The prison cell was not large, each with only a narrow window for light.
The weather had been poor lately, overcast and rainy for days on end. It was dusk, and normally nothing could be seen outside.
But Chen Kuang's gaze pierced through the iron bars of the window and saw a starry sky...
A vast and pure, bright, and dazzling starry sky!
Above the distant and cloudless sky stretched a magnificent galaxy, countless stars shining with extraordinary brilliance, like an exquisitely woven tapestry.
Auroras of vibrant colors appeared and disappeared, like a mysterious veil thrown upon the earth.
The scene was too abnormal, so beautiful it was almost eerie and terrifying.
Chen Kuang was momentarily mesmerized, feeling breathless and trembling all over.
Wasn't it raining outside? Those prison guards carried heavy dampness and chill.
Where was the rain? Where were the clouds?
Just for a moment...
"It's a Saint! A Saint has intervened!"
A thrilled voice came from an adjacent cell.
A prisoner, probably a Confucian scholar, stood up abruptly, shouting excitedly at the unusual scene outside the window.
"It must be that ancestor of Liang Kingdom from six hundred years ago, who abdicated the throne to his brother and went into seclusion!"
"Legend has it that his cultivation was nearly at the Saint Dao, and it turns out to be true!"
The Confucian scholar prisoner laughed and cried:
"We are saved! We are saved!"
"Hahaha, Liang Kingdom's destiny shall not end! The national fortunes can continue!"
Other prisoners immediately erupted in a clamor, as if finding new hope, babbling and getting up.
"Is it truly a Saint?!"
"Indeed! This is the pressure of a Saint! The scene was the same when the Saint from the Zhou Kingdom made a move!"
The dead silence of the prison suddenly became alive.
"...The pressure of a Saint?"
Chen Kuang stared at the starry sky, murmuring in repetition.
The hair-raising, heart-racing feeling of danger and discomfort, was that the so-called pressure?
Some memories flooded into his mind—
"Saint," a title for those cultivators who have truly transcended, capable of moving mountains and filling seas, commanding wind and rain... capable of anything.
Lady Liang's eyes also sparkled with light.
She stood up and looked toward the sky, clenching her fists, murmuring to herself.
"As long as we can delay Donghuang, even with the momentum and formation on their side, the fifty thousand Zhou Army are no match for Da Liang's Spirit Platform cultivators..."
She turned back happily to look at Chen Kuang: "Mr. Chen, we are saved!"
"Rumble—"
The second wave of booms came incessantly, shaking the earth and mountains, causing chaos inside and outside the prison cell.
"Hmm..."
Chen Kuang stepped back two paces, lowered his head, seeing a crack had formed on the floor of the prison cell, extending all the way to the wall.
He couldn't help but click his tongue.
This really is... quite exaggerated...
The residual impacts of a battle between cultivators already wield such earthquake-like power, akin to a natural disaster!
This world is perhaps a little more dangerous than he imagined.
His earlier actions were truly courting death.
In a High Martial World, even ordinary people might as well all be athletes.
It turns out he was still influenced by his past life's inherent mindset, being a bit too impatient.
Chen Kuang slowly exhaled a breath.
Speaking of which, Huo Hengxuan actually reminded him after seeing his death-seeking intentions, which doesn't align at all with his violent and unruly persona as the "God of Slaughter"...
Wait... that's not right!
The scene flashed back.
Following the direction the other pointed... he turned his head!
Damn it, that old bastard wasn't reminding him; he was testing him!
Chen Kuang cursed silently in his heart, hearing the old man's hoarse voice sound again.
"Hehe, you can indeed see it."
Chen Kuang held his breath, restraining himself from turning back.
Huo Hengxuan grinned:
"Continuing your act now is a bit too late, isn't it?"
Chen Kuang: "..."
Indeed, it was too late.
Chen Kuang simply turned his head, openly looking at Huo Hengxuan, his eyes bright like stars, without any cover-up.
"..."
Huo Hengxuan had anticipated how, after being exposed by him, the other would panic and reveal his true nature.
He thought that this person, who first pretended to be a blind musician and then deliberately approached Lady Liang, must harbor bad intentions.
And that this person must have killed someone not long ago, the smell of blood on him cannot be covered...
He thought, other than being a Zhou Kingdom spy, there was no other explanation.
But to his surprise, Chen Kuang straightforwardly gave up pretending.
In the brief pause, Lady Liang also realized the implications of Huo Hengxuan's words.
Her originally joyful expression froze, turning into tension as she pressed her lips together.
"Mr. Chen... Court musicians should all be blind."
"Hmm."
"So you're not a musician?"
She actually wanted to ask if you're deceiving me, if you're someone sent by the Zhou Kingdom to get close and pry information, then this bun really means nothing.
After the desperate extinction of a nation, the only goodwill received turns out to be fake...
She lowered her head, somewhat disappointed.
"I am."
Chen Kuang felt a headache coming.
He really wasn't very good at acting...
Chen Kuang quietly said:
"I was blinded by my parents since childhood. Sold as an apprentice to a musician at six, entered the palace at sixteen, and have been here for three years. I have always been a Liang Kingdom person, no false words."
Huo Hengxuan sneered with a sarcastic tone:
"So this is how you lie with your eyes open."
"I didn't know there's a way for the blind to see again in this world."
Chen Kuang paused in silence, then softly said:
"Isn't there a saying — resurrect the dead, flesh unto bones? Or is there not, General Huo?"
He turned his back to Lady Liang, his gaze landing accurately on the masses on Huo Hengxuan's limbs.
Though he didn't know the specific function of these masses, it wasn't hard to guess.
This old rascal wasn't honestly missing his hands and feet.
Huo Hengxuan, astutely aware, immediately noticed the unusual focus of Chen Kuang's gaze.
His entire aura suddenly changed, becoming extremely fierce, like a giant crocodile lurking in water, suddenly uncovering its prey, revealing sharp, menacing fangs, ready to snap its vulnerable neck.
Chen Kuang felt a chill down his spine, not daring to make a move.
He fake laughed, ready to say a few more words, but saw Huo Hengxuan's ferocious smile and then he spat forward.
"Spit — boom!"
In an instant, Chen Kuang heard the sharp sound of air being sliced, followed by the roar like an explosion.
Right beside him, within an inch's distance!
In that moment, his scalp tingled as if it were about to burst, instinctively jerking his head to the side, but he was still too late.
"Bang!"
Sound like a watermelon bursting.
The next second, a severe pain spread throughout the right side of his head, ears ringing throughout his skull.
Chen Kuang's mind went blank, reaching a hand to touch, only grabbing air.
The whole right side of his head was gone!
Chen Kuang stepped back in shock, the world spinning around him, falling backward.
In his spinning vision, he saw a massive crater in the wall, shaped like spider-web cracks, with something embedded inside...
A tooth?!
He fell to the ground, the familiar darkness surged like a tide.
...
Chen Kuang blinked, returning to his senses, instinctively lifted a hand to touch the right side of his head.
Completely intact.
Opposite him, Huo Hengxuan was merely sitting cross-legged, casually spitting on the ground.
As real as tangible killing intent... Novels don't lie, this was damn real.
"Mr. Chen? Mr. Chen?"
Lady Liang's anxious call gradually became clear.
Chen Kuang took a deep breath, the feeling of his soul flying away finally grounded.
He calmly said, "I'm alright, don't worry, madam."
Lady Liang patted her chest, calming the swaying curve, then somewhat resentfully bit her lip.
Oh dear, this person deceived her... why should she even care?
Huo Hengxuan's gaze flickered.
Strange... a normal person, intimidated by his killing intent, wouldn't react so mildly.
Chen Kuang looked at Huo Hengxuan, the latter had a mischievous demeanor but was implying no good, "I could kill you anytime," that's what he meant.
But Chen Kuang instead tugged at the corners of his mouth, revealing a slight smile.
To threaten with such means but not genuinely attack...
"It seems, General Huo has an answer in his heart."
Huo Hengxuan gave a noncommittal snort.
Chen Kuang continued talking to himself:
"I haven't disclosed this matter, isn't that enough to prove my stance?"
"My eyes... to be honest, I don't even know what's going on, but I can assure you, I'm in the same boat with you now."
"If General Huo doubts my intentions, there's no need because I only wish to survive."
He enunciated: "Live, and then get out."
Huo Hengxuan showed no expression:
"Not enough, unless..."
The old man tilted his head and squinted towards the swaying figure outside the door.
Suddenly chuckled:
"These prison guards are quite an eyesore, if you can help me kill them, then I'll believe you."