Volume 1, Chapter 61: Lingyan City After the War

"Uncle, why don't we help them?" Shi Ming asked Li Hanzhou at this moment.

"How do you plan to help them?" Li Hanzhou looked at Shi Ming and asked.

Shi Ming fell into deep thought, then said, "How about giving them some money?"

"There are well over a million people in this City of Lingyan. If we give them money, how could we possibly afford it?" Li Hanzhou shook his head. "The aftermath of a war cannot be erased by just one or two people."

It was not that Li Hanzhou was unwilling to help, but facing the consequences of the war, he felt completely powerless at the moment.

"Uncle, why must there be wars?" Shi Ming said with his head lowered. "Whether it is Great Zhou or Shenque, they all have their own people and their own lands. Wouldn't it be fine if we just lived our lives peacefully? Why must there be war? It plunges the world into misery, leaving so many people displaced and broken-hearted. Why on earth is this?"

"Because people have greed."

Li Hanzhou patted Shi Ming on the head. "When you grow up, you will understand."

"Let us pass through the City of Lingyan and head to Great Zhou. As for the affairs here in Shenque, the imperial court will handle them," Li Hanzhou said with a smile.

"Mn."

Since Li Hanzhou had put it that way, Shi Ming had no choice but to nod.

It took the two of them a few hours to cross the City of Lingyan. Along the way, the scenes they witnessed were unlike anything Shi Ming had ever seen before.

Even Li Hanzhou's expression grew increasingly grim.

One could already imagine just how brutal this war had been.

Seeing those border-guarding soldiers—some unable to stand, some missing eyes, and others left with only a single arm—Li Hanzhou felt a chill run through his heart.

In his past life, Li Hanzhou's country had also experienced such wars.

They were even countless times more brutal than this.

Although Li Hanzhou had never experienced it firsthand, he knew that the harm a war brings to the common people goes far beyond this.

"Halt, what are your business here?"

Just as Li Hanzhou and Shi Ming were about to leave the city from the other side of Lingyan, the two were stopped by the city guards.

"We are leaving the city," Shi Ming stepped forward and said.

"Leaving the city?" The guard frowned and said, "The City of Lingyan has just been through a battle, and the enemies from Great Zhou have only just retreated. Leaving the city at a time like this makes it very easy to run into enemy troops, and it's dangerous. You'd better go back for now. Wait until things are peaceful outside before you go."

"Kind brother, we have urgent business outside the city," Li Hanzhou quickly said.

"What business could be more important than your lives?!" the city guard snapped irritably. "Look at the two of you, looking as helpless as chickens who can't even truss a bird—what will you do if you encounter Great Zhou's enemy troops?"

"We are heading straight to Great Zhou," Shi Ming, being an honest child, blurted out their destination directly.

As soon as those words were spoken, Li Hanzhou knew trouble had arrived.

The two countries had just fought a brutal battle, and the enemy troops of Great Zhou had slaughtered so many people in the City of Lingyan. To announce at this moment that they were going to Great Zhou—wasn't that touching a nerve?

Sure enough, as soon as these words were said, seven or eight surrounding guards all swarmed forward, pointing their long spears at Li Hanzhou and Shi Ming.

"Audacious!"

"You actually intend to go to Great Zhou? I'm afraid you two are spies from Great Zhou all along!"

"This time, our City of Lingyan had its intelligence leaked by an internal traitor. Does this have anything to do with you?!"

Li Hanzhou silently cursed in his heart; what a massive accusation to slap on them.

"The two of us only just arrived in the City of Lingyan. We are going to Great Zhou on business, not to defect," Li Hanzhou explained to the crowd.

"Men, seize them first and interrogate them thoroughly!"

At the command of the leading soldier, the others closed in to arrest Li Hanzhou and Shi Ming.

Li Hanzhou frowned. If they were captured by these fellows, things would become extremely troublesome.

Who knew if they would pin a spy charge on them just to use them as scapegoats?

Therefore, the moment they lunged forward, Li Hanzhou raised his hand and flicked his sleeve. A wave of surging Qi instantly blasted outward, sending the seven or eight surrounding guards flying backward through the air.

"My apologies, but I cannot afford to waste time with you here."

With that, Li Hanzhou kicked the warhorse he was straddling, preparing to ride out of the city.

"Stop him!"

Someone roared at that moment.

"There are spies!"

"Don't let him escape!"

Right at that instant, a streak of blade radiance plummeted from the sky, charging directly toward Li Hanzhou!

The blade light was biting and cold!

The killing intent was astonishing!

Before the blade light even arrived, the warhorse beneath Li Hanzhou was sliced cleanly into two halves by the wave of Qi.

"Stay!"

A booming voice rang out, sounding like a great temple bell.

Immediately following that, a man clad in battle armor leaped down from the city wall, wielding a broadsword as he slashed toward Li Hanzhou.

"What a nuisance."

Li Hanzhou grabbed Shi Ming by the side, employed his footwork technique, and his figure instantly dissolved into a wisp of smoke, appearing right before the soldier in the next heartbeat.

The speed was so astonishing that it took the soldier completely by surprise.

Despite his cultivation in the Profound Mysterious Realm, he hadn't even perceived when Li Hanzhou had appeared before him.

Just as he tried to circulate his True Qi, a slip of yellow paper materialized in Li Hanzhou's hand.

"Seal the Spirit!"

A single talisman to seal the spirit.

Li Hanzhou slapped the talisman onto the general's back. The general felt the True Qi within his body instantly locked down by some mysterious force, rendering him completely unable to circulate it.

"Let's go."

Li Hanzhou took Shi Ming and prepared to leave.

Yet at that very moment, a dangerous aura closed in.

Every hair on Li Hanzhou's body stood on end.

This was the first time Li Hanzhou had ever sensed such intense danger.

"Whoosh!"

The sound of air tearing apart assaulted them.

A bamboo sword pierced through the void, hurtling straight toward Li Hanzhou's face.

It was merely a very ordinary bamboo sword, yet at this moment, Li Hanzhou felt that this weapon made of bamboo was sufficient to rival the ultimate killing tool in the world!

It was the Bamboo Sword Immortal!

Li Hanzhou did not hesitate in the slightest.Arcs of lightning flickered across his palm, converging into a sharp blade of thunder that violently collided with the bamboo sword mid-air!

Bang!

A muffled explosion echoed.

Li Hanzhou's thunder sword was shattered into dust, but similarly, the bamboo sword was also sent spinning backward, flying all the way up to the city wall.

On the city wall, a woman stood quietly, her cold, indifferent gaze fixed upon Li Hanzhou with an icy chill that felt piercing to the bone.

The woman reached out a jade-white hand and grasped the hilt of the sword.

In an instant, the color of the entire world shifted.

The air itself was suffused with an aura of death.

The woman, standing alone with her sword, seemed like the absolute ruler of this realm.

"The Bamboo Sword Immortal truly lives up to her reputation." Li Hanzhou shook his hand, which had gone numb from the shock. He knew sword immortals were formidable; just that casual sword strike earlier had almost caught him off guard.

"The Great Heavenly Phenomenon Art."

"You are the remnants of Xingluo."

Su Nianyi's voice carried no emotion whatsoever, her gaze looking upon him as if he were already a dead man.