Chapter 430
Chapter 430
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 430
>Chapter Title: North Wind
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“What? Heart-Su North Wind? Boss Red Center, you’re looking for him?”
A Sitting Oblivion Dao member dressed like an old beggar asked in surprise.
“Where is North Wind now?!”
Li Huowang’s tone sharpened. The Purple Tassel Sword in his hand was already pressed against the man’s neck.
Seeing this, another Sitting Oblivion Dao member dressed like a pretty young wife hurried to smooth things over.
“Hey now, we’re all brothers here—why draw blades? Boss Red Center, I know this. North Wind and the others should be at the eastern gate of the imperial city. They’re planning to go in and see what the Great Liang Emperor is up to. And it’s not just Boss North Wind and the three of them—most of the Three Primordials and the Four Joys are there too.”
“The eastern gate of the imperial palace…”
Li Huowang tightened his grip on the sword. With a slight flick of his wrist, the beggar’s head separated cleanly from his body.
He turned his gaze to the last Sitting Oblivion Dao member and enunciated each word coldly:
“Say it again. Where is North Wind now?”
The woman glanced at the corpse, eyes wide and glistening with tears.
“Boss Red Center… why are you doing this? We… we truly never meant to harm you…”
Seeing her tearful, pitiful expression only enraged him further. He kicked her to the ground. The blade slid upward from beneath her chin, peeling back her face to reveal beneath it a blood-soaked orchid formed of twisted flesh and features.
“Heh. A Flower Card, huh? Fine. Let’s see what other tricks you Sitting Oblivion Dao can play! I’ll ask you one more time—where is North Wind?!”
His hands clamped tightly around her throat.
“Boss North Wind… really did go to the eastern gate… I swear…”
The orchid-faced woman struggled to breathe as she spoke.
As Li Huowang’s grip tightened, she began to struggle. But after reaching a peak, her resistance weakened. Even so, she never changed her words or begged for mercy.
At the moment of her death, she gently rubbed her orchid-like head against the back of his vein-bulging hand. There was no fear or despair on her twisted face—only a trace of reluctant affection.
With her final breath, she whispered almost soundlessly:
“On the mountain there are trees… the trees have branches…
My heart delights in you… but you do not know…”
Her body went limp. The orchid on her face withered.
“Ha… ha…”
Li Huowang gasped for air. Li Sui’s tendrils lifted cloth from a nearby corpse and wiped the blood from his face.
“These Sitting Oblivion Dao are insufferable. Even at death they try to disgust me. Acting so real… I almost wavered.”
After catching his breath, he stood again. Though half-skeptical of her words, whether North Wind was truly at the eastern gate or not, he had to check.
The situation outside was spiraling into chaos. He had to move quickly. Whether North Wind was killed or escaped—neither outcome suited him.
Li Huowang bent down to pick up the peeled face, intending to reattach it.
But he suddenly paused.
“Wait… maybe wearing Erjiu’s face from here on isn’t wise.”
After glancing around, he instead picked up the Flower Card’s face and pressed it onto his own like a mask.
From his torture pouch, he took nails and pinned the edges in place.
In an instant, his appearance changed completely.
If he was going to act, he would commit fully. He burned his red Daoist robe and changed into the clothes stripped from the corpses nearby.
Now entirely transformed, six swords strapped to his back looted from other bodies, Li Huowang pushed open a wooden door in the wall.
After briefly orienting himself, he leapt onto an ownerless horse by the roadside and galloped toward the imperial city.
“The imperial palace… since it’s where the Great Liang Emperor resides, it should be the most heavily guarded place in Liang.”
Along the way, to confirm the intelligence, he captured two more Sitting Oblivion Dao members. One refused to speak; the other also said North Wind was at the eastern palace gate.
As he neared the imperial city, Li Huowang vaulted onto a rooftop and gazed toward the eastern gate.
A battle had already begun.
In the vast white snowfall, figures were occasionally hurled into the air and sent crashing down.
Crawling low, Li Huowang edged closer.
Though the combatants’ abilities were bizarre and varied, it was clear: inside were the Imperial Guards; outside, the Sitting Oblivion Dao.
The Sitting Oblivion Dao wore all manner of disguises. It was impossible to identify who was who—let alone determine whether the Heart-Su North Wind was among them.
Some attempted to sit cross-legged and chant—
Only to be pierced through the forehead by arrows of uncanny precision.
Li Huowang did not rush to either side. He quietly searched among the Sitting Oblivion Dao.
“Is that him? No… no…”
He recalled what he had learned from the Supervising Heaven Bureau.
Heart-Su North Wind possessed the ability to swap bodies with others.
With that thought, his gaze shifted from the Sitting Oblivion Dao to the palace side.
The Imperial Guards fought desperately. Some wore green masks as they defended.
Nothing seemed abnormal.
Then—
The tightly shut palace gates suddenly opened.
A helmeted Imperial Guard slipped out and waved urgently outside.
The Sitting Oblivion Dao seized the opportunity and surged in.
The battlefield descended into chaos.
“Is it him? Is that Heart-Su North Wind?”
Li Huowang’s heart pounded as he fixed his eyes on the guard who had opened the gate.
The guard seemed to sense something. He glanced toward Li Huowang’s direction from afar—then turned and disappeared inside the gate.
With a whoosh, snow exploded around Li Huowang as he displaced into invisibility and sprinted across the rooftops.
By the time he reached the eastern gate, it was clear the skirmish had ended in a complete victory for the Sitting Oblivion Dao. The half-open gate, smeared in blood, was proof.
That suspicious figure had definitely gone inside.
Li Huowang quickened his pace and slipped in as well.
He was not the only one drawn by the commotion. Others followed the blood-soaked trail through the corpses.
Whether they were Sitting Oblivion Dao or Supervising Heaven Bureau was impossible to tell.
Following behind them, Li Huowang soon entered the imperial palace.
Inside, it was vast and labyrinthine.
But he needed no map.
The bloodstains and scattered bodies marked the way.
Like outside, the vermilion walls were adorned at intervals with enormous bronze masks the height of a person, green patina clinging in places.
Square faces. Hollow eyes. Triangular noses. Wide ears.
Under their silent gaze, the Great Liang palace felt solemn and imposing.
As he advanced, the blood and footprints thinned.
Golden light shimmered around the next corner.
When Li Huowang carefully turned it—
He froze in shock.
Gold.
An entire expanse glittered with gold.
The distant golden hall, the golden bricks beneath his feet—even the roof ornaments, ridge beasts, and decorative figures were all cast in gold.
(End of Chapter)