Chapter 515
Chapter 515
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 515
>Chapter Title: Our Own People
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Since the incident last night, the dynamic between Li Huowang and his hallucinations had shifted somewhat.
In the past, nothing except Li Huowang's own suicide could threaten them.
But things were different now. Li Huowang could use cultivation to temporarily grant them physical bodies.
Not only could they be beaten, but if he got pissed off enough, he could even make them suffer agonies worse than death.
Seeing that the Sitting Oblivion Dao hallucination had quieted down, Li Huowang turned to Li Sui. He then reached over to the scar on his body and tore off a patch of dead skin, tossing it out the window.
Li Sui let out a bark and leaped out the window after it. But when she returned excitedly with the dead skin in her mouth, Li Huowang was gone, leaving only a note on the table.
"Guard the house properly. It's dangerous outside. Don't wander off. I'll bring you something tasty when I get back."
Li Huowang didn't go anywhere else. He headed outside the city to find a remote spot for cultivation.
Having seen plenty along the way, Li Huowang could now judge the power of this cultivation method that only heartsick souls could practice. It tapped into a portion of the Heavenly Dao's power—nothing ordinary about it. It stood shoulder to shoulder with the Sishen.
He had to master this ability as quickly as possible. Not just to revive Zhuge Yuan, but also for his own protection.
However, Li Huowang didn't stay outside the city for long. As soon as night fell, he returned, because he had an appointment today—with that strategist named Dong Zhongshou.
In the nighttime capital, Li Huowang sat in the purple sedan with furrowed brows, peering out through the window slit.
Curfew had long since taken effect in the capital, yet aside from his own sedan, quite a few others dotted the empty streets.
The patrolling guards acted as if they saw nothing, marching in orderly formation right past the sedans.
These sedans drifted along like wooden boats bobbing in the dark currents.
The sedans kept a tacit distance from one another, so far apart that from afar, all one could see were lanterns—some white, some red—rising and falling in the blackness, a scene both coordinated and eerie.
He was invited by Dong Zhongshou, so who had invited all these others?
Li Huowang had assumed he'd reach the strategist's mansion quickly, but as the sedan crossed a tall stone arch bridge, he spotted a half-sunken sedan floating on the pitch-black river surface. Strands of red gradually spread from the collapsed interior.
"What does this mean? Someone died? Who killed them?"
The thought had barely crossed Li Huowang's mind when he understood what had happened to the sedan in the river.
With a "pfft," three straight Miao dao blades pierced the thin sedan walls from different directions, stabbing straight into Li Huowang's body and out the other side.
Half an hour later, the sedan—riddled with holes—came to a slow stop in front of a mansion flanked by stone lions. A servant holding a lantern bowed low and said respectfully to the sedan,
"Sir, please step down."
One foot stepped out of the sedan, leaving a bloody footprint on the ground. Another followed, the immense force nearly cracking the stone tiles.
With a flash of cold light, the stone lion by the gate—along with an entire wall—was sliced clean off.
As the blue-brick high wall crashed down amid the dust and smoke, Dong Zhongshou, who had been admiring the moon while embracing his wives and concubines, spotted that Ear Adjutant.
"Ear Adjutant, come quickly! This humble official has been waiting for you quite some time."
And seated at the low tables around him were quite a few others—clearly the "our own people" he had mentioned before.
"What the hell do you mean by this!"
As Li Huowang charged toward Dong Zhongshou sword in hand, a thin Buddha and a fat Buddha blocked his path.
"Heh heh heh, Ear Adjutant, no need for anger. Since you boasted before the Emperor that you'd handle the killing, we had to test your skills, didn't we?"
"Besides, those weren't my men. It was just that the other princes have sharp ears—those were theirs."
Seeing Li Huowang halt, Dong Zhongshou chuckled again and lightly gestured toward the last low table with his hand.
"Come, come, Ear Adjutant, that's your seat. Take it quickly. Let me introduce you to the others."
"This is the son of the current Chancellor—Situ Bohua. As the Chancellor's most favored son, he's already helping govern state affairs. Though not yet an official, he has vast connections in court."
It was a short, fat man with his chest bared, a flower tucked behind his ear. He didn't even look up as he fondled his drinking companions left and right.
"And this is the calligraphy master Gongsun Yan, with disciples across the land! His unique Gongsun script is unrivaled in the world—anyone who sees it yields three points out of respect."
The elderly man with a full head of white hair shakily raised his wine cup for a tiny sip, glancing at the swords behind Li Huowang with a hint of displeasure in his eyes.
"And this is my junior brother, also from the School of Vertical and Horizontal Alliances. Not long ago, the two of us joined forces to thwart the alliance between the Third Prince and Princess Guangning."
The beardless middle-aged man, hearing himself mentioned, immediately cupped his hands toward Dong Zhongshou. He spared Li Huowang not even a glance.
As Dong Zhongshou introduced them one by one, Li Huowang silently sized them up in his mind.
Once he'd gone full circle, Dong Zhongshou cleared his throat lightly and spat to the left. The beautiful young girl kneeling there promptly opened her mouth and caught it steadily.
After that, whatever Dong Zhongshou said went in one of Li Huowang's ears and out the other. What he couldn't figure out was how Ji Lin had managed to hold out for so long with this bunch of dead weight.
"Come, from now on we're all our own people. Ear Adjutant, don't hold it against me. Let me toast you!"
Yet everyone present saw Li Huowang sitting there like a statue, with no intention of lifting the wine cup by his hand.
"I just want to ask one thing: where are the ones who do the work? Where are the killers?"
His words instantly drew low laughter across the courtyard.
"Ear Adjutant." Dong Zhongshou said with a smile plastered on his face,
"Those who do the work have their own place. How could they mix with the planners?"
"Of course, you're no such thing, Ear Adjutant. You're a favorite at His Majesty's side, deeply graced by the Emperor—your future is boundless."
"Too weak. Is this the best swallowing a spirit rift can do? Looks like Ji Lin never really figured it out. No way he'll become the king of gu like this."
"Hm? What was that, Ear Adjutant? Still upset about earlier? Heh heh heh, a real man shouldn't be so petty. Haven't I already apologized?"
"Fine~! We're all the Emperor's men. Let me apologize to Ear Adjutant once more."
Dong Zhongshou raised his wine cup, downed it, and showed Li Huowang the empty bottom.
"How's that?"
"You lot still don't get the situation we're in."
Li Huowang grinned maniacally through gritted teeth. One hand pinched both his temples while the other slammed his index finger down hard on the table.
Peng Longteng's towering armored form suddenly appeared beside Dong Zhongshou. Before anyone could react, her iron-gauntleted hands plunged into his mouth.
Left hand hooking the upper palate, right hand the lower. With a yank, Dong Zhongshou's frail body tore in two like a sheet of paper.
(End of chapter)