Eternal Saber

Chapter 620 - 41: City of Death

After leaving the city, Chen Tang rode off like a whirlwind, quickly leaving Gaoping County behind.

Thunder Leopard ran at full speed for over an hour, crossing mountains and rivers, as if on flat ground.

Chen Tang glanced back occasionally, and seeing Tie Falei wasn’t pursuing, he let out a sigh of relief.

However, Tie Falei’s last words, "Little brother, we will meet again," kept echoing in his mind, refusing to dissipate.

Chen Tang realized that this situation was likely the Demon Seed’s doing.

The "Demon Planting Technique" was different from other Martial Arts.

The Demon Seed wasn’t True Qi or Demonic Qi, but rather a seed of Heart Demon planted by finding a flaw in the target’s mind.

It was more like a means of mind control.

Chen Tang had just formed his Sword Intent and his Dao Heart was stable, yet Tie Falei found a chance to plant a Heart Demon in him, showing how terrifying this person was!

And once the Demon Seed was successfully planted, it was very difficult to eradicate completely.

Even if you cut off the branches, as long as the roots of the Demon Seed deep in the heart were not removed, if malicious thoughts emerged, the Demon Seed would get nutrients and flourish again.

To uproot the Demon Seed, you must first cut off its nutrients!

Fortunately, at the Mahayana Buddha Palace, Chen Tang inadvertently comprehended the method of Karmic Fire.

Karmic Fire could ignite the evil thoughts and evil karmas within Chen Tang.

Once the evil karmas were burned away, the Demon Seed would lose its nutrients and gradually wither and die.

Moreover, Chen Tang still had a mass of Sword Intent in his chest that could slice through the Demon Seed!

The Demon Seed could also sharpen the "Eternal" Sword Intent!

Chen Tang silently recited the Karma Fire Scripture in his mind, gathering the Karmic Fire.

But just as the Karmic Fire rose, the Thunder Leopard beneath him let out a miserable cry and jumped on the spot, almost throwing Chen Tang off.

As long as a being is alive, it inevitably involves causality, entangled with Karmic Force.

With Karmic Force, one would suffer burns from Karmic Fire.

It’s just that the extent of harm varies.

The more evil karma, the greater the harm of Karmic Fire.

Worried about hurting Thunder Leopard, Chen Tang hastily dispersed the Karmic Fire.

It seems he needs to find a secluded and safe place to gradually burn away the evil karma and remove the Demon Seed.

Now is not the time; that unsettling feeling hasn’t completely disappeared.

Chen Tang urged Thunder Leopard to continue forward.

Glancing at the bruised five fingers on his wrist, images of the Demon Venerable and Tie Falei inevitably surfaced in Chen Tang’s mind.

The Jianghu widely spread that the Demon Venerable killed people without mercy.

The Demon Venerable once told him some shocking words, believing that human nature is inherently evil, so everyone in the world should be killed.

Once everyone in the world was killed, the world would be at peace.

However, during the time he was in contact with the Demon Venerable, only one person, True Monarch Lingyun, actually died at his hands.

Perhaps out of admiration for Song Wu’s courage, the Demon Venerable also showed mercy, allowing Song Wu to leave unharmed.

The Demon Venerable seemed more like a being detached from the world, watching coldly as the innkeeper and diners at Lijiang Inn were killed by Uncle Wang.

He wouldn’t save people, nor did he seem to kill indiscriminately.

But Tie Falei was completely different.

This person truly had a killing addiction, taking pleasure in murder!

He even killed his father-in-law without any hesitation!

The Commander of Gaoping County probably never expected to die at the hands of his own son-in-law before he passed.

Tie Falei killed without needing a reason.

Even just looking at him or smiling might get you mercilessly killed!

Tie Falei’s killings were completely unpredictable, without pattern.

If he wanted to kill, he would; if he was in a bad mood, he would; if he was in a good mood, he might kill as well.

Even though Chen Tang was taken in by the Demon Venerable, he had no doubt that if Tie Falei wanted to kill him, he would do so without a moment’s hesitation!

"Little brother, we will meet again..."

At that moment, Chen Tang heard Tie Falei’s voice again, as if it was right by his ear!

From the corner of his eye, he saw Tie Falei right beside him, riding alongside Thunder Leopard, turning his head and showing a bizarre grin!

Chen Tang was shocked, and without time to think, he raised his hand and punched towards his side.

Whoosh!

The punch landed in empty space.

Chen Tang paused, surrounded by emptiness, with no sign of Tie Falei.

He had just had a nightmare.

On the back of the Thunder Leopard, at some point, he had dozed off into a slumber.

Opening his eyes now, several hours had passed, and it was already nightfall.

The moon shone brightly among scattered stars while a cool breeze blew.

Chen Tang shivered involuntarily, feeling increasingly weak, covered in cold sweat.

He glanced down at his wrist, where the bruising on his five fingers was deepening!

The influence of the Demon Seed was growing.

It had even begun to affect his dreams!

This hidden threat needed to be resolved quickly!

Chen Tang looked ahead, seeing a faint outline of a city in the depths of the night.

After running all afternoon, the duo had long left Gaoping County and reached another town.

So be it, he thought. He could sneak into the city, find an abandoned room, and first remove the Demon Seed within him.

The Demon Seed’s influence had significantly impaired Chen Tang’s perception and vision.

Getting closer, Chen Tang noticed that the city’s walls were dilapidated and the gate wide open, with broken spears and shattered swords everywhere, clearly after the ravages of war.

Chen Tang dismounted, leaving Thunder Leopard to guard outside the city, and walked in alone.

The city was a scene of desolation with ruins and debris everywhere, lifeless and devoid of vitality.

After walking for a while, Chen Tang hadn’t seen a single living soul.

During the war, people in the city must have already fled.

He noticed that on both sides of the city’s roads, at intervals of several yards, stood tall platforms of packed earth.

Getting closer, an overwhelming stench of decay hit his nose.

Frowning slightly, he punched through the dirt on top.

Crack!

The dirt crumbled, the platform collapsed, and round objects rolled out.

Chen Tang’s pupils contracted as he took a few steps back!

On the ground were skulls, still attached to rotting flesh!

This was no ordinary dirt platform, but a Skull Platform made entirely of skulls!

Countless lives must have been lost to cover the entire city with such Skull Platforms!

War inevitably leads to death.

But this brutal method, Chen Tang had never encountered before.

"It’s him!"

An image of Tie Falei flashed in Chen Tang’s mind.

Though he hadn’t seen it firsthand, Tie Falei was definitely capable of such atrocities.

Perhaps this City of Death was his handiwork!

Images of Tie Falei leading his tribe in a fierce attack, breaking into the city, and massacring indiscriminately flooded Chen Tang’s mind. Men, women, and children, all beheaded and piled into these platforms.

Shaking his head, Chen Tang struggled to stay clear-minded, looking for a relatively intact and concealed house to enter. He sat cross-legged and began gathering Karmic Fire to burn away his inner evil karma.

Karmic Force was not only formed by malicious thoughts.

Various negative emotions such as panic, fear, anxiety, depression, sadness, pain, and despair would also form an invisible Karmic Force within.

Tie Falei’s presence caused these negative emotions to erupt within Chen Tang!

Among them, his fear of Tie Falei was the greatest!

Even after delivering that slash to Tie Falei, this fear hadn’t dissipated.