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墨書 Inktalez
Wuxing shouted, sitting up abruptly. It turned out to be just a dream! He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked around. Thankfully, Mash Chief and the others were still there, with a few alert Sergeants looking up at him. Wuxing smiled apologetically and was about to lie back down when the tent flap was suddenly flung open.
When Wuxing saw who it was, he exclaimed in surprise, "Senior Sister! You?" The visitor was none other than Senior Sister Yingying, who said to Wuxing, "Junior Brother, the person who woke you up has finished their shift." With that, she let go of the flap and turned to leave.
Wuxing acknowledged her and got up to wake Mash Chief. "Wake everyone up; it's time for the night patrol." Mash Chief quickly responded and began rousing the others. Wuxing stepped out of the tent first. Although it was nighttime, the military camp was still brightly lit by torches, which eased Wuxing's mind a little. That dream had left him with an unsettling feeling.
He hoped it was just a dream! he thought to himself. There were guards responsible for normal night defense in the camp, and soon two teams passed by. With such tight security, everything should be fine.
Just as he was thinking this, Mash Chief and the others emerged from their tents, waiting for Wuxing's orders. Wuxing turned around and said, "This place isn't as big as the inner court; you can join me on the night patrol." The Shadow Guards' patrols didn't have fixed routes anyway. Wuxing glanced around and casually chose a direction to walk in. Mash Chief quickly led the Sergeants with torches to follow.
After circling around the middle camp, everything seemed normal. As Wuxing walked, a sudden thought crossed his mind: he really wanted to check on Yuyan in the Inner Camp. However, he knew that this was unlikely; the Inner Camp was a crucial area. It used to be an old base for guards, and between it and the middle camp lay not only a considerable distance but also a wooden palisade. Anyone attempting to breach the Inner Camp would be shot dead by guards on the wall.
Thinking of this, he looked up towards the Inner Camp direction. He could vaguely see torches on that wall, but they weren't very bright; it was quiet in the darkness.
At that moment, he noticed several shadows flickering in the distance before disappearing towards the Inner Camp's main gate.
He was taken aback—who would be going to the Inner Camp at this hour? He wanted to chase after them to find out what was happening; however, during his watch, that would count as abandoning his post. After hesitating for a moment, the fear instilled by that dream compelled him to head toward the Inner Camp anyway. Seeing this, Mash Chief hurriedly followed him and said, "Sir, we are crossing into restricted territory."
Wuxing frowned slightly. "Let's go take a look; I have a bad feeling about this." "Understood!" The entire team followed Wuxing into the darkness towards the entrance of the Inner Camp.
The entrance of the Inner Camp was marked by a wooden watchtower with its gates tightly shut. Only two torches illuminated a small area below. As Wuxing approached closer to the gate, he called out loudly, "I am Captain Wuxing of tonight's rotation in the middle camp! Which officer is in charge up there?"
No one answered. Wuxing felt puzzled and quickened his pace. Just as he reached where the torches provided some light, a voice came from above: "Halt! No unauthorized entry into the Inner Camp!"
Wuxing looked up to see several archers on the watchtower aiming their bows at him. He shouted back, "I am Captain Wuxing of tonight's rotation in the middle camp! Which officer is in charge up there? Have any suspicious individuals entered? Who just went in and out of the Inner Camp?"
"This is the Inner Camp; no unauthorized entry without an emergency situation! Leave immediately!" The voice from above answered evasively.
Wuxing felt even more suspicious. He slowly retreated into the shadows and said to Mash Chief, "You all wait here; I will report this to Vice Commander Feng Qianshan."
Clearly several people had entered through those gates, yet the guards denied it completely—something was definitely wrong! Master Feng Qianshan was responsible for guarding the middle camp; Wuxing decided he needed to report this strange occurrence so that his master could handle it.
Wuxing rushed to his master's tent but found it wide open with no guards at the entrance. He walked straight inside only to find no one there! The sense of unease grew stronger within him just as he turned around and noticed Senior Sister standing at the entrance without him realizing when she had arrived.
"Senior Sister? Where has Master gone? I have urgent matters to report."
"What is it? You can tell me as well," Yingying replied calmly. With the firelight at the entrance behind her, Unintentional couldn't see the expression on Yingying's face. "I saw a few people heading straight for the Inner Camp gate while patrolling, but the guards at the gate seemed unusual."
After a long while, Wuxing finally heard Senior Sister say, "Wuxing, you didn't see wrong. Second Master has brought Master and several disciples into the Inner Camp."
Ah! Wuxing was taken aback. "What is so urgent?!"
"It concerns the safety of General Pei and others. Master asked me to find you, and since I happened to encounter you, let's go together."
"Yes!" Wuxing replied.
When Wuxing arrived at the gate of the Inner Camp with Senior Sister, a voice called out from the door, "Who goes there? Retreat immediately!"
At that moment, Wuxing heard Yingying mutter something in an unfamiliar language. He felt a surge of uncertainty in his heart as the gate opened. Yingying turned to Wuxing and said, "Tonight, I am on duty at the Inner Camp as Barbarian Captain. This is an emergency code agreed upon with the Inner Camp. Call your subordinates to come in as well."
Wuxing hesitated for a moment before waving his hand. The waiting Mash Chief followed closely from the shadows. Yingying led the way into the Inner Camp, while Wuxing slowly brought his team through the gate.
The Inner Camp was pitch black. As soon as they entered, the gate slammed shut with a loud bang. Before Wuxing could turn around, a strong smell of blood assaulted him.
"Something's wrong!" Wuxing drew his saber and shouted, rushing towards the main hall of the Inner Camp. Just then, he heard arrows whistling through the air behind him, and several guards fell to the ground with cries as they were struck by arrows.
"Quickly, charge into the hall! Senior Sister! Follow me!" Wuxing ran ahead without turning back to call for his sister or Mash Chief; he could only shout.
Behind them, muffled groans and screams echoed intermittently. The distance of just a few dozen steps felt like an eternity as Wuxing stumbled over several corpses along the way. His heart raced with fear—what had happened in the Inner Camp? There had been no news from the outer or central camps. He glanced back and saw that only Mash Chief was still alive, gritting his teeth and following closely behind him.
The Inner Camp was built with earth and wood in a three-entry style; the main hall served as a conference room. When Wuxing reached the entrance of the hall, he found it completely dark and tightly shut. Several corpses lay sprawled at the entrance, one of which still clutched a torch. In its dim light, he recognized it as one of the inner guards who had been with Senior Brother Unharmed, sending a wave of dread through him.
With a forceful shove, he burst open the hall door and rushed inside, only to be stunned by what lay before him.
At the far end of the conference room, torches illuminated Grandmaster, Second Master, and Master engaged in a fierce battle with a group of soldiers dressed in local military attire. Behind them was a door leading to an inner chamber, and the ground was littered with bodies—disfigured and mutilated.
Wuxing's heart burned with urgency as he shouted, "Shibo! Master! I'm here!" He charged forward with his saber drawn.
A scream erupted behind him, and his heart sank; Mash Chief was done for.
As they approached the battle group, Feng Qianshan spotted Wuxing and shouted, "Don't come over, Wuxing! The commander of the defending troops, Zhonglangjiang, has betrayed us! Go seek help! There are Charm Corpses everywhere!"
Wuxing was taken aback. How could there be so many Charm Corpses? Charm Corpses were monsters possessed by charms, devoid of pain or fear, acting like mad beasts. Even without weapons, they would claw and bite, clinging to you relentlessly. Charm Corpses often required significant damage to lose their mobility, but the charm within them could leave the body and seek another host.
However, the charms here were clearly not ordinary. After being destroyed, they could quickly detach from their broken bodies and attach themselves to another one, rejoining the fight in no time!
He noticed that although there were many Charm Corpses, Master Shibo and several senior brothers like Unharmed and Regretless were present. With seven or eight people, they could barely hold their ground. Gritting his teeth, he turned to leave.
At that moment, a sudden change occurred!
"Attack!" Meng Qianli shouted suddenly as he reversed his sword and plunged it into Shen Qianqi's back!
A scream pierced the air as Unharmed was struck by Regretless's blade on his shoulder, an arm falling to the ground!
Another disciple was also ambushed from behind by one of Meng Qianli's followers.
"Second Brother! Are you insane?" Shen Qianqi glared at his junior brother, retreating while trying to pull out the sword lodged in his back. But he couldn't reach it. After a few steps, he could no longer support himself and collapsed to the ground, blood pouring from his mouth.
Feng Qianshan forced back a Charm Corpse in front of him and stepped back a few paces before rushing forward to help Shen Qianqi up. Looking up with anger, he said, "Second Brother, did you let these Demonesses in from the outer camp?"
Meng Qianli remained silent, only casting a dark look at Regretless. "Regretless, why haven't you killed him?!"
Regretless stood beside Unharmed and replied quietly, "Master, he is already incapacitated; he can't stop our grand plan!"
Wuxing finally reacted. He swung his sword at Regretless with a fierce strike. Regretless dodged aside without defending himself. Wuxing took the opportunity to leap toward Unharmed, whose face had turned pale; he had already fainted from pain.
Wuxing quickly tore off part of his clothing to bandage Unharmed's wounds and then leaned him against Master Shibo.
"Old San, it's just you and Wuxing left. You won't be able to hold them off. Step aside; I can spare your lives."
Shen Qianqi coughed violently, the sword embedded deep in his back. Feng Qianshan's expression was complex; he knew that drawing the sword now would mean certain death for his senior brother, and there was no turning back.
"Second Brother! Why?" Feng Qianshan asked in a low voice.
"Serving the emperor with loyalty is all I can do. The current Wu Zetian is tyrannical, causing great chaos. By killing the Persian Prince and inciting war, my loyal generals of Li Tang can seize military power and eliminate Wu Zetian's influence."
"You! Second Brother, how can you do this to our master and senior brother?"
"Sacrifice righteousness for a greater cause!"
A strange laughter echoed from the darkness behind Meng Qianli. "Why waste words? Kill them!"
Three shadows emerged from behind Meng Qianli!
"Second Brother! You, you actually colluded with foreign powers!!" Feng Qianshan's eyes widened in shock. Among the three, he recognized one as the Japanese Envoy from Wa Country! The other two, judging by their attire, were likely Turkic and Goguryeo individuals!
Meng Qianli glanced at the Goguryeo man and said, "The sorcery of Goguryeo is truly bizarre; it can control numerous Possessed Beings without a period of adaptation, making them directly usable for me. It seems no country should be underestimated."
The Japanese Envoy to the Tang Dynasty formed a strange gesture with his hands and began muttering something. Soon, over a dozen corpses in the hall started to twitch and rise again, their mangled bodies and hollow eyes were truly horrifying.
"How about I help you deal with this?" he said with a sinister smile.
Wuxing stepped forward with his sword raised in front of his master. "Master, where is Shibo's Demon-Slaying Blade?!" he urgently asked. Given the situation, only the Demon-Slaying Blade could eradicate all evil beings; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to handle the countless Charm Corpses and revived monsters before him.
"Demon-Slaying Blade? I've never seen it! It must be lost, Senior Brother!" Meng Qianli replied with a sinister grin.
"Wuxing, what about Yingying?!" As the monsters began to advance, Feng Qianshan asked with a glimmer of hope.
"Come out! Good disciple!" Meng Qianli clapped his hands, and slowly from behind emerged a woman wielding a large drill—Yingying!
"Senior Sister, you!" Wuxing could hardly believe his eyes.
"Gua'erjia Yingying, her family is a subordinate clan under Northern Goguryeo. For the survival of her family, she does whatever is necessary," Meng Qianli said slowly.
The last glimmer of hope had vanished.
At that moment, Shen Qianqi on the ground coughed a few times and gasped, "Haha, indeed, Empress Wu has calculated everything!"
The Japanese Envoy to the Tang Dynasty looked confused. "What do you mean?" He suddenly waved his hand, and the surrounding corpses stopped moving, encircling Wuxing and Feng Qianli.
"Empress Wu knew this would happen. After court yesterday, General Pei directly led troops to escort the Persian Prince away."
He turned to the Turkic man. "The escort was a pretense; they would attack you while passing through to quell the rebellion."
He gasped again and glanced at the Japanese Envoy to the Tang Dynasty. "The royal carriage in the afternoon was just for show; in reality, the people had already passed through secret tunnels to move troops. By now, the military camp must have been surrounded by the Sixteen Guards!"
Shen Qianqi surprisingly spoke more fluently. Feng Qianshan knew this was a moment of clarity before death; he sorrowfully supported Shen Qianqi and fixed his gaze on Meng Qianli.
"Second brother, haven't you always wanted the Demon-Slaying Blade?" Shen Qianqi suddenly laughed. "The Demon-Slaying Blade, I've only used it once; it chooses its wielder."
"Second brother, using war to quell chaos is not feasible. Is it worth sacrificing so many lives for your so-called peace? Second brother, you have fallen into madness; the Demon-Slaying Blade has already emerged, right before your eyes." Shen Qianqi uttered his last words and breathed his last.
"Kill!" Meng Qianli's eyes sparkled with greed.
Charm Corpses and monsters surged forward, instantly overwhelming Wuxing and Feng Qianli.
Before long, Feng Qianli was completely surrounded and unable to move. He turned to Wuxing one last time and shouted, "Run!"
"Ah!" Wuxing was utterly enraged; he no longer cared whether he could escape alive. Frantically wielding his dagger against the Charm Corpses, he managed to take down a few, but more monsters rushed in!
The dagger got stuck; Wuxing pulled at it several times but couldn't free it. In desperation, he drew out the wooden sword strapped to his back and swung it at the monsters.
The dull thuds seemed ineffective; after a few strikes, the wooden sword began to crack. Wuxing didn't notice and could only use it to fend off all incoming attacks.
With a soft sound, the blade finally emitted a faint chime.
The wooden sword shattered completely, revealing a dark red blade inside. It turned out that the wooden sword was actually a scabbard, and within it lay a true sword. Upon sensing the surrounding evil energy, the entire sword began to tremble, emitting a buzzing sound.
Wuxing swung his hand casually, and with a sharp hiss, a Charm Corpse and a monster were cut in half simultaneously. A piercing scream echoed in the air as the remnants of their bodies could no longer rise.
This was the Demon-Slaying Blade, the Demon-Slaying Blade that destroys demons and slays monsters!
Wuxing's eyes lit up as he charged toward the enemy before him.
...
At dawn, Wuxing, exhausted, dragged Unharmed out of the hall. Looking up, he saw Yuyan standing on the castle tower with the Sixteen Guards. Seeing Yuyan again felt like a lifetime had passed.
The first rays of sunlight broke through, illuminating Yuyan's smiling face as she looked at Wuxing, leaving him momentarily entranced.
(End of the three-part short story!)
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