FVN 120. Guard
120. Guard
Lin Mo stood by the study window, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the windowpane. The news that the emperor had been confirmed last night to be possessed by a demon weighed heavily on his heart. What unsettled him even more was that the "emperor" controlled by the demon had clearly become aware of their investigation.
"Young Master, Lord Zhang Yuan and Lord Zhao Mingcheng have arrived." The servant's voice interrupted his thoughts.
Lin Mo turned around and saw Zhang Yuan and Zhao Mingcheng walking quickly into the study, both of them looking rather unwell.
"Lord Lin, when I went to the palace to report for duty this morning, I discovered that His Majesty's guards had all been replaced," Zhao Mingcheng said in a low voice. "Those new guards are all expressionless, with dull eyes, but they are exceptionally agile."
Zhang Yuan added, "Last night, I observed the stars and found that the dark aura above the palace was thicker than in the past few days. Moreover, this dark aura has spread to the area guarded by the imperial guards."
Lin Mo's heart sank: "It seems the Heavenly Demon has already assembled its own guard. We must investigate the background of these guards."
That night, Lin Mo dispatched his most elite guards to infiltrate the palace. However, two hours later, only one guard returned wounded.
"Young Master, those guards...they're not human!" The guard clutched his bleeding arm, his voice trembling. "They can move in the shadows, and their eyes glow red in the dark. We were discovered as soon as we approached the Zichen Palace."
Lin Mo carefully examined the guard's wound and found a wisp of black energy swirling around it, indicating that it was not caused by an ordinary weapon.
"Go and heal your wounds first," Lin Mo instructed, then turned to Zhang Yuan, "It seems ordinary methods won't reveal anything. We need a special approach."
Zhang Yuan pondered for a moment: "I know a reclusive old Taoist priest who is proficient in various spells for detecting evil spirits. Perhaps he can help us find out the origins of these guards."
Three days later, Zhang Yuan arrived at the Lin residence with an old Taoist priest with white hair and beard. The old Taoist priest introduced himself as Qingyunzi, carrying a peach wood sword and several talisman pouches hanging from his waist.
"Last night, I set up an altar outside the palace to perform a ritual, and I discovered that the palace was filled with malevolent energy," Qingyunzi said solemnly. "Those guards emanated the same demonic energy as His Majesty; they are likely all incarnations of celestial demons."
Lin Mo frowned: "Demon incarnations? Could these guards be demonic beings transformed from the Heavenly Demon?"
Qingyunzi shook his head: "Not entirely. In my opinion, these guards were originally real people, but they have been corrupted by the demonic energy of the Heavenly Demon and have lost their self-awareness, becoming mindless puppets."
To verify this claim, Lin Mo decided to investigate personally. He used the excuse of having urgent military matters to report to the emperor and requested an audience with him again.
Outside the Zichen Palace, the newly appointed commander of the guards stopped him. The man was pale and his eyes were lifeless, but his movements were unusually swift.
"His Majesty is not receiving guests today," the commander of the guards said mechanically and coldly.
Lin Mo noticed that the man's knuckles had an abnormal bluish-black tinge, resembling lividity. Even more strangely, under sunlight, the shadows of these guards were much fainter than those of ordinary people, and would occasionally become distorted.
"I have urgent military intelligence..." Lin Mo tried to stall while secretly using his inner strength to sense the situation. Sure enough, these guards exuded the same chilling demonic aura as the emperor.
Suddenly, a red glint flashed in the eyes of the guard captain as he stared intently at Lin Mo: "Are you spying on us?"
Lin Mo was startled, but remained outwardly calm: "Why do you say that, Commander? I'm simply eager to see the Emperor."
Upon returning to the Lin residence, Lin Mo immediately summoned his core members. When he shared his findings with them, everyone gasped in shock.
"So, the entire palace has been taken over by the Heavenly Demon?" Wang Shouren asked in a trembling voice.
Qingyunzi nodded: "Not only that, these Heavenly Demon guards are gradually replacing important positions in the palace. At this rate, the entire palace will fall under the control of the Heavenly Demons in less than a month."
Zhao Mingcheng said worriedly, "Then how should we respond? If we launch a forced attack, innocent people might get hurt."
Lin Mo pondered for a long time, then suddenly asked, "Daoist Qingyun, do these Heavenly Demon Guards have any weaknesses?"
Qingyunzi took out a yellow talisman from his talisman bag: "Heavenly demons belong to Yin, and are most afraid of extremely Yang objects. These exorcism talismans of mine may be able to subdue them. However..."
"But what?"
"However, dealing with so many Heavenly Demon Guards requires a large number of supreme Yang magical artifacts. Furthermore, we must find the Heavenly Demon Core that controls these guards; otherwise, even if we eliminate a batch, new ones will quickly take their place."
Lin Mo immediately ordered: "Zhang Yuan, go and collect all the extremely yang items you can find. Zhao Mingcheng, continue to monitor the palace and record the guards' shift changes. Wang Shouren, contact our informants within the palace and see if we can find the Heavenly Demon Core."
Over the next few days, news kept pouring back from all sides. Zhang Yuan had collected a large amount of warm yang jade, red copper, and other extremely yang materials; Zhao Mingcheng discovered that these demonic guards changed shifts every six hours, and their demonic power was strongest at midnight and noon; Wang Shouren brought a shocking piece of news: these guards were all under the unified command of an entity known as the "Demon General".
"Demon General?" Lin Mo pressed.
"According to our informants, this demon general usually appears as a guard commander, but someone once saw him reveal his true form in the dead of night—a winged demon."
Upon hearing this, Qingyunzi's expression changed drastically: "Wings on its back? That's probably a general-level being among the Heavenly Demons. No wonder it can control so many Heavenly Demon guards."
Just as everyone was discussing countermeasures, a secret guard rushed in to report: "Young Master, we've discovered that Heavenly Demon Guards have begun appearing near the residences of various ministers, as if they're monitoring something."
Lin Mo walked to the window and, sure enough, saw two men dressed as guards standing on the street corner. They stood motionless in the shadows like statues, but their red eyes were fixed on the gate of the Lin residence.
"It seems the Heavenly Demon has already noticed us," Lin Mo said in a deep voice.
As night fell, Lin Mo was alone in the secret chamber, poring over his memories of his past life. He remembered fighting some celestial demons in his previous life, but on a scale far smaller than this one. If this celestial demon guard were allowed to continue expanding, not only would the Song Dynasty be in imminent danger, but the entire human realm could also be plunged into crisis.
"We must find a way to deal with them as soon as possible," Lin Mo muttered to himself, his gaze falling on an ancient sword hanging on the wall of the secret chamber. This sword was named "Pure Yang," and its blade contained pure Yang energy, which might be able to harm the Heavenly Demons.
He took down the ancient sword, and its blade immediately emitted a faint golden light. Just then, a strange noise came from outside the window. Lin Mo looked up alertly and saw a dark shadow swiftly flash by.
The Heavenly Demon Guard has begun its operation. Lin Mo gripped his Pure Yang Sword tightly, knowing that a direct confrontation with the Heavenly Demons was inevitable. However, his greatest worry now was: besides the imperial palace, how many other places had the Heavenly Demons infiltrated? Just how large was this Heavenly Demon Guard?
These problems, like swords hanging over his head, put Lin Mo under unprecedented pressure.