Calamity Messenger

Chapter 343 - 278: Persuasion to Surrender

"Good!"

Yan Qing surrendered directly without any psychological burden. He didn’t care why Ying Le wanted to recruit him. Perhaps he valued his invincible combat power, or perhaps wanted to use his qualities as the Heir of Calamity, or maybe he simply wanted a new toy. Anyway, it was just a temporary measure, and the moment he breaks free from control, ’Yan Shiyi’ would continue to charge forward until death.

"Then throw out your defensive token, the Third-Transformation Curiosities, which should be a variant of Liang Kingdom’s Heart-Protecting Mirror." Ying Le said leisurely, "Throw it out and I’ll let you go."

Yan Qing was speechless, Ying Le’s insight was too accurate. He couldn’t just throw a regular Heart-Protecting Mirror to fool her. It’s easy to see that it’s a Heart-Protecting Mirror, but difficult to discern that it’s an advanced variant. The Mountain Heart-Protecting Mirror and the Heart-Protecting Mirror have no apparent differences, only numerical ones... she measured it with only her eyes.

Pharmacist Yao Shi Yue, Jie Huang Chao, Ying Le... this group of Foundation Establishment cultivators, each one is like a top-tier player capable of beating high-difficulty levels in games. Their understanding of the game even rivals that of Yan Qing, the only player with console assistance!

Seeing ’Yan Shiyi’ silent and unresponsive, Ying Le not only did not get angry but covered her mouth and giggled, her cheeks blushing lightly. She was just a majestic empress, but now she transformed into a lively and adorable young girl. The different styles switched seamlessly on her, making her a born enchantress; each smile and frown could charm multitudes.

"Little Ruishi, not as you imagined, this little cat is not a gentleman." Ying Le laughed, "On the contrary, he’s much like me, people who see the world indifferently and seek only pleasure at will."

She paused, a subtle curve appearing at the corner of her mouth, "That is, people who are called crazy."

"Your Majesty," Ying Rushi’s calm voice pierced through the drizzling rain like nails hitting the board clearly, "Please leave it to me now."

"Alright, alright, I will listen to you, Little Ruishi." Ying Le retracted her leg, lazily leaning against the chariot like a young girl watching a play from the railing, "Little Ruishi has grown, rejecting Aunt now."

As if responding to the changing battle situation, the rain also calmed down, changing from stormy to gentle. Yan Qing looked at Ying Rushi on the screen; the latter was expressionless, gripping tightly the sword handle with the right hand, while the left pressed the blade, the sword tip embedded in the ground. The sword edge always kissed ’Yan Shiyi’s neck, like a guillotine suspended but not dropped.

Although the defensive barrier had no reaction, Yan Qing did not dare to move recklessly because a negative status appeared over ’Yan Shiyi’s health bar: suppression.

In the suppression state, most of ’Yan Shiyi’s actions are restricted, and most movements will cause him harm. In contrast, as long as Ying Rushi presses down the sword edge, she can rapidly erode ’Yan Shiyi’s defensive barrier and guillotines his head.

Ying Rushi now possesses the ability to execute ’Yan Shiyi’.

However, achieving the suppression state is very difficult. First, the weak side must have no room to maneuver, and secondly, the dominant side’s weapon must interact with immovable structures like the ground. Simply put, it’s a man-made cage; Ying Rushi uses the sword as a lock and her body as the prison, subduing this world’s top Third-Transformation.

Skill honed to perfection.

Yan Qing was momentarily stunned upon seeing Ying Rushi, but his operations did not falter. Since they met on the battlefield of life or death, there was no room for mercy or romance; both sides must use every weapon and cruelty to kill each other. Ying Rushi would do so, he certainly would do so too.

He just didn’t expect Ying Rushi to be so powerful, with her means as precise as a scalpel, completing a reversal in an instant of combat, even though ’Yan Shiyi’ possessed far superior Third-Transformation sacrificial sword combat power, under her suppression, had no room for resistance. Yan Qing wasn’t too disappointed, instead feeling no injustice in defeat, having learned another lesson.

Indeed, heroes across the world are like crucian carp crossing the river.

"How should I address you?" Ying Rushi asked.

"Just as you call, Yaksha, Heir of Calamity, any works." Yan Qing didn’t care about this.

"No, those are just your code names, I meant your name."

"Is a name important? Aren’t they all just codes."

"Very important." Ying Rushi said slowly, "Someone like you, whether alive or dead, the name should be engraved in history; you have this qualification and deserve this honor."

"Besides," she paused, "I also want to know who you really are."

After a brief silence, Yan Qing gave the name of his alternate account: "Yan Shiyi."

"Eleven..." Ying Rushi murmured softly. After contemplating for a moment, she said, "May I call you Yan?"

"As you please."

"Yan, why did you destroy the Secret Realm? Are you aware that the Tombstone Secret Realm concerns the livelihood of tens of thousands, the impact of which could affect the entire Qi Kingdom?"

"I know."

"But you still did it," Ying Rushi said calmly, "You place your own selfish desires above the masses. Right now, Tombstone Military Town has tens of thousands to potentially hundreds of thousands migrating elsewhere, among them, women, children, and the elderly might perish on the way; some families may never return to their homeland, some might be forced into banditry. You completely destroyed the foundation of a town, causing countless lives to take a drastic turn."

"You consider yourself righteous yet commit unpardonable sins; you think you’re fighting back against tyranny but became the worst tyranny."

"I said you’d be inscribed in history, but your actions in these six days will be recorded in black and bold by historians!" Ying Rushi said one word at a time, "But as a way to spread infamy across generations!"

"Yan, you’ve erred. Your emergence didn’t make the world better, but caused more suffering... you have no qualifications to claim justice!"

"Worldly justice must protect the majority with minimal sacrifice, not the other way around!"

Amidst eight hundred Baibao Guards encircling, under the gaze of thousands of Qi Kingdom envoys, Ying Rushi neither represented Your Majesty in judging this traitor nor recruited this strongest Third-Transformation in the world but discussed the definition of justice. It was clear that these words had lingered in her mind for a long time, but eventually drifted away from denunciation, appearing more like... seeking validation.

However, her response was a venomous laugh.

"How lofty, Prince of Lanling," Yan Qing replied, "Do people like you also persist in justice or not? Do you dream of being a righteous hero?"

Ying Rushi was silent briefly, "Who wouldn’t want to be a righteous hero?"

"Then in your eyes, a righteous hero must be flawless."

"Not at all, as long as the good they bring to the world greatly outweighs the disaster, that’s justice, that’s heroism." Ying Rushi said, "Who in this world doesn’t make mistakes? Those recorded favorably in history often have blemishes that can’t be washed away, but as long as they bring peace and stability to society, who would question their heroism?"

"If Guangwu Zhao Lie had squandered their lives on impulse and had their achievements sealed while young, how could they possibly achieve heroism? To live on, to amend mistakes, to establish unparalleled undertakings, and to gain eternal fame; that’s the true hero!"

"Yan," Ying Rushi looked intently at ’Yan Shiyi’, "Do you want to be a hero for a moment, or a hero for a lifetime?"