Chapter 34: Daoist Soldiers

"These three corpses are like three sacrificial beasts. No matter how they are used as sacrifices, their ultimate end is death."

"Brother Chu, by killing these three corpses, you have effectively sacrificed the three beasts." Guo Ming flicked the reins, urging the horses pulling the carriage to move even faster.

It was fortunate that it was nighttime; otherwise, Guo Ming would never have dared to race horses wildly down the streets.

Chu Danqing and Cheng Wei grabbed tightly onto the carriage inside, terrified of being flung out.

Chu Danqing finally understood that Guo Ming's driving skills were indeed on par with his archery.

"I understand the reasoning, but Yangxian County has a curfew. Aren't you afraid of getting caught tearing along like this?" Chu Danqing asked.

As for the disaster victims, the government would naturally arrange accommodations for them; otherwise, letting people sleep on the streets in such freezing weather would just mean courting more deaths.

The curfew was also meant to prevent larger chaos from erupting.

Just as Chu Danqing finished speaking, a passing patrol squad of soldiers came into view right ahead.

Guo Ming yanked the reins, bringing the carriage to a drifting, screeching halt—the maneuver of a seasoned veteran.

"It's you?" The leading Fierce Fist raised an eyebrow, his gaze falling upon Guo Ming before shifting backward to spot Chu Danqing. "What is this? Are you out trying to escape the Man-Fiend's pursuit?"

Fierce Fist had anticipated crossing paths with Chu Danqing, but he hadn't expected to encounter him here.

His destination for this trip was the Lu Residence, and he was well aware that the Man-Fiend had targeted Chu Danqing.

"The Man-Fiend is already dead, so County Lieutenant Fierce Fist need not worry," Guo Ming immediately announced. "However, there is an even more important matter that requires County Lieutenant Fierce Fist's assistance."

Upon hearing that the Man-Fiend was dead, Fierce Fist paused for a moment. Fortunately, learning that there was a situation requiring his help immediately lifted his spirits.

"We'll talk on the way!" Fierce Fist said instantly, realizing that seeing these three speeding through the night meant something urgent was afoot.

Guo Ming flicked the reins again, setting the carriage back into motion. Fierce Fist leaped up, smoothly boarding the vehicle while instructing his subordinates to continue their patrol.

Patrolling for the government faction was a fixed task of the same type as the Lu clan maintaining order during porridge distribution or the Peace Dao distributing talisman water.

Along the way, Guo Ming briefly outlined the situation to Fierce Fist.

Cheng Wei ignored Fierce Fist entirely, still holding a deep resentment toward him.

As for Fierce Fist, he had long since forgotten about Cheng Wei, viewing him as mere nobody.

"The Man-Fiend slipped through my fingers, but this trip isn't a total loss after all," Fierce Fist said with a smile, looking at Chu Danqing. "Right then, I suppose you and I are now officially collaborating."

"Actually, it's you collaborating with Dabao, while the three of us brothers just cheer the two of you on," Chu Danqing replied.

In his plan, the combat portion essentially ended with the Man-Fiend; there was no continuation.

Now, he was being coerced into moving forward against his will.

Life-link and energy-link couldn't even handle the Mother of Grievances, let alone the Infant of Grievances—there was no way they could deal with a Son of Imperial Heaven who sounded immensely powerful.

True combat against the Son of Imperial Heaven, who might very well be the final boss, would be no different from Chu Danqing seeking his own death, so he intended to play it by ear from here on.

Fierce Fist glanced at Dabao out of the corner of his eye. He didn't use an appraisal skill, but Dabao still exerted a faint pressure upon him.

However, his current self was vastly different in strength from his past self, and killing the other party would pose no problem.

The carriage raced wildly through the streets, encountering a few more patrol squads along the way, all of which were smoothly dealt with thanks to Fierce Fist stepping forward as the Yangxian County Lieutenant.

Until they reached the northern part of the city.

Upon arrival, however, they found the north district deathly quiet, without a single sound.

"They're dead," Dabao stated concisely, uttering two words.

Chu Danqing decisively hid behind Dabao, while Guo Ming and Cheng Wei refused to be outdone and ducked behind him as well.

"Later, we'll attack together—" Fierce Fist started to say, but seeing their cowardly display left him speechless. He could only finish with, "Just protect yourselves."

As his voice trailed off, figures began to stir at the end of the street.

Withered-skinned disaster victims with vacant, glazed eyes swarmed forward like puppets.

Upon spotting their targets, they shot forward like arrows released from a string, moving far faster than normal people running.

"A mob? Right now, group combat is what I fear least." Fierce Fist smiled as a bloody hue emerged from his shadow.

The next moment, fifty bloody phantoms surged forth, transforming into fifty Blood Shadow Dao Soldiers.

The appearance of the Blood Shadow Dao Soldiers resembled that of the Man-Fiend, though their bodies bore many morphological traits similar to Fierce Fist.

Centering around himself, Fierce Fist activated the Blood Strike Military Formation. A massive surge of bloody aura coalesced into an abstruse military formation that hovered over the Blood Shadow Dao Soldiers.

The Blood Strike Military Formation crashed directly into the puppet disaster victims. Led by Fierce Fist, all the Blood Shadow Dao Soldiers simultaneously executed the Arhat Slashes the Bell from the Vajra Fist technique.

Fist power manifested as phantoms, and the Blood Slaughter combat arts took effect, transforming into blood blades. With a single move, they forcefully shattered the vanguard of the disaster victim puppets.

As for the damage sustained, it was evenly distributed among every single Blood Shadow Dao Soldier, reducing the already minimal damage to practically nothing.

"The Blood Shadow Chapter of the Military Dao Martial Classics," Guo Ming said, his expression turning grave instantly.

Cheng Wei remained silent, his brow furrowed deeply. "Where did he acquire this? Even my adoptive grandfather rarely passes this on to others, this..."

He knew this heritage originated from the inner palace and was not easily taught.

While other chapters were held by numerous military dao masters, this particular one was not.

Coupled with the somewhat bizarre circumstances of County Lieutenant Fierce Fist's rise to power, Guo Ming and Cheng Wei couldn't help but suspect that the man was sent to sweep up loose ends.

Cheng Wei, in particular, was in an even worse mood. The only person who could bypass his adoptive grandfather was someone of supreme authority.

And that person might very well be the mastermind behind this entire incident.

On the other side, hearing this, Chu Danqing realized that Fierce Fist must have redeemed a refined-tier legacy skill from the government faction shop.

Casually, he cast an appraisal skill—not on Fierce Fist, but on the summoned entities.

[Blood Shadow Dao Soldier]
[Attributes]
[Health: 50%]
[Mana: 50]
[Strength: 5]
[Agility: 5]
[Constitution: 5]
[Spirit: 5]
[Perception: 5]
[Talent]
[Blood Shadow Embodiment LV.MAX]
[Skills]
[...]

The digitized attribute panel shocked Chu Danqing. Although the levels of skills bearing the "Blood Shadow" prefix were all LV.1, he couldn't ignore the sheer quantity and how they clearly complemented one another.

However, their attributes were merely on par with ordinary people, and even their maximum health cap was only 50%.

"Do you mind talking about it? I'm quite curious about this Blood Shadow Chapter," Chu Danqing asked.

He hadn't appraised Fierce Fist's attribute panel because the man would be able to sense it, whereas the Blood Shadow Dao Soldiers clearly belonged to the category of mindless summoned entities.

Even if they sensed it, they wouldn't necessarily react, especially while in combat.

"The Blood Shadow Chapter is an unorthodox legacy within the Military Dao Martial Classics, concealed deep within the inner palace, and rarely practiced by anyone..." Cheng Wei began.