Kill the Sixth Prince

Purple Pavilion Manor.

Eunuch Huang had been alarmed by the terrifying aura from the outer city earlier and immediately began searching everywhere for Su Qingyang.

Just as he was about to enter Su Qingyang's courtyard, Su Qingyang opened the gates first and appeared before him without a sound.

"Young Master, are you all right?! Where did you go just now?"

Eunuch Huang hurriedly looked him over. Upon seeing that he was unharmed, he visibly let out a breath of relief.

"Oh! I'm fine..." Su Qingyang said blandly. "I just sparred with a Grandmaster!"

"..."

Eunuch Huang's cheek twitched slightly. He wanted to look at Su Qingyang as though he were an idiot, but mindful of his status, he merely cleared his throat and skipped over the subject.

Sparred with a Grandmaster?

Why not say you also beat him into submission, so that he would bow his head and pledge allegiance the moment he saw you?

"You old fellow, you're still so curious. Don't you know curiosity killed the cat?!"

Su Qingyang glanced at Eunuch Huang and shook his head faintly. He knew the man did not believe him, but he did not care.

Sometimes, that was simply how it was. He treated people with honesty, yet they thought he was bragging.

There was not even the most basic trust left between people!!

The air fell silent for a moment.

After a brief thought, Su Qingyang asked, "By the way, Eunuch Huang, have you come so late at night because something urgent has happened?"

Only then did Eunuch Huang seem to recall that he still had business to attend to. His heart jolted as he looked at Su Qingyang, his expression turning solemn.

"Young Master, Her Majesty the Empress has agreed to your suggestion. Tomorrow, this servant will take you to Moon-Watching Palace, where Matron Yue will personally verify your identity."

Su Qingyang nodded slightly. "Then whatever it is can wait until tomorrow!"

"Yes, Young Master!"

Eunuch Huang answered as respectfully as ever, as sincerely as ever.

"Oh, and prepare some more food for me."

Su Qingyang swept him a glance, then slowly shut the door. He walked to the window. Outside, the torrential rain had finally eased a little, though thunder still rumbled endlessly.

Extracting intelligence bit by bit was far too inefficient.

He needed to further deduce and perfect the [Soul-Mesmerizing Heart-Confounding Art]. It seemed he would have plenty of occasions to use it in the future.

"In the highest goodness, one is like water. Water benefits all things and does not contend, dwelling in places that all men disdain..."

Within a ruined mountain temple battered by wind and rain, a gentle voice slowly echoed.

Merely hearing that voice could calm even the most irritable person. It even made one involuntarily imagine that its owner must be some handsome and elegant scholar.

Yet when one looked up, several burly escort guards stood in a tight circle, surrounding the source of the voice at its center.

At first glance, it seemed like a lamb entering a pack of wolves.

But upon closer inspection, every one of their bodies was trembling slightly, as though they had encountered some flood dragon or savage beast.

At the center stood a crimson figure, more than three meters tall, nearly a zhang in height.

He lowered his head and eyes as if contemplating something, his palms pressed together as though in prayer. Yet beneath the skin of his neck, muscles could faintly be seen wriggling and crawling incessantly like little mice.

He was a monk. At the center of his bald head was carved a Buddhist seal, making him appear tranquil and far removed from worldly concerns.

That was, provided one ignored the dense array of deep craters across the temple floor...

Within those pits bloomed patches of bloody crimson lotus flowers. Their cores were shattered bodies, mangled beyond recognition and no longer resembling human forms in the slightest.

"Have you attained enlightenment?"

Red Arhat stopped chanting and slowly spoke, his voice still gentle.

Yet it tore apart the minds and spirits of every escort guard present.

"We have! Master, we have attained enlightenment! We beg you to show great mercy and spare our lives!!"

The guards' psychological defenses completely collapsed. Their legs gave out, and they dropped heavily to their knees, tears streaming down their faces as terror overwhelmed them.

Their group had merely been passing through and sought shelter from the wind and rain in this ruined temple. Never had they imagined they would stumble into a living hell.

Yet the monk had not said a word. He had simply rushed forward and punched several of their companions into pulp.

"Hehehe! Attained enlightenment... Even this old monk has cultivated bitterly for a hundred years without attaining enlightenment. How dare you mortals claim that you have!"

The monk let out a strange laugh, making the escort guard's scalp prickle and every hair on his body stand on end.

A chill surged from the soles of his feet straight into his heart, making him unable to stop himself from crying out.

Then, a gigantic demonic shadow descended from the sky.

His pupils contracted sharply. Before he could react in the slightest, he felt as though an ancient elephant's hoof had stomped heavily onto his spine.

In an instant, the bones of his body and his internal organs all collapsed, flattened, and shattered.

Another bloody red lotus blossomed within the ruined temple!

"Have you attained enlightenment?"

Red Arhat lowered his gaze to stare at the freshly formed blood flower and spoke again. His eyes were crimson, like those of a demon.

"No! Master, we are dull-witted. We are only ordinary escort guards, ignorant of the Great Dao. We would not dare presume to comprehend it..."

Several guards were so terrified that they collapsed limply to the ground, their entire bodies shaking like sieves. Some wailed with tears and snot streaming down their faces, desperately shaking their heads and begging for mercy.

"Foolish and obstinate, knowing no reverence."

Red Arhat slowly separated his clasped hands. His fingers were long and slender, but his palms were drenched in blood.

"I sit here discoursing upon the Dao and grant you the chance to hear the Great Dao. Yet you fail to recognize Heaven's bestowed blessing. That is disrespect toward my Buddha, disrespect toward the Heavenly Dao!"

"Since you remain stubbornly incorrigible, then return all to dust and become lotuses to atone for your sins!"

A moment later.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!

The air seemed to explode. Amid shrill screams, the entire earth shuddered.

Water splashed into torrents and cascaded down. Great pits appeared across the ground, while bloody mud and stone fragments were blasted into the sky.

Before long, everything fell quiet.

The crimson monk sat cross-legged amid a field of red lotuses, murmuring softly:

"Buddha above, they all died because of you..."

"This disciple worships Buddha with utmost sincerity, honors Buddha, dies for Buddha. You must... curse me well!!"

At some unknown moment, Red Arhat had opened his eyes. Beads of blood continually dripped from his eyelids, sliding slowly along his cheekbones before falling into the bloody mud beneath him.

What a vicious ghost, choosing its victims to devour.

"Lord Red Arhat appears to be in such refined spirits. I wonder whether you might be interested in accompanying this servant girl to the Imperial City."

Suddenly, a seductive voice rang out.

A peerlessly beautiful woman in red approached barefoot. Her red robes draped over her body, framing her slender jade-like neck. Her long, lovely legs were exposed, her eyes flirtatious and enchanting, misted with watery allure, while the corners of her small lips curled faintly upward.

"The matter of the real and fake Sixth Princes has spread throughout the martial world. Who knows how many eyes are fixed upon Great Jin's imperial court now."

"If, at this moment, someone could cut off that real prince's head and hang it high upon the Imperial City walls, tell me, would that not be satisfying!!"

Red Arhat slowly raised his eyes, licked his lips, and said in a vicious voice, "You have news of the real Sixth Prince?"

"Of course. This servant girl's daughters are spread throughout the Imperial City, so naturally I have reliable information." The woman in red covered her mouth and laughed, appearing as youthful as a girl of sixteen.

"Opportunity must not be missed. Such a fine chance cannot be allowed to slip away."

"The other princes and princesses all have experts protecting them openly or in secret. Only this fake Sixth Prince has yet to have his identity confirmed. Killing him will be much easier than killing the others."

"This servant girl must let that dog emperor taste the pain of losing a son. Even if he has no feelings of flesh and blood in his heart, he will probably still be angered half to death."

As the woman in red spoke, she giggled. Her half-bare skin swayed like flowering branches in the wind, stirring heat in the eye. Merely imagining it seemed incomparably exhilarating.