Keyboard Immortal - Chapter 2850

Chapter 1363 As long as I’m not a historian of time

Isabella closed her eyes, awaiting her fate, but after a long while, the excruciating pain didn’t return. Instead, she felt an indescribable warmth all over her body, a sense of peace and security.

“It’s you!” The Grand Elder’s furious roar rang in her ears.

Oberon’s rage increased by 444…

Isabella hurriedly opened her eyes and saw the person she had longed for day and night.

“Brother Zu!”

Seeing her tearful eyes, Zuan’s heart trembled: “Bella, I’m late.”

“You dare come!” Oberon, longsword in hand, his eyes filled with icy coldness.

Zaun shielded Isabella behind him: “Elder, the situation is hopeless now. Why not break through and save your lives? As the saying goes, ‘Where there’s life, there’s hope.’ Why kill your own people instead?”

Oberon laughed angrily: “If it weren’t for your betrayal, how could the Order faction be in such dire straits!”

Oberon’s anger level increased by 888+888+888…

Zaun sighed: “Elder, you still don’t understand how we lost this time. The battle outside the pass was lost because of the Sixth Elder’s betrayal. No matter what we did, we were just going to our deaths. I had already pacified the Northwest, but after the Fourth Elder left, Li Zicheng’s army rose again. I don’t believe there’s no connection between these events.”

“The elders of your merchant guild have long been at odds with each other, yet you are unaware of it…”

“Shut up!” Oberon roared. “You’ve betrayed us yourself, and you still want to implicate others as traitors? Utterly shameless!”

Oberon’s anger level increased by 999+999+999…

Zaun shook his head. Seeing that he couldn’t even distinguish who the enemy was, he didn’t bother arguing with him anymore. Instead, he grasped Isabella’s hand: “Bella, I’ll take you away from here.”

Oberon appeared directly in front of them, his face grim as he stared at Isabella: “Bella, come with me and kill this traitor to the Order!”

Isabella gritted her teeth: “Elder, you just wanted to kill me, and now you want me to go with you…” “Join forces?”

Oberon snorted. “I wasn’t trying to kill you just now. I was only trying to prevent you from falling into the breeding camp and suffering humiliation. I was clearly saving you. Besides, we’re martyring for order, so even our deaths will be glorious. Maybe we can even gain the mercy of the true god of order.”

Isabella: “…”

She grabbed Zaun: “Brother Zaun, he’s gone mad! Let’s go!”

Oberon’s expression turned cold: “Bella, you’re going to betray order too? Then I’ll kill all of you traitors!”

Zaun sighed: “Elder, you should use your strength to kill more enemies outside the city.”

“You traitors deserve to die more than the enemies!”

“…”

Oberon slashed down with his sword, and countless laws of order formed a cage that trapped the two of them. Then the cage tightened inward, intending to tear the sinners inside to pieces.

Zaun swung his Killing Fang, severing those laws. The next moment, he used Rainbow Transformation to disappear with Isabella.

He didn’t want to fight the other side here and expose too much.

Oberon’s pupils constricted. What was the origin of the knife in his opponent’s hand, and why did it possess such destructive power against Order?

This guy was indeed born to be an enemy of Order. He should have suppressed him the moment he saw him at the Merchant Guild!

Unfortunately, the opponent escaped too quickly, and he never had the chance again.

Zaun led Isabella out of Beijing. Watching Li Zicheng’s army gradually surround the entire city, Isabella was somewhat dazed: “Brother Zaun, is Order truly finished?”

Zaun remained silent, unsure how to answer.

Isabella’s expression somber. After all, she had been in the Order’s camp for so many years, and the current state of Order deeply distressed her.

“Brother Zaun, are you going back to the Annihilation camp?”

“Yes.”

“I won’t go with you.” Isabella lowered her eyes slightly; she naturally couldn’t go to her mortal enemy’s side.

She couldn’t abandon the faith she had upheld for so many years for love.

“What are your plans now?” Zaun didn’t explain.

“I should go south to see if I can rebuild our country.”

“What if half the country is still destroyed by then?” Zu An knew the history of the Southern Ming Dynasty well; it couldn’t hold out for long.

“Then I’ll go to Taiwan to join forces with the Zheng family, find Sister Chu, or go overseas. We can’t give up.” The naivety and innocence of the past had disappeared from Isabella’s eyes, replaced by unwavering determination.

Zu An felt relieved: “Bella, you must promise me that no matter how hopeless the situation becomes, you must protect your life. Only by surviving can you witness any possibility.”

Isabella’s eyes lit up, looking at him expectantly: “Brother Zu, do you really think there will be a miracle?”

“Who can say for sure what will happen in the world until the very end?” Zu An looked up at the sky, his expression solemn.

Isabella nodded: “Brother Zu, I will remember your words. Can I hug you one more

time?” This separation might mean never seeing each other again—it might even be a final farewell.

The two embraced tightly in the valley. After a long while, the girl resolutely turned and left.

Zu An looked at his damp clothes and sighed softly.

“You really hurt that young girl badly.” Zhao Xiaodie emerged from the woods, her expression wistful. For a moment, he seemed to see his former self.

“From now on, we’ll be worlds apart. May she be well.” Zu An turned and left.

Although a member of the Annihilation faction, Zhao Xiaodie couldn’t possibly pursue Isabella for such a trivial matter: “Brother Zu, what about Chen Yuanyuan?”

“Captured by Li Zicheng’s army.”

“Ah?”

Zhao Xiaodie was shocked: “Wasn’t she supposed to be used to persuade the Second Elder to surrender?”

“Captured by Li Zicheng’s army, perfect for persuading the Second Elder to surrender.”

“???”

Zhao Xiaodie was completely bewildered and hurriedly chased after him to ask why.

…

Soon, news of the fall of Beijing spread throughout the country. The emperor, unable to withstand the onslaught, ultimately hanged himself on Coal Hill.

General Wu Sangui of Shanhaiguan was leading his army back to reinforce Beijing when Li Zicheng’s army sent envoys to persuade him to surrender. He was initially wavering, but soon his residence was captured, and his father and Chen Yuanyuan were taken prisoner. It was said that Li Zicheng was immediately captivated by Chen Yuanyuan’s beauty and took her into his harem. Enraged

by this, Wu Sangui, driven by a passion for his beloved, decided to surrender to the Manchus, thus leading the Qing army into the pass.

Li Zicheng led his main force north, intending to annihilate Wu Sangui’s troops first, take control of Shanhaiguan, and keep the Qing army outside the pass.

The high command of the Silent Extinction faction received Wu Sangui’s plea for help and was hesitant. Many worried it was a ruse by the Second Elder and Li Zicheng, a ploy to ambush the main force of Silent Extinction.

After all, the Order faction and Silent Extinction were mortal enemies; how could the Second Elder possibly surrender?

The Conqueror King was also uncertain and consulted Zu’an. Zu’an overruled the objections and ordered

a large army to provide support. Thus, the Conqueror King mobilized the entire Silent Extinction army, marching day and night into the pass. Just as they were about to reach the battlefield, they received several more pleas for help from the Second Elder.

Although the Second Elder’s army was elite, its small numbers made it difficult to withstand the rising momentum of the Brewed Army.

The Conqueror King, however, changed his previous hasty march, ordering his men to rest and regroup before moving to the battlefield. Clearly, he intended to completely exhaust the Second Elder’s forces, weakening them both before reaping the spoils.

He appeased and dismissed the Second Elder’s men, then noticed Zaun rapidly scribbling something in a book. Curious, he asked, “What are you doing?”

“As a messenger of memory, I need to record what truly happened in history,” Zaun replied casually, his pen flying across the paper.

The Conqueror laughed, “You should record how our Annihilation faction achieved a great victory.”

In truth, the various paths weren’t particularly averse to followers of memory, because the Mirror Messengers generally didn’t interfere with the course of events, unlike the annoying historians of time from the Chaos and Mystic paths.