NIP #448 - Fierce Fight! Chang'an City Under Fire (2 in 1 Pre-order)
#448 - Fierce Fight! Chang'an City Under Fire (2 in 1 Pre-order)
The overwhelming army of Nightmares surged from all directions, like a boundless black tide, completely besieging the entire imperial city. They carried an indomitable pressure, enveloping the magnificent palaces that had stood for centuries.
The ferocious roars of the Nightmares echoed above the palace walls, shaking the ground slightly.
Looking out, countless ugly figures stretched endlessly, the sharp claws on their demonic hands glinting with a chilling light, fangs bared, exhaling clouds and mist.
Most horrifyingly, there was actually a demonic beast as tall as a hundred zhang(丈: zhang, a unit of length, approximately 3.3 meters), its entire body pitch black, like a moving giant mountain. It opened its blood basin mouth, its eerie white teeth standing like a forest, dense and numerous tongue moss covering the fangs, mucus flowing horizontally. With each breath, a foul and pungent smell of fresh blood permeated the air.
In addition to these chilling Nightmares, there was also an army of tens of thousands of zombies and puppets.
These zombies were menacing, their skin festering, covered in wounds, and stained with foul-smelling pus and blood. With each step, blood seeped from their stiff limbs, dragging trails of nauseating marks on the ground.
As for those puppets, they were shockingly transformed from human corpses, a disturbing sight. Some even retained their former appearances, and through their empty eye sockets, one could almost see the pain they suffered in life.
Some simply had their entire bodies torn apart, with only skulls and limbs controlled by mysterious forces, spinning and tumbling in the air.
Still others, though their bodies were complete, had blank wooden faces that were even more terrifying, like living corpses.
What was even more shocking was that this terrifying army was actually led by the dynasty's top strategist, Ouyang Xing himself!
The usually elegant old man was now dressed in black robes, his eyes piercing, his ferocity fully revealed.
He strode forward, standing before the demonic beast, his black robe fluttering in the wind. His arrogant posture exuded an unreasonable pressure, causing even the warriors on the high walls of the imperial city to feel fear.
Witnessing this horrifying scene, the elders of the Pivotal Counsel on the city walls were greatly shocked.
Sima Ru and Qin Huan stared dumbfounded, unable to speak for a long time. Once upon a time, when Ouyang Xing bowed to them, no one would have imagined that he would become such an appalling figure today.
For a long time, Sima Ru and Ouyang Xing had been at odds in the court, but they had always respected each other. Now, seeing this old strategist colluding with demonic soldiers, he felt betrayed, and the anger in his heart almost burst forth.
Just as he was overwhelmed with emotions, a familiar hoarse voice came from below the city walls: "Do you all still remember me? Now that I occupy Sea of Devils, I am no longer the Ouyang Xing you once underestimated!"
Ouyang Xing squinted his eyes, the narrow corners of his eyes already swept by waves of evil energy, and his words already revealed a strange demonic tone.
"I never wanted to control the government, nor did I want to replicate the unbearable ups and downs of officialdom. All I want is to become the supreme master of the world!"
Ouyang Xing shook his head and sneered, his eyes gleaming with brilliance, as if to burn all those above the city walls to ashes.
"For this, I have been planning for countless years. Yes, even the ubiquitous Blood Rose is just my puppet! They are just a group of stupid Nightmares that I use to bewitch the world!" As Ouyang Xing spoke, he waved his robe, and several Enchantress in Blood Rose uniforms appeared.
Zhong Wu Ye looked grave as he stared at the Blood Rose Enchantress, understanding in his heart: as expected, the Blood Rose was just the last fig leaf of the mastermind.
It seemed that the Nightmares' conspiracy was far deeper than people imagined, and the so-called party strife and open struggles in politics were just one of the means they used to fuel the flames.
"Impossible... you're completely mad..." Sima Ru could not hide the shock in his heart.
He stepped forward and stared at Ouyang Xing, questioning: "Could it be that you are the ultimate mastermind of the Nightmares? In order to control the power of life and death, you would betray the human race and collude with this group of insane demons?!"
Ouyang Xing laughed loudly upon hearing this, his sharp voice piercing: "This old man has been reborn, merely borrowing a little external force. But now I have abandoned those meaningless factional disputes."
His dark pupils stared directly at Cang Li and the others, saying coldly: "Now the power struggle in the court is meaningless, I want to create a new era! A new world without birth, old age, sickness, and death, but with eternal immortality!!!"
Before the words were finished, he waved his hand, and the demonic soldiers suddenly pounced. Terrifying fangs and demonic claws struck the defending soldiers like raindrops, with earth-shattering force. Zhong Wu Ye reacted quickly, immediately casting a protective spiritual light to forcibly block the fierce attack. He shouted to the people behind him: "Go! Don't give them a chance!"
A group of old men were pulled into the city by him, fleeing in a panic. The demonic soldiers then swarmed up, rushing straight to the top of the city. The Nightmare's claws and demonic aura exploded a section of the city wall out of thin air, and the splashing gravel flew like rain. Zhong Wu Ye moved swiftly, leading Qin Huan and others behind him to change formation to defend against the enemy. In an instant, the two sides had launched a fierce battle in the city.
The stars shifted, the battle was extremely fierce, and the two sides actually fought out a narrow path in this bloody storm.
At this moment, a rain of arrows descended from the sky, continuously shooting towards Zhong Wu Ye and others! Immediately afterwards, a wave of fully armed imperial guards charged out from the depths of the imperial city, precisely the imperial guards controlled by the Nightmares!
Seeing the fire burning her eyebrows, Zhong Wu Ye shouted sharply: "The internal defense line of the imperial city has been breached, it seems that the Nightmares' conspiracy is far deeper than we thought! Now we are trapped in a heavy encirclement, the only way out is to attack the streets and alleys and fight out a narrow gap!"
With that, her figure erupted with violent power, her whole body's Qi and blood surging, instantly breaking out a bloody path! At the same time, a group of experts did their best, forming a tenacious force, forcibly creating an opening!
But at this critical moment, the remaining royal guards actually began to riot, turning their spears against Emperor Yongping!
The rebellious general kicked Emperor Yongping to the ground, coldly overlooking this former monarch. Emperor Yongping was filled with panic, hastily retreating towards the end of the corridor, trembling and at a loss.
It turned out that these rebellious generals had long been bought off by Ouyang Xing(欧阳煌: Ouyang Huang) and served as internal agents!
……
The city was filled with smoke and flames, and in the bloody storm, Zhong Wu Ye and others fought desperately with the demonic soldiers.
Just as the atmosphere was tense, an angry roar echoed: "Ouyang Xing! What absurd behavior is this? Now you claim to control the power of life and death, and even take the emperor hostage. Such a rebellious act deserves death!"
Sima Ru was furious, forcibly pushing aside the blocking demonic soldiers, and cursing at Ouyang Xing. This ninety-seven-year-old minister, with his head of white hair falling to his shoulders, his eyes bright and piercing, still exuded heroic spirit. Although his figure was already hunched, one could still glimpse the majesty of his past command of the soldiers.
Sima Ru shouted hoarsely, staring at Ouyang Xing, accusing him: "You and I have been comrades for more than fifty years, loyal to the country, working together, originally thought that your discord with the court was just a disagreement on political views, but I never expected you to betray your trust and collude with heretical ways! As a citizen of Great Abyss Dynasty and a meritorious official of the previous dynasty, you are now deliberately subverting the government, your behavior is already rebellious!"
He glared at Emperor Yongping, who was controlled by the imperial guards, and then loudly questioned Ouyang Xing: "Release His Majesty! Do you have no shame? Doing such heinous things, are you not afraid of hurting the Great Abyss Dragon Vein? Even if the power really falls into your hands, what qualifications do you have to hold the reins of government?"
Hearing this, Ouyang Xing snorted coldly, unmoved.
He stared at Emperor Yongping's(永平帝: Emperor Yongping) timid and miserable appearance, and sneered: "What's so strange about a mere puppet emperor? Do you think I sincerely serve him as my master? Back then, when the late emperor died, it was I who helped Emperor Yongping onto the throne! Who knew that he was just my perfect puppet emperor, completely under my control!"
He slowly walked to Emperor Yongping, looking down at this puppet emperor.
Emperor Yongping's(永平帝: Emperor Yongping) face was filled with bewilderment and helplessness, his eyes staring blankly ahead, as if he had completely lost his mind, and his whole person appeared dull and unbearable.
"Look at this poor wretch! Now that he sees danger, he is as timid as if his death is imminent, where is there even half a bit of the demeanor of an emperor?"
Ouyang Xing spat and kicked Emperor Yongping, taunting with a sneer, "What's so great about an emperor? Bringing him to the stage and taking him down is all up to me!"
He turned around, looking down at Sima Ru and others, and said coldly:
"What am I afraid of hurting Emperor Yongping? This puppet emperor is of no use to me now, so naturally he can be discarded! As for the dragon vein or something, that's just a fantasy in the minds of you pedantic fools!"
Sima Ru was stunned into silence by his arrogant spirit. He had long lost faith in the Great Abyss Dynasty in secret, and his full of conspiracies and tricks finally came to light today.
At this moment, a violent explosion came, blowing away a stone wall and covering Emperor Yongping and Ouyang Xing in the flying smoke. Zhong Wu Ye reacted extremely quickly, charging over and protected Sima Ru and others.
Qin Huan then waved the divine blade in his hand, forcibly cutting through the smoke. Large numbers of Nightmares had already occupied the inner defenses, rushing forward one after another, the vanguard especially fierce and abnormal, like mad dogs.
Zhong Wu Ye and others were in an unprecedented crisis.
……
最⊥新⊥小⊥说⊥在⊥六⊥9⊥⊥书⊥⊥吧⊥⊥首⊥发！
Seeing this situation, Sima Ru immediately understood that this was his last battle.
He took a deep breath, stood in front of Zhong Wu Ye, Qin Huan and other juniors, leaning on his cane, and walking step by step towards the demonic soldiers line.
Zhong Wu Ye stepped forward sharply, shouting anxiously: "Senior! Don't act rashly, let us face it together!"
But Sima Ru just waved his hand, signaling them not to follow. Zhong Wu Ye then saw clearly that the old man's face was full of holes, and dark red blood had splattered on his beard at some point.
Sima Ru walked to a distance of dozens of steps from the front of the demonic soldiers, stopped, and shakily raised the long sword in his hand, pointing directly at the demonic army line. He said grimly: "As a predecessor, I will ultimately be unable to witness the younger generations moving towards new chapters. But... there is one thing I must entrust to you here!"
At this time, Qin Huan already had tears in his eyes, staring closely at Sima Ru.
The kind and respectable old man turned around, and once again steadily nodded and bowed to them. There was no longer any concealment of the regret he faced when facing death between his eyebrows, but he could not hide the heroic spirit revealed in his eyes.
He said: "Qin Huan, many years ago, your father... suffered misfortune to protect us, and Godly Blade Sect was destroyed overnight. For various reasons, I have not been able to find out the truth. Now... I'm afraid I owe your father's life-saving grace."
Speaking of this, Sima Ru lowered his head several times, extremely apologetic. Qin Huan was already sobbing, covering his eyes with both hands, just answering in a low voice: "Senior... I know you have tried your best."
Sima Ru nodded, then sighed up to the sky at this time, straightened his back, standing firm like a stubborn stone: "存人失地，人地皆存(存人失地，人地皆存: If people are saved but land is lost, both people and land can be saved). The continuation of the Great Abyss Dynasty is by no means a matter of one day. You are the last hope of Great Abyss Dynasty, go quickly! Emperors are impermanent, and luck has its end, we are no longer able to turn the tide. But you can! You must go on for us, wait for the opportunity to rise again and recast the former glory of Great Abyss Dynasty!"
As soon as the words fell, the demonic soldiers suddenly launched an attack. Sima Ru also exerted force in response, his clothes fluttering, shouting "Go!!!"
Then he rushed towards the opposite side with his sword. Those ugly demonic claws pounced on his face, but Sima Ru raised and dropped his sword, resisting the demonic soldiers like raging waves, forcibly cutting out a gap.
In the brief confrontation, Sima Ru was trapped in the heavy encirclement of demonic soldiers, already covered in wounds and extremely embarrassed. But he still fought with all his strength, remained calm in the face of danger, and several times personally split open fierce Nightmares, to buy valuable escape time for Zhong Wu Ye and others.
At this moment, everyone was impressed by his bravery, shocked by the infinite power still contained in this old minister in his twilight years. Long-term illness had already entangled him, and he was already decrepit, but he was still able to ignite the fire of vigorous life with a burst of passion, until he died!
Just as his remains were completely surrounded and trampled by the demonic soldiers, Zhong Wu Ye and Qin Huan had led the survivors to break through the encirclement and fight their way out, but both of them were extremely grieved.
Sima Ru's(司马孺: Sima Ru) heroic sacrifice not only realized the fight for survival, but also paved the way for a road of hope because of his regretless.
……
As the smoke filled the air, a deafening roar suddenly burst out, as if nine layers of war drums were suddenly roaring beside the ears. Zhong Wu Ye couldn't help but stop, watching as a huge beast slowly walked out of the thick black mist of the demonic army.
It was a beast that looked like a tiger and wolf, its two feet towering like a strange elongated human form, covered with dark red fur with distinct muscle texture. Its face was hideous and terrifying, its wide and flat muzzle cracked open a blood basin mouth, its eerie white fangs were arranged unevenly, swaying back and forth with a chilling cold light. Even more terrifying was that it had three huge single eyes on its head, constantly trembling, and revolving with a chilling horrifying gaze.
This is the Taotie ferocious god in the legend that is terrible in food and swallows the sky and the earth!
It seems that it is the ultimate killer of the demonic army. As expected, it began to unscrupulously scan the surroundings as soon as it appeared, and the three rolling single eyes clearly included Zhong Wu Ye and others into the line of sight of the prey.
The next moment, Taotie let out a earth-shattering roar, and suddenly distorted and deformed! Its body gradually became larger, splitting into several clones, and each body turned into the form of a fierce beast, the front was a violent melee form composed of several fierce claws, and the back was a 血盆大口(blood basin mouth), ready to go.
This is the " clone combo" unique skill that great demons can display!
Zhong Wuye knew very well that even with her strength, it would be difficult to retreat unscathed from such a bizarre and supernatural attack. But no matter what, he couldn't back down at this critical moment, otherwise all his previous efforts would be in vain.
He saw the Taotie's blood basin-like mouth open slightly, instantly injecting a ball of raging flame energy!
In the next second, it howled strangely, and a wild heat wave mixed with scorching flame balls shot towards Zhong Wuye. Zhong Wuye immediately gathered his energy to defend, and forcibly blocked this attack, but was also shaken back by the rolling heat wave, and his whole body was burning with pain.
The Taotie would naturally not stop there. It locked onto a flaw in Zhong Wuye's defense, twisted and split into dozens of demon claws, launching a flying pounce! Seeing the fierce and unusual offensive, Zhong Wuye had no choice but to use his full strength to deliver a supreme sword technique to barely block this wave of fierce attacks.
However, the Taotie took advantage of the victory to pursue, and in the third round, it reunited into one body, opened its blood basin-like mouth, and blasted out an even more violent blazing offensive!
In just one round, Zhong Wuye was already covered in wounds, his whole body was weak, and he was about to be completely defeated.
At this moment, Qin Huan, who had been fighting beside him, was shocked by the sight. In desperation, he had no choice but to risk his life, transforming into a streak of blue light and shooting out, trying to divert the Taotie's offensive with himself.
However, in the next moment, his figure was scooped up by the Taotie's open mouth and sucked in tightly, before he could even let out a cry!