Chapter 120, Mid-Chapter
Dark clouds covered the sky, heavy clouds hung like a canopy, and the light was dim. The monster's heavy footsteps pounded the ground. Even through the rain, Shang Yuji could tell why it was called a monster.
It was a creature that wasn't breathing, simply wrapped in a cloth, with most of its exposed skin showing patches of dark and light, uneven in color, as if pieces of skin had been peeled off from different people and then sewn together to form the skin of a monster.
The three-meter-tall monster, with its massive and imposing body alone, was enough to crush any person. The giant axes in its hands whistled through the wind, slicing through the rain with each swing. However, rather than using methodical axe techniques, it seemed to rely on brute force to overcome all other skills.
As the two sides fought fiercely, Shang Yuji, a third party secretly reaping the benefits, quietly compared Zhou Ao's soldiers with the palace guards and felt that the Princess's troops were even more imposing.
The young palace maid trembled, but then she noticed a familiar maid beside her who was quite brave and showed no fear on her face. She instinctively moved closer to her, seeking comfort.
Then they heard the palace maid whisper to the eunuch on the other side, "How many times do you share it?"
The eunuch widened his upturned, fox-like eyes, looked outside again, and hesitated before replying, "Fifty-fifty?"
Are they crazy? Talking big at a time like this! Do they want to go up and fight monsters? Can't they realize that they are just a bunch of weak palace maids who would only be sent to their deaths if they went up there?
50/50? She thinks it should be 10/90.
One punch from the monster, and they're gone!
Shang Yuji was puzzled as to why the palace maid beside her was suddenly sobbing as if she were going to her death. Wasn't she fine just a moment ago?
Fortunately, it didn't stop her from continuing to spy. Watching the play from a corner of the Zhengqing Hall was something worth writing about as one of the most important things she had ever done in her life.
The scene was tense, and the kind-faced old eunuch flicked his whisk and pushed the monster over.
The monster's enormous, bloated body did not hinder its movements. Like a roly-poly toy, it swayed from side to side, maintaining a bizarre balance and stubbornly refusing to fall. Then, using the momentum, it continued to slash at the old eunuch.
Dressed in a black outfit, Shadow Two blocked the giant axe's path with his sword. The axe paused for a moment, but under the monster's unstoppable force, Shadow Two's sword did not last long. With a mournful clang, the sword shattered.
Shadow Two quickly dodged, narrowly avoiding the danger. The giant axe slammed into the ground, sending blue bricks flying and creating a pile of rubble. If such force were to hit an ordinary person, it would be either fatal or seriously injured.
The more Shang Yuji looked, the more serious he became. To this day, no one has been able to pierce the monster's tough hide. Back then, Wu Yue and her group had severed the monster's limbs, although Zhou Ao had managed to reattach them.
She quietly craned her neck, carefully observing the connection between the monster's head and neck. The joint was seamless, unlike the obvious stitches and sutures that Wu Yue had written about... Zhou Yun's suturing skills had improved significantly.
It doesn't look like a monster that fights with its head. If you cut off its head, can it still move?
The best approach would actually be for several people to distract the monster, while others would deal with the bodyguards flanking Zhou Yun. There were three experts of varying builds around him, hidden in cloaks, who showed no intention of intervening. It seemed they were specifically responsible for Zhou Yun's safety. In addition, Zhou Yun himself was skilled in witchcraft and was quite capable, so dealing with him would require caution.
...He's a tough guy to kill.
They're extremely afraid of death, making them difficult to attack.
With a swing of the giant axe, Shadow Three was thrown around the waist into the Zhengqing Hall, flying back more than ten meters until he crashed into the central pillar and came to a stop. A moment later, he coughed up blood, soaking his dark, tight-fitting clothes, looking quite miserable.
Shang Yuji advised, "Dodge if you can, don't try to take the damage head-on."
Jiang Xi nodded earnestly in agreement: "Mhm!"
Looking at the field, the palace experts were not to be outdone. They understood that to catch the thief, you must first catch the king. Unlike Shang Yuji's plan, they did not send out their strongest people to distract the monster. Instead, they sent out the largest number of guards and imperial guards with moderate strength to use the tactic of overwhelming numbers to keep the monster occupied.
A stab to the left and a stab to the right doesn't really hurt the monster, but it does affect its judgment. The guards are like mosquitoes buzzing around it, and you can't just swat them all at once.
The guards played a role in restraining the monster, but the price they paid was obvious. Most skilled guards could dodge the monster's axe with their skills, but once a guard was locked on by the monster, he would inevitably be unable to escape the two-meter-high giant axe. Blood would then be splattered all over the ground, and painful screams would rise and fall. The sudden stop meant the passing of a life.
In the past, the front-line soldiers, who had the highest mortality rate, were not chosen for this role. They were the guards of the imperial city, and their lives were far more precious than those of the elderly, weak, and civilian soldiers. It should have been the civilian soldiers who were sent to their deaths.
Fortune changes, and in front of the Zhengqing Hall, everyone—whether emperor, prince, shadow guard, or expert from the palace—is of a higher status than them.
Class distinctions are so rigid; they once disregarded the lives of ordinary people, and now even the palace experts disregard their lives.
Knowing they would die under the giant axe, the guards used their lives and blood to buy time for the monster, allowing the experts to break through Prince Qi's defenses.
They had no right to refuse; to everyone present, they were nothing more than insignificant consumables.
The palace guards rushed towards Zhou Yun, and the three men guarding Zhou Yun finally set off to intercept the newcomers one by one.
The palace experts' plan was similar to Shang Yuji's: capture the king first.
The only difference was that the people who stopped the monster were not experts from all walks of life, but guards.
However, this was not something she should worry about; her gaze slowly fell on the five people who had suddenly attacked.
Although she only had a superficial understanding of martial arts in the martial arts world, she knew Zhou Yun well.
If he was able to successfully ambush Wu Yue using witchcraft back then, he can naturally attack the five top experts in the palace now.
These experts seemed unaware that Zhou Yun possessed the skill of Gu poison; they simply assumed he was like an emperor, a powerful figure who needed expert protection.
At such close range, the moment when the experts relaxed their guard against Zhou Yun's presence was the most critical moment.
Information asymmetry can be fatal.
Who would have thought that the powerful prince who ruled over this region would personally practice martial arts? And what's more, he was learning witchcraft, a technique extremely rare in Da'an.
It's impossible to guard against.
Before his Gu worms could even fly out, Shang Yuji cursed inwardly, "How insidious!"
"Keep an eye on his actions, lest he trick you."
Now, King Qi is in the open while they are in the shadows. They have watched the whole process in advance, memorized his moves, and analyzed his weaknesses one by one. When they go on stage, they can then make targeted moves.
King Qi never imagined that not only had they seen all his hidden tricks and secrets, but they had also found out his weaknesses.
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
It feels so good to sneak around and do dirty tricks!
It's so satisfying to reap the rewards of others!
The fact that both of these matters concerned King Zhou Yun of Qi made it even more exhilarating!
With a whistle, several ugly Gu worms transformed into streaks of gray and flew towards the two people closest to Zhou Yun. At first, they did not notice anything amiss, but when they tried to circulate their internal energy, their meridians became congested, as if their power had suddenly vanished and they could no longer exert any internal energy!
The first person to be infected cried out in alarm, wanting to warn others, only to find that the remaining three had also been infected.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the cloaked figure protecting Zhou Yun immediately attempted to capture the five palace guards who were confined there.
The expert failed to intimidate Zhou Yun and his group, the surprise attack failed, and they were outmaneuvered. They were also caught off guard and had no choice but to fight and retreat while looking for another opportunity.
Unlike the experts who were locked in a stalemate, the guards who were fighting the monster were all dead, with blood flowing down with the rain, staining several streams of water that eventually pooled in the low-lying blue brick area. They wouldn't last much longer.
Once the monster is no longer restrained by the guards, the experts who have been infected by the Gu worms will have no hope of escaping. In the end, the unstoppable monster will completely massacre the entire Zhengqing Hall.
Once he takes control of the Zhengqing Hall, the throne will naturally be his.
The fantasy was too wonderful, and Zhou Yun couldn't help but chuckle. His subordinate held an umbrella for him, and through the rain, he could already imagine his future ascending to the highest throne.
The Emperor's brother's resistance is nothing but a desperate act; victory will ultimately belong to him.
It's a pity we were any faster. If the Imperial Guards had arrived to rescue the Emperor, there would have been a lot of trouble.
He clapped his hands, as if giving a signal, and instantly Zhou Yun's men were filled with fighting spirit, charging forward with their swords despite the risk of injury.
To inflict a thousand casualties on the enemy while losing eight hundred of your own?
No, as long as they can injure the enemy, they don't care how much they lose themselves, and they will do whatever it takes to win this victory as soon as possible.
Just now at the Meridian Gate, Guan Yi was controlling Mo Wuhen and the silk threads to kill enemies when Ying Yi discovered his hiding place and engaged him in battle. Ying Yi, as expected of the top Shadow Guard, managed to destroy Mo Wuhen's body, rendering it useless. Although not having obtained the Moon Pearl relic was also a factor, she wasn't quite comfortable controlling Mo Wuhen...
The Gu poison in his body had not dissipated even after nearly twenty years. Once the silk thread was inserted into his corpse, it would inevitably become infected with the Gu poison. The infected silk thread could not be recycled and had to be disposed of. The silk thread was difficult to make, and if this continued, it would only become less and less available.
As for Yue Mingzhu's relics, she learned that among the hundred kinds of Gu worms in the relics, only one remained after they had fought each other. Unfortunately, the one that remained was not the one that had taken Mo Wuhen's life back then, so it was ultimately useless to her.
Even though she couldn't control Mo Wuhen, she still had the puppet... Even though Zhou Yun came to her rescue, she was still seriously injured in the fight with Ying Yi, and she didn't even have many threads left to control the puppet.
It was agreed that whenever Zhou Yun clapped his hands, everyone would give it their all.
Guan Yi's lips turned pale. He propped himself up and moved his ten fingers, causing three puppet figures to appear and join the battle.
As the situation outside entered its final stage, Shang Yuji nervously squeezed Jiang Xi's fingertips.
The Gu worms hidden inside the experts in the palace caused a sudden, sharp pain in their hearts, as if something had squeezed them. The enemy seized upon their momentary mistake and pressed their advantage.
The outcome of the battle, foreshadowed long ago, is obvious.
The outcome is decided.
Zhou Yun smiled and reached out his hand, as if he was wholeheartedly trying to help Zhou Ao win.
"It's a victory for them!" Zhou Ao laughed loudly. The slanting wind blew the drizzle under his umbrella, wetting his clothes, but he didn't care. He spoke as if declaring victory:
“They always say that Father Emperor is close to me and loves me, but if that’s true, why is Father Emperor so reluctant to make me the Crown Prince? If I were the Crown Prince, I would not lay a hand on Father Emperor.”
Zhou Ao not only wanted a military victory, but also a moral high position.
Even though he knew that usurping the throne and rebelling would bring eternal infamy, he didn't want to be the subject of gossip.
Although the emperor knew that defeat was inevitable, he still harbored a glimmer of hope that if he could delay a little longer, the imperial guards who had received the imperial edict would enter the palace and capture them.
The old eunuch, wounded and pale, stood guard beside the emperor. The emperor spoke in a deep, displeased voice:
"Why would I appoint a bastard of unknown blood as my Crown Prince of Da'an?"
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