The more you believe me, the more true I am. Chapter 096

The aristocratic families, with their knack for trimming their sails to the wind, truly possessed a unique skill.

Indeed, upon seeing the six largest clans of Qingzhou gathered there, they immediately followed suit.

Earlier, they had been lamenting that they had finally found true immortals.

Now, they all craned their necks to look towards Han Cheng. They had listened to the Daoist’s divine abilities all morning, but they didn’t even know what the Daoist looked like.

But the person who had gone to invite Du Yuan returned immediately, their expression changed, bringing another person with them.

Han Cheng asked, puzzled, “Where is the Daoist?”

The person who had brought them lowered their head and said, “The Daoist has already gone out!”

“Such an important matter, why are you only telling me now?”

The person hastily explained, “The Daoist just left not long ago! He left a few words, and this humble one immediately rushed to report to you!”

“What did he instruct?”

Han Cheng wasn’t worried that the Daoist’s absence would cause the other aristocratic families not to follow them. Because the six large clans all knew the severity of the situation.

Whether the other small families and households were there or not, it didn’t matter.

But the Daoist was the backbone. If the Daoist wasn’t there, they wouldn’t know what to do!

The servant hastily said, “The Daoist said he saw the Qi machine in the city fluctuating, and he predicted that something had changed, so he went ahead. He asked this humble one to tell all the lords: there’s no need to worry about his whereabouts, everything… just proceed according to the plan decided last night.”

Upon hearing these words, the hearts of the Han, Fang, Cui, Xing, Feng, and Zhang families, which had been suspended, suddenly dropped back into place. They exchanged a knowing glance.

Following that was endless relaxation and comfort.

They really wanted to know what King Anqing would look like then.

—————–

At the west gate of Qingzhou, King Anqing’s grand carriage had already reached the city gate.

The panicked commoners, seeing such a prominent figure as King Anqing arrive, spontaneously made way.

Firstly, they feared authority, and secondly, they thought that perhaps if he went early, he would be able to come up with a solution early.

The Mi River turning red was a major matter concerning the lives and property of countless commoners along its banks.

Aside from anything else, just for daily water collection, more than half came from the Mi River.

Now that red water flowed, who would dare to use it rashly?

Therefore, among the crowd, shouts rose and fell:

“The King has arrived, make way quickly!”

“Make way for the noble one! The Mi River might be saved!”

…

As the clamor outside the carriage reached his ears, the smile on King Anqing’s lips could no longer be suppressed.

This kind of highly anticipated scene was not his first experience, however, the feeling of having his life, his entire hope, tied to him alone, was a first.

This feeling intoxicated him, and even more so, spurred endless reverie—what would it be like if the “King” that was cheered like a mountain and a sea, were replaced with “Emperor”?

Lost in thought, King Anqing felt his spirit float out of his body.

It swept past the city gates of Qingzhou, directly into the clouds, and sped towards Jingzhao in the south.

Just as he saw the long-separated imperial palace, and the dragon throne he had only ever seen while kneeling.

The carriage suddenly jolted!

King Anqing’s body abruptly tilted forward, and the imperial power he had almost grasped, along with his soaring soul, were all forcefully pulled back into the cramped carriage.

“Your Highness, someone is blocking the way ahead!”

King Anqing was immediately enraged, and for some reason, ever since that illusion shattered, his heart couldn’t stop feeling an infinite dread.

It was as if everything had ended, even though it hadn’t even begun.

So, he could only use endless anger to suppress that inexplicable panic.

After stepping out of the carriage with a gloomy face, King Anqing looked down from above, surveying the multitude. His gloom and anger vanished as he raised his head.

He didn’t speak immediately, but first looked at the person blocking the way.

After clearly seeing the hair and the white jade hairpin tied in it.

King Anqing, having confirmed that it wasn’t the legendary Daoist of Qing County, then fully displayed his previously restrained anger and sternly shouted:

“Blocking the royal carriage, what is your intention?!”

Countless armored soldiers swarmed forward, surrounding Du Yuan.

The surrounding commoners were so frightened that they retreated, fearing that blood would soon be splattered.

Although he knew it wouldn’t be the Daoist from Qing County, King Anqing didn’t immediately make a move.

After all, normal people wouldn’t dare to block him.

Zhang Sandao, the military officer of his personal guard, who had already walked in front of Du Yuan, asked fiercely:

“Quickly state your name, otherwise, don’t blame us for using our blades!”

This kind of thing shouldn’t have happened, but it was sudden, and they didn’t have time to cordon off the road and clear the area. So by the time the other party walked out, it was completely too late.

To the long blade right in front of him.

Du Yuan didn’t even look at it, and instead looked directly at King Anqing and said, “For no reason, I just wanted to see one last time if you are worth saving.”

Upon hearing this, King Anqing instantly narrowed his eyes.

And Zhang Sandao’s expression changed dramatically, then he raised his blade and chopped down:

“Nonsense, you deserve to die!”

This frightened many commoners, who all closed their eyes.

Fearing to see the terrifying sight of a head falling to the ground.

But the only sound they heard was the clanging of metal and jade.

Followed by many exclamations of surprise.

Boldly opening their eyes to look, they saw that the long blade in the hands of the tall soldier, even with all his might.

It still stopped three inches in front of that person, not getting any closer.

“This is?!”

Many commoners who hadn’t seen the previous scene were completely bewildered by this.

Only Zhang Sandao, the direct participant, was truly terrified out of his wits.

The blade he had put all his strength into, on a normal day, would have made the opponent’s armor plates fly off even if they were wearing armor.

But now, let alone injuring someone, he couldn’t even get close!

He wanted to retreat, but the King was watching from behind.

So after pondering for a moment, he shouted loudly:

“What are you standing there for, attack!”

This way, whether it succeeded or not, the King would know it wasn’t his problem.

Upon hearing this, the armored soldiers, as if waking from a dream, then all thrust their long spears towards Du Yuan from all directions.

The commoners finally saw what was happening!

They saw that the tips of the armored soldiers’ spears only reached three inches in front of that person, and then a golden light burst forth.

All the armored soldiers were not only knocked over by the golden light, but the heads of their long spears also broke and flew off.

Finally, of the dozen or so armored soldiers who had been aggressively surrounding Du Yuan, only Zhang Sandao, the trembling military officer of the personal guard, remained, clutching his long blade.

A scene that had once appeared in Qing County was now presented before the commoners of Qingzhou.

Such a sight naturally caused an uproar throughout the crowd.

“Is it magic?”

“An immortal?”

“Could it be a demon in disguise?”

“Who knows? It’s hard to say, the Mi River has even turned red!”

…

The commoners discussed animatedly, both surprised, delighted, and fearful.

King Anqing, however, suddenly smiled and cupped his hands, saying, “Blades cannot touch you, so are you perhaps from Qing County?”

Although his hair didn’t match, not wearing a Daoist robe did.

And both were immune to blades.

So King Anqing was very suspicious that this was the Daoist rumored in Qing County.

Du Yuan nodded and said, “This humble Daoist did indeed just come from Qing County a few days ago.”