National Guardian's Gone and We're Done

"A young man spoke excitedly, his voice trembling slightly with exhilaration. His eyes shone with the light of one who had just survived a disaster, as if he had suddenly seen a brilliant dawn in the darkness.

"What were they just talking about? I didn’t understand any of it."

A villager from Xia Shui Village scratched his head in confusion. His eyes were filled with bewilderment, like a child lost in a maze, completely befuddled by the events unfolding around him.

"I think I heard the words ’Great Xia Empire’ and ’Blue Star,’ but I couldn’t make out the rest."

Another villager chimed in, frowning. He tried hard to recall the fragments he’d overheard, but his thoughts were a tangled mess he couldn’t seem to sort out.

"Well-known? Is that young man really powerful? Is he famous?"

Yet another villager asked curiously. They had lived in the isolated Xia Shui Village for a long time and knew very little of the outside world. The sudden appearance of this mysterious and powerful figure filled them with doubt and curiosity.

The villagers of Xia Shui Village had also overheard the heated discussion among the group of young people, and they keenly noticed the drastic shift in their emotions.

Their earlier terror, despair, and devastation had rapidly transformed into surprise and joy.

Some were even starting to dance with glee.

This stark and extreme emotional swing

gave both Chang Bailin and Chang Zimo an ominous feeling.

The father and son shared a knowing glance,

each seeing the worry and unease in the other’s eyes.

Chang Zimo slowly walked over to Chang Bailin and said in a low voice, "Father, I heard them say that the man who can control the golden flames is Chu He, from our Great Xia Empire."

"Chu He? Is he very powerful?"

Chang Bailin frowned,

earnestly searching his memory.

The name felt somewhat familiar,

but for the life of him, he couldn’t recall where he might have heard it.

A look of confusion and bewilderment crossed his face, as if he were trying to recall a distant, hazy dream.

"Powerful. Extremely powerful."

Chang Zimo’s voice was incredibly grave,

each word landing like a heavy stone on one’s heart. "He single-handedly destroyed the White Elephant Empire, which neighbors our Great Xia Empire!"

"What?!" Chang Bailin’s face went pale.

His eyes flew wide open, his mouth falling slightly agape, his expression a mask of shock and disbelief.

He usually paid no attention to news from the outside world.

His greatest pleasure on most days was simply listening to his favorite operas.

But for a time, Chu He’s name had resounded like thunder,

spreading through every street and alley. Chang Bailin couldn’t have avoided hearing it a few times,

but he had never paid it much mind.

That was why, upon hearing the name "Chu He" just now,

it had only felt familiar, and he couldn’t place where he had heard it.

Now, with his son’s reminder,

unease flooded Chang Bailin’s heart like a rising tide, and he grew anxious and flustered.

"Are we really done for this time?"

Chang Zimo asked anxiously, his brow deeply furrowed.

A trace of fear and helplessness showed in his eyes, as if he could already see a tragic fate for himself and all of Xia Shui Village.

"Don’t lose hope."

Chang Bailin took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "You have no idea just how terrifying this Lord Mountain God is," he said.

"But Lord Mountain God is about to be burned to nothing in Chu He’s sea of golden fire.

That fire seems to have an absolute suppressive effect on things of a dark and sinister nature."

Although Chang Zimo was just an ordinary person, his years of life experience and his observation of the current situation

allowed him to discern the underlying dynamics and predict where things were headed.

He watched helplessly as the great tree was consumed by the golden flames,

its vitality draining away bit by bit, and his heart filled with worry and despair.

Given a little more time,

the golden flames would likely burn the great tree so completely that not even ash would remain, wiping it from the face of the earth.

"Just you wait and see."

Chang Bailin gritted his teeth and spoke with determination, but he couldn’t hide the panic and unease in his eyes.

The great tree that once stood at the edge of Xia Shui Village,

from which countless hanged bodies had dangled like the claws of a Demon,

was now, at a terrifying and visible speed, slowly approaching the end of its life.

Its branches and leaves were being reaped piece by piece, as if by the scythe of the Death God,

losing their vitality with every passing moment.

Its once vibrant, verdant green, full of Life Force, rapidly turned to a withered yellow as its life was drained away in an instant.

Then, the withered yellow turned to charred black, as if corroded by a dark flame.

Finally, under the searing lick of the golden fire, it turned to ash and scattered in the wind.

The great tree, once a symbol of terror and death, was gradually purified by the golden flames,

dissolving until only emptiness and silence remained.

The black, putrid stench produced by the burning golden flames slowly diminished, as if an invisible hand were gradually tightening a faucet.

The acrid odor faded bit by bit into the air,

until it vanished completely.

This signaled that the great tree’s Life Force was nearly exhausted.

It was undergoing an unprecedented catastrophe,

like a Demon judged by righteousness, struggling in agony as it was driven toward destruction.

In the sky, thick branches, like giant pythons, began to snap and fall one after another,