Zhao Xingshu and the Li brothers led their troops straight toward Empress Xiao.
They were not trying to draw Bai Xiaowen away from the battle. They genuinely meant to destroy Emperor Yang of Sui's coffin.
Frost settled over Empress Xiao's pale face. "You rebels won't even spare His Majesty's coffin and True Spirit after his death. For that crime, your entire clans should be executed!"
A wave of icy air spread around Empress Xiao, covering an area roughly ten meters across. It turned the ground silver-white, as though a layer of frost and snow had settled over it.
Zhao Xingshu rode into the frosted area, then lurched to a stop! The black aura surrounding his warhorse rapidly dissipated. The horse, once magnificent beneath that aura, gave a mournful whinny and collapsed.
Zhao Xingshu hastily used Backward Leap and rolled clear of the silver-white frost. He stared at the ten-meter expanse, shaken. "What is this...?"
Empress Xiao's voice was cold and stern. "Zhao Xingshu! I am no longer the helpless woman you bullied at will. If you come within ten paces of His Majesty, your demonic energy will vanish, and you will become an ordinary corpse."
Zhao Xingshu hesitated, unsure whether to believe her.
Bai Xiaowen, however, believed every word. Empress Xiao and Yang Guang's True Spirit had followed him, a cultivator they had never met, into Jiangdu City, which was full of their enemies. How could they have done that without some means of protecting themselves?
That was why Bai Xiaowen had ignored the demon army's attempt to draw him away. He kept fighting as planned, refusing to let the enemy's tactic distract him.
After weighing his options, Zhao Xingshu still did not dare enter himself. He pointed at a demon soldier. "You, go in! Bring out the tyrant's coffin!"