Jiang Wang specifically chose the city gate opposite the colossal turtle beast to exit.

He walked through the city at a measured pace, but once outside, he sped away, reaching the outskirts in a flash.

“Ah.”

Amidst the rushing wind, he suddenly heard a sigh.

“One wonders why this hurried soul hastens so urgently?”

Jiang Wang halted his steps and rested his hand on his sword.

He gazed at the figure that had abruptly appeared before him and spoke slowly, “Fleeing for my life, I cannot afford to be slow.”

Appearing before him was a young cultivator, refined and handsome, clad in simple attire. His face held little expression, yet his eyes exuded a sense of melancholy.

He chuckled, “Are you not the great savior of You Country, the meritorious minister who eradicated the Thousand Absolute Curse? What life are you fleeing?”

Jiang Wang exhaled softly. “Perhaps I am not.”

“Tsk tsk tsk,” the young man sighed, shaking his head. “I pursued you simply to get a good look at our envoy of justice, our paragon of virtue. Just what sort of person he is. It seems… he is merely thus.”

Jiang Wang said, “I merely did what I ought to have done. Justice is not a word that applies. If City Lord Yin has nothing further, I must be on my way.”

On the rooftop of the restaurant that day, he had seen Yin Guan among the officials heading to report to the Upper City. Thus, Jiang Wang had remembered his appearance.

Everyone believed he was still hidden within the Twenty-Seven Cities. The Negative Monument Army was still searching within the city, with their commander, Zheng Chaoyang, personally barring the gates. Yet here he was, outside the city, in the suburbs, under the eyes of all.

“Ha! Do you truly believe you saved this city?” Yin Guan scoffed. “Heaven Bless Country is fundamentally a nation without hope!”

“Perhaps it is saved, perhaps not. But I at least saved an innocent girl,” Jiang Wang replied. “As for whether You Country has hope, that is for the people of You Country to consider.”

“You stopped Su Muqing and erased the first curse. You must have seen Su Muqing’s wet nurse. Do you know why she harbored such resentment? Have you considered why she would stop at nothing to do such a thing?”

Yin Guan’s voice was tinged with anger. “Do you know about her only son?”

“I had no time to ask, nor did I wish to.”

“Her only son was the City Lord of the Twenty-Seven Cities the previous year!”

Qing Ge’er, the one Su Muqing spoke of?

Jiang Wang’s mind reeled. He had imagined the old woman’s son had suffered some grievance or betrayal. In any case, he had expected a tragic tale of bitterness, pitiful perhaps, but not a reason to hate the world.

Wrongs have their source, debts their owner. One should hate and kill the culprit, not involve the innocent.

He had considered many possibilities, yet this answer was still beyond his expectation.

Almost instantly, Jiang Wang connected this with Su Muqing’s words – “My cousin is very good, truly excellent. But no matter what he does, he will die.”

Yin Guan was scheduled to report to the Upper City City Lord today. According to Su Muqing, he was certain to be deemed unqualified and face the fate of being devoured by the protective sacred beast.

He had directly arranged the means to trigger the protective sacred beast’s frenzy and escape death. He had even come close to destroying the Twenty-Seven Cities. If the colossal turtle beast had continued its rampage, a national crisis was not an impossibility.

Was he merely saving himself?

“He was an exceptional person. Muqing and I grew up together. We both cultivated diligently. To spend more time with Muqing, I deliberately concealed my strength, allowing him to become that year’s City Lord. I believed it was a form of compensation. I never expected… it would instead push him into hell!”

“Do you know what being a Lower City City Lord means?”

“You Country is divided only into Upper and Lower Cities.”

“That is, above and below the turtle’s shell. There is only one Upper City, the capital.”

“There are thirty-nine Lower Cities in total. They are simply numbered from one to thirty-nine. Have you seen any city anywhere else that only has a number? You wouldn’t name a dog kennel, you wouldn’t name a chicken coop. Because you know they are dog kennels and chicken coops, that is enough.”

“Because the so-called change of City Lord is just a pretense! The current system in You Country is designed to select the most excellent and talented cultivators from each region to feed that damn protective sacred beast! The one evaluated as the worst is actually the one with the highest talent. Talent, instead, becomes the reason for death!”

“Only in this way can it continue to grow, always remain in You Country, always, ‘protecting’ this place!”

“But the protection for which people are so grateful is merely a wild beast’s instinct to protect its food!”

Yin Guan’s eyes were twisted with pain.

He was laughing, mocking himself and this deformed nation.

“So that is it!” Jiang Wang said.

“So that is it?”

“I just suddenly understood something,” Jiang Wang said. “I thought Zhao Cang wanted to kill me. Now I understand, he did indeed want to kill me. But he didn’t need to do it himself. He announced to everyone that I had solved the Thousand Absolute Curse to borrow your knife.”

“Because you are very intelligent. You refused him. Intelligent people can see the true nature of this country. If you have a background, perhaps it is acceptable. If not, it is even better that only one person knows. And I… you feel I should kill you?”

“Perhaps I should,” Jiang Wang gripped his sword tightly. “Because you have your path, and I have mine.”

“You still don’t think you are wrong?” Yin Guan frowned. “You believe in justice, but you are merely helping the tiger do evil!”

“Do you know…” Jiang Wang said. “Your cousin truly loved you very much.”

“What do you mean?”

“Then do you know what influence that cursed paper man would have on her?”

“It would make her gravely ill. And everyone in the Su family, except her, would die.”

“If I remember correctly, the Su family are also your relatives.”

“Relatives?” Yin Guan laughed. “Then do you know who exposed my true talent, who made me the City Lord of the Twenty-Seven Cities? It was none other than Su Muqing’s father, my own uncle!”

“He did it simply to rely on me, a potential meal for the turtle beast, to consolidate his power. Even to climb into the Upper City. He has completely forgotten how he became head of the family that year, forgotten who my mother is!”

Jiang Wang fell silent. He could not, in truth, blame that person for this.

But he also had his own path, and he would not waver because of another’s tragic experience.

Jiang Wang said, “But have you considered how many people would die if that giant beast went mad and attacked the Lower City? You cannot use a greater wrong to correct another wrong.”

“That depends on how one defines wrong,” Yin Guan said faintly.

“Then, one last question,” Jiang Wang asked. “Why have you told me so much?”

“Hahahaha,” Yin Guan laughed. “Only now do I find you interesting.”

He replied, “Because I am like you… waiting for someone. You are waiting for him to come and kill me, and I am also waiting… for him to come and kill me!”

As his words fell,

From the direction of the Twenty-Seven Cities, a straight figure, like a sharp arrow loosed from a bowstring, shot towards them with a speed that almost rent the air!

If he was the arrow,

The bow must have the mountains as its back, the rivers as its string.

This arrow must pierce the vast sky!

That majestic physique, that powerful oppression, announced his identity even from a great distance – Negative Monument Army Commander Zheng Chaoyang!

And Yin Guan waved his large sleeve, brushing past Jiang Wang.

“They only miscalculated one thing. And that is…”

As he spoke, he began to accelerate towards Zheng Chaoyang!

“They have not truly understood just how much talent I possess. Just how strong I am!”

Still searching for the free novel “Red Heart Patrol Heaven”?

Simply search on Baidu: “” It’s that easy!