Chapter 475: The Return of a King
There was not an intact building to be seen throughout the entire compound. It was a complete wreck as far as the eyes could see with every building collapsed. The corpses of multiple servants and guards could be seen strewn across the grounds, the last expression on their faces had been of anguish.
The tragic day that was today would be an unforgettable day for the Changyang clan. The energy from the ten Heaven Saint Masters had killed many lives and caused an immeasurable amount of damage. Many more people had been severely injured and left the Changyang clan in a depressed state.
Chang Wuji trod across the broken courtyards with a heavy expression. It was not as heavy as it was during the battle, and he couldn’t help but let out a sigh in relief in his heart. Despite the heavy damages the Changyang clan had incurred, the important figures of the clan hadn’t been killed. Some had been injured, but nothing major had happened to them.
Chang Wuji walked to the center of the compound and looked all around. With one final sigh, his face descended into grief.
The five Imperial Advisors from the Qinhuang Kingdom descended next to Chang Wuji. Xiao Tian was the first to speak, “Chang Wuji, how is the clan leader and the fourth lady, are they injured?” The five Imperial Advisors were most concerned with Changyang Ba and Bi Yuntian since they were the parents of the Imperial Protector.
Chang Wuji shook his head, “I thank the Imperial Advisors for their concern. They both have some minor injures, nothing too major.”
Hearing this, the five Imperial Advisors couldn’t help but let out a breath in relief. If one of the two had something happen to them in that short moment, they had no idea how they would be able to face the Imperial Protector.
The secret that the five Imperial Advisors were living within the Changyang clan had been exposed. Everyone that was familiar with what they looked like was extremely astonished the moment they saw the five Heaven Saint Masters retreat into the clan compound. Straight away, discussions could be heard among those people. No one could imagine that the Changyang clan would have so many Heaven Saint Master experts hidden within — such a strength was far too much.
“Haha… Senior… Chang… Chang Wuji, how is Yue’er?” The king coughed out some blood from his internal injuries while struggling to speak.
“Your Majesty, please be rest assured. The princess has received no major injuries.” Chang Wuji replied.
“That’s fine, all is fine then.” The heart that had leaped into the king’s throat had finally fallen back down. Yue’er was his most beloved daughter and thus he was without a doubt concerned for her safety.
Afterward, the representatives of the three other clans of Lore City came by personally to express their sympathies to the Changyang clan. They had a look of grief in their faces and concern in their voices, but their eyes remained on the five Imperial Advisors from the Qinhuang Kingdom with feelings of confusion and shock.
Many of the members from the three clans had participated within the battle at the northern stronghold, so they naturally recognized the Imperial Advisors. Upon seeing all five of them gathered within the Changyang clan and when they helped them fend off the attackers, they couldn’t help but feel extremely curious on what connection the two sides had with each other.
However, not a single one of them had dared ask why and could only speculate in secret.
None of the three clans were in any desire to leave quickly. Instead, they had their men personally help survey the damage to the clan. Despite the entire clan being leveled and destroyed, it did not weaken their reputation or fame. If anything, this had strengthened it. After all, they not only had even more Heaven Saint Masters than before, but they were able to emerge victorious over several experts from the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom.
Suddenly, a cyan color burst through the sky, like a lightning bolt, headed toward the Changyang clan. In an instant, the light came to a stop and began to hover over it.
“Another Heaven Saint Master? How fast this one is.”
When everyone saw this airborne person, they all let out a startled cry in confusion on whether this was a friend or foe.
The five Imperial Advisors and Chang Wuji both revealed stunned looks on their faces. Turning to look up, their eyes held a dangerous gleam. However, when they saw the facial appearance of the man floating above, a joyous look overcame their faces.
“The fourth master has returned!”
“Honored Imperial Protector!”
This cyan-colored blur had been Jian Chen. After two days of constant traveling, he had finally returned to Lore City from the cave of the Saint Ruler.
Jian Chen floated above Changyang Manor with a sluggish look. His eyes didn’t dare believe the reality of what he was seeing. In the several days when he was gone, the entire Changyang clan had undergone a tremendous change. The previously pristine and grand clan compound had disappeared into nothingness. All that remained was a single ruin with thousands of scars and holes as well as bloody bodies strewn about.
“Is… is this truly the Changyang clan? What has happened?” The light in Jian Chen’s eyes was quite dull as he muttered to himself in an absent-minded manner. Even the joyous feeling he had felt after receiving the Saint Ruler’s skeleton had been completely obliterated.
Jian Chen’s expression grew more and more dangerous as he descended down to the ground near the ruins.
Chang Wuji and the five Imperial Advisors quickly rushed over to Jian Chen’s side, but before they could say anything, Jian Chen spoke first, “Uncle Chang, what has happened here? How did the Changyang clan be reduced to such a state?” Jian Chen’s voice was filled with concern and his expression with worry. In his recent return, he had no idea just what could possibly happen for the Changyang clan to undergo such a tremendous transformation.
Chang Wuji let out a long breath of air, “Fourth master, ten Heaven Saint Masters from the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom had only just came by with Bi Dao and his Majesty in their grasps. They had spoken some claptrap about capturing you, but after a battle between them and us, the Changyang clan was inadvertently damaged by the fallout.”
Hearing this, a sudden explosion of killing intent burst from Jian Chen’s body. A fierce glare started to grow brighter and brighter almost as if he was a bloodthirsty tiger whose stare could cause any person to shiver in fear. The temperature within the immediate area instantly dropped several degrees. Some of the weaker people around them began to feel as if they were submerged within ice-cold water and they began to shiver.
“Heavenly Eagle Kingdom!” Jian Chen spat out one word at a time in his anger as his fist began to crack from being held so tightly. This time, the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom had truly infuriated him.
Suddenly, a thought crossed Jian Chen’s mind. His expression immediately changed as he hurriedly asked, “Uncle Chang, what of my parents? Are they alright?”
“The leader and the fourth lady are underground with only minor injuries.” Chang Wuji spoke.
Before he could finish speaking, Jian Chen had already disappeared into a blur, headed toward the underground rooms.
The underground rooms were about a hundred meters deep and were very dim. Despite that, it was very spacious and could fit well over a thousand people in there with even more rooms to accommodate them all.
The very moment Jian Chen entered the rooms below, he could see several of the higher ranking members of the clan and their guards come walking out.
“Fourth master!”
Some of the guards instantly saluted him when they saw him.
“Where is my mother!” Jian Chen immediately demanded with a dangerous gleam in his eyes, causing the guard to avoid looking him in the eye.
“The fourth lady is in the biggest room.” The guard answered quickly.
He immediately ran past them and into the biggest room in the underground area. However, it would be more appropriate to call these rooms caves, instead, due to their appearance.
After entering the room, Jian Chen not only found his parents, but even the oldest aunt Ling Long, second aunt Yu Fengyan and third aunt Bai Yushuang. His third brother Changyang Ke was by his mother’s side while several other men covered in blood sat by some of the traumatized women. Right by the entrance, Ming Dong and Dugu Feng stood guard. When their eyes met, they didn’t need to speak to convey a conversation.
“Mother, are you alright!” Jian Chen quickly walked forward with a worried expression. In this moment, Jian Chen looked at the wound on his mother’s head with an aghast expression, “Mother, you’re hurt.”
“Xiang’er, your mother is fine. Go look for Yue’er, her injuries are even worse than mine.” Bi Yuntian didn’t care for her own injuries, and instead was extremely concerned for her future daughter-in-law.
At this moment, the princess lay on a bed with an extremely pale face that was scrunched up in pain.
Arriving by the bedside, Jian Chen began to inspect the princess for the extent of her wounds. A solemn expression began to overtake his expression as he made his diagnosis. A stone was lodged in the princess’ left shoulder, leaving a finger-sized hole within it. There was also a single wound on the left side of her back from where another stone had struck it. A stone had entered her body and nearly injured her heart. The other inner organs had also been struck, leaving behind a dangerous looking internal injury.
“Xiang’er, your mother knows you have the ability to heal Yue’er, please save her. She has an extremely dangerous wound.” Bi Yuntian whispered to Jian Chen in concern, afraid that the princess would die from her wounds.
Jian Chen nodded. “The battle outside has stopped. Mother, you should go out to check, I’ll treat princess You Yue.”
Bi Yuntian had no objections to that. After a few more words, she left the room, leaving Jian Chen behind with the princess.
“Brother, we’ll head up first.” Ming Dong pulled Dugu Feng away from the room. If this was any other time, then Ming Dong would have taken his time to fire question after question to Jian Chen. Ming Dong didn’t have the heart to, since such an event happened to the Changyang clan.
After everyone had left, Jian Chen closed the door gingerly behind him and walked back to the bed with a complex expression. With barely a few days of her living in the clan compound, the princess had been heavily injured. This made Jian Chen feel extremely apologetic almost as if he had personally let her down.
Despite the wounds on the princess being quite heavy, she was still awake and capable of clear thought. Her limpid eyes had a strange luster to them as she stared nervously at Jian Chen. Her pale face had a slightly red hue that revealed her shyness. In her heart, despite the troubling moment, she couldn’t help but have a nervous delight from such a situation.
Jian Chen sat by her bedside and spoke gently, “Princess You Yue, it may be a little painful in the next few moments, please try to endure.”