Chapter 114 - 112: Liu Dingsheng’s Return
Song Changming’s power had already been proven earlier.
He could single-handedly defeat Middle level Fog Beasts and also withstand High level Fog Beasts, his strength far surpassed those!
Seeing the situation, Song Changming didn’t hesitate. As the Fog Beast lunged at Le Fenglin, he drew the saber from his waist with one hand and suddenly unleashed it.
The saber, with its thin blade, shot out swiftly, turning into a flash of cold light that instantly hit the Fog Beast’s head with precision, like a celestial being from heaven.
The Fog Beast, impacted by the saber’s force, flipped straight over.
And the saber got half-embedded into the Fog Beast’s head, showcasing the powerful might of Song Changming’s Flying Saber against the beast’s tough skin.
This was the most unexpected move in his Flying Swallow Technique.
Facing a martial artist opponent, it often had the astonishing effect of a one-hit kill.
Even against this level of Fog Beast, it still inflicts considerable damage.
Then Song Changming, holding the Dragon Pattern Saber, strode over in large steps.
The Fog Beast’s life force was strong. Even with a saber stuck in its head, it remained lively.
With a swipe of its rear paw, it knocked the saber off its head.
Blood mist gathered around speedily healing the extra wound.
"Step back!" Song Changming spoke as he passed the two white-clothed women.
Earlier, he noticed that while the two women had excellent Martial Arts Cultivation for their age group, the refined treasure swords in their hands were ineffective against these Fog Beasts’ defenses. Keeping them around wouldn’t be very helpful.
Song Changming moved past the women and approached the Fog Beast, his aura reaching its peak.
With a low shout, he swung the Dragon Pattern Saber in a massive arc, its blade slicing through the air in a heavy semicircle.
The Sixth Realm Barbaric Strength erupted completely, causing the air to surge and wave. Amidst a booming sound, his exceptionally domineering slash forced the Fog Beast back onto the ground.
Blood splattered everywhere as a deep, bone-revealing wound appeared on the Fog Beast’s back, stretching all the way to its head, akin to a craniotomy.
This slash no doubt severely injured it once more.
This time, the Blood Qi it absorbed seemed insufficient for healing such extensive injuries. The coagulation of Blood Qi in the wound on its back was slow.
Roar!
Though the Fog Beast was knocked to the ground, it continued to howl repeatedly at Song Changming, attempting to struggle and attack him again.
That red-robed person had issued his last command to all Fog Beasts before leaving.
Unceasingly and frantically attack everyone until completely dead!
"So noisy."
Song Changming said irritably and raised his saber again, slashing down to decapitate the Fog Beast.
Although this Fog Beast was evolving towards High level, it hadn’t completed the evolution, still retaining the strength of a Middle level Fog Beast.
Therefore, Song Changming didn’t find it particularly difficult to slash.
If it were a High level Fog Beast, things would be entirely different.
"Brother Song’s skills, I am far inferior..." Le Fenglin wanted to say more, but the already precarious main hall finally gave way under the strain and collapsed with a roar.
Moments later, Song Changming crawled out from the rubble, half-covered in dirt.
He hadn’t expected to be buried by this collapse.
Fortunately, his martial artist body was tough and resilient, so he wasn’t afraid of being crushed, just looked a bit disheveled.
"Huh?"
Song Changming suddenly noticed some movement beside a stone block, then he pushed aside the pressing crossbeam above and reached in with his hand.
He happened to grab a little hand flailing around and pulled it out like pulling out a turnip.
Liu Yan’Er suddenly saw the light of day again, her expression still a bit confused as she looked at Song Changming holding her hand.
She no longer had the graceful and charming appearance she had when she first appeared.
Her white clothes were now dusty gray, and her once-pliant black hair was tangled messily.
The veil covering her face was gone, but there was no concern about her appearance being seen.
After all, her face was also covered in dirt, making it impossible to recognize any features.
"Song, Song Guard Captain, what just happened..." Liu Yan’Er blurted, seeming yet to recover from being buried alive in the ruins.
She touched her head where a massive bump had formed, looking like a horn about to emerge.
"Nothing much, just a collapsed house," Song Changming replied.
"Who, who collapsed a house?"
"..." Song Changming was momentarily speechless, wondering if this girl might truly have been knocked silly.
She was Liu Dingsheng’s granddaughter, and if something happened to her, Liu Dingsheng would surely lose his mind when he returned.
After a while, Song Changming uncovered another white-clothed woman nearby and escorted both to a safe place.
As for Le Fenglin, after rescuing several comrades, he also led them aside.
The worst off was Du Ling, just waking from unconsciousness, only to be hit again and fainted once more, worsening his injuries.
"Th... thank you, Song Guard Captain." Perhaps due to the lack of her veil, Liu Yan’Er seemed still somewhat unaccustomed, bowing her head in gratitude.
"No problem, it’s my duty," Song Changming replied, his gaze fixed on the courtyard.
The sudden collapse of the main hall startled many, but once they recovered, they resumed their battle with the Fog Beast.
By this time, patrol guards from various General Departments had arrived.
However, among the patrols, only a few Patrol Captains and highly skilled senior guards could actually confront the Fog Beast and possibly break its defenses to inflict some damage.
The remaining patrol guards, even their hand crossbows, had little effect on the Fog Beast.
Unless they could hit its eyes, mouth, or ears, otherwise, these crossbow arrows were essentially zero damage, like scratching an itch.
Song Changming had heard that the Governor’s military armory had large crossbow machines stored, also known as crossbow cannons, extremely powerful weapons typically used for city defense, which might be effective against the Fog Beast.
But today, Zhuang Ren didn’t anticipate that Liu Dingsheng’s retirement ceremony would also draw in people from the Outer Realm Evil Cult, along with such a large group of Fog Beasts!
It was naturally impossible to apply to the Governor for such a powerful weapon in advance.
The arrival of the patrol guards couldn’t contribute much to the extermination of the Fog Beasts, but the group of experts from the Governor’s Mansion and the strongmen led by Captain Du Ling played a crucial role.
Soon, the remaining Fog Beasts were completely surrounded and eradicated.
"Chief Zhuang, what on earth is going on here?! Why did so many Fog Beasts suddenly appear?" Captain Chen Yan asked with a bloody long spear in hand, frowning as he approached Zhuang Ren.
Those experts who arrived with the Governor’s mansion were also looking grave.
The presence of Fog Beasts was enough to make everyone uneasy, even if you were a highly skilled martial artist, you would have deep fear for these creatures.
Not for anything else, but because these Fog Beasts could bring immense disaster!
In severe cases, they could turn an entire city into a wasteland! Tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people could be reduced to bones, turned to ash and vanished!
This is not an exaggerated warning, but something that had truly happened in past history, more than once.
The Fog Beasts are truly beasts of calamity that bring disaster to humans!
"It’s the people from the Outer Domain..." As a firsthand witness of today’s events, Zhuang Ren was naturally very aware of who brought these Fog Beasts.
"How did they come here?" Chen Yan asked, somewhat surprised.
Although Donglai Prefecture is far from the court’s imperial authority, it is not on the borders of the Da Han Dynasty, so why did these demonic outsiders come in.
"It’s a long story, the specifics will have to wait until after the interrogation," Zhuang Ren said.
He had already captured some of Liu Dingsheng’s enemies and perhaps could extract more information about their dealings with the Outer Realm people.
Of course, it would be best if Liu Dingsheng could directly capture those three red-robed individuals alive for him to handle.
"In any case, we should first seal off this place and also check the city..." Zhuang Ren discussed strategies with Captain Chen Yan.
Not long after the situation was controlled by the government, Liu Dingsheng returned alone with three corpses.
They were precisely the three red-robed individuals!
"It’s a pity, they’re all dead..." Zhuang Ren sighed upon seeing this.
It was apparent that Liu Dingsheng was very angry today and was ruthless toward these three, leaving no survivors.
"Lord Zhuang, this is for you," Liu Dingsheng offered the piece of Mist gold he had obtained.
"This..." Zhuang Ren was somewhat surprised as he accepted the Mist gold, and couldn’t help but ask.
"Brother Liu, you are aware of its use, why..."
Liu Dingsheng shook his head and said, "That realm is unattainable for me; the path of Martial Tao has reached its end for me, and the Mist gold is not of much use to me."
Zhuang Ren nodded, took the piece of Mist gold, and then asked, "What do you need, Brother Liu? I will do my utmost to meet your needs."
He knew well the value of Mist gold.
Even though Liu Dingsheng couldn’t use it, to give it to him so freely was certainly not without a reason.
"It’s not urgent to talk about it now; if needed in the future, I will come to find Lord Zhuang," Liu Dingsheng said, as Song Changming approached with a dusty-faced Liu Yan’Er, causing a slight change in his expression as he stepped forward to check on her.
He was worried that something might have happened to his little granddaughter.
"Grandfather, I’m fine, thanks to the rescue by Song Guard and Young Hero Le," Liu Yan’Er briefly recounted what had happened earlier.
"As long as you’re okay," Liu Dingsheng nodded, his earlier tense expression relaxing.
"Song Guard’s assistance today means I, Liu Dingsheng, owe you a favor. In the future, if you have any troubles, feel free to find me without hesitation." Liu Dingsheng earnestly told Song Changming.
"Then thank you, senior," Song Changming bowed his hands respectfully.
A favor from a senior expert of Liu Dingsheng’s caliber in the Jianghu was indeed extremely valuable.
After all, there are many things Liu Dingsheng could achieve, and with him as support, anyone in the Jianghu who intends to trouble Song Changming would have to think twice.
If used well, this favor could potentially help him solve major troubles in the future.
Song Changming could also sense that this older senior in the Jianghu seemed to have given up the idea of retiring from the Jianghu.
At least after today, he had lost the thought of washing his hands of the matter entirely.
The guests from the Jianghu bid farewell and dispersed.
The events of today would soon spread to everyone’s ears, becoming a topic of discussion.
More importantly, the chaos of today would lead to Liu Dingsheng’s whereabouts becoming known to more people in the Jianghu.
In the future, who knows how many of his enemies in the Jianghu would come to find him and what kind of trouble they might cause.
...