Dou Akou and Tang Xunzhen approached and were astonished to find Haohui City ablaze with lights, illuminating most of the night sky. In contrast, the village where they lived was completely dark, with not a single window lit.
They exchanged a glance, both feeling puzzled. For the past three months, these martial artists had been working like farmers, rising with the sun and resting at sunset, exploring underground palaces during the day and resting in civilian houses at night. They had never seen anything like this tonight's unusual situation.
Tang Xunzhen frowned: "What happened?"
She and Dou Akou slowed their pace and breathed softly, using the cover of night to sneak their way to the foot of the city. There they found the earthen wall built from the excavated sand. They crouched at the base of the wall, peering inside cautiously.
Under the towering flames, squads of soldiers marched past in orderly formation, seemingly on patrol. The sheer scale and presence made it appear as if an entire army was stationed there.
Dou Akou and Tang Xunzhen were speechless for a long time, both seeing doubt in each other's eyes. Where did this army come from? Who transferred them? What are they here for?... One question after another flashed through Dou Akou's mind, ultimately bringing with it a great sense of foreboding unease and fear.
"We can't see clearly from here, let's go over there." Tang Xunzhen gently tugged at Dou Akou's sleeve and whispered in her ear.
The two crouched low and walked along the base of the wall to the mangrove forest on the outskirts of Haohui City. They picked a relatively sturdy tree, nimbly climbed up, and crouched down among the branches to look down.
With a clear view from above and the candlelight shining brightly, Dou Akou immediately noticed the uniforms worn by the soldiers, all embroidered with the eagle totem representing the glorious dynasty.
Dou Akou's heart sank, and she tugged at Tang Xunzhen's sleeve in a panic: "It's over, Senior Sister, these must be Xu Liren's Imperial Guards!"
She should have realized long ago that Xu Liren's appearance here must have been meticulously planned; a king would never venture into Haohui City alone with only one guard, Chen Sihai. However, ever since Dou Akou saved him from Fu Jiuxin's sword, he had never appeared again, and Dou Akou had gradually forgotten about him.
Seeing this army now, she suddenly realized what had happened. Xu Liren had been lying in wait here, watching them uncover the secrets of the underground labyrinth step by step, until today, when the last bronze door was about to be blown open, he finally chose the right moment to act.
He could endure humiliation and hardship for nineteen years, so of course he could wait for just a few days.
Tang Xunzhen also exclaimed "Ah!" and then fell silent.
Both men knew in their hearts that things were likely dire in Haohui City. No matter how vast the martial world was, they were still subjects of the Huang Dynasty. All land under heaven belonged to the emperor; if Xu Liren truly wanted to deal with them, he could simply cut off their livelihood with a flick of his finger, and these martial artists would be utterly defeated. Moreover, Xu Liren had now deployed regular troops; the martial artists were now like chickens lying on a chopping board, completely at his mercy.
Dou Akou's mind raced, and the thought of Fu Jiuxin made her feel even more depressed. Given Xu Li's vengeful nature, if Fu Jiuxin fell into his hands... Dou Akou shuddered.
Tang Xunzhen was also worried about Gu Huaibi. This time, the martial arts heroes had gathered here because Xilie Fort was the leader. To catch the thief, you must first catch the leader. Would Xu Liren capture Gu Huaibi and make an example of him to warn others? She also shuddered.
The moment the two moved, the tree branch swayed slightly, and it was precisely because of the unnatural rustling sound that they were discovered.
Dou Akou and Tang Xunzhen never expected that Xu Liren would be so cautious, even sending people to patrol the surrounding mangrove forest.
A squad of soldiers carrying torches quickly found the tree, raised their torches and shone them upwards: "Who's there? Come down!"
Seeing that Dou Akou and the others did not move, some of these people quickly drew their swords and began hacking at the tree trunk.
Tang Xunzhen and Dou Akou clung tightly to the tree branches above, barely managing to avoid being shaken off. Tang Xunzhen, her temper flaring, snapped, "Get out of the way! I'll jump down myself!"
After saying that, she lightly leaped down. Dou Akou also wanted to jump down; this height wouldn't be difficult for her, but remembering the baby in her belly, she obediently climbed down the tree trunk.
The moment they landed, their hands and feet were seized, their weapons were disarmed, and they were roughly shoved forward: "Go!"
They were being escorted towards Haohui City.
Just now, from a distance, I could only see a heavily armed army patrolling under the glow of firelight; but now, up close, the scene was even more chilling. In the vast arena, an imperial carriage sat in the center, and inside, a man in a black and gold dragon robe was leisurely sipping tea. Not far in front of him was a group of martial arts practitioners whose hands were bound and who were tied together with ropes—they were all people who hadn't gone into the tower but were working on the ground.
Dou Akou quickly glanced at the group of grasshoppers tied together, but didn't see Fu Jiuxin. Her heart pounded with a mixture of hot and cold. Hot because Fu Jiuxin hadn't been captured and might have already hidden himself; cold because Fu Jiuxin wasn't among the group and might have already been killed by Xu Liren.
She and Tang Xunzhen left home in the morning and returned in the evening to find the situation completely changed. They didn't know when Xu Liren had started making his move, or what the current situation was.
Among the group of soldiers who had captured them, the leader stepped forward and knelt on one knee in front of Xu Liren, presumably to report the discovery of the escapees to Xu Liren, while occasionally pointing in their direction.
Then Dou Akou saw Xu Liren turn his head and look in their direction. She hurriedly lowered her head, for some reason, unwilling to let him see her face clearly.
Xu Liren nodded and gave an order. The leader then came over and led them in Xu Liren's direction, but his attitude suddenly became much more respectful.
Dou Akou stared intently at her toes, feeling Xu Liren's gaze sweep over her. Then she heard Xu Liren's icy voice: "Dou Akou, lift your head up!"
The voice probably contained anger, and something else as well.
Dou Akou had no choice but to look up at Xu Liren. His face was still breathtakingly beautiful. Compared to the embarrassing moment when he was awkwardly dodging Fu Jiuxin's sword, this time he sat high on the imperial carriage, with a golden, ferocious dragon on his black dragon robe, and he truly had an imposing aura.
He stared intently at Dou Akou, his eyes shrouded in a misty haze, making it impossible to discern his thoughts.
Dou Akou could only let him watch, and after a long while she finally couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty...where is my master?"
Xu Liren shuddered, immediately snapping out of his reverie about the beautiful past. His heart quickly turned cold, until it solidified into a hard stone.
A smirk played on his lips: "Guess?"
Dou Akou didn't expect to hear anything from Xu Liren, but judging from Xu Liren's tone, she knew she had asked the wrong question.
She kept her mouth shut and stopped speaking. But then Xu Li said, "Sigh. Look around and see if he's among the people I've arrested."
His tone suggested that he was deeply hurt by Dou Akou's distrust of him.
Upon hearing this, Dou Akou quickly looked up and carefully searched the group again. The bound people were also silently watching her. Among them were even some old leaders of major sects, who were quite old. Their usually neatly combed beards were now messy and stuck together. Squatting with the younger generation, they looked strangely pitiful.
Dou Akou looked back and forth several times and indeed did not see Fu Jiuxin. She breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly felt a little guilty towards Xu Liren.
The next moment, she heard Xu Liren say casually, "See, I didn't arrest him, because I killed him."
Dou Akou suddenly looked up at Xu Liren's calm and composed face, and for a moment she couldn't say a word. She felt her blood rushing to her head, and her lips trembled as she couldn't make a sound.
Xu Liren chuckled and said, "Just kidding."
He was engrossed, as if teasing a cat, but Dou Akou's heart was like a puppet on a string, the string in Xu Liren's hand, being pulled by him, soaring high into the sky one moment and crashing down to its death the next.
He was dead one moment and alive the next. Dou Akou couldn't tell whether Xu Liren was telling the truth or lying, and her face turned deathly pale.
Tang Xunzhen squeezed Dou Akou's hand: "Akou, don't listen to him. He's used to manipulating people's hearts."
Dou Akou composed herself, realizing that Tang Xunzhen was right. Xu Liren had grown up in the palace, surrounded by powerful and ruthless officials, and was an unfavored prince. He was suspicious, sensitive, and meticulous beyond ordinary people. His forte was manipulating people's hearts, and not a single word he uttered could be trusted.
Xu Liren watched Dou Akou's face change unpredictably at first and then gradually calm down, knowing that she had calmed down. However, her expression, which fluctuated with Fu Jiuxin's "life and death," was still deeply imprinted in his heart.
Xu Liren raised an eyebrow: "What? You don't believe me? You think Fu Jiuxin is hiding? This area is surrounded by my Imperial Guards for ten miles around, and there are also troops stationed on the northwestern border in Longfeng Town. Not even a fly can get out, let alone a living person. He has long since fallen into my hands and been killed by me. You'll see if you don't believe me."
Xu Liren raised his chin at Dou Akou, and Dou Akou looked over and saw only a patch of dark red, dried blood on the ground.
Even though she knew this was just another of Xu Liren's tricks to manipulate people's hearts, Dou Akou's heart still trembled violently a few times.
She coldly observed Xu Liren's nonchalant attitude and gained some understanding of his feelings for her. Love is like a game of strategy; the one who falls in love first always loses the upper hand, while the one who is loved has more reason to be fearless.
Dou Akou took a few steps forward, tiptoed as if to whisper something in Xu Liren's ear, but was stopped by Xu Liren's attendants.
Xu Liren gave the two guards a cold look, and the guards silently withdrew.
Dou Akou smiled slightly, gesturing for Xu Liren to lower his head. She whispered in his ear, word by word, covering her mouth, "He and I are having a child."
big Bang
In an instant, the arrogant and haughty man was struck dumb, his face turning ashen.
Although Xu Liren's expression only fluctuated for a moment, like a fish at the bottom of a river gently swaying its tail and creating tiny ripples on the surface, Dou Akou still noticed this subtle change. In that moment of struggle, his expression showed bewilderment, the pain of unfulfilled desire, and jealousy.
Dou Akou immediately realized that Fu Jiuxin was still alive.
Dou Akou, having discerned Xu Liren's inner thoughts, was about to step back. Unexpectedly, Xu Liren suddenly became fierce, grabbing her wrist and pulling her close, whispering in her ear, "So what if he's alive? I'm holding you now. I can take you back to Ziwei Palace immediately and make you my concubine—or a nameless palace maid. You can abort your child with Fu Jiuxin; you'll eventually have my child. Your life will end like this."
Xu Liren spoke softly, a strange, twisted satisfaction welling up inside him. He was the emperor of this world, and if he wanted, he could destroy Dou Akou's world inch by inch until he was the only one left in this ruined world.
Dou Akou was startled. She hadn't expected that her words would backfire, causing Xu Liren to abandon all pretense and simply give up.
Tang Xunzhen shouted, "Xu Liren, let go of Akou! Remember how good she was to you before!"
Xu Li chuckled softly. It was precisely because she was the only one who treated him well that he couldn't let go.
"Hmph! These two were already hooking up back in Qingyong City, what are they pretending to be so righteous for now! They should get together already, so we can be released!"
Tang Xunzhen was still carefully considering the words to persuade Xu Liren when suddenly this earth-shattering statement, like a stroke of genius, struck everyone like a thunderbolt.
Dou Akou forgot to struggle. Looking in the direction of the voice, she saw the person who was speaking squatting among the group of captured martial arts practitioners. However, his lewd face was still just as repulsive.
That person was Li San.
Li San, being born out of wedlock, had been frustrated and unsuccessful since childhood. Whenever he had the chance, he would arrogantly show off, as if afraid that others would forget his existence. This time, he begged the head of the Li family in Jiangnan to bring him here, but before he could gain any benefits, he fell into Xu Liren's hands. He was very resentful, and when he saw Xu Liren and Dou Akou arguing, he blurted out words in anger without thinking.
Xu Liren naturally heard it too. He squinted and looked in the direction of the sound, his gaze sweeping over Li San's face before he nodded and said, "I recognize you, the third young master of the Li family. Back then, I was hiding my identity, enduring humiliation and hardship in Qingyong City, waiting for my chance. The third young master had a discerning eye and took a liking to my musical skills, asking me to accompany you and that Miss Yin Yan. I was so grateful for the third young master's kindness that I played until my fingers bled. Ten fingers are connected to the heart, it really hurt. Later, whenever I felt pain, I would think of the third young master, I could never forget him."
When Li San heard Xu Liren speak of the past in such a gentle and calm tone, a huge chill suddenly enveloped his entire body. Only now did he begin to feel afraid, and he awkwardly explained something.
No one bothered to listen to Li San's incoherent ramblings. Xu Li waved his hand, and a man quietly appeared beside Li San.
Li San felt a chill run down his neck. He had just turned his head when he saw the person who had appeared behind him without him noticing silently raise the large sword he was carrying. The blade gleamed coldly and was pointed directly at him.
"Ugh—" Li San's mouth was only half open when he watched helplessly as the knife came crashing down on him with lightning speed. His vision began to spin strangely, and he could actually see his headless body still kneeling there. He witnessed his own death.
Li San's head rolled to the corner of the ground. Blood gushing from his neck splattered everywhere, splashing onto the torches held by the soldiers. The torches dimmed briefly, then hissed as the blood evaporated, and the torches flickered and reignited. It was as if nothing had happened, and the soldiers remained indifferent, as if they hadn't even seen someone's head being chopped off right before their eyes.
Those who were used to fighting and killing in the martial arts world were so shocked by this scene that they were speechless.
Yin Yan witnessed Li San's death and knew that she would probably be next. She couldn't help but burst into tears in horror. In the eerie, quiet night, her cries made one's hair stand on end.
She cried louder and louder, but no one paid attention to her. Suddenly, she let out a loud hiccup, choked a little, and only then did someone stop listening and try to comfort her. What they saw horrified them. Yin Yan's face was still covered in tears, but a cluster of sharp knife tips pierced through her body from her back and emerged from her chest.
That sudden, choked sob wasn't a hiccup, but a brief scream as the knife was suddenly plunged into her body. Immediately afterward, the knife tip was pulled out of her body without any hesitation, and only then did blood begin to seep into her pale yellow dress.
Only now, with the deaths of these two men, did everyone truly realize that the person sitting on the imperial carriage was the emperor who ruled the world.
No one spoke; everyone buried their heads in fear, afraid that they would be the next to suffer misfortune.
Xu Liren gently whispered in Dou Akou's ear, "Akou, do you see? What he can give, I can give; what he can't give, I can also give. Why do you only have eyes for him? Look at me too."
Upon hearing this, Dou Akou turned her head in a daze, staring blankly at Xu Liren's exquisite and beautiful face. Her wrist was still held in Xu Liren's hand. After a moment, she slowly shook her head: "I can't do it."
In an instant, Xu Li couldn't help but bend over. He clutched his chest in pain, and his heart, which had clearly hardened into a stone, crumbled and shattered under her light words.
Dou Akou was startled: "Xu Li, have you been poisoned again?"
Xu Liren remained bent over, motionless. Dou Akou couldn't figure out what he was doing or thinking. She just wanted to find Fu Jiuxin, but Xu Liren was holding her hand, which made her extremely anxious.
Xu Liren felt utterly hopeless. The only thing he could truly grasp in his palm was the slender wrist, a warmth he never wanted to let go of.
He wouldn't let go, and Dou Akou didn't dare to move either; the two remained locked in a stalemate.
Tang Xunzhen stared wide-eyed, unable to fathom the perplexing situation. She finally understood: Xu Liren had also fallen for Dou Akou. Normally, someone who falls in love wouldn't have the heart to hurt them, but Xu Liren's mind was unpredictable. He might even risk mutual destruction, willing to let Dou Akou hate him for life, just to trap her in the cage he had built. But Fu Jiuxin and Gu Huaibi were nowhere to be found, truly a worrying situation.
The incident occurred abruptly at a time when everyone was harboring their own secrets. The change came swiftly and suddenly, catching everyone off guard. Dou Akou only heard a series of earth-shattering explosions. For a moment, she couldn't hear anything at all, only a buzzing sound in her ears.
Immediately afterward, the ground beneath their feet began to tremble violently, shaking them so much that they could hardly stand. Countless blasted rocks and dirt fell from the sky, creating a scene of utter devastation.
The chaos quickly made Xu Liren sit up straight. Even then, he didn't forget to hold Dou Akou's hand tightly and loudly questioned the guard beside him, "What's going on?"
His personal bodyguard, Chen Sihai, rushed over from a distance, shouting for his protection, his face filled with anxiety: "I don't know who detonated the explosives planted by the Pangbo Hall, and the maze under the tower has been destroyed!"
In the chaos of war, they could only communicate by shouting. Dou Akou naturally heard Chen Sihai's words and immediately turned pale.
She remembered that before going to Longfeng Town today, when she went to find Fu Jiuxin to give instructions, she couldn't find him, but instead saw Pi Xiaoli. Pi Xiaoli only said that today was the day Pangbo Hall was testing the blasting of the bronze door. Pangbo Hall was skilled in making flint and explosives and in blasting buildings. Before blasting, they would often survey the terrain and measure the soil and water quality. The placement of each flint was precise to the millimeter. If they were only going to blow up that bronze door, it would definitely be a small-scale blast with relatively minor damage. How could it have caused such a cataclysmic upheaval, as if the entire underground of Haohui City was about to collapse?