CH 70

Huo Wuling smiled as he spoke, but there was a dangerous look in his eyes. In just a few seconds his evil spirits had already reached the spaceship, but when they tried to enter, they collided with an invisible spiritual wall.

The spirits clawed and chewed at the wall of spiritual power, unable to enter the ship. Huo Wuling raised an eyebrow and wondered if he should send more ghosts, when a roar echoed through the sky and a shadow blanketed the area around them. Two spacecrafts, large enough to cover the sky were slowly approaching, mechas and smaller spaceships leaving its hull to approach the burning ship. 

Whoosh.

Several spaceships descended rapidly, shooting high pressure jets of water into the air. A wave of mist sprayed through the air, extinguishing the flames that covered the spaceship. Now that the spaceship was visible, Ji Ning could see the inner cabin had been protected from the fire by a spiritual shield.

Bang!

Bang! 

Beautiful comets of light burst through the sky, accurately piercing through the mechas and spaceships that surrounded them. One spaceship dropped from the sky, falling into the sea of fire below. In the centre of the raging battlefield, Ark looked like an angel of death, flames reflected in his cruel, silver eyes.

However, the spaceship that crashed was quickly replaced by many others, surrounding him. Now that the reinforcements of the Mo Ling army had arrived, the situation reversed in an instant. Simultaneously, a group of mechas encircled Ji Ning and the others.

With a loud noise, one of the mechas fired a photon cannon at Huo Wuling. Huo Wuling’s body twisted, gracefully dodging the wave of energy. His dark eyes swept across the Mo Ling army as he hooked up the corners of his lips.

“Ah, there seems to be some trouble.”

It really was troublesome…

Ji Ning’s eyes darted around the area, searching desperately for Yun Yuan and Fu Qinghan. He didn’t know where Yun Yuan had set up the gateway. If they appeared too far away and couldn’t get here in time, the situation would only get worse.

Thankfully, at that moment, the light and darkness in the sky disappeared. From the mechas surrounding them, to the huge aircraft above their heads, they all vanished.

But, Herinos and the others had disappeared as well. 

Ji Ning was alone, in a place filled with endless darkness. There was only a very faint light emitted from an unknown source around him.

Seeing this scene, he felt a sense of relief, because he knew this was an illusion conjured by Yun Yuan or Fu Qinghan. Sure enough, the figures of these two people appeared in front of him the next moment.

The youth in green gave Ji Ning a small smile, comforting him. “You don’t have to worry. This place is isolated from the outside world. Almost all the people connected to you are inside this realm. I have split them up and placed them inside phantom arrays, and none have yet noticed anything unusual.”

Ji Ning thanked Fu Qinghan. Yun Yuan’s icy gaze swept over him, making a chill run through his body. 

“You are truly passionate.” Yun Yuan sneered, “Are these really all the people connected to you by fate? You might as well tell me the truth, do I need to look for any others?”

Ji Ning shook his head violently, whispering that there was no one else. There were honestly no others. Apart from Gu Chen, all of the protagonists had gathered in the Interstellar Paradise.

Gu Chen was far away in the Federation, so he probably hadn’t been pulled into the phantom array. Ji Ning really didn’t want Gu Chen to be involved. After all, Gu Chen was this world’s target, he couldn’t afford to break the line of fate that connected them.

“But there is one person who didn’t enter the phantom array.” 

Fu Qinghan said, “His spirit is too unstable. If he enters the phantom array as he is, I’m afraid he’ll lose his mind. I left him in the outside world so we can destroy his line of fate first.”

The aircraft carrier flew slowly across the sky, dumping large quantities of water to extinguish the flames below. There were serious casualties caused by this chaos. The commanding officers were already calculating the numbers lost as a small team of soldiers rescued the Emperor and brought him back to the aircraft carrier.

Ozer had been shot in the shoulder, his white uniform stained with blood and ash from the fire. Dry blood matted his hair and his face was white with blood loss.

The unit’s military doctor wanted to examine the monarch’s injuries, but Ozer pushed him aside. Ignoring his still bleeding wound, he asked his adjutant with dark eyes, “Where is Ji Ning?” 

The adjutant looked hesitant to answer, but lowered his head and reported truthfully, “I’m sorry Your Majesty. The whereabouts of that group of people are unknown. They seem to have vanished in front of us and we are unable to track their location.”

With a frightening expression on his face, the monarch asked in a gloomy voice, “Go and call for Lei Sha.”

It didn’t take long for the female spy to arrive, sweat dripping down her pale face. She knew what Ozer was going to ask but after Ji Ning disappeared, no matter how hard she searched for the spiritual mark, she couldn’t find Ji Ning’s whereabouts. She was certain that Ji Ning couldn’t be in any nearby star field.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty Ozer, it’s your subordinate’s incompetence, please punish…” 

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It wasn’t only her. Everyone present fell to the floor, frantically grasping their heads. The pain inside their heads was so strong that they couldn’t feel anything else, hitting their heads against the floors or walls until they bled to try and get the torment to stop.

Slash. 

The tyrannical spiritual energy clawed countless deep scratches into the metal walls. Ozer’s hand clenched around the armrest of his wheelchair, his eyes blood red as he fell into an monstrous spiritual attack, murmuring over and over again.

“Where is he? Where is he?”

“Give him back to me…give him back to me.”

“Give him back!” 

Bang-

The period of violent instability came to an abrupt end. Like puppets cut from their strings, everyone in the room collapsed to the ground. They were too exhausted to form a single coherent thought, only able to breathe due to force of habit.

It took a long time for them to recover from the severe pain and regain control of their bodies. It wasn’t until someone looked for Ozer that they noticed the Emperor was crumpled on the floor, his eyes closed and breathing shallow. He had fallen unconscious.

“Your Majesty!” 

Ozer was trapped in a chaotic dream. Inside the darkness, fragments of his past were entangled, melding together like a great demon. They moved slowly towards him, as if intending to swallow him whole.

In the shadows of the monster he saw flashes of various images. A face dripping blood. A tombstone in the night. The black and blue marks around his neck. Eyes darkened with tears and hatred, and that face.

It was Ji Ning’s face.

The moment the face of the young man appeared, all those terrifying scenes disappeared, as if he’d found a lifeboat in an endless sea of icy water. From the brink of madness, his confused reason slowly returned to him. 

His disjointed memories began to regain order, but they were the last thing he wanted to recall.

Memories relating to Ji Ning’s death.

Many years ago, he couldn’t stop the taboo love in his heart. His relationship with Ji Ning became more and more intimate and he had a strong desire to monopolise him. He couldn’t bear to see other people beside Ji Ning, so Miss Feo, who was engaged to him, was a thorn in his side.

He should have killed that woman. 

There had been countless moments when Ozer regretted that he didn’t kill Miss Feo. There were few things in his life that he regretted, but that was definitely one of them.

Back then, he and Ji Ning had both been students at the Military Academy. Inside the academy’s maple forest, he had witnessed Miss Feo confess her love to Ji Ning. He lost control of his spiritual energy and almost killed her, but Ji Ning stopped him in time.

Ozer hadn’t meant to kill the girl, he had just lost control for a bit, but he didn’t intend to apologise. After all, he did want her to die and he would kill her sooner or later, he just hadn’t intended to kill her in such a reckless way.

But Ji Ning couldn’t forgive his behaviour. He thought that Ozer had deliberately tried to kill Mis Feo and quickly took her out of the forest, leaving Ozer alone. 

Ozer stayed inside the forest until the sky grew dark but Ji Ning didn’t come back to find him and didn’t send a message on his communicator. It seemed that he really intended to ignore him.

Because of Miss Feo, they parted on bad terms, leaving Ozer incredulous and angry. He’d always had a paranoid personality and Ji Ning’s actions made him suspicious. Did he still hold some affection for Miss Feo? Did he regret being with him and wished to return to his relationship with Miss Feo?

The flames of jealousy burnt in his heart, but Ozer chose to ignore them and behaved as usual.

He didn’t believe that he was at fault, so he waited for Ji Ning to give in first. He would only forgive Ji Ning if he showed regret for his actions that day and promised he wouldn’t involve himself with Miss Feo again in the future. 

But Ozer waited for more than a week and not only did he not receive an apology from Ji Ning, he hadn’t even caught a glimpse of Ji Ning.

The two of them were extremely busy and if they didn’t plan to meet, they were unlikely to bump into each other. However, in order to make it easier for Ji Ning to find him, Ozer had kept as strictly to his schedule as he could. But although he waited, Ji Ning never showed up, meaning he had no intention to look for him at all.

Ozer was furious, he really couldn’t wait any longer. Not seeing Ji Ning for even a day made him feel uncomfortable, so he finally chose to compromise and look for Ji Ning himself.

He asked around, but the only news he received was that Ji Ning hadn’t entered the academy for two days. After being urgently summoned to the palace, he hadn’t showed up again. Before he left, he hadn’t said to anyone what he was going to do, but he’d looked very solemn. 

What had happened?

With these worries in mind, Ozer returned to the palace. He entered the palaces of both concubine Chong and Ji Ning, but neither the missing prince, nor the favoured concubine who was Ji Ning’s nominal biological mother could be found.

There was a terrible atmosphere inside the two palaces and the expressions of every maidservant and guard were grave, giving Ozer an ominous premonition. He asked several of them where Ji Ning was, but they all lowered their heads and wouldn’t answer his questions.

Ozer was left extremely confused. Slightly lost, he walked to the Empress’s palace to greet his mother, yet when he approached the palace he heard screams and curses coming from inside and even a few gunshots. 

“You killed my son, it was you! I’m going to kill you, I’m going to kill you!”

As he moved his wheelchair into the palace, he heard the hysterical screams of the favoured concubine. Concubine Chong’s hair and clothes were in disarray as she struggled beneath the weight of several guards. A pistol lay discarded on the floor, the evident maker of the bullet holes that were visible across the beams, pillars and walls.

Concubine Chong’s beautiful face was distorted, appearing crazed as she screamed at the frightened Empress, “I know it was you who spoke to His Majesty, that it was you who killed my son. I want you to pay for his life!”

“I’m sorry, but I was simply doing my duty as Empress, and as a citizen of the Empire.” 

After her initial panic, the Empress calmed down and sat back on her chair. She gazed at the dishevelled concubine in contempt, kicking her chin with her foot as if dealing with a disobedient dog.

“Your child went against the laws of the Empire and fell in love with another man. Ha, this is really…How could there be such scum living inside the imperial palace?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, please forgive my rudeness. I’m not being spiteful, I’m just expressing the thoughts of most people. If I offended you or the late fifth prince then please forgive me.”

“But you must be aware that homosexual relations are an unforgivable crime within the royal family. To preserve the royal family’s dignity, the fifth prince must sacrifice his life to wash away his sins-” 

“…That’s why you exposed him?”

The Empress’s voice was suddenly interrupted. She turned her head towards the door to see Ozer. His eyes were slightly reddened but his expression was blank. He seemed to be in a daze, unable to respond properly.

“My dear child, welcome back.”

The Empress’s face changed, smiling at him. She waved at the guards, instructing them to drag the concubine away and have everyone else leave the palace, to prevent them from listening to the conversation they were about to have. 

Ozer didn’t care for anyone around him. He stared at his mother, his eyes drenched in darkness as he spoke in a hoarse voice.

“Tell me.”

“What did you do to Ji Ning?”

He pushed his wheelchair forward and slowly approached the Empress. The Empress stood up abruptly and took a few steps backwards, a look of panic on her face. 

A freezing spiritual energy spread through the palace, catching the breath in the Empress’s chest, as if all the air in her body was being forced out. Even if she fought back with her own spiritual energy, she could barely relieve the feeling of suffocation.

Filled with terror, she pressed the communicator on her wrist, sending an urgent message to her brother, the current Duke of the Empire, asking him to immediately come to the palace to save her.

As crazy as it sounded, she was truly afraid that she would die, killed by Ozer. It felt like he was no longer her child but a demon in human skin.

The Empress’s voice trembled, “Ozer, calm down okay? I’m your mother.” 

“And I’m asking you.”

Ozer turned a deaf ear to her plea, forcing the Empress to a point of no retreat.

“What the fuck did you do to Ji Ning?”

“I, I…” 

The Empress’s heart pounded in her chest, but despite being forced into such a state by her own son, her usual arrogance quickly reemerged. He was just a defective product she’d once discarded. She had allowed him to return under her family name, but he now dared to disrespect her just because of a person she’d executed…

She knew why was so angry and a look of disgust appeared on her face, her expression turning harsh as she said coldly.

“That’s right, I was the one who told His Majesty to have Ji Ning executed. Isn’t this all your own fault? Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused me?”

“I don’t care if you like men. As long as you can win me the throne, you can play with men or women as you please. But if you cannot understand how to act moderately, it’s only to be expected that someone like Grand Duke Feo’s daughter noticed you liked Ji Ning.” 

“She was going to inform His Majesty to have you executed. It was only because I received the news first that I had her locked up and questioned, only to discover that you and Ji Ning are lovers.”

“You’re disgusting. The two of you are brothers but you got together…If anyone else had known this secret, then you would have died together. I exposed Ji Ning in order to protect you. He should already be in the dirt by now, ha, right where he belongs-”

Bang!

A violent spiritual energy forced the Empress to the ground. She tried to scream but her mouth was blocked by Ozer, who had pushed himself out of his wheelchair with such force that it crashed to the floor behind him. He wrapped his hands around the Empress’s throat, hands strengthened by his spiritual energy. 

“Ugh, ugh-”

The Empress tried to fight back against Ozer with her spiritual energy but her power was completely overwhelmed by him. Ozer’s hands didn’t move from around her neck, his eyes blood red as he stared down at her with a savage expression. Watching her face as it turned blue, he repeated in a hoarse voice.

“Don’t say it…don’t say it.”

“Give him back to me. Give him back to me!” 

The Empress’s breaths quickly became weaker, the hand clutching Ozer’s arm falling limply aside. Just as she was about to die, the palace door was kicked open from the outside. The Duke who had been summoned by the Empress nearly fainted when he saw Ozer trying to kill his mother, and unleashed his own powerful spiritual energy.

He was a battle hardened general. Although Ozer’s spiritual energy was strong, he was no match for a spiritual power that had been polished to a deadly blade. His energy was suppressed in an instant and he was forced to drop his hands from the Empress’s neck.

The next moment he was kicked in the chest by the Duke, sending him to the ground, blood dripping from mouth as he tore his lip open. He touched his chest, several of his ribs were likely broken.

“Are you insane?!” 

The Duke helped the dying Empress up and waited for her to catch her breath. When the Empress’s condition had improved slightly, he grabbed Ozer by the hair and punched him across the face.

Ozer’s head snapped to the side, a red mark flaring up on his cheek. His lip tore further, blood dripping down his chin. He lowered his head, body trembling all over as tears suddenly overflowed from his eyes, pouring down his cheeks.

“Give him back to me…”

The author has something to say: Yes, male guest number 3 is Ozer! I will send red envelopes to the darlings who guessed it right  =3=