The Fourth Prince

Outside Heaven Dou City.

Su Chen jumped down from the carriage, tossed a piece of broken silver to the driver, and turned to merge into the stream of people entering the city.

Gui Mei turned into a wisp of shadow, silently following along the shadows on the ground.

Heaven Dou City was livelier than Wuhun City. Shops lined both sides of the streets, and hawkers cried out without pause.

Su Chen stopped at a bun stall and bought two steaming meat buns.

He took a bite, and his mouth filled with rich grease.

"Old sir, these buns taste great. They're heavier than southern flavors."

The stall owner smiled as he wiped his hands with a towel.

"You've got good taste, young master. Heaven Dou City's meat buns are all about hearty scallion pork. You're from out of town, aren't you? Where are the adults in your family?"

"We got separated. I'm just wandering around."

The stall owner took a sheet of oil paper, wrapped up an extra steamed bun, and handed it over.

"Heaven Dou City is huge, so don't run around carelessly. Especially not on those main streets frequented by nobles. If you run into some young master you can't afford to offend, there'll be nowhere to argue your case. Finish eating and find your family quickly."

"Thank you, old sir."

Su Chen accepted the steamed bun and continued strolling down the main street.

A faint voice sounded by his ear.

"Your Highness, are we really not going to the Crown Prince's Residence?"

"No. What would we do there? Sit around staring at the young master?"

Su Chen replied through spiritual transmission.

"Prince Xue Xing is watching closely. Going over now would be walking straight into the line of fire. Let's get some air in the city first and see what kind of place this Heaven Dou imperial capital is."

"But we still have serious business to handle. His Holiness assigned us the task of helping the young master break the deadlock."

"This is serious business. To find a flaw, we need to look from the outside."

Su Chen swallowed the last bite of his bun.

"Since Xue Xing suspects the young master, he must have planted spies. Right now, even a fly entering the Crown Prince's Residence would be recorded. We might as well stir up some trouble in plain sight and muddy the waters."

A commotion suddenly broke out at the intersection ahead.

The commoners who had been strolling along the street hurriedly retreated to both sides, leaving a large open space in the middle. Some even hid in the nearby alleys, not daring to get too close even to watch.

Su Chen stopped walking.

At the center of the crowd, several burly men dressed in ornate guard uniforms surrounded a teenage commoner girl.

The girl's face had gone pale. The vegetable basket in her hands had fallen to the ground, scattering greens everywhere.

A young nobleman dressed flamboyantly and reeking of alcohol staggered toward the girl.

A lecherous glint flashed in his eyes as he reached out to pinch her chin.

"What are you hiding from? Do you think this prince will eat you?"

The girl backed away again and again in fright, tears welling in her eyes.

"Your Highness, please show mercy. I still need to go home and cook for my sick mother..."

"What fun is cooking for a sick person? Come back to my residence with me. From then on, someone will cook for you every day. This is a blessing others could only beg for."

The young nobleman burst into laughter, and the guards beside him joined in.

The surrounding pedestrians were furious but dared not speak.

An image from Martial God Hall's intelligence files flashed through Su Chen's mind.

The fourth prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, Xue Beng.

He played the fool and acted like a tyrannical wastrel. To avoid the internal struggles of the Heaven Dou royal family, he had forcefully disguised himself as a useless piece of trash beyond saving.

"Your Highness, it's Prince Xue Beng."

Gui Mei's voice sounded through spiritual transmission again.

"That brat is a notorious wastrel. He causes trouble all day long. The young master never killed him because he didn't think he could stir up much trouble."

"Couldn't stir up much trouble? He fooled even his own elder brother with that act, and you call that unable to stir up trouble?"

Su Chen's gaze shifted slightly.

"Pretending to be a wastrel to survive is fine. But using ordinary people for amusement makes this act disgusting."

The guards were just about to drag the girl away by force when she cried out in despair.

Su Chen stepped directly through the crowd and walked straight into the open area.

He bent down, picked up a dirt-stained vegetable from the ground, and brushed off the soil.

"I say, a prince openly abducting a civilian girl in broad daylight? Has the Heaven Dou Empire's royal upbringing all been fed to dogs?"

His childish voice rang clear and abrupt through the quiet street.

Xue Beng stiffened and turned around.

He saw a short-haired boy who only reached his waist, standing there with a vegetable in hand.

The guards froze for a moment before breaking into raucous laughter.

"Where did this little brat come from? Your hair hasn't even grown in yet, and you're already trying to play the hero rescuing a beauty?"

An almost imperceptible sharp glint flashed deep in Xue Beng's eyes, but the arrogance on his face did not diminish in the slightest.

"Kid, do you know who this prince is? You dare meddle in my affairs? Are you tired of living?"

Su Chen tossed the vegetable back into the girl's basket.

"I know. The fourth prince of Heaven Dou, Xue Beng. I heard you spend all day doing nothing useful and know nothing besides eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling."

Xue Beng's expression changed, as though his sore spot had been stepped on. He pointed at Su Chen and cursed.

"Impudent! Men, seize this ignorant little bastard! Break one of his legs and throw him out of the city!"

Two guards approached with cruel grins, reaching for Su Chen's shoulders.

"Kid, remember to watch your mouth in your next life!"

Su Chen did not retreat. He did not even blink.

He carried no sword at his waist. The Purple Thunder Spirit Sword was still being nurtured within his dantian.

Gui Mei prepared to make a move from the shadows.

"Elder Gui, don't move. The stage is set, but the main character hasn't appeared yet."

Su Chen stopped him through spiritual transmission.

Facing the hands reaching for him, Su Chen slowly raised his right hand and pressed his index and middle fingers together.

"Throwing your weight around and bullying others, with such exaggerated acting."

"You're a terrible prince. Let me help you remember that."

He lightly flicked his fingers forward.

A thin thread of purple lightning burst from his fingertips.

There was no deafening sound.

Only a nearly imperceptible flicker of electric light.

The two guards did not even see what that light was. They merely felt their vision blur.

The purple light curved around the guards and shot with absolute precision into Xue Beng's chest.

The smirk on Xue Beng's face instantly froze.

A violent force of lightning exploded within his body.

The Swan Martial Soul hidden in his body burst forth uncontrollably. The right wing of the originally pure-white swan phantom was tightly wrapped in purple lightning.

Lightning and fire intertwined.

"Aaah!"

Xue Beng let out a shrill scream. As if struck by a heavy hammer, he was sent flying backward and crashed onto the bluestone pavement several meters away.

His body twisted wildly across the ground, both hands clutched tightly over his chest as tears streamed from the pain.

It was the agony of his Martial Soul's origin being forcibly torn apart.

That finger strike had not taken his life. But it had precisely shattered half the foundation of his Swan Martial Soul.

The guards were completely dumbfounded.

The bystanders sucked in sharp breaths, and the entire street fell silent.

A six-year-old child had crippled half a prince's Martial Soul with a casual flick?

"My Martial Soul... my Martial Soul is cracked! It hurts! It hurts so much!"

Xue Beng rolled around on the ground. The wastrel facade he had put on was completely gone, leaving behind only fear of the unknown.

Su Chen stood where he was, his expression calm.

"Now you won't need to pretend to be useless anymore. From now on, you can peacefully be a real piece of trash."

"Y-you... who exactly are you?!"

A guard captain drew his saber and shouted fiercely, though his legs trembled beneath him.

Before Su Chen could reply.

A squad of soldiers in silver armor rushed over from the street corner, spears in hand.

The Heaven Dou Royal Knights.

When the lead knight captain saw Xue Beng wailing on the ground, his face changed drastically.

"Protect the Fourth Prince! Surround that young assailant!"

Dozens of spears instantly encircled Su Chen, their tips gleaming with cold light.

The girl had long since collapsed to the ground in terror.

Su Chen did not look at the spear tips. Instead, he slowly raised his head and looked past the knights toward a three-story teahouse beside the street.

Under the sunlight, there appeared to be nothing unusual there.

Yet a faintly fishy-sweet scent quietly spread through the air.

Cold.

Slick.

As though something lurked in the darkness, flicking its tongue as it locked its icy killing intent onto its prey.

Gui Mei's voice suddenly tightened in Su Chen's sea of consciousness.

"Your Highness, be careful! It's Jade Phosphor Serpent Poison!"

A smile curled across Su Chen's lips.

Not only was he unafraid, he even seemed faintly relaxed, as though his scheme had succeeded.

"The old poisoner Prince Xue Xing sent as a bodyguard has finally decided to show himself."

"I was just worrying that I had no reason to raid that Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well."

Atop the teahouse.

A pair of narrow, ghostly green eyes slowly opened in the shadows.