Chapter 188: The Siege

There were three strong, yet very slow heartbeats.

No ordinary person could have heard them, but with Zuo Zhicheng’s sharp senses, he clearly heard the sound.

As he heard the sound, Zuo Zhicheng’s eyes suddenly snapped open, as if a flash of lightning had passed through them. The moment his eyes flashed with light, the sky abruptly darkened.

It was clearly midday, yet the Sun had suddenly vanished—no, not vanished, but large, dark clouds had appeared in the sky, blocking all the sunlight.

“What’s going on? Why did it suddenly get dark?”

“It’s not dark; it’s going to thunder and rain.”

“How can it thunder in the middle of winter?”

But just as everyone in the convoy was feeling puzzled, an icy-blue symbol rose behind Zuo Zhicheng’s head—he had activated the Heartscape of Ice Soul Frost Demon Field.

At the same time, his body sank down, and he crashed through the carriage roof, entering the carriage.

Tang Saier didn’t react at all and opened her mouth to scream. Lin Yuexi had already thrown herself toward Tang Saier, ready to protect her.

Tang Xianghui froze, unsure of what had happened. Qingyue Qiu immediately slapped the gourd, preparing to fight.

Of the four women, only Qingyue Qiu understood the situation best. Because she knew Zuo Zhicheng best, she knew he wouldn’t act for no reason or do something pointless.

If Zuo Zhicheng had made a move, it meant a fight was necessary; if he had chosen to go below, that meant the attack had come from beneath the carriage.

Indeed, Qingyue Qiu’s judgment was correct.

Of the three heartbeats Zuo Zhicheng had just heard, the loudest and closest one came from under the carriage; it sounded like a thunderclap in the sky or the start of a pump.

Almost at the very moment the sky darkened, Zuo Zhicheng crashed into the carriage, Tang Saier’s mouth was open but no sound had come out yet—all within a second or two—

A huge arm, as thick as a person’s waist, glowing with a bluish-black light, burst through the carriage floor with a loud crash.

By then, Zuo Zhicheng’s fist was already shooting like a cannonball toward the center of the massive palm.

Because of his training in Yama Golden Body, his fist looked pale and delicate—especially compared to the giant hand, it was almost half its size. It seemed like a baby’s hand resisting the hand of a dark, monstrous creature.

But the reality was completely different from appearances.

With a dull, explosive thud, as if a bomb had gone off inside the carriage, a visible shockwave of air spread from where the two palms met. Immense force rippled through the air, scattering in all directions.

Everything in its path—the roof, doors, windows, stove, and cushions—was swept away by the transparent shockwave, and the carriage shattered into pieces.

Of the four women who had been sitting inside, Tang Saier was instantly knocked unconscious by the shockwave generated from the sheer force of the collision. Tang Xianghui, Qingyue Qiu, and Lin Yuexi, though not unconscious, lay on the ground, their limbs too weak to stand.

The mere aftermath of one exchange had incapacitated all four women.

So, what about the two who had clashed?

After throwing his punch, Zuo Zhicheng was flung over ten meters away before landing lightly on the ground. The skin and bones on his right fist were bruised purple and blue, clearly severely injured.

‘My knuckles are fractured; that hand isn’t normal.’ When he punched, he could clearly feel that the other’s palm didn’t feel like flesh and blood.

But the other side clearly didn’t fare well either. After the punch, the entire arm sank into the ground, leaving behind a dark, gaping hole. Obviously, Zuo Zhicheng’s punch had driven the opponent back.

However, the attackers weren’t just one person.

Just as Zuo Zhicheng landed, a flash of light lit up the sky—a purple lightning bolt that seemed to split the heavens, snaking across the sky like a thin, winding serpent.

Accompanying the lightning was an ear-shattering roar, as if a thousand thunderclaps had sounded simultaneously.

After this sound, nearly all the horses and guards in the convoy collapsed on the ground, knocked unconscious, with over half dying from sudden cardiac arrest. Only Qingyue Qiu, Tang Xianghui, Tang Yuan, and Lin Ganghao remained conscious.

‘Such a terrifying Heartscape.’

Indeed, almost the moment the sky darkened, Zuo Zhicheng knew it was the opponent’s Heartscape, not an actual thunderstorm. Now it seemed this Heartscape was created from the essence of thunder. Just as thunder usually frightens people, and dark, low-hanging clouds feel oppressive.

This Heartscape, cast by Dharma King Daoyu and named Chen Lei Tian Po, used that concept—the authority of thunder—to intimidate and terrify people.

An ordinary person might faint from one thunderclap, or even die of sudden cardiac arrest.

Right after that thunderclap, a beautiful female Taoist, holding a horsetail whisk, slowly walked from the direction of the main road and looked toward Zuo Zhicheng, who stood tall and unaffected by the sky’s thunder.

At the same time, from the shattered carriage, a huge hand slowly emerged, followed by a massive, iron-blue man who seemed made of iron, climbing out from underground and staring ruthlessly toward Zuo Zhicheng’s position.

Behind Zuo Zhicheng, Dharma King Zhuan Lun, wearing a ritual robe and with hands clasped, also slowly approached.

The positions of the three were quite precise: the iron giant—the embodiment of Dharma King of Destruction—stood within Zuo Zhicheng’s Ice Soul Frost Demon Field, yet appeared completely unaffected by this Heartscape.

Dharma King Daoyu stopped a hundred meters away from Zuo Zhicheng, not stepping into the Ice Soul Frost Demon Field. What puzzled Zuo Zhicheng was the scope of her Heartscape—the clouds seemed to cover the entire sky, making it unclear how far the Heartscape extended.

As for Dharma King Zhuan Lun, he also halted over a hundred meters away, smiling as he watched Zuo Zhicheng and the others, who were clearly on guard.

“So, the three of you must be the Dharma King of Destruction, Dharma King Daoyu, and Dharma King Zhuan Lun from Dìyù Gate.” Zuo Zhicheng’s vocal cords vibrated intensely, his voice piercing the distance and clearly reaching their ears even over a hundred meters away.

“If you’re planning to surround me, I’m afraid it won’t be that easy.”

The next moment, accompanied by terrifying roars, a huge black shadow emerged from the woods beside the main road.