Xiao Ning, however, couldn't care less about all that. This wasn't a child's game; you couldn't just quit whenever you wanted!
…………
As time passed, the sun, the supreme star, slowly moved westward and eventually sank below the horizon, plunging the world into darkness.
The night was deep, and dark clouds obscured the moonlight. At the second quarter of midnight, the entire city of Chang'an was plunged into darkness, with only scattered lights shining through the grand mansions.
"call!"
A chilling night wind swept by.
A bright yellow light rose from the east of the inner city, disappeared into the darkness, and quickly vanished. The light seemed to have traversed space and arrived at the edge of the imperial city.
In a place invisible to the naked eye of mortals, there is a huge light shield, like an inverted giant bowl reaching to the heavens, which covers the entire imperial city.
The beam of light lingered around the light barrier, as if waiting for something.
Another quarter of an hour passed, and it was the third quarter of the midnight hour, the time of day when yin energy is at its heaviest and yang energy is at its weakest.
But then the light on the bowl-shaped light shield flickered slightly, as if it was running out of energy, or perhaps it was changing shifts.
In short, the stray ray of light seized the opportunity to slip inside and enter the imperial city.
It hovered in the air for a while, as if searching for direction, then aimed at a palace and flew straight over it.
Hanlu Hall was the emperor's temporary sleeping quarters.
Because of other arrangements, Wang Jiande did not go to the concubines' quarters to sleep today, but instead slept in the temporary palace where he only occasionally stayed.
At this moment, Wang Jiande was already fast asleep, completely unaware of any precautions. But that makes sense; with the founding emperor and the imperial tutor around, what did he have to worry about?
The light shone through the window curtains and into the Hanlu Hall, gradually approaching the sleeping Wang Jiande within.
All around was quiet, with only the whistling of the night wind and the distant, mournful calls of wild cats in heat.
Closer, closer, a flash of light entered within three zhang of Wang Jiande's body. It leaped, as if accelerating, and in a flash, it crashed straight into Wang Jiande's head.
"It's done!"
At the very center of the light was an irregularly shaped oval object, radiating a sense of desolation. It seemed to be sentient, and as it was about to enter Wang Jiande's mind, it felt a slight surge of joy.
"Who dares to be so presumptuous in our Great Xin?"
Just then, a furious shout rang out, causing the light to weaken. The consciousness was startled and tried to flee.
Then a giant hand, like a futon, appeared out of thin air, reached out and grabbed the light, holding it in its palm no matter how much it jumped around.
Then, Xiao Ning and Wang Mang suddenly appeared. Xiao Ning held the still-pulsating relic in his hand, sneered, and said, "They're simply courting death!"
He turned to Wang Mang and said, "Wait here, I'll go and capture her body and that little wooden monk!"
Having said that, without waiting for a reply, he took a step, broke through space, and disappeared.
…………
In the inner city of Chang'an, in the City God Temple in the east of the city, Mu Zha, dressed as a Taoist priest, was not resting. Instead, he was nervously looking around, carrying a thick iron rod as thick as a baby's arm.
Despite the dim lighting, he had excellent night vision and could see clearly.
Inside the temple, a silent figure sat cross-legged, appearing to be a Taoist priest with a thick beard, around fifty years old.
"Why haven't they come back yet? Could something have gone wrong?"
Muzha glanced at the sky outside the temple, then at the Taoist priest beside him, a look of anxiety on his face, muttering to himself.
Just then, something unexpected happened.
In the pitch-black night sky of the temple, a point of light suddenly appeared, illuminating an area of ten feet around it.
The first thing to appear was a giant hand that reached straight for Muzha.
Who is it?
Mu Zha roared angrily, swung his heavy cudgel, and unleashed a powerful strike, smashing it down on the giant hand from top to bottom.
The giant hand reacted quickly. Seeing the heavy iron rod coming down with tremendous force, it bent a finger and flicked it away.
"Clang!"
The crisp sound of metal clashing rang out, a powerful gust of wind blew up, and the windows in the City God Temple creaked and rattled.
To Muzha's astonishment, his superior-grade magic weapon, the Iron Rod, which was made primarily from the icy iron of the northern seabed and meticulously crafted by a Buddhist master craftsman over forty-nine days, seemed to crack open after being flicked by the giant finger.
Holy crap!
Mu Zha only had time to utter a curse before he could no longer care about the loss of his magical weapon, because after the giant hand had deflected the iron rod, it reached out to grab him again.
Mu Zha channeled all his magical power into the iron rod in his hand. Instantly, the iron rod shone with a dazzling light and emitted a chilling aura.
"Yaha!"
He mustered all his strength and swung the iron rod at the giant hand again.
"I'm not playing with you anymore!"
A deep, warm voice rang out, and the giant hand, as if it had activated a speed boost, pierced through the spatial limitations and effortlessly grabbed and pulled the staff from Mu Zha's hand.
Muzha felt as if an immeasurable force was coming from him, and he involuntarily let go, the staff instantly changing hands.