The man struggled to free himself, but the more he struggled, the less he was able to move. Long Chen kept applying more and more force on the man, which made him seem like he was being crushed.
"I give up! I give up! Stop crushing me and tell me what you want! What do you need from me! You want the girl? Take her! She's still unconscious! Let me leave. I won't disturb you!" the man told Long Chen in a pained noise.
" I don't care about the girl or you! Tell me about Li Yi Hui!" Long Chen let out in a grim tone. This was the question he wanted to ask as he needed to fund Li Yi Hui.
"You mean the reagent? His Majesty's little brother?" With a shocked look on his face, the man inquired.
" Yes. I want to know about the King's little brother! Where he would be right now and where he goes throughout his day!" Long Chen asked the man.
"How would I know where he is right now? As far as I know, he doesn't leave the palace much nowadays, so he must be inside! Go and meet him! You could've asked this anyone; you didn't need to injure me!" the man declared in a cry-like voice.
" Oh, it's nothing. I didn't want the insects to ask questions like why I needed this information and be suspicious of me. I'm here to kill him, after all. The less trail I leave behind, the better," Long Chen said with a grin.
The man heard his words and went pale. He was shocked that Long Chen was talking about killing the reagent, but he was even more worried about what it implied. Long Chen was telling him this, which could only mean he had already made up his mind to kill him. The man started struggling even more fiercely but to no avail.
"Why do you want to kill me! I didn't do anything to you! Please don't kill me! I even answered your question! I'll do anything!" the man started pleading after seeing no other option.
"Oh? You know I'm going to kill you? You're not that stupid, I guess. As for a reason I will kill you? Do I need to have a reason? Just think of it as a sinner committing even more sin," Long Chen muttered as he slashed with his Flaming Ice Sword, cutting the man's neck instantly. The man's head rolled down to the body of the woman who was sitting at some distance.
Long Chen glanced at the woman briefly but didn't bother with her. He left the place, leaving her unconscious, lying near the dead body of the man.
He left the alleyway and mixed up with the crowds.
He had received the information that Li Yi Hui was in the Royal Palace. As for where in the Royal Palace, it was obvious that the man wasn't going to know that. It was on Long Chen to find the man.
Long Chen walked towards the royal palace and noticed that it was heavily guarded.
"Well, at least they do know that guarding important places is a necessity. Looking at their insecure city entrance, I thought they had already given up on everything," Long Chen muttered as he glanced at the guards.
He started walking towards the guards. He was wearing the Mask of Mischief, which he was using to show a completely different face altogether. He didn't want anyone to see him as Fu Chen or to see his real face now. Even though it wouldn't have harmed him in the least if people saw the real him, he still didn't bother with it as he was trying to get in the habit of hiding his real self even in the real world.
He walked over to the guards.
"Halt right there! What are you doing here? What purpose do you have?" the man asked Long Chen as they stopped him when he was five meters away from them. Some of the guards had their hands on their swords' hold as they looked at Long Chen suspiciously.
"I'm here to meet the Reagent," Long Chen answered without looking the least bit nervous.
"What business do you have with him? He doesn't meet anyone," the guards replied as they glared at Long Chen.
" Tell him that someone has come to meet him regarding his book of mystery about the kid from the future! Tell him that I'm the boy he wrote about, and I wish to meet him," Long Chen bluffed, making up a story.
The guards looked at him suspiciously, not understanding what he was talking about.
"Go tell him. I promise that he will understand," With a confident smile, Long Chen replied.
The guards looked at one another.
"You go and tell his highness what this man claims. Since he's that confident, there might be a reason," Looking in the direction of one of the guards, another guard replied.
A guard went inside the Palace while Long Chen waited outside.
After a few minutes, the guard came out.
"His Highness wishes to meet you! Follow me," the guard said to Long Chen before he starts walking back towards the entrance of the palace.
The guards moved aside and allowed Long Chen to pass.
With a subtle smile on his face, Long Chen entered the palace while closely following behind the guard.
He was brought to a hall where a man was sitting on a throne. The room was being surrounded by over twenty guards.
Long Chen entered the hallway and stood before the man.
"Are you Master Li Yi Hui?" he inquired with a confused gaze. He was confused as to why this man was sitting on the throne.
"Yes, I am. And you're supposed to be the boy who I wrote about? The mythical kid who claimed to come from the future to save his father?" asked the man as his eyes tried to gaze onto the soul of Long Chen through his expressions.
" As you can see, I'm not a myth. I'm the person you talked about in the book. I just came back from a sudden journey and met my grandfather, who told me about this book and you," Long Chen replied as he sighed.
"Oh? You still claim that you're real? Or should I say that you're the grandson of that crazy old man? If you really existed, why didn't anyone in the town remember you?" the man asked with an amused smile on his face.
" Because of that sword! It's all because of that Sword that you took from my grandfather. I used the sword to wipe everything about me from everyone's mind," Long Chen replied without showing any worry on his face.
"Oh? That Sword had this power? I thought it was just a treasure that was a strong sword, but it had powers like this?" the man on the throne exclaimed with an amused smile on his face.
"This is nothing but a small glimpse of its power. Anyway, I came to thank you because you took that sword. Now that the sword has bound to you, I'm free of its curse. Thank you, thank you a lot," Long Chen said as he bowed his head a little in gratefulness.
"Now that I have thanked you, I'll take my leave," he said before he turned back to leave.
"Wait!" the middle-aged man suddenly said as he stood up before his throne.
The guards moved in front of the door to stop Long Chen.
"Hmm? What is it?" asked Long Chen as he turned back.
He was already sure what was going to happen next, but he pretended to be ignorant.
"What curse are you talking about?" the middle-aged man asked Long Chen as he frowned.