#652 - Thirty Years Like a Dream (VI)

"Slaughter the mountain."

The calm voice echoed in the air, like the murmur of a devil.

And everything that happened afterward proved that Wei Changtian was not intimidating Su Xiu.

Just like when he ambushed the Great Ning army at Niutou Mountain, he had never shown mercy to enemies with whom he had forged a life-and-death feud.

The reasoning was simple.

If I don't kill you today, you will kill me in the future.

Since that's the case, I naturally can't let you live until then.

Thus, after Wei Zhaohai and the other three exchanged glances, they transformed into four black shadows, heading straight for the southeast, northwest, each carrying a fierce killing intent as they crashed into the beast horde.

Soon, a series of "rumbling" sounds mixed with the howls of the demon beasts rang out, soaring into the sky amidst the scarlet beast blood and pungent stench.

How many demons are there in White Spirit Mountain?

Wei Changtian didn't know the answer to this question, but he figured there must be tens of thousands.

If it were an army of tens of thousands of people, let alone being slaughtered, they might even be able to counter-kill the five of them with good coordination.

But for these demon beasts who didn't understand tactics, combat skills, and whose fighting was basically based on instinct, they might be able to resist for a while, but the final result would definitely be scattering and fleeing in all directions.

So, to put it bluntly, this was a massacre, the only difference being how many could be "slaughtered" in two hours.

It was definitely impossible to kill them all.

After all, the demon beasts all had legs, and many could even fly, so if they wanted to escape, they would inevitably be able to escape a lot.

However, with the strength of Wei Zhaohai and the other three, killing ten thousand probably wouldn't be a big problem.

Ten thousand demons!

You should know that even the infamous and fierce Sky Dog Army only has a little over ten thousand demon beasts.

This was blatant bullying.

It is undeniable that "bullying the weak" is not a commendatory term, and such behavior has been condemned from ancient times to the present.

But upon closer inspection, this may just be a moral constraint established by the weak to protect themselves.

Under this constraint, once the strong use their power far exceeding the weak to cause harm to the latter, they will likely be scorned and despised, thereby forcing them to restrain their behavior imperceptibly.

What's more, there are people beyond people, and the strong will always encounter even stronger people, so this constraint is also protecting themselves to some extent.

Therefore, this value system does help to form a stable society.

It's just that after living in this value system for a long time, many people have gradually forgotten one thing—

That is, moral constraints, in the final analysis, are everyone's requirements for themselves.

The strong not bullying the weak is actually just the tolerance and pity of the strong for the weak.

And once, for various reasons, when the "strong" give up this constraint on themselves, it will be a catastrophe for the weak.

To put it more cruelly...

The right to decide whether to bully or not, whether to kill or not, is always only in the hands of the strong, and has nothing to do with the weak.

"Eliminating you has nothing to do with you."

This sentence from "The Three-Body Problem" in the previous life means this.

"..."

The demon beasts by the small lake had all died, and the sounds of fighting coming from all directions gradually became distant.

As mentioned earlier, when faced with all of this, Su Xiu, as the weak, had no ability to change the fate of White Spirit Mountain.

To put it bluntly, even if she were to reveal Yan Huanwen's hiding place right now, Wei Changtian would have no "responsibility or obligation" to order the slaughter of the mountain to stop.

What's more, she hadn't said a single word until now.

"Demon Queen, I'm very curious as to why you are so infatuated with Yan Huanwen."

Sitting on a wooden chair, Wei Changtian looked at Su Xiu, who was slumped on the ground, with a thoughtful expression.

"Since he could just stand by and watch you being stripped naked and paraded through the streets, you still protect him so much, even at the cost of the entire White Spirit Mountain."

"Is it just because he saved you afterward and helped you seize the position of Demon Queen?"

"In my opinion, you're at best even, you don't owe him anything."

"Furthermore, no matter where he's hiding now, I don't believe he doesn't know what's happening outside."

"But he still hasn't come out to save you, I really don't know what you see in him..."

"..."

Wei Changtian's voice echoed in the room, as casual as if he were chatting.

He wanted to pry open Su Xiu's mouth through this method first, and then prescribe the right medicine to break through her psychological defenses, so as to ask about Yan Huanwen's hiding place.

However, the latter kept her eyes tightly closed, refusing to say a word.

People who have worked in interrogation know that this situation is the most troublesome.

Being stubborn doesn't matter, lying doesn't matter, what's scary is not opening your mouth.

As long as Su Xiu doesn't say anything, then no matter how many tricks Wei Changtian has up his sleeve, he won't be able to use them.

So after talking to himself for a while, he took a deep look at Su Xiu, and then stopped.

Floating clouds rise in the sky, obscuring the sun and moon.

Evil winds rise in Spirit Mountain, destroying fragrant orchids first.

The originally rocky, spiritual, and beautiful White Spirit Mountain had become littered with corpses, with the tragically dead demon corpses visible everywhere.

From afternoon to dusk, the immortal mountain under the setting sun was filled with smoke and dust, and the river of corpses meandered.

A hazy white shadow of a new moon rose from the eastern sky, quietly watching this massacre.

It watched the gentle sunset glow fall on the severed limbs and wreckage all over the ground, forming a different kind of picture in the dim light.

Bloody, cruel, desolate, and absurd.

At nightfall, Wei Changtian and his party left.

However, before leaving, he still left a message for Yan Huanwen on a bluestone.

The content was simple—

If you want to save her, then come to Liangzhou to talk in person.

In fact, such a message can only be said to be better than nothing.

After all, since Yan Huanwen hasn't shown up until now, then he probably won't go to Liangzhou for Su Xiu.

But having something is always better than nothing, so Wei Changtian still carved such a line of large characters with a knife, and then took Su Xiu down the mountain.

White Spirit Mountain is about five hundred miles away from the Zishan Palace where the teleportation array is located, and they cannot return to Liangzhou immediately.

But no matter what, the Great Awakening experts who arrived at White Spirit Mountain three hours later, that is, at the hour of Chou (1-3 am), would definitely not be able to catch up with them.

"Your Majesty, it is this subordinate who is late."

The night sky was dotted with stars, and a group of men in black knelt before Yan Huanwen, the atmosphere was extremely oppressive.

This was the first group of people to arrive, and although Yan Huanwen had long known that Wei Changtian had left, he still waited until they went up the mountain before coming out of the secret room.

"It's not your fault, it's朕 (zhen, I, used by emperors) who misjudged the situation."

The thin and tall figure stood in the darkness, his expression not visible.

"What is the situation on White Spirit Mountain?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, this subordinate went all the way up the mountain, and demon corpses were lying all over the road, roughly estimated to be no less than ten thousand."

The leading man in black immediately replied: "In addition, this subordinate was unable to find the Demon Queen, it should be true that she was taken away by the thief."

"Hmm."

Yan Huanwen nodded and took a deep breath.

"Pass on the order to the Imperial Guards, mobilize 30,000 troops to immediately rush to Zishan, five hundred miles north of here, overnight, surround the entire mountain, and no one is allowed to enter or leave."

"Yes!"

The man in black responded and stopped talking, while Yan Huanwen once again shifted his gaze to the bluestone in front of him.

Looking at the line of large characters that reflected a faint silver glow in the moonlight, the palm of his hand hidden in his sleeve gradually clenched, and his eyes slowly closed.

"Siu'er, I'm sorry for you..."

"Don't blame me for being heartless, I... alas, I also have my own difficulties."

"But I will one day tear that Wei Changtian into pieces, to avenge you and the demons who died today!"

"If there is an afterlife, I only wish that I would no longer be born into the imperial family, and continue the unfinished relationship with you..."

"..."

The painful murmurs echoed in the night sky, and also entered the ears of a group of men in black.

These people were all Yan Huanwen's confidants, and they all knew about his past with Su Xiu.

In their opinion, even if the two had such a story, it was perfectly normal for Yan Huanwen not to save Su Xiu.

How noble is the Son of Heaven of a country, how can the life of a mere fox demon be compared?

Now that His Majesty can say these words for that fox demon, it is already affectionate and righteous enough!

Obviously, the same story, the same choice, will have different feelings when viewed from different perspectives.

In the eyes of this group of men in black, Yan Huanwen was truly affectionate and righteous.

Yan Huanwen felt that he owed Su Xiu.

And if Su Xiu was present at this time, then her mood would probably be even more despairing, and perhaps she would ask a question—

"Wh-why..."

"Yan, Yanlang, why didn't you even hesitate..."

"..."

"Clang clang clang clang!!!"

Hearing this ghost-like sound, a group of men in black were all shocked, and in the next moment, they drew out their sabers one after another, tightly protecting the equally shocked Yan Huanwen in the middle.

Everyone stared wide-eyed, staring fixedly in one direction, their breathing becoming extremely rapid.

Then, they saw several figures slowly emerge from the darkness.

"Yan Huanwen, no need to wait for the future."

"I'm here now, I want to see if it's you who tears me into pieces."

"Or if it's me who tears you into pieces."