Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 639 - 639 638 A Night Visit to the Shepherd Residence Extra for Alliance Hierarch Western Fierce North Wolf

639: Chapter 638: A Night Visit to the Shepherd Residence [Extra for Alliance Hierarch Western Fierce North Wolf] 639: Chapter 638: A Night Visit to the Shepherd Residence [Extra for Alliance Hierarch Western Fierce North Wolf] The battle at Yao Wa Lake ended with a crushing defeat for the cultivators from the three mansions.

In the days that followed, as they tallied their losses, the number of casualties was disturbingly high.

A total of sixty people had set out, ten each from the Mu Shuai and Capital Commandant’s mansions, and forty from the central army’s mansion.

Now, fewer than twenty were able to return alive.

Only four came back from Mu Shuai’s mansion, and a mere two from the Capital Commandant’s mansion.

The central army’s mansion suffered the worst, with less than ten returning of the forty who left, nearly wiped out to a man.

Fortunately, the three leaders all managed to escape back.

Lan Yuanzhi was seriously wounded, Li Shipeng had minor injuries, and Li Laixiang disappeared after fleeing back, his whereabouts unknown.

Zhongqing’s mansion was in a state of panic, shaken from top to bottom, with sharp-minded individuals feeling the ominous silence before the storm, but no one knew where the storm would strike.

The central army’s mansion was entirely devastated, with a severe loss of capable cultivators.

The remaining few were scared and unable to carry on with their daily lives.

Plus, with Li Laixiang’s whereabouts a mystery, some quietly left, mindful of the potential upheavals Pingliang might face, a premonition cultivators often have about the future.

The Capital Commandant’s mansion began to adjust its personnel, taking bold and decisive action!

They hadn’t acted before due to significant resistance, but now they were making moves because some threats had been eliminated, and those remaining couldn’t hold the line alone.

No one wanted to face another defeat like at Yao Wa Lake, dying inexplicably out in the wild.

The terms offered by the Capital Commandant were generous for those willing to leave: compensation based on years of service, or reassignment to another state, and then bringing in personnel from other states’ mansions; it was like a blood transfusion.

And although the exchanged personnel wasn’t more than thirty percent, the resulting change was clear and evident.

Only Mu Shuai’s mansion, which had not suffered heavy losses, maintained silence after the battle and made no public comment.

That night, ten days after the battle, as the three mansions licked their wounds, a solemn atmosphere enveloped Mu Shuai’s mansion where a cultivator arrived.

With a back straight like a sword and an aura of grandeur, he boldly entered Mu Shuai’s mansion unchallenged by the guarding cultivators.

In the Azure Dragon Hall of Mu Shuai’s mansion, a figure stood silently facing the ancestral tablets of Langzhong, unsure how long he had been there, but ever since the battle at Yao Wa Lake ended, he had been standing there, and the cultivators below knew that the Mansion Master was in a bad mood, so no one dared to disturb him.

The visitor entered the Azure Dragon Hall directly and stood behind Lan Zaitian, remaining silent for a long while before Lan Zaitian seemed to speak to himself,

“Lessons, Capital Commandant, what do you think our Langzhong Sect should learn from this incident?”

Hou Niao’s gaze was icy, “It’s been thousands of years since the era of chaos, and people always think they have evolved and become civilized, but the truth proves they haven’t at all.

The lesson history teaches humanity is that humanity has never learned from history, repeating the same mistakes over and over, endlessly.”

Lan Zaitian turned around, his eyes sharp, “Does that include the Shan Sect’s Quanzhen’s constant cunning and robbery?”

Hou Niao met his gaze unyieldingly, “It also includes the stubborn old and young of the Langzhong Sect who fail to advance or retreat!”

The two men looked at each other like fighting cocks, unyielding, their gazes like blades, precariously clashing in the air.

Lan Zaitian enunciated each word, “Our Langzhong Sect has its own standpoint!”

Hou Niao retorted sarcastically, “What’s worst is that, once a position has been taken, the other side is seen as an enemy!

So, consciously or unconsciously, you’ve been regarding the Shan Sect as an invader to be your opponent, even though over the past few centuries the Shan Sect hasn’t done anything to you, and instead, has adopted a laissez-faire attitude toward you.

Have you ever considered, if the Anhe Daoist Sect had taken over the ancient Langzhong Country, would you now regard Anhe as the enemy, and then see the Shan Sect Quanzhen as friends with shared ideals?”

“So I say, humans never learn their lesson.

If you can’t exist independently, then wholeheartedly submit, instead of behaving like a wronged little wife, calculating every grievance daily and dreaming of the day of restoration every night.”

Lan Zaitian was taken aback.

This Sword Cultivator’s words were sharp, hitting the very core, but he would not submit, “We have our own culture, our own traditions.

The Shan Sect cannot treat us like uncivilized natives.”

Hou Niao chuckled, “Culture?

The most difficult to communicate with are not the uncultured, but those who have been filled with stock answers in their heads!

The most vibrant culture is one that can include other cultures, not one that presents itself as a resentful wife, constantly begrudging the injustices suffered.

For hundreds of years, the Shan Sect has given you the greatest degree of cultural freedom, but you do not cherish it, thinking it’s your entitlement, thus taking without restraint.

How can we ever satisfy you?

To let ancient Langzhong restore its nation?

Do you think that’s possible?

Do you have the ability to survive on your own?

Your worry-free development over these centuries has been due to the enormous support from the Shan Sect behind you.

Do you really think you can have the freedom of the seas and the sky without the protection of the Shan Sect?

Naive!”

Lan Zaitian’s eyes blazed with anger, “Is the Capital Commandant lecturing me?

Do you think we are helpless without our Nascent Transformation ancestor?

That you Sword Sect can do as you please?”

Hou Niao said coldly, “I’m sorry, but we have always had the capacity to do as we please!

The fact that we haven’t for hundreds of years is precisely because of our respect for the contract!

You should be well aware of this.

The change is because the contract is about to expire, not because your ancestor is gone!

Change is imminent on the Jinxiu Continent; every country is purging unstable forces around them, including the Shan Sect, including Pingliang State!

This is the general trend; no one can stop it!

Under the wheels of history, no one can stay out of it, no one can be self-righteous!

If you are willing to go along with the Shan Sect, then open your heart and integrate into the Shan Country family; if not, I don’t mind tearing everything down and starting over!”

Lan Zaitian, trembling with rage, “Are you threatening me?

Threatening the millions of people in Langzhong?”

Hou Niao scoffed, “Sorry, but you can’t represent the millions of people in Pingliang!

You can only represent your so-called Cultivation circle; even if you could represent them, a few million people, we have plenty in Shan Country, this place won’t become a wasteland without them!”

Lan Zaitian was furious.

As the leader of the Shan Sect spies started speaking bluntly, stripping away the pretense, he realized how powerless he was.

All he could do was rely on intangible rhetoric to boost his own morale, “Even if you empty Langzhong of its millions of citizens, you will never stop the sun from rising here!

You cannot stop the sunlight from shining upon the earth!

You cannot stop the leanings of people’s hearts!”

Hou Niao sneered, “Since the great changes on the Jinxiu Continent are imminent, why do you insist on going against the current?

If you oppose it, does that mean the world won’t change?”

Lan Zaitian’s face was fierce, “So, because the State opposed, you set a trap and annihilated them?

Are we, the Mu Shuai Mansion, next?”

Hou Niao smiled faintly, “No, there’s a difference!

With them, I can’t be bothered to warn, I just act!

As for you, I need to come in the dead of night and spend words, earnestly advising.”