Chapter 557: Emperor

The heavy rain poured down as Li Huowang, his body occasionally twitching, knelt on one knee and gasped for air. Not only did the quickly healing wounds on his body rip open again, but many more were added, leaving him severely injured. The one who could kill Anping was no ordinary individual; the Taoist priest Jilin found, from who knows where, was very powerful, almost on par with Dan Yangzi. His mysterious and unpredictable lightning magic was especially potent. Fortunately, Li Huowang was no longer the same Li Huowang as before.

Peng Longteng lifted a blood-stained rockery high above her head and forcefully smashed it onto the dying beggar Taoist priest on the ground. The ground trembled violently, and the Taoist priest's body splattered everywhere like a watermelon struck by a sledgehammer. Yet, that didn't seem enough to appease her. In the pouring rain, Peng Longteng slammed the blood-covered rockery onto the remains again and again. After several more blows, there was nothing but a deep crater in front of her, the flesh and blood all splattered outwards.

"Enough, I said enough!" As soon as Li Huowang's voice fell, the rockery Peng Longteng had lifted struck her directly, passing through her headless body and slamming onto the ground. She had returned to her ethereal form.

Li Huowang, having caught his breath, stood up. He opened his mouth and spat out Li Sui. "Be a good girl, Sui Sui, help your dad with something." As he spoke, Li Huowang walked over to the pyramid of heads. He reached out, took down Princess Anping's head, and handed it to Li Sui. "Isn't Black Grand Sui good at parasitism? Can you control this head?"

"Dad, I'll try." Li Sui's tentacles extended, took the head, and drew it into her body. A moment later, when Princess Anping's head re-emerged from Li Sui's body, it was already blinking.

"Dad? Is this how you want it?" The beautiful woman's head, held up by dense tentacles, smiled and asked Li Huowang. Li Huowang had originally thought that if Li Sui couldn't do it, he would have to peel off human skin and use the Sitting-Forget Dao's methods to create a 'Painted Skin'. But now it seemed, specializations had their strengths; Black Grand Sui was very adept at such tasks.

Seeing her natural glance and smile, Li Huowang nodded in approval. "Yes, this will do. As long as you make an appearance, everyone will believe Princess Anping is still alive."

"Since Princess Anping didn't escape the pursuit, I'll help her continue to hide. Li Sui, I know you're very tired, but we don't need to sustain this for too long, just until the Directorate of Astronomy returns."

With that, Li Huowang led Li Sui into the palace. He quickly found Princess Anping's body. After emptying its internal organs, Li Sui crawled inside, making her appear even more like Princess Anping.

Li Sui washed away the blood from her body and slipped into a light-colored silk dress with gold filigree embroidery along its edges. The wide skirt provided a place for Li Sui to hide her tentacles. She wore a light pink silk brocade bustier underneath. Light blue tassel earrings adorned her earlobes, and her black hair was coiled into an exquisite willow-leaf hairpin. Apart from the white silk ribbon concealing the severed neck, she looked almost identical to the Princess Anping Li Huowang had seen before.

"Alright, let's go! Go circle around those hidden sentries from a distance, and let them know Princess Anping is still alive." Li Huowang pulled Li Sui and plunged into the heavy rain.

Many things happened that night, but when Shangjing woke up again after a night of rain, it was as if nothing had occurred. The scent of blood in the air was completely washed away. The city's residents went about their daily lives; those who worked went to work, and those who bought groceries bought groceries.

Meanwhile, Gao Zhijian, in his carriage, had already entered Shangjing. He looked somewhat bewildered at the dense array of shop signs lining both sides of the main road. Logically, as the emperor of this place, he should feel very familiar with it. But why did he have no recollection whatsoever? "Didn't I often leave the palace in the past?" Gao Zhijian wondered silently to himself.

After pondering for a moment, Gao Zhijian drove his carriage down the main road, heading deeper into the city. After a while, when he saw the familiar vermilion palace walls, a hint of memory flickered in his eyes. He remembered this place; when he was a child, he was often carried past walls of this color.

Alighting from the carriage, after trying to calm his agitated feelings, Gao Zhijian clenched his fists and walked towards the imperial guards guarding the city gates. Seeing Gao Zhijian's imposing build, the imperial guards at the gate couldn't help but frown, and a cold glint appeared on the city walls above. When he was two zhang away from the guards, Gao Zhijian stopped and glared at them.

After a few breaths, a trace of confusion appeared on Gao Zhijian's face. "Strange, do they not recognize me? I am the emperor! Even if I were a former emperor, they should still recognize me." Gao Zhijian took two steps forward, pointed to his face, and was about to speak.

"This is royal ground! How dare you be presumptuous!" Sharp halberds were already pointed at Gao Zhijian, and he instantly felt a tingling sensation between his eyebrows. As someone of the same lineage, he could feel the soaring baleful energy from the city walls. The opponent's cultivation was far superior to his own. This wasn't a warning; if he took another step, he would likely face death.

Gao Zhijian quickly retreated to his carriage, gazing at the towering palace walls in the distance. For a moment, he was at a loss for what to do. This seemed quite different from what he had imagined. "I am the emperor... right?"

Just as Gao Zhijian was thinking this, a figure brushed past him and swiftly rushed towards the side gate of the main entrance. Unlike Gao Zhijian's treatment, the imperial guards at the gate didn't even glance at this person, allowing him to slip through the partially opened side door.

Once inside the palace, the person's legs beneath his robe moved rapidly, as if floating, as he rushed towards the Emperor's bedchamber. Upon reaching the outside of the bedchamber, he deliberately slowed his pace and walked inside. Although he had slowed his pace, he was still struck by a flying inkstone, leaving his head bleeding profusely. Yet he dared not be presumptuous in any way, simply because the one who struck him was the current Emperor.

He prostrated himself on the ground and said timidly, "Your Majesty, Princess Anping has still not been found."

"Drag him out and execute him!" Jilin's furious roar easily sentenced a man to death.

"Your... Majesty! Your Majesty! Have mercy!"

The eunuchs and palace maids in the bedchamber were all cowering in silence, terrified that they would be next. However, amidst this, one eunuch appeared remarkably composed. An old eunuch, holding a golden 'Sui' duster in his arms, walked over to the furious Jilin and soothed him, "Your Majesty, please don't worry. This old servant performed a divination, and the reading indicates that Princess Anping has indeed fallen. Reverend Yideng's divination also showed the same."

The pearl tassels on Jilin's head swayed violently from side to side as he spoke. "I don't want to see divinations! I want to see a person! What if Anping used an illusion spell? I want to see her alive, or her corpse if she's dead! I want to see her head! You're all useless!"