The Return of the Condor Heroes: Starting with a Suicide Note and Conquering All Realms

Kublai Khan's head stopped at Guo Jing's feet.

Those eyes were fixed on the great hero who was defending Xiangyang to the death.

There was no sound from the city wall.

The night wind blew by, carrying with it the smell of blood, mixed with the stench of burning.

The echoes of the retreating Mongol army still reverberated in the distance, while the garrison in Xiangyang stood frozen in place, their eyes fixed on the gray-robed youth.

Just then, a series of chaotic footsteps came from below the ramparts of the city wall.

Accompanied by several harsh shouts.

"Get out of the way! Don't block my way!"

"You have offended the angels! May your entire family be exterminated!"

Two rows of imperial guards dressed in flying fish robes charged arrogantly onto the city wall, with embroidered spring knives at their waists.

The guards used their scabbards to clear a path, roughly pushing the wounded soldiers who had just fought desperately to defend the city to the ground.

An old Song soldier with a broken leg was unable to dodge in time and was kicked in the wound by a guard, causing him to writhe on the ground in pain.

Imperial guards lined up on both sides.

A middle-aged eunuch dressed in a bright red python robe slowly walked up the city wall, stepping on the bloodstains on the ground. He had a fair complexion and no beard.

The eunuch clutched a scented silk handkerchief tightly to his mouth and nose, his brows furrowed. He looked with disgust at the mutilated corpse and the dark red bloodstains on the ground, even standing on tiptoe, afraid of soiling his cloud-patterned official boots.

This bright red python robe was dazzlingly red on the city wall of Xiangyang.

The eunuch walked to the center of the city gate and stopped.

He cleared his throat, and his sharp voice rang out in the night sky.

"Imperial edict arrives—"

"Guo Jing, the garrison commander of Xiangyang, and Lin Yuan, the righteous hero of the Jianghu, receive this imperial decree!"

The eunuch presented a roll of bright yellow silk with both hands.

Guo Jing was startled.

Guo Jing stared wide-eyed at the bright yellow imperial edict.

The imperial court has not forgotten Xiangyang.

The Emperor has sent someone.

Guo Jing pushed away Huang Rong, who was supporting him.

Guo Jing dragged his injured body forward two steps.

Both knees bent.

With a thud.

Guo Jing knelt heavily in the blood.

Blood splattered on the blue bricks.

"Your Majesty, I, Guo Jing, pay my respects to the Emperor." Guo Jing prostrated himself on the ground, his forehead pressed against the cold city bricks, his voice hoarse.

Huang Rong sat not far away.

Huang Rong looked at her kneeling husband, then at the eunuch covering his nose with a silk handkerchief, her lips trembling. She was a smart woman, and she knew all too well what the appearance of this imperial edict at this time meant.

When the Mongol army besieged the city, Lin'an was not even given any food.

Now that Kublai Khan is dead and the army has retreated, the imperial edict has arrived.

The eunuch glanced at Guo Jing, who was kneeling on the ground, with satisfaction.

He then unfurled the imperial edict.

"By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: The Mongol army has invaded the south, and Xiangyang is in grave danger. Thanks to Guo Jing's valiant defense and the chivalrous hero Lin Yuan's bravery in killing the enemy general, the siege of Xiangyang has been lifted. I am greatly gratified. I hereby appoint Lin Yuan as the Grand General Protector of the Nation, award him ten thousand taels of gold, a thousand bolts of Shu brocade, and a mansion in Lin'an. He is hereby ordered to come to the capital immediately to meet the Emperor. This is my decree!"

After the eunuch finished reading, he closed the imperial edict.

This imperial decree exudes a sense of bestowal.

In the eyes of the Southern Song emperors, no matter how skilled you were in martial arts or how many tens of thousands of people you killed, as long as you were given an official position and some money, you would have to kneel down in gratitude.

Guo Jing raised his head.

"Your subject accepts the imperial decree and expresses his gratitude."

The eunuch ignored Guo Jing.

His gaze passed over Guo Jing and landed ahead.

Lin Yuan stood still.

Hands behind back.

The gray Taoist robe fluttered in the night wind.

Lin Yuan did not kneel.

He didn't even lower his head once.

The eunuch's face darkened.

He put down the silk handkerchief covering his mouth and nose, extended his right hand, made a delicate pinky gesture, and pointed directly at Lin Yuan.

"You audacious madman!"

The eunuch's shrill voice rose, revealing an air of imperial arrogance.

"Seeing the imperial edict is like seeing the Emperor himself! You are but a commoner, yet you have received such a great favor from the Emperor. Why don't you kneel down and kowtow to express your gratitude!"

The imperial guards drew their embroidered spring knives.

The blade flashed.

The guards surrounded Lin Yuan, waiting for the eunuch's order.

Yang Guo stood beside Lin Yuan.

Yang Guo gripped the hilt of the Xuan Tie Heavy Sword with one hand, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

He glanced at Guo Jing kneeling in the blood, then at the arrogant eunuch.

absurd.

Yang Guo found this absurd.

The soldiers at the front were starving, Guo Jing fought desperately on the city wall, and Lin Yuan single-handedly repelled the Mongol army.

As a result, a eunuch who had never even seen blood dared to act arrogantly here with just a tattered rag.

Lin Yuan looked at the eunuch who was pointing at him.

Lin Yuan did not draw his sword.

They did not use the true essence of the Tang Dynasty plane.

He couldn't even be bothered to say a word.

Lin Yuan twitched the corner of his mouth.

A soft laugh escaped his throat.

then.

The dark golden vertical pupils lit up in the night.

Grade A dragon bloodline.

Pure dragon's might.

No special moves or internal energy are required.

This is a case of higher-dimensional life overwhelming lower-dimensional life.

A heavy pressure descended from Lin Yuan's center outwards.

The surrounding air became stuffy.

A snap.

The eunuch pointed at Lin Yuan's finger and broke it on the spot.

The bone fragment pierced the skin.

The eunuch hadn't even had a chance to make a sound.

The heavy weight of the dragon's might fell directly on the eunuch's shoulders.

With a bang.

The eunuch's knees slammed heavily onto the blue bricks, his kneecaps shattered.

Immediately afterwards, a cracking sound came from his spine.

The eunuch was pressed to the ground by that force.

Not just eunuchs.

The imperial guards who had drawn their swords and were pointing them at each other were attacked at the same time.

Several loud bangs.

The sound of people kneeling down was deafening.

The dragon's might did not stop.

The pressure continues to increase.

The guards' flying fish robes ripped apart.

The embroidered spring knife was bent and broken by the pressure.

The guards' sternums collapsed and their internal organs ruptured.

Fresh blood flowed from the seven orifices.

The entire process took less than three breaths.

The city wall was covered with rotten flesh.

The imperial guards, along with the supervising eunuch who delivered the imperial decree, were all killed before they could utter a single word, crushed by Lin Yuan's imperial might.

The dull thud of bones breaking became the last sound the guards made in this world.

The bright yellow imperial edict rolled out of the eunuch's hands and fell into the pool of blood.

The soldiers guarding the city wall collapsed to the ground.

The guards couldn't even look Lin Yuan in the eye.

Guo Jing knelt on the spot.

Guo Jing was closest.

He watched as hundreds of people were crushed in front of him.

Guo Jing was a little dazed.

He stared at the blood-stained imperial edict, trembling all over.

Lin Yuan withdrew his dragon might.

The dark golden light in the vertical pupils gradually faded.

Lin Yuan strode forward and walked to the scroll of imperial edict.

Lift your foot.

Military boots stepped on bright yellow silk.

Grind it hard.

True Qi is exhaled and exhaled.

The imperial edict turned into a pile of powder, mixing into the blood and mud of the city bricks.

Lin Yuan lowered his head and looked down at Guo Jing.

"Master Guo"

Lin Yuan's voice was completely flat.

"What you risked your life to protect is this group of vampires who can't even tell if they're alive or dead."

Lin Yuan pointed to the pile of rotten flesh on the ground.

"These people are drinking meat soup in Lin'an City while you bleed in front of them. After the enemy retreats, they'll come over with a tattered rag and make you kneel down like a dog."

Lin Yuan looked at Guo Jing's bloodless face.

"You found it tragic? Very moving?"

"In my eyes, you're not even as good as a dog with dignity."

Guo Jing opened his mouth.

A gurgling sound came from his throat.

Guo Jing wanted to refute.

He wanted to talk about loyalty to the country, and also about the great righteousness between ruler and subject.

But Guo Jing, looking at the blood and flesh scattered on the ground and then at the pile of imperial edict powder, couldn't utter a single word.

His lifelong beliefs were trampled underfoot and crushed to pieces by Lin Yuan.

Guo Jing rolled his eyes and fainted.

Huang Rong let out a mournful cry and collapsed onto Guo Jing.

She didn't even have the courage to look up at Lin Yuan.

Yang Guo stood at the back.

Yang Guo looked at the unconscious Guo Jing and then surveyed the mess on the walls of Xiangyang.

He relaxed his grip on the Xuan Tie Heavy Sword.

Yang Guo had no more attachment to the Song Dynasty or the so-called rules of the martial arts world.

He turned his head and looked at Lin Yuan.

Yang Guo's eyes were filled with murderous intent.

"Brother Lin," Yang Guo said, "where are we going?"

Xiaolongnu held Yang Guo's hand, her expression aloof.

Ouyang Feng emerged from the corner, clapping his hands and laughing loudly, "Good riddance! Good riddance! The old beggar loves it!"

Lin Yuan turned around.

Lin Yuan didn't look at the apathetic guards inside the city.

He raised his head, his gaze passing over the ruins of Xiangyang City and looking southeast.

That place is in the direction of Lin'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty.

"It's dark today."

Lin Yuan spoke in a flat tone.

He raised his right hand and made a loose clenching motion in mid-air.

"Then I'll tear the sky apart."

The words fell.

Lin Yuan took a step.

His gray Taoist robe fluttered in the night wind as he soared into the air.

Yang Guo, carrying the Xuan Tie Heavy Sword, followed closely behind.

Xiaolongnu and Ouyang Feng leaped off the city wall.

Four figures disappeared into the night outside Xiangyang City.

Only the tattered Guo-character banner remained, fluttering in the wind.

……