Chapter 409
Chapter 409
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 409
>Chapter Title: Emperor
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“Clang~” A trembling gong sound came from the distant entrance, followed by majestic music approaching from far to near. The Emperor of Great Qi had truly arrived.
Before Li Huowang could even move, the official beside him who had been sipping vinegar from a dish suddenly turned ghastly pale and shot to his feet, rushing panic-stricken toward the door.
By the time Li Huowang reached the courtyard outside as well, he saw everyone—including the so-called Elder Qin and Lord Liang—all kneeling on the ground.
The music grew closer and closer, accompanied by a thick fragrance. The circular roof of the imperial carriage slowly peeked out from behind the tall walls.
As the procession drew near, pillars adorned with red cloud dragons and dark satin ribbons came into view, with black cloud dragon feather-patterned curtains draped between them, completely enclosing the wooden tower.
Li Huowang thought that was it, but unexpectedly, the Emperor of Great Qi’s imperial carriage kept rising higher and growing larger, as if it had no end.
More and more items piled up on top: lanterns, dragon banners, round jade ornaments, roaming rings, bells—beautiful yet densely covering the entire structure.
Accompanied by the solemn music, this enormous, ornate yet top-heavy wooden tower loomed like a small mountain, growing ever larger in the eyes of Li Huowang and the others, exuding an immense sense of oppression.
In the dim surroundings, it resembled a gigantic, bloated dead infant gazing down imperiously at everyone in Lord Liang’s courtyard.
At that moment, the fragrance wafting from the imperial carriage grew thicker, almost choking.
Just as Li Huowang stepped over to Zhuge Yuan, intending to say something, brocade-clad guards in red robes surged in through the entrance, surrounding the entire area.
A row of bald old eunuchs holding whisks followed closely behind. They formed a human wall along the base of the walls, separating the two sides. Standing there pale-faced, they looked like rows of paper figures under the cover of night.
No one knew when, but the music gradually faded, plunging everything into utter silence, as if even breathing had stopped.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang stood off to one side, observing it all like a bystander. His gaze was mostly fixed on that massive wooden tower, lost in thought.
“Why didn’t you bring me along if you were playing here, as Big Companion said?”
A childish voice suddenly rang out from behind the layered curtains.
At those words, the faces of those kneeling on the ground turned deathly pale in an instant. Some of the weaker-willed ones nearly collapsed to the ground.
“What are you playing? Let me have a go too.”
With that, a boy wearing an imperial crown and a golden-black dragon robe poked his head out from the overlapping curtains.
The scene was utterly bizarre, as if this enormous ornate wooden tower were the colossal body belonging to that tiny head.
The moment Li Huowang laid eyes on him, he knew immediately this was no child. No six-year-old looked at people so brazenly.
It was as if he weren’t seeing a person’s surface, but their flesh and bones beneath.
Gazing at the thing before him, a flicker of bewilderment crossed Li Huowang’s mind. “Is this really something Zhuge Yuan distorted? It’s far too real.”
At that moment, the eunuchs suddenly noticed the two who stood out so awkwardly in place and flew into a rage. “Insolent! The Emperor has arrived—why aren’t you kneeling!”
Li Huowang glanced at Zhuge Yuan, who glanced back at him.
Without hesitation, Li Huowang pulled out two sheets of ginger-yellow paper, bit his fingertip, and swiftly began drawing talismans on them.
Once finished, he slapped them onto the outsides of his thighs and drew his violet-tasseled sword, charging straight toward the Great Qi child emperor’s massive carriage in a blur of afterimages.
“You’ve all been fooled! This emperor is fake! It’s a Sitting Oblivion Daoist in disguise!!” Li Huowang’s shout exploded like thunder inside the residence.
The instant Li Huowang moved, the surrounding brocade guards swiftly formed a wall, blocking his path.
At that moment, Zhuge Yuan’s expression grew unusually grave. With a flip of his hand, he placed a worn, yellowed almanac the size of two palms on the ground.
He then drew a white wolf-hair brush from his sleeve, raised his hand, and swung it left and right against the pitch-black sky. The night sky stained the brush tip black.
The wolf-hair brush, dotted with starlight, descended vertically onto a page of the old almanac, writing: “In the year Yihai, on the Guimao Jibi ordinary day, taboos: weaving lies from nothing, taboos: disguise and face-changing!”
As the brush tip lifted from the paper, that written character detached from the almanac.
With the black ink on the tip returning to the night sky, the yellow paper character followed it into the darkness above.
Immediately, the child emperor’s expression twisted, along with those of some accompanying eunuchs, while the brocade guards’ faces filled with confusion.
“Good! After waiting so long, you’ve finally shown up!” Seeing this, Li Huowang unhesitatingly pulled out his pliers and clamped down hard on his mouth. Several teeth scattered like celestial maidens scattering flowers.
At that very moment, several mahjong tiles shot up from the ground, stabbing straight into Li Huowang’s abdomen.
Yet no blood emerged from Li Huowang’s abdomen. Instead, his entire body sank diagonally into the earth, and in that instant, the brocade guards lost sight of him.
By the time they regained their senses, the red-robed Daoist had kicked off fiercely from the eaves with both feet, leaping toward the emperor’s imperial carriage.
Li Huowang’s bloodshot eyes locked dead onto that child’s face drawing ever nearer. Hatred and killing intent nearly consumed him whole.
As Li Huowang struck his fire starter against himself, roaring flames instantly engulfed the skin that had just regrown. The excruciating pain wracked his entire body, forcing him to throw his head back in a heart-wrenching scream: “Which damn suit are you?!”
In that moment, Li Huowang resembled a kite ablaze, illuminating the dim sky. The air around him twisted from the intense heat.
Seeing such a freak, the Sitting Oblivion Daoist posing as the Great Qi emperor swiftly retreated into the curtains.
But it was too late to hide. As Li Huowang crashed into the curtains from above, the raging flames enveloped the entire bloated wooden tower. Thick black smoke billowed skyward, carrying faint screams.
“Come out! Where are you?!” Li Huowang searched amid the inferno.
Just then, a black shadow flashed from the distant curtains, fleeing toward the outside of the tower.
“Trying to run?!” Li Huowang swiftly took the rib bone handed up by a black tentacle and crossed his hands, thrusting it backward into his own abdomen. Every living creature within dozens of zhang felt Li Huowang’s exact pain.
The distant black shadow let out a miserable shriek and tumbled into the flames.
As the fully engulfed Li Huowang endured the agony and approached, he reached out to flip the figure over—only to find nothing inside but a burning shadow puppet.
(End of chapter)