"I'm a good man, how could I stop others from doing bad things?" Wu Zhong proudly boasted to himself, then turned around and waved to the group of brave and spirited Imperial Guards, saying, "Come on, you dogs, come and chase me!"
The Imperial Guards erupted in anger, shouting and cursing:
Hey! Where are you from?
"You bastard, if you've got the guts, stand still!"
"Don't let Grandpa catch you, or Grandpa will kill you right now!"
Wu Zhong looked down at them, took out two meat buns from his pocket (his storage ring), threw them down at the group of Imperial Guards, and laughed: "Grandpa will be waiting for you up ahead, you dogs. If you catch up with Grandpa, you'll get meat buns to eat, all you can eat. These two are a deposit."
After saying this, Wu Zhong turned and left.
Although the Imperial Guards at Yunlong Palace were not the most skilled among all the Imperial Guards, some of them were capable of scaling walls and leaping across rooftops. Provoked by Wu Zhong's words, they immediately jumped onto the wall and followed him, shouting and yelling.
The people who took Shang Xize away were heading towards the Cold Palace. Wu Zhong had no need to bring these noisy followers into the inner palace and cause trouble for himself.
He then chose a direction similar to that of the real assassin and ran towards the Cold Palace.
Shang Xize was dragged by a masked man in black to the depths of the Cold Palace, a palace that had been dilapidated for many years and was drafty on all sides.
The man threw him to the ground like a dead dog, burying his mouth and nose in a thick layer of ash, which made him cough repeatedly, with tears streaming down his face.
A dull pain shot through several acupoints on his body, and Shang Xize felt that he could move again.
But that person untied him, though with extremely heavy force.
"Who are you, and why..."
Just as Shang Xize was about to ask about the man's background and what had happened, the masked man in black interrupted him viciously: "Today I am only here on orders to cripple you. If you keep making noise, I don't mind killing you!"
Immediately afterward, before Shang Xize could react, the masked man in black launched a violent attack, knocking Shang Xize to the ground. Then, with a swift stroke of his knife, he crippled Shang Xize.
"Ah—" Shang Xize finally managed to let out his first blood-curdling scream, writhing in agony as he clutched his bleeding wound, wailing, "I've always been well-behaved and haven't bothered anyone, why are you doing this to me!"
"Is that so?" the masked man in black asked coldly, mercilessly slicing off Shang Xize's face, which was contorted in pain but still showed signs of youthful handsomeness. He lightly patted Shang Xize's cheek with the blood-stained blade in his hand and said, "Since you have a clear conscience, then consider it an injustice. Save it for later to cry to the Empress Dowager. Your bones are loose, and you're useless. I'll use this last thing to fix your appearance."
Shang Xize was horrified upon hearing this, and so frightened that he lost control of his bladder on the spot, shouting, "No!"
However, this masked man in black was a ruthless person who only obeyed orders, and he would not let him go just because he was afraid and begged.
After another flash of swords.
The dying Shang Xize was unrecognizable, covered in blood from head to toe. Thick dust on the ground, stained with blood, covered him up, making him a pitiful sight.
The masked man in black struck Shang Xize's pressure point again and said coldly, "I'll take you to see the Empress Dowager now. You can start organizing your words and start crying to the Empress Dowager later... Oh, I forgot to tell you, I am the Ninth Prince's man."
Upon hearing the words "Ninth Prince," Shang Xize's somewhat unfocused pupils finally refocused, bursting forth with understanding, clarity, and hatred.
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