In truth, medicines in this world capable of rapidly replenishing vitality and blood could be counted on one hand.
The few Gu worms were extremely emaciated, which was why Sun Fuping had been unable to use them to swiftly recover when he was battered and mangled by the ballista barrage earlier; in the end, he had only been saved thanks to the deity's grace.
Now, he intended to make He Lingchuan his living blood bank, letting him experience the agony of heart and brain being devoured in the process.
Covered in scratches from head to toe, He Lingchuan had not yet realized foreign objects had invaded his body when another monstrous bird descended from the sky, landing right beside him.
The bird cocked its head to examine him, seemingly deep in thought.
He Lingchuan didn't have time to worry about that. He yelled, "Kill him! Helping me is helping yourself!"
The monstrous bird didn't turn its head at his words. Instead, with a sudden flutter, it released several bats. Since its very body was formed from a flock of bats, doing so was effortless.
The bats pounced on He Lingchuan's wounds, swiftly gnawing and drinking his blood.
A numb, itchy sensation washed over him—everything except pain. Startled, the youth cried, "Hey, hey, what are you doing!"
Naturally, the monstrous bird didn't answer. It merely spread its wings, poising to take flight.
He Lingchuan couldn't spare a thought for anything else. Drawing his saber, he sawed and slashed at the mesh of the netting.
Pliable and slender though this silk-binding rope appeared, it was actually refined from blood-silkworm silk combined with the pith of three-hundred-year-old iron vines. Several times harder than steel wire, it was utterly impervious to fire, water, blades, or axes.
After hacking at it twice without leaving a scratch, He Lingchuan remembered his newly acquired treasure saber. If not now, when else was he going to use it?
And indeed, newer proved better. The moment the treasure saber cleared its sheath, cutting through the silk-binding rope was as effortless as slicing through a common fishing net.
In two or three strokes, he broke free of the fishing net—no, the silk-binding rope—and scrambled out, leaping straight onto the monstrous bird's back in one breath. "Give me a ride!"
The monstrous bird sank under his weight and instinctively tried to throw him off. Yet for some unknown reason, it changed its mind, flapped its wings, and began a running start.
Its body was massive; it couldn't lift off vertically and needed momentum from a running leap to take flight.
Seeing this, Sun Fuping grew anxious. In the midst of the chaos, he struck his ritual staff against the ground. The beast's head parted its jaws and spat out several fireballs, blasting in rapid succession like cannon fire toward the monstrous bird beneath He Lingchuan. Though their power couldn't rival that of a siege ballista, tearing apart its wings or blasting He Lingchuan half to death would still be no trouble at all.
Provided they could hit their mark.
Other monstrous birds had already been circling overhead. At the sight, they swooped down, using their bodies to shield He Lingchuan from disaster.
Not a single one of those dozen or so fireballs managed to hit him.
As his target's temporary mount soared into the air, Sun Fuping's face darkened with fury. Just as he prepared to follow up with another attack, over a dozen men charged out from behind him. The man at their head bellowed, "Halt!"
It was He Chunhua, arriving at the head of his men. The usually refined and genial commandery governor wore fury openly on his face: "Sun Fuping, we risked our lives for you, yet you turned around and treated us as sacrifices! How does someone so treacherous and venomous deserve to be the National Preceptor?!"
With that brief delay, the monstrous bird flew dozens of feet away, climbing into the sky.
Sun Fuping sighed inwardly, knowing the best chance to keep He Lingchuan here had slipped away. Even if he had other means to pursue, the other monstrous birds shielding the brat were no pushovers.
Soaring into the air with his mount, his heart still pounding wildly from his narrow escape, He Lingchuan saw his father arrive on the battlefield and was overjoyed: "Dad, he isn't the National Preceptor!"
He Chunhua froze, forgetting his anger for a second. "What?"
"Go down!" He Lingchuan wanted to rejoin his father, but the monstrous bird wouldn't obey at all and only flew higher and higher.
"He's never used the State Token!" As the distance widened, He Lingchuan had to strain his vocal cords to yell, "He can't channel dynastic fortune! Beat him to death, hurry!"
This revelation was utterly staggering. He Chunhua had seen Sun Fuping in the capital before and knew beyond doubt that this was the genuine man in the flesh. But thinking back carefully, ever since entering Blackwater City, Sun Fuping had indeed never once used his own State Token to cast techniques; he had borrowed either Nian Songyu's or He Chunhua's.
When someone had questioned it back then, Sun Fuping had explained that he feared the aura on the Yuan coin would draw attacks from the Three Corpse Worms and resentful souls.
Reflecting on it now, that truly had been a glaring loophole.
He Chunhua made a snap decision, pointing at Sun Fuping and shouting, "Attack! Kill this fraud!"
Sun Fuping's beard trembled with rage. "He Chunhua, this is mutiny and treason! If anyone dares take a single step forward, their entire clan will be sliced to pieces in the future!"
Through a moment of carelessness, a monstrous bird's sharp beak pecked a chunk out of him, causing blood to gush like a fountain.
He Chunhua sneered. "And we'll have a good end if we don't kill him? Think of the Blood Sacrifice Formation! Think of our companions and brothers-in-arms he sacrificed!"
The gruesome, agonizing deaths of their companions in the Blood Sacrifice Formation were still vivid in their minds. As the men recalled that sight, their resolve hardened to go all out.
In truth, He Chunhua's thoughts were completely aligned with his son's. The father and son had already offended Sun Fuping beyond reconciliation. Fraud or not, kill him first and ask questions later! Otherwise, if Sun Fuping escaped alive, catastrophe would wipe out the He clan!
If both Sun and Nian died, it would actually be much easier for Commandery Governor He to explain things.
Just then, several more of He Chunhua's men arrived. After leaping into the pool-well, they had been scattered across different areas of the illusory realm; these few had been deposited inside Panlong City and rushed to join the fray upon hearing the clash of weapons.
Twenty breaths later, hooves thundered like rolling drums.
The Gale Army had arrived as well—nearly two hundred riders, their faces devoid of expression.
The Blackwater City troops still felt somewhat apprehensive upon seeing them, but these heroic spirits stared straight at Sun Fuping, not sparing another soul a second glance.
The leading commander initiated the charge.
He Lingchuan was already flying high above. Looking down from his vantage point, Sun Fuping was encircled three layers deep inside and out, packed so tight water couldn't leak through, on the verge of being swallowed by the vortex formed by the monstrous birds, the Gale Army, and the Blackwater City troops.
Anyone with eyes could see that Sun Fuping had reached the end of the road.
He Chunhua said coldly, "These are all resentful souls. As long as the National Preceptor uses his State Token, he is bound to turn peril into safety!"
Yet right up until He Lingchuan's mount carried him far away, not a glimmer of light from a State Token appeared below.
So the old bastard really isn't the National Preceptor anymore?
Just as he was marveling at this, a sudden jolt of pain made him hiss through his teeth. Looking over his shoulder, he found that the bats clinging to his body had chewed open his wounds and pulled out black maggots. Ignoring how the creatures squirmed and wriggled frantically, the bats brought them before the host's eyes.
"From inside me?" Not knowing when he had been ambushed, He Lingchuan thought to himself what a close call it had been. That old bastard Sun truly was vicious, almost dragging him down to the grave as well.
He moved to skewer the maggots with a dagger, but the bats bumped his hand away.
"Can't kill them? Are they useful?" It definitely wasn't his imagination—these bats truly possessed intelligence! Left with no other choice, he found a small sealable vial and gathered the Gu worms inside.
The monstrous bird flew swiftly, reaching the southern battlefield in the blink of an eye before descending to drop him off at the best vantage point on the city wall.
Situ Han hurried over. "Eldest Young Master, the Commandery Governor went down the wall looking for you!"
"I know, they're besieging old man Sun," He Lingchuan replied in annoyance. "Why didn't you go with him?"
"Someone has to stay behind to watch over things, right?" Situ Han gave a dry laugh. "We were ambushed by the National Preceptor outside, and lost over eighty men all told! We're short-handed now."
Chapter 70