"They call this old man the 'Skull-Knocking Bamboo Staff Elder.' The thing I have loved most in my life is smashing people's skulls and sucking out their brain marrow, because it truly is exquisitely delicious."
The straw-cloaked elder continued, his gaze fixed on Sun Changyu's and the coachman's heads as he lightly tapped the waterlogged street with the bamboo staff in his hand.
As though pondering how much force to use, and how it would feel when he struck their heads later.
For a moment, silence fell beneath the curtain of rain.
The straw-cloaked elder shifted his gaze and looked toward the two men in black standing atop the shop roofs on either side. "You two do not intend to reveal your identities?"
At those words, one of the masked men in black slowly shook his head. "No need. Once we have killed everyone, you will naturally know who did it."
The straw-cloaked elder did not care. He looked toward the carriage ahead and said, "No rush to kill that prince. Once we settle these two eunuch dogs and lackeys, we can each rely on our own abilities to claim the head."
The two blue-robed swordsmen replied, "That would be best."
The next instant, True Qi boiled around their bodies, and the longswords at their waists trembled and keened as they flew from their sheaths.
They turned into two streaks of clear light, ripping through the air like lightning as they shot straight toward the coachman and Chief Eunuch Sun Changyu.
The straw-cloaked elder did not delay either. His withered palm slammed heavily onto the bamboo staff before him.
The bamboo staff began spinning at high speed, stirring the wind and rain around it as it likewise flew fiercely toward Sun Changyu and the other man.
At the same time,