Chapter 1315: Retribution Is Inevitable

The black-armored leader put away the soul casket, pointed at the large pot, and told the villagers, "He is yours now."

The group began to leave as abruptly as they had arrived.

The villagers of Liuping looked at each other, unsure of what exactly had happened or why the black-armored army had come.

The old woman stepped forward and cautiously asked, "Who, who exactly are you?"

They had never heard of such a powerful, mysterious, and utterly ruthless entity in the vicinity.

"I am divine retribution for these evildoers!" the black-armored knight said slowly. "They brought calamity to the world, and I have personally delivered them, which is what is called retribution!"

Divine retribution? Deliverance?

The marketplace was silent as everyone struggled to process this information.

What exactly was retribution?

The blond-haired woman was the first to regain her senses, looking at him incoherently. "You... but, Liuping?"

Did these black-armored cavalry only come for Zhao Guangzhi? Were they not going to take over Liuping?

There had been no such precedent before.

Weren't the people who boiled Zhao Guangzhi even more brutal and ferocious than he was?

This was also why everyone had been trembling with fear, yet now this black-armored army intended to leave?

The black-armored leader immediately said, "Zhao Guangzhi was defeated by Shizhou Head tonight. The people who once repelled him will arrive here by tomorrow afternoon at the latest."

A murmur ran through the crowd:

"Zhao's army was in disarray tonight; they truly suffered a defeat!"

"I heard that Shizhou Head's army was led by their local garrison."

He Lingchuan nudged his horse's flanks with his legs, and his mount continued to move. "How you treat them is up to you."

The blond-haired woman pressed on, "Why did you come tonight? Just to publicly execute Zhao Guangzhi and let us have our revenge?"

After capturing Zhao Guangzhi, this black-armored army did not kill him instantly with a single blow. Instead, they brought him to Liuping, allowing the villagers to exact an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and to boil this cannibal alive.

Their methods were so brutal, yet their motive was so... She was momentarily at a loss for words to describe it.

The horse trotted past her, and the black-armored leader, without looking back, rode eastward:

"The ways of heaven are clear, and retribution is swift. This is what you deserve."

These words echoed in everyone's hearts, as if their resonance lingered long after circling a thousand mountains.

In the eastern sky, the first rays of dawn were just appearing.

Day broke.

This night, chaotic and bizarre, where absurd reality and the joy of revenge intertwined, had finally passed.

A new day, a day free from the oppression of the cannibal, had arrived.

People gazed eastward, where the back of every black-armored knight was bathed in a soft golden glow by the morning light.

Behind them, there was a flurry of activity.

Dong Rui glanced back and reported to He Lingchuan in real-time: "Hey, many people are kneeling for you and kowtowing... Oh, and many others are also kneeling and crying uncontrollably."

He Lingchuan corrected him, "Not just for 'me', but for 'us'."

These words were not just for Dong Rui.

"That's right," Dong Rui straightened his aching shoulders. "It's for us."

The black-armored knights couldn't help but look back, seeing a vast multitude kneeling behind them.

So many villagers were bowing their heads to the ground, prostrating themselves in profound gratitude for saving them from their misery.

When the villagers looked up, the black-armored knights saw genuine gratitude on their faces.

In this night of fervent battle, they had saved the civilians of two cities, earning the benevolence of thousands.

All the cavalrymen puffed out their chests.

They had to take a deep breath to suppress the fervor in their hearts and continue riding forward.

Wanqiliang inexplicably recalled the boy in the dark alley of Shizhou Head. He thought of how, years ago, the Bailong tribe had fled from Ya Country, constantly hiding and moving westward, often going hungry. Many children in their tribe were also gaunt and pale, just like that boy.

Some weak children had simply vanished without a trace.

Without turning his head, He Lingchuan could hear waves of murmuring from the crowd behind him.

It was like gratitude, like supplication, and like prayer, amplified by the Qianglong Battle Armor, becoming exceptionally clear.

He seemed to be able to hear every word, even if they were just mumbled.

He Lingchuan closed his eyes and softly exhaled.

As expected, the power of aspiration collected by the Qianglong Battle Armor had increased again.

Before he had even left Liuping, new power of aspiration flowed in from all directions, bit by bit.

He could clearly feel that they originated from the two places he had just passed through.

Although the amount was not large, He Lingchuan felt exceptionally pleased. This was because, in addition to the experiments with City Guard Liu and boiling Zhao Guangzhi, it proved that performing acts that greatly pleased the public could indeed quickly accumulate the power of aspiration.

This experiment also proved that what he needed to win from now on was the hearts of the people.

This, in fact, coincided perfectly with his strategic objective for entering the Blazing Gold Plain!

He Lingchuan pressed his divine bone necklace. Well done; the re-forging of the Qianglong Battle Armor was of great help to him.

However, he also felt that the karma attached to the Qianglong Battle Armor had slightly increased as well.

This was an annoying thing, constantly clinging like a shadow, impossible to shake off.

The re-forging of the Qianglong Battle Armor was like a double-edged sword; he could not expect only positive effects.

At this moment, Wanqifeng also rode over to report:

"Just now, I interrogated two captured Zhao soldiers, and both said that there used to be an elite squad in their army, fearless and invincible, operating with precise discipline. Zhao Guangzhi used them against his enemies, always succeeding. But more than twenty days ago, this unit inexplicably deteriorated, and their performance on the battlefield became unremarkable."

"More than twenty days ago?" Dong Rui realized. "The Xuanlu Ghost King has quite a broad reach, even Zhao Guangzhi was in cahoots with it."

He Lingchuan gave a slight sneer, "One is a Ghost King, the other a cannibal; they're birds of a feather."

Both loved to devour living people.

More than twenty days ago, He Lingchuan destroyed the Xuanlu Ghost King. Therefore, the Ghost King's avatar placed with Zhao Guangzhi naturally perished along with it.

Calculating the time, that was precisely when Zhao Guangzhi was attacking Shizhou Head.

"No wonder Zhao Guangzhi suddenly retreated!" Dong Rui deliberately took off his glove and snapped his fingers. "The sudden disappearance of the Ghost King's avatar disrupted Zhao Guangzhi's formation, and Shizhou Head's resistance was exceptionally fierce; it didn't look like it could be taken down quickly."

The group jogged forward, moving further and further away from Liuping.

Passing through a desolate, uninhabited valley, a scout returned to report, "There's no sign of human habitation for three to five *li* in any direction."

Everyone immediately put away their battle armor and weapons, changing back into their regular clothes.

The stern and ferocious black-armored army instantly reverted to Yangshan's guard team, looking like ordinary people. Dong Rui rubbed his shoulders, letting out a long sigh. He finally took it off; he really wasn't used to wearing it!

"Disperse," He Lingchuan ordered Wanqifeng. "Don't let anyone make connections."

"Yes." Except for He Lingchuan and Dong Rui, the remaining dozens of people immediately split into three groups, dispersing like scattered clouds.

Their mission in Shizhou Head and Liuping was complete.

"There were still too many people for this mission." More people meant a bigger target, which was not conducive to dispersing afterwards. He Lingchuan looked at their departing figures. "Next time, do fewer large-scale missions, and the number of personnel must be further streamlined."