"Your Majesty!"
Before the Emperor could react, Eunuch Zhao threw up an arm to block it. With a bang, a roof tile crashed heavily onto his hand, smashing it bloody.
Eunuch Zhao paid it no mind. Before the imperial personage, no arts could take effect; even inner qi was partly suppressed. That was perfectly normal.
He caught the Emperor's body as the shock sent him staggering and falling, then immediately helped him outside. Three steps became one, a jog became a sprint, and in the blink of an eye they had rushed out of the great hall.
Most of the eunuchs serving within the hall had yet to react. Only one young eunuch standing beside the inner hall's door was quick enough; at the sight of a figure flashing past him, he instinctively took off after them.
He had barely emerged from the hall and found his footing when a boom erupted behind him. The blast of air shoved the young eunuch several steps forward, coating him from head to toe in dust. He could not help coughing.
The young eunuch turned back and stared at the sight behind him, dumbstruck.
"It... it collapsed?!"
That towering great hall had actually collapsed just like that?
Nearly a hundred palace attendants had been on duty inside, many of them officials. All of them had been buried beneath it, while only His Majesty, Eunuch Zhao, and himself had escaped?
Good thing I ran fast, or I'd have died in there too! The young eunuch had barely begun to rejoice when the remaining wall collapsed a second time with another boom!
This time, a long shadow came crashing down through the dust toward the three of them.
Only seconds had passed between their escape and the second collapse. It happened with lightning speed. The