Chapter 512: One of Us

Chapter 512 One of Our Own

Ever since the events of the previous night, a subtle shift had occurred in the dynamic between Li Huowang and his delusions.

In the past, save for Li Huowang’s own hand turned against his throat, nothing possessed the power to threaten them.

Yet the paradigm had shifted; through the art of reality-cultivation, Li Huowang could now grant them fleeting vessels of flesh.

Not only could they be struck, but should they rouse his wrath, he could make them taste an agony that rendered life worse than death.

Seeing the Illusion of the Sitting-Forgetful Way finally grow still, Li Huowang turned his gaze toward Li Sui, then reached down to tear a strip of dead skin from his own scar, casting it out the open window.

With a sharp bark, Li Sui leaped through the frame in pursuit of the flesh, yet when the creature returned, happily cradling the scrap in its jaws, Li Huowang had vanished, leaving only a slip of paper upon the table.

"Guard the house well, the world outside is perilous, do not wander, I shall bring you delicacies upon my return."

Li Huowang sought no frequented haunts; instead, he journeyed beyond the city walls to a desolate expanse to cultivate his reality.

Having witnessed much upon his long travels, Li Huowang could now discern the immense power of this doctrine, a technique meant solely for the Heart-Elements, drawing upon a fragment of the Heavenly Dao itself; it was extraordinary, a presence capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with the Arbiters of Fate.

This mastery was something he had to claim with all haste, not merely to resurrect Zhuge Yuan, but to ensure his own survival.

Yet Li Huowang did not linger long in the wilderness; as dusk fell, he retraced his steps, for he had an engagement tonight with Dong Zhongshou, the master of the School of Diplomacy.

Beneath the night sky of the Capital, a grim-faced Li Huowang sat within a purple sedan chair, peering through the narrow slit of the window.

The hour was late, and the Capital had fallen under strict curfew, yet aside from his own carriage, the vast, empty thoroughfares bore a multitude of other sedan chairs.

The patrolling guards seemed utterly blind to them, marching past the carriages in rigid, ordered columns.

These vessels moved like wooden skiffs drifting upon the currents of the dark.

An unwritten accord seemed to exist between them, keeping a measured distance; from afar, one could only discern solitary lanterns, some white, others red, bobbing silently in the gloom, a tacit understanding laced with an eerie dread.

He had been summoned by Dong Zhongshou, but who had summoned the occupants of those other carriages?

Li Huowang assumed he would soon arrive at the diplomat's estate, but as the sedan chair crossed a towering stone arch bridge, he caught sight of a half-submerged carriage floating upon the black river waters, tendrils of crimson slowly unfurling from the collapsed frame.

"What is the meaning of this? A casualty? Done by whose hand?"

No sooner had the thought risen in Li Huowang's mind than the reality of the sunken vessel’s fate made itself known to him.

With a sickening squelch, three straight Miao sabers thrust from different directions, piercing the flimsy walls of the sedan chair and burying themselves deep within Li Huowang's flesh before protruding from the opposite side.

Half an hour later, the riddled, ruined carriage came to a slow halt before a grand estate flanked by stone lions, where a servant bearing a lantern bowed low, speaking into the interior with profound reverence: "My lord, pray descend."

A foot stepped down from the carriage, printing a bloody tread upon the earth, followed immediately by the second, the sheer force of its descent nearly fracturing the stone tiles beneath.

In a flash of cold steel, the stone lion by the gate, along with an entire stretch of the wall, was severed cleanly away.

As the high wall of blue brick came crashing down amidst a plume of dust, Dong Zhongshou, who sat admiring the moon with his wives and concubines, caught sight of Ear Nine.

"Military Commissioner Ear, come quickly! This humble official has awaited you for an eternity."

At the low tables arranged around him sat numerous individuals, seemingly the very allies he had previously deemed 'our own.'

"What the hell is the meaning of this!" As Li Huowang charged fiercely toward Dong Zhongshou, blade in hand, two buddhas, one fat and one lean, stepped forward to bar his path.

"Heheh, Military Commissioner Ear, appease your wrath. Since you boasted before the Emperor that the business of slaughter would be left to you, surely we must test your mettle?"

"Furthermore, those assassins were truly no agents of mine; the other Princes are simply exceptionally well-informed, and those were their men."

Seeing Li Huowang come to a halt, Dong Zhongshou chuckled once more, gesturing lightly toward a low table at the very rear.

"Come, come, Military Commissioner Ear, this is your place, pray take your seat, and allow me to introduce your fellow colleagues."

"This gentleman is the son of the current Prime Minister, Situ Bowen! As the Prime Minister's most cherished son, he has already begun to assist in governing the great affairs of the realm. Though he holds no official rank in court, his connections there are vast."

The man was a short, rotund fellow with a bare chest and a flower tucked behind his ear, who did not even raise his head, sampling wine from a fair maid's lips while embracing women on either side.

"And this is the grand master of calligraphy, Gongsun Yan, whose disciples span the empire! His unique Gongsun script is unparalleled beneath the heavens, a style that commands reverence from all who behold it."

An elder with a snow-white beard tremulously took a small sip from his cup, casting a glance at the multiple blades upon Li Huowang's back, a trace of displeasure flickering in his eyes.

"And this is my junior brother, likewise trained in the School of Diplomacy. A short while ago, the two of us joined forces to orchestrate an alliance, thwarting the conspiracy between the Third Prince and Princess Guangning."

The beardless, middle-aged man, hearing himself mentioned, immediately cupped his hands to Dong Zhongshou, yet offered not a single glance toward Li Huowang.

Listening as Dong Zhongshou introduced them one by one, Li Huowang silently measured the worth of these men in his heart.

When the introductions finally came to an end, Dong Zhongshou cleared his throat and spat lightly to his left, where a beautiful young maiden, already kneeling in readiness, opened her mouth to catch it cleanly.

Whatever Dong Zhongshou spoke of next went in through Li Huowang's right ear and out his left; the singular puzzle he could not unravel was how Ji Lin had managed to endure for so long relying on such a gathering of useless dregs.

"Come, henceforth we are one of our own. Do not take offense, Military Commissioner Ear, I raise a toast to you!"

Yet everyone present saw that Li Huowang sat there like a statue, showing no intention of lifting the wine vessel at his elbow.

"I merely wish to ask a question. Where are the men who do the work? Where are the ones who kill?" This inquiry immediately provoked a ripple of low laughter throughout the courtyard.

"Military Commissioner Ear," Dong Zhongshou said, his face plastered with a smile, "those who perform the labor naturally have their own place; how could they possibly sit alongside those who devise the strategies?"

"Of course, you are a distinct exception, Military Commissioner Ear. You are the favorite at His Majesty's side, deeply graced by holy favor, and your future is bound to be boundless."

"Too pathetic. To think that devouring a spiritual abomination only yields this meager degree? It seems Ji Lin has entirely misread the situation; this is no way to breed the King of Gu..."

"Hmm? What is the Military Commissioner muttering? Could it be you still harbor resentment over the earlier matter? Heheh, a grown man ought to possess greater magnanimity; you are being somewhat overly petty, have I not already offered my apologies?"

"Very well! We are all the Emperor's men, I shall offer you another apology this day." So saying, Dong Zhongshou raised his cup, drained it back, and displayed the empty bottom to Li Huowang. "What say you?"

"I see that none of you understand the reality of the situation."

Gritting his teeth, Li Huowang let out a manic laugh, then pressed his fingers hard against his temples with one hand while tapping his index finger heavily upon the table with the other.

The towering, armored form of Peng Longteng abruptly materialized beside Dong Zhongshou, and before anyone could react, her iron-clad hands thrust directly into his mouth.

With her left hand gripping the upper jaw and her right hand seizing the lower, she exerted a monstrous strength and ripped outward, tearing Dong Zhongshou's frail body in half as easily as a sheet of thin paper.

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