Chapter 9 - The Eastern Chu State.

Time returned to the early morning in the ruined temple. To be honest, at first Xu Xuan had a strong urge to join the Mohist school to learn automatons, especially when he saw Mo Li using automatons to help villagers with their labor. However, he quickly gave up. He simply couldn't stand the ascetic life of the Mohists. At the same time, he also began to admire Mo Li for being able to persist in such a life.

He rose from the ruined temple, then walked towards the courtyard with the sword in his hand. Life in the mountains had helped Xu Xuan develop many habits, and practicing swordsmanship every morning was one of them.

If he didn't practice his swordsmanship for a day, Xu Xuan would feel very uncomfortable. Recalling the Sword Hall's training methods in his mind, Xu Xuan began to practice the Sword Hall's swordsmanship again and again.

“Your swordsmanship is lacking.” At some point, Mo Li had already arrived in the courtyard of the ruined temple.

“Do the Mohists also practice swordsmanship?” Hearing her question, Xu Xuan couldn't help but ask.

“Of course, not just swordsmanship, we also understand the art of military formations.” Mo Li said, and at some unknown point, a pitch-black long sword appeared in her hand. When Xu Xuan looked closely, he realized the sword was made of wood. Yet, despite being a wooden sword, it exuded a heavy aura.

“This is?”

“A Mohist Sword.” Looking at Xu Xuan, Mo Li said with a smile, “Your ideas about communism last night gave me many new thoughts and inspirations. As a thank you, I’ll guide you in swordsmanship. This is a reward, so you don’t have to join the Mohists.”

Before Xu Xuan could respond, the two automatons beside them moved simultaneously, attacking Xu Xuan from left and right, each extending a wooden sword from its hand.

For a moment, Xu Xuan felt flustered.

However, without giving Xu Xuan much time to adapt, Mo Li also rushed towards him.

“Next, adjust your breathing according to my attack frequency. The rhythm of breathing is very important in combat.” Mo Li said, attacking Xu Xuan with one sword strike after another. However, each time the wooden sword touched Xu Xuan, it would immediately retract, not causing much harm, and her attacks carried a certain special frequency.

Although the black wooden sword looked very heavy, for some reason, in Mo Li’s hands, it felt light and sharp.

Ultimately, the morning passed with their sparring. From then on, Xu Xuan had an additional task every morning: learning Mohist swordsmanship with Mo Li. What reassured Xu Xuan was that the swordsmanship of this era seemed to have no special moves, or perhaps the Mohists did not; it was more about speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness! The goal was to kill in one strike at the start of combat.

After their sparring ended, the two set off again. They traveled, stopping and starting, for half a month, finally arriving within the borders of the Eastern Chu State.

This world was ultimately different from his past one, with the biggest manifestation being the Chu State. It had been divided into two countries: the Eastern Chu State and the Western Chu State. At the same time, Xu Xuan had truly witnessed the national landscape of this world.

The two continued like this, practicing swordsmanship in the morning and then traveling, and another half a month passed without them realizing it. This half-month also raised many questions for Xu Xuan, the main one being that all the armies they encountered along the way were expressionless...

Indeed, all the soldiers they met were expressionless, with blank faces and hardly any words. The closer they got to the capital of the Eastern Chu State, the more refugees Xu Xuan found. And as the number of refugees increased, their travel speed slowed down once again.

The reason was simple: every time Mo Li encountered refugees, she would go and help them.

Among other things, during the days Xu Xuan spent traveling with her, he personally witnessed Mo Li transforming many refugees and poor commoners into Mohist disciples.

“Recruiting so many people at once, can your Mohist school really handle it?” Seeing someone else express willingness to join and leave with the travel expenses Mo Li provided, Xu Xuan finally couldn't hold back.

“Even if we can’t handle it, we must save them. And once they join the Mohists, if they have a skill, we will find them a job. If not, we will teach them a life skill. From woodworking automatons to farming and production, and even military combat, the Mohists can teach it all. Life in the Mohist school might be a bit tough, but at least they won’t starve to death.” Mo Li said with a smile, “And, this Eastern Chu State seems a bit strange.”

“It is indeed a bit strange; we seem to have encountered many refugees along the way.” Hearing Mo Li’s words, Xu Xuan couldn't help but recall. The closer they got to the capital of the Eastern Chu State, the more refugees they encountered who wanted to escape from there.

“Not that kind, it’s something else.” Traveling with Xu Xuan, Mo Li pondered and said, “Along the way, I always faintly sensed a subtle demonic aura.”

“Demonic aura?” Hearing her words, Xu Xuan couldn't help but frown. It was at this moment that a small village appeared not far ahead of them. The village was built near a riverbank, but it didn't seem to have many inhabitants, as there were only a few houses, probably four or five families.

“Let’s not think too much about it for now. It seems we have more work to do.” Seeing the village, Xu Xuan subconsciously rolled up his sleeves. There was nothing for it; every time they encountered such a poor village, Mo Li would always spend some time helping the locals as much as she could. After traveling for a while, Xu Xuan had grown accustomed to this.

However, what Xu Xuan didn't expect was that this time, as they approached a small house, they smelled a strong scent of blood.

Immediately after, a scream echoed in front of them—a man's scream, followed by a girl's shriek. Accompanying the shriek, a terrified little girl, who looked seven or eight years old, ran out of the room.

The little girl's face seemed extremely frightened, and her body was covered in bloodstains. As she ran out the door, she tripped and fell headfirst out of the doorway.

However, the little girl didn't fall to the ground, because an automaton had already reached her first and picked her up. Read at Novels Haven (novelshaven.com)

At this moment, the little girl also noticed the two people who had appeared outside the door.

“Wah!!! Help!!! There’s a monster!!! Help me!!! There’s a monster in the house!!!”

“Hmm?” Hearing her words, Xu Xuan immediately drew the long sword from his back. It was then that Xu Xuan noticed a person walking out of the house. Although this person’s body looked like an ordinary villager, its head had no eyes, nose, or ears, only a giant mouth that split open all the way to the earlobes. Moreover, its body was clearly emaciated, yet its belly was distended like that of a pregnant woman.

What also shocked Xu Xuan was that this head was more than four times larger than a normal human head. At this moment, the giant mouth was still chewing on an arm. And in its hand, it held a human leg. Blood was still oozing from the leg, indicating that this thigh had just been torn from someone.

“Holy crap!!” Seeing this scene, Xu Xuan’s long sword flew out directly. Without waiting for the monster to make any move, the sword flew towards its neck. As for the chains connected to the long sword, Xu Xuan had only recently discovered during his sword practice that these chains could freely extend and retract. Of course, the specific length depended on the distance he could control the sword. However, one thing did surprise Xu Xuan: after the events in the fog realm, coupled with his training during this period, and the breathing method Mo Li taught him, his sword-controlling distance had increased.

Xu Xuan’s sword-controlling distance had increased from the original fifteen steps away from his body to twenty steps.

Without giving the monster any chance to react, the long sword had already pierced its neck. Almost simultaneously, one automaton had retreated to a considerable distance, holding the little girl, while the other automaton held a weapon resembling a chainsaw.

Just as Xu Xuan’s sword struck the monster’s neck, the automaton charged forward and sawed down towards the monster’s head with its chainsaw. Xu Xuan was so stunned by this sight that he forgot to retrieve his sword.

“They have these things in this era? Chainsaw-wielding killer robots?”

“It’s an automaton, and that saw isn’t called a chainsaw; it’s merely powered by cultivated ‘Qi’.” Hearing Xu Xuan’s comment, Mo Li stepped forward to correct him.

As the two spoke, the monster had already been sawed in half by the automaton. And to prevent the monster from moving further, Mo Li even controlled the automaton to cut the monster into several more pieces...

After dealing with the monster, the two then entered the room, and the scene inside made Xu Xuan feel an almost overwhelming urge to vomit. Inside was a pool of flesh and blood, indistinguishable as to whose it was, because it seemed to have been violently torn apart by some brute force and haphazardly gnawed on a couple of times.

However, Xu Xuan ultimately held it in and didn't run out to vomit. After all, he had his pride, and the beautiful Mo Li, who went in with him, showed no reaction. Naturally, he couldn't appear too disgraceful. And sometimes, if a person doesn't push themselves, they truly don't know their limits.

At this point, Xu Xuan and Mo Li visited a few other houses, and what they saw was almost the same. Undoubtedly, the monster they had just killed must have possessed some special terrifying power, but that power was instantly killed before it could be used.