Chapter 754: Tricked Away

One order from Misty Pavilion froze the wars beneath Heaven with supreme authority.

It was something many people had never expected.

Countless schemes were interrupted. Countless plans were frozen. No one knew what changes the final outcome would bring, whether joy or sorrow.

The only certainty was that Misty Pavilion did not care how the parties involved felt.

It cared only whether the matters Misty Pavilion had designated could be carried out smoothly. Misty Pavilion's will took precedence over everything else. No one possessed the right to resist.

That was the law beneath Heaven.

Everything beneath Heaven had to act under that law.

Those who defied it would be executed.

...

Above a sea of clouds, inside a high pavilion, a beautiful maid quietly played the qin in one corner. The music was elegant.

Sha Rulai sat alone drinking wine and watching clouds roll and unfurl.

"Sir."

Bai Yulou arrived and stepped forward, offering a stack of papers. "The states have all submitted their redrawn lists. They're here."

He had originally been the innkeeper of the Inviting Moon Inn in Star-Plucking City.

Because independent cultivators were participating in the Tiandu Secret Realm this time, and Bai Yulou had spent years dealing with cultivators of every kind in Star-Plucking City—whether sect disciples or independent cultivators—he was familiar with the circumstances of the various sides.

Sha Rulai was the current overseer of Misty Pavilion, so he had temporarily transferred Bai Yulou from his daughter's side for use here.

Sha Rulai set down his wine cup and took the lists. He flipped through them casually for a while, then asked, "No problems this time?"

"The people on the lists have all been checked. There are no major problems. Only..." Bai Yulou hesitated.

Sha Rulai's gaze swept toward him. "Someone is still obeying in public and defying in private?"

"That isn't what this subordinate means. I only wonder whether it is somewhat inappropriate to let Niu Youdao enter the Tiandu Secret Realm."

Sha Rulai's eyes flickered. "Did your City Master tell you to come plead for Niu Youdao?"

Bai Yulou bent slightly. "This has nothing to do with the Young Miss, nor am I pleading for Niu Youdao. It's only that people below have noticed certain developments."

"Some factions intend to protect Niu Youdao. Others intend to kill him. There has even been coordination among them."

"With the wars among the states now frozen, whether Niu Youdao lives or dies has already become tied to the situation after those wars are unfrozen."

"Once Niu Youdao enters the Tiandu Secret Realm, in a certain sense, the wars among the states will have extended into the Tiandu Secret Realm as well."

After speaking, Bai Yulou carefully watched Sha Rulai's reaction.

Sha Rulai fell briefly silent.

Then he said indifferently, "Is that important? It isn't."

Since Sha Rulai said it was not important, Bai Yulou could only nod. "Yes."

...

With a heavy clang, the gates of the Imperial Prison in the Song capital opened.

Luo Zhao stood outside with no expression on his face.

Inside, however, his emotions were tangled.

He had never imagined he would one day be brought here.

The defeat in this war had damaged the interests of too many people.

Previously, pressure from the situation had forced the entire court to suppress its internal contradictions and unite against the external enemy. No one had moved against Luo Zhao then.

The moment the wars were frozen, however, every contradiction at court erupted completely.

Unsurprisingly, Luo Zhao became the focal point.

Responsibility for this disaster could not simply be brushed aside.

Nor could everyone pretend nothing had happened.

The first target of blame could not possibly be the emperor.

Still less could it be the three major sects that had advocated attacking Yan.

The most suitable person to bear responsibility was Luo Zhao.

At a time like this, even the emperor and the three major sects found it difficult to speak on Luo Zhao's behalf.

After the court discussed the matter, it sent someone to take over command of the troops.

Luo Zhao was escorted back to the capital for interrogation regarding the failed campaign, so responsibility could be determined.

What Luo Zhao had not expected was that after one round of questioning, before responsibility had even been formally assigned, they would directly imprison him in the Imperial Prison.

Only now did he realize what his wife Feng Guan'er's disappearance had cost him.

Before, Feng Guan'er would certainly have gone to Lingxiao Pavilion and made a scene.

Her identity would have given Lingxiao Pavilion a headache.

At the very least, they would not have locked Luo Zhao in the Imperial Prison before responsibility had even been decided.

His only consolation was that they had placed none of the restraints or instruments that symbolized a criminal upon him.

"Grand Commander-in-Chief, please don't make things difficult for us. This way."

An official gestured for him to enter.

Luo Zhao's cheeks tightened.

Step by step, he walked inside the Imperial Prison.

He descended the stairs to the bottom and proceeded through a dark, damp corridor.

At last they stopped outside a separate cell.

The cell door opened.

Luo Zhao was locked inside.

With another metallic clatter, the cell door was secured behind him.

Rats squeaked and fled.

As the jailers' footsteps faded away, silence settled around him.

Apart from a dim oil lamp on the wall outside, there was no source of light inside the cell.

In the shifting lamp glow, Luo Zhao's face moved between brightness and shadow.

He stood there motionless, smelling only dampness, mildew, and rot.

Thinking back to his high spirits of earlier years, when had he ever imagined a day like this?

Yesterday he had still been the Grand Commander-in-Chief directing armies of millions.

Today he was a prisoner behind bars.

...

The Butterfly Dream Illusory Realm was fantastical and magnificent.

Beside a stream beneath a tree, Yin'er obeyed Niu Youdao and removed the Myriad Beasts Sect disciple's clothes she was wearing. She also tore away the disguise from her face and looked around with bright, shifting eyes.

Niu Youdao and Yuan Gang stood nearby watching her.

They too wore the clothing of Myriad Beasts Sect disciples, with false faces disguising their appearances.

Naturally, they had entered with the help of Myriad Beasts Sect Elder Chao Jing.

After all three disguised themselves, Chao Jing treated them as Myriad Beasts Sect disciples and brought them along under the pretext of entering the Butterfly Dream Illusory Realm for an inspection.

Getting inside had been remarkably smooth.

"Daodao, where's the good food?" Yin'er asked after looking around, her bright eyes settling on Niu Youdao.

Niu Youdao pointed in one direction and smiled. "Keep walking that way. You'll find a very large courtyard. There's lots of good food there."

Yin'er smiled.

She smiled very happily and asked innocently, "Really?"

"We'll wait for you here. Once you find the good food, remember to bring some back for us."

Yin'er pouted.

She did not like sharing her good food with other people.

But because Niu Youdao was the one asking, she nodded vigorously. "All right!"

With that, she turned and ran off, looking delighted.

The two men watched her disappear into the distance.

Yuan Gang looked at Niu Youdao with complicated eyes. "Master Dao, we're really just letting her go back like this?"

They had lived together for so long.

This Demon King was actually very simple. She had no malicious intentions at all.

Now they had tricked her here like one might trick a fool, only to abandon her.

Yuan Gang felt deeply uncomfortable about it.

That was simply the kind of man he was.

He could not be as cold and ruthless as Niu Youdao.

Niu Youdao sighed softly. "If I'd known back then that she was this easy to fool, I never would've taken her out in the first place."

"Master Dao, it isn't that she's easy to fool. She trusts you. She doesn't trust other people easily."

"She isn't someone just anyone can keep. We don't have the qualifications to let her remain beside us. In truth, only Shang Song had the qualifications to take her as a spirit pet."

"I don't know why Shang Song and his wife left her here back then. Maybe this is where she was always meant to belong."

"Enough. Let's go."

Yuan Gang fell silent.

He turned away with Niu Youdao, and the two left together.

They were very far from the exit.

By the time they returned near it, they once again saw groups of busy Myriad Beasts Sect disciples.

Myriad Beasts Sect was now planting Light-Repelling Grass throughout the Butterfly Dream Illusory Realm on a massive scale, expanding the territory available to cultivators while compressing the range of the Butterfly Rakshasas.

Chao Jing had been waiting at the agreed location the entire time.

He had also spent the whole time on edge, not knowing what exactly Niu Youdao had come here to do.

Seeing only two of them return, Chao Jing finally let out a breath and asked quietly, "Why are there only two of you? Where's the third?"

Niu Youdao said indifferently, "We couldn't come to an agreement. There was a dispute. I killed her to silence her."

Chao Jing was speechless.

In the end, all he could do was wave a hand. "We shouldn't stay here long. Let's go."

With that, he led the two of them away.

...

Yin'er walked for a very long time, continually searching for the large courtyard Niu Youdao had described.

Suddenly, her eyes brightened.

She saw a palace amid the magnificent nightscape and pointed toward it.

The Blood Rakshasa carrying her immediately flew in that direction and descended inside the empty palace complex.

After landing, Yin'er looked around in confusion.

This place seemed faintly familiar.

She tried to remember.

But the thought was quickly overwhelmed by the idea of "good food."

She lifted her skirt and ran, searching room after room throughout the palace.

She searched for a long time.

She still could not find the food she wanted.

Eventually, she entered a cylindrical hall.

Inside, she saw a strange octagonal pavilion: an exposed iron platform ringed by bronze pillars.

Yin'er fell silent.

She stared at that octagonal pavilion for a very long time.

For no reason she understood, tears slid from her eyes.

She raised a hand and wiped them away.

She herself did not know why she was crying.

She turned and left.

Alone, she wandered through the vast palace complex, tears running from her eyes while she murmured over and over, "Daodao, I can't find it. Daodao, I can't find it..."

Later, she stopped searching.

She left the palace and wanted to go back to find Niu Youdao.

But Niu Youdao was no ordinary person.

He had planned ahead.

Earlier, he had deliberately taken a winding route through the Illusory Realm, circling around until every sense of direction was hopelessly confused.

"Daodao, where are you? Daodao, I can't find you..."

Yin'er stood atop a colossal tree, murmuring as she gazed across this magnificent world that was both familiar and strange.

Later, she lifted a hand and looked at it.

She discovered that her fingers were slowly becoming sharp.

Silver patterns had already begun appearing across her face.

She raised a hand and wiped away the tears on her cheeks.

She did not know why her eyes so often brimmed with tears...

...

What had to come had finally arrived.

The day the Tiandu Secret Realm would open was drawing near.

At Maolu Villa, Niu Youdao said farewell to everyone.

Shang Chaozong and Shang Shuqing had both come to see him off.

Someone still needed to hold the frozen front line, so Meng Shanming remained there.

Everything that needed saying had already been said.

Before Niu Youdao left, Guan Fangyi pulled him over to Black Peony's grave.

After a long silence, Niu Youdao sighed. "I don't know whether I'll come back alive this time."

Guan Fangyi smiled.

The smile was forced. "Don't say such ominous things. I don't know about anyone else, but you? Killing you won't be so easy. Here."

She took out a stack of banknotes.

Niu Youdao looked puzzled. "What's this for?"

Guan Fangyi smiled brightly. "You're nothing but a penniless pauper. You don't carry a single coin. Keep this money on you. It might come in useful."

Niu Youdao pushed it back with one palm. "There's nowhere inside to spend money. Carrying too much wealth would only create trouble for me. I don't need it."

Since he had said that, Guan Fangyi did not insist.

Instead, she produced two Heavenly Sword Talismans and handed them over. "Keep these for protection."

Niu Youdao was surprised. "Didn't you say you only had one left?"

"I had Old Six Xu buy them."

Niu Youdao chuckled.

These, he accepted.

At the same time, he reminded her, "While I'm gone, don't keep dragging matters out with that 'Su Zhao.' If she can't become one of us, deal with her directly. If Monkey has any objection, tell him I gave the order."

"All right." Guan Fangyi nodded.

Niu Youdao looked directly into her eyes. "Remember. If I don't come back, go to Demon Ridge and find Zhao Xiongge. Someone there should arrange a proper place for you."

[End of Chapter 754]