kingnovel Chapter 441 Isolated and helpless
Chapter 441 Isolated and helpless
"This is crazy! They are all crazy! If we die, there will be nothing left! What good can we get out of this by dying together?!"
Wei Liang's hoarse roar seemed pale and powerless in the chaotic wind and waves, like the last wail of a trapped beast.
He looked around, trying to regain control of the soldiers who had once obeyed him, but the only responses he got were frightened, hesitant and even evasive faces.
The soldiers stood still, their weapons lowered, their eyes shifting in a complicated manner between the furious king and the boiling people, and no one took another step forward.
This silent resistance frightened Wei Liang more than any sword.
His eyes finally locked onto those important officials who were attached to the formation and also enjoying the illusory "glory". His voice was filled with desperate incitement and threats: "You! You are different from those ignorant and ignorant people! Everything you have, your life, is tied to this formation! Do you also want to be buried with these lunatics?!"
Once these words were spoken, it was like throwing an ice cube into boiling oil.
Except for a few officials such as the dean, whose faces had already turned livid and who had quietly retreated to a corner, most of the dignitaries who were dressed in red and purple and relied on formations to maintain their false power were instantly ignited with anger.
They looked at the people below who were shouting in resistance, their eyes filled with offended anger and deep contempt, as if they were looking at a group of ants who were ignorant of the danger and trying to shake their foundations.
The arrogance that had long been above the mortal world was completely torn apart, revealing its hideous and ugly core.
Seeing the familiar contempt and hatred for the "lower class" in the eyes of most officials, Wei Liang felt a little relieved, as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw.
Like a drowning man looking at a piece of floating wood, he eagerly cast his gaze at the only two remaining core members of the formation beside him - Li Qinghuan and Xiao Yan.
"What can you want in Xiangsheng City? Silk, satin, fine wine, beautiful maids, and the power of life and death! I'm sure you don't want to live the life of being insecure and hungry before, right?"
He almost shouted, his voice carrying a morbid urgency for recognition, trying to bind their minds once again with this illusory wealth.
Li Qinghuan seemed not to hear the emperor's roar.
He stared blankly at several familiar figures in the crowd below - they were the poor students he had taught carefully in his elementary school.
At this moment, these young people straightened their spines, their faces showing a mixture of fear and unprecedented determination, shouting at the top of their lungs, their figures appearing small yet extremely clear in front of the surging waves.
This great scholar who had devoted his whole life to studying classics had a look of great confusion and shock in his cloudy old eyes, as if some deep-rooted belief was silently collapsing.
The sincerity on the students' faces, which was fueled by their desire for truth and justice, was like a key that suddenly opened the gate of his long-closed memory.
In a trance, he seemed to see the young men who had listened to his lecture on the chapter "Sacrifice One's Life for Righteousness" with the same eyes in the simple school building back then... Those lively faces eventually turned into cold bubbles at the bottom of the turbid river.
The overwhelming grief and belated shame overwhelmed him like a tide, leaving him speechless for a moment, with only his lips moving silently.
It was Xiao Yan who uttered a clear, mocking sneer.
He raised his chin slightly. Even though his luxurious brocade robe was stained by rain and mud, the romantic demeanor that was deeply rooted in his bones remained unchanged. Instead, even in his embarrassment, he showed a strange, desperate and unrestrained attitude.
The rain slid down his well-defined jaw. He looked past the crazed Wei Liang and toward the turbid river surging with countless wronged souls.
Then he looked at the surging waves and the boiling crowd below.
Xiao Yan's voice was not loud, but it clearly penetrated the wind and rain, with a sense of calmness as if everything had settled:
"Everything you seek is nothing but an illusion. Since it is a dream, you have enjoyed it, indulged in it, and when you wake up... why would you be dissatisfied? When you wake up from a big dream, even if you are reluctant to let go, you should wake up - what is there to be attached to in the dream's magnificent buildings after you wake up?"
"Xiao Yan, what do you mean?!"
Liang's face turned from blue to purple in an instant, as if he had been slapped hard in the face, and he flew into a rage.
He couldn't understand, let alone accept it!
He paid the price of betraying his conscience and bearing blood debt to get "rebirth" and "wealth", why can these two people just let it go? !
"Are you going to stand on Lin Zhuxuan's side?! Ha! Stop pretending to be noble! Are you innocent?! I don't believe you didn't notice it at the beginning! Why do you want to turn against me and be a hero when I have to bear the infamy?! Do you think you can get their gratitude by making a contribution? A few words of thanks will only bring you a death sentence and eternal damnation!"
"Not being a hero."
Xiao Yan withdrew his gaze from the rushing river and looked directly at Wei Liang's face which was distorted by anger. There was an unprecedented clarity and determination in his eyes.
The cynicism beneath the romantic appearance completely faded away, leaving only a heavy calmness:
"It's atonement."
"Atonement?!" Wei Liang seemed to have heard the most ridiculous joke in the world, his facial features twisted with extreme anger and confusion.
He pointed at Lu Wensheng who was protected by everyone below and roared:
"Could it be that they said some deceptive nonsense to open your stupid head?! What crime have we committed?! We just want to live! Live peacefully in this fantasy! Is there anything wrong with that?! If a man does not work for himself, he will be punished by heaven and earth! This is an eternal truth!"
Seeing that the situation was completely out of control, Xiao Yan and Li Qinghuan's attitude became the last straw that broke the camel's back, and the last bit of rationality in Wei Liang's heart was burned out.
He waved his arms wildly:
"Capture them! Capture them all! Since they are stubborn and unyielding, don't blame me for being ruthless! If they don't die in the Xiangsheng River, their deaths will be in vain!!"
Following his crazy roar, the high-ranking officials who had long been unable to hold back and hated the "mob" and "traitors" below rushed towards Xiao Yan and Li Qinghuan like vicious dogs that had received orders! They intended to firmly control this "eye of the formation" as the final bargaining chip.
Wei Liang was like a madman, and he suddenly drew out the gorgeously decorated sword at his waist.
The cold sword edge flashed a chilly light in the dim sky, reflecting his ferocious face.
He raised his sword high, and with all his strength, he chopped down fiercely at Li Qinghuan, who was closer to him and whose arms were tightly twisted by two officials! He didn't care that the other party was also the "key point" of the formation, and just wanted to kill this "traitor" on the spot!
The people below screamed in fear, and some couldn't bear to watch and covered their eyes.