357: I will not die!

Hearing Feng Qi dare to bring up the Emperor's name to pressure him.

"Hehehehe." Peng Lie suddenly let out a spine-chilling, low laugh.

The laughter was extremely soft at first, then gradually became maniacal, echoing continuously throughout the hall, shaking the dust on the beams so it rained down.

It sounded like the shrieks of evil ghosts seeping out from the depths of the eighteenth level of Hell, circling repeatedly within the carved and painted hall.

His withered, twig-like fingers slowly brushed over the jade pendant at his waist, his skin, covered in age spots, twitching, while the killing intent surging in his clouded eyes almost solidified.

"Feng Qi, what a fine Third-Rank Blade-Wielding Guard Commander personally appointed by His Majesty."

Peng Lie drawled, every word spoken clearly and distinctly.

The next moment, crimson Gale Force surged around him like a living thing, causing the air to crackle with the sound of bursting flames.

"Back then on the street, if not for me seeing that you still had some backbone, I would have let you be fed to the wild dogs long ago!"

Before the words had even faded, the terrifying Aura around Peng Lie suddenly surged several times over.

"Boom!" A fire dragon wrapped in scorching heat tore through the Void Realm, and wherever it passed, the floor tiles shattered inch by inch.

Feng Qi had no time to react; his entire body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, his back slamming heavily against the Dragon-carved pillar.

His upper-body silver armor melted into molten iron under the high heat, sliding down his bloodied and mangled body.

It hit the ground with a sizzling sound, and the smell of charred flesh mixed with the scent of blood instantly permeated the air.

"Ahhh!" Feng Qi rolled frantically on the ground, trying to reduce his pain.

Peng Lie ignored him, taking a step forward; the blue bricks shattered in response, and the pressure formed by the crimson Gale Force made the dozen or so guards outside the hall go weak in the knees.

"Interesting!" Peng Lie abruptly stopped his laughter, his expression instantly turning as gloomy as iron.

The crimson Gale Force suddenly surged, turning into streams of fire snakes that coiled around Feng Qi's body. "Speak! Who gave you the dog's guts to dare betray the Crown Prince and betray my Peng Family?!"

"Ahhh!!" A shrill, miserable scream rang through the hall.

The stench of charred flesh from the crimson Gale Force burning his skin filled the air, and the remaining silver armor on Feng Qi's lower body was burned red-hot, branding into his flesh.

But what infuriated Peng Lie even more was that when the Crown Prince was in danger, this Guard Commander, who should have been the first to seek reinforcements, had not mentioned a single word to the Peng Family estate!

This was barefaced betrayal! Feng Qi, this ingrate, had actually betrayed Your Highness the Crown Prince and the Peng Family!

Feng Qi curled up amidst the rubble, blood spilling from the corners of his mouth, but he suddenly burst into maniacal laughter: "Hahaha, Old Man!"

"You have moments of fear too?"

He propped himself up with blood-stained palms, charred flesh still embedded under his fingernails.

"That person's name. Do you really think you can withstand the pressure?"

"I am willing to say it!" Feng Qi suddenly grinned hideously, his blood-stained teeth looking exceptionally ghastly in the firelight.

"Old Man. Do you dare to listen!"

Just then, a cool breeze blew from outside the hall, causing Peng Lie's wide-open pupils to instantly constrict.

In a trance, a scene suddenly appeared in his mind. In the Violet Gold Hall where all officials paid homage, the figure on the Dragon throne was slowly rising, the bright yellow Dragon robe trailing across the jade steps.

The high and mighty Emperor, that pair of eyes piercing through time and space, pinned him to the spot. The Sovereign, expressionless, those eyes looking down upon all living things, were so cold that they made Peng Lie feel chilled to the bone.

"So that's it. Is it that person's intention?"

Peng Lie's voice became eerily calm, the blood-colored Gale Force gathering in his palm emitting an eerie hum, causing even the Dragon relief carvings on the beams to start shedding powder.

In the entire Wenjing Dynasty, whose name was there that he, the Duke of Wu, could not hear? Besides that Son of Heaven who was the Dominator of the Wenjing Dynasty, who else could it be?

"It seems that over these years, I have been too soft-hearted toward you cheap bones."

In an instant, the crimson Gale Force erupted like a volcano!

The entire hall trembled violently, glazed tiles fell in sheets, and the exquisite sandalwood beams groaned under the unbearable weight.

Flames swept up along the curtains, turning the golden, resplendent hall into a living Hell. Only Peng Lie's scarlet eyes flickered in the firelight, like a netherworld ghost from Hell.

The scorching sun was high in the sky, baking the square in front of the hall until it was burning hot. On the blue stone slabs, a thin layer of bone ash trembled slightly in the heatwaves.

From time to time, it was swept up by dry, hot whirlwinds, glittering with tiny specks of light under the dazzling sun.

Peng Lie stood under the blazing sun with his hands behind his back, his black python robe flapping loudly in the hot wind.

He squinted at the hall, the wrinkles on his face looking exceptionally deep in the intense light: "Lu Xuan, these traitors of the East Palace, Grandfather has already taken care of them for you."

"Within three days, Grandfather will transfer some loyal people from the Peng Family, all of whom are skilled hands who have followed me in battle for many years."

Lu Xuan stood in the shadows of the hall entrance, dappled light and shadow dancing across his handsome face. His nonchalant gaze, however, was cast toward a certain place outside the palace walls.

Lu Xuan did not have much interest in these trivial matters. He had more important things to do now.

"Grandfather has come just at the right time." Lu Xuan spoke suddenly, "Grandson has a thorny matter..."

Upon hearing this, this Great Grandmaster who made countless people tremble with fear, now had eyes full of affection: "Lu Xuan, speak freely."

The cicadas at noon suddenly stopped chirping, and the steaming heatwaves on the square distorted the outline of the distant palace towers. The figures of the Old Man and the young man cast two dark silhouettes on the scorching stone floor.

"There is a woman..." Lu Xuan's voice suddenly turned cold, and he pulled a pink silk handkerchief from his sleeve.

"I want to find out exactly what her origin is!"

The silk handkerchief fluttered down in the scorching sun, the pattern of the twin lotus flowers embroidered on the corner covered in bone ash the moment it touched the ground.

Peng Lie's pupils constricted. "West City, Xianxian Pavilion."

Lu Xuan crushed the silk handkerchief with the tip of his shoe, leaving a pitch-black footprint on the snow-white silk surface.

"Last night, this woman left this thing, which caused me to be afflicted with Yin Qi."

A terrifying Protective Aura suddenly erupted from Peng Lie, and the blue stone slabs beneath his feet cracked into spiderweb-like patterns with a "crack": "Lu Xuan, you are saying..."

His voice trembled, his white beard moving without wind, "Besides the traitors of the East Palace, there is someone else plotting against you?"

The noon cicadas stopped abruptly. The Imperial Guards who had rushed to the square retreated half a step in unison, the sound of iron armor clashing sounding exceptionally harsh in the deathly silence.

The leading Imperial Guard Commander's forehead oozed bean-sized beads of sweat, glittering with tiny specks of light under the scorching sun.

"Duke, you..." The Commander braced himself and stepped forward, the sword at his waist shaking uncontrollably with his trembling hands.

He looked at the bone ash still scattered on the ground, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty, his voice filled with probing and panic.

"Duke, His Majesty has already received the news and is at Yuji Hall..."

Before he could finish, an invisible pressure suddenly descended. The Commander's knees went weak uncontrollably, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.

The dozens of Imperial Guards behind him were even paler, their spears clattering to the ground.

Lu Xuan slowly stepped forward, standing right in front of the Commander, looking down at him from above.

"Did I, the Crown Prince, give you permission to speak?" Lu Xuan's voice was very soft, yet it made all the Imperial Guards present feel as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.

The Commander's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, but he dared not make another sound.

"Get out!" Peng Lie stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over the trembling Imperial Guards, a cold sneer appearing at the corner of his mouth.

If not for the consideration of his status as the Duke of Wu and the Emperor's father-in-law, these Imperial Guards would likely have already used those forbidden killing weapons within the Imperial City's grand array.

The seemingly casual three words caused the Commander, a seven-foot-tall stout man, to "thump" onto his knees.

"Go back and report to His Majesty." Lu Xuan's voice beat against the hearts of the Imperial Guards like a death warrant.

"Just say—it was I, the Crown Prince, who invited my maternal grandfather into the palace."

As soon as the words fell, the Imperial Guard Commander's tense shoulders collapsed, and the cold sweat on his back instantly soaked through his chainmail, trickling down his spine.

He knelt down with a thud, his bronze knee guards hitting the scorching blue stone slabs with a dull sound, his forehead knocking heavily against the ground, almost denting the stone slab.

"This humble official obeys! I kowtow and thank Your Highness the Crown Prince for your grace!" In the Commander's trembling voice, there was actually the wild joy of surviving a disaster.

The square fell into a deathly silence, with only the sound of heavy, uneven breathing rising and falling.

The shocking scene of Peng Lie breaking the prohibition with martial power just moments ago was still fresh in their minds. As Imperial Guards, letting Peng Lie in was a crime of dereliction of duty.

Therefore, the Commander had thought that he would lose his head for this crime of overstepping. But what he hadn't expected was that he had finally received this life-saving charm from the Crown Prince.

An oral decree from the East Palace was a gold-plated death-exemption medallion that could turn the tide.

The Wenjing Dynasty's system of the Crown Prince overseeing the state had been passed down for a hundred years, and the gold seal and purple ribbon were never just for show.

In the imperial court, the red-inked approval of the East Palace Crown Prince could cause a Third-Rank high official to lose their position overnight.

Even the rise and fall, honor and disgrace of noble families were nothing more than a matter of the Crown Prince taking up his brush and dropping ink, or in the joy and anger displayed in the corners of his eyes and brows.

The Commander secretly looked up and saw that under the scorching sun, Lu Xuan's figure, standing with hands behind his back, was as straight as a sword.

On the purple-gold Dragon robe, the five-clawed true Dragon embroidered with gold thread surged in the heatwaves. The true Dragon's scales shimmered with a cold light, as if in the next second it would break through the fabric and transform into its true form to soar through the Nine Heavens.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, this humble official takes his leave!" Before the Commander finished speaking, he had already scrambled to his feet from the scorching blue stone slabs.

He didn't care to straighten his crooked helmet, gave a hasty salute to Lu Xuan, and as he turned, the sword at his waist nearly slipped, clattering crisply against his armor.

The Imperial Guards behind him were also like startled birds, pushing each other as they fled toward the palace gate. Metal knee guards scraped against the stone slabs with a harsh sound, raising clouds of dust.

In just a split second, the once tense square returned to silence. When had these Imperial Guard soldiers ever been so pathetic?

On ordinary days, they held black iron spears, guarding the Forbidden Ground of the Imperial City, looking majestic and imposing.

But today, facing the crimson Gale Force surging around Peng Lie, that terrifying pressure that could scorch and distort the air, anyone would have had trembling legs.

If not for waiting for that golden word from Lu Xuan that could save their lives, who would be willing to stay in this dangerous place?

Thinking of the shocking scene just now where Peng Lie melted through the traitor's silver armor with his bare hands, many Imperial Guards felt a chill down their backs—in front of this Great Grandmaster, their flesh and blood were truly no different from suckling pigs waiting to be roasted.

Only until they had run wildly out of the East Palace gate and saw the towering walls gradually receding, did their tense nerves dare to relax slightly.

Several new recruits leaned against the wall, gasping for breath, bean-sized beads of sweat from their foreheads hitting the ground with a patter, quickly evaporated by the scorching ground.

"Let's go, Lu Xuan!" Peng Lie spoke again, the crimson Gale Force around his body erupting with a roar, shaking the blue bricks beneath his feet into cracks.

The scorching sun plated his silver hair with the color of blood, the violence surging in the depths of his eyes like a flood about to burst its banks.

"Grandfather wants to see exactly where this Xianxian Pavilion in the West City gets its guts from."

"To actually plot to murder the Crown Prince of the East Palace, the heir apparent of my Wenjing Dynasty!"

"These rebels, I think they want to revolt!"

Peng Lie's furious roar shook the copper bells on the eaves, ringing wildly and startling a large flock of birds.

The Imperial Guards on duty in the distance only felt an invisible pressure rush toward them, their legs going weak, their spears nearly slipping from their hands.

Before long, eight snow-white, sweat-blood horses neighed, shattering the palace path as they pulled a lavishly decorated gilded carriage, speeding out.

As the wheels rolled over the white marble steps, they splashed out a series of sparks.

... Inside Yuji Hall.

The hall was filled with the lingering scent of dragon saliva incense, yet it could not mask that Aura of decay.

The Imperial Guard Commander, who had been fleeing in a pathetic state in the East Palace square just now, was now prostrate on the cold jade steps.

His forehead was pressed tightly against the floor tiles engraved with cloud and Dragon patterns, and he dared not even breathe loudly.

"You mean to say, my Crown Prince told you to return."

A hoarse, low voice drifted down from above the Nine Heavens steps, carrying the faint, breathless quality characteristic of someone who had been ill for a long time.

The Commander trembled violently, his fingertips digging deeply into his palms: "Re—reporting to Your Majesty, it is indeed what Your Highness the Crown Prince said personally."

"It was he who invited my father-in-law into the palace!"

This last sentence broke the stagnant air in the hall. The Commander only felt his throat tighten, feeling as if a pair of invisible hands were gripping his throat.

"Hehe. Hehehe." In the silence, sounds of old, aged laughter echoed endlessly within the hall.

After the laughter faded. The gilded Dragon-coiled screen behind the Dragon throne slowly parted to the sides, and the corner of a bright yellow Dragon robe was the first thing to come into view.

A middle-aged Emperor, around fifty years old, rose while holding onto the green jade armrests, the Dragon patterns faintly visible under the bright yellow silk.

When he took a step, the hem of his Dragon robe swept across the jade steps, but it could not hide the hunch of his figure.

Although he was in his prime, his pale face was covered by a layer of lingering black energy, like a withered tree drained of its essence by time.

In his sunken eye sockets, when his clouded eyeballs turned, they actually made a teeth-grinding rustling sound.

That appearance was more like a living dead man who had crawled out of the Yellow Springs, leaving only an Emperor's shell.

"My Crown Prince." "He has actually learned to make decisions for me." "Cough, cough."

The Emperor suddenly coughed violently, black-red blood foam seeping out between his fingers. He looked down at the filthy blood in his palm and actually laughed lowly.

"Get out!" The Commander trembled like a sieve, his forehead knocking against the cold jade steps with a dull sound.

"Yes, yes, yes!" "This humble official kowtows and thanks you for your holy grace!"

He scrambled backward to his feet and disappeared, stumbling, beyond the vermilion palace gates.

The hall returned to deathly silence, with only the Emperor's heavy, uneven breathing echoing under the empty vaulted ceiling.

He slowly turned around, his clouded eyes staring fixedly at the gilded Dragon throne inlaid with nine-clawed golden Dragons.

"I will not die!"

This hoarse murmur carried a maniacal obsession. That supreme imperial power was a treasure he had exchanged twenty years of heart's blood for; how could he easily hand it over to others?

A look of struggle surged like a tide on the Emperor's face, finally turning into a cold, hideous grin.

"I do not believe that I cannot control that ghostly thing!"