The emperor raised the wine cup high, the clouds above his head swirled rapidly, and there was a muffled roar of thunder.
There was a sudden commotion under the towering Zen altar, and the prince turned his head, his eyes filled with astonishment.
Empress Wu strode up the jade steps, only to feel the strong wind blowing behind her, but she didn't even stop her footsteps, and saw Shan Chao suddenly turned around and raised the steel halberd, "Ding!" There was a sound in Empress Wu's ear, followed by the secret door warrior screaming, and the heavy object rolled down the jade steps.
Empress Wu shouted: "Shan Chao be careful!"
Shan Chao didn't say a word, turned around and held her shoulder, soared through the clouds and fog, and climbed up dozens of steps when he landed. Empress Wu caught a glimpse of blood stains on the side of his upper arm, and immediately lost her voice: "What's going on? How did you get hurt?"
Shan Chao only said, "Nothing."
"Do you know what's going on with Xie Yun?"
"I don't know."
Empress Wu intuited that Shan Chao had a faint hostility towards him, but it was difficult to describe the specific reason, and immediately wondered if he knew something—but when he looked closely at his expression, he couldn't see anything, so he nodded: "It's not too late, We have to get up there as soon as possible."
"- Your Majesty?" The prince's figure hurried down from the top of the jade steps, and before he had time to ask, he saw the menacing pursuers behind him, and his expression changed immediately: "What's going on? Why is Brother Shan Chao here? "
"Get out of the way!" Empress Wu raised her skirt and stepped up two or three steps, but He Lanmin's hoarse voice suddenly came from behind her: "His Royal Highness, the Empress is carrying a murder weapon and intends to assassinate her! Stop her quickly!"
The prince was shocked, before he could react, Shan Chao threw the steel halberd with his backhand without looking back!
The halberd swished through the cold wind like a shooting star passing over everyone's heads. However, just before He Lanmin's head was separated, several secret warriors rushed forward at the same time, and pushed him away dangerously. The halberd stuck to He Lanmin's face and sank deep into the ground.
"Conspiracy, plot to assassinate?!" The prince didn't care about being afraid any more, and hurriedly stopped in front of Empress Wu: "Your Majesty! The emperor is offering wine for the third time, please stop!"
Empress Wu sternly said: "Your Majesty has been controlled by traitors, why don't you get out of here quickly?!"
"What traitor? The emperor's father is sane, so please be careful, empress!"
Empress Wu stopped in her tracks, seeming to have noticed the abnormality of the prince, and looked the son up and down.
The prince's lips were tightly pursed, and if he looked carefully, there was actually a trace of weakness in his eyes—it was because of his mother's perennial prestige. However, if it were as usual, the prince who was alone would have been forced to give in long ago, and he might not even have the courage to step forward to question the queen; today, he stood motionless in front of his mother, showing an uncompromising posture.
The fourteen-year-old eldest son was already as tall as her at the moment, wearing a golden East Palace dress embroidered with dragons, with a jade crown on his head and a golden curtain hanging down, shaking slightly with the frequency of his shoulders trembling.
Empress Wu took a deep breath, and fixed her sharp eyes on the crown prince's eye sockets: "Hong'er, today you have made up your mind to break with Bengong, haven't you?"
The prince trembled and said: "Didn't the mother regard her son as a thorn in her side, and would rather kill him and hurry up?"
The screams of killing behind him shook the sky, and more and more screaming warriors came rushing from the secret door, and the sounds of weapons hitting, heavy objects rolling down, and sharp screams followed one after another.
I couldn't tell if it was the halberd or the rusty smell of blood, mixed in the cold wind, flying up the gorgeous clothes of the mother and son.
"When I was born with you, I should have thought of this day long ago..." Empress Wu said slowly: "...It's really good fortune to trick people, and time is fate."
She suddenly raised her foot and walked forward, the prince was shocked and wanted to stop him, but the queen raised her foot and kicked him mercilessly, knocking him to the ground!
"Mother!"
The prince struggled to hug the queen's leg to prevent her from leaving, but the queen raised her hand and slapped him again. There was chaos in the stalemate. At this moment, Shan Chao who was not far away chopped off several secret door warriors, and Longyuan sword energy turned into an arc of light, which suddenly dissipated in the air after rushing several feet away. Shan Chao turned around to Dengping and walked away Come on, sternly said: "His Royal Highness!"
Empress Wu and the prince raised their heads at the same time.
"Give me the soul-fixing needle!"
For a moment, Empress Wu couldn't believe it, she couldn't imagine that the young man in front of her could be so decisive and ruthless, but then a burst of relief from her soul rose from her heart: "Go on!"
Shan Chao grabbed the golden needle in the air, and screamed in a broken voice: "Brother Shan Chao! What are you going to do?!" Amidst the sound, he jumped onto the Chan Chan altar without looking back.
On the high altar, the emperor tremblingly sprinkled the sacrificial wine on the ground, turned around and asked hoarsely, "What's the matter? Who made the noise? You... Shan Chao?"
The emperor still had a good impression of this young and handsome guard, and his nervous expression was slightly relieved—but his breath was not completely relaxed, and then he saw the golden needle in Shan Chao's hand, and immediately turned pale with shock: "Wait, you want to What are you doing! Come on, come on!"
Shan Chao strode forward, clasped his fists together, and said, "Your Majesty, forgive me." Immediately afterwards, he plunged the soul-fixing needle into the emperor's temple!
——This strike was so clean and neat, and the strike was like lightning. Before the emperor even had time to utter an exclamation, his whole body trembled violently, and he fell to his knees with a plop.
Shan Chaohard helped the emperor up, only to see a line of blood slowly flowing from his temple, his whole face was convulsed, his face became frighteningly pale, and there was a constant "cluck" sound from his throat, the whole scene became abnormal horrible.
Shan Chao suddenly thought of another possibility: What if the emperor didn't get the puppet technique at all
If not, then he is definitely killing the king at this moment. Even if he himself has no nine clans to kill, he will definitely not be able to escape the torture of being dismembered.
Shan Chao's face was sinking like water, but a mocking wry smile flashed in his eyes - the mocking was directed at himself. When all the worst possibilities came, the first thing that came to his mind was not the fear of death and resentment towards fate, but worry.
Worried about Xie Yun's safety, can he still defeat Yin Kaiyang
Worried about Xie Yun's future, without his own help, would he still be able to get what he wanted
Shan Chao lowered his head to look at his wrist, the scarlet hairband fluttered in the wind.
He thought that it was already very humble for him to run back to Fenggao Palace from Baba of Ci'en Temple in Chang'an, and that it was already extremely cheap to risk his life to fight Yin Kaiyang; however, whenever a choice came, he would find that he could be even more humble, Beg a little more.
"... ho... ho..." The emperor's throat was choked with thick phlegm, and his dilated pupils gradually focused, and a mouthful of muddy blood froth spewed out!
Shan Chao sideways avoided, the emperor raised his trembling hands, grabbed him, and after a while he forced out a sentence hoarsely intermittently: "Zhen...why...why are we here?"
A boulder fell to Shan Chao's heart, just at this moment, the Queen hurriedly fled up the Zen Altar, and several secret warriors rushed up, seeing the scene in front of them, their expressions changed dramatically: "Your Majesty!"
Empress Wu shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, first listen to my concubines!"
The emperor's trance gaze drifted in the air for a moment, and finally landed on Shan Chao: "...you... tell me, what is this?..."
"Your Majesty was confused by Yin Kaiyang's puppet technique. Commander Xie ordered me to insert the soul-fixing needle into the wing of your majesty's skull to restore your sobriety." Shan Chao explained the matter concisely, stood up and said, "Your Majesty I must rush to assist Commander Xie, so I will take my leave first."
The emperor lost his voice: "Wait!"
Empress Wu took a step forward, her expression hesitant to speak—now is the best time to complain about grievances, as long as a little provocation, the emperor will definitely hate the secret door, and in this way, Shan Chao's credit can be greatly consolidated.
However, Shan Chao didn't care at all. He turned his head and bowed, not even the slightest bit of patience: "Your Majesty, Commander Xie is involved in a fierce battle. It is not too late. Rong Chen will ask His Majesty when he comes back."
The emperor froze on the spot, and before he could say "Ai Qing stays as an escort", Shan Chao strode away without looking back, and passed by Empress Wu without even looking sideways.
Behind him, Empress Wu looked back with indescribable eyes.
After going through countless strife and court struggles, she seemed to have a sudden premonition of something uneasy at that moment; but she held her trembling fingertips and said nothing.
·
In the north of Sheshou Mountain, in a deep stream.
The thick and long body of the basalt snake was broken into several sections, and the tortoise shell was completely torn off, leaving only the tortoise lying dying in a pool of black blood. Canglong bit the huge tortoise shell like a house in his mouth, and tore it fiercely like revenge, the tortoise shell suddenly turned into tattered leather armor.
Suddenly the blue dragon stopped moving, its head and neck stiffened in place, and a low and terrifying roar came out of its throat.
— Clang!
Tai'a sword flew out several feet in a whirl, grab it! It was nailed heavily among the rocks not far away. Xie Yun turned around abruptly, and before he could lift his footsteps, Yin Kaiyang's horizontal knife blocked him in front of him.
"Stop it," Yin Kaiyang said lightly.
Xie Yun's left eye was fine, but the socket of his right eye was soaked with blood, which slowly flowed down his pale, almost transparent cheek to the tip of his jaw. The sharp color contrast was shocking. However, his expression remained unshakable as if frozen, and he raised his hand to grab Xin Tinghou's slender blade. The tattoo on his palm shone brightly, and the blade trembled with fear in the dazzling light.
Snapped!
Yin Kaiyang held Xie Yun's wrist and forced him to leave the blade a little bit: "You are no longer able, Ayun. You should have your life to enjoy the results of so many years of careful planning, even if you can defend Ziweixing and return to the right position..."
Xie Yun raised his eyes suddenly: "Shan Chao!"
Yin Kaiyang suddenly turned around.
At that moment, Xie Yun suddenly withdrew and rushed towards Tai Ah. Yin Kaiyang immediately realized that he had been duped, and reacted very quickly with a slash. Xie Yun rolled on the spot, pulled out Tai'a, and changed his hand to block Xintinghou with a "Boom!"
Yin Kaiyang frowned, and was about to use his strength when he suddenly felt a strong and cold killing intent like a needle prick.
-not good.
At the critical moment, Yin Kaiyang only had time to turn his head, and then felt his left arm was cold and then hot.
Blood gushed out as if a gate had been opened, and it exploded everywhere. Yin Kaiyang's left arm broke off at the elbow!
The single super sword edge shifted, splitting the swift and turbulent air. In the blink of an eye, Yin Kaiyang drew his knife back, his tattoos all over his body skyrocketed, and finally blocked the blow narrowly and dangerously before Long Yuan cut his throat!
thump!
Swords confronted each other in mid-air, blood spattered, and his left hand and broken arm fell to his feet.
"How did you come back?!"
Shan Chao was taken aback, only to hear Xie Yun sternly shout again: "Why did you come back?!"
Yin Kaiyang burst into a long laugh, withdrew his knife and staggered back, and suddenly raised his severed arm under Shan Chao's astonished gaze!
The wind blew rapidly from all directions, converging into a dark gray vortex, rushing towards the broken part of his left arm. The white light in the center of the vortex is changing, and the shape of a Xuanwu totem appears faintly, wrapping around the upper arm and upper shoulder in circles.
"This is the last arena of the World Martial Arts Association..." Yin Kaiyang coughed and smiled with blood foaming from the corner of his mouth, "Although I lost, you came up to challenge on stage."
"You have to compete with Xie Yun, even life and death, to decide who is the new leader of the world's martial arts who defeated the cult of the gods and ghosts..."
Shan Chao heard the four words of life and death, and said angrily: "What a mess!" Then he glanced at Xie Yun, only to see him backing away in pain, holding the mountain rock to pant slightly, the expression on his face changing.
"Let me give you a big gift," Yin Kaiyang said intermittently, showing a playful smile: "You traveled thousands of miles from Mobei to Beijing, and you searched hard all the way, but you couldn't get what you asked for..."
A section of arm glowing with silver light suddenly appeared in the void, and slowly connected to his severed arm, all the basalt tattoos were sunk into the skin.
Yin Kaiyang let out a long cry, and raised his hand suddenly, and countless evil spirits and fierce ghosts were pulled by the dark wind, and they were all sucked into his powerful palm amidst the wailing all over the sky!
Standing against the wind, Shan Chao nailed Qixing Longyuan heavily to the soles of his feet, and used his strength to stabilize his figure, but suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck—
A few golden needles that were so thin that they were almost invisible slipped out from the meridian, a faint light flashed in mid-air, and Yin Kaiyang clasped his hands together.
Soul fixing needle!
Shan Chao's pupils constricted instantly, and then dilated sharply. He subconsciously turned his head to look at Xie Yun, but Xie Yun was leaning over and panting, and missed this fleeting scene.
"… memory."
Yin Kaiyang finally spat out the last two words, and smiled at Shan Chao, a strange light flashed from his eyes.
Shan Chao suddenly raised his hand to press the center of his eyebrows, so hard that his veins bulged, and all his mind was instantly covered by the memory fragments pouring down from the sky!
"—Why did you kill me?!"
"Why do you have to force me to die?!"
"You rescued me, raised me up, and taught me to read and practice martial arts. Is it because you killed me by the sword today?!"
In the endless desert on a moonlit night, the sharp point of the sword pressed against the boy's blood-stained forehead. The young man raised his eyes tremblingly, followed the cold light shining from the sword, and saw his own embarrassed reflection in those condescending, familiar and beautiful eyes.
"You shouldn't have been born in this world, but I raised you and taught you, shouldn't I ask for any compensation?..."
"... even if I tell you the whole truth now... how are you going to repay me?"
On the edge of the cliff, Shan Chao let out a violent growl, pinched his eyebrows tightly with his hands, his eyes were sometimes sober and sometimes in a trance.
His consciousness is constantly sinking and struggling between memory and reality. All the pictures in the illusion are intertwined, making him extremely irritable and restless, and he can't even tell where he is.
Yin Kaiyang bowed politely, and said with a smile, "I'll leave it to you to solve it yourself—" Then he jumped up, Xuanwu's distant long roar came from the void, and his figure disappeared into the air without a sound inside!
Shan Chao trembled violently on the spot, and raised his head in a daze, only to see Xie Yun holding the Tai'a sword and walking towards this side.