523: Chapter 523 Birthmark

Lin Xiao's tone was calm; killing a consort in the Imperial Dynasty's inner palace was no different to him than swatting a mosquito.

AXiang trembled violently, knocking her head against the ground.

"Your Highness! This servant begs you, please do not kill the Princess. The Princess has already suffered enough in this life..."

"Back then, for the sake of the man she loved, she willingly gave up the fight for succession in the Great Peacock Kingdom, only to be betrayed and sent to the capital."

"For so many years, as a woman of a foreign race in the inner palace, she has been walking on thin ice; just staying alive has not been easy."

"Ever since she was separated from her child by the eldest prince, she has remained in the cold palace, suffering the torment of longing..."

"Your Highness, you are a great hero with the world in your heart, a magnificent ruler of your generation; please, spare our Princess."

Lin Xiao finally heard something new. "You mean... Consort De could have become the ruler of the Great Peacock Kingdom back then?"

AXiang, as if grasping at a lifeline, nodded hurriedly. "Yes, Her Highness the Princess was exceptionally talented; the late King originally intended to groom her as his successor."

"But in order to marry into Western Shu and be with Crown Prince Xiao Shian, the Princess gave up the succession and focused on assisting her brother."

"As a result... not long after her brother ascended the throne, he went back on his word and sent her to the capital to curry favor with the Imperial Dynasty."

Lin Xiao felt speechless. No wonder Crown Prince Xiao Shian and Yalan were so full of resentment, acting as if the whole world owed them something.

"Is there anything else?" Lin Xiao asked. "This alone is not enough for me to spare her."

AXiang said sorrowfully, "Your Highness, the Princess is of noble birth, yet her life has been so miserable. Is that not enough for you to spare her life?"

Lin Xiao couldn't help but chuckle. "Are you serious?"

AXiang looked somewhat bewildered and nodded tremblingly.

Lin Xiao gasped. So, in the eyes of these people, Yalan encountering some betrayal and emotional setbacks counted as being very miserable.

That's right, after all, having lived a life of luxury and comfort since childhood, what other hardships could they possibly suffer besides "family disputes" and "heartbreak"?

Unlike ordinary people, who struggle enough just to make a living, who would start a cult and wreak havoc on the world just because of "unrequited love"?

"She truly deserves to die." Lin Xiao reaffirmed his intention to kill Consort De.

"Wangliang, I leave her to you. See if you can extract more information about the Moon Worship Cult. If she cooperates, leave her body intact."

Wangliang nodded without hesitation. "Understood."

AXiang's face was filled with terror. Before she could scream, Wangliang knocked her unconscious with a single blow and dragged her away like a dead dog.

"Your Highness, a mere Consort De does not require your personal intervention. Why not leave her to me?" Liu Hanyi said from the side.

Lin Xiao shook his head. "No. Judging by the fact that AXiang had no intention of returning to the Eastern Border, she already knew she had been exposed."

"Yet even knowing she was exposed, she did not choose to flee, which suggests she has something to rely on."

"After all, you are still a hair's breadth away from the Great Grandmaster realm, so you might not be able to kill her."

Lin Xiao was actually worried that Consort De might have some kind of double; after all, Prince Bai had pulled that trick before, so it was better to confirm it with his own eyes.

"Wait here; I will return shortly."

Seeing Lin Xiao about to leave, Liu Hanyi asked in surprise, "Your Highness, it's not dark yet."

Lin Xiao laughed. "When I said I would go kill her tonight, it was just a figure of speech. When I want to kill someone, I don't need to wait for dark."

Before Liu Hanyi could react, Lin Xiao had already leaped away from the mansion.

On his first day in the capital, Lin Xiao had already carefully observed the entire city; there were no experts here worth his attention.

Relying on his ability to step on the wind in mid-air, Lin Xiao easily entered the inner palace and headed straight for the Peacock Palace.

At this moment, by the lotus pond in the Peacock Palace, a beautiful woman in court attire was feeding the fish.

Lin Xiao was about to use his Eye of God to confirm her identity...

"Huh?" Lin Xiao was stunned to discover that his Eye of God could not lock onto this woman.

How could this be?

Come to think of it, he had encountered this situation before when looking at that female Celestial at the Daoist sect...

At that time, Lin Xiao thought it was because the body had been dead for too long, but perhaps he had guessed wrong; maybe information simply could not be read from Celestials.

With this outrageous possibility in mind, Lin Xiao descended directly.

He released a surge of true energy pressure, and all the palace maids in the Peacock Palace fainted.

Consort De Yalan sensed something was wrong and hurriedly turned around, just in time to see Lin Xiao landing gracefully.

The two locked eyes. Lin Xiao carefully sensed the woman's physical condition and confirmed that she was indeed a living person, not a robot.

"Lin Xiao?" Yalan asked with a frown.

Lin Xiao did not answer; he simply flashed behind Yalan.

Before the woman could react, he pulled open the back of her collar.

Sure enough! A string of mysterious characters in the same color as those he had seen on the Celestial before!

Could it be that this Consort De was actually a Celestial!?

But her hair was clearly black, and it wasn't dyed...

"What are the characters on the back of your neck?" Lin Xiao asked.

"A dignified Prince of Zhenbei, asking about the birthmark of a consort in the inner palace—what is the meaning of this?" Yalan mocked with a seductive smile.

"Birthmark?" Lin Xiao was speechless. "Have you ever seen a birthmark like this?"

"What, you haven't? Why don't you come closer, Your Highness, and I'll let you take a good look?"

As she spoke, Yalan reached out to untie her belt, intending to take off her outer garment. She was charming and alluring, not at all like a woman in her fifties.

Lin Xiao, however, grabbed Yalan's face and carefully observed her eyes.

While Yalan was still confused, Lin Xiao extended two fingers and gouged out one of her eyeballs!

"Ah!!" Yalan screamed in terror. She was about to instinctively reach for her eye, but the next moment, she froze.

Because she was shocked to discover that she didn't feel any pain?

And the back of the eyeball in Lin Xiao's hand had no flesh or blood, only a broken wire?

Having lost one eye, Yalan was filled with astonishment and confusion.

"This... this is..."

Lin Xiao frowned and said, "You didn't know yourself that this eye was fake?"

Yalan looked thoughtful, but a moment later, she started to convulse all over!

Lin Xiao instantly sensed something was wrong and immediately activated his "Indestructible Diamond Body"!

"Boom!!" A ball of intense fire directly engulfed the entire Peacock Palace!

All the citizens of the capital saw a mushroom cloud rising from behind the imperial palace!

"Your Highness!!" Liu Hanyi, who was waiting for Lin Xiao, saw the disturbance in that direction and became frantic. Ignoring the fact that it was broad daylight, she hurriedly used her light martial arts to rush toward the imperial palace.

Wangliang and Baili Zhuifeng also sensed that something was wrong and followed closely behind.

"Teacher... this..." In a carriage, Minister Liu Zongfu looked at the mushroom cloud in shock.

Even Prime Minister Yang Gengzhong was terrified; having lived his whole life, he had never seen such a sight.

For a time, the entire imperial city was in an uproar, with people pointing toward the imperial palace. Divine retribution? A lightning strike? A battle between Great Grandmasters? All sorts of rumors began to fly.