Douluo Continent: Starting with a Heavenly Fire Judgment

Chapter 418 Shifting the Blame East

He Caitou knew very well that his father, mother, and three older sisters did not die from food poisoning. He clearly remembered that on that night, a terrifying figure sneaked into the palace and committed massacres. His mother stuffed him into a secret passage, which is how he survived.

Looking back now, that terrifying figure must have been an evil spirit master from the Holy Spirit Cult. The current royal family of the Sun Moon Empire has long been colluding with evil spirit masters; it wasn't something they only started doing in recent years.

Over the years, he has never forgotten this deep-seated hatred. In fact, as time went by, this hatred intensified, and he even directed his anger towards the entire Sun Moon Empire.

But he never intended to massacre the civilians of the Sun Moon Empire. His targets for revenge should be the current royal family of the Sun Moon Empire and the participants in the original incident, not innocent civilians.

He hates the Sun and Moon Empire, but the civilians are innocent. The consequences of this catastrophe are unimaginable, and the actual number of casualties in Mingdu is currently unknown.

Elder Xuan's emotions seemed to have calmed down a bit, and just as he was about to say something, Zhang Lexuan's gentle voice rang out.

"Elder Xuan, as the leader of this mission, I also bear responsibility for inadequate supervision, and I am willing to accept punishment."

Beibei and Jiang Nannan also came to Xu Sanshi's side and said firmly, "We are on the same team, and we are accomplices. We are also willing to accept punishment."

Xu Sanshi and He Caitou's expressions changed, and they quickly said, "This matter has nothing to do with you. You were unaware of it. We acted arbitrarily and rashly without Senior Sister's consent."

He Caitou continued, "Elder Xuan, I am willing to withdraw from the academy. In this way, if anyone finds out about this matter in the future, I will take full responsibility and it will never affect the reputation of the academy."

When he was at his most desperate, it was his teacher Fan Yu who took him in, and it was Shrek Academy that gave him a home. He didn't want to implicate Shrek Academy and was willing to bear the consequences himself.

Elder Xuan shook his head and said, "Alright, I understand the whole story. As for the punishment, we'll discuss it when we get back to the academy. You all rest now, and we'll depart in a quarter of an hour."

After speaking, Elder Xuan calmly surveyed the crowd, then turned and left without saying anything more.

Seeing Elder Xuan leave, Ma Xiaotao quickly approached Zhang Lexuan and whispered, "Sister Lexuan, what happened?"

Zhang Lexuan shook her head, signaling Ma Xiaotao not to inquire. The fewer people who know about this, the better. Although everyone has some guesses, it's best not to discuss this openly. It's enough for everyone to know.

Ma Xiaotao pouted and said, "Fine, don't tell me then, I can't be bothered to care."

She then worriedly asked, "I wonder if Ji Lin has successfully left Mingdu. Is he still foolishly staying in Mingdu waiting for tomorrow's final?"

Zhang Lexuan frowned slightly, then relaxed and said, "He's very smart. With such a big thing happening, he won't stay. With His Majesty Chiyuan here, they should be able to leave safely."

She had originally planned to wait for Ji Lin to finish his competition tomorrow before leaving together, but given what happened, it was no longer appropriate for her to stay. She could only pray that everything would go well for Ji Lin and the others.

Seeing that Elder Xuan didn't react immediately, Xu Sanshi breathed a sigh of relief and patted He Caitou on the shoulder, saying, "Alright, Caitou, this can't be entirely blamed on you. Who knows what kind of monster is underground? The Sun Moon Empire is simply insane, putting something terrifying underground in their own territory. We can only hope that the number of casualties this time will be small. Although they are from the Sun Moon Empire, they are all innocent civilians!"

In the end, Xu Sanshi sighed.

Jiang Nannan also sighed softly, "War is the cruelest thing. We can only hope that this incident can bring the war to a halt and prevent such tragedies from happening again."

Beibei shook her head and said, "It's difficult. The Holy Spirit Cult is very powerful, and Xu Tianran is ambitious. This loss is indeed huge for them, but it is far from enough to extinguish their ambition."

"As long as the academy doesn't mention it, no one will know that this matter is related to us. In any case, the Sun Moon Empire's suspects are definitely not just us, and the Body Sect, which is good at underground operations, seems to be much more suspicious than us."

Xu Sanshi's lips twitched: "Shifting the blame eastward seems a bit unethical, doesn't it?"

He paused briefly, then continued, "But why do I kind of like this feeling...?"

Jiang Nannan said irritably, "Because you two have equally thick skin."

……

"Who is it? Who is it? Who is it?!" Xu Tianran roared to the sky, his angry voice echoing throughout the entire palace.

At this time, a large number of people began to save lives, and data kept coming in.

This time, the casualties in Mingdu were terrifying, and the economic losses were incalculable.

Many buildings in the palace collapsed, but because most of the servants and maids were busy, very few people were buried. Moreover, the internal soul tool structure was solid enough. Even so, the resources needed to rebuild the palace buildings were enormous. Those soul tools were more or less damaged in the previous violent shock, not to mention the buildings.

In addition, large areas of buildings collapsed in the western district of Mingdu, and the number of civilian casualties continued to rise. The casualties were extremely heavy under that horrific explosion.

Although the deaths of a few people did not move Xu Tianran, the deaths of so many at once still caused him unbearable pain. What pained him even more was the large amount of supplies in the underground warehouse and the dozen or so level-nine fixed-position soul-guided cannon shells.

These were the very foundations of his wars of aggression. What would it mean if they all disappeared? It would mean that his plans would be postponed indefinitely, and even the wealthy and powerful Sun Moon Empire would find it difficult to bear such a loss.

This massive explosion directly reduced the Sun Moon Empire's military reserves by one-third.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, something terrible has happened!" A trembling voice came from afar, and a servant scrambled toward them, his face filled with grief.

Xu Tianran angrily retorted, "What's wrong? This kind of thing happened because of the curses of you bastards."

"Your Highness, His Majesty... His Majesty has passed away..."

Upon hearing this, Xu Tianran's previously furious expression froze instantly, and a hint of joy flashed in his eyes. For him, this was the only good news amidst today's enormous losses. The emperor's death meant that the only obstacle in his path had disappeared. With the power he now controlled, he could easily support his ascension to the throne. Originally, the biggest obstacle was some anti-war nobles, but after the Mingdu explosion, would those nobles still oppose the war? Would they even dare to? The people of Mingdu, who had lost loved ones, would see them as a thorn in their side.

Originally, public opinion in the Sun Moon Empire might not have been very supportive of the war, but after this incident, the direction of public opinion is predictable.

With the support of the people, no one could stop him.

Everything seemed to be getting better again...

Looking up at the large number of evil spirit masters who had already gathered in the air, Xu Tianran gritted his teeth and suddenly cried out, "Father, Father, why did you leave us like this!" Two lines of tears, whether from grief or heartache, instantly slid down his cheeks.

Meanwhile, Ji Lin and his group were rapidly advancing towards the Star Luo Empire. Nan Qiuqiu glanced back at the direction of Mingdu and muttered, "Strange, why isn't anyone chasing us? Where are those evil soul masters? Where did they go?"

Ji Lin said irritably, "You really hope someone comes to hunt us down? They won't come. With the casualties of millions in Mingdu, that place is now a paradise for evil soul masters. No evil soul master will give up the temptation there. No matter how much the Holy Spirit Cult hates us, they can temporarily put those aside in the face of the temptation of breaking through their cultivation."

After saying that, Ji Lin sighed. He was still planning to keep the evil soul masters who came to hunt him down. It would be best if the leader of the Holy Spirit Cult could personally take action. He wanted to see if the leader could withstand his Heavenly Fire Tribulation.

The members of Zizaimen and Dilongmen did not delay and focused on their journey.

……

"What's the situation?" Xu Tianran, the regent and crown prince of the Sun Moon Empire, dressed in mourning clothes, asked with a solemn expression.

The Imperial Defense Minister, kneeling before him, said in a deep voice, "The situation has stabilized, but the losses have been heavy, especially in terms of buildings. The western district has been completely destroyed, and the underground warehouses are probably also..."

Xu Tianran waved his hand dismissively and said, "I don't want to hear about the losses. I'm asking you, what's the public sentiment like right now?"

The Defense Minister said, "The emotions are very unstable, especially among the families who have suffered injuries or deaths. Many people are homeless, and most of them are out-of-towners who came to watch the game. The casualties are the greatest."

Xu Tianran nodded and said, "Pass on my orders to mobilize resources from nearby cities and immediately launch a full-scale rescue and relief effort. Deploy troops into the city to maintain order. Anyone who dares to cause trouble will be killed without mercy. Anyone who incites others will be killed without mercy. Anyone who commits rape and plunder will be killed without mercy. The situation must be stabilized as quickly as possible. At the same time, designate today as a day of national mourning and strictly suppress news of His Majesty's passing. Also, you will personally write an article attributing this explosion to the Star Luo Empire and the Heavenly Soul Empire."

"Yes." The Minister of Defense replied respectfully. He greatly admired the Regent for being able to calm himself down so quickly. With so many things happening at once, he was able to handle things in an orderly manner. He truly had the qualities of a wise ruler!

"Your Highness, what about Shrek Academy? This matter could very well be related to them as well, especially when we made the announcement..."

Xu Tianran shook his head and said, "There's no need to mention them. Shrek Academy is just an academy after all. Adding them to the list is meaningless in terms of morality. Besides, they are the spiritual leaders of many Soul Masters. Including them will affect our strategy. I will avenge this sooner or later."

"Yes. Then I shall take my leave."

(End of this chapter)