Chapter 560: Trap

Chapter 560: The Game

“Dare you act so brazenly inside the palace during broad daylight? Do you truly think there’s no one in our Liang Kingdom?” boomed a coarse voice from Li Huowang's left. He turned his head and saw a heavily armored veteran general riding a tall horse galloping toward them.

The mere movement of this man caused the air around him to seem to ripple with motion—this was a warrior of the highest order, not someone like Peng Longteng who merely held middle rank! This presence might well belong to the strongest military master in all of Liang!

And he wasn’t alone. Six such figures charged in from all directions on horseback. Clearly, the commotion within the imperial palace had drawn others.

As they approached, Li Huowang began to hear phantom sounds—soldiers’ cries, the stench of blood, and even a growing irritation in his mood.

When they surrounded the dice, the oppressive aura nearly condensed into tangible force. It felt as if a wall stood before him, and their scent of blood was far heavier than his own.

“Once you reach the underworld, remember to tell the King of Hell that it was your grandfather Zhang who killed you!”

A grizzled general with three deep scars across his face raised his trembling hands holding a heavy mace, ready to strike down the helpless figure lying on the ground.

“Wait!” Just as the mace was about to fall upon the dice, it halted mid-air. All six generals turned to look at the Grand Minister who had spoken.

“Let me ask him a few questions first before we kill him,” said Huangfu Tiangang, walking forward with his hands behind his back.

Hearing that the Grand Minister intended to speak with the dice, Li Huowang’s heart clenched tighter than ever.

As fellow practitioners of the Forgetful Dao, he knew well the strengths and weaknesses of their sect. Everyone knew that the Forgetful Dao excelled in direct confrontation, but they were masters at manipulating minds. If he opened his mouth now, it would be the dice’s domain!

“Grand Minister, hurry up and kill the dice! Don’t let things get out of hand!” cried Li Huowang.

“I’ve eaten more salt than you’ve eaten rice, boy. Do I need your advice on how to act?” Huangfu Tiangang glared at Li Huowang and walked toward the trapped dice.

Just as he moved, the illusionary Forgetful Dao whispered urgently beside Li Huowang, winking and grinning: “Hey buddy, don’t you think something’s off here? Could it be that old guy owes us the big boss a favor? So he’s just trying to repay it now?”

Li Huowang paused for a moment, then immediately understood. With cold eyes, he looked at the phantom: “You still want to help the dice fool me at this point? Fine, just because of those words, wait till tonight when I tear your sinews and bones!”

“Hey! What’s wrong with you? I’m just trying to help you think things through. You take my kindness and treat it like liver and lungs!”

Li Huowang didn’t even bother listening to the explanation. He turned to Zhuge Yuan and asked, “Zhuge Brother, if I give you a small portion of my spiritual cultivation, can you catch the dice off guard and deal with him?”

“Brother Li, we’re almost there. Don’t rush. There’s no need to risk exposing your identity. Come, let’s see what the Grand Minister wants to ask the dice.”

Saying that, Zhuge Yuan followed Huangfu Tiangang toward the group. As the Grand Minister approached, he seemed to sense something and glanced to his left, frowned slightly, then continued walking forward.

Watching their backs, Li Huowang’s expression changed rapidly.

“Red Middle, this kid definitely has secrets from you,” said the illusionary Forgetful Dao again, appearing beside him.

“Shut up! What do you know?! Are you hoping for more torture? Want to be dissected alive?” Li Huowang gripped his spine sword tightly and followed after them.

By the time Li Huowang finally reached them, the Grand Minister had already begun questioning the dice. “Speak up. Why are you hiding in the palace? I’ve been watching you for a long time. Thought I could catch the rest of the Forgetful Dao, but you never showed any signs of action.”

“Hehehe,” even bound to the ground with only half his body remaining, the dice remained calm, even raising his chin toward Li Huowang.

“You think you’re tracking me, but I wanted you to track me—to cover for others. This time, I wasn’t the one doing the job. It was someone else.” Saying that, the dice winked secretly at Li Huowang.

“You’d better hurry up! I have much more important matters than you!” the Grand Minister growled.

“Hehehe~ How about you guess? How big a game did I play this time?” The dice showed no fear despite being surrounded by weapons.

“Oh, I don’t guess,” replied the Grand Minister coldly, drawing his Star Constellation Sword to strike the dice.

“Hey, hold on! Why are you so impatient? I’ll tell you—I’ve worked hard for years, just for this moment!”

“Hehehe, do you think we Forgetful Dao can’t manipulate dragon veins? Well, we two brothers simply refuse to believe that! This game is meant to trap your emperor!”

“If we can’t move the dragon vein, then we’ll dig up its root! Hehehe, you think the emperor of Liang chose correctly? That little guy named Ji Lin?”

“Hmm?” Hearing that, the Grand Minister frowned and suddenly recalled something.

“Could it be that Ji Lin isn’t royal blood? Impossible! You’re pulling another cheap trick! We, Xuanpin and I, calculated his birth chart ourselves—he is indeed of the Ji family!”

“Hahahaha!!” Seeing Huangfu Tiangang say that, the dice burst into laughter, laughing until he was nearly insane.

“That’s right～hahahaha, he *is* of the Ji family! But the key to his life was planted by me! He’s actually a woman! And a barren one at that! The dragon vein of Liang ends right there! Hahahaha!”

The dice laughed harder, gasping for breath, his eyes sparkling with joy, as if this day had always been his destined moment.

Hearing this, Li Huowang trembled inwardly. This lunatic wanted him to help Ji Lin ascend to power, all along plotting such a scheme.

“Come on, who among you will go tell the Emperor the good news? And also ask him how he feels knowing he’s been a man for ten years, only to find out he’s actually a woman! Hahahaha!”

Huangfu Tiangang watched the dice laugh without surprise. “So this is the dice’s game? If you think the dragon vein of Liang is so easily broken, you’re mistaken. We’ve long prepared. We’ve even kept some dragon offspring hidden in the common folk.”

“Hehehe～nope, all cleaned up～the jade pendant with the white circle—is that the token? Hehehe～”

White jade circular pendant? Li Huowang couldn’t explain why that phrase sounded familiar.

At that moment, the dice continued speaking. “These people have no guards—they’re just ordinary folks. Once we found them, we didn’t even need to act ourselves. Just a little provocation and they’d kill each other. Isn’t that right, Red Middle?”

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(End of Chapter)