Chapter 37: Playing All One's Cards

"Your Majesty, what should we do now?" a senior official beside the Emperor of Han asked, his voice trembling.

"Why the panic? Use your head and think. If this were truly heavy water, a single drop would have ended your life. This must be a small amount of heavy water, intercepted by an Immortal using great divine power and mixed into ordinary river water. Truly terrifying. The means of the Immortals are beyond imagination."

"Your Majesty, please stop lamenting. Our flying vessel cannot hold out much longer. You must think of a solution," a seventh-tier cultivator said, looking up in fear at the water still cascading from the sky.

"You must have seen it at the time; it was an old man lighting a stick of incense that caused the celestial water to pour down. As long as we can extinguish that incense, we can resolve this," the Emperor of Han said with chilling composure.

"Your Majesty, then let me unleash our clan’s heritage."

"Shadow Puppet, emerge!"

Following the clan leader’s command, a humanoid puppet quickly crawled out from his shadow.

"Minister Wang, you have done well. I shall record a merit for you today."

The official whose name was called beamed with excitement and immediately ordered the Shadow Puppet to act. The moment the puppet received the order, it merged back into the shadows. Its movement was peculiar; the shadow stretched and elongated, creeping across the deck of the flying vessel and extending toward the turtle shell. Once it reached the shadow cast by the turtle shell, the puppet slipped directly through the shell's exterior and into the internal space.

Inside the shell, the remaining cultivators of the Wei Kingdom sat with faces full of sorrow.

"Pull yourselves together! Their foundations are deeper than ours. If you remain this listless and devoid of fighting spirit, are you tired of living? If that is truly what you think, I do not mind sending you to your end ahead of time," Zhao Yuan threatened.

Ji Huai did not know whether to be happy or sad. He was happy that his children were not caught in this cataclysm, but sad because he did not know if he would live to ascend the throne.

The cultivator holding the incense remained vigilant, scanning for any disturbances, yet he failed to notice that his own shadow had changed. In an instant, the Shadow Puppet used the cover of the shadows to extend onto the incense-bearer, gradually reaching his neck.

"Snap."

The incense-bearer’s neck was twisted, but the Shadow Puppet did not stop there. Then, a miraculous scene unfolded: the cultivator holding the incense transformed into a scarecrow. The appearance of the straw man drew everyone's attention.

"Damn it! Something foul has snuck in. Xu Lie has effectively died once already." Zhao Yuan instantly shifted to the side of the replaced Xu Lie, probing his body with divine sense, but found nothing. This eerie method of killing made the atmosphere suddenly tense.

"Everyone, stay calm. Do not panic," Zhang Cang said, trying to steady their nerves. He lightly tapped his bronze bell twice.

The ancient chime resonated throughout the space. Soon, the Shadow Puppet, as if irritated by something, revealed itself from the shadow of a fifth-tier cultivator.

"Catch it! Don't let it escape!" Zhao Yuan waved his sleeves, and countless talismans flew rapidly toward the puppet. The Shadow Puppet was slippery, weaving incessantly between the shadows of the crowd.

"Damn it, this is the Shadow Puppet of the Wang family of the Great Han. It has no physical form and kills invisibly while hiding in shadows," one of the clan leaders remarked.

"How can we destroy this monstrosity?"

"Use fire, light, or sound—anything can force it out of the shadows, but how to destroy it, I do not know."

Everyone felt a headache coming on. Before they could react further, the turtle shell shook violently. The Crown Prince of Song had acted again; he unfurled a scroll of the Sage of Literature, and characters manifested continuously, transforming into various spells and magical powers that slammed into the turtle shell.

"This shell cannot hold much longer. Whoever has any remaining hidden trump cards, do not hold back anymore. Use them!"

The cultivators inside the shell looked at one another; not a single person could produce a decent magical artifact. Ji Heng stood up and took out a purple-gold alms bowl, handing it to his second brother, Ji Huai. Ji Huai was so moved that he gripped Ji Heng’s hand tightly, refusing to let go.

"Third brother... I never expected this. Say no more; I have kept it all in my heart." Tears streamed down Ji Huai’s face.

The surrounding cultivators were curious about what this purple-gold bowl looked like and what marvelous uses it might have.

"Third brother, how does one use this bowl?"

"It requires a high monk proficient in Buddhist dharma to chant sutras to activate it."

The scene turned awkward. Everyone looked at each other; there was not a single bald monk present.

"Third brother, are you trying to be funny? Which one of us here is a monk?" Ji Huai pushed the bowl back into Ji Heng’s arms.

"Second brother, I can briefly activate this purple-gold bowl once. It can trap an opposing force within it for a short while. I believe this time is enough for us to escape. Only by living can we hope to restore the kingdom, don't you think, Second Brother?" Ji Heng stated his thoughts.

The cultivators echoed their agreement. Only thirty or forty percent of the original group remained alive. Many were terrified and had thoughts of retreating; they had hoped to gain some benefits to improve their cultivation, but they had never imagined it would be so hard to get out once they were in. Now, there was an assassin hiding in the shadows who might strike at any moment, and if caught, there would be no chance of survival. Outside, two powerful enemy nations were eyeing them like tigers, ready to use their trump cards to break in.

"Very well, Third Brother, hurry and activate this purple-gold bowl."

Ji Heng did not delay. He sat down directly, letting Zhao Yuan and Zhang Cang protect him. He tossed the purple-gold bowl outside the turtle shell, and it quickly grew in size, turning upside down over the Crown Prince of Song’s forces. As Ji Heng’s Buddhist chanting accelerated, the interior of the bowl shone with brilliant golden light, and a powerful suction force pulled the entire group of the Crown Prince of Song into it.

"Damn those old dogs of Wei! They are truly like insects that refuse to die—so hard to kill," the Crown Prince of Song cursed in frustration as he watched his party shrink and disappear completely into the purple-gold bowl.

Seeing the disappearance of the Crown Prince of Song’s party, the Emperor of Han could no longer sit still.

"Use the Five-Bird Fan to burn them to death!" the Emperor of Han commanded.

A man in golden armor walked to the front of the flying vessel, holding a fan made of five-colored feathers. Every time the Five-Bird Fan was waved, flames capable of incinerating mountains and boiling seas swept toward the turtle shell. The water that had been pouring from the sky was evaporated into mist.

"So hot! It's burning!" The Wei cultivators inside the shell felt the unbearable heat; the turtle shell had become like a steamer.

"Quick, all of you, enter my sleeves!" Zhao Yuan opened his cuffs, and the remaining cultivators entered the space within his sleeves one by one.

"Right Prime Minister, let us go," Zhao Yuan sighed.

Zhang Cang hung the bronze bell above his head, and the two transformed into a streak of light, fleeing the turtle shell and flying toward the outskirts of the city.

"The two prime ministers of Wei have run away so ignominiously? The national war you started is truly like child's play, haha!" the Emperor of Han could not help but mock them.