434 Torn Armor (2/2)

Xia Hour furrowed his brows slightly.

His brows looked as if they were carved from steel, and when they furrowed together, they seemed even colder and harder.

There wasn't anyone living left in the Front Gate of the Devil's Doctrine. There were only white bones and dried corpses. Those waiting for him were not people, but their vengeful spirits.

”Your teacher and I had already left when Mr. Ke broke through the Front Gate. It had nothing to do with me, so you cannot blame me.”

”But you became a visiting professor of the West-Hill Divine Palace after heading south.”

Tang said, ”A traitor is a traitor. The ancestors of the Enlightenment Doctrine are all waiting for you back in the Front Gate. Senior Sister Murong is waiting for you in the steamer.”

Xia Hou's furrowed brows dimmed when he heard Murong's name. After a long silence, he said, ”It is not that easy to kill me.”

Tang said, ”If I reveal your identity to the world, who in the world would accept you?”

Xia Hou said, ”The West-Hill, His Majesty and the Academy. Their acceptance is enough. Because it means that the world will accept me. And as long as the world accepts me, the people in the world would not dare not to.”

Tang said, ”The Tang Empire might have accepted you because of your war efforts. He might have wanted to get rid of you long ago, but he did not want to enter into a conflict with the West-Hill. He did not have any evidence, which was why he asked you to stay at the frontiers. The Academy did not kill you because those in the Academy had long forgotten how to kill.”

”You may be right.”

Xia Hou looked at him emotionlessly and said, ”But you are not the Haotian Taoism Sect. You are not the Emperor of Tang or the Academy either. So you cannot kill me. And in this entire world, only you want me dead.”

Tang said, ”Why can't I kill you?”

Xia Hou looked at the blood-color huge blade in his hands. He looked at the blade piercing deeply into the ground and said, ”Because the divine blade has dulled in your hands.”

Tang said, ”And your armor has been torn.”

Xia Hou had changed into the war robe he was wearing in the morning. It was torn to shreds by Tang's blade and the golden sheen of his armor could be seen from beneath.

He was the great General of the Tang Empire. His armor was designed by Professor Huang He of the Academy and made under the supervision of the Academy. There were numerous talisman lines engraved on the surface that looked like it could provide him with unlimited protection.

It just looked like that it could provide unlimited protection. In the end, there was still a limit.

Tang's blood-color huge blade had left a deep gouge in the armor last year by the Hulan Sea. The battles in the past days had caused the armor to dim significantly. The chest area had dimmed significantly and had several cracks, signifying the breaking down of the armor.

The armor would not last for long.

”You have been injured.”

Xia Hou looked at the fist imprint and blood on Tang's chest. He said, ”And you are badly injured. We would need 4000 armored black cavalries to trap you at your peak. But you might die anytime now. If you want to kill me, you have to be prepared to be killed by me anytime.”

”Your cavalry will not be able to trap me unless you break my legs.”

Tang said, ”But you know, my legs are not so easily broken. You wanted to do this three times in a row, but you did not succeed. You will never succeed.”

There was a momentary pause. He continued, ”And you will never stop being injured.”

Xia Hou said, ”Your injuries are worse than mine.”

Tang said, ”But you're older than me.”

Xia Hou said, ”We are all disciples of the Enlightenment Doctrine. Do you really believe in the nonsense that we weaken with age?”

Tang said, ”You might not get weaker as you age, but your spirit is not as strong as it used to be. For example, you are more afraid of death now than you were then. Of course, you have always been afraid of death after boiling Murong to death.”

Xia Hou did not say anything.

”The older you get, the more afraid of death you get. The more cowardly you are, the more afraid of death you are. The one who fears death the most, dies most easily.”

Tang looked at him and said, ”I will follow you as long as you don't return to Chang'an. I will continue to fight against you and I want to see you die before me.”

Xia Hou did not say anything else but turned to walk down the meadow.

The flute rang, and horse hooves thundered on the meadow. Hundreds of armored black cavalry rolled forward towards Tang, who stood quietly on the meadow, like a wave.

Xia Hou walked towards the military camp a distance away from the meadow and did not turn back.

He listened to the whistling flames and the thundering clashes on the meadow behind him but he did not turn back.

They had fought thrice, but Tang did never lose his legs, and he did not find an opportunity to hurt his opponent's legs. Tang would not allow himself to die at the hands of the cavalry.

Xia Hou knew this day would come since he betrayed the Devil's Doctrine.

He had not expected that the person who would come to rid the Devil's Doctrine of its betrayer would be the disciple of the Twenty-Three-year Cicada Cultivation instead. He admitted that Tang was right. He was more afraid of death now than he had been. But he had never been worried that he would die at Tang's hands, or legs.

Because Tang was one of the world's powerhouse, so was his.

If it had been the Twenty-Three-year Cicada Cultivation, he would have no other choice but to return to Chang'an.

Xia Hou thought to himself.

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Over ten houses by the Yanming lake under the Yanming mountain had their new owners.

New owners did not make much changes to the houses. They did not demolish and rebuild them, but they still spent a large amount of money to refurbish the area.

Hundreds of workers and over ten large carts were gathered by the lake. They began to get rid of the mud by the lake. The gardeners from the Scholar's Mansion began to instructs the boatmen on which to plant lotus flowers in the lake.

Those who had moved out of the houses heard of what was happening, and brought their old and young to the Yanming Lake to watch the show. They watched the mud being carted away and the boat that was planting lotus flowers in the lake. They thought about how this would look amazing next year, and couldn't help but feel envious.

They might feel envy, and perhaps a little regretful. But they were not jealous or resentful. The people of Chang'an had always been praised for their good disposition. Since that person had spent so much money in refurbishing the area, he had the right to enjoy it.

Mr. Qi's Fish-dragon Gang was in charge of putting together the restoration of Yanming Lake. Ning Que's only request was for them to not move the structure of the houses and to plant some lotus flowers. Ning Que did not know much about the project and did not want to participate in it. That was why he still stayed in the Old Brush Pen Shop on Lin 47th Street.

”Darkie reminded me before that Xia Hou was afraid of water.”

Ning Que sat by the well, peering into the deep and calm well water. He said, ”But I do not understand why a cultivator at the Peak state of Martial Arts would be afraid of water. Perhaps Xia Hou said it as a bluff. So I will not try to drown him. I have decided to beat him to death before planting him as a lotus flower.”

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