Huang Jin found Wang Zhi's body in the imperial tomb's burial chamber.
His face was filled with terror, and his eyes were wide open in death, as if he had seen a ghost before he died.
Huang Jin looked at Wang Zhi's corpse, his expression grave, and after a long period of contemplation, he let out a deep sigh.
His relationship with Wang Zhi was not good.
The eunuch profession was dominated by a wolf-pack culture, where everyone competed for positions in a zero-sum game; if one ate more, others ate less.
Compounded by a poor employment environment and severe internal competition, this led to a situation where colleagues were either enemies or friends.
There's a saying: “The person who understands you best in this world is definitely not your friend, but your enemy.”
Both of them were veterans by the Emperor's side, and after years of mutual struggle, they understood each other intimately.
Huang Jin knew that Wang Zhi was heartless, extremely ruthless in his actions, cared nothing for others, and even less for himself, only showing extreme loyalty to the Emperor.
For him to be scared to death like this, it could only be related to the Emperor, and it was certainly no small matter.
Huang Jin collected Wang Zhi's remains, covered up the traces in the tomb, and then, leading ten Celestial Human Realm offerings, personally pursued the traces left by Emperor Jianwen.
By the time the sky was fully bright, Huang Jin had caught up to the flat ground where Li Miao and Emperor Jianwen had fought.
No one was in sight, but just by looking at the traces on the ground, Huang Jin's expression turned solemn.
“Everyone, go and investigate the surroundings, be vigilant, and do not let the distance between each other exceed a hundred zhang.
If you hear any movement, do not hesitate; everyone must return immediately for support.”
Huang Jin said to the ten offerings.
The offerings nodded and acted accordingly.
These offerings generally looked older than the ten offerings Wang Zhi had brought; some even had thinning hair, loose teeth, and white beards, like old men on the verge of death.
Since they knew they were coming to pursue Emperor Jianwen, it was impossible for these offerings not to have dispelled their secret arts and escaped the Celestial Human Five Declines in advance.
Their aged appearance was their true appearance.
Those who cultivate to the Celestial Human Realm already possess some characteristics of being indestructible, and they would not show signs of aging until their lifespan was nearly exhausted.
The aged appearance of these people was not due to the Celestial Human Five Declines; they were indeed nearing the end of their lives.
The court's secret method to suppress the Celestial Human Five Declines, to put it plainly, was to forcibly divide the life of a Celestial Human into two states: “suppression” and “emergence.”
Normally, they would fall into a deep slumber, slowing down the process of the Celestial Human Five Declines to its minimum.
Then, they would be awakened when needed, fighting during the period when the Celestial Human Five Declines had not re-emerged, and then falling back into deep slumber.
This process involved wear and tear.
These twenty were the offerings who were basically nearing their “expiration date.”
Just by looking at the state of these offerings, one could tell that the court's reserves, at least those readily available, were almost depleted.
After all, the wool comes from the sheep, and the offerings were also gathered from the martial world.
The court suppressed martial arts, suppressed sects, and quelled the martial world, and Celestial Humans became increasingly rare, so gathering thirty of them was already quite difficult.
Let's return to the present.
After the offerings left, Huang Jin squatted down, took out a handkerchief from his In arms, and picked up flesh and broken cloth from the ground to examine them.
“There were two people fighting here.
One wore a bright yellow outer robe, and the fabric was decayed; it should be Emperor Jianwen.
3
“The other's clothing was brand new and exquisitely made; judging by the material and craftsmanship, it was in the style of North Zhili and should have been produced in Shuntian Prefecture.”
Huang Jin took a few more steps forward, squatted down, and after examining the traces, he actually struck a boxing stance on the spot.
“They exchanged a blow here, then Emperor Jianwen retreated, and this person followed up.
After more than ten moves, they separated.
“This stance—I can't tell what martial art it is; it should be self-created.”
He walked a few more steps forward.
“Palm print—Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms.”
“Then it was this self-created martial art again, forcing Emperor Jianwen back.”
“Emperor Jianwen flashed forward, using ‘Sun and Moon Competing for Brilliance’.”
“After that—it was a chaotic battle.
Both were injured.
After Emperor Jianwen fled, this person stood here for a moment, then flew away.”
In just a few words, he had reconstructed about seventy to eighty percent of the battle between Li Miao and Emperor Jianwen.
Huang Jin was a "Jiezi", and one who achieved this purely through his own understanding after reading extensively about various martial arts in the imperial palace.
It was not surprising that he could discern these details.
Huang Jin squatted down, took out a handkerchief from his In arms, picked up two clumps of flesh and put them into his In arms.
He also picked two pieces of torn cloth, wrapped them up, and put them away.
“This person is not Ji Tianrui, nor is he the Ming Cult leader impersonating Ji Tianrui.”
Huang Jin closed his eyes in thought.
“But who could it be—who could actually force Emperor Jianwen to flee.”
“Forget it, these two have been gone for some time; it's too late to pursue them now.
It's better to return to the capital first and report the situation here to His Majesty.”
“These ten offerings may not be enough to deal with these two.”
“And Wang Zhi, what did he know before he died that made him die so unwillingly and fearfully?”
Huang Jin sighed deeply and looked up at the sky.
Today was the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month; tomorrow was New Year's Eve.
The day after tomorrow was the day for the Emperor's ancestral sacrifice, when the Emperor would depart from the capital to the imperial mausoleum to worship his ancestors.
What he feared now was that the villains would seize that opportunity to cause trouble.
Not only the Ming Cult, but now there was also Emperor Jianwen and this unidentified master.
“A storm is brewing…”
In the capital, at the Zhu Residence.
Zhu Zai had just gotten out of bed, and his wife, Madam Zhu, was helping him put on his official uniform and adjust his collar.
Suddenly, he let out an involuntary sigh.
“My lord, what's wrong?”
Madam Zhu asked with a smile.
“Did Da Li trouble you again?”
“Hmph!”
Zhu Zai snorted coldly, not answering.
“My lord, Da Li has been by your side longer than our son has been alive, and he used to spend New Year's with our family every year.
To be honest, he's like our adopted son.
I even know his temperament thoroughly.”
Madam Zhu tied up Zhu Zai's hair, chuckling as she spoke.
“He's like a donkey-rolling pastry; if you leave him alone, he'll just slump into a soft mess; but if you put him in a pile of sesame seeds, he'll immediately get covered in them.”
“If you force him to do things, you have to be prepared to settle the score for him.
Why be angry?”
“Woman's opinion!”
Zhu Zai gave her a cold, warning glance and snorted.
It's easy for you to say!
He didn't go dig up your family's ancestral grave last night!
However, these words could not be said to Madam Zhu, so Zhu Zai could only swallow his worry and anger.
Having not slept all night and now filled with suppressed anger, Zhu Zai instinctively wanted to smash something.
Suddenly, three light taps came from the rooftop.
Ding, ding.
Ding.
Two short, one long; it was Li Miao's agreed-upon signal.
If it was inconvenient to use the main entrance, Li Miao would notify him this way.
Zhu Zai quickly said a few words to Madam Zhu, then hurried to a side room within the residence.
Pushing the door open, Zhu Zai was about to start scolding, but upon seeing Li Miao, he abruptly swallowed his words.
“Da Li, you—”
At this moment, Li Miao was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, covered in bloodstains, and smiling mischievously at Zhu Zai.
“Yo, Commander, have you eaten yet?”