Swordholder

Li Wei stood guard on his right, his body radiating golden light, like a golden war god.

Chen Zhaoning stood guard on his left, his sword held horizontally in front of him, its blade gleaming coldly and its aura chilling!

The three walked side by side, and although the crowd following closely behind did not dare to approach even half a step.

Starting from the collapsed restaurant, the streets were already littered with corpses, blood stained the entire stone road, and severed limbs were scattered everywhere!

The sight of skulls exploding is horrific and chilling.

"You remnants of the human race wielding swords, you will not escape!"

Yang Ling shouted loudly from the crowd, her eyes fixed on Chen Yuan and the other two who were surrounded.

Her lower body had already transformed into a thick snake tail, its scales gleaming coldly, yet she still dared not approach rashly.

Chen Yuan's ferocity just now was too terrifying. Countless Wuxiang cultivators have perished at his hands, and even Huang Delai, who was in the late stage of the Dharma Body Realm, could not escape.

The image of Chen Yuan smashing Huang Delai's head with his forehead still terrifies her.

This boy is absolutely insane!

Chen Yuan looked up at her, his tone icy and chilling: "I want to leave, and you can't stop me!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Yang Ling burst into wild laughter, his expression growing increasingly sinister. "This world is vast, the entire mortal realm is the territory of the Divine Court; there is no place for you sword-wielders to hide!"

"She's stalling for time! She's probably already asked the county authorities for help!"

"Ah Yuan, we must break through as soon as possible! There must be a Taoist priest named Huang Ting in charge of this county town!"

Chen Zhaoning leaned close to Chen Yuan and whispered urgently, her expression extremely solemn.

This is the county seat, a world apart from the situation where they killed several officials in Shangang Town earlier, so there is no room for carelessness.

Chen Yuan nodded slowly, his eyes deep and cold as a pool, his sharp gaze sweeping over the surrounding crowd. He said in a deep voice, "Understood. We'll break out immediately!"

"Um!"

Chen Zhaoning's eyes turned cold, and he nodded emphatically, raising his long sword slightly, ready to fight at any moment.

But at that moment, Chen Yuan suddenly stopped, turned his gaze to one side of the street, hesitated for a moment, and then strode towards that direction.

Although Chen Zhaoning and Li Wei were full of doubts, they did not ask any questions and followed closely behind, always keeping a close watch on their surroundings.

Yang Ling, who was blocking the city gate, frowned upon seeing this.

She thought Chen Yuan was going to break through the wall, so she immediately warned everyone to hold the area below the city wall and not give the three of them any chance.

Chen Yuan did not walk towards the city wall, but instead walked towards the crowd on one side of the street.

Among the crowd that surrounded them were beastmen guards who had transformed into human form, as well as many humans who were greedy for the bounty and wanted to capture them to exchange for wealth.

"Stop right there! Take one more step, and don't blame us for being impolite!"

Some people mustered their courage and roared with a ferocious expression, gripping their weapons tightly, but they could not hide the fear in their eyes.

Chen Yuan's gaze was icy as he swept over these fellow beings, his tone filled with anger and incomprehension:

"You are all human beings, why do you aid and abet these orcs in oppressing your own people?"

Facing Chen Yuan's gaze, these men, though terrified, gritted their teeth and spoke, their voices filled with helplessness and greed: "We need to survive! Capture you, and we'll get the bounty!"

"That's right! Capture a swordsman and you'll get a thousand Yang Gold!"

"A thousand pieces of Yang gold! Do you know what that means?"

"This means we can live a better life, and our families can be freed from slavery and no longer suffer abuse!"

……

·····

The crowd spoke amongst themselves, their voices filled with fear and resentment, yet no one was willing to voluntarily retreat.

Each swordsman costs one thousand Yang Gold, and the three people before us cost three thousand Yang Gold.

This is practically a walking treasure, and they are unwilling to give it up no matter what.

Chen Yuan looked at them, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes, but he didn't say anything more and walked straight ahead.

Upon seeing this, the crowd instinctively retreated, maintaining a distance of five or six meters from Chen Yuan.

They held weapons such as wooden sticks, hoes, and sickles, staring intently at the three men, but no one dared to step forward to stop them.

Only the guards, constables, and Wuxiang warriors who were not yet dead, still held swords and were eyeing them menacingly.

Suddenly, Chen Zhaoning stopped, a flicker of emotion crossing her eyes…

She saw the elderly couple who had been bullied by Liu Gongquan and others, as well as the girl kneeling on the ground.

It turned out that Chen Yuan had stopped because he had seen them.

It seems that the girl wanted to take advantage of the chaos in the street to escape with her parents.

Unexpectedly, after walking only a few dozen meters, her parents died and never woke up again.

Chen Zhaoning felt a mix of emotions and was filled with regret.

At this moment, Chen Yuan had already walked up to the girl.

The girl collapsed to the ground, tightly embracing her parents' cold bodies. Her parents had long been blind, and their bodies were gradually becoming stiff.

The girl's eyes were red and swollen, her tears long since dried, her expression blank, as if she had lost her soul, as if she had completely lost her mind.

"Miss? Miss..."

Chen Yuan softened his tone and called out softly, trying to wake the girl who had fallen into a daze due to excessive grief.

After a long while, the girl slowly turned her head to look at Chen Yuan, who was covered in blood and exuded murderous intent.

As if remembering something, she suddenly knelt down before Chen Yuan and kowtowed repeatedly to express her gratitude.

boom!

boom!

boom!

With each slam, she used all her strength, as if she were impervious to pain, slamming her head heavily onto the cold stone pavement to repay Chen Yuan's immense kindness in saving her life.

When she raised her head, her forehead was already covered in blood, looking ferocious and terrifying.

"There's no need for that!"

Chen Yuan instinctively stepped forward to help her up and stopped her from kowtowing.

"Thank you so much, young master, for avenging my parents' blood feud... I have no way to repay you, except to be your servant in my next life!"

The girl's voice was choked and hoarse, each word filled with endless sorrow.

Chen Yuan was slightly taken aback as he met the girl's raised eyes.

Those eyes, filled with death and despair, crashed into his heart, causing his soul to tremble violently!

That was clearly a look of someone resigned to death; only someone determined to die would utter the words "I'll repay you in the next life."

Chen Yuan felt a heavy weight in his heart. He could sense that the girl was also a member of the masses.

Even if she wasn't from a prestigious family, but just an ordinary person from the bottom of society, she still ended up with her family destroyed and her life ruined.

He couldn't help but speak, saying softly, "Why don't you... come with us?"

Upon hearing this, the people around immediately burst into laughter, revealing mocking expressions, but they merely watched and had no intention of making a move.

"Hmph, those who wield the sword are all fools! They can barely protect themselves, yet they think they can take others with them? How naive and laughable!"

Yang Ling snorted coldly, secretly delighted.

She had intended to stall for time and wait for reinforcements to arrive, so naturally she wouldn't interfere and let Chen Yuan entangle with the girl.

Although the city wall of Huaishan County is taller than that of the town, it is only five or six meters high.

An ordinary Yellow Court True Person can easily leap out, and a Great Body Realm cultivator can also escape after climbing a few times.

If these three fierce men were to fight to the death, they might actually be able to escape, but they would be carrying a burden, which is exactly what she wants.

Chen Zhaoning and Li Wei remained silent, their eyes fixed on the menacing enemies around them with increasing vigilance.

They respect every decision Chen Yuan makes, and no matter what he does, they will stand by him.

To Chen Yuan's surprise, the girl shook her head firmly, her tone resolute:

"No, young master killed my father and mother's killers, and I am already extremely grateful. I cannot hinder your escape."

Chen Yuan felt as if something had ripped open his heart, causing him excruciating pain.

He stared at the girl, his voice low and angry, each word piercingly clear:

"Isn't it said that all beings are equal?"

"Didn't they say that as long as one obtains the status of a citizen, one will be protected by the laws of the Great Xiang Empire and will no longer be bullied?"

This is a belief he has held firmly in his heart throughout the past year!

It is also the identity that countless people at the bottom of society yearn for.

They believed that as long as they obtained the status of all living beings, they could escape their lowliness and gain dignity.

The girl slowly lowered her head, a bitter smile playing on her lips, her voice mournful:

"The status of all living beings? Heh... My parents worked hard their whole lives, and they couldn't even scrape together a thousand star copper coins."

Ten thousand star copper coins is an enormous number that is already out of reach for us.

The reason we were able to obtain the status of "All Beings" was because my father, while scavenging for scraps, risked his life to obtain a treasure, which allowed him to collect 30,000 star copper coins, thus securing the status of "All Beings" for our family of three.

"But this so-called status of all living beings is still nothing more than a lowly and despicable person in front of the nobles of Manchu ethnicity."

"Lowly people, yes, we are the lowest and most despicable, at the mercy of others, utterly devoid of dignity."

The surrounding humans fell silent.

The vast majority of them, like the girl, possessed the status of a sentient being.

That is why they are qualified to enter the county town.

But the girl was right, what does it matter if we are considered ordinary people?

Even though the high priest of the Divine Court once preached "equality of all beings"

However, in the presence of the powerful and wealthy who held the Manchu, Xuan, Di, and Tian registers, they remained lowly beings.

Before the royal family, they were as insignificant as dust, like ants that could be crushed at will.

equality?

Where is equality?

Only strength can dominate everything; that is the truth of this world.

Class is the only structure of this world.

High-rise, wine pool and meat forest.

At the bottom of society, even eating shit is difficult!