“Twang…”

With that single note, the thousands of sound-killing soldiers behind Xuanyuan Lige struck up at the exact same moment, following his lead in perfect, astonishing unison of rhythm and force.

“Twang!”

Yet the power of this single note was the combined force of thousands gathered as one — the weight of it utterly indescribable!

Even “deafening” failed to capture it — that single note alone left everyone atop the gate stunned senseless.

Their very organs seemed on the verge of shattering!

But before anyone could recover, before anyone could even manage to cover their ears, Xuanyuan Lige’s hands suddenly quickened.

“Twang-twang-twang, cha-cha-cha, qie-qie-qie…”

This melody was none other than the old piece “War Rises” — yet clearly it had been reworked, its rhythm now even faster, its mood even more tragic and desolate than before.

The sheer sound of this zither alone was more than Xichu’s army could bear — whether physically, in terms of what the ears could endure, or mentally, in terms of what the will could withstand, none of it could hold up against Xuanyuan Lige’s assault!

With every phrase Xuanyuan Lige played, the thousands of sound-killing soldiers behind him immediately joined in unison, creating, within this urgent rhythm, a layered duet effect that made this sound-killing melody even more devastating, like adding wings to a tiger.

Atop the gate, even someone as composed as Chu Tiange couldn’t withstand it, forced to close his eyes and gather his focus, or else he’d surely fall prey to hallucinations induced by the zither’s sound.

But the very moment Chu Tiange closed his eyes, Xuanyuan Lige let out a sharp “twang” and unleashed the first wind blade!

Immediately after, thousands of wind blades erupted simultaneously from behind him, like tens of thousands of sharp arrows loosed all at once!

Everything before this had been mere zither-killing — this was the true attacking power of the sound-killing army! Wind blades!

By rights, the soldiers left to defend Xichu’s capital shouldn’t have been weak, shouldn’t have been utterly unable to even attempt blocking these wind blades.

But this was no ordinary situation — by now, Xichu’s soldiers, Chu Tiange included, had all been trapped within the illusion woven by that sorrowful melody, not a single one of them still fully conscious!

Under these conditions, even a single stray wind blade would be enough to kill!

They might never even know how they’d died!

“Whoosh… whoosh… whoosh!”

The sharp, cutting sound of wind blades slicing through the air mingled with the zither’s music, growing steadily denser, steadily louder, even threatening to drown out the music itself entirely — a clear testament to just how many, how densely packed, these wind blades truly were!

And yet, atop the gate, not a single cry of alarm, not a single call for help, not even a single sound of pain could be heard!

Wind blades struck fiercely, some finding foreheads, some finding hearts, some scattering messily across bodies without hitting anything vital.

Some remained standing, others had already collapsed.

Yet all of it unfolded silently, hidden within the rousing, tragic strains of the zither, giving off an inexplicable sense of tragic beauty — though that beauty was equally, chillingly horrifying.

By the time “War Rises” reached its climax, the gate tower was littered with corpses, blood flowing like rivers, leaving only a handful of generals still standing beside Chu Tiange, utterly unaware of everything happening around them, unaware even of their own impending fate, all trapped within the illusion Xuanyuan Lige had woven for them, caught in moments of joy or sorrow, laughter or tears.

Gradually, “War Rises” reached its true climax!

In an instant, the music turned fierce and overwhelming, its force so commanding it pierced straight through the city gate, spreading into every corner of the entire capital.

At the same time, countless wind blades converged entirely on the towering eastern gate, striking again and again with a sound like pounding war drums — “thud, thud, thud” — the gate looking as though it might collapse at any moment!

On a certain rooftop within the city, Baili Weisheng, Xiong Xiaobao, and Baili Xiaosheng — one grown, two small — all lay flat on their backs, hands clamped tightly over their ears, eyes shut tight, forced to communicate through ventriloquism alone.

“Is Xuanyuan Lige trying to massacre the whole city?”

“This isn’t just city-massacre level — he’s about to bring the heavens crashing down with that playing!”

“Are Mommy and the others coming or not!”

“Forget whether they’re coming — I just want to know if we’re leaving!”

“We can leave!”

“Then why aren’t we going already? You want to die early or something?”

It was all just shouting, none of them able to hear each other clearly, unable to tell whose voice was whose. But after that final line, all three of them sat bolt upright at once and immediately fled westward.

It was utterly terrifying — their ears felt nearly deafened. Xiong Xiaobao and Baili Weisheng, both quite resilient in willpower, weren’t too badly affected, but Baili Xiaosheng felt as though her very soul was being pulled apart by the music, completely unable to control herself. For the first time in her life, she found herself thinking, with a pang of grief, of her parents, realizing for the first time in her life that she was an orphan.

If only she had her master with her — she’d never cared to dwell on such thoughts before, and the fact that she was thinking them now terrified her.

Baili Xiaosheng surged ahead of the others, her speed somehow even faster than Baili Weisheng’s!

But just as they cleared one rooftop after another, about to break through Xichu’s capital’s western gate, suddenly, an ethereal zither melody rose to meet them head-on!

All three of them stopped dead in their tracks at once. Xiong Xiaobao was the first to snap back to himself. “It’s Mommy!”

That was the sound of Wuzheng!

His mommy had played it almost every day back in the Poisonous Beast World — he’d heard that sound since before he was even born!

Mommy had come!

“Prince Yao’s consort and the others are here! Wonderful!” Baili Xiaosheng cried out happily. If the Prince Yao’s consort’s group had arrived in time, it meant Master had successfully completed his mission, preventing Xuanyuan Lige from breaking into Xichu’s city!

After all, if the Prince Yao’s consort’s group hadn’t arrived yet, Master, after seeing them off safely, would surely have circled back to block Xuanyuan Lige himself again.

Baili Weisheng quietly breathed a sigh of relief, a flicker of pity crossing his eyes as he glanced at the restless populace filling the city — though it quickly faded, replaced once again by his usual carefree, unconcerned demeanor.

The ethereal zither music grew steadily closer and louder. Soon, Xiong Xiaobao caught sight of two familiar figures streaking in from the western gate, and that ethereal melody surged along with them, quickly filling the entire capital of Xichu.

Two competing streams of zither music — one heavy and sorrowful, the other ethereal and pure — clashed against each other within Xichu’s capital like evenly matched forces colliding.

The two melodies filling their ears together was more than anyone ordinary could withstand, yet Xuanyuan Lige’s sound-killing aura had clearly weakened considerably.

“Mommy! Auntie Qianqian!” Xiong Xiaobao shouted, immediately turning to chase after them.

“Little Qingqing!” Baili Weisheng was clearly overjoyed, his smile especially radiant, as though the moment this woman appeared, his entire world instantly cleared to blue skies.

Baili Xiaosheng, watching Master’s radiant smile, could only shrug and shake her head helplessly, before immediately hurrying to catch up as well.

Yes — Ziqing and the others had arrived!

Jun Beiyue and Situ Haonan were at the western gate accepting the surrender, while Ziqing brought Yelu Qianqian to confront Xuanyuan Lige!

By the time Baili Weisheng and the others arrived, the entire gate area had already fallen into an eerie calm — Xichu’s army had been completely wiped out, and even the once-renowned Chu Tiange had already fallen!

Yelu Qianqian stood exactly where Chu Tiange had once stood, sword in hand, pointed directly at Xuanyuan Lige.

Ziqing sat cross-legged in a corner near the wall, her hands resting on the strings of Wuzheng, head lowered, her expression impossible to make out clearly.

At this moment, both Xuanyuan Lige and Ziqing had stopped playing…