Chapter 11654 — You're the Real Experts at Screwing People Over
Once the crimson apes grew more numerous, every last soul present would become their prey.
The most maddening part was this: at the very start, under Li Hongshou's instigation, the three Ancestors of the Prince of Qi's Estate had forcibly sealed the ancestral hall off from the outside world to make certain Wei Zhao died.
Within the allotted time, even they themselves could not break through.
In other words, they had built themselves an iron cage and tossed the key away for good measure—and then Li Hongshou went mad and let the crimson apes in.
Had any single link in this chain of blunders been missing, the situation today would not have been half so thorny.
Wei Zhao could not help but marvel, "When it comes to screwing people over, you lot really are masters."
"…"
The tall old man was on the verge of collapse. His face worked with anguish as he said, "This really isn't the time for that, is it? The pressing matter now is for us all to join hands and pull through together. As for all the grudges and grievances of the past—can we settle them later?"
The nearest crimson ape was still three paces from him, yet by his senses its fangs were already pricking at his jugular.
No human being could endure such pressure.
That he had not burst into tears in front of everyone was already a testament to his command of his own expression.
Wei Zhao looked to Zhang Tailing. "Daoist Zhang, why not shut the gateway of space first? These apes are few enough now that we can manage, but once their numbers swell, we truly won't be able to hold them back."
Zhang Tailing at once said to Li Hongshou, "Hong'er, give me the bronze mirror. We truly cannot go on like this."
Li Hongshou hurriedly clutched the ancient bronze mirror to her breast, her face a mask of ferocity. "Master, don't force me. I mean to make them accompany my young junior brother in death. No one who comes today can talk me out of it!"
"Foolish child!"
Zhang Tailing sighed.
He gave a casual wave of his hand, and the next second Li Hongshou cried out in shock as the ancient bronze mirror tore free of her embrace and flew into Zhang Tailing's grasp.
Before Li Hongshou could lunge to snatch it back, Zhang Tailing reached out and wiped away the blood upon it.
A gateway of space linking to the outer realm required not only a specially made implement, but fresh human blood as its guide.
Under normal circumstances, once the blood was gone, the gateway of space would fail.
Yet perversely enough, not only did the gateway overhead show no sign of closing, it began to give off an eerie, penetrating glow.
The next second, the glow enveloped Li Hongshou.
Her body convulsed, and blood came surging wildly from all seven of her orifices, smearing itself upon the ancient bronze mirror of its own accord and keeping the gateway of space in operation.
Zhang Tailing frowned and hurriedly shielded Li Hongshou.
Once Li Hongshou had been steadied, he turned his hand back to wipe the blood from the bronze mirror—and the very same scene played out again!
With the strength of a peak early-stage Heaven Rank venerable, he was wholly unable to stop it, utterly at a loss for what to do.
Silence fell over the assembly.
As things stood, either the gateway of space was left to run, or Zhang Tailing wiped it clean again and again until the blood in Li Hongshou's body was drained completely dry.
From the standpoint of the three Ancestors of the Prince of Qi's Estate, the latter choice was obviously the one to be made without hesitation.
But for Zhang Tailing, this was a choice with no good answer.
In all his life he had had neither kin nor close ties, and had taken only two disciples. His young disciple was dead; Li Hongshou was his last attachment in this world.
Were it not so, a man of his drifting, cloud-and-crane temperament would never have let himself be drawn into this at all.
If any gateway of space was left to keep running, then everyone present—himself and Li Hongshou included—would die, and afterward perhaps the whole Inner Royal Court would face catastrophe.
By comparison, the latter choice merely meant Li Hongshou would die a little sooner.
Which way the scales ought to tip was plain at a glance.
Yet for Zhang Tailing, it was nothing less than being made to kill his last disciple with his own hands!
Li Hongshou laughed and laughed, madly. "It's useless! You'll all die today! Every one of you will accompany my young junior brother in death!"
Zhang Tailing's face was as heavy as still water.
Wei Zhao watched the scene in silence. He too was rather curious what choice this Daoist would ultimately make.
In the end, Zhang Tailing raised his hand with a sudden motion.
But his target was not Li Hongshou—it was the ancient bronze mirror.
His reasoning was clear enough: since he could not stop the bronze mirror from drinking Li Hongshou's blood, he would destroy the bronze mirror itself.
The ancient bronze mirror was the core vessel of the gateway of space. Once it was destroyed, the gateway would naturally vanish with it.
The next second, this plain and simple notion was rejected.
The ancient bronze mirror did not stir in the slightest.
The whole hall was stunned.
Everyone had felt the power of that blow clearly enough—it was enough to annihilate any early-stage Heaven Rank venerable on the spot, and it was plain that Zhang Tailing had poured his all into breaking the deadlock.
And the result? He had struck at empty air.
At the sight, Li Hongshou laughed like a madwoman. "Heaven's will! It's all Heaven's will! My young junior brother is helping me!"
Zhang Tailing refused to accept it. He at once marshaled every ounce of his power and struck the ancient bronze mirror with another palm.
The result: the ancient bronze mirror was still utterly unscathed.
Now the awkwardness was complete.
Seeing this, the three Ancestors of the Prince of Qi's Estate hurriedly said, "Daoist Zhang, regarding the death of your beloved disciple, we truly knew nothing of it, and it grieves us beyond measure."
"We are willing to pay the price and make amends."
"But what happens today concerns not only the life and death of our Prince of Qi's Estate, but also the safety of all living souls throughout the Inner Royal Court."
"We beg you to consider the greater good, and to put the fate of all living things first!"
Hearing this, Wei Zhao shook his head, speechless.
These three Ancestors of the Prince of Qi's Estate had truly been shut up in the ancestral hall too long—they had forgotten how to talk to the living.
Sure enough, Zhang Tailing's expression turned cold at once.
"Are the three of you using moral blackmail on this poor Daoist, forcing me to kill my last disciple with my own hands?"
The three Ancestors of the Prince of Qi's Estate were instantly struck dumb.
That was indeed exactly what they meant—but it could not be put that way.
While they were speaking, the crimson ape nearest the tall old man took another step closer. Its crimson fangs had all but come to rest against the old man's throat.
This time the tall old man was scared witless.
As a being of his caliber, he was surely a man of great resolve and great fortune; ordinarily, not even death—not even being carved to pieces—would have made him so much as twitch an eyebrow.
Yet it was precisely this terror, so close at hand and impossible to perceive clearly, that he could not withstand.
Just then, a figure suddenly charged at Li Hongshou.
It was Qi Zhuiyun, silent for so long!
Under Zhang Tailing's very eyes, he would ordinarily never have had such an opening—only Zhang Tailing's mind had faltered a moment ago, and he had been unable to keep watch on him, giving him his chance.
Wei Zhao could not help but glance at Zhang Tailing again.
Had he truly not noticed, or had he deliberately not noticed?
The former possibility could not be ruled out entirely, but from where Wei Zhao stood, the latter was plainly the likelier.