The Slaughter Unfolds
The slaughter continued. Chen Mo and the other three had been killing for nearly an hour, hacking their way from the gates to the vicinity of the imperial palace's grand hall. The number of soldiers who had died at their hands had long since exceeded ten thousand.
If the four of them hadn't had an ample supply of pills, their Soul Power and true essence would have long since fallen to a dangerously low level. Lin Yaodong and Xiao Wu went without saying: both were now gasping for breath, with plenty of wounds on their bodies.
After all, there were simply too many enemies. People surrounded them on every side, and attacks came down like a blanket over the sky and earth.
Among them were two thousand-man units composed entirely of Soul Masters. They were well equipped, capable in both attack and defense, and extremely experienced in battle. Combined with the might of their battle formations, they were troublesome even for Chen Mo.
If the Yin-Yang Mother-and-Child Circular Blades hadn't possessed spatial and sharpness attributes, the four of them might well have been stopped here.
Meanwhile, in the imperial palace hall.
Bad news arrived one report after another.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, please move elsewhere. The enemy-the enemy is nearly here. They're less than a thousand meters away. In no more than half an hour, they'll have fought their way here..."
"Reporting to Your Majesty, General Dian Aman has fallen. He was killed in an instant by the enemy..."
"Reporting! The Heaven Dou First Imperial Guard Glory Legion has been wiped out. They failed to stop the enemy for even half a step. Your Majesty, please depart for another palace at once..."
As Xue Ye heard the dreadful news pour in, his heart filled with uncontrollable rage, but he was also terrified.
Who on earth were they?
How had he suddenly provoked such a god of plague?
Xue Ye said angrily, "Move elsewhere? You mean flee! I'll stay right here. I'm not going anywhere..."
The ministers all dropped to their knees. "We beg Your Majesty's forgiveness..."
Xue Ye felt somewhat wronged. He had been eating hot pot and singing songs when a guard suddenly ran over and told him someone had forced their way into the palace.
Xue Ye hadn't taken it seriously at first. Every few years, a few lowborn fools who didn't know life from death came looking to die anyway. The guards would deal with them; he didn't need to pay them any attention.
But the four of them had only grown fiercer as they killed, fighting their way from the palace gates until they were almost right in front of him.
Xue Ye's heart beat a little faster, and his legs trembled slightly.
But he had occupied the throne for many years, after all, and still possessed the necessary judgment and shrewdness.
The guards outside had long since been frightened out of their wits by the killing. The only reason they hadn't collapsed was that he was still sitting here. If he fled, the army would immediately break and scatter.
Besides, if his safety couldn't be guaranteed even in the imperial palace, where could he flee, vast as the world was?
What was more, Imperial Marshal Ge Long was already on his way. He had led a great army into the city and would arrive here soon.
If ten thousand troops couldn't kill them, then he would send a hundred thousand. He refused to believe that Chen Mo and the other three could kill so many people. Even if the army had to wear them down, it would wear them to death...
At that moment, Chen Mo and the other three had fought their way into the square outside the grand hall. They could all clearly see the scene inside.
A white-haired old man wearing a crown sat on the dragon throne. Below him knelt a crowd of people, young and old, most of them dressed in noble attire.
Chen Mo was somewhat surprised that Xue Ye had remained in the hall, though it was understandable.
Moreover, Chen Mo's Spiritual Sense detected dozens of fairly powerful presences rushing toward him. Even the weakest among them had the cultivation of a Soul Saint.
The more people who came, the better; the stronger they were, the better. Only then would the world be more shocked and afraid, and no one would dare set their sights on his family again.
Let this stage grow even grander!
Chen Mo wasn't worried in the slightest about whether this might backfire. He had a fifth-tier card in his hand.
If something unexpected really happened, Chen Mo would use it immediately.
Of course, it was best not to use an Experience Card if he could help it. As the saying went, he could lean on the system, but he must never depend on it.
If his life wasn't in danger, why not avoid using the Experience Card and settle things with his own true strength?
By the time Chen Mo and the other three fought their way into the hall, only a dozen or so of the dozens of Soul Saints and Soul Douluos who had hurried over remained. Chen Mo had cut off the heads of most of the rest.
Now that they were here, Chen Mo and the others were less than a hundred meters from Xue Ye. Everyone tacitly stopped fighting for the time being.
Looking at the violent assailants who could rush over and tear him to pieces at any moment, Xue Ye somewhat regretted not fleeing sooner. Now, even if he wanted to flee, he might not get away.
Xue Ye took a deep breath and questioned Chen Mo and the other three in a gentle tone. "Are you four here to assassinate me? Do you know what grave crimes you have committed? But considering this is your first offense, if you withdraw now, I am willing to grant you a special pardon for your crimes..."
Assassinate him?
Pardon their crimes?
Hearing Xue Ye's tone and manner, at once yielding and reserved, Chen Mo found it somewhat ridiculous.
Chen Mo naturally understood why Xue Ye was saying these things.
First, to save his life; second, to stall for time.
When Chen Mo had first entered Foundation Establishment, his Spiritual Sense had a range of less than a kilometer. Now that he had broken through to mid Foundation Establishment, its range exceeded three kilometers, enough to cover the entire imperial palace.
At that moment, large numbers of troops had already entered the palace-several tens of thousands, by his estimate-and a steady stream of soldiers was still pouring in behind them.
If he had truly wanted to kill Xue Ye, Chen Mo could have done it from outside the palace. By controlling the Yin-Yang Mother-and-Child Circular Blades, he could attack anywhere within the range of his Spiritual Sense.
With the Yin-Yang Mother-Child Rings' Spatial Jump and their sharp cutting attribute, Xue Ye would have been dead long ago if Chen Mo had truly wanted to kill him.
The only reason Xue Ye was still alive was that there weren't enough spectators yet, Chen Mo hadn't killed enough people, and the scene wasn't shocking enough.
Chen Mo intended to slaughter the army Xue Ye was so proud of right in front of him-to kill until the army collapsed, until its soldiers were scared out of their wits, until not a single person dared stand up to stop him.
Then he would tell Xue Ye in front of everyone:
"You're mine! Not even Jesus can save you. I said so!"
Seeing that Chen Mo and the others had stopped fighting, Xue Ye thought he had gradually managed to keep them under control. His tone grew gentler, and he prattled on more and more.
Time!
For Xue Ye, the most important thing now was to stall for time. Once his army had completely surrounded them, he would no longer have to feign civility. Then he would have these damned lowborn wretches cut to pieces to vent the hatred in his heart.
He was a sovereign emperor, yet he had lowered himself to plead with these lowborn wretches. What a humiliation!
And those damned nobles in front of him were all useless. In the end, he had to step in personally to keep the intruders under control...
Seeing more and more troops approaching, Chen Mo interrupted Xue Ye's incessant chatter.
Chen Mo said, "Xue Ye, is it? Do you know why I came looking for you today?"
Xue Ye smiled. "Hehe, I presume one of my subordinates offended you. Please, just tell me what happened, and I will surely see that justice is done for you."