The Unruly Immortals

Record of Appearance, while chewing on a hardtack flatbread, said, "You don't understand, this kid is not ordinary. I've rummaged through all the books from the first to fourth depositories to understand what exactly he did to rescue us, and it was the Ao Jing Sect's secret technique 'Cangqiong Ascension'!"

"Brother, what is that?" Sensing the gravity in his tone, the old woman's voice softened considerably.

"Our status isn't high enough, the only thing I could find out is that most people who have used this secret technique are dead, and those who survived are no ordinary folks."

"More importantly, think about it. What does 'Ascension' mean? What is he ascending to become? Anyone who has used this secret technique even once is no longer a mortal! You tell me if we can afford to provoke such a person?"

Hearing Record of Appearance's words, the old woman nodded in trepidation, "Then brother, you did the right thing. We can't afford to owe such a person any favors."

"I suspect this kid joined the Astrological Bureau with another motive, it's definitely not what he claims about seeking the Oblivion Path for revenge."

The old woman tenderly pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead. "It's okay, brother, let's not bother with these trivial matters anymore. They're none of our concern, let's go home."

As they approached the gradually nearing gate, with a solemn expression, Record of Appearance nodded slightly.

With the drawing of the Astrological Bureau's waist token by Record of Appearance, the thick city gate slowly opened a crack. Once Record of Appearance's carriage had left the Capital City, the gate shut tight like two massive mountains.

Li Huowang rose early the next day, prepared all that needed to be ready and, braving the morning mist, headed for the prison.

What surprised Li Huowang was that he wasn't the only one there; a teenager leading a blind man had already arrived ahead of him.

"Just in charge of escorting the prisoner, and the military wants to hire outsiders?" Li Huowang silently waited.

Soon after, another man arrived, riding a cow backwards. Li Huowang had never seen his attire before; he was sitting cross-legged on the cow's back, clutching a four-handed, blue female Buddha clay statue, his head lowered and murmuring something.

Perhaps the people in the Capital City knew something; they would change direction from afar. Furthermore, not a single shop was open nearby. Even though the day had already brightened, the entrance to the prison was still eerily deserted.

As they waited, the heavy prison door opened, and an iron-clad prisoner's cart slowly emerged.

The person inside was different from the prisoners Li Huowang had in mind; he wore a gold mask on his face.

It was a very peculiar mask, square faced with hollowed-out large eyes, a triangular nose bridge, and broad ears.

If not for the more tangled lines on this mask, Li Huowang almost thought he saw a Sanxingdui mask.

"You three just need to escort him to the Noon Gate for decapitation," the following soldier ordered Li Huowang and the other two.

"The Noon Gate? Not even leaving the city?" Li Huowang nearly thought he had misheard. From here to the Noon Gate, even if they walked slowly, it wouldn't take more than two hours tops; this was nothing like the task Li Huowang had imagined.

"Yes, yes, that's right." The soldier seemed to be in a hurry, and as soon as he said these words, he scurried back into the prison.

When the prisoner's cart began to move under the guidance of a grey-haired old prison guard, Li Huowang glanced at the other two and stood next to the cart, heading towards the Noon Gate.

No matter what they were supposed to do, as long as it could help Bai Lingmiao to dispel the evil Qi, he was fine with it.

As the carriage slowly entered activity, the noise around them began to rise. Facing the person inside the prisoner's cart, the citizens of the Capital City pointed and jeered playfully. They seemed not at all surprised by the gold mask; perhaps they were already accustomed to it.

The noise seemed to awaken the person inside the prison cart, who suddenly pressed his golden mask against the bars and shouted desperately at the others, "You... you can't do this to me! I'm the Emperor! I'm the Emperor of Da Liang!"

Upon hearing this, Li Huowang's heart tightened, but when he turned his head back, he found no one else reacted except for himself.

At this time, the hunchbacked blind man continued to repeat, like a Buddha chanting sutras, "Don't blame the odd, blame not the executioners, don't blame the odd, blame not the executioners."

Seeing this, Li Huowang no longer paid attention and focused on performing his duties as a prison guard.

He could already guess why those from the military had brought in outsiders like them to escort this man to his end, and why it affected their careers too.

The wheels of the prison cart slowly rolled along, and they arrived next to the vast red palace walls via the broad street.

The sharp-eyed Li Huowang noticed gazes shooting down from the city wall, but he did not overreact as those gazes were fixed on the person inside the cart.

"Ji Song! Do you think you have won? It's not certain yet!! One day, you will end up just like me!" The prisoner inside the cart looked up and hysterically shouted at the top of the city wall.

The person on the wall did not respond, just silently watching.

The carriage traveled slowly, but no matter how slowly it went, it would eventually reach its destination. At this time, the executioner had already been waiting for a while, and it was precisely noon. A crowd of citizens had gathered around the Execution Ground, excitedly craning their necks in anticipation.

"Ji Man! Plotting rebellion! The crime is unforgivable! Deserved to be beheaded!!"

The red token was thrown down, and the man in the mask was dragged out of the carriage. At this moment, his body was as limp as noodles, and yellow urine soaked his prison clothes.

As the executioner dragged him, Li Huowang noticed something odd about his body. His belly was bloated, but his limbs were exceptionally thin.

Furthermore, the stomach didn't look bloated from fatness, but rather like various-sized things had been stuffed inside, creating the distention.

"Pfft~!" The executioner forcefully sprayed strong liquor onto the blade and abruptly raised the heavy sword high and forcefully brought it down, severing the large head which tumbled to the ground with blood spilling everywhere.

The executioner removed the bloody golden mask from the head and held it with both hands, presenting it to the Execution Officer's table.

As the Execution Officer wrapped it with yellow silk and galloped towards the palace wall, the nearby officers and soldiers began to withdraw. Soon, not one remained, leaving the body to gradually grow cold.

No sooner had the officials left than the surrounding crowd of onlookers swarmed like flies, each holding mantou and desperately dipping them into the bloody water on the ground.

Furthermore, due to a dispute over the amount of blood they were able to collect, two women started arguing, making the whole scene all the more ironic to Li Huowang.

"That's it? So simple?" Li Huowang frowned, turned around, and was about to leave.

However, just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something and made his way through the crowd to the headless corpse.

When he took out a small dagger and lightly sliced open the swollen belly, all sorts of large and small spheres squeezed out from inside.

"Hmm...?" Li Huowang picked up one the size of a fist and examined it closely."

"This 'Emperor of Da Liang's' belly is full of Elixir, this fellow's stomach was distended by so many pills."