Chapter 564
Chapter 564
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 564
>Chapter Title: Dice
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Those guys didn’t even have a single guard by their side. They were just ordinary people. Once we from the Sit-Forget Dao find them, we don’t even need to lift a finger ourselves. We just stir things up a bit from the sidelines, and they’ll go off and get themselves killed. Right, Hongzhong?”
Dice’s words seemed directed at Li Huowang, but they felt more like a pointed reminder.
A round jade pendant? Li Huowang immediately recalled the jade pendant he’d stolen from his late senior brother Xuanyang’s quarters inside Clear Wind Temple! The very one he’d recently traded for a horse!
Xuanyang was actually of Great Liang imperial blood? Shock flooded Li Huowang’s face as he remembered that young man who’d tried to flee Clear Wind Temple, only to be fed Black Tai Sui by Danyangzi in the end.
The cause of his death was actually the Sit-Forget Dao’s schemes? The Sit-Forget Dao had already infiltrated Clear Wind Temple back then?!
He knew Danyangzi’s Heavenly Book had come from the Sit-Forget Dao, but what he hadn’t realized was that there was another Sit-Forget Dao disciple inside Clear Wind Temple!
“Who? Who was the Sit-Forget Dao impostor!” Xiaoman, Gao Zhijian, Bai Lingmiao, Yang Xiaohai—one face after another flashed rapidly through Li Huowang’s mind.
“Pop.” It was as if a bubble had burst in Li Huowang’s head. His own face suddenly appeared in his mind.
Some long-buried memories from the past began replaying scene by scene. These were his earlier memories, deliberately sealed away by the Sit-Forget Dao’s supernatural powers.
“Me? I was the one who hinted to Xuanyang to escape? I was the Sit-Forget Dao disciple inside Clear Wind Temple?” Li Huowang’s body began twitching uncontrollably as he clutched his head in agony.
He suddenly remembered the full sequence of events from before he’d crossed over to this world. During that time, he had pretended to encounter Danyangzi and pretended to be captured by him—all to deal with Xuanyang, that remnant imperial dragon seed.
Even the “Old Lord” who Danyangzi claimed had given him the Heavenly Book had been Li Huowang in disguise! He was Hongzhong. He had fooled everyone!
“No! That’s not right! My memories were tampered with by Great Matron Taiyin! These aren’t my memories. I’m not Hongzhong. I’m Li Huowang! Don’t let the Sit-Forget Dao deceive you!” Li Huowang shouted desperately to himself in his mind.
But no matter how much he tried to convince himself, every detail of Hongzhong’s memories grew ever clearer.
Hongzhong’s past memories multiplied, starting to encroach on Li Huowang’s own.
When Hongzhong’s memories outnumbered Li Huowang’s, he could no longer tell whether he was Hongzhong or Li Huowang.
Li Huowang’s bizarre reaction would normally have drawn the National Advisor’s scrutiny immediately.
But right now, Huangfu Tiangang’s full attention was on Dice’s earlier words. He had no time to bother with Li Huowang.
“Don’t even think about fooling me! You imagine these lies can shake my Dao heart? You think I have no other contingencies?” A bolt of purple lightning crashed down, charring Dice’s lone arm and leg until they curled and blackened.
Even on the brink of death, gasping his last, Dice’s demeanor grew ever more spirited.
“Hahaha!! Lies? Tiangang, you really don’t understand the Sit-Forget Dao at all. Lies are for the little foot soldiers. I’m Dice of the Sit-Forget Dao! I only ever deceive with the truth!”
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me. Great Liang’s dragon vein is already severed at the root anyway. Yu’er God has arrived too. Just sit back and enjoy the show from here on out. Heh heh heh~”
Dice’s arrogance drew the ire of an old general nearby. He raised his guandao and pressed it against Dice’s half-neck.
“You bastard! What good does severing Great Liang’s dragon vein do you lot? The whole world will descend into chaos, and you’ll die right along with it!”
“Heh heh heh, it’s just death. You think the head of the Sit-Forget Dao fears that?” Dice arched his body and stretched out his neck. His half-head hit the ground in an instant.
“Farewell, everyone! I’ll take my leave first! Oh, and Hongzhong—no need to burn paper for me on Qingming. We Sit-Forget Dao don’t do that.” With that, the head in the pool of blood lost all signs of life.
“You want to die? Not so easily!! I’ll scatter your soul to the winds!!”
As Huangfu Tiangang wildly shook his Star-Mansion Sword at the sky, bolts of purple lightning were drawn down, smashing viciously into Dice’s corpse.
After more than a dozen strikes, nothing remained of Dice’s half-body on the ground.
The National Advisor of Great Liang’s face twitched slightly. He let out a cold snort at the scorched tiles and turned to head toward the palace hall.
“Wah wah wah~ Boss Dice~~~ You died so horribly!! How am I supposed to live without you! Wah wah wah.” The illusory Sit-Forget Dao disciple flopped down by the charred spot, sobbing uncontrollably without shedding a tear.
“Monk! Monk! Didn’t you want to be a good person? Can’t you see my boss Dice is dead? Hurry up and perform the rites for him!!”
With a grave expression, Zhuge Yuan walked past the wailing man and came to Li Huowang, who was clawing at his scalp. “Brother Li! Brother Li! Hold on! It’s not over yet!”
“I...” Li Huowang clutched his head as he stood, staring blankly at Zhuge Yuan. “Who am I? Am I Hongzhong or Li Huowang?”
“No matter who you are, do you want everything that happened in Great Qi to play out in Great Liang? Think of Oxheart Village! Think of your fellow disciples! Think of your daughter Li Sui! Your Bai Lingmiao! Do you really want them to end up like the people of Great Qi?”
Zhuge Yuan’s words hit Li Huowang like a bucket of cold water, yanking him back from his spiral of self-doubt.
“Dice’s scheme isn’t flawless! Hurry after the National Advisor of Great Liang. There’s still a way to reconnect Great Liang’s root!”
As he felt his mind growing foggy again, Li Huowang slapped himself hard across the face and rushed off in the direction the National Advisor of Great Liang had gone.
The National Advisor of Great Liang hadn’t gone far. He entered the main audience hall where Ji Lin had previously summoned Li Huowang.
The moment Li Huowang stepped inside, he saw a cluster of eunuchs sprawled haphazardly in the center. Huangfu Tiangang’s face was dark as he strode toward Ji Lin on the dragon throne.
“National Advisor! How bold! I am the emperor! How dare you commit treason!” Panic flashed across Ji Lin’s fierce face. This was the National Advisor turning on him.
But Huangfu Tiangang ignored Ji Lin’s accusations. He marched straight to the dragon throne and roughly yanked him to the floor.
“Guards! Guards, to me!!” With his right hand, left with only two fingers, Ji Lin struggled to prop himself up on the golden bricks, shouting in desperation.
He started to rise, but the National Advisor grabbed him and hoisted him up. Biting his fingertip, he swiftly drew a talisman on him.
“National Advisor? National Advisor!! Huangfu Tiangang! You’ve got some nerve! I am the emperor! I am the last blood of House Ji! If you disrespect me, aren’t you afraid no one will be left to bear Great Liang’s destiny?”
While Ji Lin spoke, the National Advisor finished drawing. He then clapped his hand hard over Ji Lin’s face.
In the next instant, the red talismans on his body came alive, slithering across Ji Lin like swimming dragons.
Soon, the talismans seemed to latch onto something, their wriggling speeding up.
An extremely thin voice emerged from beneath Ji Lin’s dragon robe. “Oh dear, oh dear, you found me out. You’re so clever~ How did you know this little girl’s life root had my own inside it?”
No sooner had the words fallen than something rolled out from under the dragon robe, heading toward the doors where Li Huowang stood. “Hongzhong! Hongzhong! What are you standing around for! Hurry and help!”
But it hadn’t rolled far before Huangfu Tiangang’s massive foot came down, crushing it into a pulpy mess.
——————