Hong Jiadi

Zhong Kuishan, commander of the Qingzhou Guard, was a full-fledged third-rank official.

He had traded a body covered in wounds for limitless prospects in his official career, only for that hotheaded young fool to end it all with a single slash.

As for Er Leng, he had never visited the Capital or entered the Golden Throne Hall. His heart knew nothing of the heights of high office, nor did his eyes recognize the leopard robe of the third rank...

A breeze swept over the raised platform outside Tranquil Heart Hall. The smell of blood spread through the air. The officials stared at Zhong Kuishan's corpse, their throats dry and their eyes vacant.

"A mere guard-are you trying to get your entire family executed?!" Below the platform, the prefect's gaze turned vicious.

"Kill him! Avenge Lord Zhong!"

A banner officer of the Qingzhou Guard waved his saber and shouted.

Thud, thud...

Hurried footsteps rang out. More than a dozen nearby soldiers charged Er Leng with spears and steel sabers, their eyes savage.

On the steps, Er Leng breathed evenly. His powerful body stood as still as a sculpture, only his ears twitching slightly. Not until the attackers came within a step did both he and his blade move.

Clink-clink, clink...!

In an instant, blades flashed across the steps leading into the hall. Yet there was no scrape of metal grinding against metal, only the sharp sounds of weapons shattering and armor being pierced.

Beneath the plaque of Tranquil Heart Hall, palace lanterns swayed, their light and shadows flickering.

Bang, bang...!

Er Leng moved like a phantom, and his blade was just as fast.

Two breaths later, the platform was a scene of utter carnage. Every one of the dozen-odd soldiers lay fallen, their armor shattered and blood pooling across the ground...

Er Leng withdrew and stood alone before the hall's entrance, resting his blade against the ground. "I can't kill everyone, but I can kill whoever comes up here first. My lords, would you like to test the swift blade Prince Huai keeps?!"

Below the steps, sweat poured from the officials' foreheads as they began exchanging furtive glances. They had known Er Leng was fast with a blade, but never imagined he could be this fast.

Zhong Kuishan had been a full third-rank official, yet this hotheaded fool had killed him without a moment's hesitation or the slightest scruple.

It wasn't Hua Xiong's valor that had held his enemies back; the lords had simply all had their own agendas. This brat was Prince Huai's private soldier, a mere guard. Was he worth risking their own lives against?

With their leader gone, the men of the Qingzhou Guard all looked to the senior banner officer. But he felt Er Leng's eyes fixed on him the whole time. He dared not move. He feared that swift blade.

Inside the main hall, at the entrance to the secret chamber.

Click!

A young eunuch cautiously lifted the fake Nation-Guarding Sword. The mechanism turned, and the wall abruptly parted to reveal a secret passage.

"Hidden weapons and crossbows!" Ren Ye ordered, his pupils white and his entire body exuding an eerie chill.

More than a dozen young eunuchs and maids raised their weapons and aimed at the entrance to the passage.

Gusts of cold air blew from the pitch-black corridor, making everyone shiver.

After a brief silence, Lian'er rose onto her toes and peered into the secret chamber. "Y-Your Highness, there's no movement inside. Should I take some people down to look?"

"No. Don't go in." Ren Ye's thinking remained clear. "Throw poison smoke into the passage. Force her..."

Whoosh!

Before he could finish, a brilliant golden light suddenly flared at the entrance to the passage and rapidly spread into the hall, illuminating it as brightly as day.

Huh?

Why is there light?!

A string of questions sprang into Ren Ye's mind. His eyes widened as he saw a man walk out of the golden light...

The man looked around twenty-four or twenty-five. He wore a white shirt and black polyester dress pants, but his face and neck were covered in shocking injuries, as though he had just been beaten.

"Xiao... Xiaoyang?!" Ren Ye craned his neck and tentatively called out the man's name.

Li Xiaoyang had once worked alongside Ren Ye on anti-fraud operations at the border. His identity had been exposed just before they closed the net, and the criminal gang had brutally murdered him and dismembered his body abroad.

"Ren Ye, s-save me! I really don't want to die... My wife only just got pregnant."

Li Xiaoyang dropped to his knees with a thud, clutching his hair in agony. "Please, s-save me! Let me see my daughter, even if it's just once...!"

"How are you here?!" Ren Ye stepped forward uncontrollably. His thoughts narrowed until only Li Xiaoyang's face and figure remained in his eyes.

"Ye, only you can save me... Only you...!" Li Xiaoyang knelt there crying, his expression shattered and helpless. "Do you remember? We started work together, worked cases together. We're best friends! Save me... In this world, you can save me!"

"I remember. I remember everything... I'm sorry, Xiaoyang. I should have been the one who died that day. I'm so sorry... I...!"

Tears streamed numbly down Ren Ye's face. Like a walking corpse, he moved toward Li Xiaoyang and the entrance to the secret passage, his eyes empty.

Whoosh!

Just three steps away from Li Xiaoyang, Ren Ye suddenly felt an icy chill against his chest, and his thoughts began to scatter.

Why is he here?

How can I be seeing him?!

No!

This isn't right. Something is affecting my mind...

Ren Ye stood frozen in place. The Tranquility Talisman hanging against his chest flashed incessantly.

Light and darkness alternated, flickering faster and faster...

With a snap, the Tranquility Talisman the Princess Consort had given him shattered, its fragments falling to the floor.

A cool sensation swept through his body. Ren Ye came back to himself and whipped his head around. The passage entrance was still pitch-black. A painted scroll floated in the air, casting beams of light over Lian'er and the young eunuchs...

Four eunuchs had thrown aside their crossbows and were hugging the round pillars in the hall, thrusting their hips furiously. Three maids lay sprawled on the floor, their pretty faces flushed and their eyes hazy, waiting for who knew what.

An illusion?!

That woman actually has an item that creates illusions!

Ren Ye's mind reeled. He suddenly looked behind him, then, without a second thought, chased out with the real Nation-Guarding Sword in his right hand.

Liu Ling'er was sprinting through a dark corridor inside Tranquil Heart Hall.

Her initiation token was a painted scroll called the Spring Breeze Wish-Fulfilling Painting. It possessed the supernatural ability to create a "wish-fulfilling dreamscape." Though it lacked overwhelming offensive power, once a target entered the illusion, they could easily lose themselves completely and descend into madness...

The moment the secret passage opened, she had activated the Spring Breeze Wish-Fulfilling Painting and drawn everyone into its illusion.

Once it worked, Liu Ling'er's first choice was to flee and hide, rather than kill Ren Ye.

The reason was simple. She had a means of saving her life, but could use it only once, and she was poor at close combat. Even if she killed Ren Ye, she would not be able to escape.

Besides, she was certain Prince Huai was a player and still had cards up his sleeve...

The best course was therefore to hide first and wait for her teammates to get her out.

Her footsteps light, Liu Ling'er passed through two corridors. After glancing around, she pushed open a side-room door at random and slipped inside.

Pulling the Disc Order from her waist, Liu Ling'er sent another message to the Court Faction's players. "I'm out of the secret chamber. Come into the hall and get me."

"If you're already out of the secret chamber, why don't you come out yourself?" An indistinct voice, impossible to identify as male or female, drifted from the Disc Order.

Liu Ling'er wiped the sweat from her forehead, inwardly cursing the idiot. "If he dared trap me, every exit from the hall must be sealed! Come inside, and we can split the quest clues equally."

In the corridor outside, Ren Ye gripped the Nation-Guarding Sword in his right hand while bending down to feel along the gaps of the side-room doors.

That was right-he was checking the hairs he had tied there beforehand.

There was a reason Lian'er had suddenly been going bald. More than a day had passed since yesterday's incident at Spring Fragrance Garden, and both sides had been making preparations in secret...

This was a contest between a hostess who let clients grope her and a former anti-fraud investigator.

Tranquil Heart Hall contained many rooms, but its layout was orderly and followed a clear pattern. Ren Ye checked them quickly, and before long, he reached the place Liu Ling'er had just passed through.

Outside Tranquil Heart Hall, on the raised platform.

After a brief standoff between Er Leng, who guarded the hall's entrance alone, and the crowd of attackers, Wu Asi, commander of the Spy Battalion, had stepped in.

By now, he and Er Leng had exchanged two rounds of blows.

Bang!

A dull impact sounded. Wu Asi had just been about to dodge sideways when a fierce streak of blade light forced him flying backward.

The steel saber he held horizontally in both hands began to tremble slightly.

Whoosh!

An afterimage flashed past as the Famous Blade Invite the Moon swept straight for Wu Asi's neck.

In that instant, their life-and-death struggle was about to be decided.

"Such a fierce blade is rarely seen in this world. A promising youngster indeed. A pity... one part of him is crippled!"

An aged voice rang out. A gray figure descended from above and abruptly blocked Wu Asi. The newcomer caught Invite the Moon's edge between two fingers and pressed down lightly. It was as though a mountain had fallen upon Er Leng, driving his body sharply downward.

Crack!

His feet struck the ground, fracturing the stone slabs. Er Leng hastily retreated two steps before regaining his balance.

He looked up to see an old Taoist wielding a horsetail whisk, striking toward him with a palm.

Er Leng immediately raised his blade across his body to block. With a dull bang, he was sent flying backward. But the instant his feet left the ground, the silver Invite the Moon also flew from his hand, heading straight for Old Taoist Xu's neck.

Whoosh!

The silver blade was extraordinarily fast and precise.

Clink, clang, clang, clang...

In the blink of an eye, the teeth-grating sound of clashing metal rang out. Invite the Moon swept around Old Taoist Xu's neck, then returned in an arc.

Bang!

Only then did Er Leng slam heavily into the red pillar before the hall's entrance and slide down in a heap.

Thud!

He landed on both knees, feeling an unbearable burning pain in his chest. As he opened his mouth and coughed up blood, he raised a hand and caught the returning Invite the Moon in a reverse grip.

Several steps away, Old Taoist Xu floated down. There was not even a red mark on his neck. "Your blade is fast, but you're still some way from crossing the threshold. You cannot break through my might body."

"Celestial Master Xu, he's a rebel! Please execute him at once!"

"Celestial Master Xu, there's a criminal inside the h-hall! We mustn't waste time!"

"...!"

Recognizing Old Taoist Xu, the officials immediately shouted in delight.

Wu Asi sheathed his saber and said blandly, "Had the Celestial Master not arrived, I would have killed him within three rounds...!"

Then he put his right arm behind his back, where it continued to shake.

"Follow me into the hall."

Old Taoist Xu had arrived in haste. His gaze was somewhat vacant, and his body inexplicably emanated the aura of a dead man.

After that indifferent instruction, he went up the steps first.

Pfft!

Er Leng spat out another mouthful of blood, stubbornly wiped his mouth, and slowly rose.

They had exchanged only one move, but he already knew he could not defeat Old Taoist Xu. The man's body was strange. There were no fluctuations in his aura, nor any sign of eerie spells, yet he possessed limitless strength and was impervious to blades...

On either side, the twelve young eunuchs who had guarded Tranquil Heart Hall alongside Er Leng kept their heads lowered and their bodies still as they anxiously tried to dissuade him.

"Let it go, Guard Hong. We can't stop them...!"

"There's no need to throw your life away!"

"...!"

Their pleas drifted in from every direction, faint as the buzzing of insects.

Holding Invite the Moon, Er Leng stood on trembling legs, his expression utterly calm. "I... I finally remembered what I wanted to say... that day when I handed out your rewards."

Old Taoist Xu stepped forward, his gaze lifeless and his tone stiff. "Boy, I believe you may still have a chance to cross the threshold someday. I cannot bear to kill you and incur that karma. Stand aside!"

His eyes covered by gray cloth, Er Leng slowly raised his saber and, step by step, walked back to the hall's entrance...

Soon, he stopped and straightened again, blocking the entrance alone. "I was born in a small village in the Southern Border, with fewer than fifty households. When I was little... I found a stray dog at the village entrance. Every day, I fed him, and he guarded my home. After I left, he guarded it for my parents. He died of old age last year and was buried beneath the apricot tree in our courtyard.

Five steps away, killing intent surfaced in Old Taoist Xu's eyes.

"I can't beat you. I'll die..." Er Leng slowly raised his arm and pointed his blade at the man. "But I remembered what I wanted to say that day... Take your lord's pay, serve your lord faithfully! Even a stray dog understood that rule. How could a man not know it?!"

"Today, a nameless soldier from the Southern Border, skilled with a single saber, asks Celestial Master Xu for instruction!"

His fearless voice echoed through Prince Huai's Residence, lingering long afterward.

He stood ramrod straight, the Famous Blade Invite the Moon held across the hall's entrance, its cold gleam absolute and pure...