NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 29: Human Lives Are as Trifling as Grass
Shen Qing remained impassive.
Shang Jin had an ominous premonition and hurriedly shouted a warning, "Be careful!"
But in the next moment, before he could grasp what was happening, his vision blurred and he saw Shen Qing had already charged to the front of those men, drawing his dagger at his waist.
That dagger was so bright, so fast!
There was a muffled thud.
The martial master at the forefront felt the world spin suddenly, and in a daze, it seemed as though he saw his own headless corpse.
Not just him, but several of his companions' necks also squirted out columns of blood simultaneously, as three huge heads soared into the air.
Before the blood could splatter, Shen Qing's figure shifted, retreating in time.
Gurgle, gurgle.
Several huge heads tumbled and rolled on the ground in the forest.
Streams of blood-red Evil Qi rose from the bodies and seeped into the Merit Stone nestled in Shen Qing's chest.
The blood-red Evil Qi on the Merit Stone grew a few shades darker.
Shen Qing flicked the blood off his dagger's blade and said nonchalantly to A Da and the others, "Clean up quickly, we need to get ready to leave."
A Da and his companion finally snapped to reality and hurriedly advanced to search the corpses.
Shen Qing sheathed his long blade, his expression indifferent.
He knew that once the Jing Luan Assembly began, human life would be as insignificant as weeds—there could be no mercy like that of a compassionate woman.
If one could kill, they should kill; if one could not, they should flee.
Only then could one better survive.
Standing to the side, Shang Jin and the others couldn't help but swallow hard, fixating their gaze on Shen Qing.
They never imagined that the martial masters who had been chasing them would be killed by Shen Qing so effortlessly, with no chance to fight back.
This man was too strong.
His cultivation was likely already at the Innate Realm.
An audacious thought arose in their minds.
Shang Jin stepped forward, knelt before Shen Qing, and said, "I am Shang Jin, Colonel of the city gate of Moonlight City. If you do not disdain it, Sir, I wish to take you as my master, ready to go through fire and water for you, and to die without regret."
The Jing Luan Assembly had not been going on for long, and he had already become so wretched.
Having experienced the events of this day, Shang Jin knew that the Jing Luan Assembly was filled with formidable experts, and he was not their match.
If more time passed, the thought was unbearable.
This person had saved his life; it was better to pledge allegiance to him.
Shen Qing had not expected the man before him to be a Colonel of the city gate.
He looked at Shang Jin and the others with an expressionless face and said, "Do you know that I have killed the young master of the Xue Family, and made an enemy of the Xue Family? Even if I survive this Jing Luan Assembly and go back, life will not be easy. Do you still wish to follow me?"
Shock appeared on the faces of those around Shang Jin.
Moonlight City was not far from the Capital City, and the people there were well aware of the Xue Family in the Capital City.
The head of the Xue Family, Xue Zhao, was the current Great General, commanding a hundred thousand troops.
Having killed his son, was there still a way to live afterwards?
Upon hearing this from Shen Qing, the people beside Shang Jin began to waver, fearful of being implicated.
But to Shen Qing's surprise, Shang Jin burst into hearty laughter upon hearing this, elated.
"What are you so happy about?"
He knelt on one knee, with his hands clasped in a fist before him and said, "Sir, you have saved my life. If it were not for you today, I fear I would have perished here. If because of you, the Xue Family seeks revenge, then I will have a chance to repay my debt. How can I not be happy about such a thing?"
Hearing these words, the brothers following Shang Jin on either side all showed shame on their faces and lowered their heads one after another.
Shen Qing's face showed some emotion as he took a good look at Shang Jin.
He appeared to have thick eyebrows and big eyes, a broad back and a bear-like waist, with a fierce air exuding from his entire body.
"I still don't know how to address you, my lord. I hope you won't decline and give me a chance to repay your kindness," he said.
Shen Qing thought briefly before replying, "Shen Qing from Yongzhou."
Surprised, Shang Jin exclaimed, "You are the Chief Officer from Yongzhou who slaughtered all the demons in the city?"
"You've heard of me?"
Shen Qing didn't expect the affairs of Yongzhou to have spread so far.
There were still over a thousand miles between Moonlight City and Yongzhou City.
Shang Jin said, "Heard of you? Your feats have become well-known. Not only do we know, but I fear the entire Yunlu County has heard."
"Nowadays, the world is changing, and countless demons have emerged. Each of them possesses high cultivation, and we are unable to defend against them. My lord, you single-handedly killed all the demons in a city; aside from those in the temple capital, there are very few who can achieve this."
At the time, Shen Qing felt it was nothing out of the ordinary, but to others, it was astonishing, and he found this quite novel.
He didn't delve deeper into the topic and changed the subject, pointing to the beheaded corpses on the ground, "These people don't seem very strong. Even if you couldn't defeat them with your cultivation, you shouldn't be in such disarray, should you?"
Shang Jin, with his head bowed and hesitantly said, "The supervision team arrived."
"Supervision team?" This was the first time Shen Qing had heard this term.
Shang Jin explained, "The purpose of the Jing Luan Assembly this time is to quell the rebellion of the Huang Tian Sect, and we are all considered to be on military campaign. Hence, there will be a supervision team among us, supervising from behind to prevent any of us from seeking shortcuts."
"If we stay in one place for more than a day, we will be punished by the supervision team."
Shen Qing was slightly taken aback—it was like the 'safe zone' in the game 'chicken'.
The supervision team was constantly pushing their range towards Dan Zhou, forcing them to engage in battle with the Huang Tian Sect and their own martial masters.
"I heard that there are important military figures coming to supervise the army this time, which is not good news for us," Shang Jin said candidly.
Shen Qing turned back to Shao Hongling and others and said, "In that case, we should not stay here any longer. Let's set off as soon as possible."
Having said that, he turned his head and added, "You come as well."
Shang Jin's face brightened, and he changed his way of address, "Thank you, my lord."
After a brief rest, Shang Jin and his group had regained a considerable amount of strength and were moving without hindrance.
Before noon, their party of eight set out along the route toward Dan Zhou.
Since Shao Hongling and Shang Jin and the others were not of high cultivation and had not yet reached the ability to ride the wind, the whole group, apart from Shen Qing, ran wildly along the way.
...
In the camp where the Jingluan Assembly began, a Deputy General clad in armor burst into a tent with a fierce demeanor.
Inside the tent, bodies were laid out, emitting bursts of the stench of death.
In the center, one body positioned alone was particularly conspicuous.
Looking at the corpse of Xue Bai, the Deputy General suddenly became emotional.
He clenched his fists, with veins bulging on his arms, and gritted his teeth, "Who did this? Who killed him?"
A Kongyou Realm martial master, Lan Gongliang, slightly raised his eyelids and said, "It was the Two Department Chief from Yongzhou, Shen Qing."
"Shen Qing?" The Deputy General muttered a few times, then asked, "Which route did he take?"
"The third one."
Without any hesitation, the Deputy General immediately stood up and commanded, "Pass down my order for the supervision team to focus on the third route. If they encounter the Two Department Chief from Yongzhou, kill without mercy!"
A deep male voice from outside the tent answered, "Yes, my lord."
"Also, get ready. I, too, will enter the Jingluan Assembly to personally meet this bold individual, to see if they really have three heads and six arms. Otherwise, if the General learns his eldest son died in the Jingluan Assembly, he might command a bloodbath of everyone involved."