chen suddenly raised his hand and grabbed at the [Illusory Mirror], which seemed more likely to have offensive capabilities.

The treasure that a powerful being who has lived for nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven lifetimes could leave behind after being completely destroyed must not disappoint him!
The rain had stopped early in the morning.

The morning breeze blows raindrops off the branches, and the soft sunlight shines through them, refracting beautiful seven-colored rays.

In the air, two streaks of light shot out from the direction of the capital, and after a winding search, they stopped in front of an overturned carriage.

The light revealed their figures: two cultivators in green robes, one middle-aged and one young, both with extremely sharp temperaments.

Both of them had a pattern of "five-colored tadpoles chasing and spinning each other" embroidered on the hem of their clothes. This was the mark of the cultivators of the Imperial City Temple, or rather the Five Elements Imperial Temple. Que Shenyun also had this mark on his body.

The five colors represent the five elements.

Among the five-colored "tadpoles" embroidered with silk, one is always particularly bright, which represents the cultivation technique inherited by the cultivator in the Five Elements Imperial Temple.

For example, what Que Shenyun emitted was a golden "tadpole," and he cultivated the "metal element of the Five Elements."

These two in front of me are also examples.

The middle-aged man glanced around.

A wrecked carriage.

A horse with a broken head and a broken leg.

The coachman had holes in his temples and burn marks from demonic blood on his body.

There was also Que Shenyun, who had already died tragically, and a tall crane with its body pierced by a sword not far away.

The crane's beak is extremely long, perfect for pecking into heads to suck out brain matter and piercing bones to suck out marrow.

"A marrow-eating crane demon? How could such a ferocious monster appear near the imperial city?" The young cultivator's eyes were solemn, filled with doubt and surprise. Then he sighed, "Mr. Shenyun actually perished together with this demon."

The middle-aged cultivator turned his gaze to the only living person beside him, a boy who was holding Que Shenyun's corpse with a blank look in his eyes, and called out, "Boy, can you talk?"

Song Chen closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face. He let out a soft "Ah!" and then cried out in a hoarse voice, "He is my benefactor! He saved me! I am Song Chen! I told you to leave quickly, but you insisted on protecting me. Now... how can I repay this kindness? Master, Master!"

The middle-aged cultivator was taken aback.

The two came here to see Que Shenyun go out to test his aptitude, and did not return to check on him.

The imperial court would eventually send someone to investigate this unusual situation.

Based on the current situation, the two deduced a rough idea: the young man in front of them was the promising talent that Que Shenyun had chosen. On their way back, the two encountered this terrifying marrow-eating crane demon. After a battle between Que Shenyun and the demon, they both perished.

As for the boy's claim that "Que Shenyun died protecting him," the two remained noncommittal.

The Marrow-Eating Crane Demon is a ferocious demon that enjoys eating human bone marrow and brain matter, which makes it even more cunning. It is skilled in illusion, has a strong body, and can also absorb the earth's energy. This monster is the strongest among the crane-type demons of the northern lands.

The Marrow-Eating Crane Demon's fierce battle with Que Shenyun was clearly aimed at consuming the powerful figure's brains and marrow to further nourish its demonic body. This demon was solely focused on Que Shenyun; the coachman and the boy were merely bystanders.

As for the claim of protection, it's probably just that Que Shenyun saw that this kid had good potential and wanted to win him over to his family, so he casually mentioned it, but he didn't expect the kid to take it seriously.

Thinking of this, the middle-aged cultivator winked at the young cultivator beside him.

The young cultivator transformed into a beam of light and headed towards the distant cannon fodder camp. A moment later, he returned, nodded to the middle-aged cultivator, and said, "No problem, it all matches up."

Then he added, "This marrow-eating crane demon is fishing. It ate three soldiers in the camp and wanted to use them as bait to lure us cultivators to investigate. Because it only killed three soldiers, I will subconsciously think that they are just minor mountain demons. When the people who come are weak, they will directly become food for this marrow-eating crane demon."

The middle-aged cultivator sighed, "It was a lucky accident. Fellow Daoist Shenyun never expected to encounter such a ferocious demon while testing aptitude, and this ferocious demon never expected that fishing for a small fish would attract Fellow Daoist Shenyun."

Alas, the path of cultivation is truly unpredictable.

The appearance of such a ferocious demon in the suburbs is unusual. Let us return immediately and report to the temple.

Having said that, he took Song Chen, along with Que Shenyun and the corpses of the marrow-eating crane demon, and merged them into the flying sword's escape light, heading back towards the capital.

(End of this chapter)