Chapter 230 Death may be the lightest punishment

The atmosphere was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

Xu Shanshan stared with stunned eyes at the Empress Dowager lying in a pool of blood. Her inky eyes seemed to be shrouded in a thin layer of mist.

The Empress Dowager was old and her life was coming to an end. In Xu Shanshan’s imagination, she should have died peacefully on that warm bed, finishing her long life.

However, fate suddenly took a turn, and now she was lying here in such a tragic way, with blood spreading on the ground, stinging Xu Shanshan’s eyes.

Xie Yujin was seriously injured and staggered into the rebel camp.

But there was a morbid pleasure in his eyes, and his smile was twisted and weird, like an evil ghost climbing out of the abyss of hell.

“Master, look, this is what you taught me – to achieve the goal, use any means necessary. I have done it. What about you? Are you still the same as before?” His voice was sharp and a little crazy, echoing in this empty land, as if to tear apart the gloomy atmosphere.

“Now that the Empress Dowager is dead, you can kill everyone present here without any scruples… Imperial Master, you are never hesitant. What are you waiting for?” Xie Yujin continued to roar, his face looking a little ferocious due to excitement. His hair fluttered wildly in the wind, as if he was cheering for this crazy scene.

“Xie Yujin, I know exactly what you are thinking about.” Xu Shanshan slowly raised his eyes, his gaze like the cold stars in the cold night, sharp and deep.

This city is the burial place of General Huo, countless soldiers, and the Empress Dowager…

How could she turn a blind eye to the things they were willing to sacrifice their lives to protect?

At this moment, many golden butterflies suddenly appeared behind her. They were like elves flying from a dream world, flashing soft light and flying towards the controlled people like stars.

Wherever the spirit butterfly passed, it seemed to bring with it a mysterious power, which eased the confusion in the eyes of those bewitched people.

However, the mind-controlling poison had not yet been removed.

A cold arrow that had been prepared for a long time shot out from the darkness like lightning, carrying a deadly breath and hitting Xu Shanshan’s chest directly.

At that moment, blood bloomed like red plum blossoms, instantly dyeing her clothes red. Her body shook violently, but she still stood there firmly, like an unshakable towering mountain.

“You spent so much energy to save these people? Shouldn’t you come to solve my trouble first?” Xie Yujin’s lips trembled, and there was a hint of confusion and anger in his voice, as if he couldn’t understand why Xu Shanshan made such a choice.

“Human life should not be something you speak so lightly of.”

Xu Shanshan covered her wound, her voice was soft but with more comprehension and understanding.

She suddenly remembered what Master Anran once said: “When you see all living beings as you see me, you will be able to break the chess game of this world.”

At this moment, these words kept echoing in her mind, like a light guiding her forward.

Perhaps because she had grown a new heart, she finally understood what it meant to lose, and understood the preciousness and fragility of life.

“What did you say?” Xie Yujin’s pupils dilated, and his silver armor glowed faintly in the blood rain. The light was cold and eerie, as if it came from the Nine Nether Hell.

The mind-controlling Gu flute in his hand had cracked into spider-web patterns. Those cracks seemed to be the mottled marks left by the years, and also seemed to be a symbol of his broken heart.

The bewitched people rushed towards the Suzaku Gate like a tide, their eyes were empty and lifeless, as if their souls had been taken away.

The hollow pupils of women and children were filled with the phosphorescent light of poisonous insects. The strange light flickered in the darkness, making people shudder.

Their fingertips frantically tore at the golden dragon embroidered on Xu Shanshan’s black cloak. The golden dragon seemed to be struggling in pain under the frantic tearing.

“Master, you are too soft-hearted.” Xie Yujinmu said with a cold face: “You taught me that ‘Heaven and Earth are cruel’ back then, why are you so reluctant to let go of these ants when it comes to their turn?” There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice, and a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Xu Shanshan pulled out the bone-piercing arrow from his shoulder with his backhand. The blood and flesh brought out by the arrowhead splattered in the air, and the scarlet blood spilled on the ground, like a bloody painting.

“This is a different time. You are allowed to be so crazy and you can’t make me turn back from my wrong path?”

She thrust the broken arrow fiercely into her palm, and her spiritual blood mixed with the spell seeped into the cracks in the blue bricks.

Every bloodstain was like a burning flame, burning the soul and causing pain.

The bright red blood flowed down through the cracks in the blue bricks, as if it was tears of blood flowing through the earth.

This is the advanced spell “Blood Attracts All Directions”. She clenched her hands, and the flames condensed into an invisible spiritual knife in her hand. “Over the years, the Xie family, with you as the head, has firmly established its power in the court. Even the real Emperor Yue has become a puppet that you can control at will. Remember I taught you that ‘Heaven and Earth are not kind’, and I also said that ‘blessings and disasters are interdependent’. Now that you have enjoyed enough blessings, this disaster is about to come.”

Xu Shanshan approached through a pool of blood, and the Evil-Slaying Sword dragged sparks on the ground. The sparks flickered in the darkness, just like the anger burning in her heart.

Those bewitched people suddenly froze in place, and then their whole bodies shook like sieves. The poisonous insects crawling out of their wrists were attracted by the spiritual blood on the ground and rushed to the ground like moths to a flame.

The poisonous insects squirmed, making creepy sounds, and they greedily sucked the spiritual blood as if it was the most delicious food in the world.

Xie Yujin’s pupils suddenly shrank. Seeing that the situation was not good, he took out the bone flute from his waist, only to hear the sound of the flute suddenly become sharp, like the scream of a night owl.

The dead Empress Dowager suddenly stood up, and her skinny fingertips went straight to Xu Shanshan’s heart.

The speed was so fast that people had no time to react.

This is exactly the lost “corpse reincarnation method” of Xuanmen. Who would believe that there were no remnants of Xuanmen behind this?

There was a strange glow and a deadly aura at the fingertips of the Empress Dowager.

Xu Shanshan did not dodge or give way, allowing the hand filled with corpse poison to pierce her shoulder blade. There was no fear in her eyes.

“Xie Yujin, I can’t keep you here any longer.”

The “Xu Shanshan” pierced in the hands of the Empress Dowager turned into a paper body and burned into ashes.

The upright Xu Shanshan had already thrust the blade into Xie Yujin’s chest. At that moment, time seemed to freeze and the whole world became quiet, with only the sound of raindrops hitting the ground.

“You…” Xie Yujin looked at the knife that had pierced his heart and suddenly chuckled.

There was a hint of relief and helplessness in his smile.

“…That year you praised the beautiful plum blossoms I picked, so I secretly picked all the white plum blossoms in the imperial garden…” His voice gradually faded.

“As a result, the next year, the white plum blossoms were severely damaged and no one bloomed… One thought made a big mistake… In the end, I lost…”

But Xie Yujin used his last bit of strength to hit the blade, allowing the blade to completely penetrate his soul. At that moment, his eyes were full of determination and affection, as if he wanted to use this last action to make Xu Shanshan remember him forever.

“When I was little, I hoped that you would like me. When I grew up, I longed for you to love me… Now, I can’t even do something as simple as wanting you to hate me…”

Amid the heavy blood rain, the poisonous insects on the wrists of the people all exploded, making dull sounds, as if drawing an end to the battle between the past and the present.

She watched coldly as Xie Yujin’s body slowly slid down. His body seemed to have lost all strength and fell down bit by bit.

As Xie Yujin’s fingertips slid down, they tore off half of the silver armor, revealing a hideous old scar on his heart.

He reached his trembling hand into the torn wound, pulled out a blood-stained tiger talisman, and presented it to her like a treasure.

“The most important thing… I didn’t give them…” His voice was as weak as a candle in the wind, but a relieved smile appeared on the corner of his lips: “I kept it all… for you…”

Xu Shanshan remained indifferent.

When he closed his eyes, his blood merged with Xu Shanshan’s spiritual blood, and Udumbara flowers suddenly bloomed in the rainstorm.

The flowers bloomed brilliantly and beautifully, emitting charming brilliance in the wind and rain.

The petals are crystal clear, as if they were carved from the purest crystal in the world, and each one reflects Xie Yujin’s obsession and madness during his lifetime.

This kind of scene after a person’s death only means that… he never let go of his obsession with her until his death.

Xu Shanshan took away the bronze tiger talisman that mobilized the three armies of Jing State. The puppet-like rebels in the city immediately knelt on the ground like fallen ears of wheat. She squatted down and picked up the body of the Empress Dowager. The broken flags suddenly moved without wind, and in a blink of an eye, the people had disappeared.

Only one sentence remained in the cold air: “For the rest of your life, dying on the battlefield will be the lightest punishment for your sins.”

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