Suicide

This wasn't the first time Gu Shenwei had been targeted for assassination by a child barely into his teens. Back at Xiaoyao Sea, the Little Prince of Hui Kingdom had once tried it too, though his methods and fate had been entirely different.

The Little Prince of Hui Kingdom had gotten a hidden-weapon box from Shangguan Yun. He'd disguised his move brilliantly, posing a serious threat to Gu Shenwei—but lost four fingers in the process.

By comparison, Shulitu had no such tricks. As the Dragon King approached, he drew his first dagger. It was knocked from his hand, but he had already drawn a second—the keepsake his father had left him. He didn't aim it at the Dragon King. He aimed it at himself.

Gu Shenwei snatched the dagger from him and coldly studied the precocious child.

Shulitu was clever, but he'd never had the chance to meet a true expert. The clever stratagem he'd thought up seemed laughably childish before the Dragon King. He looked a little disappointed, but not alarmed. He faced the two adults calmly, offering neither an explanation nor a plea for mercy.

Fang Wenshi was stunned. It took him a while to come to his senses before he asked, baffled, "What's all this about?"

Shulitu still refused to speak. Gu Shenwei had already guessed what he was after. "He wants to die here and pin the crime of killing a Khan's descendant on me."

Fang Wenshi found the child's thinking utterly baffling and almost laughed aloud. But then it dawned on him: if Shulitu really died here, it would deal the Dragon King a devastating blow. He had only just won the allegiance of some of the Northern Court. The little puppet's position was crucial. Without this sickly child, the Dragon King would have no