Chapter 39
If Xing'er were still alive, she would definitely recognize the scene immediately.
The elder sister who taught her witchcraft once mentioned that in addition to the three major secret arts of soul-seeking, unity of heart, and mother-child, there is also a kind of witchcraft that ordinary people cannot practice, called "sacrifice."
Because this kind of witchcraft is extremely picky about the sacrifice, a physical condition that is one in a million is of course a prerequisite, and what is even more rare is a brave and resolute heart.
As one can guess from the name, this is a cruel method of sacrificing one's own life. Xing'er had been thinking about it for many years, but unfortunately, she only had the intention to sacrifice herself, but her physique was not suitable for it, so she had to give up.
She didn't know that someone in Xinghua Tower had secretly studied this method after her, and had finally mastered it after going through untold hardships!
But even if she could recognize the "sacrifice", she would definitely not recognize the person who cast the poison.
That's not even a person.
Her flesh seemed drained of blood, and every inch of exposed skin, from her face to her hands, was covered in densely packed talismans. Those eerie characters, emitting a terrifying blue-green hue, completely eroded her withered form, transforming her into an indistinguishable, yet indestructible Gu-like being.
This poison man appeared out of nowhere and stood in front of the inner prison gate with an invincible posture. His turbid eyes paused on Xing'er's body for a moment, and then locked onto Queen Li.
Queen Li screamed in shock and hurriedly ordered the few remaining palace maids to protect her while she hid behind the mute killer.
Perhaps it was because the Gu man's temperament was too evil, all the palace servants were trembling with fear, but the mute killer remained calm and looked cautiously in the direction of the Gu man.
The poison master walked towards the crowd stiffly, step by step. As she got closer, the corners of her mouth slightly stretched, revealing an expression that seemed to be smiling but not smiling. At first, the palace people were only terrified. When she came closer, everyone finally saw clearly that something like a worm pupa was emerging from her mouth.
A palace maid was the first to react and turned to run, only to see a tiny black shadow suddenly fly out of the Gu's mouth and disappear into the palace maid's clothes in the blink of an eye.
The palace servant paused, and before he could understand what was happening, a bloody hole suddenly appeared on his forehead.
Aaaaaaaahhhhh!!!
As the body fell, everyone screamed in agony, even the mute killer let out a muffled cry. Empress Li clutched his sleeve with all her might, pulling him back repeatedly. "I command you... to protect me at all costs!"
The mute killer looked solemn as he quietly watched the Gu master controlling the group of insects, which kept bursting out of the bodies of the palace maids. In the blink of an eye, the ground was filled with corpses.
After cleaning up the others, the Gu Ren slowly turned her head. The blood seemed to have some stimulating effect on the "sacrifice". She stared at the last two people in the field, her eyes becoming brighter and brighter.
Queen Li's face turned pale and she pushed the mute killer hard: "It's coming! Go and kill it!"
The mute killer finally moved.
He swung his long arm violently, and Queen Li was unable to dodge and was blown away by a powerful force. At the same time, the murderous insect suddenly spun in the air and hovered with difficulty beside the poisoner, not daring to move forward.
The mute killer took a step forward and confronted the Gu man head-on with great force!
This is a silent hunt.
Neither side spoke a word, like two silent beasts, their moves were fierce and their punches were deadly, wishing to tear each other apart and chew them into pieces. They had no humanity and only recognized the winner as the king.
Compared with the dumb killer, the Gu Man has no advantage in physical strength, but he wins in the tacit cooperation between the man and the insect. Although the dumb killer has profound skills and cruel methods, he can't get any advantage for a while.
Queen Li lay on the ground, shaking like a sieve. She mustered the courage to look at the two men, only to see their fierce struggle, so intense that even the poisonous insect couldn't pay any attention to her. So she seized her opportunity and crawled out, step by step. She believed that as long as she left the inner prison and called the Qilin Guards, she might be saved!
After climbing out more than ten meters, the courtyard gate was right in front of her. At this moment, Queen Li suddenly heard a strange squeaking sound coming from behind her.
Is that the insect calling?!
She had a bad feeling that the insect had discovered that she was escaping and was notifying the poison master!
Queen Li's hair stood on end, she dared not look back, she tried her best, using her hands and feet, five meters, four meters, three meters... closer and closer!
"Come……"
Before she could even utter the word "person", it collapsed into an indistinct groan. Empress Li could only make a hoarse sound. A pair of blue-green hands, almost like "claws", stretched out to her neck and cut her throat with bare hands.
Blood spurted all over the ground. Queen Li covered her neck helplessly, her body still twisting to try to crawl out.
The Gu Master didn't give her another chance. The second claw went straight to her heart, piercing through her chest and killing Queen Li instantly!
However, the Gu master paid a huge price for his reckless killing.
Before she could remove her hand from Queen Li's chest, the poisonous insect let out a shrill cry - the mute killer would certainly not miss such a great opportunity. She trapped the poisonous insect with the wind from her palm, and then clasped her palms into a fist and crushed the insect to pieces!
The Gu man and the Gu worm were connected by heart, and this attack was nearly fatal to her. The turquoise talisman on her body instantly turned red, and blood oozed through her skin, making her look like a blood gourd, becoming even more terrifying!
Her physical strength seemed to have reached its limit, and she could only rush towards the mute killer with the determination to die together. Unfortunately, this action was still too slow in the eyes of the mute killer. He easily stepped back to avoid it, picked up a corpse from the ground, and threw it at the Gu man as a weapon.
The Gu master could have avoided the attack, but when she saw Xing'er's face clearly on the front of the corpse, her movements faltered. With just this one attack, both she and the mute killer knew she had lost!
When the poisoned man fell down, the magpie was still circling in the sky.
She has never been afraid of death, because she has heard that before she dies she will see the person she misses the most...
Jiang Huan thought that no matter whether it was Zhao Congyun, Anian or her sister, they would all be happy at that moment.
*
Emperor Zhaoming sat silently on the dragon throne in the imperial study, with a long sword lying across the table.
It was a gift from a general to him when he was training on the frontier. After he became emperor, he never drew the sword again.
But even if the sharp sword is covered in dust, it has once killed people.
Before he became this boring king, he was also a young general who was ready to ride a horse and wield a sword. Even if his skills were no longer as agile as before, his spirit could not be lost.
So when Zhao Congyun told him what Queen Li and Lord Fan were planning the previous night, Emperor Zhaoming decided to take a gamble.
In this gamble of winners and losers, his own brother could not produce any evidence, while his opponent had reasonable grounds and pressed forward step by step, seemingly almost impeccable... But Emperor Zhaoming chose the side that seemed to have no chance of winning.
The high-sounding explanation was that he, as an elder brother, trusted and understood his younger brother, and was unwilling to sever family ties and kill his own flesh and blood even after becoming emperor. Selfishly speaking, only Emperor Zhaoming knew that his judgment came from a fighting instinct buried in his blood.
One of the generals he admired most once said that true strategists and military geniuses all possessed a natural intuition, like wild beasts walking in the jungle. They were always naturally sensitive to traps, dangers, and opportunities.
In moments of decision, they simply know what to do. This talent cannot be learned.
Most importantly, the generals had praised Emperor Zhaoming for his talent, and Emperor Zhaoming himself was always proud of it. Unlike his diligent and talented father and his strategic brother, his talent was not in the court, but on the battlefield.
At this moment, Emperor Zhaoming even felt a hint of excitement. His fingertips drummed rhythmically on the table, imagining the massacre taking place somewhere in the palace, full of anticipation for the unknown outcome.
The second incense stick had burned more than halfway when the hurried footsteps of the Qilin Guards finally sounded outside the imperial study.
...slower than expected.
“Report!!!”
"Your Majesty! Something has happened to the Empress!" The newly appointed commander was named Guo, and he was a former attendant of Emperor Zhaoming.
Emperor Zhaoming bowed slightly and said in a deep voice, "Tell me more carefully! What happened?"
Commander Guo kowtowed deeply, "Just now, a villain broke into the palace and attempted to assassinate you... The Qilin Guard failed in their duty and failed to rescue the Empress in time, resulting in her tragic death... Please punish me, Your Majesty!"
"The Queen...is dead?" Emperor Zhaoming said slowly.
"Yes!" Commander Guo did not dare to hide anything and reported the truth about Empress Li's death in the inner prison. After hearing this, Emperor Zhaoming closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
"Where is Lord Fan?" Emperor Zhaoming suddenly asked.
Commander Guo was stunned for a moment and said, "Your Majesty... Lord Fan had already left the palace, but somehow learned that something had happened inside and returned..."
"Is he... still alive?"
"Alive...alive! Your Majesty, please rest assured that Lord Fan is safe and sound!" He said hurriedly. After all, Lord Fan was a key minister of the court. To the country, he was naturally incomparable to Queen Li. It was reasonable for the emperor to care about him.
"Oh? Are you safe and sound?" Emperor Zhaoming narrowed his eyes and stared at him closely.
Commander Guo shrank inexplicably. He thought he must be dazzled, as he actually read a hint of disappointment in Emperor Zhaoming's eyes.
To cover up his own gaffe, Commander Guo explained, "Lord Fan is afraid that some criminals may have slipped through the net, so he's staying in the inner prison to take stock of the situation. He'll come back later to report."
"I understand. You can go down now. I want to be quiet for a while..." Emperor Zhaoming seemed to be exhausted and sank into the dragon throne, and gave the order lightly.
"yes!"
When the imperial study returned to silence, a dark shadow gracefully descended from the beam and knelt before Emperor Zhaoming. It was Ah Cheng, his trusted shadow guard for many years.
"Your Majesty, could it be that... the prince has deceived you?" Ah Cheng asked cautiously.
Emperor Zhaoming frowned, stroked his sword, and remained silent.
The trump card Zhao Congyun left for him was said to be a killer who could fight a hundred enemies at once and had enough power to kill Queen Li and Lord Fan in front of the Qilin Guards.
But now only Queen Li is dead, and Fan An is safe and sound, which means that either Zhao Congyun lied or some accident happened.
After a while, Emperor Zhaoming slowly said, "I don't believe Cong Yun would team up with Lord Fan. If he wanted to deceive me, why would he go to such great lengths? Go to the inner prison and take a look. I want to know what exactly happened there."
"But Your Majesty...if Lord Fan loses control, it will be bad for you..."
Emperor Zhaoming sneered, "He is still young and has lost the Empress, his harem helper. How dare he act rashly?"
He flicked his wrist, and the longsword was unsheathed. "After you find out the situation, go straight out of the palace to find Prince Jia and tell him that I only give him eight months."
"I will temporarily establish Concubine Zheng as my empress to stabilize Lord Fan. The day Concubine Zheng gives birth will be the day when I will break off relations with the Fan family... and it will also be a matter of life and death for our dynasty!"
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