Chapter 92: The Old Servant Deserves Death
Chapter 92: The Old Servant Deserves Death
“No way, this thing…”
Beneath the overcast sky, an abrupt bolt of lightning split the air. Inside the hall at Black Water Fort, all the Guardians and Helmsmen instantly jumped in fright, hastily rising to their feet. Their gazes were instantly pulled towards the pill gripped in Lao Chao’s hand. An incredibly strange medicinal aroma filled their nostrils, causing their Magical Power to stir chaotically within them.
Lao Chao stared at the pill in his own hand, shocked at first, his fingers rubbing it unconsciously. Then, urgently, he pressed the wax seal back into place over it.
The intense glow vanished immediately, yet the strange medicinal fragrance lingered in the air.
Staring at the pill in his palm, all the nearby gang members could clearly hear Lao Chao’s heart pounding like frantic drums against his ribs.
Large beads of cold sweat trickled down his forehead. Abruptly, he lunged forward. His body smashed through the wooden table in front of him. He charged straight toward the advisor, grabbed the man fiercely with one hand, and roared: “Where… did this come from?!”
Silence filled the entire hall. Everyone could hear the unmistakable fear in Lao Chao’s voice.
“It… it was looted by our men below…”
Even the advisor hadn’t expected Lao Chao’s reaction to be so extreme. His face had already drained of color.
Lao Chao snapped again, more urgently: “Looted from whose hands?!”
“The looter… supposedly ran away… I… I’ll go question them right now…”
“No need…”
Lao Chao slowly released him. An unprecedented look of terror now distorted Lao Chao’s face. His body trembled visibly. Inside his mind, violent waves seemed to crash relentlessly against his reason. In that single moment, countless complex possibilities flashed through his thoughts, leaving him utterly overwhelmed. Terror. Rage. In the space of only a few heartbeats, his expression shifted dramatically several times.
“Chief, what in the world is going on?”
The other Helmsmen standing nearby rose to their feet, their faces grim, demanding answers loudly.
“We’ve been played…”
Lao Chao’s voice seemed laden down with an immense weight, oppressive and strained. He stared down at the pill in his hand, murmuring, “It’s a Human Elixir!”
“Human Elixir?”
The Helmsmen and leaders looked dumbstruck for a beat. Then, realization hit them. They surged forward, desperate for a look.
At that instant, many weren’t showing fear – they looked genuinely excited.
Recently, countless powerful demonic cultivators and ancient monsters from distant lands had flocked to their region solely in search of this very Human Elixir! The bounty offered for it had reached astronomical heights of ten thousand gold taels. Willow Lake City’s City Governor had also pressured them multiple times. He demanded the gang muster men to assist in the search, promising immense rewards. Their greed for those rewards had long been stirring…
If Lao Chao hadn’t forcibly suppressed them repeatedly, the entire Black Water Fort would surely have emptied itself searching for it ages ago.
Thanks only to Lao Chao’s iron grip were they reluctantly kept sitting idle within these walls…
Who could have imagined this Human Elixir would somehow end up right inside Black Water Fort?
“The Human Elixir everyone’s been searching for… how could it possibly be here?”
“If it really is the Human Elixir, presenting it to the City Governor… wouldn’t that be a massive achievement…?”
Fierce excitement and agitation held them all captive instantly. Some even thought: Was the Chief stopping them from outwardly searching because he had already set up the perfect snare? Because he knew all along the Human Elixir would obediently walk right into their hands?
“……”
“……”
“A massive achievement…”
But Lao Chao, a seasoned denizen of the brutal underworld, had already ran through countless calculations and judgments in the briefest time. A decision crystallized. He suddenly let out a sharp, piercing shout that stunned everyone in the hall silent. They stared at him in stupid confusion. Gone was the familiar Lao Chao; naked savagery twisted his face now. And beneath that brutality hid an indescribable terror, his pupils shrinking to needle points.
Everyone in Willow Lake City was hunting for this Human Elixir. Only he had been trying to evade it.
Yet, how could he possibly have foreseen? This Human Elixir chose to seek him out…
“Did the men below genuinely and unintentionally seize this pill?”
“Or… is someone maneuvering in the shadows…?”
His thoughts raced lightning-fast. Lao Chao’s heart trembled violently. For a brief moment, his mind went completely blank.
Abruptly, he whipped his head around to stare up into the sky. The rain seemed even heavier, pouring down now. Deep within the impenetrable darkness of the distant night, a chilling sense formed in his gut. Countless invisible energies seemed to intertwine and warp the very air high above.
“Right, this pill must be delivered to…”
Lao Chao reacted with stunning speed. A plan had already formed.
“BOOM!”
But before he could even finish forming the thought, a colossal explosion shattered the night air – coming from the direction of the fort’s main gate.
Already on edge, filled with awful dread, the Helmsmen and Guardians inside the hall all took a sharp leap backwards in shock. Before they could truly react, a deep, earth-shaking boom echoed like oppressive thunder. An overwhelming wave of vicious, blood-soaked killing intent surged straight towards the hall like a physical tide. From outside, through the drumming rain, terrified shouts pierced the chaos: “Wh-what the hell is that?!”
Peering through the rain curtains, they saw, with horror, a giant figure striding into Black Water Fort. It stood easily thirty or forty feet tall. Pitch black, shockingly, it looked like a patchwork monstrosity horrifically stitched together from at least a dozen rotten corpses. Its form radiated a unique aura that was undeniably immense and twisted, infinitely grim and terrifying, like a demon god descended from heaven. Its steps had instantly shattered the fort’s front gate. A miasma of putrid evil writhed around it, so thick and potent that it visibly froze numerous gang members solid within moments, stealing their lives instantly.
“Who dares invade our Black Water Fort?!”
Feeling the bone-chilling evil washing towards them, the Helmsmen surged with shared fury. Their furious roars filled the hall as they prepared to charge outward.
B-B-Blamm!
But right at that moment, an earth-shattering bang erupted from the western direction. Immediately after, a large section of the high, wooden palisade wall exploded inward into splinters. Swarming through the newly created breach came countless dark figures writhing and wriggling like agile fish diving into water. The creature at the very vanguard wore robes fashioned from coarse white paper. It carried a moaning staff wrapped utterly in trailing white funeral paper ribbons. Its nightmarishly desolate, ghostly laughter echoed out as it commanded and controlled dozens of howling vengeful ghosts.
“Hooo-shoooosh…”
A genuinely eerie wind rushed up from the east. Being caught briefly in the faint light cast by a few swaying lanterns revealed a crucial detail: this bitingly cold wind possessed a sickly, poisonous-looking green hue. Any gang members caught in its chilling path collapsed almost instantly, hacked and slashed apart by invisible assailants.
CRACK!
Directly behind the great hall, countless dazzling talisman-symbols suddenly erupted with blinding golden light! Horrific detonations tore through the defensive walls of Black Water Fort, opening yet another colossal breach. Through this newly opened gap, swarms of demonic figures and twisted cultivators poured desperately into the besieged fortress. Brandishing weapons, some rode strange tools known better as ‘treasures’ belching smoke or sparks, others flew low on rapidly weaving swords, some focused on controlling eerie swarms of venomous insects or diseased flying parasites. Their shouts, blending greedy hunger and fevered excitement into something animalistic and chaotic, filled the air. They surged towards the main hall like a tidal wave of ferocious inhumanity breaking against the shore.
“The Human Elixir!”
“You vile ocean-thieving bandits, daring to hide the Human Elixir?! Hand it over immediately!”
“Practicing Human Elixir refinement deserves death without pardon! Slaughter this den of demonic bandits!”
“……”
“……”
In a mere instant, an incalculable tide of grim-faced demon adherents, murdering spirits relying on dark arts, freelancing assassins formerly bound only by coin but now driven by greed, obscure sect fighters, terrifying creatures of the night seeking to absorb the pill’s power, muttering recluses knowing hidden arts, and mysteriously cloaked figures wielding cryptic artifacts—all burst violently through defenses TORN asunder. They killed their way into what had seemed the slightly secure final stronghold that was Black Water Fort!
Any lingering trace of hope snuffed out utterly within Lao Chao’s heart the moment he saw the hideous variety of assailants forcing their way in. Utter despair consumed him instantly. His mind railed silently: “What demon spawn conceived this level of relentless, vicious hatred? Who schemed to force us onto this utterly inescapable path of all-consuming doom?!”
His gaze swept frantically around Black Water Fort. Complete pandemonium reigned. Gangs member clashed with terrifyingly diverse enemies everywhere. Their defenses were faltering badly. Overwhelmingly, the rank-and-file gang members were common folk – barely better than untrained fisher mongers and toughs. Taken utterly by surprise in pitch-dark chaos, how could they possibly stand against legions of seasoned Qi Refiners officially labeled ‘Rogue Cultivators’, practitioners honed through vicious combat? Or match the bestial agility and jarring techniques practiced by those fallen into dark arts – known commonly as Demonics? The outcome was becoming inevitable slaughter.
“Audacious!!”
Meanwhile, the Helmsmen and Guardians stationed within Black Water Fort witnessed legion after legion of varied demon thralls and renegade practitioners rampaging across their territory. Fury vied violently with sheer terror in their hearts.
For decades unchallenged, the mighty Devouring Sea Gang had held absolute dominion over Willow Lake City’s treacherous underground waterways and murky shores! Countless foreign cultivators who ignored the Devouring Sea Gang’s iron rule met final rest at the bottom of the dark lake depths—ballasted chains the only marker unknown to surface dwellers. Years had passed without a single powerful challenger daring to confront the giants controlling these ripples. Yet now? Invaders bypassed traditions—no formal challenge declaration, no messenger sent ahead! They simply stormed the fortifications using deadly explosive force and legions of creatures! Burning with righteous fury mingled with shivering unease, Helmsmen sought targets for vengeance… until their eyes registered the sheer horrifying number of invaders streaming relentlessly through breaches their fort’s walls now resembled ancient ruined honeycomb. A chill overtook their battle-fevered minds.
“Chief!”
Acting entirely on desperate instinct, every fighter instinctively looked towards Lao Chao. They awaited precisely spoken orders. Survival depended entirely upon his next command!
But Lao Chao? At this critical moment, his face displayed indescribable rage, mingled with terrible dread. And he knew, with chilling certainty, this furious roar rising unbidden in his chest was useless, irrelevant noise fading to nothing against the cacophony descending.
He clenched his teeth so intensely pain flared. He forced his panicking mind onto one conceptual pathway towards survival. He made the excruciating choice instantly.
“Burn the fort. Everyone get out—FLEE!”
Lao Chao suddenly swung his palm violently, sending a dare-sneak-into-the-main-hall Rogue Cultivator catapulting messily back outwards. Simultaneously, his voice cut through the din like an icy blade: “TORCH EVERY BUILDING AND RUN!!”
“WHAT?!”
Utter disbelief rippled instantly through every remaining Helmsman and battle-hardened gang scoundrel gathered inside Black Water Fort’s main fortress’s failing shell.
“If you want to live—LISTEN TO ME!!”
Lao Chao clung desperately to his fraying rational mind. His voice sliced through chaos, ordering with undeniable command: “Forget forming ranks! Run individually. Escape through any gap you see!!”
………
………
Sh-swhh-SZHSHT!!
The nighttime rain intensified drastically, plummeting mercilessly sky to earth. The heavy downpour struck the ground with knife-edge sharpness, evoking the menace of lethal throwing stars slicing unseen through blackness.
Within this vast, drowned landscape—a place without stars to guide, without moon to illuminate, devoid in totality of natural heavenly light—the silhouettes of countless Qi Refiners moved like ghosts amidst curtains as heavy as lead welded shut. Cultivators surged towards Black Water Fort from every conceivable compass point. They came rushing—determined fighters desperate to reach the fortress before others claimed victory. Legions shifted through agitated night. Some dashed frantically forward, flying maximum possible speed through raw terrain, cursing the very limitations of learned movement arts preventing faster transit. Others swore bitterly upon themselves, damning their foresight for failing to connect dots pointing logic squarely towards the possibility that Black Water Fort indeed held the hidden treasure! How could they have been prevented by mere distraction? They felt crushed by seeing ruthless opportunistic rivals clearly having stolen inside ahead!
“You wretched demons, do you refuse to withdraw?!”
And yet! Amidst spiraling carnage reaching frightening crescendos, a commanding voice suddenly shattered through the heavier din—emitting clearly from the northern periphery just beyond collapsing portcullised entryways.
High within that black tapestry woven of pouring rain and absence of stars, a sudden radiant flare erupted. Gold-hued brilliance lit sections of sky. Looking towards Willow Lake City, all could witness a dazzling column of golden light shoot upwards. Suspended within that light floated a fist-sized golden seal! Instantly reacting to mysterious forces, the seal rapidly swelled like blowing glass on a furnace. Within moments it enlarged beyond reason—becoming comparable in vast dimension to a sheer cliff face! Hurriedly, it positioned itself directly above Black Water Fort.
Swirling currents of palpable energy forged of the seal’s unstoppable magical core expanded outwards. The overwhelming presence pushed back enveloping shadows clinging to fortress grounds. Radiant certainty replaced inexplicable swirling darkness!
“This…”
Consciousness across swaths of Rogue Cultivators threatened by that authoritative glow flinched instinctively away. Numerous aggressive fighters drew back slightly, battle-eagerness temporarily subdued.
The City Governor had arrived!
Over these recent peril-packed weeks, cultivators and seekers from numerous corners of the known provinces had chased elusive rumors seeking prize. Destinations spread like disinformation seeds. Noting suspicious lack of aggressive outward search parties from Black Water Fort, many journeyman Qi Refiners had pitched watch positions nearby. Yet the official City Governor’s guard forces, anchoring vital northern perimeter defenses alongside scholarly warriors representing Willow Lake City’s renowned Academy patrolling south corridors, had discounted rumor and feigned innocence within fort boundaries. Therefore, when uniquely traceable arcane emanations pertaining exclusively to Human Elixir manifested tangibly within fortress groundwork in finite location… the authorities reacted with critical delay! By urgent time they mobilized significant forces towards definite energy source confirmation—the swarm of unregulated Rogue Cultivators previously idling within perimeter woods had already stormed the gates of Black Water Fort by minutes! Utter chaos within fortress grounds greeted official arrival!
“Harboring a Human Elixir constitutes profound felony guilt! Vile thieves infesting this pit of lawlessness—submit the pill NOW!!”
From somewhere within the northern darkness far beyond splintered gates, that same authoritative voice resonated powerfully—piercing through the metaphysical barriers separating realities like a physical fist striking. Its undeniable command crashed into Black Water Fort like debilitating thunder rolling relentlessly over hills!
Raw anger blazed within City Bai Huali’s words. He had reached absolute limits of tolerance consequences be damned.
But his command demanded response received unexpected reply: “WHHOO-MPFF!”
Simultaneously spawned within Black Water Fort’s interior structure, seven to eight distinct locations roared into flames rapidly building into towering pillars of purifying, searing fire! Confirming Lao Chao’s orders executed without fail! Moments later, the remaining inhabitants; bandits, cooks carrying knives alongside corrupt Guardians leading skeletons of troops; poured from gates, tunnels, and smashed sections of wall—a desperate, terrified flood seeking chaotic exits into unknown poisoned forests beckoning!
City Governor Bai Huali beheld this unplanned inferno igniting uncontrollably before his approaching forces. His face transformed instantly into furious grimace. Teeth grinding uncontrollably against helpless fury, he could only utter fierce whisper: “That cunning treacherous old slave scum… He absolutely deserves death…”