Chapter 942: Winding Up Loose Ends (II)

The other Silver Armors present were quiet. Not only were they silent after killing the plant spirits, but so was the rest of the Skystar Army quiet as well.

The Silver Armors still possessed their physical bodies, but the bodies of others in the army were long gone. They held on in the shape of lingering will or mental strength, so they still had their own consciousness. That made them better off than those of Battle Heaven, but right now, they all grappled with the understanding that their vice commander had been lying to them this entire time.

They’d stood guard here for countless eons!

Blank looks filled the faces of some of the Silver Armors. Why had this happened?? The vice commander was in cahoots with the people who’d attacked Skystar Town?!

They hadn’t believed it when the rose spoke of it, yet once Zhang An said the same thing, they knew that they had no choice but to believe.

The Black Armor landed on the ground and walked toward the sealed Sun Xin, ignoring everyone else. He undid the seal with a wave of his hand.

“I’m very curious, why did you betray New Martial?” There was no disappointment in his voice, just bafflement.

The vice commander of Skystar Army had been a peak Immortal back in the day, that made him a notable personage. Sun Xin was also a veteran general stemming from the early days of New Martial. How would he not know the might and terrors of the Human King?

Zhang An did not understand this betrayal.

Although Sun Xin was released from his seal, he didn’t leap into any wild movements. He simply patted down his tattered armor so that he’d present a more dignified front.

The Silver Armors moved to the side without a word, silently regarding this vice commander who they’d spent endless years with.

“I’m sorry, I lied to you guys...” Sun Xin smiled apologetically.

“Commander.... why... did you...”

“I was just stuck at Immortal for too long and unwilling to accept that,” laughed Sun Xin. "As an old subordinate of Director Zhang, not many of us survived our deployment. I felt that I had certain merits to my name, but was assigned to a dreary outpost like Silver Moon and became a mine guard.

“My colleagues either became commander-in-chief of important armies or a local overlord in the main world. Why were my circumstances so unfair?? I was simply driven by jealousy and anger.” He looked at the Black Armor. “Such is mankind. We can suffer together, but find it unfair when rewards are being doled out. But betrayal never crossed my mind, I was simply envious and resentful!

“And then...” Sun Xin paused before laughing, “Someone came to me. They were very strong and very capable—they could even read minds! They were terrifying and knew that I was bitter, that I’d embezzled much ore from the mine...

“I was the protector of the Skystar mine and just wanted to take a little.” He shook his head with self-deprecating laughter. “I just wanted to make it to the Saint level. Who would’ve thought that I’d be discovered? You know as well as me that the Human King and his ilk have zero tolerance when it comes to such matters. I was afraid!

“Therefore, helping them once became the start of a slippery slope. I did a few things for them that became a few more things until eventually, I was in so deep that I could not extract myself!”

Embezzlement and neglect of duties were a severe wrong, but they didn’t deserve death. As Sun Xin grew further entangled with these mysterious people, he gradually came to understand that there would be no possible fate other than death if he was found out.

Such were people. Mistakes started from small transgressions and led one step-by-step into the abyss.

“And you were willing when they wanted you to safeguard the mine for so many years?” asked the Black Armor after he digested Sun Xin’s response.

“What could I do if I wasn’t willing?” Sun Xin asked softly. “I could only see this through to the end once I’d attached myself to them. Not to mention, I hadn’t thought that New Martial really would fall. The one in the depths of the mine has always been there, so you tell me, could I have harbored any other thoughts?”

“Who destroyed Skystar Town?” the Black Armor asked again.

“A lot of people!” Sun Xin laughed.

“A lot of people?”

“Yes, more than one city was involved. You might think that one entire city turned on New Martial... The truth is not that scary, but also even scarier. There were many and I recognized ones from the eight main cities, as well as premier wandering cultivators. Battle Heaven and Sword City were the only exceptions.”

Director General Wang quickly walked forward with an urgent expression on his face. “Was there no one from Battle Heaven?”

“I don’t know, but I didn’t see any that I recognized,” Sun Xin responded calmly. “Only part of the group showed their real faces, another concealed their identities, and a portion were very unfamiliar to me.

“On that day, two Empyrean Kings, at least ten Saints, and nearly one hundred Immortals ambushed us! Commander Jiang was quickly killed in the first wave of surprise and the one hundred thousand troops of Skystar Army swiftly routed. Powerhouses stationed at various points were murdered...

“But that shouldn’t be all! Energy spontaneously disappeared that day, as did core origin dao. Communication with the eight main cities was severed, so perhaps there were co-conspirators in all of the eight cities to prevent word of what was happening at Skystar Town from leaking.

“After the attackers defeated the Skystar Army, they excavated the mine and retrieved two-thirds of the ore, leaving one-third behind. You saw it too, it was done to nurture that one’s body and also to prepare for the future when energy awakened throughout the land.”

Li Hao hadn’t planned on interrupting the questioning, but he suddenly interjected, “Retrieved two-thirds of the ores?”

Sun Xin glanced at him and couldn’t be bothered to respond. There was still an air of haughtiness to him and he returned to the Black Armor and Director General Wang. “Bramble had surrendered by then, it was placed in charge of keeping Skystar Town isolated. I was given responsibility to oversee this area. I’d thought that the next step would come soon, but who would’ve thought that thousands of years would pass in the blink of an eye?”

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

“Who from the main cities participated?” frowned Director General Wang. “There were two other Empyrean Kings... which two? Also, did that scarlet shadow exist during Initial Martial, or was it from another world?”

Sun Xin looked at him and said after a long moment, “I didn’t recognize one of the Empyrean Kings and the other... was the patriarch of the Zhengs.”

“Him??” blinked the director general with sheer disbelief.

“Are you sure?” the Black Armor also asked coldly.

“I am,” laughed Sun Xin. “You don’t believe it too, right? I couldn’t either when I saw them!”

The Zheng family had been one of the twelve families in the sacred land of Tranquil Star back in New Martial. They had an exalted emperor among their ranks; it was only a side branch residing in Skystar Town.

It was incredibly hard to believe that a traitor had surfaced in a family with an exalted emperor. Even though they’d known early on that there was a possibility of one of the families in the main cities betraying New Martial, how could it be... the Zheng family?!

Although they said to themselves that everything was possible, it was still very difficult to accept when they actually heard about it!

Li Hao was suddenly reminded of the folk song and grew confused about it. He interrupted again, despite Sun Xin ignoring him. “There’s an old folk song popular in Silver City about the sword of the Lis, the blade of the Zhangs, and the trouble that is the Zheng young master. Did this song exist in the ancient civilization, or was it popularized later on?”

The group was puzzled and Director General Wang frowned.

“Of course it was popularized later on. The eight cities ruled over this world in our time. No one would dare deride them in such a fashion.”

“Then where did it come from?” Li Hao questioned. “The trouble that was the Zheng young master... doesn’t sound like a complimentary turn of phrase. Our captive here says that the Zhengs turned traitor, which makes the song even more curious.

“There must be someone who knew the inside story and shared it. Silver City has always sung this folk song, so this wasn’t a recent or temporary development. Perhaps it’s been passed down for thousands of years. I’m unsure of the specifics.”

The group was likewise baffled. Who’d created the song and shared it? No one was awake before and the ruins weren’t open. Who could disseminate it in the outside world?

There hadn’t been a single iota of energy in the outside world back then; Apexes might not have been able to extend a single tendril of mental strength. It would’ve been outright crushed to pieces. In those times, anyone from the ancient civilization was suppressed no matter how weak they were.

Who would be in the right frame of mind to compose a song of the insurrection and spread it? Even those such as Sun Xin had come in contact with the outside world in recent years. The crucial factor was that the bramble rose had stopped them before. Prior to that, the ruins were completely isolated.

Who passed on the song?

“Can it have something to do with their weapons or battle methods?” Li Hao recalled how most of the lyrics had to do with introducing the family weapons. Perhaps the same went for the Zhengs?

“The Zheng family is skilled at the whip and their heritage weapon is the Nine-Knotted Whip...” said Director General Wang. What did that have to do with being trouble? “The Zheng young master... Their patriarch had three sons. Does this young master refer to the youngest or another one of the three?”

He was quite confounded as well. The folk song seemed to hint at something. When combined with Sun Xin’s words, perhaps the song was hinting that the Zheng family had betrayed them all. Could it be that an ancient powerhouse had emerged from one of the ruins a while back to spread the word?

However, they found themselves unable to enter the other ruins and might have been concerned that other communication methods would eventually die out. Therefore, they wrote a folk song as these were easily popularized and shared from generation to generation.

Silver City happened to be where the Li family had been headquartered during New Martial and where the Star Gate was located. Did they wish to notify the Li family through this method?

The group looked at each other. The various Silver Armors were also confused, but didn’t offer a word.

Sun Xin continued to ignore Li Hao after another glance. “I do not know the other Empyrean King, but I recognized some of the Saints.”

Director General Wang’s face continued to darken as he listed people that had been noticeable personages in their time. Two of them were even senior executives of a main city—one was a vice city lord and the other was a reserve commander of one of the main city armies. He could command one hundred thousand troops!

As for the others, their status wasn't low either. However, those who wielded actual power were few and far in between.