usatvline Chapter 494 Joy of Life 50
Chapter 494 Joy of Life 50
"Neither Hong Sixiang nor that Xiao Zhuzhu will ever be of any use to me. Since that's the case, why not take this opportunity to do something and get rid of them directly?"
Li Chengze's eyes sharpened as he secretly plotted his next move.
He wasn't sure if the temple would send someone to kill him again, and he was even more unsure whether Xiao Zhuzhu would be used by the temple in the future.
In any case, getting rid of this little bamboo would only bring him benefits and no harm.
However, Li Chengze did not rush to make a move, but observed quietly for a while.
At this moment, Hong Sixiang was casually sitting on a rooftop, looking down at Wu Zhu who was swaggering past. A hint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes as he coldly asked, "Who are you?"
Upon hearing this, Wu Zhu remained motionless and continued walking forward, saying that he had taken the wrong path.
Hong Sixiang naturally didn't believe it, smiled contemptuously, and then leaped down, striking Wu Zhu with a single palm.
Wu Zhu remembered to conceal his identity. Faced with this palm strike, he simply retreated until he had nowhere left to retreat. Then, he drew the sword he had taken from the Dongyi delegation and, imitating Si Gu Jian's sword moves, thrust it at Hong Si Xiang.
Hong Sixiang was indeed not a grandmaster.
Although his inner energy was surging, the power he displayed was only slightly better than that of an ordinary ninth-rank master, far from reaching the legendary level of a grandmaster.
Wu Zhu's strength far surpasses that of Hong Sixiang, but his purpose in coming here is merely to lure Hong Sixiang away.
Therefore, when fighting Hong Sixiang, although his swordsmanship was fierce and every move was aimed at Hong Sixiang's vital points.
However, he always holds back at crucial moments, making the opponent believe that he still has the strength to fight.
After several such exchanges, Wu Zhu pretended to be outmatched and fled straight out of the palace, successfully luring Hong Sixiang out of the palace.
Fan Xian took the opportunity to scale walls and enter the palace. Although he was almost discovered along the way, he eventually arrived at the Empress Dowager's palace without any major incident.
Li Chengze was multitasking, keeping an eye on Fan Xian's movements while watching Wu Zhu pretend to be looking around the Sword Sect and dealing with Hong Sixiang, waiting for the right moment to make his move.
When Fan Xian successfully drugged everyone in the Empress Dowager's palace and found the key to Ye Qingmei's box, Hong Sixiang suddenly realized that he had fallen into a trap. He hurriedly tried to knock Wu Zhu away with one palm and then turn back to the palace.
Wu Zhu had no intention of killing anyone on this trip; he was merely following Fan Xian's instructions to lure Hong Sixiang away and to buy as much time as possible.
Realizing that Hong Sixiang wanted to return to the palace, he immediately drew his sword and stopped him.
However, at this crucial moment, an unexpected change occurred.
Wu Zhu thrust his sword at Hong Sixiang, who was about to dodge when he was suddenly stopped by an invisible force and unable to move.
Hong Sixiang was greatly alarmed and quickly mustered all his strength in an attempt to break free from this inexplicable restraint.
From the moment this force descended and trapped him until he broke free and regained his freedom, only a moment had passed.
In that split second, Wu Zhu's sword had already pierced his chest.
"what!"
Hong Sixiang let out a scream from deep in his throat and raised his hand to knock the long sword out of his chest.
He hurriedly tried to raise his hand to seal the acupoints to stop the bleeding, but the true energy in his body that did not belong to him had already begun to go out of control, rampaging wildly inside him.
No matter how he tried to sort things out, it was all in vain.
Wu Zhu looked at the sudden turn of events, tilted his head, and seemed somewhat puzzled.
He had clearly planned ahead and was certain that Hong Sixiang could dodge the sword before he struck. So why was Hong Sixiang still hit?
"what!"
Hong Sixiang let out another heart-wrenching scream, and the true energy within his body surged out like a flood.
In an instant, the official hat on his head was pierced by true energy, and the fragments scattered everywhere. The meridians on his body bulged out, like the shadows of twisted and coiled snakes, a shocking sight.
Centered on Hong Sixiang, a violent hurricane suddenly swept out, carrying a devastating force that seemed to destroy everything around it.
Despite the raging true energy in front of him, Wu Zhu stood firmly in place. He turned his head to feel the domineering true energy emanating from Hong Sixiang. His usually calm and collected voice suddenly became undulating: "This is... domineering true energy."
The raging true energy, like a wild horse unleashed, suddenly shot straight into the sky and quickly spread throughout the entire imperial city.
Hong Sixiang's originally withered body, under the influence of this domineering and unparalleled true energy, inexplicably expanded rapidly, and in an instant, he transformed into a burly man, his face seemingly rejuvenated, looking several years younger.
However, when Hong Sixiang looked down at the spreading wound on his chest, pain instantly filled his face, and then he let out another extremely shrill wail: "No—!"
Before his voice had even faded, his body shattered like a broken pottery jar, his last vestige of life extinguished.
A deathly silence fell over the surroundings, with only the remnants of true energy lingering in the air.
Looking at Hong Sixiang's broken body, Wu Zhu's advanced analysis system quickly activated, but he still couldn't understand why Hong Sixiang had ended up like this.
Li Chengze, who was secretly observing with his telekinetic powers, felt a sense of shock.
The amount of true qi in Hong Sixiang's body far exceeds the range that a ninth-rank martial artist should possess.
Logically speaking, a master of his caliber, even if seriously injured, should be able to use his profound cultivation to regulate his internal energy, stabilize his injuries, and slow the passage of time.
However, after being injured, Hong Sixiang's internal energy seemed to lose control, gushing out of the wound like a flood bursting its banks. Not only did it fail to stop the injury, it tore the wound even wider, ultimately extinguishing his last glimmer of hope.
In Li Chengze's view, it was like a container that had been accidentally punctured, with the liquid inside gushing out under immense pressure, constantly eroding and widening the hole until it completely destroyed the container.
Suddenly, an unbelievable thought flashed through Li Chengze's mind: the true energy in Hong Sixiang's body was not something he had cultivated himself!
but--
"How could one person possibly store another person's true energy?" Li Chengze muttered to himself, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes.
"Or is it that he simply couldn't refuse the person who asked him to store his true energy, and was forced to accept this fate?"
This thought made Li Chengze's heart skip a beat, and at the same time, he had a vague yet unsettling guess about the mysterious grandmaster.
The commotion that Hong Sixiang had just made had alerted the night patrol soldiers in the city, and footsteps came from all directions, getting closer and closer.
Wu Zhu quickly stepped forward to examine Hong Sixiang's body, then turned and hurriedly left the scene.
His movements were clean and efficient, without the slightest hesitation.
Seeing this, Li Chengze quickly composed himself and focused his mental energy on Wu Zhu.
When Wu Zhu arrived at a secluded place, he seemed to sense an unusual energy fluctuation around him and slowly stopped.
He looked around warily, trying to pinpoint the source of the unusual power.
"Who?" asked Wu Zhu, his voice as calm as still water.
Li Chengze's eyelids twitched, and he immediately activated his mental power without hesitation.
The psychic power surged into Wu Zhu's body like a tidal wave, and began to frantically erode the intricate circuitry within him.
Although Wu Zhu's strength was comparable to that of a Grandmaster, he was ultimately just a robot. The moment his internal circuitry was damaged, his body stiffened abruptly, as if he had lost his support and could no longer maintain his original balance.
The radium rays, powerful enough to destroy everything and covered by a black cloth, lost their luster forever before they were ever used.
Seeing Wu Zhu collapse, Li Chengze quickly and secretly carried Wu Zhu's body back and hid it in a secret room along with the corpse of the temple messenger, planning to study it in detail later when he had time.
After doing all this, he calmed himself down, lay down on the bed again, and began to rest as if nothing had happened.
Meanwhile, candles were lit in Emperor Qing's study.
Emperor Qing was clearly a diligent emperor. Even though it was late at night when the banquet at the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests ended, he did not rest immediately after returning to his study. Instead, he picked up his imperial brush and began to review the memorials.
The bright red ink on the pen tip is like an invisible blade, holding the life and death of countless people in its hands.
Suddenly, Emperor Qing's ears twitched, as if he had caught some unusual sound.
He frowned instantly, his pen hovering over the memorial, hesitant to put it down.
The eunuch Hou, who was standing to the side, keenly noticed the subtle change in his master. He carefully stepped forward and asked with concern, "Is Your Majesty tired? Why don't you rest for the day?"
Normally, Eunuch Hou would never dare to say a word when Emperor Qing was handling state affairs, but considering that Fan Xian had shone brightly at the banquet, he guessed that his master was in a good mood, so he dared to step forward and ask.
However, Emperor Qing's face suddenly darkened, startling Eunuch Hou into immediately kneeling down and kowtowing repeatedly, begging for forgiveness: "It was this servant who spoke out of turn, please have mercy, Your Majesty!"
Emperor Qing ignored him, only looking up at the deep night outside the window.
The familiar fluctuations of true energy in the air made his expression grow even more unpleasant.
"Where is Hong Sixiang?" Emperor Qing's voice was low and cold.
Upon hearing this, Eunuch Hou abruptly stopped kowtowing and hurriedly replied, "Your Majesty, this servant will go find Eunuch Hong right away."
Having said that, he stood up, took three steps back, and hurriedly turned and left the study.
The moment he stepped out, a crisp "crack" rang out, and Emperor Qing flicked his fingers, shattering the brush in his hand.
An aura of a grandmaster emanated from him, but he instantly concealed it without a trace.
However, a surge of anger rose within him, his eyes almost spitting fire: "Who exactly killed Hong Sixiang? Ku He, Si Gu Jian... or Ye Liuyun?"
Emperor Qing's face was gloomy, and his eyes flickered slightly, like a deep pool with turbulent waves.
He didn't believe that Hong Sixiang would be killed in the capital, but the domineering true energy floating in the air clearly told him that Hong Sixiang was dead, otherwise this true energy would never have floated out.
Hong Sixiang is the only other person besides him who can receive domineering true energy without his body exploding; he is the shield that Hong Sixiang carefully prepared for himself.
But just now, Hong Sixiang actually died!
His shield is dead!
At that moment, Emperor Qing felt a strong urge to see who had killed Hong Sixiang.
Is it one of the other three masters? Or a messenger from the temple?
Thinking of this, Emperor Qing leaped to the window, placed his hand on the windowsill, and was about to make a move—
A warm summer breeze swept over him, bringing him back to his senses.
Emperor Qing lowered his eyes, ultimately restraining his impulse: "No, now is not the time to expose ourselves."
Emperor Qing forced himself to calm down and began to plan his next move.
Although Hong Sixiang was not a grandmaster, the impact of his death was undeniable.
In the eyes of the world, Hong Sixiang was the Grandmaster who had always lived in Nanqing.
Now that Hong Sixiang is dead, the surrounding countries will inevitably be eager to make moves, especially the Northern Qi, which has just suffered a defeat and is very likely to make a comeback.
There are two ways to resolve this situation.
The first is to directly reveal his status as a Grandmaster, thus intimidating other countries.
However, this move is merely a short-sighted solution. While it may intimidate surrounding countries, it will also make Chen Pingping, Fan Jian, and others realize that he is the real culprit behind Ye Qingmei's murder, thus making him the target of everyone's hatred, and chaos will erupt in Nanqing in an instant.
And most importantly, he still hasn't found the long-range weapon that Ye Qingmei used to kill the two princes.
Moreover, he has yet to find an effective way to counter this weapon.
If one is not careful, one could end up like those two princes and be killed by that weapon.
He must not die! He still wants to unify the world and create a great legacy for all time!
When it came to his own safety, Emperor Qing did not hesitate to abandon the idea.
Secondly, Ye Liuyun was recalled to replace Hong Sixiang.
However, this approach also left him with some reservations.
Years ago, he ordered Ye Liuyun to leave the capital, intending to kill Ku He and Si Gu Jian later.
If Ye Liuyun is recalled now, more than a decade of hard work will be ruined.
Emperor Qing's eyes were deep, filled with complex emotions, as he began to ponder the plan he had been plotting for a long time.
If all else fails, we'll have to bring the plan forward.
……
After Wu Zhu distracted Hong Sixiang, Fan Xian quickly evaded the imperial guards patrolling the palace, wandered around, and finally found the Empress Dowager's bedroom. He then successfully found the key to open the box under the Empress Dowager's bed.
They then quietly left the palace, met up with Wang Qinian, and found the locksmith they had arranged to meet beforehand.
Based on the shape of the key, a locksmith was asked to remake a key, which was then sent back to the Empress Dowager's palace.
Just as Fan Xian thought his plan was perfect and was preparing to leave, he suddenly discovered that Zhuang Mohan, wearing a cloak, had mysteriously arrived at Guangxin Palace.
Curious, Fan Xian followed Zhuang Mohan to Guangxin Palace and secretly eavesdropped on Zhuang Mohan's conversation with Princess Li Yunrui.
Only then did he realize that Li Yunrui had instructed Zhuang Mohan to frame him for copying poems. Moreover, the reason why Yan Bingyun, who was hiding in Northern Qi, was exposed was because the Princess had leaked the secret, with the aim of pinning the blame on him.
Fan Xian gritted his teeth in anger, cursing inwardly: You, Li Yunrui! We have no grudge against each other, yet you have tried to kill me time and time again. I will kill you sooner or later to avenge my three deceased senior brothers.