Chapter 92 Attendant Forty-Two
Shinjuku looked up at the misty night sky, his golden eyes, devoid of light, tinged with a lonely gray.
Before long, without needing to activate his divine sense, Zhen Su sensed a familiar dragon's breath approaching his location.
"..." How exactly did they discover him?
Shinju knew that the other party's concealment technique was superior to his own, but he did not know that even after concealing his breath, he would still not be able to escape the other party.
Shinjuku looked down at the short clothes he was wearing that barely covered him, and at his inhuman, Asura-like physique, and suddenly sighed inwardly.
There's no other way; that's the only option.
Shinju closed his eyes and immediately circulated the toxins, attaching them to his bone marrow, where they were instantly refined and melted.
"Ugh—" A painful groan escaped from his throat. The pain was beyond what ordinary people could imagine. However, the True Immortal Body of the True Abode was too powerful and had extremely high poison resistance. The poison had to be amplified dozens of times before it could barely be melted into the bone.
Such terrifying techniques are veritable evil arts, and even those who can endure excruciating pain would find them extremely difficult to accomplish. Fortunately, Shinju had just mastered the Golden Body, which allows him to regenerate flesh and bone, thus restoring his body to its former youthful appearance.
Therefore, when the Poison King arrived, the person before him had such a pitiful appearance—
Those golden eyes, which usually gave off an aloof air, were now misty with tears as they looked at him. His brows were slightly furrowed, and his eyes drooped, glistening with tears, making him look incredibly aggrieved. As he drew closer, those hands naturally climbed up and hooked around his shoulders and neck.
Seeing how dependent Shinjuku was on her, the king's inner turmoil was immediately calmed. Furthermore, not smelling any other man's presence, she quickly put the thought of any other men out of her mind.
The King of Poison squeezed next to Shinju and saw that Shinju seemed to be in great pain. He touched Shinju's forehead with the back of his hand, and then, as if checking the temperature of a child, he slipped into Shinju's collar and touched Shinju's back, only to find his hand covered in sweat.
The King of Poison asked anxiously, "Where do you feel unwell?"
Masakatsu shook his head, a smile appearing in his eyes. "It's much better to see my brother."
This was indeed true. The dragon energy emanating from the King of Poison once again nourished Shinju like sweet rain, greatly reducing the pain and itching caused by the fusion and regeneration of bones in Shinju's body.
Upon hearing this, the King of Zhen paused abruptly, his lips curving upwards slightly before he suppressed a smile. He then pressed it back down, pretending nothing was amiss, and slipped the handkerchief inside Shinju's clothes to wipe his back.
"Always running around without a word, making me worry," the Prince of Zhen rebuked coldly, but his movements were gentle and careful.
At the same time, Shinju noticed that the King of the Abyss was holding him tighter, realizing that he liked it when he called out like that. So he nestled his head against the King of the Abyss's neck and said in a nasal voice, "I'm sorry, brother."
The place they were in was an octagonal glazed tile pavilion in the Imperial Garden. The place where they were sitting was neither wide nor narrow, but Shinju kept leaning against the King of the Poison, pressing his entire weight onto the other.
The King of Poison's eyes gradually darkened, becoming as gloomy as the dark clouds in the sky. He was secretly pleased that Shinju was being affectionate with him.
Little did anyone know, Shinju was actually unable to walk. His bone growth was too slow, and his body was currently limp and unable to support himself. Therefore, Shinju had no other choice but to lean against the King of Poison, hoping that the King of Poison would not notice anything amiss.
The King of Zhen was so captivated by the clinginess that he didn't notice anything amiss. After a short while, he couldn't resist the clinginess of the man, his heart softening, while a certain part of him did the opposite. So he pressed the man down in the pavilion and kissed him.
As he stained Shinju's lips with his dragon's saliva, making them glisten, the King of Poison's eyes grew increasingly dark. Still not satisfied, he pulled open Shinju's collar, intending to leave his mark further down.
Meanwhile, the group of hidden guards not far away wished they could gouge out their own eyes and ears, yet dared not let their guard down. Even without them specifically watching, their excellent senses told them that the commotion inside the pavilion was nothing short of a live sex show.
Shinju lowered his eyelids, chewing on the gold necklace, his posture languid. It wasn't that he was truly unable to resist, but he was thinking that if he didn't appease the King of Poison, he couldn't let tonight's events pass by unnoticed, especially since those guards had all seen his true immortal form.
The rustling of clothes was barely audible in the open garden, but Shinju guessed that the surrounding guards must have heard it clearly. He didn't care about being overheard, but a certain tyrannical ruler wasn't so "generous." After only a few kisses, the King of Zhen pulled on the reins, suddenly realizing that they were now practically sleeping under the open sky, except for the roof of the pavilion.
"Cough, let's go back." King Zhen wiped the water stains from the corner of his mouth with his thumb, helped Masakatsu's clothes up, and was about to help Masakatsu to his feet.
However, Shinjuku remained half-lying still, as his bones had not yet fully healed. Shinjuku raised his arm, suppressing his embarrassment, and asked, "Brother, would you like a hug?"
Without saying a word, the King of Zhen picked the person up and strode towards the Zhengren Hall.
.
It was no longer unusual for the emperor to miss the morning court session when the sun was high in the sky; the head palace maid was used to it and would never bother him for it.
On the dragon bed, one held the person in his arms tightly, his brows furrowed and his eyes closed, while the other rested his head on the other's arm, his eyes sparkling.
After waiting for a long time without seeing any sign of the King of Poison waking up, Shinjuku fell into deep thought.
After each time he served the emperor, the Prince of Zhen seemed to be in poor spirits and was noticeably more sleepy. He used to be a very light sleeper, but now he slept much more deeply.
He, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.
He felt the demonic energy within him growing thinner. Two days ago, he looked in a bronze mirror and saw that the five-petaled tattoo on his back had faded considerably, reducing to a three-petaled design. He had originally planned to fight poison with poison, using toxins to cover the tattoo and wear down the demonic energy, but before he could do anything, the crimson in his eyes had completely disappeared.
Even when he killed those two men last night, the tattoo on his back didn't generate much more heat.
Therefore, he killed the person entirely while he was conscious and acting autonomously.
He has no regrets.
But could it be that being intimate with the Poison King, without needing to practice special dual cultivation techniques, can also purify demonic energy?
Now that his demonic influence had lessened, the Poison King shouldn't be so easily bewitched anymore, but he still keeps trying to lure him to his bed. And it seems the other party hasn't gained any benefit from these encounters; on the contrary, they seem to be burdened by them.
With great concern, Shinju looked up at the King of Poison, gently touching the King of Poison's slightly darkened eyes with his fingertips, trying to draw out the poison from the King of Poison's body.
However, not a trace of ink was collected on the fingertips.
Just as Shinju was about to move his hand to reach elsewhere to extract the poison, the King of Poison's eyelashes twitched slightly. He then lowered his eyes to look at Shinju and said in a low, hoarse voice, "Qing'er is awake?"
"Good morning, Your Majesty." Shinju silently withdrew his hand, got up from the King of Poison's embrace, and then told the outside to send in new clothes.
The King of Poison was a beat too slow and couldn't stop Shinju, so he let him go. The King of Poison felt as if he were carrying a heavy weight on his back, especially his head. His Purple Mansion was like an old, worn-out machine that was stuck, and at the same time, his back was burning hot, as if on fire.
Shinjuku had intended to help the King of the Poisonous Kingdom change his clothes, but the King of the Poisonous Kingdom refused and instead took charge of Shinjuku's dressing. He was meticulous, even handling the ties of the undergarment and stockings. Then, he put on all the gold bracelets and anklets that were scattered on the ground for Shinjuku, and finally, he pulled out the necklace with the gold chain hanging down and placed it on the collar of his clothes.
King Zhen looked at the exquisitely dressed Masakatsu and smiled with satisfaction.
"Qing'er, go to the outer room to wash up. I'll be out in a bit."
Shinju glanced at the deep features of the King of Poison, whose spirit had slightly returned, nodded, and left.
After Zhen Su had gone far away, Zhen Wang sat down and circulated his dragon energy to clear his mind and brighten his eyes, simply and directly suppressing the heat on his back.
Fang then went to change his clothes. On the way, he passed a full-length bronze mirror, but did not stop, so he did not notice that a four-petaled lotus tattoo appeared on his back.
.
Imperial Observatory.
Gu Yixiang, who had come to complete the procedures for leaving the palace, was stopped by Zhen Su Yang's loud voice before he even left the yamen.
Gu Yi closed his eyes, hesitated for a moment, and finally resigned himself to his fate and shuffled toward Masato.
Shinju didn't utter a word, and his expression wasn't stern, but Gu Yixiang still felt an invisible pressure. His body trembled uncontrollably... After all, Shinju's survival meant that even those two "god-like" beings were no match for him.
This was truly something he hadn't expected. He had assumed that a demon hunted to this point must be a cornered foe, perhaps stronger than mortals, but no match for immortals. Who would have thought that even two immortals couldn't subdue Zhen Su?
He was a worthless man, but he had to plan for his brother's impending death. Although Shinju appeared kind, his entanglement with the King of Poison was far too deep, exceeding the boundaries of ruler and subject. Furthermore, Shinju had indirectly assisted the Empress Dowager's forces in plotting against the King of Poison; morally and logically, Shinju could not let him go. To prevent his brother from being executed, he had no choice but to use the "divine intervention" to eliminate Shinju.
Therefore, he deliberately told Masakuni the wrong date in order to catch him off guard.
Unexpectedly... even so, the person standing before him was still Master Qing! He had completely miscalculated!!
Gu Yixiang knelt down in front of Shinjuku, but Shinjuku didn't even blink.
"Heh, it was intentional, huh?" Masakatsu chuckled and sighed.
Gu Yixiang swallowed hard and kowtowed heavily. "Please forgive my brother! All the sins were committed by me and have nothing to do with my brother. Please, Your Excellency, spare him!"
Shinjuku placed the tip of his shoe under his forehead to stop him from continuing to bang his head, but he released the wisp of energy that had been gathered at his fingertips.
It seems he was too naive, only intending to expel this guy who had indirectly harmed Prince Zhen and Uncle Wu from the capital, and even leaving him some energy to recover his body.
Shinjuku gave a self-deprecating twitch and sneered, "They used you, but you were also using them. I underestimated you."
Having said that, Shinju didn't even glance at Gu Yixiang before turning and leaving.
Gu Yixiang suddenly had a gut feeling that he might have missed an extremely important opportunity, and he immediately panicked. But more than anything, he was worried that the other party would target his own brother, so he staggered towards his private residence outside the palace.
Shinjuku naturally wouldn't bother dealing with the innocent Gu Xi. The cause and effect had been settled, and he was now heading to another place.
The Office of the Imperial Ceremonial Affairs Bureau.
"Gu Lingtai has left?" The chief eunuch of the Imperial Ceremonial Bureau leaned close to the supervising eunuch and gossiped.
"Let's go." The admiral nodded.
“Oh, what a fine child, how could he have contracted such a strange disease… It’s truly heartbreaking!” The Prime Minister changed the subject and continued, “If only the one selected from the outer court had been the one currently by His Majesty’s side, that would have been wonderful.”
The admiral stole a glance at Pan Zhangyin, who was sitting at the head of the table and being served with an ivory cane by a servant. He pinched the prime minister's side and whispered a reminder: "Watch your words!"
The Prime Minister suddenly became docile.
Unexpectedly, after a moment, Pan Gonggong's shrill voice came from the head of the table: "What Eunuch Ma said is not wrong."
"Right, right!" The Prime Minister glanced smugly at the Admiral.
However, the next moment, Eunuch Pan walked over to him and slapped the Premier hard across the face, causing two bloody molars to fall to the ground.
"My lord!" The prime minister immediately kowtowed and begged for forgiveness, "This servant was wrong! Please calm your anger, my lord!!"
Eunuch Pan scoffed and ordered the servants beside him to count to one hundred before allowing him to stop kowtowing.
Soon, a red line snaked across the ground.
The admiral was so frightened he dared not breathe, nor could he bear to look, silently gathering his belongings. At the same time, he sighed inwardly: that man truly was the unspeakable power of Chief Eunuch Pan. Since the other man's merit in saving the emperor, he had risen to the position of Chief Eunuch Pan, sitting on equal footing with him, even closer to the emperor's ears, personally serving him—in reality, even Chief Eunuch Pan couldn't compare. To be surpassed by someone who had never even been considered his adopted son—how could the vengeful Chief Eunuch Pan not harbor resentment?
Just as Premier Ma was about to faint from kowtowing, a voice suddenly announced from outside: "Chief Minister Qing has arrived—"
The three eunuchs immediately showed different expressions, their eyes filled with surprise.
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