The Assignment

Red blood and various organs flew through the air. The heart that had been tossed high was still beating, as if, even split in two, Dong Zhongshou was still alive.

The headless Peng Longteng leaned back, using her heavy armor to receive the things falling from the sky.

The lower jawbone, still with its skin attached, was gripped in her hand. Her broad fingers slowly tightened, grinding it to a fine powder between them before it finally became bone dust.

Peng Longteng's body trembled uncontrollably. Killing—she craved killing so badly. She craved the feeling of taking living people, one by one, by her own hand.

God knows how long she had been waiting for this moment. Today, she finally got her fix.

Clang! A spiked meteor hammer slammed into Peng Longteng's heavy armor with a dull ring. Instead of anger, delight sparked in her eyes as she charged eagerly toward the men rushing at her.

These seemed to be Dong Zhongshou's house retainers, avenging their master. But in Peng Longteng's eyes, they were just props to enjoy the slaughter.

The outcome was destined from the start. A military path cultivator without a fatal weakness could hardly be defeated.

The others had initially seemed ready to send their own retainers into the fray, but once Li Huowang joined the battle, and they saw his strength, everyone immediately went still.

After the time it takes to burn an incense stick, the only additions to the ground were a few more corpses, and the entire noisy courtyard fell silent again.

Li Huowang slowly walked into the shadow of Peng Longteng's towering form, looking down at all the people below—these so-called direct descendants of Ji Lin.

They were all hidden behind layers of their own bodyguards now, every face pale with fear and suspicion as they stared at the red-robed Daoist before them. Some had already gathered together, while others had slipped away at some unknown moment.

"Before I came, someone tried to kill me. So I used a few small tricks to squeeze some information out of them," Li Huowang said, patting the leather bag of torture implements at his waist.

"And guess what I found out? I found out that after all this time, the only ones who've died are the pawns. Not a single one of the nine who are fighting for the dragon throne has fallen. I realized that you and they alike have been thinking wrong—spectacularly wrong!"

"This isn't some ordinary political change. Throw out everything you know. There are no political trades here, no interest bargaining, no scheming and diplomacy! What's needed is killing! What's needed is raising a Gu! Except for the one on the throne—everyone else must die! Not one spared!"

He kept one sentence bottled inside, unsaid: this was the iron law laid down by the previous emperor within the Imperial Ancestral Temple, with no room for revision.

"So when someone threatens His Majesty's life, what do you think His Majesty wants us to do? Definitely not thinking about who his allies are, not about any connections or relationships. Our goal is to kill them all!"

Li Huowang lifted one foot and stamped it heavily down, crushing the half-skull beside his foot into splintered pieces.

After a tense silence lasting the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the strategist without a beard, his face deathly pale, stood up. His trembling finger pointed at Li Huowang.

"My senior brother rendered outstanding service for His Majesty! He was an indispensable minister by His Majesty's side! How dare you kill him? His Majesty will not let you off!"

"No. His Majesty won't come after me for something this small. Because what His Majesty wants is someone who can clear away obstacles and help him ascend the throne. Since your senior brother failed to eliminate even a single opponent, he had no value left to His Majesty."

Behind Li Huowang, Peng Longteng had vanished like smoke at some unknown moment. He lifted his foot and walked back toward his seat.

Reaching out to grab a roasted goose from the table, Li Huowang spoke, as if talking to himself: "Your Majesty, if you're still going to dawdle like this, then that Ling Nie you ate was a total waste. It's time to get serious."

"I'm a sword to you—a very sharp sword. Don't just keep it in the sheath and let the light go to waste."

Under everyone's gaze, Li Huowang left the mansion directly. He didn't know whether Ji Lin had planted spies in that courtyard, but he was sure that the message he'd left behind would reach Ji Lin's ears.

Sure enough, the next morning, an old eunuch brought Li Huowang an oral imperial decree.

The decree contained nothing else—just a single piece of information. Tomorrow afternoon, the Empress Dowager would leave the city for Putan Temple to worship the Bodhisattva, and the Changning Princess would accompany her.

"So His Majesty wants me to kill the Changning Princess right under the Empress Dowager's nose?" Li Huowang asked the old eunuch before him.

The old eunuch shook his head, neither sad nor happy, and began to tell a small story as if making casual conversation.

"Even with ordinary children, a family can't hold the scales perfectly level—let alone the imperial family. The Empress Dowager had three sons and one daughter in her life, but she doted only on the Fourth Prince. Her feelings for His Majesty have always been thin since he was little."

"When His Majesty was young, before the late emperor took the throne, back in the Prince Heng's residence, every winter His Majesty received less coal money than the others. So he has hated winter all his life, ever since he was a child."

Hearing this, Li Huowang nodded, immediately understanding. It seemed Ji Lin's Ling Nie hadn't been eaten for nothing. He wanted Li Huowang to take out his own biological sister and his own biological mother in one go.

The Empress Dowager naturally couldn't compete for the throne herself. From the look of it, she believed her own son Ji Lin had no chance and was placing her bet on her other son instead.

The old eunuch finished speaking, a meaningful smile lingering on his face as he looked at Li Huowang. He lightly tapped Li Huowang with the golden-dust whisk in his hand.

"The Changning Princess has a few good retainers. Since you say you're a sword sharp enough to cut through iron, this old servant would very much like to see just how sharp your blade really is."

"Eunuch, a sword honed well is naturally sharp. But I'm a man who cares nothing for fame or profit. Unfortunately, I have many troubles of my own. I only hope that when I run into some difficulties down the road, a friend who owes me a favor might lend a hand."

"Oh my, haven't even started the job yet, and you're already bargaining? Finish the work first, then we'll talk."

Li Huowang watched the old eunuch walk out of his courtyard, and without any warning, the man vanished on the spot.

"So Ji Lin doesn't only have useless trash around him," Li Huowang murmured thoughtfully.

Those eunuchs in the palace really did include some with remarkable strength. How could he make use of them, turn them into a force to help him fight against the Die?

"Dad, why can't I understand what you're saying?" Li Sui, who was gnawing on a roasted goose nearby, asked.

"You don't need to understand. Is the roasted goose good?"

"It's good."

"Good. When you're done, empty the water out of the vat, fill it with dirt, and carry it into my bedroom."

Li Huowang rummaged through the carriage for a while before carefully pulling out an iron box. The box was sealed tight, the tiny gaps filled with wax, as if afraid something inside might escape.