The Terrifying Incident at Zhidào

"Hurry!"

A hoarse, distorted voice exploded within the carriage, filled with the terror of a cornered beast. The black-clad elite soldier driving didn't even have time to think; the whip in his hand instinctively tore through the air, emitting a piercing crack!

"Giddy up!"

The four pure black steeds reared up violently! The heavy carriage shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, smashing through the thick darkness before dawn and speeding west along the bluestone imperial road outside Zhangtai Palace! The wheels rolled over the stone slabs, emitting a muffled, thunderous roar that echoed through the silent palace city!

Almost the instant the carriage curtain fell!

That faint golden stream of light, invisible to the naked eye but causing the System in Cheng Xi's mind to shriek warnings, descended like a spear of judgment from the heavens, striking with pinpoint accuracy precisely where the carriage had just been!

"Buzz--!"

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a silent annihilation that froze the soul! The bluestone ground, as hard as iron, was as if gnawed by an invisible giant maw, instantly vanishing to reveal a pit about ten feet in diameter with edges as smooth as a mirror! The remaining stones at the bottom of the pit displayed a bizarre, vitrified sheen, and the wisps of smoke had not yet risen before they were smoothed away by an unseen force!

Terrifying! An absolute power of erasure! If not for Cheng Xi's shout that instinctively made the driver accelerate, he and this carriage, along with everything within several yards, would have already turned into the most basic particles of dust!

"Protect the Prince!" Ying Zheng's furious and shocked roar came from outside the carriage! His black-robed figure had already flitted to the carriage roof like a ghost, his long sword unsheathing with a dragon's cry! The icy blade cut a mournful cold arc in the faint morning light, pointing directly at the eastern sky!

Dozens of black-clad elite soldiers reacted with astonishing speed, forming a formation instantly! Half of them drew their swords and sabers, forming a steel thicket around the carriage, while the other half swiftly removed the powerful crossbows from their backs. Icy bolts were nocked, and the creaking of tightened mechanisms blended into a chorus, their arrowheads all aimed at the empty east!

Killing intent surged to the heavens!

However, in the eastern sky, there was only the deepest indigo of pre-dawn and the silent silhouette of the magnificent eastern gate of Xianyang City – Zhidiao Pavilion. The golden stream of light that brought destruction had vanished without a trace, as if it had never appeared. If not for the sudden, mirror-smooth pit on the ground silently testifying to the terror of moments ago, everything that had just happened would have seemed like a dream.

Inside the carriage, Cheng Xi huddled on the brocade cushion, his body soaked in cold sweat, as if he had just been fished out of water. He gasped for breath, each inhalation pulling at the searing pain of the rune's backlash on his chest, his vision blurring. Although the System's alarm had stopped, the residual sharp buzzing still reverberated in the depths of his mind.

[High-Dimensional Order Attack evaded... Energy Consumption: 0.01%... Passive Scan Activated... Attack Source Direction: Lock Failed (High-Dimensional Cloaking)... Attribute Re-evaluation: Human Cultivation · Law of Purity, Stillness, and Non-Action (Annihilation Level)... Associated Mark: Host Mental Fluctuation Abnormal (Political Discussion in Zhangtai Palace, Rune Backlash)...]

The cold stream of information washed over his consciousness. Law of Purity, Stillness, and Non-Action... Annihilation Level! Human Cultivation! It was indeed Taishang Laojun's doing! Merely because he displayed "abnormal" intelligence in Zhangtai Palace, merely because he attempted to touch the path of runes, it had provoked such cold and ruthless "purification"! That so-called "gaze," the Heavenly Dao is chaotic and neutral, but Human Cultivation... the "order" it represents is so cold and cruel!

Ying Zheng's voice, suppressing a mountain of rage, came from the carriage roof, chillingly cold: "Investigate! Within a three-mile radius, anyone suspicious will be killed without mercy!" He had not seen the golden light, only the sudden pit on the ground, which was utterly beyond human capability! This had surpassed the scope of assassins; it was sorcery! It was a malevolent spirit! The target was directly aimed at his royal brother!

"Royal Brother..." Cheng Xi forced himself, lifting a corner of the carriage curtain, his face ashen pale, his voice weak but filled with the terror of a near-death experience, "What... what was that just now? There was... something... chasing me..."

Ying Zheng looked down, his black robes billowing in the morning breeze, his eyes, deep as a tranquil pool, fixed on Cheng Xi's terrified face, as if trying to pierce through his skin and see everything hidden in the depths of his soul. That pit, that attack that was clearly not ordinary... the secrets this royal brother held were more dangerous than he imagined, and also... more valuable!

"It's nothing," Ying Zheng's voice was decisive, carrying a reassuring, icy power. "Demons and monsters, attempting to shake the foundations of my Great Qin. Move!"

He sheathed his sword, standing steadily on the carriage roof like a stabilizing needle. The convoy started again, moving faster, the guards' vigilant gazes like falcons, scanning every shadow on both sides of the road.

Cheng Xi retreated into the carriage, his fingertips digging into the Spirit Gathering Talisman and the Witch Script Wood Fragment hidden close to his body. A cool energy seeped into his meridians, barely suppressing his churning blood essence and the fear in the depths of his soul. The purge by Human Cultivation... was like a sword hanging over his head! He had to be faster! Faster to find a way to restore the System's energy, faster to grasp true power!

The convoy sped out of Xianyang's west gate, leaving the majestic palace walls behind, racing along the official road towards Zhongnan Mountain. The early spring wilderness unfolded in the morning light, carrying the scent of earth and grass. However, this temporary "safety" did not last long.

Just as the convoy entered a narrow section of road flanked by dense forests—

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Piercing sounds of air being rent suddenly erupted from the forests on both sides! Dozens of crossbow bolts, shimmering with a faint blue glow, shot out like a swarm of poisonous bees! Their target was not Ying Zheng on the carriage roof, but directly at the carriage carrying Cheng Xi! The arrowheads were poisoned, and the angles of their shots were cunning and vicious!

The true mortal kill, following the supernatural erasure, had violently begun!