The one who just kicked him before was the vice-captain of the Qilin Guards, Long Zaitian. He brought a group of warriors from the flying fish pavilion. Among them was Tie Hanyi, Ye Luo and a few more members from the emperor's security detail, a few Qilin Guards and the men from Liu Shan Men led by Tang Ye. There were also a few more including Jia Yunfeng who had his skills erased along with his Hua Shan disciples, wandering warriors and even the guards in the palace. Altogether, there had to be fifty people.
Aside from them, there were so many imperial guards. In between them was a heroic looking girl in red. Nan Junfei was shocked to realise who she was: The second princess is here!
He knew about her broadsword skills and always feared them greatly. At least he knew he couldn't beat her.
With all of these people together, forget him, they'd only be on even ground if all of Mystery was to gather. He was in dire straits this time.
When he realised his predicament, he panicked. In his voice of despair, he shouted: "Where's Zhong Ning? Where's Zhong Ning?! Why isn't he here?! Why are you people here?!"
From among the crowd, Long Zaitian spoke out: "That Zhong Ning or whatever his face is, is still on the run, but the second princess chased him for a while so it doesn't look like he can come to your rescue."
"Where's Fu Xiang?! As long as somebody from Mystery with profound internal energy is here, I'll still have a chance."
Long Zaitian replied in a smug manner: "Fu Xiang? That chicken suffered qi deviation thanks to our plague and is completely crippled. You want to see him? Sure. I'll let you guys be neighbours in prison. You'll be able to enjoy the bliss of your friendship for three more days before you're beheaded as well."
"F-Fu Xiang was defeated?!"
The emperor couldn't see who was who too clearly in the winds and snow, but he did hear "second princess" clearly. He cheerfully asked: "Has Hong'er returned?"
Princess Hongzhuan walked over. Hu Po didn't stop her since she truly was the princess.
Seeing his daughter return, the emperor burst into so much joy it overruled his negative emotions. He exclaimed with joy: "Hong'er! You're finally back. You've been gone for years! You must not miss your father at all."
Princess Hongzhuang helped her father brush the snow off his clothes first and then held his cold hands. She transferred some of her qi to help him heal his wound. She felt relieved to find him still okay.
"Father, I heard you were poisoned and captured. I was so scared my soul almost left my body. I am now a little relieved to see that you are well."
She had been travelling far away for many years and just returned. His heart was warmed by the fact that the first thing she did upon returning was worry about him. That somewhat healed his heart after the orange prince's revolt.
"Father……" Princess Hongzhuang called him timidly like she was afraid her question would hurt her father so she hesitated slightly.
He could tell what she wanted to ask by looking at her eyes so he gave her a silent nod.
Princess Hongzhuang's eyes widened and her heart sunk.
Needless to say, what she wanted to ask was if it was as the outsiders said that her second brother, the orange prince was the root of this.
The other princes had been set off to other territories while the orange prince had always remained in the capital. He grew up in the palace with her so they were quite close.
Thus, she didn't believe it when she first heard the claim, but then when more people mentioned it, she didn't comment further. Now that her father had acknowledged it as well though, she had no choice but to believe it. Her second brother had truly revolted.
Seeing that her father was alright, had gained the upper-hand and that this was an inevitable event, she began to wonder what consequences the orange prince would face.
She said: "Father, I have something……"
The emperor interjected: "He cannot be let off easily. Hong'er, you are a kind and magnanimous girl, but you must understand that you must reward and punish fairly. I raised a snake. I made a mistake in the past, and I cannot make another mistake."
That was the equivalent of sealing her second brother's fate with capital punishment.
She was rebuffed before she could finish what she had to say, and she didn't know what else to say. However, she could tell from the emperor's self-imposed tone and hands shaking behind his back that the decision wasn't easy for him to make.
She grabbed his cold hands and shaky hands, and then faintly told him: "Father, look after yourself. Do not let yourself get sick."
The emperor patted her on her shoulder and smiled tenderly.
He then turned to face his people and said: "Oh right, how is the situation at the flying fish pavilion? Who can tell me?"
A tall man stepped forth, giggling as he replied: "I request the right to speak, your majesty!"
"Speak… Hmm? Long Zaitian?" When the emperor saw that it was Long Zaitian, his rage multiplied by three times, "You insolent traitor, Long Zaitian! You worked with the orange prince, plotted a revolt, and poisoned me and the warriors in the flying fish pavilion. You have committed the severest crimes. You will not be spared. Men, arrest him!"
The imperial guards were dutiful alright. As soon as the emperor finished, they immediately went to apprehend him. Long Zaitian pushed the left and right guards away and cursed at them: "Retards! What are you arresting me for?!"
The imperial guards stopped and waited for the emperor to order them to continue.
Long Zaitian then rushed to say: "You are mistaken! Your majesty, please listen to my explanation. Please let me explain it to you!"
The emperor was going to curse at him, but then when he remembered his daughter was present, he had to maintain proper etiquette and demanded: "Explain yourself."
Long Zaitian then explained everything from start to present. Tang Ye and co. provided witness testimonies for him. The emperor's mood improved as he listened in and gradually cheered up. When he heard the orange prince had been captured, he burst into laughter.
The emperor was elated: "Great. Minister Long, you put yourself out there for the nation. You are an important pillar of the nation! I'm glad there are still loyal vassals in the imperial court. I almost falsely convicted you." What the emperor hated most about Long Zaitian was that he betrayed his master for glory, but when he found out that he was sacrificing himself for the greater good, he changed his opinion for the better.
"No, no, I am but just a imprudent brute. I am not worthy of your compliments, your majesty." Long Zaitian acted modest: "I was waiting for the right moment and hence could not make my stance clear and poisoned the wine, causing you to suffer. Please grant me death."
The emperor chuckled and replied: "Minister Long, there is no need for you to be so modest. I shall remember this merit of yours. Who dares say otherwise?"
Long Zaitian gave a fist and palm salute then responded: "I would not have the competence to have done it had our grand commander not taught me well. Please credit our grand commander, your majesty."
After understanding that he wanted to credit his superior, he was glad to hear that he was not desperate for credit and replied: "You both shall be rewarded. Both shall be rewarded, hahaha."
The emperor then looked at the second princess and said: "That's another good piece of news besides Hong'er returning today. Oh wait, I still have to find you a marriage partner through the martial arts competition. We've almost decided on someone, so it should be three good pieces of news."
Princess Hongzhuang had long heard of it but she was straight-laced and rarely liked to joke. She lowered her head, chuckled and said: "Father, you're making fun of me. You're not making a good example as an elder." Speaking of making examples as an elder, she suddenly recalled the scoundrel Zhong Ning who peeped on her changing, lighting up the fire in her chest.
"Father, now that you are safe for now, how will we deal with this traitor?"
She couldn't find "Zhong Ning", so his brother Yu Ye was going to have to pay for it in his place.
After Nan Junfei heard the shocking news that Fu Xiang and Zhong Ning had both been defeated, he crawled backwards several feet like he was struck by lightning. He then fell to the ground as he couldn't support himself. He lay there on the ground with his face totally pale. He then noticed that his body got colder. It was cold like he was being his blood was being sucked out, making him gradually feel colder.
We lost? Why did we lose?
We're Mystery. We can't lose? Where's big bro? Where's big bro……?
Nan Junfei seemingly spotted a hazy lantern adorned with a revolving circle of paper horses in front of his eyes. It appeared real but fake at the same time. He seemingly saw his leader's face. He seemed to be standing there in the crowd.
He then couldn't hold back his laughter and burst out in laughter: "Hahaha, you're all dead. Our leader has arrived. He comes without a sound. You're all going to die here. You're all going to die here! Hahahaha!"
You're all… going to die!
"Brother, you're absolutely right."
The voice was faint yet like a dragon's roar, ringing in their ears non-stop and was combined with the sound of a sword being drawn like threads being neatly tied up, like a sophisticated internal strength cultivation art combined.
The sound distinctly came from the crowd, yet it wasn't clear where it came from.
When they heard a sword being drawn from its sheath it had already been drawn.
What appeared wasn't a sword, but sword shadows.
Tens of sword shadows that appeared like golden snakes danced wildly to form a ball of shadows, sucking up a number of skilled fighters on this side up. The black sword shadows flashed and a warrior had his meridians sealed. The sword shadows were extremely swift like a shadow became a snake and slithered through, leaving no one with an escape route.
With one strike, Long Zaitian, Tang Ye, Tie Hanyi, Ye Luo, Li Hongzhuang, the emperor and most of the skilled fighters all had their meridians sealed. Though they weren't in perfect form due to Thorn-tear's effects, to be able to perform such a feat was barely ever heard of.
With the attack being delivered from nearby, nobody managed to defend in time. Nobody thought "he" would suddenly strike. His swordplay was unbelievably swift. They didn't even have the time to think about guarding before they were struck.
Hu Po roared. He stood in front of him but all he saw was the shadows transform into a form that was tough to distinguish, like they were snakes slithering around, creating flowing movement and transforming, creating variety. It turned out the technique was lethal, but the wielder had only sealed everyone else's meridians while focusing eighty-percent of his attention on Hu Po. Hu Po he would be up against some other school's swordplay so he was caught off-guard too, thereby getting hit with five swords.
"This……" Hu Po was stunned, He struggled to utter: "Isn't this Hua Shan's swordplay?"
The assailant sheathed Beyond the Heavens Edge.
"Ah, you're right. That was indeed Hua Shan's swordplay."
Jia Yunfeng sounded like always. He was cold, aloof, and void of desire like a monk without desire.
"That was called Demon Shadow Light Splitter. It's Mystery's Kuang Tian's signature sword art. This is what the League of Assassins' martial arts are truly like."
A cold shine appeared in Jia Yunfeng's eyes: "To have the right to witness it, your life wasn't in vain."
As soon as he finished, Hu Po cried out in pain. His entire arm had been severed as blood spurt forth like a fountain of blood. Hu Po slowly collapsed onto the ground and passed out.
Among all of the warriors, only the twenty-plus Hua Shan disciples were fine. They saluted Jia Yunfeng with a fist and palm salute.
"Sect-leader… leader, we have finished our preparations."
Jia Yunfeng nodded. He swept his cold gaze over the panicked and evidently dumbfounded hundred-plus imperial guards. He then gave his command in a cold tone: "Make it clean. Spare none."
Glossary
*Jin Que Sword is based off the historical sword which is a massive sword called 巨阙剑. For a visual reference: