The night was already deep.
The capital city of the Great Zhou Dynasty…
Zijin Palace was still illuminated by lamps.
Under the light of a lamp, Yuwen Xiu, in a loose-fitting golden dragon robe, was reading the memorials submitted by the ministers.
Outside the door, the old eunuch, holding one end of the handle of his fly-whisk and putting the other end against his other forearm, was standing with respect. He was looking into the palace from time to time.
Seeing Yuwen Xiu working so hard, the old eunuch involuntarily showed a pleased smile on his fair-skinned beardless face.
After a long time, Yuwen Xiu put down the memorials in his hand. Looking around the spacious but empty palace, he felt chilled somehow.
He stood up from his throne and walked down the steps. With his hands behind the back, he walked to the door with a cape draping on his shoulders.
The old eunuch hurried to bow. “Your Imperial Majesty…”
Yuwen Xiu ignored the old eunuch. Looking at the night sky, he felt worried.
“An Immortal encounter appeared on Hidden Dragon Ridge. As the Immortal encounter came, a lot of changes could happen in the world. As more changes happen, the crisis we, Great Zhou, are facing will be more severe…”
Yuwen Xiu murmured to himself.
The old eunuch, kneeling on the ground, started to tremble.
“How on earth did Father Emperor die?
“Great Zhou was once so powerful that the Five Barbarians didn’t even dare make any moves against us. But now, all the memorials are about the Five Barbarians violating Great Zhou’s borders. The people living on the border are suffering…”
Yuwen Xiu curled his thin lip, closing his fist tightly.
“It’s all because of the Hundred Schools of Philosophy. If it were not for them, even though Father Emperor passed away, Great Zhou wouldn’t have been stuck in such a chaos. The Hundred Schools sold their ideas to too many mayors, so Great Zhou fell into constant civil conflicts. With this, the barbarians took advantage of the situation…”
The old eunuch on the ground did not even have the nerve to breathe.
“The Mohist rangers are creating chaos in the name of chivalry… That’s the most hateful.”
“I have no idea at all when these Hundred Schools will be eliminated.”
******
Beiluo City…
Before the city wall, the moonlight was pure and cold.
Lu Changkong was smiling. Beiluo City’s soldiers and generals behind him all tensed up.
“Giant, I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Lu Changkong cupped his hands.
The news that Mo Beike separated from West County was known a long time ago.
However, the information that Mo Beike had been in contact with Tantai Xuan, Mayor of North County, did not escape the world’s notice, either.
Xiang Shaoyun, the Overlord of West County, was given up.
Lu Changkong was not surprised about that. The Overlord was such a proud person.
How would Mo Beike be able to control him?
“City Master Lu, I’ve heard a lot about Beiluo as well. Sorry for disturbing you so late tonight. Hopefully, City Master Lu won’t loathe me…”
Mo Beike’s smile was pretty kind and pleasant.
Lu Changkong glanced at the wagon. The Mohist disciples also got off their horses.
They entered Beiluo City.
Under the cold moonlight, the city gate was closed.
Lu Changkong made small talk with Mo Beike because the latter always gave him an uncomfortable feeling.
He told his subordinates to take Mo Beike to a hotel. Then he sent thousands of soldiers to surround the hotel that not even a mosquito could fly into it.
Lu Changkong could not rest easy unless he kept Mo Beike where he could see him.
He knew Mo Beike had come to Beiluo City for Lu Fan.
Even though he knew Lu Fan got an Immortal encounter and was extremely strong, as his father, Lu Changkong would never let his son fall into danger.
Lu Manor…
Luo Cheng kept giving orders to deploy the 1,000 soldiers he had brought. They were lurking in every corner inside of Lu Manor. Every pavilion was guarded by massive forces.
And Luo Cheng himself was sitting in the yard with his knife. His armor was giving off a cold luster under the pale moonlight.
“Want to assassinate Young Master? Over my dead body.”
Luo Cheng raised his knife. The mere thought of the assassination made his blood boil.
Side yard, Lu Manor…
Ni Yu was tossing and turning in her bed. She could not sleep. She got up, rubbing her stomach. Her chubby face grimaced.
She was not hungry. She just wanted to eat.
She had to eat something to fall asleep.
Besides, the room was so dark, and she was alone. She could not help but feel scared.
Ning Zhao and Yi Yue were cultivating hard on Beilou Lake Island, but she… Although she claimed she would cultivate hard as well, all she had been doing was eating and sleeping. She did not even start to cultivate yet.
Feeling frustrated, she got off the bed. Then she tiptoed out of the side yard and sneaked toward the kitchen.
The night was already deep. It was very quiet in the yard.
Wearing a bun, Ni Yu groped around in the dark for the kitchen—a place she knew very well.
She pushed the kitchen door open. Her eyes lit up as her fleshy nose sniffled. She walked toward the stove. Removing the lid of the pot on the stove, she found a few cold steamed buns.
She took a bite out of a steamed bun and chewed heartily. She did not go back to her room immediately. No one kept her company, so she was scared.
So she sneaked into Lu Fan’s yard instead. Huddling up before Lu Fan’s door, she was eating the remaining steamed bun.
Somehow, she did not feel afraid at all in Young Master’s yard.
******
In the hotel…
Mo Beike put his hands behind his back. The moonlight on his face made his features seem more clear-cut.
“What time is it now?”
Mo Beike asked slowly.
In the darkness…
A hoarse voice came.
“Twelve o’clock.”
“Twelve o’clock. It’s about time. The spies in the other five cities will act at twelve o’clock…”
Mo Beike smiled.
“Let’s act too.”
In the darkness, a hoarse voice came.
“Yes.”
Then, some vague black shadows moved away.
In other hotel rooms, the Mohist disciples pushed their wooden windows open one after another. Looking at the massive forces guarding the place, they took down a bulging giant packet from their waists.
A dagger appeared in their hands, with which they cut their packets open.
Instantly, a hissing noise of air escaping could be heard.
A massive swarm of fireflies flew out of the packets, giving off a beautiful, mysterious light in the darkness.
The fireflies flew in the sky, glowing. They seemed to look like a river of converging stars flowing in the night sky.
Lu Changkong frowned. He opened the palm of his hand. A firefly stopped in it. It was flickering. Not only did it look beautiful but also pitiful.
“Fireflies… It’s Yinyang School!”
Huh?
Lu Changkong turned pale suddenly.
Suddenly the firefly in the palm of his hand exploded.
A mist diffused through the air. Smelling it, Lu Changkong felt dizzy.
Next to him, Luo Yue was passed out.
The massive forces guarding the hotel also fell to the ground one after another in the mist created by the fireflies’ explosion.
Lu Changkong protected his mind with a wisp of Spirit Qi. Despite the dizzy feeling, he looked toward the hotel. Instantly, his eyes opened widely.
He saw a giant metal spider on the rooftop of the hotel under the cold moonlight. Several figures wearing bamboo hats with a black veil jumped off the roof together with the metal spider. They jumped a few more times until they vanished from his sight in the darkness.
“Jiguan School’s beast machines!”
“Yinyang School’s necromancers!”
“Mohist disciples…”
Lu Changkong was panting heavily. “How dare they…”
The Hundred Schools of Philosophy were very deceitful. Even the Imperial Advisor failed to hold them back.
“Fan’er…”
Lu Changkong stumbled out of the door.
******
At twelve o’clock…
Without a sign, a drastic change was happening in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Like a flowing river of stars, the fireflies flew to all the six cities guarding the capital city. Beiluo, Drunken Dragon, Tong’an, Pingnan, Yuanchi, and Wangtian cities—none of them was left out.
After the fireflies exploded, the cities were shrouded in mist.
Everything looked vague. The six indestructible cities were facing an upcoming internal collapse.
******
In the yard of Lu Manor…
Lu Fan was sitting in his wheelchair. The wheelchair turned automatically. He looked out of the vermilion carved wooden window at the pale moon hiding behind the thin mist. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
Outside of the yard.
A black-robed figure wearing a bamboo hat with a veil was standing on the roof.
The figure was playing a metal piccolo.
The sound of the piccolo echoed in the night as if it was calling something.
A loud noise came.
Bang!
Under the vague moonlight, a giant metal spider landed in the yard. It was accompanied by music. On the back of the metal spider, four men stood.
Ni Yu, huddling up in front of Lu Fan’s door, was shocked.
The cold steamed bun fell out of her mouth onto the ground.
“It’s said Young Master Lu from Beiluo got an Immortal encounter. We, Yinyang School, had been living in seclusion until the Mohist giant paid us a visit in person. We came back to the world to gather all of those who have got Immortal encounters so that Immortal encounter cultivators won’t bring chaos to the world. Therefore, Young Master Lu, please come with us. Young Master Lu will come back as soon as peace is restored in the world.”
On the roof…
The black-robed figure wearing a bamboo hat with a veil stopped playing the metal piccolo. Instead, the figure spoke slowly.
The voice echoed in the yard.
Ni Yu, huddling up before the door, looked extremely frightened. “Assa… Assa… Assassins!”
However…
Her voice had not vanished yet.
And the carved wooden door behind her was automatically opened.
Lu Fan, in white, was sitting in the wheelchair with a chessboard on his lap. In his hand was a chess piece, and he was about to place it on the chessboard.
The moonlight shone through the mist on Lu Fan.
Like a precious jade, he was one of a kind.
Ni Yu was dumbstruck by this scene.
Lu Fan was gazing at the chessboard, but his voice was echoing in the yard.
“Rangers breaking taboos with martial force and upsetting the world… You shall be killed.
“Disturbing my sleep and taking advantage of my good temper… You shall be killed.
“It’s none of your business that I got an Immortal encounter. You shall be killed.”
Three remarks, three chess pieces placed.
The sound of the pieces being placed on the chessboard was very evident.
Ni Yu looked back. She was so astonished that she even could not shut her mouth.
She saw in the yard…
An incredibly immense Spirit Pressure engulfing the place.
The giant metal spider was squashed into a pile of scrap. The men hiding in the body of the metal spider screamed. All of them were severely mutilated.
Those standing on the spider’s back exploded and became piles of bloody mist.
The strong stench of blood diffused in the yard.