Legend of the Great Sage - Chapter 1440
Chapter 1440 – Joke
The dazzling firelight poured out every single window of the Scorching Fire hall like a torch, illuminating the black clouds, melting the flying snow, and attracting the attention of countless soldiers.
“I will burn you to ash!”
Li Liehuo ground his teeth. His eyes glowed like cinders and scorching flames surged out from his every pore, twisting the air like he had become a god of fire as he approached Li Qingshan step by step.
Li Qingshan raised his head slightly and smiled. “What if I’m telling the truth?”
“Then I’ll let you be the captain!”
Within the furious bellow that resembled a fire dragon’s roar, Li Liehuo lunged over. Only sixty metres separated them, but he immediately accelerated into a blazing meteor, about to destroy Li Qingshan completely.
Swoosh!
With a wave of his hand, a great flag whistled out. He grabbed the pole that was as thick as a column. The black flag rippled in the heat waves, displaying the word that was written on there—massacre!
Li Liehuo suddenly came to a halt. He widened his eyes and stared at the flag. Clearly, this was not the first time he had seen it. That was the main flag to the central army led by the commander of Cold Blood pass, Tu Wancheng!
TL: Tu Wancheng means to massacre a myriad of cities. Massacre is essentially Tu Wancheng’s surname.
Who knew how much blood and dead souls had been used to refine the flag, and who knew how many battles it had gone through. Even though it had been sliced in half along the pole, the brutal army qi of slaughter still lingered on it. It definitely could not be a fake.
“This is impossible!”
“Calm down, or you’re going to burn it, and I’ll be left with no evidence.”
Li Qingshan blew out some of the sparks on the flag. He had casually found this in the vast expanse of ruins. He could sense the exceptional aura inside, so he brought it back with him.
Li Liehuo snatched over the flag and studied it with his scorching gaze. He noticed the smooth cut on the pole, and his eyes immediately lit up. “Xuanwu blade aura! Hah, Chao Tianjiao gave this to you, didn’t she? So you could fool me! But she didn’t expect you to be foolish enough to tell a lie like this!”
“Heh, someone seems to have mentioned my name!”
When Chao Tianjiao’s voice had just reached this place from the Xuanwu hall, she had already arrived in front of the Scorching Fire hall.
“Chao Tianjiao, this is your handiwork!” Li Liehuo tossed the flag to her.
Chao Tianjiao casually caught the flag and glanced at it. “The pole was indeed cut by me, but I didn’t give it to him. Kid, you went to Cold Blood pass as well? You’re quite bold!”
Li Liehuo furrowed his brows. Chao Tianjiao was not a person who would tell a lie like that. In other words, the kid had actually visited Cold Blood pass.
“Li Qingshan, you actually managed to retrieve this broken flag from an army of hundreds of thousands. You are a warrior. However, you’ve made false reports, so there’ll still be punishment!”
Chao Tianjiao smiled. “Kid, what false report did you make?”
“I didn’t make any false reports. You’re the one who’s making false reports.” Li Qingshan did not hold back at all with the other captain. Before Chao Tianjiao could argue back at him, he said indifferently, “The army of two or three hundred thousand demonfolk in Cold Blood pass have all died.”
“Huh!? What the hell are you on about?” Chao Tianjiao widened her eyes and grabbed Li Qingshan by the shoulder. “I’ve just been there. I did hack that Tu Wancheng a few dozen times, and I did butcher a few thousand demonfolk, but that guy’s regeneration is simply alarming once he demonifies. He’s clearly still alive. Even if the army just stands there and allows me to kill them, I’ll run out of energy eventually, so your lie is just a little too absurd!”
Li Liehuo grabbed Li Qingshan by the collar and pulled him up to his face. He said murderously, “What else do you have to say?”
Li Qingshan smiled and asked again, “What if I’m telling the truth?”
Li Liehuo said, “What if you’re lying?”
One burned away furiously like fire, while the other remained cool and staunch, like a mountain. As they confronted each other, everyone held their breaths. Even the officers of the Scorching Fire army began to admire Li Qingshan’s courage a little. When the captain lost his temper with them, they would not even be able to utter a word.
Li Qingshan said, “I die!”
Li Liehuo laughed out of anger. “Impressive, very impressive! If you’re telling the truth, I’ll let you take my position as captain. Beardy, go and invite the Upraised Light master!”
“Yes, sir!” As soon as Hu Zhigang was about to carry out the order, a buddhist chant rang out from outside.
“Amitābha. That won’t be necessary. I’ve come!”
The Upraised Light master walked in slowly. He was not glowing with light this time, which allowed Li Qingshan to see him properly. His eyebrows and beard were all white, bright like silver threads. He had a healthy complexion and a friendly appearance. He basically matched up to all the standard descriptions of a buddhist master.
The Upraised Light abbot found Li Qingshan strangely familiar, but he was unable to recall where he had seen him before.
Li Qingshan smiled. “Master, we meet again.”
“You are?” The Upraised Light master basically wondered whether there was something wrong with his Heavenly Eye knowledge. Was he so forgetful even when it came to people now?
“I just suffered a palm strike from you. Have you forgotten so quickly?” Li Qingshan patted his chest.
“It’s you!” The Upraised Light master abruptly recalled the demon he had encountered recently. “So you’re not demonfolk!”
“Of course not. I just happen to practise the Heavenly Tome of Liberty, so my Yin Soul is a little special, which has led to misunderstandings.”
“Amitābha, I see! The Heavenly Tome of Liberty! The Myriad Heavenly Tomes truly are all-inclusive!”
The Upraised Light abbot sighed and studied Li Qingshan, like he did not find him particularly trustworthy, yet he also found him to be rather close. That was basically buddhism’s general impression of Maheśvara.
“So what’s going on here?”
Before Li Qingshan could answer him, Li Liehuo interrupted and said, “Master, your Heavenly Eye knowledge and Heavenly Ear knowledge can distinguish the truth from lies. You have always been responsible for verifying military merit in Black Cloud city. We would like you to listen to something now. It has to do with verifying military merit. We want to see whether it’s true or not.”
The Upraised Light abbot said, “Since it has to do with verifying military merit, then I am duty-bound. May I ask what it is?”
Li Liehuo glared at Li Qingshan. “Are you bold enough to repeat what you just said?”
“Why wouldn’t I? However, while I am of lowly status, unlike some army captain or local despot like you, I can’t just be accused of something I haven’t done like this. Let’s just verify this one more time. Let me ask you again in front of senior sister Chao, the Upraised Light master, and everyone else. Li Liehuo, what if I’m telling the truth?”
Li Liehuo furrowed his brows. He possessed a violent temper, but he was not a fool. Li Qingshan’s confident demeanour made him waver slightly. Was it really like how he had described it to be? Was there a slight possibility that what he described had happened? After all, strange things happened on the battlefield all the time.
Perhaps there was a Human Immortal passing by and massacred Cold Blood pass in the passing? No, that was impossible. The time and energy of Human Immortals was precious. Even if they moved, it would be for the bigger picture. They would not kill purely for the sake of killing.
And the Myriad sect was responsible for this area of the battlefield. Even if they needed assistance from Human Immortals, it would definitely be the two sect masters and Chao Tianjiao and he would have learnt about it.
After eliminating all the possibilities, he confirmed that Li Qingshan was only putting up a bravado. Given the kind of person he was, how could he just stand down?
“Then I’ll answer you one last time as well. If you’re telling the truth, I’ll let you be the captain!”
He stressed each word, like the strikes of a hammer.
“If you’re lying, don’t make me dirty my hands. You can take your own life!”
The atmosphere became as cold as ice, yet also scorching like fire. Murderousness was basically surging.
Li Qingshan smiled. He turned towards the Upraised Light master and said calmly, “The army of two or three hundred thousand demonfolk in Cold Blood pass have all died.”
“What!?”
The Upraised Light master was similarly surprised. Anyone who heard that would find it absurd. They would all be certain it was a lie.
However, what he found to be even more absurd was that his Heavenly Eye knowledge and Heavenly Ear knowledge were unable to detect any lies at all. It was basically like he had stated the sun was round. There was no room for doubt.
“Amitābha!” He was afraid of being careless, so he placed his hands together and uttered the buddha’s name. He shone brightly, standing in a solemn demeanour like he was the buddha. “Please repeat it, fellow!”
Li Qingshan repeated it.
The light gradually faded. The Upraised Light master remained silent as his expression became rather troubled. Li Liehuo’s heart skipped a beat. He held back the urge to press him for an answer.
Li Qingshan smiled mysteriously. Chao Tianjiao blinked her eyes and felt there was definitely something else going on here. None of this was any of her trouble anyway. She was happy to see either one of them die here.
“Cough, cough. An ascetic is forbidden from lying. Please tell us the truth, master.”
The Upraised Light abbot’s lips trembled. “I- it’s true!”
With that, everyone’s expressions changed. The hall fell silent.
Only Li Qingshan burst into laughter. His gentle laughter gradually turned into great laughter, mad laughter, continuing until he spread his arms and raised his head. “The heavens be watching over me! I’ve become the captain! Hahahaha!”
Chao Tianjiao’s eyes shone brightly as she thought, Alright you, Li Qingshan! You’ve gone too far with the joke now!
