Chapter 413: Red Center

Chapter 413: Hong Zhong

"Now do you see why we eunuchs keep ourselves so close to the merciful Buddha of Zhengde Temple? Thus, you have come knocking on the wrong door from the very beginning. It is utterly hopeless, unless you possess the means to grant us sons of our own."

Having spoken his piece, the portly figure turned, preparing to slide back into his palanquin, but just as he bent his waist, a stray thought seemed to arrest him, and he raised his eyes once more to gaze upon the crowd before him.

"Ah, yes. My godfather also bade me tell you that when you finally strike, his personal retinue will maintain absolute neutrality. However, if you truly possess the cunning to return the Empress Dowager to the inner palace, then my godfather will assuredly throw his lot in with yours."

The eunuch departed, leaving behind a gathering of men whose countenances had darkened into grim shadows.

Li Huowang had initially resolved to remain aloof from the affairs of the Great Qi, yet after a moment's contemplation, he could not suppress the urge to approach Zhuge Yuan, asking in a hushed undertone, "The disparity in strength between friend and foe is far too vast. It feels as though scarcely anyone in the entire capital of Youdu stands upon your side. You are truly attempting to arrest a chariot with the limbs of a mantis."

"Be not dismayed. Within the imperial court, one must never view allegiances through too rigid a lens. Who is whose compatriot, who hailed from the same prefecture, who studied under which master—the web of these relations is tangled beyond measure."

Zhuge Yuan raised the folding fan held in his hand. "And more to the point, there is the moral integrity of the literati. Do not look upon our current frailty; we hold the mandate of heavenly principles."

"That the Empress Dowager usurps the reins of governance is inherently intolerable to the laws of heaven, a truth known to every soul within the court. Knowing themselves in the wrong, they will not make things difficult for us."

Hearing these words, Li Huowang nodded in pensive silence, seemingly lost in a labyrinth of his own thoughts.

Zhuge Yuan turned his gaze toward Li Huowang, his expression tinged with a mild curiosity as he inquired, "Brother Li, is all well with you? These past few days, you have seemed strangely detached, as though your very soul had wandered astray."

"Nothing is amiss. I am perfectly well," Li Huowang replied with swift precision.

"Should you require this humble scholar's assistance, please, do not hesitate to speak. I can still spare the hands to manage a few trifling matters."

Casting his eyes toward a distant pane where a crimson paper-cut flower clung to the glass, Li Huowang shook his head. "There is no need. It is nothing. Let us resolve the crisis of Great Qi first; your predicament is far more urgent."

"Clack-clack-clack—" The relentless pounding of horse hooves resonated through the air, sounding as though a host of ten thousand cavalry was descending upon the Liang Estate, while the war drums, heavily oppressing the hearts of all who heard them, grew louder with each successive strike.

"How could the Xianzhen Camp be present within Youdu! Have these slaughter-mongers not been dispatched to guard the frontier borders!" Hearing the panicked cries drifting from beyond the gates, the atmosphere within the entire Liang Estate grew exceedingly suffocating.

"Be not dismayed." Zhuge Yuan’s voice, light as a drifting feather, restored calm to the gathered throng. He gathered up several scrolls of calligraphy and paintings, taking long strides toward the courtyard gates.

Sensing the distant paper-cut flower suddenly split into four distinct fragments, wherein the visage of the Monitor flashed by in a fleeting instant, Li Huowang’s brow furrowed slightly, and he immediately lifted his feet to follow.

By the time Li Huowang emerged into the thoroughfare, he beheld rows upon rows of the Military School standing before him, as immovable as mountains.

The murderous aura clinging to their forms had coalesced into near-tangible substance, and scattered all about them lay the corpses of common folk who, failing to flee in time, had been frightened to death by the sheer terror of their presence.

"Heh." With an air of utter nonchalance, Zhuge Yuan seated himself upon the bare earth, unfurling a scroll to reveal a dark-inked ancient zither resting before him.

"Tring—" The strings of the zither were gently plucked by Zhuge Yuan, and the oppressive, scorching din of the war drums began to dissolve beneath the melody.

"Hah!!" With a synchronized, low roar, the distant Xianzhen Camp began to march forward step by step, their pace accelerating with every stride.

Just as their heaven-assailing murderous intent reached its absolute zenith, a torrent of foul, reeking blood seeped up from beneath the earth, swiftly dissolving Zhuge Yuan's ancient zither.

Simultaneously, the structures situated in the four cardinal directions—east, south, west, and north—began to shed their timber and tiles, exposing four ritual altars plastered entirely with yellow talismans.

Several Taoist priests clad in purple robes raised their ceremonial swords in unison, commencing their ritualistic sorcery upon the altars.

Concurrently, a low, droning Buddhist chant manifested from some indeterminable source, descending like an all-encompassing shroud over everything in the vicinity.

"Brother Li, do you not find this exceedingly fascinating?" With a flick of his wrist, that ancient, weathered Almanac appeared within Zhuge Yuan’s grasp.

He produced a fine wolf-hair brush, tapping its tip several times toward the four distant altars. In that instant, the four Taoist priests vanished into nothingness, while the brush in Zhuge Yuan's hand became saturated with a thick substance, ready for writing.

Just as Zhuge Yuan prepared to set brush to paper, Li Huowang’s body shifted in a sudden, violent blur, his invisible right hand snatching away the ancient Almanac.

The moment it was in his grasp, Li Huowang exerted every ounce of his strength, twisting and leaping through the air as he broke into a frantic dash toward the window with the paper-cut flower.

"Li Huowang!!" Zhuge Yuan's voice erupted with boundless fury, causing even the surrounding roof tiles to tremble violently.

"Do not just stand there! Quick, hold him back for me!!" Li Huowang bellowed at the top of his lungs.

Agents of the Directorate of Celestial Inspection of every shape and description emerged from various hidden quarters, swarming toward Zhuge Yuan to encircle him.

Yet they were manifestly no match for Zhuge Yuan, while from the flanks, members of the Xianzhen Camp shed their disguises to reveal countenances shaped like mahjong tiles, charging toward Zhuge Yuan with a murderous aura that pierced the clouds.

Fleeing for his life in a frenzy, Li Huowang could not look back to see what transpirations were occurring behind him; the only sounds reaching his ears were the unending, agonizing shrieks of the dying.

As those dreadful sounds drew steadily closer, Li Huowang exerted even greater desperate effort into his flight.

When he finally reached the structure bearing the paper-cut flower, the Monitor was already waiting, mounted upon a tall, imposing stallion.

By this juncture, few attendants remained at his side, the majority having been deployed to intercept Zhuge Yuan.

"Quickly, hand the Book of Six Luminaries over to me!" The Monitor extended his hand toward Li Huowang.

"Very well!" Li Huowang immediately proffered the ancient Almanac in his hand.

The moment a skinless hand met an aged, withered palm, a cold gleam erupted from within the Almanac, driving straight toward the Monitor’s throat.

Before the Monitor could react, the jade pendant hanging from his sash flashed brilliantly before shattering into fragments, and the white mist contained within surged forth instantly, coiling around the arm with which Li Huowang wielded the dagger.

Within the span of a mere two breaths, the hand with which Li Huowang held his weapon was corroded away, leaving behind nothing but a jagged stump of bone.

Yet the assault did not terminate there; Li Huowang opened his maw, spitting out several molars that tumbled through the air to strike the Monitor’s chest. To his surprise, they failed to pierce through; the Monitor’s official robes appeared entirely ordinary, yet their defensive ward was astonishingly potent.

"How dare you!!" The Monitor’s eyes widened in furious glare.

Li Huowang stomped a single foot against the earth, leaping violently onto the Monitor’s frame, and drove the jagged bone splinter of his shattered arm brutally into the man’s throat.

This time, it finally penetrated. Crimson blood erupted from both his mouth and the wound in his neck, staining the Monitor’s goatee a deep scarlet.

Leaning his body forward until he was entirely pressing down upon him, Li Huowang brought his mouth close to the man’s ear and whispered, "How dare I? I am fucking Hong Zhong of the Path of Sitting and Forgetting. Did you truly expect me to live in harmony with you lot from the Directorate of Celestial Inspection?"

With another violent thrust, the Monitor’s head lolled to the side, thoroughly and irrevocably dead.

"Hehehehahaha!!! Splendid!!" Li Huowang turned around, hoisting his severed arm, and faced the agents of the Directorate of Celestial Inspection gathered near Zhuge Yuan.

"Hahaha!! You have all been played for fools by this daddy! You never suspected I would belong to the Path of Sitting and Forgetting, did you?"

Li Huowang violently ripped away the scab upon his face that had only recently begun to heal, presenting his mangled, bloody countenance to the gaze of all present.

Yet it did not end there; black tentacles began to writhe and burrow beneath the flesh of Li Huowang’s head.

Tentacles of various sizes continuously bulged and pushed outward, forcefully reshaping his skull into a stark, square block.

Following closely were the sickening cracks of breaking bones as Li Huowang’s facial features began to deform.

"Father..."

"Do exactly as I taught you the other night! Hurry!!"

Li Sui obeyed, and Li Huowang’s features began to twist and stretch violently.

As his two eyeballs were forcefully squeezed out until they burst, the features upon Li Huowang’s square face finally coalesced into a massive character: "Zhong".

Beholding this spectacle, those members of the Path of Sitting and Forgetting who had disguised themselves as the Xianzhen Camp began to whistle and cheer in succession.

"Hahaha! Chief Hong Zhong is truly magnificent! I genuinely never guessed you could disguise yourself as this brat!!"

"Chief Hong Zhong, that was an exquisite trick!!"

"Chief Hong Zhong! Matchless under heaven!!"

Listening to these voices, Li Huowang laughed in a state of utter madness, waving the corpse of the Monitor back and forth toward them without pause.

(End of Chapter)

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