Chapter 35 - 3#

With such an exaggerated display, coupled with his previous speculations, could it be…

[Mission Six Failed]

Jingzhe cursed. This damn heaven, he had actually guessed correctly.

It really was her doing!

She wasn’t using poison, but insects… were they Gu worms?

If all these things gathered on one person, they could probably gnaw a person down to a skeleton!

The Empress Dowager’s target was Emperor Jingyuan, so Huang Yijie’s target would also be Emperor Jingyuan!

Where was Emperor Jingyuan?

Jingzhe’s heart even felt a bit of panic.

Because, where Emperor Jingyuan was, Rong Jiu would also be!

[Random Buff: I am King]

[Effect: Within 48 hours (approximately 24 shichen), all living beings that see the host with their naked eyes will regard the host as their king and submit at your feet.]

[Note: In extreme cases, it may trigger an overreaction. Please be careful.]

Jingzhe: “…”

What king?

Are you crazy!

Jingzhe couldn’t imagine what a terrifying scene it would be if he appeared in front of others with this buff and they all knelt down with a thud…

Should he be glad that it was just a king, and not an emperor?!

Jingzhe anxiously pursed his lips, his fingers icy cold.

Walking in the rain for a long time, his body would quickly lose heat. His body temperature was already colder than usual.

…So cold, I want to be warmer.

Jingzhe instinctively thought.

[Warm… warm…]

[Mother, I want warmth… hee…]

[Cover, cover, cover.]

[Afraid (filial piety) afraid (filial piety) afraid of the smell (filial piety)… warm (charge)]

Vaguely, he sensed a subtle sound.

It was very weak, almost too weak to hear clearly. Was it an illusion? Jingzhe casually glanced at the water surface.

Suddenly, he discovered that on the water that could have submerged the surface of his boots, there were densely packed small black dots, one on top of the other, surging towards Jingzhe.

Jingzhe’s hair stood on end. Were they coming for him?

He turned and ran.

Densely packed, a sky full of black dots swarmed towards him, as if following his steps.

[Mother… Mother…]

[Protect, protect.]

[Scary smell. Mother. Protect.]

Jingzhe wanted to cry but had no tears. If you’re scared, don’t chase me, I’m scared too!

…How could he, suddenly be able to hear some sounds he shouldn’t be hearing?

While running wildly, Jingzhe realized the terrifying aspect of that buff.

How could it even affect insects!

And they were calling him mother?!

You’ve got the wrong person, you should go call Huang Yijie!

[Many insects follow a matriarchal society, and their king is their mother. This form of address is not wrong.]

Jingzhe: “Is that the point!”

The point was that he was about to be swallowed by this swarm of crazy black insects!

Even under the influence of this buff, they wouldn’t do anything to Jingzhe, but if he let these black insects crawl all over his body, Jingzhe would never be able to shake off this terrifying shadow for the rest of his life.

In his frantic escape, he didn’t see the road clearly, only running towards places without insects, and finally stumbled into a palace hall.

The heavy rain drowned out his footsteps, allowing Jingzhe to hide under the eaves, shivering.

For some reason, after chasing him here, those black insects didn’t continue to approach. Jingzhe could vaguely sense the feeling spreading from them, but he would rather not know anything.

…Why did he have to share feelings with insects!

Jingzhe wanted to cry.

He wiped his face and found that he hadn’t had time to cover his hood while running away. A lot of rain had fallen through the gaps, diluting the incense ash a lot. It was a good thing they didn’t follow him in here.

Jingzhe propped himself up against the outer golden pillar, wiping away the rain while looking up, and was startled to find, wasn’t this the old place?

Running with his head down, he had actually run to Fengxian Hall again.

He seemed to have an inexplicable fate with this place.

In the sound of the pouring rain, Jingzhe vaguely heard some movement in the inner hall.

His hearing had always been sharp, but not to this extent. It should be the strengthening effect of the buff, allowing him to perceive the existence of living creatures within a certain range… probably… people?

Jingzhe’s expression was a bit strange.

Hopefully, it was people.

He couldn’t bear the terror of being chased by non-human creatures anymore.

Jingzhe followed his perception and listened carefully at the palace gate, not daring to peek his head out.

“…You… know…”

It sounded like a woman’s voice.

Somewhat familiar.

“…Jing… strange… smell…”

It seemed that the one speaking was always a woman’s voice.

There were at least two people in the hall.

At the very least, the one who was always speaking, her tone sounded like she was talking to someone else.

But the other person was silent and never answered.

This feeling was somewhat similar to Rong Jiu.

“…Rong… today is… death…”

Rong what!

What Rong!

Jingzhe’s little dog head seemed to have been poked hard. He was startled and suddenly poked his head in to look.

As Jingzhe had guessed, there were two people in the hall.

And only these two people.

One was standing, and the other was tied up and sitting on the ground.

The person standing was Huang Yijie.

And the one sitting was actually Rong Jiu!

Jingzhe was greatly surprised. How could it be Rong Jiu? Where was the emperor? Bad! Did he use Rong Jiu as a substitute and leave him here, running away himself?

There was no more planning. When Huang Yijie walked towards Rong Jiu, Jingzhe quickly slipped into the hall: “Stop!”

Both people in the hall looked over at the sound.

Whether it was Huang Yijie or Rong Jiu, their eyes were very strange, staring at him as if they wanted to drill a hole in him.

Was it the effect of the buff?

For some reason, he had a sense of unease in his heart, but he couldn’t say where this feeling of unease came from.

Jingzhe braced himself and said, “This servant greets Noble Consort.”

He glanced at the person sitting on the ground and quickly retracted his gaze.

“Why is Your Highness in Fengxian Hall without anyone to serve you? Do you need this servant to summon someone for you?”

The Noble Consort was not wearing gorgeous clothes. Her attire was very neat, with a faint coldness. She stopped her movements and instead walked towards Jingzhe.

“No need.” As she walked, she said with a smile, “Killing people is better done in a quiet place.”

Jingzhe cautiously walked around her, moving towards the inner hall. “Why do you want to kill him?”

Huang Yijie seemed to have heard a joke and laughed so hard that her whole body trembled.

“Jingzhe, you should ask him that. Does he have a reason when he kills people?”

Jingzhe was silent for a moment. Rong Jiu sometimes did kill people for no reason.

“Do you have a grudge against him?”

Jingzhe racked his brains to delay Huang Yijie’s actions.

“The one who has a grudge against him is not me.” Huang Yijie smiled faintly. “And I am just a knife.”

“But, you’ve got the wrong person.”

Jingzhe finally stood between Rong Jiu and Huang Yijie, and said cautiously.

“He is Rong Jiu.” The voice, approaching that of a young man, was a bit hoarse. “He is my, friend.”

Huang Yijie stood still, staring at Jingzhe with a strange look in her eyes, then her gaze fell on the man on the ground.

“Hahahaha—”

She burst into hysterical laughter, with a strange hoarseness.

“Rong Jiu, Rong Jiu… ha, no wonder, Rong Jiu… do you know, he…”

After Huang Yijie finished laughing, she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and was about to finish her sentence when she heard the clang of a sword.

Swoosh—

The white blade was surprisingly bright.

From bottom to top, a sharp soft sword pierced through Huang Yijie’s lower abdomen, patter, patter—

Large flowers of blood splashed down, filled with a strange smell of blood.

“Ugh…”

Huang Yijie covered her mouth and knelt on the ground. Her hand grabbed the soft sword, creating many wounds.

“You…”

Suddenly, the soft sword was withdrawn, cutting more marks. “You… didn’t…” Huang Yijie struggled to say, “get…”

“Of course not.” The beautiful voice was as cold as a knife, just like the sharp edge that had just pierced Huang Yijie’s body. “Someone is always chattering about not killing people indiscriminately…”

The rustling sound, the approaching body heat, that voice, was right behind Jingzhe, right above his head, falling down coldly.

“I tried.”

Rong Jiu’s strong arms wrapped around the shivering Jingzhe from behind.

Huang Yijie looked like she was about to die, and Rong Jiu was still flirting. What was wrong with him… oh, you can’t blame Rong Jiu for this, after all, she was the one who wanted to kill him first… by the way, why kill Rong Jiu, this is not right, shouldn’t she be going after the emperor…

Jingzhe’s mind was in a mess. He subconsciously took a few steps forward to check Huang Yijie’s injuries, but was held back by Rong Jiu.

“She won’t die.” Rong Jiu didn’t allow Jingzhe to leave even half a step. “The Gu worms in her body will keep her alive with her last breath.”

Gu worms?

Jingzhe almost couldn’t catch his breath, his body was trembling, and he said weakly: “Are they those… black insects outside?”

Rong Jiu said carelessly: “Those are just the lowest grade of Gu worms, they can only gnaw on human corpses and turn people into white bones.”

Jingzhe shivered even more. Was this still called low grade? Just now they were rushing towards him one after another, trying to crawl on him!

Icy fingers grabbed Jingzhe’s chin and lifted his head.

“Jingzhe, I didn’t kill anyone, I behaved myself. Am I obedient?” Rong Jiu lowered his head, his cool voice brushing past Jingzhe’s ear, so close. “Shouldn’t you… have some reward?”

…Here?

And why… a reward?

Jingzhe kissed Rong Jiu in a daze. Something was wrong, but before he could react, he was pulled in by Rong Jiu.

Panic, coldness, and fear intertwined.

Rustle, rustle, rustle—

A strange and noisy sound was close to his ear.

Jingzhe’s hair stood on end, and he suddenly looked outside the hall.

It was a truly earth-shattering scene. Densely packed black insects gathered outside the hall, trying to break through the threshold, but for some unknown reason, they hesitated to rush into Fengxian Hall.

Rong Jiu held Jingzhe in his arms, like a greedy monster.

“Shh… Jingzhe, don’t be afraid…” The man’s voice was strange and muffled, with a strange excitement. “I’m here.”

The body in his arms shivered, trembling more and more pitifully.

The more excited he became, the more twisted his trembling became, almost uncontrollable.

This fire was like the burning Fengxian Hall.

Ha…

The fire was not big, and in the rain, it seemed excessively weak.

But the strange, strong fragrance drifted out with the air current. Wherever the wind blew, this scent was present.

The Gu worms were startled and scurried around, but not long after, their bodies stiffened and they floated on the water.

In the small hall far away from Fengxian Hall.

Jingzhe looked at the scarlet flames in the distance and murmured, “…Are you crazy?”

That was Fengxian Hall, where the ancestral tablets of the royal family were placed.

It was just burned down in a fire.

Rong Jiu was truly a madman.

“Then,” the indifferent voice had a strange warmth, much better than the pure violence before, but it also carried a strong sense of oppression.

“Next… is our time.”

Icy fingers pinched the wet nape of Jingzhe’s neck.

“When… will you dare to look up at me?”