Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 424 - 375: The Monarch Descends

Chapter 424: Chapter 375: The Monarch Descends
No more hesitation.
A stern glint flashed in Pei Jing’s eyes. He slowly maneuvered his hand in the sword technique, the Canghai Sword in the scabbard at his waist silently gathering Sword Intent, locking onto the groom in the red official uniform.
The wedding poetry recital seemed like a ritual. Once the ritual was complete, it was unpredictable what might happen.
Sun Xinzhi, Mr. Wan, and He Fanshuang all realized this and collectively locked their focus onto the groom in the red official uniform.
Blindly attacking an Alien of unknown details and species, one that could be much stronger than us, is absolutely suicidal. According to the teachings of the Academic Palace, we should retreat to a safe place, hide, and observe. If necessary, we might even need to sacrifice others to gather intelligence and decipher the Alien’s "rules."
But whether it was He Fanshuang, a Disciple of the Academic Palace who felt a duty to aid Yu Country’s citizens; Pei Jing, whose own younger brother was sitting inside the carriage; or Sun Xinzhi, a Judge of the Town Suppressing Office, none of them could simply forgo trying. They wouldn’t give up resistance and flee, leaving everyone else behind.
"Fair are the maidens in the land, insightful in books and Chapters. Whenever in doubt, just ask; why fret the passing hours..." the groom in the red official uniform recited. He seemed unaffected by any hostility, still sitting on horseback, maintaining a smile.
Just as he finished speaking and was about to open his mouth again, and as Pei Jing and the others prepared to attack, Li Ang stepped forward. He raised his voice, "Our guest stands, hesitating to reproach; we spread the covers for a bed of brocade—"
This line was the next in the poetry, the courteous reply from the bride’s family to the groom.
Li Ang’s voice rang out clear and loud, his eyes firmly fixed on the groom in the red official uniform.
The groom closed his mouth, smiling as he listened to the poetry.
It worked!
Pei Jing and Mr. Wan exchanged glances. Their shock gave way to an immediate understanding of Li Ang’s approach.
The Alien’s actions often follow certain rules. The groom started reciting lines from the welcoming poetry when we hadn’t responded. This means if we also recite the welcoming poetry, cooperating with the ritual, we can hold him off!
Li Ang inwardly exhaled a sigh of relief. He stretched out the intervals between his words, "Please—"
The wedding procession was exceedingly complex, and this exchange of poetry would continue for quite some time.
Seeing the groom in the red official uniform still standing in place, unresponsive, Li Ang relaxed. He accentuated the word "Please," reluctant to conclude, and turned his head to wave intensely at He Fanshuang.
"Li Ang has temporarily held them off," He Fanshuang realized.
Understanding, she whispered, "Move the people out. Now."
Mr. Wan turned silently. He again released his Telekinesis, violently opening all the doors along the corridor and moving everyone out.
From his sleeve, he shot out numerous Mind Threads. They rapidly wove through the clothes of all the passengers, linking them together like candied haws on a stick.
The passengers, having never witnessed such a scene, screamed and cried incessantly, thinking Mr. Wan was trying to harm them.
"Stop crying! Keep shaking the Heavenly Bells in your hands! Don’t stop!" a guard from the Pei family ordered. He was protecting Pei Qilang, who was behind him, and sharply halted the passengers’ chaotic crying.
Another guard rushed to the rear of the train and kicked hard. He sent the already loose back door flying far away, then jumped down onto the gravel of the tracks.
The train’s wheels were still firmly grasped by countless pale arms. The good news was that these arms seemed to have made no further movements.
This is a fleeting opportunity; it won’t come again!
Meanwhile, Li Ang was still shaking his head and chanting the bridal procession poetry, stalling for time.
Mr. Wan took a deep breath. His figure became light and floated up. He soared over the train aisle, lifting the passengers, who were strung together like candied haws, preparing to fly out of the carriage.
"Huh?!"
Just as Mr. Wan was about to take all the passengers, including Pei Qilang, and fly away, he saw the Pei family guard who had jumped out of the train first. The guard was shaking and trembling, cold sweat continuously beading on his face, as if he had seen something extremely terrifying and peculiar. His expression was grotesquely distorted.
"URGH—"
The Pei family guard let out a strained gasp.
Under everyone’s fearful eyes, his clothes rapidly changed color. Astonishingly, his gray-brown robe turned into a dark red official uniform, embroidered with patterns of phoenixes clutching long ribbons.
Beneath him, a tall, lifeless, and breathless horse appeared out of thin air.
His face, too, was rapidly changing, becoming like that of the original groom—sleek and handsome, with a smile on his lips, his face looking oil-painted and powdered.
He just stood there in the middle of the tracks, smiling at Mr. Wan. There was no trace of Spiritual Energy fluctuations around him.
What?!
Mr. Wan instantly stopped his forward flight. The passengers he was dragging, affected by inertia, tumbled like rolling gourds, crashing against the walls and floor of the carriage and crying out in pain.
This crash also interrupted the sound of the Heavenly Bells they were holding.
The clothes of the passengers closest to the carriage exit immediately began to change color, rapidly turning dark red.
Mr. Wan dared not linger. He quickly released his Telekinesis, dragged everyone away from the train exit, and used his Telekinesis again to pick up the Heavenly Bells scattered on the ground, continuing to shake them incessantly.
The bridal procession doesn’t want to let them leave!
Mr. Wan’s expression changed several times. The guard who had transformed into the second groom was a Pei family servant. A servant of a noble family was not some lowly underling without rights.
His parents, grandparents, and even generations before them were all confidants of the Pei family. All family members depended on Hedong’s Pei Family, this towering tree. Their loyalty was unquestionable. From a young age, they trained their bodies and learned martial arts, dedicated to protecting the Pei family as their sacred duty.
Even considering all the armies of Yu Country, these guards were counted among the most Fierce Soldiers. Their bodies were clad in Soft Armor, and their hands wielded talismanic knives. Their vigorous vital energy was enough to repel Low-level Evil Spirits.
Yet such a person had perished without even a groan, and Mr. Wan hadn’t even seen clearly how he died.
"The bride!" Sun Xinzhi, the Judge of the Town Suppressing Office, spoke urgently. "The key to this wedding ceremony is probably a specific bride! Do any of you recognize *him*?" He pointed towards the smiling groom at the front of the train.
Sun Xinzhi scanned the faces of all the passengers in the train aisle, watching their every minute expression, attempting to find clues. But he was disappointed.
The passengers’ expressions upon seeing the groom showed only fear, not the surprised confusion of recognizing a familiar face. No one could identify the groom.
"My lord—descends—"
At the front of the train, Li Ang was still elongating his voice, trying his best to stall for time. His breath control was strong, so he wasn’t worried about needing to breathe for the moment.
However, he also noticed that whenever he dragged the intervals between words for too long, the groom at the front of the carriage would move his lips slightly, attempting to break free from the rules and forcefully recite the next line of the wedding poetry.
This means I can’t stall indefinitely until dawn.
According to the rules of the wedding procession, when the bride’s family recites the line, "Pray, my lord, alight from your horse, that we may gently converse," the groom then has the right to dismount, open the manor gate, and find the bride.