381 Tragedy 2

"You raped and killed the fifth princess… you didn't even spare her.... Just for that Ten-Thousand Transformation Divine Weapon… you won't even spare your own blood??" Liu Songbo said in a wretched voice.

"I… I…!!" Qiong Shang gripped the girl's hand, his fingernails almost digging into her flesh. He looked at the sky like he was struck by lightning, tears dripping down from his face like a broken necklace.

"You… you! You did good… very good!!" Qiong Shang screamed like he had an epiphany. The sound was so miserable that it gave even the nearby inner sect disciples of the Thousand Sun Sect goosebumps.

"You spied for the enemy, conspired to murder of two of His Imperial Majesty's concubines, four princesses, three princess, and even impregnated one of your sisters! 27th Prince… you also conspired with the Devil Army to assassinate your father, His Imperial Majesty, and wounded him severely during the national ceremony!" Liu Songbo listed Qiong Shang's crimes one by one, the disappointment and anger in his eyes not at all fake.

"I will arrest the 27th prince by His Imperial Majesty's decree. All resistance… will be met with lethal force!"

"Let me see who dares!!" Before he finished his sentence, a shadow jumped down and landed beside Qiong Shang.

"What a wonderful scheme to frame His Highness Qiong Shang! He did nothing, yet you people brought him into such a wretched state…" The shadow exposed exposed his face—it was Zhangsun Qingyang.

Liu Songbo's face turned cold as he said icily, "Elder Qingyang, does your presence mean the Thousand Sun Sect's Moling branch intends to interfere?"

"I only represent myself!" Zhangsun Qingyang said coldly. "Let's see who dares to touch His Highness as long as we stand on the inner sect's ground!"

"Haha… good… very good!" Liu Songbo laughed coldly. "I might not be as powerful as you, but there are plenty of people who can take care of you."

He abruptly stepped aside. A tall bald man was sitting on the ground of the alley behind him.

Three white eyes were drawn on the man's exposed chest, while his bulging muscles formed clear contours on his sturdy body. 

"You… you are Prince Wu Song…!?"

Zhangsun Qingyang's face paled as he saw the man. He lost all his composure.

"You people even knew I would intervene… It seems you are determined to seize the Ten-Thousand Transformation Divine Weapon on the property of our Thousand Sun Sect?!"

"Did Master Yuan Zheng not teach you to kneel when talking to someone powerful?" The bald man slowly stood up. His eyes, blood-red and filled with black lines, stared coldly and cruelly at Zhangsun Qingyang, then at Qiong Shang and the girl, who were on the brink of collapse.

"Bam!"

Zhangsun Qingyang felt a horrifying pressure on his head, then on his body. His knees buckled, and he fell limp on the ground, unable to rise.

"Kill everyone except Qiong Shang," Prince Wu Song said flatly.

"Yes, Sir!" One after another, soldiers wearing black heavy armor slowly walked out of the dark like ghosts. 

"Leave!" Suddenly, a swirl of white mist exploded beside the two. A shape appeared, grabbed Prince Qiong Shang, the girl, and Zhangsun Qingyang, and then disappeared again in front of everyone with a white flash.

"Don't you dare!!" Wu Song roared in anger, and swung his fist.

"Boom!"

A wave of clear ripples caught the tail that still lingered after the white flash and slammed into it hard.

The white light distorted violently, and a faint groan came from within.

Everything was suddenly silent. The ground was empty where the three people had stood.

"Track them. They couldn't have gone far. The portal should be near the exit of the inner sect. Go, all of you!" Prince Wu Song said coldly. "Kill anyone in your way! Let's see who dares to block the path of the Black Prison Army!!"

"Yes, Sir!"

In the distance, Lu Sheng, who was observing the situation, nearly spat out a mouthful of water.

He slowly put down the cup. If he was watching for fun before, now… Now that this person appeared, his face turned strange.

***

A tunnel leading in and out of the inner sect.

"Puff...!"

A circle of white light exploded, and Qiong Shang and his two companions appeared.

"Leave! Brother Shang, now is not the time for mourning! Protect yourself first—you can only avenge your father and your sister if you live!" the man in the white light said solemnly.

Somehow, there was not a single disciple of the Thousand Sun Sect using this entrance this deep into the night. Clearly, none of them wanted to get involved.

The three people helped Qiong Shang to the end of the tunnel, then disappeared into the distance.

Behind them, an elderly man with a goatee and wearing a blue Daoist robe guarded the entrance with a pine-patterned sword in his hand. He asked, "And why would you bother?"

"With the incident in the imperial court, this is the only thing an old Daoist could do for his friend…" He didn't greet the people fleeing, and quietly stood guard at the gate while listening to the fading footsteps behind him and staring at the fast approaching Black Prison Army in front of him instead.

"That Ten-Thousand Transformation Divine Weapon, even if it's the legendary Divine Intellect Grade, is not worth the bloodshed between families…" The old Daoist let out a long sigh and calmly strolled toward Prince Wu Song.

"Cow nose, you should stop getting so involved at your age. Life is precious." Prince Wu Song stared coldly at the old Daoist, a sliver of fear in his eyes. Some insults were all he dared to throw out. He knew that if they actually fought the old Daoist, he could easily take care of ten of them with one hand.

"It would be best if the prince could just return to where he came from." The old Daoist shook his head with a weary expression. "If you didn't force them so severely, this old Daoist wouldn't have showed up, either."

"Hahahahaha, everyone says Sage Tianhe's cultivation is as high as the sky, yet he could care less about anything when it comes to his friends. You live up to your reputation." Another bolt of lightning flashed, and formed a man wearing a long white robe between the two parties.

The man's eyebrows tilted all the way up to his hair, a sliver of coldness on his handsome face. One of his eyes was slightly narrowed, with nothing in its socket. It had been blinded long ago.

"Tianhe, move out of the way. I will ignore this case of supporting enemy forces since you did faithfully guard the Gorge of Two Worlds for hundreds of years for the empire.

"Prince Wu Yuan…." If Wu Song was someone he could deal with easily, then this Wu Yuan, despite being another prince, was far more powerful and notorious.

"Even someone who had cultivated in seclusion for 300 or so years is coming out for the Ten-Thousand Transformation Weapon?" Sage Tianhe's eyes showed a tinge of sadness. 

"You don't understand… Conspiring with enemies from Outer Worlds, even more so if it was the Devil World… Even if he was the son of that woman, this is a crime that would be punished by the execution of his entire extended family."

"Prince Wu Yuan…" Sage Tianhe's face was bitter, and he was forced to slowly step out of the way. He was hoping that he had bought enough time for Qiong Shang to escape. 

Wu Yuan let out a cold humph, and led his people past the old Daoist. The Black Prison Army followed Qiong Shang's tracks at a rapid speed. Sage Tianhe followed along out of guilt, also wanting to see if Qiong Shang and his companions truly escaped.

Unfortunately, Qiong Shang still hadn't escaped out of the tunnel. Prince Wu Yuan and his troops could see the sprinting shape of Qiong Shang in the distance already.

Wu Yuan immediately stomped his feet, abruptly increasing his speed, then shot toward Qiong Shang's back like a bolt of lightning. 

Qiong Shang and his companions happened to have rounded a corner. A few boulders blocked most of the space, and only left open a one-man-tall exit.

A young man dressed in black stood there quietly, holding a long, bloodstained sword.

"Qiong Shang… Mother Empress decreed that you and the people you saved should stay here today. The Thousand Sun Sect… is a pretty nice burial ground…" the man said softly.

The man beside Qiong Shang paled. Even he couldn't deal with attacks from both in front and behind... More importantly, he somehow didn't notice him. How could that happen? How was it possible???

"I'll kill you three first, then take the Ten-Thousand Transformation Divine Weapon…" the man again said softly. 

"Whom did you say you want to kill?" A wide yet delicate palm slowly wrapped around the man's neck.

"I said…" The man's pupil suddenly shrunk while his whole body tensed up. He didn't dare move a single muscle.

A muscular man slowly walked out from behind him.

"Little Xi, you still seem to like trouble after all this time…" The man's gaze landed on a familiar face beside Qiong Shang.

"Brother Sheng…" The man's eyes widened in disbelief, but the ecstasy in his eyes immediately disappeared as he lowered his head. Who else could he be but Li Shunxi, who had been quite active in the Great Song?

"This is a matter of importance, you can't interfere!" Li Shunxi immediately reacted and shouted at Lu Sheng, "It doesn't concern you…!"

"Yeah, whatever, get out of here. Why do I need to listen to you?" Lu Sheng said casually like he didn't care about Prince Wu Yuan at all.

Wu Yuan and his troops clearly wanted to kill them on the spot, yet didn't dare make any bold moves. Lu Sheng still held a hostage in his hand—not an ordinary one, either.

Li Shunxi was silent for a bit, then commanded Qiong Shang to kneel with him and kowtowed three times.

"Don't worry, Brother Sheng, I won't get you involved even if I die!"

Then he grabbed Qiong Shang and the girl, and sprinted out the exit.

"Get back!" Wu Yuan finally made his move. He turned into a bolt of white lightning and shot toward Qiong Shang.

"This way is blocked." Lu Sheng's left hand darted out at lightning speed, and shot out a net made out of blood-red True Qi. Combined with his mental force, it immediately caught Wu Yuan, then perfectly threw him back to where he was previously with a little swing, not an inch off.

"Do you want to die!?" Wu Yuan roared in anger, immediately unsheathing his sword as he landed. "Interfering with the inner affairs of the imperial court, does the Thousand Sun Sect want to start a rebellion!?" He immediately noticed the uncovered uniform of an inner sect disciple of the Thousand Sun Sect.

"I said, this way is blocked," Lu Sheng said lazily, and even decided to sit on the ground. A faint smile appeared on his face.

"Lu Sheng!! Who gave you the authority? How dare you obstruct Prince Wu Yuan?? Do you really think we can't punish you because you are a disciple of one of the three major sects?!" someone behind Prince Wu Yuan shouted.

"According to the law of the sect, any disciple that hadn't broken any law can only be punished by his or her master. You can go shout at my master if you wish."

His master…

The person's face immediately paled. Everyone knew how ruthless the Holy Master of Eternal Slumber could be. If he actually tried to go to her, he would be lucky to survive just being within a hundred meters of her.

"Kill him! How dare he...!!" Prince Wu Yuan's temples bulged from anger, his face red. He couldn't even complete his sentence as he pointed at Lu Sheng.

Prince Wu Yuan finally took a deep breath, but his roar surprised everyone around him. "Kill!! Kill him!! Along with his master! I will kill you and enslave all your family and take them as slaves and concubines!!"

The person from one of the major sects who was just shouting at Lu Sheng sneaked away from the prince, afraid he would be killed accidentally.

Sage Tianhe also found out about Lu Sheng's background through some voice messages. His eyes widened and stared strangely at Prince Wu Yuan as the latter made the threat. 

'He actually said it… Dumb people really are unafraid of death…' By now, he was staring at him with pity instead of shock. 

Lu Sheng was dumbstruck too. He pointed at Prince Wu Yuan, trying to stop his body from trembling with all his might, speechless.

"I admire… admire you for your courage…" He suddenly cupped his fists in front of him and bowed toward Prince Wu Yuan. "Brave man, you will be my most respected person if you and your family survive this night…!"

Prince Wu Yuan wasn't dumb, and knew immediately that he'd made a big mistake from the way people looked at him. But what was worse than letting go of the Ten-Thousand Transformation Divine Weapon and Qiong Shang?

Luckily, Sage Tianhe, who stood behind him, decided to warn him. "Prince Wu Yuan…. You might not know… but this man's master is…"

"Who?!" Wu Yuan had a bad feeling about this too. But he still tried to act tough and refused to budge before hearing a good enough answer.

"The most ruthless and cruel one among the Thousand Sun Sect. Who do you think?" Sage Tianhe laughed bitterly.

Wu Yuan blanked out. He immediately thought of something… Then his eyes opened wide, his body started to tremble, and cold sweat drenched his back. 

"Even I don't dare insult that old woman…" Lu Sheng stared strangely at Prince Wu Yuan and shook his head in pity.

From what he knew about Su Ningfei, she wouldn't care if he was a prince or a king; his whole family probably wouldn't live past the night.

He didn't worry at all that Su Ningfei couldn't deal with the royal family. They still relied on the Weapon Masters of the three noble families, after all. Meanwhile, Su Ningfei… Even back when she killed millions of people, she was only suppressed, not killed.

Lu Sheng only understood why she could act so carelessly after he found out about her background.

That woman was acquainted with many Weapon Masters, while she herself was a tiny nudge away from the Weapon Master level.

The amount of people more troublesome than her within the three major sects could be counted within a single hand.

Even he, Lu Sheng, had to hold back his temper and find an opportunity for revenge in the future. Yet this mere Earth Prime upper three tier dared to declare, in front of so many inner sect disciples from the Thousand Sun Sect, that he would kill the Holy Master of Eternal Slumber and something about enslavement and making concubines… Ha.

"Sage, you'd better leave now." Lu Sheng shook his head, and suggested, "Even Crown Prince himself wouldn't survive this… you might as well keep your head low for a while. That master of mine is famous for hurting innocents.

"Also, please hand a detailed report to the imperial court about this whole situation. I'm afraid my master wouldn't be able to control her temper, and it would not be a good influence if she kills too many people…"

Prince Wu Yuan's face went paler with every sentence Lu Sheng spoke.

By the time he finished, Prince Wu Yuan sat on the ground like he was just fished out of water. His face was ashen as he gasped for breath.

"I… I…" Before he could finish, his breath slowed, his eyes flipped, and he fainted in front of everyone.

Sage Tianhe didn't even dare help him.

Not because he was a coward, but because everyone within the matrix of the inner Thousand Sun Sect could feel a coldness rising in their heart.

Like someone was silently watching them.

Lu Sheng knew that it wasn't hallucination. That cheap master of his just showed up….