"Where is Feng Qianjun?" Xiang Shu rode his horse onto the official road and led tens of thousands of people to the Afang Palace outside the city.
"Tuoba Yan has sent people to protect him!" Chen Xing said, "He is very safe."
The sky was just turning pale, but at daybreak, the vast sky was covered with dark clouds. The sun hid behind the clouds, and there was a cold wind everywhere. Xiang Shu climbed a small hill and looked at the ancient Chang'an City. It was already dead silent inside.
"I don't understand why Feng Qianyi chose to take action at this time," Chen Xing said, "He is really desperate."
"He wants to save Feng Qianjun," Xiang Shu said. "Is it hard to understand?"
Chen Xing: "If he really had this idea, why did he throw Brother Feng into the mirror?"
Xiang Shu said: "The reason for rescuing Feng Qianjun was not because of brotherly love, but because we wanted to use him."
"What do you want to do with it?" Chen Xing said in disbelief. Xiang Shu reminded him and he understood immediately: once Feng Qianjun was possessed by resentment and could drive the Senluo Knife, he would exert extremely powerful power. The family heirloom that was refined by resentment would also become the biggest help for Feng Qianjun, the demon. When he exploded, no one would be his opponent.
Fortunately, the people were rescued, otherwise if they had fallen into Feng Qianyi's hands, what would have happened next would not have been as simple as an outbreak of a zombie tidal wave.
Thirty miles west of Chang'an, in front of the Afang Palace.
The west bank of Zaohe River was already full of Chang'an residents who had fled with their families, and more were arriving one after another. After experiencing the sudden riot, the Qin Empire Army had quickly awakened from the incident and assembled towards Fu Jian's location. The so-called invincible Northern Iron Cavalry showed their efficiency and military discipline in the battles of the south and the north at this moment. Under Fu Jian's strong personal prestige, they quickly assembled, first the Imperial Guards, then the Guanzhong Army, and then the cavalry guards of various ethnic groups. It took only three hours for the generals to rush to the main hall of the Afang Palace.
"What on earth happened?" Murong Chui shouted.
"Quiet!" Tuoba Yan shouted.
Fu Jian sat in the main hall and said, "This is a matter of urgency, so I don't have time to list the details. How many people do we have?"
Each tribe reported their military strength, and Fu Jian still had 300,000 troops to deploy. Murong Chui added, "I sent someone to deliver a letter to the governor of Pingyang yesterday morning. He is on his way, leading 100,000 troops to support the king. He will arrive tomorrow morning."
The governor of Pingyang was Murong Chong, who sent out a letter early yesterday morning and set out with 100,000 men. Fu Jian knew very well that this move was not to defend the king, but because his sister, Princess Qinghe, had died, and they were leading troops to settle accounts with him.
Fortunately, Chen Xing's account finally made Fu Jian realize that something was wrong with the Murong family, but judging from the hasty escape of Murong Chui and others at night, it did not seem like they were in cahoots. After all, if Princess Qinghe and Feng Qianyi were in collusion to rebel, they would not have killed all the members of the Murong family without distinction.
Fu Jian was full of doubts, but he chose not to make a fuss about it. He said in a deep voice: "Count the kerosene and siege equipment in the Afang Palace. All troops should be stationed first and be ready to counterattack Chang'an when I give the order."
"What the hell are those guys?" When the incident happened, Wang Ziye was having dinner and was hastily put into a carriage by the imperial guards and started to flee. The entire city's civil and military officials were suddenly faced with the misfortune, and they were left barefoot and in a state of disgrace, and were terrified and at a loss.
"The Great Chanyu has arrived—"
The entire court was in an uproar, and Murong Chui drew his sword.
"The person who can explain is here," Fu Jian sighed and sat down, then replied, "Let me hear it."
Xiang Shu came in exhausted, glanced at everyone, and didn't take Murong Chui seriously at all. Chen Xing followed him in.
"What's going on?" Chen Xing felt something was wrong when he saw the silence in the hall.
"I'm waiting for you two." Fu Jian said, "Go ahead and explain it clearly."
Chen Xing glanced at Xiang Shu, who nodded, indicating that he was right. The main hall was tense, and all the generals of the Murong family trembled slightly, as if they were going to stab Xiang Shu to death with swords in the next moment to avenge Princess Qinghe. But Chen Xing, who was used to Xiang Shu's skills, knew very well that as long as Fu Jian did not participate in the battle, even if all the people here rushed forward, they would not be able to defeat Xiang Shu's finger. This guy was too strong!
"Where should I start?" Chen Xing was also tired. He walked to the steps in front of Fu Jian and sat down. He said to the people in the hall, "I think the real instigator of all this is Your Majesty and everyone present. You can't escape the blame."
Suddenly, the hall erupted in shouting and everyone was angry at Chen Xing. After everyone quieted down, Xiang Shu suddenly said, "It's a pity that the innocent people in Chang'an City died because of your wars and your vain pursuit of glory."
"My achievements are unparalleled!" Fu Jian said with a majestic voice, "Only Ying Zheng can be compared with me. If I had not recovered the entire northern territory, there would be even more people dying today!"
Chen Xing refuted bluntly: "But how many people have you killed? Count them yourself! In every battle you fought, hundreds of thousands of people were killed or injured! How much hatred was released, how many mortals were unwilling to die, lingering between heaven and earth, gathering into resentment. The chaos was born from this..."
Chen Xing was now almost certain of how this series of events happened. He talked freely in the hall, and from the fragmentary fragments, he pieced together the entire process of the zombies rampaging in Chang'an - in order to overthrow Fu Jian, the Feng family had been patient for many years, bought the original site of the Exorcist Department, and built a new Xifeng Bank in Songshan.
While digging up the Exorcist Headquarters and filling up the canyon, the Feng family accidentally found the Yin-Yang Mirror left by the exorcists, as well as the method of controlling the magic weapon.
In order to fight against the ever-expanding Qin State, Feng Qianyi became so desperate that he couldn't stop himself. He began to try to transform the civilians who died in the war into Ba, and then absorbed the resentment between heaven and earth and refined it. He created the black shadow warriors and the general in the mirror world, and waited for the right time to release this zombie army from the mirror to overthrow Fu Jian.
"You provided him with the most powerful force," Chen Xing said, "and the most suitable materials."
The hall suddenly fell silent.
"You haven't answered yet," Murong Chui said sinisterly, "The Feng family is plotting rebellion, why did they want to kill my niece? What does this have to do with Princess Qinghe?!"
Wang Ziye immediately interrupted and asked, "How did Feng Qianyi transform Ba? Is he naturally familiar with this secret technique?"
"This is a kind of evil magic," Chen Xing replied. "It is not recorded in what I have learned. The specific process can only be known by asking him himself."
Tuoba Yan said, "We have very little intelligence at the moment. We don't even know how many troops the enemy has. Judging from the current situation, it will not be less than 200,000..."
In the process of asking and answering, they actually avoided Murong Chui's questioning. In front of Fu Jian, no one wanted to mention the case of Princess Qinghe's involvement in treason. They just wanted to cover this matter as soon as possible.
Fu Jian frowned slightly and began to observe the expressions of the people in the Murong family. Some of them had already realized this and showed expressions of fear. It seemed that they were indeed completely unaware of this.
Xiang Shu replied: "According to preliminary estimates, there are at least 300,000 zombies."
"So many Ba, all hidden in a mirror?" Wang Ziye said in disbelief, "Where did they find them from?"
Chen Xing replied, "Yes, it is this mirror. Perhaps it was found on the battlefield in the Central Plains. There are not many living people in this world, so it is easy to find dead people."
As he spoke, Chen Xing raised the Yin Yang Mirror. The magic weapon was surrounded by black gas in his hand and slowly floated in the air and rotated. Everyone was startled and stepped back again.
"Don't worry," Chen Xing said, "I have recovered the magic weapon, and all the ba have been released. Now we can only bide our time and find a suitable place to slowly release the resentment in the Yin-Yang Mirror bit by bit, and then purify it. For a short period of time, try not to touch it."
Wang Ziye added: "Since you are an exorcist, I believe you can purify this magic weapon."
Xiang Shu said in a deep voice: "Even if it succeeds, the magic weapon cannot be handed over to you for use."
Chen Xing was about to answer but was interrupted by Xiang Shu. He thought to himself, are you still planning to take this magic weapon?
Wang Ziye asked again: "Let's not talk about the magic weapon for now. Let me reiterate, since you are an exorcist, I think you also have some tricks to deal with Feng Qianyi, the demon?"
"No." Chen Xing replied, "To be honest, after all things return to silence, exorcists in the world can no longer capture demons and exorcise demons. I am an exception now. My only strength is that I can only expel resentment to a limited extent and protect myself. Feng Qianyi's side is using resentment to fill the void. As one grows, the other shrinks, and it becomes even more rampant."
"If Your Majesty is unwilling to stop the war and massacre as soon as possible," Chen Xing added, "today's tragedy will surely happen again tomorrow. That's all I have to say."
Fu Jian's face was gloomy. Since Wang Meng's death, this was the first time someone dared to criticize him so directly to his face, and the criticism hit Fu Jian's sore spots. If it weren't for the extraordinary period, these few words alone would have made Fu Jian furious and he would have punished him with fifty strokes of the cane on the spot.
Tuoba Yan once again tried to smooth things over, and said to Fu Jian: "Since the whole incident is clear, I request that you, along with the Great Chanyu and Chen Xing, return to Chang'an and capture Feng Qianyi!"
Fu Jian came back to his senses, pondered for a moment, and looked directly at Xiang Shu, who raised his eyebrows at Fu Jian and replied, "The old nest has been destroyed, it's no joke."
Fu Jian had no choice but to say, "I will temporarily leave the Imperial Guards to your command, Great Chanyu. We will settle our grievances after this chaos is quelled. If anyone seeks revenge against you during this period, those who disobey my orders will be executed."
The whole hall should have been in uproar, but everyone in the Murong family had realized what had happened. They all looked at Xiang Shu with hatred and remained silent.
"I'll leave the Imperial Guard to you," Xiang Shu said. "The two of us are enough to capture Feng Qianyi. If you lead the troops back, it will only cost the lives of our men."
"How could I be such a cowardly loser?!" Fu Jian said angrily, "I am still able to fight! Prince Ye! Order the three armies! Open the weapons storehouse!"
Xiang Shu and Chen Xing left the main hall. Chen Xing was absent-minded, but when he passed by Murong Chui, he suddenly heard a sentence.
"My little brother has been running around to stop the killings in the world," Murong Chui said in a low voice, "I am really worried about you. It has been a long time since we met briefly in Xiangyang."
As he spoke, Murong Chui took off his mask, revealing the burn marks. Chen Xing was suddenly startled, remembering the day when he fled the city with Xiang Shu, and a truck full of kerosene rushed into the governor's mansion, and he met Murong Chui face to face!
Xiang Shu blocked Chen Xing without anyone noticing.
"I don't have time to trouble you now, Murong Chui, so just be obedient to me." Xiang Shu said coldly.
Chen Xing was in a state of uncertainty. As soon as he walked out of the palace, he knew that this matter would not end well. Even if he could clear himself of the crime involving Princess Qinghe, Murong Chui would not let him go for revenge.
Xiang Shu slapped Chen Xing on the back, and Chen Xing was shocked to the point of almost vomiting blood.
"What are you doing?"
Xiang Shu taunted, "Are you afraid of Murong Chui?"
Chen Xing collected his thoughts and asked Tuoba Yan, "How is Brother Feng doing?"
Tuoba Yan gestured to follow him. Feng Qianjun was safe and sound, being held under house arrest in a side hall halfway up the mountain in Afang Palace. When Chen Xing entered, both of them exclaimed in surprise at the same time.
"Great, you're okay." Chen Xing said.
Feng Qianjun was exhausted. After hearing what happened, he said, "No matter what we do now, it can't be undone, but I have to stop Big Brother myself."
Chen Xing sighed and looked at Xiang Shu inquiringly. Xiang Shu said, "Although the general course of events has been clarified, there are still many mysteries. Feng Qianyi... where did he get the technique to transform 'Ba'?"
In the room, Xiang Shu, Tuoba Yan, Feng Qianjun and Chen Xing were sitting on the ground. The more urgent the situation was, the more they needed to remain calm. They had to find a way to deal with Feng Qianyi first. Otherwise, if they rashly returned to Chang'an City, they would all die together.
Chen Xing was confident that he had nothing to fear, because he had the protection of Jupiter, and his life was always safe. But this was not the case for Xiang Shu.
Chen Xing thought for a moment and said, "The Exorcist Department shouldn't have any method to exorcise resentment, or any evil magic to revive the dead in this way. I can be sure that he didn't dig these out from the ground."
"That is to say," Feng Qianjun said, "Brother learned it from somewhere else."
Xiang Shu said: "Perhaps there is someone else who taught him these evil techniques."
Chen Xing interrupted, "It could also be that he got some secret scrolls by chance."
Xiang Shu asked Feng Qianjun, "Does that fellow have any strange friends?"
Feng Qianjun had been separated from his brother since childhood, and they only met occasionally in Beijing for two or three years. He had almost no idea what his brother was doing in normal times.
Feng Qianjun shook his head.
"Remember the monster we encountered in Longzhong Mountain?" Xiang Shu said.
Chen Xing remembered that yesterday evening, Feng Qianyi was also wearing a mask on his face that was similar to the mysterious man that night.
Tuoba Yan said: "That is to say, there is someone behind this."
Xiang Shu nodded slightly and said thoughtfully: "This person is very likely in the palace."
Chen Xing said, "Maybe it was a maidservant beside Princess Qinghe? Although I am also wondering how this mirror got back to Feng Qianyi from the palace, this is not the most important thing in the current situation."
Xiang Shu said, "No, this is very important."
Tuoba Yan frowned slightly, and Chen Xing told him roughly what happened in Longzhong Mountain. The four of them began to think and speculate, and roughly pieced together a story that was incomplete but barely plausible.
"Someone has mastered the evil art of resurrecting corpses and creating ba," Feng Qianjun murmured, "and taught it to my eldest brother, and persuaded Princess Qinghe. At least for now, it seems that the princess, my eldest brother, and the mysterious man in Longzhong Mountain are all members of this evil magic organization."
Chen Xing suddenly woke up from his dream. This made more sense! After all, Feng Qianyi's legs were unable to move, and he stayed in the capital for a long time. It was obviously unreasonable for him to collect resentment everywhere to refine the Yin-Yang Mirror and then transport hundreds of thousands of zombies to the mirror world.
But vaguely, he realized that Xiang Shu seemed to have a lot more to say.
"Xiang Shu?" Chen Xing touched Xiang Shu's arm.
Xiang Shu immediately turned his eyes and looked at Chen Xing with a little wariness.
"Just say whatever you want to say," Feng Qianjun said with a wry smile, "Look at my brother, he's already like this, shouldn't I say what I need to say?"
Xiang Shu pondered for a long time, so long that when Chen Xing wanted to say "forget it", Xiang Shu finally began to recall.
"Five years ago, when I was fifteen years old," Xiang Shu said, "a doctor named Keyela came to the Chi-Le League."
Chen Xing: "…"
Chen Xing had a hunch that the biggest unsolved case since he met Xiang Shu might soon be solved.