Chapter 176 The Hearts of the Servants

Chen Mu's breathing began to grow heavy. After continuous high-intensity combat, facing the combined assault of the Five-Tailed Demon Fox and the Yin messengers had exhausted him greatly.

The places grazed by the Five-Tailed Demon Fox's claw wind, though forcibly suppressed by his Hunyuan Calamity Astral Qi, still caused a persistent burning pain that interfered with his focus. His left shoulder had been swept by the Night Patrol God's mourning staff; though no bones were broken, it was heavily bruised.

Qi Huan was in an even more miserable state. His chest and back were covered in seven or eight wounds, the deepest one in his right abdomen. Blood seeped out continuously, almost dyeing half his clothes red. His face was as pale as paper, and his Black Cloud Palm's power was already scattered; he was holding on purely by a spirit of fierce courage.

The bearded man wore a cruel grin, his blade becoming increasingly heavy and ruthless, as if he were about to completely execute Qi Huan.

Liu Ziming's eyes were splitting with rage. No longer caring about maintaining his disguise, he roared, "Brothers, Xu Changze is colluding with demons and harming our colleagues—it is plain for all to see! If we act as accomplices today, we will surely be purged in the future! What are we waiting for? Help Chen Mu and Chief Qi!"

This roar was like a thunderclap. The dozen or so Demon Suppression Division constables behind him, who had previously been hesitant and wavering, saw the last trace of hesitation and struggle vanish from their faces, replaced by a desperate resolve.

It was an iron-clad fact that Xu Changze was colluding with demons. That Five-Tailed Demon Fox was right there in the hall, smiling seductively while killing, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Yin messengers.

Not to mention Xu Changze's earlier words about framing and silencing them—they were cold and bone-chilling, without any pretense. As witnesses present today, could they really expect to walk away unscathed once the deed was done?

"Screw this! We're going to die either way, might as well fight!"

A young constable was the first to let out a low roar. He turned his long blade, no longer swinging it at empty air, but hacking viciously at one of the elite soldiers from a neighboring county beside him.

The blade cut into flesh, and blood splattered everywhere.

"Xu Changze is colluding with demons to harm our colleagues! Brothers, fight him to the death!"

"Bastards! Wasn't Head Constable Wang bullying us enough before? Now this Xu Changze is even more ruthless—he wants our lives!"

The dozen or so constables turned against them instantly. Their sword light and blade shadows were no longer feints; they ferociously pounced on the elite soldiers who were besieging Qi Huan, as well as the Yin messenger ghost soldiers trying to block them.

The scene instantly became even more chaotic.

Liu Ziming led the charge, his blade technique no longer soft but carrying a fierce edge as he slashed at the back of the bearded man's head, forcing the opponent to turn and block.

The pressure on Qi Huan eased sharply. Seizing the opportunity, he slapped an elite soldier away, took a deep breath, and a flash of determination and gratitude crossed his eyes.

On Chen Mu's side, the pressure also eased slightly due to this sudden turn of events.

The defection of the Demon Suppression Division constables, while their individual combat prowess was far inferior to the Yin messenger leaders or the Five-Tailed Demon Fox, was advantageous in numbers. Their sudden entry into the fray, with clear targets, disrupted the enemy's formation and created opportunities for Chen Mu and Qi Huan.

They fought in groups of three or five, disregarding their own lives to entangle the ghost soldiers under the Day Patrol God and Night Patrol God, and some even used their bodies as shields to block treacherous sneak attacks for Chen Mu.

"Courting death!"

The Five-Tailed Demon Fox's charming eyes turned murderous; clearly, she hadn't expected these Mortal ants to dare rebel. One fox tail swept across like a steel whip, knocking two constables who had rushed too close off their feet. They crashed into the hall pillars, their bones snapping and tendons breaking, killing them on the spot.

But this moment of distraction gave Chen Mu a chance to breathe.

His internal Hunyuan Wuji Calamity Body operated frantically, the Hunyuan Calamity Astral Qi roaring through his Meridians, forcibly suppressing the burning pain and weakness caused by his injuries. His gaze, like lightning, swept across the entire scene.

Xu Changze still sat in the main seat, his expression gloomy, his eyes fixed on the center of the melee, especially Chen Mu and the Five-Tailed Demon Fox. Around him, the Power Of Faith, mixed with gray-white resentment, faintly emerged, but at that moment, the gilded official seal was nowhere to be seen.

He was waiting—waiting for a safe opportunity, waiting for Chen Mu and Qi Huan to be completely exhausted, waiting for the Five-Tailed Demon Fox and the Yin messengers to fully control the situation, so he could deliver the final blow and settle the outcome.

His plan was well-calculated, but he had miscalculated two things. First, the desperate counterattack of Liu Ziming and the Yunmeng constables, and second...

Chen Mu's peripheral vision glanced at the old man in green robes beside Xu Changze, who had been keeping his head lowered, trembling, clearly terrified out of his wits.

The acting Yunmeng City God, Old Wang the Lame.

Old Wang the Lame's trembling was almost imperceptible amidst the chaotic sounds of battle; no one noticed him. A Puppet forcibly pushed onto a divine throne, a lame village guardian—what difference was there between him and an ant in the middle of a battle between the Heart-Awakening Realm and the Dao Entry Realm?

But Chen Mu remembered Jiang Xiong's seemingly casual reminder.

"Old Wang the Lame... if there are changes in the Yin and Yang of Yunmeng in the future, Brother Chen might want to pay close attention to this person."

Pay attention to what?

Was it to pay attention to his incompetence? Or to pay attention to the different intentions that might be hidden beneath his appearance of incompetence?

The battle continued in a brutal tug-of-war. The casualties among the Demon Suppression Division constables continued to rise, but the chaos they bought with their lives truly secured a precious chance for adjustment for Chen Mu and Qi Huan.

Qi Huan sealed several wounds that wouldn't stop bleeding, his eyes fierce as he stood back-to-back with Liu Ziming and the remaining constables, staunchly resisting the siege of the elite soldiers and some of the Yin messengers.

Chen Mu fought more and more intensely against the Five-Tailed Demon Fox, the Ox-Head and Horse-Face, and other Yin messenger leaders.

The fox demon's movement technique was bizarre; her five tails seemed to have independent lives, launching attacks from unimaginable angles, combined with claw techniques and hidden charm arts to confuse the mind.

The Ox-Head was powerful, the Horse-Face was crafty, and the Divine Soul attacks of the Day Patrol God and Night Patrol God were pervasive.

Chen Mu sustained new injuries; his left arm was torn open by a fox claw, and he took a heavy blow from the Ox-Head on his back, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes became increasingly cold and clear.

He was waiting—for a signal or a variable.

Just as Chen Mu took a tail strike from the Five-Tailed Demon Fox head-on and used the momentum to slice off half of the Night Patrol God's soul-snatching rope with his Demon-Slaying Blade,

Old Wang the Lame moved!

It wasn't a sudden burst of violence, nor did he unleash some earth-shattering Spell; he simply lifted his head, which had been hanging low the entire time, with extreme difficulty.

His lips moved, uttering a few syllables with a strange rhythm. It wasn't official language, nor was it a common incantation; the syllables were ancient and obscure, as if the earth's veins were whispering.

As these barely audible syllables were uttered, the ill-fitting green robe on Old Wang the Lame moved without wind, and his entire being unexpectedly resonated subtly with the incense Power Of Will Foundation that remained in the hall, which had belonged to the previous City God.

Suddenly, the gray-white Power Of Will around Xu Changze shuddered violently.

As if guided or interfered with by some invisible force, its flow became sluggish, even showing signs of backflow.

"Hmm? What have you done!"

"Lord Xu, that is not how one cultivates the Divine Dao."

Old Wang the Lame stood up shakily, looked at the slaughter filling the hall, then looked at Xu Changze, shaking his head slowly as he reached out to point at the phantom images of the common people emerging behind Xu Changze.

"What you have stolen is not the will of the people. Look at them—is there even a shred of reverence in their eyes? Is there even a shred of sincerity?"

Those phantom images had twisted faces and hollow eyes, exuding an aura of fear, numbness, and resentment. Rather than Power Of Will, it was more like resentment that had been forcibly obtained and twisted.

"The legal authority of the imperial court you rely on—in this Yunmeng territory, when Yin and Yang are in disorder, evil spirits run rampant, and the suffering of the people goes ignored, who can this legal authority... actually protect?"

Xu Changze's pupils shrank, and a sense of ominous foreboding rose in his heart.

He had calculated everything, but he had failed to calculate this lame old man whom he had regarded as a Puppet to be manipulated at will—who could actually interfere with his theft and refining of the people's Power Of Faith!

This was not a confrontation of force, but an influence on intangible things like Power Of Will at the level of Divine Dao authority.

Old Wang the Lame, as the acting City God, no matter how illegitimate or weak he was, still had the most basic connection with this City God Temple and the Yin official order of this land.

And Xu Changze's Power Of Will was stolen and forcibly seized, a wild, unofficial commodity that had not been truly recognized by any imperial edict; its Foundation was far less stable than orthodox Divine Dao.

This seemingly weak influence from Old Wang the Lame had struck exactly at his most vulnerable node.