The Emperor of Daliang

Ji Xiang chewed on his flatbread as he spoke. "You don't get it. This kid is no ordinary one. I flipped through every book from the first storehouse to the fourth just to figure out what he actually did to save us. That was the Ao-Jing Sect's secret art, the Dung-Beetle Ascension!"

"Elder Brother, what's that?" Sensing the gravity in his tone, the old woman softened her own voice considerably.

"My seniority isn't high enough. The only thing I found is that most people who use this secret art end up dead. Those who survive are no ordinary people."

"More importantly, think about it. What is 'ascension'? What is he ascending to become? Once someone uses this art, they're no longer a mortal! Tell me, are we capable of offending someone like that?"

Hearing Ji Xiang's words, the old woman nodded with lingering fear. "Then what you did, Elder Brother, was indeed prudent. We cannot owe a debt to this kind of person."

"I suspect this kid joined the Supervisory Heavenly Office for ulterior motives. It's nothing like what he said about taking revenge on the Zuowandao."

The old woman felt a pang of pity and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the dense sweat from his brow. "It's alright, Elder Brother. Let's not worry about these trivial matters anymore. They have nothing to do with us anyway. Let's go home."

Looking at the approaching city gate, the grave-faced Ji Xiang nodded slightly.

As Ji Xiang pulled out his Supervisory Heavenly Office token, a crack slowly opened in the heavy city gate. After Ji Xiang's carriage left the capital, the doors slammed shut again, heavy as two mountains.

Li Huowang woke early the next day. After preparing everything he needed to bring, he got out of bed and walked toward the prison through the morning mist.

To his surprise, he wasn't the only one who came. A half-grown kid was already there, leading a blind man.

"We're just here to escort the prisoner. Why did the military need to bring in outsiders?" Li Huowang waited in silence.

Before long, another man arrived, riding a cow backward. Li Huowang had never seen clothing like his before. Sitting cross-legged on the cow's back, the man cradled a clay statue of a four-armed green female Buddha in his arms, his head drooping as he muttered something under his breath.

Perhaps the citizens of the capital knew something, because they took a wide detour from afar. There wasn't a single shop nearby either. Even though it was already broad daylight, the prison entrance remained utterly desolate.

As they waited, the heavy prison door soon opened, and an iron prisoner cart slowly rolled out.

The man inside didn't match the image Li Huowang had of a prisoner. He wore a golden mask on his face.

It was a very peculiar mask—a square face, hollowed-out eyes, a triangular nose bridge, and wide ears.

If the lines on the mask hadn't been more twisted and curled, Li Huowang might have thought he was looking at a Sanxingdui artifact.

"You three, escort him to the Meridian Gate for beheading," the military official who came out with them ordered Li Huowang and the other two.

"The Meridian Gate? We don't even need to leave the city?" Li Huowang thought he had misheard. From here to the Meridian Gate, even walking at the slowest pace, it would take at most two hours. The job was nothing like what he had imagined.

"That's right, that's right," the official said, seeming very eager to be done. After finishing, he hurriedly slipped back into the prison.

When Li Huowang saw the prisoner cart start moving, driven by an old, white-haired jailer, he glanced at the other two men, then took his position beside the cart and headed toward the Meridian Gate.

No matter what they were doing, as long as it could help Bai Lingmiao get rid of the killing intent, he would go along with it.

As the cart slowly entered the bustling area, the noise around them grew loud. The citizens of the capital pointed and laughed at the man inside the prisoner cart. They didn't seem surprised by the golden mask at all—or maybe they were already used to it.

The noise seemed to wake the man inside the cart. He suddenly pressed his golden mask against the bars and screamed desperately at the others: "You... you can't do this to me! I am the Emperor! I am the Emperor of the Great Liang Dynasty!"

Hearing this, Li Huowang's heart tightened. But when he turned his head, he found that no one else reacted at all.

The hunchbacked blind man beside him kept repeating like a chant: "Blame not the blameless, those who do the deed are blameless. Blame not the blameless, those who do the deed are blameless."

Seeing this, Li Huowang stopped paying attention and focused on his job as a prison escort.

He could already guess why the military had sought out outsiders like them to send this man off—and why this matter affected one's official career.

The wheels of the prisoner cart rolled slowly, following the wide road until it reached the side of the vermilion palace wall.

The sharp-eyed Li Huowang sensed a gaze falling on them from the city wall, but he didn't stir up any trouble. The gaze was fixed on the man in the cart anyway.

"Ji Song! Do you think you've won? Not yet! One day, you'll end up just like me!" the prisoner inside the cart screamed hysterically, craning his neck toward the top of the wall.

The man on the wall did not respond. He just watched in silence.

The cart moved slowly, but no matter how slow, it would eventually reach its destination. The executioner had already been waiting for a long time. It was exactly noon, and a crowd of citizens had gathered around the execution grounds, eagerly craning their necks.

"Ji Man! Guilty of plotting rebellion! There is no pardon! He is sentenced to beheading!"

The red token was thrown down. The masked man was dragged out of the cart. By now, his body was as limp as a noodle, and yellow urine had soaked through his prison clothes.

As the executioner dragged him forward, Li Huowang finally noticed something strange about the man's body. His belly was large and swollen, but his limbs were exceptionally thin.

And the belly wasn't from being fat. It looked like it was filled with objects of various sizes pressing outward.

"Pfft!" The executioner spat a mouthful of strong liquor onto his broad blade. Then, with a mighty heave, he swung the blade down. The head, as big as a ladle, tumbled to the ground in a spray of blood.

The executioner unfastened the bloodstained golden mask from the head and, holding it in both hands, presented it to the official's table.

The official wrapped the mask in yellow silk, mounted his horse, and galloped back toward the palace walls. The nearby soldiers began to withdraw, and soon, not a single one remained, leaving the corpse to grow cold.

The moment the official presence was gone, the surrounding citizens swarmed in like flies, buzzing with excitement. They held steamed buns in their hands, frantically pressing them into the pooling blood.

Two women even started arguing over who had soaked up more. Watching this, Li Huowang found it bitterly ironic.

"That's it? That simple?" Frowning, Li Huowang turned to leave.

But just as he was about to go, a thought struck him. He pushed through the crowd and walked over to the headless corpse.

When he pulled out a small dagger and carefully sliced open the distended belly, large and small balls came tumbling out.

"Hmm?" Li Huowang picked up one the size of a fist and examined it closely.

"This 'Emperor of the Great Liang Dynasty'... his belly is completely full of elixir pills. His stomach was stretched out by this many pills."