At Hai Hour, the world settled into rest.
Inside and outside the Forbidden City, the scenes were utterly different.
On North Imperial Long Street, cries of "Purge the traitors at the emperor's side!" rang out, loud and impassioned.
The Ninefold Palace was as sinister as a burial vault. Beneath the West Garden's palace wall, the assembled ministers looked withered, while the emperor inside his imperial carriage verged on collapse. Clutching the armrests, he roared hoarsely, cursing everyone several times over-from treacherous rebels to incompetent guardians, from the Capital Camp's Nine Gates Commander to every civil and military official.
Golden Armor lay strewn across Black Tortoise Gate. Countless armored soldiers glanced at the hole in the wall. The godlike guardian who had once bested Heaven by half a move was embedded deep in the bricks. Just an incense stick's time ago, he had conjured countless bolts of violet thunder and boundless snowy plains; now, even standing was an extravagant hope.
Lu Lin, the aged commander of the Imperial Army, fought to suppress his fear. He swiftly ordered two Shadow Dragon Guards to beat the drums and sound the horns, then thundered:
"This fiend claims to purge the emperor's side, but his true purpose is rebellion!"
"He has betrayed the emperor's grace, cruel and cold-blooded! His every word and deed provokes Heaven's wrath and the people's hatred! All must join in his execution!"
"If we turn back the raging tide now, we will all be heroes of the state!"
As soon as he finished speaking, nearly seven hundred Shadow Dragon Guards swiftly took their places atop the wall, each wielding a Double-Pointed Chain Spear, their internal power profound and their blood surging.
The Double-Pointed Chain Spears were forged from darksteel, the sharpest weapons in the world.
The blades of the Embroidered Uniform