“... No, the little mute is dead, I buried her with my own hands...”
“No, that’s the little mute’s eyes! I saw it clearly!”
“But she’s dead!”
“Maybe she’s alive again. This is the Zero Point Seven world of baseline reality, where supernatural powers and extraordinary abilities are quite normal!”
“But even if she’s alive, it’s impossible for her to have so many guards and maidservants attending to her. Wake up, that’s not the little mute!”
“I need to confirm!”
“You’re asking for trouble! Heaven knows what identity this girl has; she looks either rich or noble. You’re still guarding time, or are you in this unfamiliar ancient world?”
“I need to confirm!!”
“What about Yamada and Xu Shilan!?”
In Wu Pifu’s mind, it was as if two voices were arguing.
Just as he was about to step forward, the faces of Yamada and Xu Shilan flashed through his mind.
At that moment, he retracted his steps, merely casting a deep glance at the palanquin before turning and jumping down from the high wall.
Jiu Jiu flew in the air, wailing for a long time, but the person inside the palanquin did not come out.
Jiu Jiu could only fly back towards Wu Pifu.
At the same time, on a city tower far away from the temple, a middle-aged man dressed in red and yellow casual attire, sitting in a rattan chair, squinted his eyes slightly and smiled while pointing towards the temple, saying, “What a lecher!”
Beside him, a middle-aged man in purple attire had a serious expression and said, “Daring to spy on the imperial princess! What audacity! The rascals of Kaifeng are becoming more and more numerous! Your Majesty, I will immediately send someone to capture him!”
The Emperor did not respond but merely smiled, while a Daoist priest beside him laughed heartily and said, “Why go through so much trouble? Today is the Lantern Festival; we cannot disturb Your Majesty’s enjoyment. Let me show you how it’s done.”
The Emperor nodded slightly, and the Daoist priest smiled as he extended his hand, pulling out a piece of yellow paper from his sleeve.
He moved his fingers over the tea in front of him, drawing something on the yellow paper.
Then he tossed the yellow paper forward, which flew several meters away from the gate tower and surprisingly transformed into a crimson bird, about half a meter long, with fiery red feathers.
With a clear cry, it flew towards the temple.
There were more than thirty people on the gate tower.
Aside from the pale-faced eunuchs and maidservants, there were over ten officials dressed in purple or scarlet clothing.
Their expressions changed slightly, each with a hint of gloom in their eyes.
A few young men who were clearly not officials but had seats there also looked at the crimson bird with deep meanings in their gazes.
Only the Emperor’s eyes were filled with appreciation.
On the other side, Wu Pifu, feeling dejected, jumped down from the high wall and buried his head as he walked back.
However, after walking about ten meters, he suddenly raised his head to look towards the inner city and saw a crimson bird swooping down towards him.
The closer it got, the larger it appeared, and in the blink of an eye, it enveloped an area of ten meters above him.
This crimson bird transformed into a gigantic firebird, spreading its wings as it swooped down.
“Ah!”
Wu Pifu was both startled and angry.
As he saw the gigantic firebird diving down, the surging flames were already above his head.
Jiu Jiu could no longer withstand the high temperature and fell from his shoulder.
He didn’t care about anything else and let out a furious roar.
In the next moment, all the qi and blood of his National Art gathered in his dantian, while the blood energy of the Human Immortal Martial Path filled his flesh.
His body slightly crouched, and his hands naturally hung down.
In an instant, the qi gathered in his dantian.
Although he did not adopt the Sitting Lotus stance, all his strength had already converged at one point in his dantian.
At the moment the firebird charged in front of him, his roar, accompanied by all his strength, burst forth as his palms struck the firebird’s head.
The imagined scene of flames exploding did not occur.
The firebird turned out to be a silver spear candle head, which immediately shattered into sparks upon contact with his palms.
The fiery sea that seemed capable of engulfing dozens of meters directly vanished.
Wu Pifu’s dual palm strike infused nearly all his strength.
Whether it was National Art or Human Immortal Martial Path, all his power was concentrated within.
Moreover, he unleashed it in a virtual dantian manner using the Sitting Lotus technique.
The power in that instant was immense.
As the firebird dispersed, his palms naturally pushed forward, directly smashing into the high wall.
The high wall was nearly five meters tall and two palms wide, yet it was blasted open by Wu Pifu’s strike, creating a large breach.
The force had not yet dissipated, and the shattered bricks flew dozens of meters away.
Although they lost their power, they still caused the guards near the palanquin to shout in alarm.
Wu Pifu was momentarily dazed.
He hadn’t expected such a terrifying firebird, which seemed like a small cloud-burst bomb, to only feel slightly warm upon contact and then vanish without a trace?
He stood there in a daze for a few seconds, seeing the guards rushing in with knives and guns, and dozens of guards running in from the temple’s main gate, all surrounding him as if facing a great enemy.
He was at a loss for what to do and hurriedly said, “Just now, a fire demon, no, a bird demon, no, a firebird demon attacked me. I was forced to retaliate, I…”
The guards didn’t listen to what Wu Pifu was saying; each one was on high alert.
Wu Pifu even saw some crossbow-wielding guards rushing in from a distance.
He no longer dared to delay, quickly turned to scoop up the dazed Jiu Jiu, and then turned to run back.
The guards were stunned.
They had prepared for a bloody battle, but they didn’t expect this fierce person, who had just smashed the high wall with one palm, to turn around and run away?
After a few seconds of being stunned, the guards shouted and chased after him.
On the other hand, the person in the palanquin was stunned for a long time before suddenly bursting into laughter.
Meanwhile, the more than ten people above the inner city remained silent.
After a long while, the Daoist priest suddenly bowed to the Emperor and said, “Your Majesty, I see this person carries demonic energy. Please allow me to pursue him for a while.”
The Emperor nodded in agreement, saying, “National Master, don’t be anxious. If it’s just a wild spirit from the mountains, let him go. A small punishment will suffice.”
The Daoist lowered his head and turned to leave the gate tower.
After the Daoist left for a moment, a purple-robed official suddenly said, “Your Majesty, the Daoist is lowly and unreasonable. Moreover, Guo Jing is narrow-minded; he truly cannot be established in the court.”
The Emperor, however, did not become angry but merely smiled and said, “Utilize his talents as needed… Gentlemen, have you discerned the origins of this man?”
All the ministers fell into contemplation.
A resolute-looking official said, “His blood energy is so thick that he doesn’t seem human. Although there’s some demonic energy, it doesn’t emanate from within him. His bloodline is undoubtedly pure human, yet the force that broke through the Daoist technique is not the military’s murderous aura. It’s truly hard to fathom.”
The Emperor then looked up at an old eunuch beside him.
The eunuch remained silent but nodded slightly and walked towards the back of the gate tower.
The Emperor, the princes, and the high-ranking officials remained silent, merely gazing at the bustling Bianliang.
After a while, the old eunuch returned and whispered a few words in the Emperor’s ear.
“The otherworldly person from the Mud Buddha and the Night Demon?” The Emperor exclaimed in surprise.
The ministers were puzzled, while two scarlet-robed officials were momentarily stunned.
Seeing the Emperor gesture, they immediately recounted this strange case.
“Mud Buddha, Night Demon?” The ministers murmured.
A purple-robed official said, “Looking at this man’s short hair and tight clothing, he has quite an exotic style, but his speech has the accent of our Song people. Could he be an otherworldly person?”
The ministers all had their speculations, but none were certain.
At this moment, the Emperor said, “Let’s see what the National Master does. Although this man was somewhat disrespectful, he merely took a distant glance. It cannot be considered a great crime. Judging by his age, he’s still young. If he has a clear background, such a brave warrior should not be left to wander among the common folk.”
All the ministers nodded in agreement.
They were extremely vigilant regarding Daoist techniques and demonic arts, but if it was merely the bravery of blood energy, then it was of no concern.
Now, the north was in need of brave warriors.
If this otherworldly person had the heart to serve the country, then pardoning him for spying on the imperial princess would not be a big deal, after all, he only took a distant glance in the temple.
On the other side, Wu Pifu quickly ran through the crowd, his figure swift and agile.
In just two streets, he shook off those guards.
The guards did not pursue too aggressively; after all, Wu Pifu had only broken a high wall of a temple and had not harmed anyone.
Moreover, if such a fierce person were to get serious, they wouldn’t dare to press on, so they gradually stopped their pursuit.
Feeling that there were no pursuers behind him, Wu Pifu slowly made his way towards where Yamada and Xu Shilan were.
Soon, he saw the two standing among the crowd, engrossed in watching a performance.
Upon seeing Wu Pifu return, both inquired about the little mute.
Wu Pifu hesitated for a moment and said, “I only saw her from a distance, and I only saw her eyes... very much like the little mute, but I can’t be sure if it’s her. Besides, I buried the little mute with my own hands, so... I don’t know.”
Yamada said boldly, “Why not go up and take a closer look?”
Wu Pifu shook his head, not wanting to explain in detail here.
He said, “Let’s exchange for some gold first, then find an inn or something to settle down.”
The two nodded.
Just as they were about to walk forward with Wu Pifu, suddenly all three felt a pat on their shoulders.
They turned around simultaneously to see a young man with a sword sheath on his back smiling at them.
Wu Pifu’s hair stood on end, and he quickly turned to shield the two behind him, whispering, “Run into the crowd, this person is very…”
Xu Shilan was the first to exclaim in surprise, “Chu Minghao, why are you here!?”
Hearing Xu Shilan’s voice, Wu Pifu slowly relaxed his guard, but he was already drenched in cold sweat.
Chu Minghao laughed heartily, “Long time no see, Miss Xu, and two human heroes, hello, I am Chu Minghao.”
Yamada said boldly, “Who? A maintenance worker from another district?”
“No, he’s not a maintenance worker at all.”
Xu Shilan had a complex expression, “A Level Seven citizen, a user qualified to operate one of the three superbrain assistants of humanity, a war hero from the Four Wars, the ace among the ace of the human unified government’s mecha troops, the strongest user of the Dragon Knight system, the youngest presidential candidate... Chu Minghao.”
Wu Pifu whispered, “Friend? Enemy? Or... rival?”
Xu Shilan paused for a moment, looked at Wu Pifu, and with a smile that was both happy and somewhat frustrated, said, “No, he’s not an enemy, let alone a rival. He’s an idealistic fool, barely a good person, and also my university alumni, almost becoming a marriage partner…”
She then turned to Chu Minghao and asked, “Why are you here? No, what I want to ask is, how did you wake up? Wasn’t it said that all citizens fell into the dream world, and only maintenance personnel could awaken?”
Chu Minghao appeared to be a seventeen or eighteen-year-old youth, smiling sincerely and cheerfully.
He said, “It’s a long story, and this isn’t the place to talk. Let’s find a tavern to discuss... Don’t worry, both of you, I’m here to help you.”
Xu Shilan seemed to trust Chu Minghao greatly.
She nodded to Wu Pifu and Yamada, and the two naturally agreed to go along.
However, after taking just a few steps, Chu Minghao suddenly stopped.
He looked at Wu Pifu, then glanced into the distance, and smiled, “Wait for me a few seconds.”
Everyone was puzzled as they saw Chu Minghao suddenly clap the sword sheath behind him.
In an instant, the world turned black and white, and everyone fell into a state of stillness, even the falling leaves froze in mid-air.
Everyone’s thoughts seemed to vanish, except for Wu Pifu, whose consciousness shone brightly in his sea of awareness, while the yellow lotus fragment around his neck also emitted a bright light.
The two combined allowed him to see everything clearly in this black-and-white world.
A dazzling sword light, indescribably brilliant, surged out from the sword sheath, flashing towards the distance and then returning in the blink of an eye.
With the sound of the sword sheath ringing, the world regained its color.
Xu Shilan and Yamada were both bewildered, while Wu Pifu was filled with shock, unable to believe what he had just witnessed.
Meanwhile, in the distance on the royal street of the imperial city, a Daoist riding a horse suddenly let out a startled cry and fell off his horse.
He fearfully touched his head and neck, feeling around for a while.
Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the crown on his head suddenly cracked and fell off.
The Daoist looked at the crown.
The crack was smooth as a mirror.
(End of Chapter)