Chapter 88 Attendant Thirty-Nine

Shinju's gaze flickered unusually; he didn't look directly at the King of Blades, but instead looked away.

Seeing that he remained silent, the King of Zhen reached out and turned his face back, forcing him to look at him directly. "Why don't you speak? Don't you like the teahouse? I've invited a renowned chef to cook here. The local dishes and snacks are excellent. Do you have an appetite now? I'll have someone bring some up for you to try."

King Zhen was unusually talkative, as if afraid that Shinju would displease him, and slowly introduced the place, adding at the end: "This place was purchased by me with money from my private treasury, without touching a single penny of the national treasury."

The more Shinju saw how much the King of Poison cared about his likes and dislikes, the more he felt sorry for him.

But he truly had no other choice. The incident with Uncle Wu had made him realize how naive and complacent he had been, having forgotten the cruel nature of the cultivation world. The demon would never let him go; he knew all the demon's stains, and the other side would certainly not tolerate him. Now, those outside had clearly pinpointed his location; one failure would only lead to an even fiercer offensive.

Having spent so much time with the Poison King, I've never seen him use any cultivation techniques, so he must be under some kind of restriction, and there must be quite a few. The Poison King certainly didn't come to this small world to live a life of idyllic bliss. Although he is an emperor, he is far from being extravagant and licentious. Except for that one night, he has always lived a restrained and disciplined life like a cultivator.

If the Poison King truly came to cultivate, he didn't know how many years the Poison King had spent in this realm. The group outside came for him, but after their renewed invasion, there was no guarantee they wouldn't turn their attention to the Poison King, who was the core of the formation. If they succeeded, the world would collapse, and all living beings in this realm would be annihilated—including him, the Poison King, and every single living individual.

Even if the chance was only one in ten thousand, he dared not gamble, especially since the probability was not low. Mortals are fragile, but with a weakness, how was he any different from other mortals? He couldn't gamble; he absolutely couldn't let outsiders destroy this world. He had to escape this world as soon as possible before they could unravel its mysteries. The forging of the golden body was of utmost urgency.

Therefore, Shinju hardened his heart and said solemnly, "I do not wish to."

The King of Zhen's expression immediately froze.

No further words were needed; the King of Poison had already read from the look in Shinju's eyes that what Shinju didn't want was far more than just this Peak Tower.

A bitter taste rose in his throat, and the King of Zhen tightened his jaw, setting aside the matter of his intention to give him the mansion in the capital.

Silence hung in the air inside, but outside a sudden gust of wind swept through. Long, dark shadows seemed to roam among the clouds, and the thunderous roar sounded like a dragon's cry. Amidst the lightning and thunder, it was as if earth dragons were turning over, causing the ground to tremble violently and the buildings to shake violently.

In an instant, a commotion arose, and exclamations arose from all sides.

"Waiter! Manager! What's going on? What happened?!"

"Everyone, get outside immediately! The building is collapsing!!"

"...Waaaaah, my leg got twisted, I can't walk! Someone, someone help me..."

"Idiot! Get under the table!! Lie down, quick—"

Shinju had already seen the chaotic scene downstairs through his divine sense, but the world was stained with thick ink, and his divine sense could not penetrate it even slightly.

The Peak Tower, built with ancient, thousand-year-old timbers as its beams and pillars, was extremely expensive. However, even it could only withstand an earthquake of this magnitude for a short while longer than an ordinary wooden building.

Feeling the precariousness beneath his feet, Shinju quickly grabbed the King of Blades's arm, shielding his head with his hand, and cried out, "Your Majesty! I will escort you out!"

But the King of Poison seemed not to hear, remaining unmoved. Shinju cast a glance and saw that the King of Poison's dark eyes were impenetrable, as black as the bottom of an abyss, and its figure remained motionless amidst the violent turmoil.

Shinju tried to pull him along, but was surprised to find that he couldn't lift the King of Poison.

Inside, lamp stands, flowerpots, and other miscellaneous items toppled over one after another, the sounds of shattering porcelain and heavy objects falling echoing throughout the room. The antique display shelf beside them was particularly unstable, and it looked as if it was about to crash down on King Zhen. Shinju decisively dodged to block it, but King Zhen suddenly grabbed his wrist and tightened his grip with all his might, letting the display shelf crash heavily onto his back. King Zhen ignored him, only murmuring, "You will never leave me, will you?"

Although the King of Poison was smiling, there was no smile in his eyes. It was as if nothing could be reflected in his eyes, not even the very man who was right next to him.

Only now did Shinju realize that the strange phenomenon was caused by the King of Poison.

People were still fleeing downstairs, and more and more houses were collapsing in the surrounding area. Broken beams, tiles, and even people were being swept away by the gale.

The Poison King kept repeating it in his ear—

"You will never leave me, will you?" The voice of the King of Zhen descended from the sky, seemingly calm, but amidst the chaos around him, this calm was like the eye of a storm, revealing the madness and eeriness of the culprit.

In this critical moment, Shinju suppressed the turmoil in his heart, grasped the King of Poison's hand, and replied, "Yes."

"Your Majesty, I will not leave you."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sky shone brightly with rosy clouds, and the gale, thunder, and earth-shaking tremors vanished in an instant, and the world returned to peace.

Everyone looked around in disbelief and breathed a sigh of relief when they found that the disaster had not returned.

Like the people downstairs, Shinjuku looked at the mess in the room and, though helpless, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The King of Zhen seemed to awaken from a dream, and looking at the chaos caused by his first complete loss of control, his gaze suddenly turned serious. He raised his hand to gently embrace Zhen Su, not daring to exert any force, and after feeling Zhen Su's genuine body temperature, he immediately said in a deep voice, "Come with me." After speaking, he took the lead.

A large number of imperial guards were quickly mobilized to assist in clearing the rubble and treating the wounded. Fortunately, this sudden disaster was short-lived and caused no deaths, but the property damage was considerable. The King of Zhen directly allocated silver from his private treasury and ordered special officials to calculate the compensation.

King Zhen instructed Masakatsu to remain obediently by the sidelines, requiring no further action from him, but not to leave his sight. However, Masakatsu was not the type to simply ignore trouble. In the end, he still ended up running around with King Zhen, cleaning up the mess for half a day before finally returning to the palace.

.

The following day, Shinju went to visit Saku and Yuu, who were recovering from their injuries. However, when the two saw Shinju, they looked somewhat bewildered, quite different from their usual proud and cheerful demeanor.

Shinjuku didn't understand, but Sakunosuke and Yuu knew perfectly well. When Wu Duo broke in, the two of them, even working together, were instantly defeated. It was the first time they had encountered such a peerless master who was not even in the same league, which filled them with indignation and fear. But this monster was actually stopped by Shinjuku after he entered the hall.

Therefore, their fear of "Wu Duo" naturally turned into reverence for Shinjuku.

Their injuries were extremely serious; they remained bedridden and unable to get up, suffering from multiple fractures throughout their bodies. Even turning over required assistance from others. The one with her head wrapped in bandages was You'er, and her left eye was also covered with a blood-soaked white cloth. With her divine sense, she could see that the wound beneath was terrifyingly deep.

Mayu felt a pang of sadness and guilt. Just as he was about to apologize, Sakunosuke stopped him.

“Protecting the Emperor is our duty. We are not as skilled as others and our rescue was inadequate. It is already a blessing that the Lord has not punished us. He has granted us special forgiveness so that we can rest and heal our wounds here.”

"Besides, that person injured You'er, and I will never forgive him. An apology is useless," Zuo'er said through gritted teeth.

“I’m tracking down the real culprit. The one who hurt you wasn’t Uncle Wu. It may sound absurd, but it’s the truth.”

Shinjuku's expression was solemn, not as if he were trying to exonerate anyone, but simply stating the facts. Upon hearing this, Sakuya did not believe him, but Yuuya seemed to have thought of something, and a look of sudden realization appeared on her face.

Yu'er tugged at the sleeve of Zuo'er, who was lying on the next bed, and smiled weakly at Zhen Su, saying, "Lord Qing, are you worried that we will take our anger out on the Wu family? Please rest assured, that will not happen."

Zuo'er awkwardly turned her head away, but still made a promise: "Since Your Majesty has given the order, we will obey and will not harm the Wu family." After all, it was the King of Zhen who brought them out of that hellhole, and as the king's personal henchmen, they would naturally obey his orders.

Perhaps the atmosphere had become a bit stiff. Seeing that Zhen Su's expression was still full of sorrow, Zuo'er pretended to be relaxed and said, "Why don't you teach us how the master survived from that madman?"

Unexpectedly, a clear hint of anger flashed in Shinju's eyes, and crimson gold suddenly appeared. He coldly said, "Just a traitor who has forgotten his roots. I happen to have a way to counter his 'Dragon Hook Claw' technique. Once you two have recovered..."

After thinking it over, Shinju changed his mind and said, "How about I demonstrate it to you two now? You'll just need to memorize it." His time in this world was running out.

Zuo'er and You'er looked at each other in surprise, then their faces lit up with joy.

An hour later, Shinju took his leave, but he did not intend to return to the Seinin Palace. He had informed King Zhen of his departure, but he had not mentioned to King Zhen where he was going next.

So after he had walked for a while, the Silver Scorpion Guard following him realized that this was not a place he usually went. He had to step out from the shadows, kneel on one knee beside Shinju, and remind him, "My lord, where are you going? That direction is probably not suitable... You should return to the Zhengren Hall. His Majesty is waiting for you to return inside."

Shinju glanced at the Silver Scorpion Guard and, feigning authority, said, "All land under heaven belongs to the king, and this is especially true within the imperial palace. Where can I not go?"

Silver Scorpion's bodyguard nearly wiped the sweat from his brow. Such blatant disrespect for the emperor would have been dismissed by any other concubine, but this person was different...

He hesitated for a moment, then finally said, "Anyone may go..."

A sly glint flashed in Shinju's eyes as he said, "Besides, with all of you following me, what is there to fear? After I have investigated this person, I will return."

Even if the King of Poison himself were to come, he would be speechless in the face of Shinju's words. After all, that was exactly what happened when he reported that he was going to visit Yuu-er.

At that time, King Zhen looked at Shinju with resentment in his eyes, but in the face of confrontation, King Zhen gave in first. He did not dare to press Shinju too hard, so he had no choice but to let him leave, and let Silver Scorpion act as his eyes and ears, keeping a close watch on Shinju all the way.

The Silver Scorpion Guards had no choice but to hide back in the shadows, and let Shinju walk towards the servants' quarters of the Imperial Ceremonial Bureau.

Shinjuku came here to visit a sick person.

On the day Uncle Wu was possessed, a story also circulated widely in the palace: it was said that Gu Yixiang, the Lingtai Lang of the Imperial Observatory, suddenly fell ill. The imperial physicians were summoned, but they were helpless to treat his illness, and no one could even determine what kind of disease it was—heart palpitations, premature graying of hair, and chapped skin.

Shinjuku had heard about this matter long ago, but he hadn't paid it any mind, as he was completely immersed in immense grief at the time. He had heard about it, but it went in one ear and out the other. However, after he rallied and resolved to investigate the people outside the realm, he certainly wouldn't let go of such a suspiciously coincidental clue.

On the same day, he suddenly collapsed and was diagnosed with a strange illness. He and Uncle Wu rushed into the Zhengren Hall, which happened almost one after the other. In addition, he turned white-haired at a young age, which made Master Zhen Su take notice.

So he went to their door.

As soon as the door was pushed open, the white-haired youth sitting on the couch raised the corners of his lips and said:

"You really came."

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Author's Note: I don't know what to say. There's no ranking, so I feel like I can just sit on the sidelines until the end. How much longer until it's finished... I can't take it anymore.