Wu Piwu strode towards Bianliang, his speed reaching at least one hundred fifty kilometers per hour, and that was without fully unleashing his speed.
At this moment, Wu Piwu was on the road from Dongjing Bianliang to Nanjing Yingtianfu.
Due to the Jingkang Incident (the Jingkang humiliation), Zhao Gou, who had previously been appointed as the Grand Marshal of the Army by the current Emperor Zhao Huan of the Song Dynasty, had directly abandoned the support for Bianliang and was heading towards Yingtianfu under the protection of the troops led by Zong Ze.
However, midway, this troop was entangled by the pursuing forces of the Jin army, and after a series of skirmishes, it finally collapsed by the time Wu Piwu returned, and he saved them.
According to Zong Ze's subordinates, it was roughly three hundred li (one hundred fifty kilometers) from here to Bianliang, and Wu Piwu could arrive in just a little over an hour.
As he ran along the way, he occasionally discovered the remnants of burned villages on both sides of the official road, with only corpses visible, but no villagers.
Previously, Zong Ze and his subordinates had generally described the Jin army's southward advance.
Not long after Guo Jing went missing, the Jin army began a full-scale southward march, and during this time, they moved quickly several times, even the northern giant monsters personally intervened, appearing eager to act.
Although the Jin army might have only taken a little over ten days to breach Bianliang, they had besieged Bianliang for more than a month.
During this period, the Jin army conducted a thorough sweep of the villages and towns surrounding Bianliang, killing few but plundering almost everything.
The Jin court was actually a very backward civilization, even more so than the Liao state they defeated and annexed.
It was a tribal coalition that practiced slavery, and the plundered Song people, the men were forced to labor in agriculture, while the women were for their pleasure, all considered their "goods."
After Wu Piwu had been running for about thirty minutes, he encountered a plundering troop of Jin soldiers consisting of a dozen men, while the plundered Song men and women numbered in the hundreds.
These hundreds of men, women, and children were bound with ropes, dragged along like livestock by the horses in front.
Among the Song people, there were even children the height of a wheel, but there were no infants to be seen.
As Wu Piwu rushed in from behind, he did not speak but charged into the Jin soldiers, smashing one with a slap that shattered him, then he yanked the ropes and shook them hard, instantly breaking the ropes binding the hundreds of men, women, and children into fragments.
The Song commoners were momentarily dazed, then they all knelt down in succession, shouting praises of deities, heavenly lords, and immortals.
Wu Piwu silently watched these Song commoners, and suddenly pointed south, saying, "Follow this road south. There is a new court in the south. Hurry!"
Many commoners wanted to say something, but Wu Piwu had already continued running forward, leaving behind the wailing crowd.
I’m sorry...
I am just an ant struggling to survive in this world...
Wu Piwu had good intentions, but he was not selfless.
He could only help those he saw, and this help was merely to save them; as for what happened afterward... they could only leave it to fate.
Moreover, he did not come to Bianliang for the sake of the country or the people; this Song was not his country, and the people of this dream world were not his people.
He was only fighting for himself, to eliminate his inner demons and to eradicate threats.
He could only ensure that he did not commit evil indiscriminately, striving not to implicate the innocent; beyond that, he could guarantee nothing.
Along the way, Wu Piwu had killed seven or eight Jin soldiers from the plundering troops, with the numbers varying from dozens to just a few, and among these few, some were escorting over a hundred commoners...
Wu Piwu felt a surge of pent-up frustration; even if he was fighting for himself, this frustration had been piling up along the way, making him feel quite uncomfortable.
When he finally arrived outside Bianliang City, he indeed saw several encampments outside the city gates, and there were Jin cavalry scouts wandering around.
Meanwhile, within Bianliang City, smoke and fire swirled, and at several city gates, Jin soldiers were escorting people out of the city, while a continuous stream of carts transported goods out.
This capital of the Northern Song had now become meat laid out on the table for the Jin soldiers, allowing them to butcher it as they pleased.
Wu Piwu looked at the sprawling Jin army encampments, feeling regret that all the N5 bombs were gone.
Thousands of N5 bombs had turned to ashes when the Wusheng Laomu invaded the Peace Hotel domain; otherwise, using them here to directly cleanse the ground would have been incredibly satisfying.
Wu Piwu watched the Jin army encampments for a long time, not daring to recklessly infiltrate.
He decided to first enter Bianliang City.
Circling around Bianliang, Wu Piwu dashed towards the city wall in an unguarded area, lightly tapping the wall a few times with his feet, easily leaping over it.
Standing on the wall and looking down, he could see the once prosperous scene of the Qingming Shanghe Tu had now completely vanished.
The streets were mostly filled with corpses, men, women, and children alike.
Various houses were burned or destroyed, and there were numerous weapons, fences, and fragments of flags scattered everywhere.
Wu Piwu also vaguely heard the sounds of shouting and killing, unsure if there were still resisting forces or if the Jin soldiers were killing.
As he continued to gaze into the distance, suddenly his brow twitched, and he looked towards the location of the imperial palace.
Just one glance made his eyes sting painfully, and he did not dare to look more, only able to silently observe with the corner of his eye.
After watching for more than ten seconds, Wu Piwu finally unraveled a mystery in his heart.
Why had no nightmare penetrated the shelters he had not guarded for over one hundred fifty days since the Northern Song?
Because of the large pit left by Chu Minghao!
Previously, Wu Piwu had not realized what was wrong with that pit, whether due to insufficient strength or a lack of depth in the truth he could perceive.
But now he could clearly sense that there was a force lurking in that deep pit, still and unmoving, like solidified thunder or a heavenly blade.
Once it erupted, it would surely be earth-shattering.
It was this force that blocked the threatening nightmares from penetrating the shelter!
As for those weaker anomalies or monsters, the Great Song had its own national fortune, the Golden Dragon suppressing Bianliang, especially after the extermination of the Ghost Fan Tower and the Wuyou Cave, the entire Bianliang was cleared.
However, the power within that pit was already very weak; although it remained incredibly sharp, Wu Piwu could also feel its power dissipating with each passing moment.
Perhaps in another ten days or half a month, the protective power left by Chu Minghao would completely vanish.
Having seen this, Wu Piwu looked around Bianliang City, hesitated for a few seconds, then leaped down, landing on the ground below the city wall, and dashed into an alley, where several Jin soldiers adorned in gold and silver brocade were facing him.
With a single palm strike, the leading Jin soldier's lower body was directly broken, and with another swift motion, the remaining Jin soldiers were turned into mush.
Only then did the Jin soldier with the broken lower body let out a miserable howl, flailing his hands on the ground like a beast.
Wu Piwu directly lifted him up and asked, "Where is the Emperor of the Zhao Song?"
The Jin soldier babbled incessantly in the Jin language.
Although Wu Piwu understood, all he heard were filthy words.
He did not hesitate, raising his hand to strike, smashing the Jin soldier's head into his chest cavity, then stepped towards the location where he heard the roars and killings.
At this moment, every second counted, and he dared not delay.
Seconds later, another troop of Jin soldiers appeared before him, but this troop was not a plundering group; they appeared to be well-equipped and had no gold or silver on them.
Upon seeing Wu Piwu charging in, at least three or four men immediately raised their weapons.
But it was utterly useless!
At the moment of explosion, he covered a hundred meters in less than a second, with both hands possessing forty to fifty tons of strength, his entire body infused with power; anything he touched was injured, and anyone he struck was killed.
In the blink of an eye, Wu Piwu crashed into the troop, and several men were torn apart, exploding into a spray of blood.
The remaining few were filled with horror; some raised their weapons intending to charge forward, some dropped their weapons planning to flee immediately, and some opened their mouths intending to shout.
In that instant, everything seemed to freeze.
The next second, Wu Piwu, with one hand in a claw and the other in a palm, moved swiftly, and before this group could make a sound, except for one fleeing, the rest were all turned into meat chunks, as if struck head-on by a battering ram.
"I ask you, where is the Emperor of the Zhao Song?"
Wu Piwu asked, holding up the Jin soldier.
The Jin soldier was so frightened that he lost control of his bowels, mumbling meaningless syllables, and under Wu Piwu's intense gaze, his face turned pale and green, and he was directly scared to death on the spot.
Wu Piwu frowned and dropped the corpse, intending to continue searching for the next fortunate target.
At that moment, a voice called out from the side, "Hero, over here!"
He turned his head and saw several men waving at him from a broken wall.
Wu Piwu immediately leaped up to the wall and landed in the courtyard within.
This was a collapsed and damaged house, but because the collapse occurred at the entrance, it created a relatively safe space inside.
There were more than ten men, over ten women and children, and two children, all tightly covered by their mothers' hands.
The man who had just waved looked like a Song soldier, with one arm bent backward, covered in filthy blood, and several arrows stuck in his armor on his back.
This Song soldier immediately said to Wu Piwu, "Hero, are you going to rescue the two officials!?"
Wu Piwu's heart stirred, and he nodded, "Indeed, do you know where they are?"
The Song soldier's face immediately flushed red, and the Song people behind him wore similar expressions.
The Song soldier said, "The two officials have been stripped naked, kneeling outside the main camp of the northern Jin soldiers, watching the noble ladies of the heavenly family... beasts!!"
Wu Piwu, however, remained calm and unperturbed.
This was indeed something that Song Huizong and Song Qinzong could do; in fact, if Zhao Gou were here, all three emperors could do such a thing.
"Thank you."
Wu Piwu learned the specific location and did not delay, immediately stepping out to leave.
At this moment, the Song soldier immediately tried to dissuade him, saying, "Hero, your skills are remarkable, but that Jin army camp is a dragon's den and a tiger's lair, with the northern great demon personally stationed there. To rescue the officials requires careful planning, Hero!"
Wu Piwu did not heed him; at this time, others also spoke up, but one voice made him pause for a second.
He turned his head and indeed saw an elderly man who looked somewhat familiar.
This old man had met him once; when he and Yamada Xu Shilan first entered Bianliang, it was this old man who had a conversation with him and offered the three of them a bowl of cool tea.
Wu Piwu turned to look at the old man and suddenly clasped his fists, asking, "Old sir, do you have any relatives taken by the Jin soldiers?"
The old man had originally been calling out with the crowd; he also found this tall young man somewhat familiar but could not recall why.
Upon hearing this, tears streamed down his face, and he immediately covered his face and cried loudly.
The Song soldier sighed, "Old Li's two sons and two daughters-in-law died in the Jin soldiers' plunder, and one grandson and one granddaughter were taken away..."
Wu Piwu tightened his fists but said nothing, only turning and taking a few steps into the air, ignoring the words behind him, and had already moved far away.
Once he reached the street, Wu Piwu no longer concealed his figure, unleashing his speed forward, killing anyone he encountered, annihilating any soldiers, and anyone dressed as a barbarian was killed without exception.
His speed was fast, and his strikes were fierce.
In just a few minutes, he had killed hundreds, his body drenched in filthy blood.
At this time, the Jin soldiers in the city had long since noticed something was wrong, and the plundered Song people, as well as those hiding, had also discovered Wu Piwu.
Then, he charged straight towards the north gate, killing through the north gate guards in mere seconds, and immediately saw the massive encampment standing outside the north gate.
His body moved like a swift electric current, intent like a roaring tiger.
The cavalrymen between the city gate and the encampment could not catch up; as they galloped and shouted, Wu Piwu had already crashed through the camp's barriers, directly charging onto the training ground of the encampment.
Before him, Zhao Ji and another man were kneeling naked in the training ground, facing a huge tent, from which the sounds of women crying and screaming could be heard, along with the roars of men indulging in pleasure.
As Wu Piwu crashed into the training ground, dense Jin soldiers surged out around him, and behind him, hundreds or thousands of cavalrymen chased after him.
Zhao Ji and the other man looked over simultaneously, both with disbelief in their eyes, then both revealed expressions of wild joy.
But Wu Piwu's eyes were filled with killing intent.
Kill Zhao Ji!
Destroy his inner demons!
Establish a Level Five Shelter!
Only then could he face that northern great demon!
Wu Piwu ignored all the Jin soldiers, Song captives, and the cries of the plundered commoners around him, taking one step after another towards Zhao Ji.
Kill the emperor...
At that moment!
(End of Chapter)