Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Path Opened by Heavenly Thunder

"Immortal Master?" Shen Fang glanced behind her, finding nothing but empty space. "Where is the grain?"

"I had them take it away," Liu Shuyue replied calmly. "You may all return now. These people will no longer be a threat to Zhangwei City. By tomorrow, you will no longer see these refugees outside the city walls."

"What does that mean?" the adjutant frowned. "Where are they going?"

"Anywhere is fine, as long as they aren't staying here."

"What kind of joke is this! The famine hasn't ended. Won't they just turn into bandits wherever they go?"

"I will be watching over them the entire way. You need not trouble yourself with that."

What? Shen Fang felt a jolt in his heart. Did that mean...

"The Immortal Master is supposed to be heading to the Royal City; you have no time to watch over them!" A shadow of gloom crossed the adjutant's face. "I ask that you step aside, Immortal Master. If I accidentally offend you, it will be difficult for me to report back to my superiors. If these people refuse to hand over the grain, just leave it to me."

Liu Shuyue remained motionless.

The adjutant cursed under his breath and raised his riding crop. "Brothers, charge!"

"Kill!"

The cavalrymen shouted in unison, leaning low in their saddles and accelerating.

At that very moment, Liu Shuyue unfurled a talisman before her. Thunder rumbled across the sky, and violet electrical arcs darted between the thin clouds, causing the stars to pale. Then, two bolts of lightning leaped downward, striking the path directly in front of the charging horses, exploding in a cloud of dust and a shower of sparks!

The momentum of the unit was instantly halted. The warhorses reared and whinnied, terrified to take another step forward. The men in the lead even tumbled from their startled mounts, nearly trampled by those behind them.

She knew the technique was merely for show and held no real power, but neither the soldiers nor their horses knew that. To them, this was nothing short of divine lightning from the heavens.

"Liu! Shu! Yue!" An angry roar came from the back of the ranks.

The unit split to the sides, clearing a path for the man approaching.

"So it is General Gong... Have you seen enough of the show?" Liu Shuyue looked at the young nobleman with an expressionless face.

"What is the meaning of this!? Obstructing the army and defying military orders—even if you are an Immortal Master, you are not exempt from punishment!" Gong Lingwu gritted his teeth. "Liu Shuyue, are you planning to rebel!?"

The words sent a chill down the spines of everyone present.

Regardless of who they were, anyone faced with such an accusation would immediately try to defend themselves. But to Shen Fang’s disbelief, Liu Shuyue simply ignored him.

This attitude was even more terrifying than if she had retorted with rage.

***

He looked back at the city gate and adjusted his position slightly.

"As long as you do not cross the line I have drawn, I have no objection to you reporting this to the authorities."

A line...

Only then did the crowd realize that the lightning strike had carved a shallow trench into the ground.

"You intend to protect these people by force?" Gong Lingwu glared at her with a hideous expression for a long moment. "Fine. I will let them go for now. But you must return to the Royal City to answer for this and explain today's events to His Majesty yourself."

"Did you not hear me earlier? I am not returning to the Royal City. Until these refugees find a new place to settle, I am going nowhere." Liu Shuyue shook her head.

"You dare—that is an imperial decree!"

"I have said all I wish to say. We part ways here." Liu Shuyue turned her horse and walked toward the crowd of refugees.

"Stop!" Gong Lingwu was about to chase after her, but the lightning in the sky suddenly crackled to life again, as if waiting for prey to cross that line.

"General, please, be cautious..." Shen Fang hurriedly advised. "That is an Immortal Master who wields true immortal arts!"

A hundred years was too long, so long that many had forgotten... an Immortal Master's sword could slay demons, and it could slay men, too.

"She... she is courting death!"

Watching her retreating back, Gong Lingwu’s teeth ground together until they bled.

That look of contempt, that indifferent attitude—it was exactly the same as when he saw her in the Royal City five years ago. He knew Liu Shuyue looked down on him.

But so what?

Even someone as self-important as her had to obey the royal command and return to the Royal City with him obediently, right? She would have to follow his arrangements for the entire journey; wasn't that irony enough?

Yet, he never expected things to turn out like this.

She had clearly accepted her fate at the beginning...

"Liu Shuyue, you will regret this!" Gong Lingwu dared not pursue her, so he could only shout hatefully, "If you dare break our agreement, the Lotus Cloud Sect will not tolerate you, and His Majesty will never let you go! Just wait—whether it is the people you want to protect or yourself, no one can escape severe punishment! By then, begging for mercy will be useless!"

Liu Shuyue did not stop.

She did not even look back.

Of course, she had heard him.

***

But that noise was completely drowned out by other words, becoming insignificant.

Those were the words Chen Xuan had said to another guest; if he hadn't made him recount them later, she might have missed them entirely.

Now, she unexpectedly felt those words were equally fitting for herself.

Liu Shuyue looked at her open right hand and whispered, "Now... my fate is in my own hands."

***

"Camera ready, 3, 2, 1... Action!"

"Good evening, viewers. Welcome to City Channel. I’m your reporter, Yan Xin. As we all know, the famous 'Window of the World' attraction in our city, modeled after the Champs-Élysées, was recently closed for renovations. Those repairs are now largely complete. As you can see, the fences are being dismantled. We believe this site will reopen soon for visitors to enjoy. Those who want to be the first to experience it can book via the app now! As for the specifics of the restoration, we have specially invited the engineer on-site for an interview. Engineer Zhang, hello!"

"The arrangements are good; there shouldn't be any problems now," said a man with sword-like brows and star-bright eyes, watching the interview nearby. "Is Red Lotus doing alright? I feel she's been a bit off since yesterday."

The young man beside him shrugged. "Fine, she's doing just fine. Even if a dog ran up to her now, she’d probably kick it flying."

As he spoke, he purposely looked back to ensure the red-haired girl standing far away with her arms crossed hadn't heard him.

Wasn't it obvious?

The low-pressure atmosphere surrounding her and the terrible expression on her face showed just how bad her mood was. However, seeing the bandages wrapped around her head and hands, the young man felt a small sense of satisfaction.

Who told her to always push him around? Now she’d hit a wall!

What probably frustrated her most wasn't that she’d been beaten black and blue, but that she had failed to defeat her opponent while the mission objective had been inexplicably achieved. The channel caused by the deviation had shrunk to an unreachable degree; she had no way to go back and settle the score.

"You should try to comfort her when you have the chance; don't let her sulk alone," the man said, shaking his head helplessly. "You two are the strongest in our squad; it wouldn't hurt to get along better. Do you hear me, Wang Baihu?"

"Fine~~" the young man drew out the word lazily. "If I get kicked to death too, then there will only be one person left in this squad who can fight. Come to think of it, Red Lotus's abilities are top-tier, right? Correcting a C-class deviation should have been a breeze, yet she ended up bloodied. Is there something wrong? Do we have such powerful wanderers in our sector?"

"I don't know. The higher-ups are still investigating, but I doubt there will be any results soon," the man said with a serious expression. "This deviation was handled in time, but the fluctuations generated during the intrusion will still create a new batch of anomalies—a few, maybe a dozen. Over time, these people won't be a small number, and with a larger base, more wanderers will emerge. So, the question isn't whether there are any, but how many."

The young man scratched his head. "According to the Doctor, does this mean the situation will never get better?"

"Correct. Theoretically speaking, once people open this door, it can never be closed again. But slow integration and violent upheaval are two different things. We can accept sacrifice, but we hope to avoid countless, unnecessary deaths. Total annihilation is even less acceptable. That is the goal we are working toward," the man said. "Let's go back. We have to keep working tomorrow."