Douluo Dalu: Start with a Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgement

Chapter 418: Diverting trouble to the east
He Caitou knew very well that his father, mother and three sisters did not die of food poisoning. He clearly remembered that on that night, a terrifying figure sneaked into the palace and killed people wantonly. He was able to survive because his mother stuffed him into a secret passage.

Now that I think about it, the terrifying figure at that time should be the evil soul master of the Holy Spirit Church. The current royal family of the Sun-Moon Empire has long been in collusion with the evil soul master, and it is not just in recent years.

Over the years, he has never forgotten this blood feud. As time goes by, this hatred has become more intense, and he has even taken his anger out on the entire Sun-Moon Empire.

But he did not intend to massacre the civilians of the Sun-Moon Empire. His targets of revenge should be the current royal family of the Sun-Moon Empire and the participants in the original incident, not innocent civilians.

He hated the Sun-Moon Empire, but the civilians were innocent. The consequences of this disaster were unimaginable, and now no one knew the actual number of casualties in Mingdu.

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

"Master Xuan, as the leader of this mission, I am also responsible for failing to supervise properly, and I am willing to accept the punishment."

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

Xu Sanshi and He Caitou's expressions changed, and they said quickly: "This matter has nothing to do with you. You are not aware of it. We acted arbitrarily and rashly without the consent of the senior sister."

He Caitou continued, "Master 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 most desperate, it was his teacher Fan Yu who took him in, and it was Shrek Academy that gave him a home. He did not want to implicate Shrek Academy and was willing to bear the consequences alone.

Elder Xuan shook his head and said, "Okay, I understand the whole story. As for the punishment, we'll discuss it when we get back to the academy. You guys take a rest first. We'll set off in a quarter of an hour."

After saying that, Old Xuan glanced at everyone calmly, then turned and left without saying anything more.

Seeing Master Xuan leaving, Ma Xiaotao quickly approached Zhang Lexuan and whispered, "Sister Lexuan, what's going on?"

Zhang Lexuan shook her head and signaled Ma Xiaotao not to ask. The fewer people who knew about this matter, the better. Although everyone had some speculations, it was best not to talk about this matter openly. It was enough to know it in your heart.

Ma Xiaotao curled her lips and said, "Forget it, I'm too lazy to care."

Then she said worriedly, "I wonder if Ji Lin has left Mingdu successfully. Is he still stupidly staying in Mingdu waiting for tomorrow's finals?"

Zhang Lexuan frowned slightly, then relaxed and said, "He is very smart. After such a big thing happened, he will not stay. With His Majesty Chi Yuan here, they should be able to leave safely."

Originally, she wanted to wait for Ji Lin to finish the game tomorrow and leave together, but after what happened, it was no longer appropriate to stay. She could only pray that everything went well for Ji Lin and the others.

Seeing that Master Xuan didn't get angry on the spot, Xu Sanshi breathed a sigh of relief, patted He Caitou on the shoulder and said, "Okay, Caitou, this matter can't be completely blamed on you. Who knows what kind of ghost things are underground? The Sun-Moon Empire is really crazy. What kind of horrible things did they put underground? I can only hope that the number of casualties this time can be less. Although they are people from the Sun-Moon Empire, they are all innocent civilians!"

At the end, Xu Sanshi sighed.

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

Bei Bei shook his head and said, "It's difficult. The Holy Spirit Church is very powerful, and Xu Tianran is very ambitious. This loss is indeed huge for them, but it is far from enough to wipe out their ambitions."

"As long as the academy doesn't mention this matter, no one will know that it has anything to do with us. Anyway, the Sun Moon Empire is definitely not the only one who suspects us. The Body Sect, which is good at underground operations, seems to be much more suspicious than us."

Xu Sanshi's mouth twitched: "It seems a bit unfair to divert the trouble to someone else, doesn't it?"

After a brief pause, he continued: "But why do I kind of like this feeling..."

Jiang Nannan said unhappily: "Because you two are equally shameless."

……

"Who is it, who is it, who is it!" Xu Tianran roared to the sky, and his angry voice spread throughout the entire palace.

At this time, a large number of people began to rescue the wounded, and data continued to come in. This time, the casualties in Mingdu were horrific, and the economic losses were incalculable.

A large number of buildings in the palace collapsed, but because most of the servants and palace maids were busy, few people were buried, and the internal soul guide structure was solid enough. But even so, the materials needed to repair the palace buildings were huge. Those soul guides were more or less damaged in the previous violent shock, not to mention the buildings.

In addition, in the West City District of Mingdu, large areas of buildings collapsed and the number of civilian casualties continued to rise. In that horrific explosion, the casualties were extremely heavy.

Although the death of a few people could not move Xu Tianran, the death of so many people at once still made Xu Tianran feel extremely sad. What made him even more distressed were the large amount of supplies in the underground warehouse and the dozen or so level nine fixed-type soul guide shells.

These were the foundations for him to launch a war of aggression. What would it mean if they all disappeared? It meant that his plan would be postponed indefinitely. Moreover, even the wealthy Sun-Moon Empire could not afford this loss.

This huge explosion directly reduced the military reserves of the Sun-Moon Empire by one third.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, something bad has happened." A violently trembling voice came from afar, and a servant came running towards this side, his face full of sadness.

Xu Tianran said angrily: "What's wrong? This happened because of the curse of you bastards."

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

Hearing this, Xu Tianran's face was filled with anger, and a touch of joy flashed across his eyes. For him, this was the only good news at the same time as the huge loss today. The death of the emperor meant that the only obstacle in front of him was gone. With the power he now controlled, it was enough to support him to ascend the throne. The biggest obstacle was some anti-war nobles, but after the Mingdu explosion, would the anti-war nobles still oppose the war? Would they still dare to oppose the war? The people of Mingdu who had lost their loved ones would regard them as a thorn in their eyes.

Originally, public opinion in the Sun-Moon Empire might not have been very supportive of war, but after this incident, the direction of public opinion can be imagined.

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

Everything seemed not so bad again...

Looking up at the large number of evil soul masters that had already gathered in the air, Xu Tianran gritted his teeth and cried out, "Father, father, why are you gone!" Two lines of tears, not sure whether they were due to grief or heartache, instantly rolled down his face.

On the other side, Ji Lin and his companions were heading towards the Xing Luo Empire at a rapid speed. Nan Qiuqiu looked back in the direction of Mingdu and muttered, "Strange, why is no one coming to chase us? Where are those evil soul masters? Where did they go?"

Ji Lin said unhappily, "You really hope someone will come to hunt us down! They won't come. Mingdu has suffered millions of casualties. It 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 Church hates us, we can put it aside temporarily in the face of the temptation of a breakthrough in cultivation."

After saying that, Ji Lin sighed. He was still planning to keep the evil soul master who came to hunt him down. It would be best if the leader of the Holy Spirit Church came in person. He wanted to try and see if the leader could block his heavenly fire disaster.

The people from Zizaimen and Dilongmen did not delay and focused on their journey.

……

"What's the situation?" asked Xu Tianran, the Regent and Crown Prince of the Sun-Moon Empire, who was in mourning, with a serious expression.

The Imperial Defense Minister, who knelt on one knee in front of him, said in a deep voice: "The situation has stabilized, but the losses are heavy, especially the losses in buildings. The West City District has been completely destroyed, and the underground warehouse is probably also."

Xu Tianran waved his hand and said, "I don't want to hear the loss data. I want to ask you, what is the public sentiment like now?"

The defense secretary said: “The mood is very unstable, especially for the families who have suffered casualties. Many people have been left homeless, and most of them are outsiders who came to watch the game, and the casualties are the greatest.”

Xu Tianran nodded and said, "Pass on my order. Mobilize resources from nearby cities and immediately start saving the dying and the wounded. Move the army into the city to maintain order. Anyone who dares to take advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble will be killed without mercy. Anyone who deceives the people will be killed without mercy. Anyone who rapes and plunders will be killed without mercy. We must stabilize the situation in the shortest possible time. At the same time, designate today as a national mourning day and strictly block the news of His Majesty's death. At the same time, you write an article yourself and blame the Xingluo Empire and the Tianhun Empire for this explosion."

"Yes." The Minister of Defense agreed respectfully. He was very impressed that His Royal Highness the Regent was able to calm down his emotions in the first place. So many things happened at once, but he was still able to handle them in an orderly manner. He was indeed a wise ruler!
“Your Highness, what about Shrek Academy? This matter may also be related to them. When we announce it to the public…”

Xu Tianran shook his head and said, "There's no need to mention them. Shrek is just an academy after all. It doesn't make sense to add them in the interests of justice. Moreover, they are the spiritual leaders of many soul masters. Adding them will affect our strategy. I will avenge this sooner or later."

"Yes. Then I will take my leave."

(End of this chapter)