Chapter 71: Chapter 63: Soaring Above the Azure Sky
He Xiqing, who rushed into the Governor’s Mansion, stumbled all the way.
It’s over, everything is over. His soldiers were killing each other, and he himself was utterly defeated. In just a few days, he had lost everything.
It shouldn’t be like this, it shouldn’t be like this. Clearly, his overnight success in capturing the city marked his initial rise, his career had only just begun. He would continue to move forward, keep moving forward, and always move forward, until he conquered all that his eyes could see, becoming the true sky!
But now, it was all gone.
"It shouldn’t be, it shouldn’t be..."
He Xiqing muttered to himself, his whole body charred black.
There shouldn’t have been any problems, he was clearly so brave and aggressive. To continue moving forward, to keep climbing up, he had long made up his mind, even willing to pay any price.
To gain military power, he was willing to humble himself to the Qingyang tribe; to gain strength, he was willing to break taboos and embrace madness; to seize the real opportunity in battle, he would never act out of emotion, even when his own brother was killed, all to wait for that one strike to capture the city, the chance to make him famous throughout the world.
So, why, after all he sacrificed, why did problems still arise?
Where on earth did the monster that killed his brother come from? When did he provoke such a harbinger of doom? What kind of enmity was between them that made that monster keep coming back to trouble him again and again?
What a joke, he didn’t even know what the monster’s name was.
"Could it really be that the heavens want me dead?"
He Xiqing paused.
Then, he shook his head.
Such a thing doesn’t exist, the heavens wouldn’t want him dead.
"Qing is the color of the sky," his father told him before he died.
The sky was him, and he was the sky.
To fulfill his father’s dying wish, to satisfy the burning ambition in his chest, so that those steppe cattle would no longer call him a bastard, to make everyone kneel before him.
He would stop at nothing.
"Brother, are you okay!"
The nine-foot-tall Muershu charged forth. It seemed the punch from before hadn’t knocked this tower of a man out for long. Behind Muershu were twelve of He Xiqing’s personal guards, these formidable warriors who, even in the face of horns and war drums, maintained their will without turning into crazed killers.
After all, these guards were He Xiqing’s reserve force, meant to counter any special threats from the Qingyang tribe.
Originally, his brother He Xixuan should have been among them.
But...
"No buts about it."
He Xiqing gritted his teeth.
"That was a necessary price to pay."
"Brother, what are you talking about?"
Muershu couldn’t quite catch what He Xiqing was mumbling. All he knew was that this charred appearance of his brother did not look promising.
"Brother, are you okay? Should we leave first..."
"Are there only a few of you left?"
He Xiqing looked up, scanning the warriors loyal to him.
"Are there only a few of you left?"
"...Yes, Brother."
Muershu gritted his teeth, finally nodding in affirmation.
"The horns and war drums were too targeted at the brothers, everyone’s nerves were constantly tense... But rest assured, Brother, we’ll escort you out. Just one more time, if we just go one more time, we can surely make a comeback, we definitely can..."
"Shh... don’t make noise yet."
He Xiqing gestured for silence.
Then he lifted his head to look at Muershu before him.
And those twelve steadfast guards.
"Muershu, and you all, how many years have you followed me?"
"Eleven years, Brother."
"Eight years."
"Brother, I’ve been with you for nine and a half years."
"Brother, even though I’ve only followed you for six years, I am definitely the most loyal!"
The guards spoke up one after another, reporting the years they had followed He Xiqing.
Even though the situation was dismal, at this moment, they were still immensely proud.
They were the strongest in the Qingyang tribe, the eagles in the sky, the men among men, the brothers of He Xiqing!
"Then, are you willing to die in battle for me?"
At this moment, He Xiqing’s hands were trembling.
And all these warriors fell into silence.
Yes, to die in battle, when had they ever considered such a thing. Under He Xiqing’s leadership, they were always victorious, had never lost. That omnipotent man always led them to achieve incredible feats, they never thought about dying in battle.
Of course, it wasn’t something they needed to consider, since by choosing to follow He Xiqing, choosing to follow this brother, they had already made their decision, hadn’t they?
"Brother."
Taking a deep breath, the nine-foot-tall Muershu knelt on one knee, lowering his head to the charred figure before him.
Even if the other party has fallen to such a state.
"We are willing to die for you, anytime."
"Alright."
Poof—
Just as Mu Ershu was about to stand up, a broken blade pinned him to the ground.
"Wha..."
Mu Ershu instinctively wanted to raise his head, to shield his big brother—although he didn’t know where the attack came from, at least in his final moments, he could use his useless massive body to shield his big brother...
"Huh?"
With the last of his strength, the dying Mu Ershu finally saw the source of the blade.
It was the saber once resting on his shoulder, the one his big brother always carried with him.
"How could..."
In his final consciousness, Mu Ershu couldn’t believe what he saw.
He Xiqing, wielding two scimitars, was madly slashing at the warriors who were half-kneeling on the ground.
The warriors tried to run, to block, but He Xiqing was just too strong and too fast.
In just a moment, these mighty warriors who had endured horns and war drums were already reduced to a pile of corpse fragments.
But it was not enough.
"Not enough, not enough."
"Not enough, not enough, not enough, not enough! It’s far from enough!"
He Xiqing desperately hacked at the corpses on the ground, but no matter how much he slashed, the dead bodies could not bring more evil Qi.
"I’ve paid so much! Why is it still not enough!"
He Xiqing’s shrill roar was like that of a hungry ghost crawling out of hell.
But no matter how he shouted, he couldn’t see any living beings for him to slaughter.
"No, that’s not right."
As if remembering something, He Xiqing once again picked up the two scimitars.
"There’s still a living being, there’s still one more..."
Saying this, He Xiqing turned his blades towards his side.
"There’s still one last living being, one last one!"
Poof—
His arms tensed, the man named He Xiqing actually pierced his own chest and abdomen.
With a swipe of the blades, the maddened He Xiqing disemboweled himself, blood gushing everywhere, clearly about to die—but even so, He Xiqing found it insufficient, and straightforwardly slashed his neck, cutting half of it open.
Logically, with such grave injuries, He Xiqing should have been long dead.
Yet he was still alive.
The bloodlust inside him, finding no outlet, rampaged through his body, eventually transforming into a deformed wing of dismembered limbs, exploding from his left shoulder. Meanwhile, his right arm grew a wolf-like, dog-like bloody maw, savagely biting at everything around.
Even another bloody, mangled head emerged from the broken neck, using eyes full of teeth to lock gazes with He Xiqing.
This involuntarily made He Xiqing smile.
"Ah Xuan, you’re not dead!"
The bloody, mangled head could not produce normal sounds, only chirping twice with its beak-like mouth in response.
"Good! Fly!"
Upon hearing the chirping, He Xiqing couldn’t help but nod repeatedly.
"Then let’s fly! Fly up to the sky!"
Thud—
The wings made of fresh organs and flesh fragments slammed onto the ground, and the three-zhang tall grotesque bird of flesh rose, crashing through the roof of the Governor’s Mansion, ascending into the air!
And Du Chengfeng, just preparing to enter, finally saw what he was about to face.
"What kind of monster is this..."
Watching the grotesque bird of flesh awkwardly flying in mid-air, Du Chengfeng couldn’t help but grit his teeth.
He seemed to know why Liu Yanran, the Jizhou commander, had said it would be a calamity sweeping across Youzhou when discussing the armory with him.
Only because now he had witnessed it firsthand.
Witnessed this looming calamity about to sweep across all of Jizhou.
The existence of such a thing could already be called a calamity in itself.
"Screech!"
Just as Du Chengfeng looked up, the grotesque bird of flesh in mid-air had already noticed him.
Eyes locked.
"Heeheeheeheehee——"
Thirteen large, claw-like, bird-like arms waved thirteen massive scimitars, slashing down towards Du Chengfeng.
