Chapter 2858: As Long As You Aren’t a Time Scribe

Isabella awaited the end with closed eyes, but she felt no pain even as moments passed. Instead, warmth engulfed her body, and she felt a sense of safety and security.

“YOU!” First Elder Oberon roared.

You have successfully trolled Oberon for +444... +444... +444...

Isabella hurriedly opened her eyes and saw the person she had been yearning for. “Big brother Zu!”

Zu An’s heart quivered at the sight of her tearful eyes. “Bella, I'm late.”

He pulled Isabella behind her and said, “First Elder, the tides are no longer on your side. You should have gathered your remaining forces to break out of the encirclement instead of killing your own people. As long as you survive, there’s still a chance to turn things around.”

Oberon sneered in anger, “The Order faction wouldn’t have suffered such a crushing defeat if not for your betrayal!”

You have successfully trolled Oberon for +888... +888... +888...

Zu An replied with a sigh, “It looks like you still don’t understand how you lost. We lost the border fight because of the Sixth Elder’s betrayal. There''s nothing I could have done to change the outcome. Similarly, I already curbed the rebel troops in the northwest, but as soon as the Fourth Elder was sent there, Li Zicheng’s army miraculously came back to life. Do you truly think there’s no connection between those two matters?

“The Conglomerate’s elders have long since defected to other powers, yet you remain painfully oblivious to it...”

“Shut up!” Oberon roared. “How dare a traitor slander others? How shameless can you be?!”

You have successfully trolled Oberon for +999... +999... +999...

Zu An shook his head. He couldn’t be bothered to convince Oberon. He grabbed Isabella’s hand and said, “Bella, I’ll take you away from here.”

Oberon flashed in front of them. He glared at Isabella with a darkened face. “Bella, work with me to kill that Order traitor!”

Isabella gritted her teeth. “First Elder, you want me to join hands with you when you just tried to take my life?”

Oberon harrumphed. “I was trying to prevent you from being humiliated by the Reproduction faction. I was rescuing you! Besides, it'dl be an honorable death if you died in the name of Order. The Deity of Order could even take pity on you and save you.”

Isabella was dumbfounded. She tugged Zu An’s hand and said, “Big brother Zu, he’s out of his mind. Let’s leave.”

Oberon’s face darkened. “Bella, are you betraying the Order faction as well? If so, I’ll kill you right here, together with those traitors!”

Zu An sighed. “If you have the energy to do that, you might as well spend that effort taking down another enemy group.”

“You traitors deserve to die more than the enemies!”

“...”

With a swing of his sword, Oberon trapped the two of them in a cage forged out of Order laws. The cage slowly contracted on them, threatening to slice them into countless pieces.

Zu An drew the Slaughter Fang and sliced through the cage. Then, he grabbed Isabella and fled the scene using Rainbow Morph. He didn’t want to fight Oberon now, lest he reveal his cards.

Oberon narrowed his eyes.

What’s with that blade? Why does it wield such tremendous destructive prowess against Order laws? That fellow must be an enemy of the Order! I should have killed him when I first met him in the Conglomerate!

However, it looked as if he would never have the chance to rectify that error.

Zu An took Isabella out of Beijing.

As she watched Li Zicheng’s army slowly encircling the capital, Isabella fell into a daze. “Big brother Zu, is the Order faction doomed?”

Zu An fell silent.

Isabella’s face turned gloomy. Having been in the Order faction all her life, it was painful for her to witness its terrible plight. “Big brother Zu, do you plan to return to the Annihilation faction?”

“Mm.”

“I won’t be joining you.” Isabella’s eyelids drooped. She couldn’t abandon her faith and family for love and join her nemesis.

“What do you plan to do now?” Zu An didn’t explain his actions.

“I’ll head southward and see if I can rally Heshan together.”

“What if the remaining half of Great Ming still crumbles?” Zu An knew the fate of Southern Ming. It wouldn’t survive long.

“Then I’ll head to Taiwan to look for big sister Chu and seek help from the Zheng clan. Otherwise, I’ll venture further out to seek opportunities. Regardless, I can’t just give up.” The innocence in Isabella’s eyes had faded. Her gaze showed resolve.

Zu An’s mind was finally put at ease. “Bella, promise me that you’ll stay safe no matter how terrible the circumstances look. Anything is possible as long as you survive.”

Isabella’s eyes lit up. She looked at him with hopeful eyes. “Big brother Zu, do you believe in miracles?”

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

“You never know what will happen until the very end.” Zu An looked at the sky solemnly.

Isabella nodded. “I’ll remember those words, big brother Zu. Can I embrace you one last time?”

Who knew when they would meet again after this farewell? It could even be an eternal farewell. So, the two of them embraced tightly.

A long time later, Isabella left with determined eyes.

Zu An looked at the moist patch on his chest and sighed.

“You’re going around scourging young ladies.” Zhao Xiaodie emerged from the forest with a wistful expression. She seemed to have seen the old her in Isabella.

“We’ll be on different sides from now on. I can only wish her the best of luck.” Zu An turned around and left.

While Zhao Xiaodie was a member of the Annihilation faction, there was no need to pursue Isabella over something this minor. Instead, she asked, “Big brother Zu, what’s the situation with Chen Yuanyuan?”

“She was captured by Li Zicheng.”

“Ah?” Zhao Xiaodie was startled. “Don’t we need her to persuade the Second Elder to surrender?”

“That’s exactly why we need to convince the Second Elder to surrender.”

“???” Zhao Xiaodie was baffled. She chased after Zu An while asking him why.

...

It didn’t take long for word about Beijing’s collapse to spread. The emperor realized that he was no match for the enemies and hanged himself on Coal Mountain.

Shanhai Pass’s Military Commissioner Wu Sangui led his army back to reinforce the capital.

Li Zicheng sent an envoy over to convince Wu Sangui to surrender. Initially, the latter considered surrendering, but he quickly learned that the Wu mansion had been breached, his father and Chen Yuanyuan had been held hostage, and that Li Zicheng was mesmerized by Chen Yuanyuan and sought to take her into his harem.

In a fit of anger, Wu Sangui decided to surrender to the Manchus instead and allowed them in.

Li Zicheng led his main army northward. His intention was to eliminate Wu Sangui, reclaim Shanhai Pass, and block the Manchu army outside Shanhai Pass.

When they received Wu Sangui’s request for help, the Annihilation faction’s upper echelons were initially bewildered. Many of them wondered if the Second Elder had colluded with Li Zicheng to put on a show in order to lure the Manchu army into a trap.

It didn’t make sense for the Second Elder to surrender to the Manchus when the Order faction and the Annihilation faction were mortal enemies.

The Conqueror King couldn’t make up his mind, so he sought Zu An’s opinion. Zu An fought against all the naysayers and urged the Manchu army to head to the frontlines to reinforce Wu Sangui.

So, the Conqueror King led the Annihilation army to travel to Shanhai Pass without rest. During the journey, he received several more reinforcement requests from the Second Elder.

While the Second Elder’s army was highly trained, they were few in number. They wouldn’t be a match for the Reproduction army.

But the Conqueror King ordered his subordinates to rest up and regroup before heading into the battlefield. He was hoping for the Second Elder’s army and the Reproduction army to wear each other thin before reaping the rewards.

After pacifying and sending off the Second Elder’s envoy, the Conqueror King noticed that Zu An was swiftly writing something in a book. Intrigued, he asked, “What are you doing?”

“I am still a Memory envoy. I ought to record the events of history,” Zu An replied as he continued writing in the book.

The Conqueror King burst into laughter. “You better make sure to properly record how our Annihilation faction achieved a perfect victory then!”

Most people weren’t averse to Memory worshipers, since Mirror Scribes didn’t interfere in worldly affairs, unlike those detestable Time Scribes of the Chaos and Enigma path.