Breaking Army - Chapter 17

As soon as Xiao Chen’s voice fell, Mu Qing took a step forward, placing himself even closer to the villagers.

Mu Qing’s movement made Xiao Chen frown. He let out a low, raspy shout, “What are you doing? Get out of here, now!”

Mu Qing shook his head, his feet remaining firmly planted.

A few soldiers watched and hesitated to step forward, but Mu Qing swept them with a gaze so cold it cut like a blade. The hand holding his sword lifted slightly, a gesture that shut everyone out from a thousand miles away, making it clear that no one was to approach.

Bai Zhu’s hands were finally pried off the tree trunk. He continued to claw at the ground, mud wedging deep under his fingernails. Hearing Xiao Chen’s words, he thought to himself that the man was indeed a liar, earlier, he had claimed this boy was his Taoist attendant. However, Bai Zhu did not speak up, he didn’t expose the truth in front of a crowd that had already descended into madness.

The soldiers had intended to drag Mu Qing away by force, just as they had with Bai Zhu. But Mu Qing was not like the frail, powerless Bai Zhu, with a weapon in hand, he stood in rigid defiance against the rest. Cold-faced and silent, the soldiers didn’t realize he was mute, they only thought he was ungrateful and stubborn. Seeing the townsfolk’s emotions reaching a boiling point, and since they didn’t know Mu Qing anyway, they simply gave up. Dragging Bai Zhu along, they hurried away.

Xiao Chen’s face, which had remained detached as if he were an outsider, finally changed. He braced himself against the tree trunk to sit up: “Mu Qing!”

His head was already swimming, and this surge of anger only made him more lightheaded. He cursed inwardly, Why are kids always so difficult!

“Listen, everyone! Rid the people of this evil, slay the demons!”

One person shouted, and soon everyone followed. They roared in unison: “Rid the people of this evil, slay the demons!” Xiao Chen’s weakened state fueled their courage. The only reason many hadn’t dared to be the first to strike was the sword in Mu Qing’s hand. Yes, with so many of them, they could surely hack a monster to death, but the ones in the very front would inevitably be cut or even run through. That was a real weapon, and it would hurt when it hit bone.

They wanted to kill the demon, they wanted to live, and they were bold enough to think it didn’t matter if they killed the wrong person. Yet, they were also utter cowards, terrified of being the first to be wounded by a blade.

No one broke from the pack to rush forward. They closed in as a collective, their shouts growing louder and louder.

Xiao Chen’s voice was drowned out by the rhythmic chanting of the townsfolk. He was truly furious now. The Array of a Hundred Demons had affected the entire Ruoshui Town, and now, even a small spark of spiritual energy caused blood to churn in his chest. Combined with his ongoing fever, it was a recipe for disaster. Xiao Chen bit his lip, resolving to use his last bit of strength. Even if he couldn’t send Mu Qing away completely, he would at least knock him aside. These people’s frenzy was directed at him, they wouldn’t bother with Mu Qing.

However, just as his palm began to turn, someone in the crowd that had pressed right up to them finally lost their restraint and swung a weapon: “Don’t be afraid, let’s give it our all!”

That shout fell like the crack of an executioner’s token. Iron tools finally came crashing down in a chaotic clatter.

Mu Qing raised his sword to block the disorganized iron. He swept his blade in a horizontal arc, a powerful surge that instantly snapped several mundane iron tools and sent several men flying back.

His spiritual energy was already low, it was hard enough just to keep his physical form from dissipating. Those he knocked back were merely bruised from the fall. They climbed back up after a few groans of pain. The move didn’t scare them, instead, it incited even more rage: “A monster! He’s a monster too! They’re in this together!”

“Monster! Monster!”

Someone threw stones and debris from the back. Mu Qing was hit in the temple, and blood flowed down, blurring his vision. Yet, he didn’t even turn his head. Mu Qing closed his eyes briefly, and when he raised his sword again, the blade was coated in a faint layer of spiritual energy. It was purple energy.

Purple spiritual energy.

Xiao Chen’s eyes slowly widened.

The stones and debris failed to bypass Mu Qing to hit Xiao Chen behind him. But he was only one person with one sword. The townsfolk pressed in even more frantically, like a dark, messy tide. Mu Qing’s energy grew weaker as it found no replenishment. He had already retreated to stand directly in front of Xiao Chen, there was no more room to move back.

Mu Qing struggled to fend them off from all sides, finally showing signs of exhaustion. An opening appeared. An axe bypassed him and swung toward Xiao Chen. Mu Qing’s pupils shrank. He turned and lunged, using his final bit of energy to erect a protective barrier in front of Xiao Chen.

But Mu Qing was outside the barrier.

By doing this, Mu Qing left his back completely exposed to the maddened crowd. In the blink of an eye, sharp farming tools pierced through him from back to chest, turning him into a pincushion in an instant.

Even with his heart shattered by blades, Mu Qing didn’t die immediately. As if he couldn’t feel the pain, he looked up and smiled at Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen jerked upright, only to fall back as his weak legs gave way. He opened his mouth but couldn’t produce a sound. Even with his brain scrambled by fever, he should have known who Mu Qing was by now.

A so-called avatar was created using an object as a medium, molding a body, and injecting spiritual energy to make it move like a living person. When an avatar is injured, the original body is not physically harmed, but the sight, sound, and sensation of pain are shared. The pain is real. With Mu Qing being turned into a pincushion, the original body had to endure every bit of that agony.

The Lord of the Underworld had likely never suffered such a grievous injury in his life. To have his heart and bones pierced, how much must it hurt?

Mu Qing gazed at Xiao Chen and silently mouthed two words: Wait for me.

With that, he collapsed toward the ground. Xiao Chen instinctively reached out to catch him, but of course, there was nothing to catch. Mu Qing’s body suddenly fractured and disintegrated into dust. As the dust cleared, a single red Equinox Flower fell to the ground. Xiao Chen’s hand remained outstretched, his fingers trembling.

Xiao Chen, who was always calm in the face of danger and vibrantly brave, now wore a blank, hollow expression. His empty gaze fell upon the Equinox Flower. For a moment, he could find no movement or emotion to express.

That tiny flower was instantly trampled under the chaotic footsteps of the crowd, vanishing beneath the throng.

Xiao Chen could no longer hear what the villagers were shouting. Once Mu Qing’s form vanished, the paper-thin barrier finally gave way, shattering like glass. Many people crowding against it lost their balance and tumbled forward. Blades and bodies fell together, crashing haphazardly onto Xiao Chen.

“Ugh!”

Xiao Chen’s shoulder was instantly pierced by a sickle, from front to back. The blade was truly sharp, the sound of it entering the bone was crisp. His mind had been elsewhere, and the sudden shock forced a muffled groan from his throat. His foot was also pinned to the ground by something sharp. When he instinctively tried to move it, the pain was heart-wrenching.

Before Xiao Chen could even cry out, screams erupted from the crowd. Because of the fall, one wave of people had crashed into the next. Those behind fell onto those in front, and naturally, their weapons fell with them. Blades have no eyes, they don’t care if the person holding them wanted to kill a demon or not, anyone who hit a sharp edge bled.

Those who tripped were lucky to escape with small cuts. Others fell and were pierced through the throat, dying on the spot. Some were trampled repeatedly, their screams ignored. Before Xiao Chen had done anything, the scent of blood exploded in the crowd, and everything fell into total chaos.

“My foot! My foot!”

“Aaaah, help! Stop stepping on me, aaah! Help—”

“No! My husband! You killed my husband!”

The air was filled with wailing and howling, but those who had lunged onto Xiao Chen were deaf to it. Just moments ago, they were self-righteously shouting about the greater good, yet now, not one of them looked back. Like wild beasts, they sank their teeth directly into Xiao Chen’s wounds, greedily drinking his blood, trying to tear the flesh from his body with their human teeth. They wore human skins, but they were content to return to being brutes.

Hua Wuhen laughed hysterically: “Hahaha! Prince Po Jun, Xiao Chen! Look at yourself, hahaha! Don’t you love meddling? Don’t you want to save the world? How does it taste? Die for your precious world, hahahaha! My King, my King, do you see this? I have avenged you!”

Xiao Chen’s blood continued to flow. The scene before him blurred from dizziness, yet his consciousness remained eerily clear. In his distorted vision, their faces were reflected strangely, twisted and unrecognizable, yet somehow very vivid. He could hear someone’s frantic, ugly laughter… oh, it must be that demon named Hua-something. This scene, it really was quite funny.

I once fought for all living beings, yet I must feed the human heart with my own flesh.

Do you want me to be consumed by hatred and pain?

But… Xiao Chen let out a muffled chuckle from his throat, which grew louder. Hua Wuhen had been watching him from within the array. Hearing Xiao Chen’s laughter, he clawed at his own face, his expression manic: “What are you laughing at! Have you finally gone mad? Hahaha, good, go mad—”

“I’m laughing at you… cough cough!” Xiao Chen’s limbs were pinned, but he tilted his head back, arrogant as ever. “Is this it? Is this all you’ve got?”

Hua Wuhen was incredulous: “What did you say!?”

Blood seeped from the corner of Xiao Chen’s mouth. His fingers dug hard into the mud. It hurt, it really hurt. Being able to endure it didn’t mean he wasn’t afraid of pain. He gritted his teeth, yet forced a smile: “Vermin, do you think I haven’t figured out what ‘living beings’ are? I’ve lived for ten thousand years, I could be your ancestor. Just because of this… cough cough!”

The masses were a chaotic mix of good and evil. One should not judge the whole by one part, nor the part by the whole. The mortal realm was no different from anywhere else. Among mortals, there were those currently feasting on his flesh, and those with a pure heart like Bai Zhu. Demons, monsters, celestials, humans, they were all the same. What was the difference? He had seen it all before.

The stars may shift, but the heart remains unmoved.

Blood was flowing, but a strength was slowly returning to his body. He hadn’t noticed when his cultivation had drained away, but now it was reviving. It gathered within his limbs like rain after a long drought, drop by drop.

Xiao Chen’s eyelashes fluttered. His empty eyes refocused, gradually regaining their spirit. The people pouncing on him were oblivious, still gnawing away. One person, finding biting too troublesome, raised a knife as a matter of course, preparing to carve out another piece. However, this time, his knife did not fall.

Xiao Chen had seized his wrist.

The others who were biting also sensed something was wrong. A terrifying pressure hung over their heads. They froze, slowly lifting their eyes. Xiao Chen’s expression was neither sad nor happy, he watched them with cold indifference.

Several people shuddered for no reason. This man had clearly been unable to resist, leaving himself to be slaughtered and consumed, it was supposed to stay that way. The man whose wrist was held by Xiao Chen discovered with horror that he couldn’t break free no matter how much strength he used, even though Xiao Chen’s wrist looked so fragile and weak.

The next moment, the world spun.

Before he was knocked unconscious, he couldn’t fathom where that slender wrist got the strength to toss a full-grown man aside in an instant.

No one saw clearly what Xiao Chen did. They only felt a force like a crushing rock slam into their chests. Every person biting him was sent flying backward. Someone even managed to tear a piece of flesh from Xiao Chen as they went, but he didn’t care. They crashed like falling stones into the crowd, taking many others down with them. These people rolled across the ground, and before they could even scream, they went still.

Aside from the unstoppable groans of pain in the crowd, all other noise was suddenly quelled. They turned their heads tremulously toward Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen was handsome and had offered no resistance, looking like a sickly person who was easy to bully. Only now, looking at the chaotic carnage before them, did they suddenly seem to realize they were facing a so-called “vile demon.”

In all honesty, the carnage was entirely their own doing, their blades were blind. What did it have to do with Xiao Chen? Though the people Xiao Chen threw seemed dead, they were actually just unconscious. The corpses and severed limbs on the ground were entirely of their own making. The iron tools they normally used for their livelihoods had all become murder weapons. In the end, it was humans who killed humans, the very same people who had been shouting about the greater good.

“He… he killed someone!!!”

Noisy.

Xiao Chen indifferently pulled out the sharp knife pinning his foot to the ground and tossed it aside. He took two steps forward, ignoring the numerous bleeding wounds on his body. He bent down, wanting to pick up that trampled Equinox Flower. Unfortunately, it had been crushed too thoroughly, the petals and stem ground into the dirt. Not even the fragments could be pieced back together.

Xiao Chen’s efforts were in vain, he only ended up with a hand stained with flower-mud.

Twirling the moist dirt between his fingertips, Xiao Chen thought expressionlessly: A perfectly good Equinox Flower, why didn’t you stay by the Yellow Springs to enjoy your peace? Why did you have to jump into this muddy water?

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