"Clang, clang, clang!" Numerous crisp sounds rang out as several blades simultaneously chopped onto Zhao Changhe's body.

Zhao Changhe slightly tilted his head and pinched the blade at his neck between two fingers, grinning, "Divine Brilliance Sect's attack shouldn't be this weak, huh? The explosive power of Divine Brilliance Wind and Thunder Palm benefits me immensely to this day. You haven't quite mastered it."

No, who exactly is the Divine Brilliance Sect here? How come there isn't even a mark on you after getting chopped by blades?

Suddenly, Zhao Changhe made his move. With a "ding, ding, ding," all the blades ended up in his hands, and with a twist, he bent them into twists and threw them on the ground.

"Let's go, follow me back to the city, and we'll explain things in front of Sect Master Li."

Before he could finish speaking, a sigh from Li Shentong was heard from a distance, "Are you the Divine Brilliance Sect, or am I?"

Zhao Changhe laughed, "Isn't it up to par, Sect Master Li, please could you enlighten me?"

Li Shentong emerged from the thin mist of the dense forest, speaking lightly, "In that moment when the swords and blades were upon you, you altered the composition of your muscles... Quite strenuous, and if the predictions of the landing spots are wrong, problems would arise."

Zhao Changhe responded, "Indeed, that's the only way for now."

Li Shentong nodded, "There's still room for improvement."

Without saying more, his stern gaze fell upon those people, "I thought this work would be from the Listening Snow Pavilion. Unexpectedly, it was our own Divine Brilliance Sect!"

"Sect Master!" someone shouted loudly, "He's undermining us! Don't believe his deceit!"

Disappointment shone deeply in Li Shentong's eyes, "If you have concerns, you can discuss them with me privately. Acting on your own, breaking the power dynamics, can you bear the responsibility? Furthermore... what was the purpose of our mobilizing troops?"

Is the heart unchanged?

Regardless of whether Li Shentong was unchanged, not all those who were with him were the same.

People differ from each other.

Even for Li Shentong himself, he also needed to constantly question himself… Even questioning himself might not yield any answers.

Like now, despite his disappointment, he didn't want to severely punish these people. If there was a reason for punishment, it would ironically be "acting on their own" and "destroying diplomacy."

"All return to me, confine to the sky prison for ten—" He intended to say ten days, but before he could finish, a rushing sound commenced.

Yue Hongling descended holding a rope, with five or six people densely tied at one end, like holding a kite, landing in front of Zhao Changhe. Casually, Yue Hongling dumped the captives on the ground and smiled, "These people scattered in all directions, catching them was quite troublesome… Fortunately, I've completed the task."

No matter how they scattered, in the presence of Zhao Yue, who were capable of flight, it merely required extra effort.

The Divine Brilliance Sect members, who initially planned to argue back, suddenly became pale as death, and Li Shentong's expression darkened like the bottom of a pot.

These were clearly not men from the Divine Brilliance Sect; though unrecognized, anyone could guess that these were house servants sent by some officials from Ba Shu, and the officials involved must have been significant, having been at the banquet.

Naturally, the people from Divine Brilliance Sect were aware that Ba Shu harbored many spies from Listening Snow Pavilion, and now the attributes of these people had fully surfaced.

"Doing what the enemy intended, you thought you were smart?" Li Shentong, who had just said "Confined in the sky prison for ten days," immediately changed his statement, "Imprisoned for ten years, day and night tormented by venomous insects, with no reduction in sentencing!"

He bent down, grabbed a house servant by the neck, and lifted him with one hand, coldly stating, "Take me to your master's house, delay a breath, and a finger will be crushed."

Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling rested their hands as if the matter no longer concerned them.

It was said that many of the killings weren't their doing, but at least half of them were efforts by Situ Xiao to clear their master's name. Now, pulling up this rope would bring out a lot of mud. There was no need for Zhao Changhe's Qi Observation Skill, for the enraged King of the West now, who knew what would happen...

...

Regardless of what the King of the West would do, Zhao Changhe's "authenticity" was thoroughly proven through such an event.

The couple slept soundly through the night in their warm guest room next to the stove, and the next morning, Situ Xiao knocked on the door from outside: "Wake up, time to pee."

The two of them hastily freshened up, stepped into the courtyard, and saw Situ Xiao had already set up breakfast. He didn't wait for them to come out, instead, he hugged a bowl of dan dan noodles and enjoyed it immensely: "Damn, you two slept so well, I was tormented all night and couldn't sleep a wink."

Zhao Changhe smiled and sat down: "So, how many did you kill?"

Situ Xiao felt a bit embarrassed and held up a finger: "Not even a hundred."

"Only not even a hundred? That's fewer than I thought, pretty restrained."

"I was talking about a hundred clans."

"Spurt..." Zhao Changhe had just taken a bite of noodles, and upon hearing that, he spit it out and gasped for air.

This damn thing happened in just one night!

Situ Xiao's face was expressionless: "In chaotic times, strict measures are necessary. You guys in the capital aren't much gentler than us in Cihui - and that's with the famously gentle Tang Wanju in charge... damn those Immortals, hiding among us as spies, do they think we have no temper?"

"No..." Zhao Changhe inhaled sharply: "I mean, it was already spicy enough at last night's banquet, why is even breakfast spicy!"

"What's your misunderstanding about Ba Shu?"

"Can I get a couple of steamed buns? You can't make those spicy too, right? If I remember correctly, steamed buns were invented by Marquis Wu, and they are also from Ba Shu."

Situ Xiao ordered someone to fetch some steamed buns, grumbling: "Can't eat spicy, still a hero. Look, even Miss Yue can eat it."

Yue Hongling smiled and said nothing.

"I'm not saying I can't eat spicy, just can it be milder in the early morning?" Zhao Changhe said irritably: "Besides, I never said I was a hero."

"But my master was looking at our ancestral hall early this morning, and he kept muttering 'hero, hero' nonstop."

"..."

Situ Xiao sighed and said softly: "What you said had a big impact on him. Originally, they weren't sure if you were genuine, which was fine, but once they were convinced you were authentic, I feel my master aged a bit."

"Seriously?" Zhao Changhe asked.

"Seriously." Situ Xiao said earnestly: "He thought he was serving the people, but looking back, some things are difficult to judge. And your perspective hit him hard, making him feel like he's just a fool."

"You're the fool." A voice came from outside, Li Shentong's voice: "How did I end up raising such an idiot?"

Situ Xiao bowed his head and continued eating noodles.

Li Shentong stepped inside, personally carrying a basket of steamed buns and placing it on the table, revealing a smile uglier than crying: "Sorry for the poor hospitality, making King Zhao laugh."

Zhao Changhe happily grabbed a steamed bun and started nibbling, asking: "Not to hide from Sect Master Li, I have some skill in Qi Observation. Do you need me to take another look around and dig out any Sword Qi hidden Sword Slaves?"

"That I would appreciate, King Zhao." Li Shentong spoke calmly: "In return, when Great Han battles Guanglong, Ba Shu will coordinate troops to advance into Hanzhong. Historian Shaw will be in charge of the campaign, assisted by Situ Fu, and I myself will accompany King Zhao northward."

Situ Xiao opened his mouth, his eyes hopeful as he looked at Zhao Changhe, wishing he could borrow more people.

But listened to Li Shentong saying: "Don't even think about going north. If you go, you'll just be a general in Huangfu Yongxian's army, because you won't be part of the Imperial Realm battle. Who told you to be so useless? You're about the same age as King Zhao, look what you've amounted to?"

Situ Xiao stifled a retort, not saying after all at your age, you're only slightly better than Zhao Changhe, and where has your age gone?

Zhao Changhe said: "Situ once fought under General Huangfu, he is familiar with it, letting him go to Yanmen would also work."

"That works, he'll go to Yanmen." Li Shentong wasn't fussy about it, and then said: "You said yesterday that the Kunlun God Demon isn't interested in worldly conquest, but that's not entirely true. Since I've decided to cooperate with you, I might as well tell you what's going on here as a way to return the favor."

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