Chapter 321: Chapter 258: Sacrifice Sequence

Inside the Secret Realm, Ying Rushi first caught sight of the tall and imposing Ye Si, the enchanting Jiang Shi, and the petite and cute Rabbit Heroine, feeling a tinge of bitterness in her heart.

She had long wanted to meet them, but she hadn’t expected their first meeting to be in such a setting.

Gai Louxian saw them, his eyes shining as he shouted, "Ye Si, Jiang Niang, please lend us your aid!"

But Bu Liuguzhen shouted instead, "Jiang Niang, run! This group of maniacs kills everyone they see!"

The Evil Ghost Iron Cavalry remained silent, gripping their spears tightly as they charged forward, their speed increasing rapidly, exuding the aura of a grand army charging only by their legs!

Ye Si, Jiang Shi, and the Rabbit Heroine stepped forward, drawing their swords and sabers, blocking the wave of the Evil Ghost Iron Cavalry like rocks against the tide!

Seeing this, Ying Rushi let out a sigh of relief; indeed, they had the ability to deal with the Evil Ghost Elite. Gai Louxian and Bu Liuguzhen were also inexplicably excited, raising their weapons to sound the horn of counterattack, showing these bastards from the Capital City a taste of their own medicine!

But at that moment, Ye Si, Jiang Shi, and the Rabbit Heroine simultaneously turned around, oiling their heels as they ran deeper into the Zheng Family estate.

Not only Ying Rushi and her group but even the dehumanized Evil Ghost Hundred Guards were momentarily stunned.

If you’re running, you should head toward the entrance. Why are you running deeper into the Secret Realm?

Are you seeking death?

...

...

Five minutes earlier, when Ying Rushi had just led her troops into Ping City, Yan Qing had also completed his solo Secret Realm raid.

"That was awesome." Yan Qing planted his Nameless Long Saber into the ground, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, feeling invigorated all over.

Anyone who’s played badminton knows, whether playing against a master or a novice, it’s hard to truly enjoy oneself. Only with an opponent of similar skill can you play joyfully and to your heart’s content, and if you manage to win with a slight edge, it’s simply an exhilarating match.

Zheng Shan was such an opponent, with a perfect attack rhythm, possessing five attack moves, and no fast or slow sword, making him an ideal teaching tool for evasion and blocking. Initially, Yan Qing was a bit flustered, but luckily Teacher Zheng was patient and guiding; even when Yan Qing made mistakes, Teacher Zheng would only lightly tap his head. With such a gentle teacher, Yan Qing quickly improved, becoming adept at evasion and blocking within half an hour.

Not to say Yan Qing could only work hard for half an hour, but even with the weakest weapon like the Nameless Long Saber of the regular Ping City Hundred Guards, after half an hour of teaching by Teacher Zheng, he was still tired.

According to the evaluation system of Rare Tokens, the Nameless Long Saber probably had an attack power of 1-5 points. However, Yan Qing had the Celestial Calamity Karmic Force, dealing an additional 11 points of true damage that ignored defense with each strike. Even using the dullest blade, "Zheng Shan" was still slowly cut to death by him.

"Let’s use a wooden club instead of the saber tomorrow. Although blunt force also causes true damage, at least it won’t be as bloody, and maybe we can have a few more minutes of lessons," Yan Qing murmured to himself, waving at the fallen "Zheng Shan" on the ground: "See you tomorrow."

"Zheng Shan," the enormous Secret Realm Demon King standing over two stories tall with a tiger-back figure, lay on the ground like a butchered pig, covered in blood and riddled with scars. Hearing Yan Qing’s farewell, he seemed to have a brief resurgence, vomited a mouthful of blood foam, and finally died.

Yan Qing initially planned to let Jiang Shi and the others leave Ping City once he reached a milestone, but now it seemed there was no rush. After all, an excellent opponent like "Zheng Shan" wasn’t easy to find, and Yan Qing intended to continue lessons for a few more days to solidify his knowledge.

Just as he reached the central courtyard, Yan Qing heard hurried footsteps from outside.

His expression changed slightly; according to his arrangement, there were two interception layers at the Secret Realm entrance. The first was Ye Si outside, who would try to verbally deter outsiders from entering, only retreating into the Secret Realm if confronted by an unbeatable enemy; the second layer included Jiang Shi and the Rabbit Heroine, who would retreat into the Zheng Family to join him only if they were unable to or couldn’t stop the outsiders from entering.

However, Ping City was long since Jiang Shi’s domain; known as the entire city’s white moonlight, even the Commander wouldn’t dare disrespect Jiang Shi. Besides, she was only temporarily using the Secret Realm, so who would rather offend her to barge in?

More importantly, even if Jiang Shi and the Rabbit Heroine appeared ordinary, their combat power was definitely at the Third Transformation Level. How could there suddenly be an enemy they couldn’t contend with?

Yan Qing’s first reaction was to flee; no matter what happened, dealing with it with a smaller force was more efficient than using a larger one. But since he was still inside the Secret Realm, the Thief’s House wouldn’t even respond to his escape request!

The wooden door crashed open, and a Baibao Guards Officer flew out of the front hall, covered in blood, looking terrified, holding a ring-headed long saber as cold as ice in his right hand. Yan Qing remembered him, Jiang Shi’s foremost sycophant, wielding the Rare Token Qiumo, which he originally gave to Jiang Shi and later returned after finding he no longer needed such a rare saber.

Occasionally logging into Jiang Shi’s account, Yan Qing would see Bu Liuguzhen meticulously maintaining the Qiumo, even cherishing it as though it were a cherished wife saber. Yan Qing surmised he intended to express his love for Jiang Niang through his attention to Qiumo, as it had been Jiang Shi’s frequent weapon for a time.

However, to be fair, Yan Qing only thought that he would use Qiumo to practice gluing.

Though such actions may make one hard to maintain, Bu Liuguzhen was the Commander’s son in Ping City, a high status second only to Jiang Shi, with no one else daring to disrespect him. Yet now, he was the one being pursued, which explained why Jiang Shi and the others couldn’t hold the entrance; surely, something dramatic had changed internally within Ping City’s Military Town.

Ye Si, Jiang Shi, and the Rabbit Heroine appeared closely behind, with Yan Qing unexpectedly seeing an old acquaintance: Gai Louxian. The previously composed and unruffled second-in-command of the Ping City Military Town now looked flustered, frightened, and even a little despairing, reminding Yan Qing of a befallen official in dramas seen before, like a dog with its spine broken.

"Who are you!?" Bu Liuguzhen instinctively questioned upon seeing Yan Qing, but immediately he shouted while getting up, "Run!"

Boom!

The walls and windows of the front hall shattered as if struck by a hundred-ton king, bricks and wood splintering several steps away, as eight heavily armored, demon-faced heavy-armed spearmen burst out, their speed undiminished, exuding the might of a thousand troops, gaining speed as they prepared to overtake Jiang Shi and her companions!

At that moment, Ye Si suddenly turned around, waving his saber to block the Evil Ghost Elite, standing as a shield against their charge.

Yan Qing wasn’t surprised at all. In the programmed scenario he devised, there was an algorithm for determining who lives and dies—the "sacrifice sequence." When the smaller force had to retreat due to danger, they would sacrifice in order of lowest to highest value: Ye Si → Jiang Shi → Rabbit Heroine.

Now that Jiang Shi and the Rabbit Heroine were in danger, naturally, Ye Si had to sacrifice himself to buy time for their safety.

If losses were unavoidable, then at least minimizing them was imperative—a heartfelt lesson Yan Qing learned while playing "Dark Dungeon." Encountering instances where four enter but five go mad would prepare even a normal person for sacrifice sequences.

Yet for Bu Liuguzhen and Gai Louxian, this scene was incredibly impactful.

Silent, like a shadow trailing Jiang Niang, Ye Si was a man with no presence, becoming especially reticent once Jiang Niang arrived at the Military Town. All decisions were made by Jiang Niang on his behalf. People speculated on their relationship, questioning if they were husband and wife, siblings, friends, or admirers like Bu Liuguzhen. But there was never an answer.

This moment painted those speculations conclusively: when someone sacrifices themselves without hesitation to protect another, no words suffice to describe their relationship adequately.

Bu Liuguzhen’s face turned pale, then red. He halted his fleeing pace and surprisingly ran back to join Ye Si!

"Ye Si!" he roared, "My resolve to protect Jiang Niang is no less than yours!"