Volume Two: The Weapons Codex Chapter 151: Birds of a Feather Make Entirely Wicked Nests

Xue Zangfeng had no intention of sparing his opponent's life. Before even recovering his strength, he leaped high, stepped upon the shoulders of the soldiers, and flew all the way to the front of Qi Baishun. He flicked a crystal-clear water droplet from his fingertip, which burst into a cloud of white mist, completely concealing their location.

"Are you trying to test your hand-to-hand combat skills with me?" Qi Baishun's voice came from within the white mist, seemingly intentionally giving away his position to his opponent. Xue Zangfeng naturally heard it, and he swung his sword to slash in the direction of the voice.

His sword strike hit nothing empty air, and something jammed the blade, preventing it from being pulled back. Xue Zangfeng decisively let go of the weapon, threw a punch into the mist beside him, and collided squarely with Qi Baishun's fist. Both men flew backward simultaneously, landing back in their respective formations. When the white mist finally dispersed, Xue Zangfeng clearly saw that the thing which had jammed his precious sword was a bizarre, man-made automaton with only a massive mouth.

There were gaping maws on all four sides, specifically designed to catch weapons from every direction. With it blocking the vanguard, the plum blossom formation was immediately broken to a large extent.

Qi Baishun laughed heartily and shouted, "Look at what is behind you! Hurry back and guard your center vanguard!"

"Stop trying to distract me! I have already seen the flaws in your formation, and I will shatter it right now!" Believing that Qi Baishun was merely trying to buy time, Xue Zangfeng ignored the warning.

Suddenly, a thunderous explosion echoed from behind him. The rear formation fell into utter chaos, and the soldiers actually began to rout and flee in all directions. In an instant, countless men were trampled to death or injured. Even Gao Yingkui came down from the watchtower; the short man did not ride a horse, but instead stretched his short legs and bolted like a puff of smoke toward the rear of the encampment.

On a earthen mound to the southeast of the battlefield, two figures emerged. They were none other than Qi Chongshan and Liu Xiaoyi, who had rushed all the way through wind and dust, enduring hardships and hurrying forward. Fortunately, they had made it in time for the battle.

Qi Chongshan akimbo, gazing at the chaotic scene, complained with some dissatisfaction, "The Qi family's elite forces are all out, yet it has come to this? Even with all eighteen major sects present, they still couldn't pierce the Qin army's camp. Truly worthy of being called the Nine Provinces Dynasty."

He paid no attention to Liu Xiaoyi's expression. Liu was a native-born southerner of the Southern Wasteland and naturally held deep affection for the region. Watching the soldiers fighting bloody battles to defend their homeland, he inevitably felt a surge of emotions.

"Do you want to go play on the battlefield? I see our Qi family's troops; as expected, they have outflanked the rear of the Qin army. Caught between front and rear attacks, the Qin army is bound to fall into chaos. Follow me quickly!"

Qi Chongshan retrieved two wooden horses from the universe bag at his waist. After settling Liu Xiaoyi securely on one, he slapped the horse's rump, and the two wooden horses bolted like flying arrows down the earthen mound, charging toward the battlefield.

Hundreds of Qi family disciples manipulating mechanical beasts suddenly appeared at the rear of the camp. The beasts spewed raging flames, igniting the wooden barricades and sending billowing black smoke to cover most of the sky, adding to the panic of the Qin army already deeply embroiled in a bitter struggle.

Before Gao Yingkui could lead reinforcements to support them, the three rear gates of the camp were breached. A massive force of heavy cavalry charged through on horseback, leaving the Qin army in disarray and rolling over their lines. Xun Sanman, guarded by various generals, retreated hastily toward Hangu Pass.

A grand army of three hundred thousand was casting aside their armor and weapons; such a collapse in morale could not be reversed by a few heroes alone. In a frenzy of rage, Xue Zangfeng brandished his long sword to execute fleeing deserters, yet even that failed to turn the tide of defeat.

Xun Sanman covered his face and wept bitterly, crying inconsolably, "I have brought shame to the Southern Wasteland! To retreat to Hangu Pass in this manner leaves me no face to face my elders and fellow villagers! Let me stay behind to cover the rear while you lead the troops away!"

Gao Yingkui made no reply. He hoisted his cross-halberd onto his shoulder and charged directly toward those mechanical beasts.

His reputation carried considerable weight even in the Great Wasteland. When the Qi family disciples saw that it was him, they turned their spears around, and countless mechanical beasts lunged toward his position, submerging his diminutive figure among them.

When Liu Xiaoyi rode up on his horse, he happened to meet the retreating Qin army head-on. Qi Chongshan's hands were itching for a fight; he leaped from the saddle, brandishing his saber for a slash.

As the Grand General, Xun Sanman also possessed extraordinary cultivation. He drew his ceremonial sword to parry the golden saber, and the two began to fight fiercely within the narrow confines of the commander's chariot platform. Liu Xiaoyi did not remain idle either, closely following them up onto the platform.

Should he help his uncle, or the Grand General of the Southern Wasteland?

The sharpness of the Green Radiance Sword did not know where to point, leaving Liu Xiaoyi momentarily at a loss for what to do.

With the commander-in-chief under attack, how could the generals stand by and watch idly? They drew their swords and attempted to swarm forward to slay the assassin, only to have their path blocked by blood puppets erupting from the ground!

"The people of the Xun family are truly damned! How could such a lively scene take place without me?"

Hearing this, Liu Xiaoyi turned sideways to look and recognized a familiar face—the unlucky wretch who controlled blood puppets and had burst out from the tunnels of the Wangtian Courtyard. Before the man even understood what was happening, the tail of the Heaven-Swallowing Python lashed out, sweeping him and all four of his blood puppets away in a single blow.

The blood puppets deployed today were considerably more numerous than on that previous day, and Zhuge Zeng's face was beaming with radiance, suggesting he had been living quite comfortably lately.

He also recognized Liu Xiaoyi and asked in surprise, "My young friend, to think you managed to escape from the jaws of the Heaven-Swallowing Python that day. This old man never got to greet you properly, but to think you are a member of the Qi family—that makes us allies!"

Liu Xiaoyi was baffled. This old Taoist's puppets exuded a sickening stench, clearly not the work of any righteous path. How could he possibly be affiliated with the Qi family?

Qi Chongshan cursed aloud, "Zhuge Zeng! Stop trying to forge connections here! Your blood puppet arts are filthy and despicable, and they have nothing to do with my Qi family!"

As a spirit-binder of the unicorn tier within the Weapon Tomb, Qi Chongshan subdued Xun Sanman within ten moves, bound him tightly with rope, and tossed him onto a seat on the commander's platform. Meanwhile, the two wooden horses shoved aside the horses that had originally pulled the chariot, shouldering the platform themselves and sprinting in the opposite direction.

Whenever a blood puppet took a life, it drained away all the blood and vitality of the victim. At this moment, even if someone were to slap him twice, Zhuge Zeng's smile would not fade.

"Was it not your ancestors who, when dividing the family back then, took the mechanical arts? After all these years, have you finally found a replacement for the Sword Saint's soul and plan to emerge from seclusion?"

Zhuge Zeng was privy to almost all the inner secrets, making Qi Chongshan wish he could kill him on the spot. "Can't you shut that cesspool of a mouth of yours for a change? If you didn't find one, you wouldn't come out to help the Great Wasteland Royal Court? What kind of nonsense are you talking about!"

To his surprise, Zhuge Zeng pointed straight at Liu Xiaoyi, causing the four blood puppets to close in and block Liu's path. "He is the replacement! Qi Yan plotted quite cleverly, using her own biological son as a spirit cauldron, all to reunite our five families?"

The chaotic and noisy battlefield seemed to grow somewhat dead silent at these few words. Upon hearing his mother's name spoken by them as a woman skilled in scheming—and realizing she had raised him as some kind of spirit cauldron—Liu Xiaoyi felt a chill.

As early as a year ago, he had already witnessed the terrifying power of puppets. The Qi family's automata bore a striking similarity to puppets and presumably also required a driving core. Having never seen his biological mother for all these years, who knew what her true attitude toward him might be?

The martial world was perilous, and Liu Xiaoyi began to harbor secret guards in his heart.

With the blood puppets displaying such mighty divine prowess, outsiders could not approach the commander's platform. They could only watch helplessly as the commander-in-chief was dragged away by the chariot toward the enemy lines. Despite their utmost efforts, the generals failed to retake the platform, instead pointlessly sacrificing many lives to the blood puppets.

The defeated army that fled back to Hangu Pass numbered less than one hundred thousand. This battle, which had lasted from early morning until the fall of night, finally came to an end. The Great Wasteland army simply pitched camp five miles outside Hangu Pass, opened their camp gates, and began to sing and dance. The flickering fires flaunted their triumph toward Hangu Pass, signaling that before long, their horses would trample the stronghold and bring the Southern Wasteland under their dominion.

Qi Chonghai sat upright in the center command tent, flanked by family confidants on one side and Royal Court generals on the other. Everyone wore joyous expressions; although they had suffered equally heavy losses, fortunately, Hangu Pass had been dealt a devastating blow.

A junior officer hurried in to report, "The reinforcements for Hangu Pass cannot arrive for at least three days. Aside from a few thousand old and weak soldiers, there are less than one hundred thousand defeated troops left defending the city."

Before Qi Chonghai could speak, he was interrupted by hurried footsteps from outside. Upon seeing the newcomer, everyone hurriedly bowed and saluted, "Greetings, Young Family Head!"

The visitor was a slender and graceful middle-aged matron. Ignoring the flattery of the crowd, she walked straight up to Liu Xiaoyi, her eyes brimming with deep affection as she pulled him into her embrace.

"My child! You have suffered greatly!" Qi Yan wept bitterly. Had Liu Xiaoyi not overheard what Zhuge Zeng said, he would have been completely deceived by the scene before him.

Quietly operating the *Lin* Character Incantation to probe the fluctuations of the surrounding spiritual energy, he indeed discovered a faint clue: an almost imperceptible thread of magical power extended from Qi Yan's sleeve out of the command tent.

However, on the surface, Liu Xiaoyi shed tears and replied, "Mother, my father was murdered ten years ago, and I have already avenged him! Only after obtaining the Sovereign's Decree did I set out southward. I offended the Shangguan family and nearly lost my life; fortunately, Uncle arrived in time, or I would have died at the hands of the Old Sovereign!"

Hearing this, Qi Yan furrowed her delicate brows and said, "The Shangguan family has enjoyed enough glory for long enough—it is time to let them taste some hardship! How dare they make a move against my son!"

Although they were both Weapon Tomb families, the Qi family's status far surpassed that of the Shangguan family, and their relationship with the Weapon Tomb was one of alliance rather than subordination.

Just as mother and son were pouring out their feelings to one another, a stealthy figure flitted outside the command tent, moving like the wind with extreme agility. Following the thread of magical power leaking from the tent, the figure tracked all the way into the supply warehouse of the Great Wasteland army.

The figure looked around carefully left and right. Seeing no one about, he lifted the tent flap and slipped inside.

"Well, well, well! This automaton is extraordinary; it's almost catching up to my own cultivation!"

Lu Haoran, who had secretly followed Liu Xiaoyi—having parted ways midway only to make a detour and trail closely behind—had thus arrived inside the tent. He had always felt that Qi Chonghai was suspicious; his tone of speech and demeanor were reeking of petty, scheming intentions.

He flicked aside the cloth covering the front, revealing a wooden automaton slightly taller than himself. It wore a straw hat that obscured its face, stood holding a sword in one hand within a wooden frame, and emitted faint fluctuations of genuine Qi no less formidable than that of a Grandmaster.

Lu Haoran pried open the seam at the chest of the automaton with the tip of his sword, splitting the swordsman automaton apart from the middle to find it was entirely hollow inside.

As a disciple of the Ashen Sword Sect and a man of wide experience, he recognized at a glance what it was meant for. Such familiar craftsmanship made him blurt out, "Remnants of the Divine Mechanism Hall! I must go save my big brother!"

Lu Haoran first hacked the swordsman into eight pieces, then removed one of the ribs guarding the heart position before hurriedly departing. In his distant memories, none of the disciples who came out of the Divine Mechanism Hall were ever anything good!