With the Blade

"What have we actually done?"

Even into the late night, Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan were still pondering over this matter. Though they wished to sleep, to close their eyes and forget everything, every time their eyes closed, the terrifying figure would instantly appear in their minds.

They brought back the monster; they brought back the Demon God.

Yet, this was not the scariest part. The most terrifying thing was that this was not the end at all—the Demon God wouldn’t allow them to die. Even that old eunuch couldn’t die. They had to live, live to witness everything that was about to happen.

So, what exactly was going to happen?

"I don’t know."

Both Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan were at a complete loss in their minds.

The unknown was the most terrifying. They simply couldn’t imagine what the future would look like. Even during times when the nomads invaded from the south, they never felt this way—no matter how savage the nomads were, they knew that they just needed to fight with all their might. As for the outcome, it would either be victory, defending their land, or defeat, being conquered... Of course, the thought of being conquered was something they never dared to imagine, but thinking about it carefully now, perhaps it wasn’t all that bad.

Even if defeated by the nomads, even if Great Chen was truly destroyed, it would just be another dynasty replacing the old one. Such events, though not common, weren’t unheard of.

But now, what they faced was truly something that had "never happened before."

Not recorded in official history, not mentioned in unofficial tales, not even appearing in myths and legends—suddenly, an exceptional master appeared, as powerful as a god, declaring that they wanted to kill every living being in the world. Most terrifying of all, this master truly had the capability to do so. Even more terrifying, they could choose not only to kill but also to let people live.

Just like Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan now. Upon returning to their respective residences, they had several times sought death in despair, but the blades in their hands, usually so sharp, couldn’t even cut their own skin.

Their bodies had become stronger, so strong as to defy reason. This should have been a good thing.

Yet they couldn’t bring themselves to smile at all.

Everything had changed, just like their bodies. From the moment that figure, who called themselves ’Huang Tian,’ ascended, everything had undergone some kind of irreversible transformation.

But perhaps, nothing had changed at the same time.

It was still a familiar morning, and Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan still marked attendance at the same familiar hour. No one would want to come to work if they could avoid it, yet apart from marking attendance, they didn’t know what else they could do—so they ended up here again, hoping that a familiar life might lend them some semblance of familiar reassurance.

And upon arriving at the main headquarters of the Commander, they met the old eunuch seated high in the main position.

It felt as if nothing had changed; even their superior was seated there as usual.

Even their work hadn’t changed much. They still went out to kill monsters when they appeared, and stayed inside to train when they didn’t—just like how monsters still occasionally appeared in Jiankang City, yet everyone continued with their normal lives. Yes, perhaps they should have realized this approach long ago, no matter the severity of the situation or danger, even if the sky itself fell, as long as they were alive, life had to carry on.

Only time remains unaffected by individual will, whether lived well or poorly, each day passes all the same.

"We just have to... go on living."

With a sigh, Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan each led their teams and began their day’s patrol.

The areas they were responsible for were quite far apart, one in the south of the city and one in the east. As for the so-called patrol, it was merely to see if they could be lucky enough to promptly kill any monster that suddenly appeared—their luck today was quite good, as no monsters or even any Evil Qi madmen were encountered. Everything was normal.

Everything being normal was, in itself, the greatest abnormality.

How could there be no Evil Qi madmen? How could there be no monsters? When things had reached such a chaotic state, shouldn’t such entities appear more frequently?

"It’s too normal, everything is too normal."

By almost evening, Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan were starting to sweat.

Precisely because things were so normal, it felt all the more abnormal, just like how excessive quietness can unsettle the mind. They had no idea what lay in wait for them next.

Fortunately, the old eunuch’s orders reached both of them.

If it were in the past, upon seeing such orders, they would have spat in disdain—though they bore no grudges against that old eunuch, the problem was that no one who works likes to work overtime. Yet this time, they would rather accept overtime than return early to their residences for rest.

Resting would mean continuing to face that unknown fear, tossing and turning with anxiety about the future. But with orders coming in, with work to do, at least it meant they could temporarily abandon those terrifying thoughts and focus on fulfilling the command itself.

However, the command itself was also somewhat frightening.

The order they received was to serve Huang Tian a meal.

Originally, such a task required only a few servants, but the issue was that no servant dared to take on such a risky task—after all, they were facing a terrifying presence for whom taking lives was as easy as crushing bugs.