The Regressor of Mount Hua
Chapter 398. Dark Heavens Vanguard (1)

Chapter 398. Dark Heaven's Vanguard (1)

Zhou Xuchuan interrogated his captives a few more times, but he couldn't get anything useful out of them.

Liu Shao kept his mouth firmly shut till the end, while the tearful pirates of the Water Gangs spat out everything they knew even before Zhou Xuchuan started working on them. Unfortunately, the bandits' intel was pretty much useless to him.

Interrogating them any further will be pointless. Zhou Xuchuan sighed deeply and exited the cave.

"Mm? Lady Zhuge?"

When he emerged from the cave, he discovered Zhuge Xiuluan waiting for him while sitting on the Imoogi's head. The sun was directly behind her, making it look as if a faint halo glowed around her.

"Ah, Master Zhou...?"

Just as Zhuge Xiuluan was about to start her explanation, the Imoogi bowed its head to greet Zhou Xuchuan as if it was glad to see him again. As a result, the poor Zhuge Xiuluan lost her balance and slipped off the creature's head.

"Kkyahk!"

She cried out briefly in alarm.

"Oh no!"

Zhou Xuchuan rushed in and gently caught the falling Zhuge Xiuluan.

"Are you alright?"

"...!"

Zhuge Xiuluan's eyes opened wide in surprise, but she quickly hid her blushing cheeks by lowering her head. After staying quiet for a little while, she replied in a voice reminiscent of a mosquito's droning. "Yes, I'm... fine."

"Whew!"

Zhou Xuchuan sighed in relief.

Her getting injured during such an important period will be a disaster for us.

Zhuge Xiuluan was someone who, along with the Heavenly Strategist, had been leading the Righteous Faction, after all. Zhou Xuchuan's heart nearly tumbled to the pit of his stomach upon hearing her scream just now.

"Be more careful next time. She's very important, after all."

When Zhou Xuchuan lightly chided the Imoogi, the immense creature slowly lowered its head.

If it were a human being, it'd be sulking a bit right now.

"I-I'm really fine," said Zhuge Xiuluan, her expression back to its usual unflustered state. However, upon a close inspection, her cheeks were still faintly flushed.

"I'm relieved to hear that. However, when did you have the time to tame Imoogi, too?"

"N-no, I've not tamed it. It's just that Imoogi was so eye-catching, so I..."

"...Oh. As expected of you."

"Also, I wanted to speak to you about the outcome of this war and what comes next."

"I see. You came at the right time, since I wanted to inform you about the result of my interrogations as well."

Zhou Xuchuan sat on a nearby boulder's flat surface with Zhuge Xiuluan and chatted away.

Zhuge Xiuluan spoke first, saying, "The Hainan Sword Sect and the South Sea Dragon Gate were looking for you, but I told them that you were fulfilling your duties elsewhere."

"I see. Thank you. I'm putting you through a lot of trouble, am I not?"

The Imoogi couldn't understand human speech, to begin with. To get the creature to help, he needed to meet it directly. Even if the South Sea Dragon King had relayed his message, the creature could have gotten angry if it thought humans had lied to it.

Thus, they had to meet face-to-face like this.

"How is the clean-up operation going?"

"We're almost finished, Master Zhou. Ah, by the way, the Hainan Sword Sect, the South Sea Dragon Gate, and the factions from Hainan all promised to monitor and police the Yangtze's waterways until the end of the war."

"They did? That's great news!"

Zhou Xuchuan didn't hold much hope, as he believed they would return after helping him out, like what the Potala Palace of Xizang had done. The unexpected piece of news made him feel genuinely pleased.

"It is. And Hainan's Second Sword wanted to convey his well-wishes to you."

"I see. Then, can you thank him in my stead?"

Zhuge Xiuluan wordlessly nodded.

Zhou Xuchuan nodded back. "I'm sorry for troubling you so much, Lady Zhuge. But I can depart now, knowing I can depend on you."

"Will you head to the North?"

"Yes. I've made preparations, but I still can't help but worry about our allies."

The southern-alliance forces could have tasted a bitter defeat if the Hainan Sword Sect and the South Sea Dragon Gate hadn't arrived on time. Since Blessed Existence was still in one piece, Zhou Xuchuan was greatly worried. Moreover, Blessed Existence's whereabouts were unknown to him.

Even though agents were dispatched to various locations to gather information, interference from the Vast Gate Star and Twisted Melody Star resulted in significant delays in relaying such messages.

"I'll contact the Evil Valley Master as the Domination God Monarch first before heading out," said Zhou Xuchuan.

"I see. That should make it much easier to command everyone. Once we're done with regrouping, I'll lead the alliance forces north and position ourselves near Hefei."

They didn't need to say anything else. As expected of the genius Zhuge Xiuluan, she understood Zhou Xuchuan's intentions without him telling her outright. In a way, they resembled a couple that had been married for a dozen-plus years.

"Ah, and also...!" Zhou Xuchuan remembered something and turned to look at Zhuge Xiuluan. "Promise me. Promise me that you won't get hurt."

"O-of course. I..."

"Without you, it'll become very hard for me."

It'd become very hard to destroy the Dark Heavens Association, that was!

"...!" Zhuge Xiuluan's eyes opened incredibly wide.

"No one can replace you, Lady Zhuge."

The quality of the Martial Alliance's strategies and tactics declined upon Zhuge Xiuluan's passing in the previous timeline. The same went for Zhuge Xiang, too.

"I sometimes worry about you getting hurt or something untoward happening to you whenever you join a battlefield."

He was worried about the Dark Heavens Association assassinating her, like in the previous timeline!

"Please do not forget that I need you."

'I, and the rest of Murim, need you!'

"That's why... Lady Zhuge? Your cheeks are unnaturally red. Are you perhaps feeling under the weather?"

***

The news regarding the two sides dominated everyone's lips, regardless of their identities. The two sides being, of course, the Righteous-Evil alliance and the Dark Heavens Association. This made sense, considering that the murim had basically split in half at this point.

"Did you hear? The Righteous-Evil alliance has apparently fought the Dark Heavens again."

"Uh-whew. Murim is in total chaos, isn't it?"

The Dark Heavens Association sent seven thousand combatants to the South, so the news of a large-scale battle drawing attention was a foregone conclusion. That included the imperial government, although their interest level or reaction could only be described as lukewarm.

"Even if they are murim martial artists, the most they can muster should be around twenty to thirty thousand people, anyway. That is not a lot of combatants, is it?"

"Sounds like the Red Forest or whatever those bandits are called will participate in the battle, too."

"Well, if they can kill each other off, now that would be the best outcome for us, wouldn't it?"

To them, the barbarians beyond the borders boasting hundreds of thousands of combatants posed a greater threat than twenty to thirty thousand local martial artists. Other than paying cursory attention just in case, they didn't bother getting directly involved.

Actually, they were rather happy about the prospect of the bandits getting wiped out. That was as far as the Ming dynasty's involvement went, but it was a different story for the murim. After all, its future hung in the balance, so its reaction was much more visceral.

"Fella, have you heard the news from the southern battlefront?"

"Yeah! I heard that the Domination God Monarch had shown up!"

The Evil path's hero and the absolute peak expert shrouded in mystery... he was the one and only Domination God Monarch! Despite being an Empyrean Overlord, no one knew a thing about him. With how mysterious he was, his every appearance would always become a hot topic of conversation.

The Evil path martial artists were famous for being unrestricted by rules and enjoyed unfettered freedom, yet the rumors said they didn't dare raise their heads in the Domination God Monarch's presence.

Whatever people's opinions were, the news of the southern battlefront spread like wildfire. The news itself was obviously not real-time reports, but still relatively up-to-date. In half a day—no, every two to four hours, dozens and sometimes hundreds of carrier pigeons would be released to deliver news across the Central Plains.

Since the fate of the murim rode on this battle, people prioritized receiving information. That meant any news related to the battle would spread quickly.

"The southern alliance forces struck a heavy blow!"

"As expected of the Righteous-Evil alliance!"

"The Dark Heavens Association army was pushed back!"

People reacted differently to each piece of information.

"Euh-euk... This, this can't be!"

"What the hell? Did you really gamble your money on who would win?! Are you crazy? Don't you know that so many lives are at stake here?!"

"If you want to run your mouth off, Mister Scholar, pay up first."

Starting from those who placed wagers...

"No! No, it can't be! My son! My son is...!"

"My daughter is dead?! No!"

"Ah! My husband! Now that you're gone, what are we supposed to do?!"

"Nooo! Master!"

"Sob... Sniffle!"

Those who lost their parents, siblings, and children were overcome with grief. This applied to both the Dark Heavens Association and the alliance forces. Winning the war didn't mean everything would be fine. Countless wounds that could never be healed were left behind, too.

Even as commotions broke out everywhere, the news continued to spread around.

When the news of the alliance forces driving the Dark Heavens army to the riverbanks of the Yangtze, only for the Eight Water Gangs to appear, and the portion of the alliance forces betraying their peers reached their ears, most Righteous and Evil martial artists froze up in shock and consternation.

As for the outsiders, they celebrated. Their hearts threatened to tumble to the pits of their stomachs when they heard the news about how the Hainan Sword Sect's reinforcement for the alliance forces was intercepted.

Fortunately, their worries turned out to be for nothing, after all.

"Did you just say a water dragon showed up?"

"That's right!"

"Fella, are you insane?"

"I'm telling you, it's the truth!"

The entrance of the water dragon, or more correctly, the Imoogi, became the hottest topic of discussion. Initially, this news was treated as a falsehood, some fanciful exaggeration.

However, with so many witnesses to back the story up, people began wondering if it really was true. The debate didn't last for long, as the outcome of the battle in the South reached everyone's ears.

"The Dark Heavens Association's southern army lost!"

"The southern alliance force has won!"

"Whooooaaaah!"

The Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley—no, the Righteous Faction and the Evil Faction both celebrated raucously at the news of the victory. That was no minor skirmish, but a large-scale war, one where the fate of everyone hung in the balance. And their side had achieved victory!

Who cared about dragons and Imoogis? The only thing that mattered was this outcome!

The branch managers of the Righteous and Evil Factions manning their respective branches rushed outside and celebrated, regardless of whether they were asleep or in the middle of a meal. The fence sitters and opportunists, who had been wondering where to throw their lots in to survive, finally made up their minds.

"Yup, as I thought, I should stick with the Righteous and Evil Alliance."

"Sure, the Dark Heavens Association sounds like a big deal, but it won't win against the Righteous-Evil alliance, which has been ruling over the murim with an iron fist for generations."

The news of the victory soon followed the evaluation of the individual participants of the alliance.

"Have you heard about all the things the Emei Sect did in the war? I hear Jingchu Shitai's martial arts were truly something else!"

"And people kept saying the sect was falling behind because they were producing fewer and fewer top-tier experts over the years... At least they have the Vajra, which is good news."

"I heard that the Nangong Family, with the Boundless Dragon in the lead, acted as the vanguard of the army!"

"They didn't have a choice but to do that if they wanted to wash away the dishonor of the Sword Devil. Still, it sounds like them being used unwittingly was not a lie, after all. Well, their descendants deserve some pity, at least."

"Have you also heard about Duan Hecheng of the Seven Young Masters of Diancang, plus the disciples of the Diancang Sect under him? It seems the Diancang Sect's reputation for practical combat skills is well deserved. Apparently, even the Evil Valley was impressed by their judgement."

"What about the Wudang and Qingcheng..."

"Fella, are we only gonna keep talking about the Righteous Faction sects? The Miao Family Sword Gate and the Four Poison Gates of the Four Gates of the Evil Path were nothing to scoff at, either!"

"No, before all that! The Domination God Monarch's god-like strength was..."

Rather fitting for the people of the gangho, who loved to gossip and rank famous warriors, they gleefully discussed various individuals and their strength.

"Very good! Excellent!" The Martial Alliance leader, Yun Guang, slapped his knee in celebration. The temporary Alliance headquarters in Henan was also in a festive mood when news of victory finally arrived.

"Fuu-woo...!" Zhuge Xiang sitting inside the operations room sighed deeply in relief. I'm so glad that the South Sea Dragon Gate's ambush went undiscovered.

Both Zhuge Xiang and Zhuge Xiuluan feared that Blessed Existence would see through their plan somehow. Just like the Dark Heavens Alliance, the Righteous-Evil alliance had risked half of its forces in the southern front. It'd be a lie to say that he wasn't worried sick at all.

We also didn't have any details regarding the situation on the island of Hainan. Since the Dark Heavens' only connection to the south sea is through the eastern pirates, I believed that not even Blessed Existence could have known about the South Sea Dragon Gate.

Zhuge Xiang was somewhat confident of this plan. Still, there was always that one in a million chance, so he couldn't help but feel anxious during the battle.

"From now on, we won't just take your hits lying down!" Zhuge Xiang quietly chewed those words out. He still couldn't forget the memories of that day, when he had to retreat urgently while shedding tears of blood.

He and his allies would no longer just keep taking hits one-sidedly!

"Blessed... Existence!" Zhuge Xiang quietly called out the name of the sworn enemy responsible for taking his grandfather's life.

***

Meanwhile, in the headquarters of the Dark Heavens Association...

"Those... garbage mongrels!"

BANG!

The large desk with the map spread on it was blasted away.

Blessed Existence's rage filled the room. "Don't make me laugh!"

SLAM!

Everything was perfect. No, everything was supposed to be perfect.

Blessed Existence had already predicted the appearance of the Domination God Monarch. He also knew about the Hainan Sword Sect's existence and the plan to use them as reinforcement.

After all, there could have been only one reason for Zhou Xuchuan's visit to Hainan Island, which was located at the extreme south of the empire.

Without a doubt, he had to have been planning to resolve the internal strife within the island in return for the islanders' help during the Central Plain's era of chaos.

Although Blessed Existence got the intention and the actual order of things wrong, his prediction wasn't exactly off course, either.

Blessed Existence laughed his head off after seeing through the alliance forces' intention to pretend to get caught in the trap, all the while waiting to strike back with the help of the Hainan Sword Sect.

Whether it's the Heavenly Strategist or the Tactician Phoenix, both of you are still little brats!

He predicted the fate of the Dark Heavens, achieving overwhelming victory on the southern front. However, he was fooled by one bluff after another. When he realized that, his blood pressure, which had finally stabilized after feeling assured of his victory, spiked up dangerously again. His armless shoulder started aching as well.

"AAAAH! Those stinking dogs and bitches! What is the Pure Faith Star even doing?! Why haven't they assassinated Zhuge Xiang and Zhuge Xialuan already?!" Blessed Existence roared at a nearby subordinate.

"S-sir!"

"The Vast Gate Star! Have you found anything about the Domination God Monarch yet?!"

"M-my apologies, sir!"

"If, if we still can't find anything about him, at least any information on his acquaintances... Argh!" Blessed Existence clutched his gut just below his solar plexus. "Sons of bitches...!"