Madam Hu smiled like a flower in bloom. "Congratulations, my lord! Congratulations!"
A trace of a smile appeared on Ke Dacheng's stern face. "Rest assured, my lord. As long as my Elite Guards are here, Suxu City will not fall..."
Before he could finish, disaster struck. An arrow suddenly pierced through his back and burst from his chest.
Disbelief spread across Ke Dacheng's face. He lowered his head to look at the arrow, but light flashed along its shaft, and a gray-black stain spread rapidly from the wound.
Before he could lower his head all the way, the stain had covered his entire body. At the slightest movement, he crumbled into flying ash.
"That's Body-Burning Poison..." Shock and fury filled Madam Hu's face.
The most important part of her plan with Lu Yuanzhen and the others had rested on Ke Dacheng.
Ke Dacheng commanded the Elite Guards, the strongest force in Wu Hou State and the one most loyal to Marquis Wu.
No one had expected them to win Ke Dacheng over. With that formidable army behind them, Madam Hu and the others had been confident they could control the situation and seize the final fruits of victory.
But now that Ke Dacheng was dead, their painstaking plans had lost their most crucial piece. How could Madam Hu not be furious?
Marquis Wu had regarded Ke Dacheng as his last hope. At the sight of his death, both he and Madam Hu were shocked and enraged.
Before either could say another word, a column of black qi rose from the State Shrine Ancestral Hall and shot straight into the sky.
"The Killing Intent of all living beings..."
Madam Hu's fury turned wholly to terror. She tried to speak, but no words came out, and her face turned ashen.
As soon