Chapter 2649: Shocking the Entire City

Even he didn't know the prince was coming, but this guy did, and he spoke with a mix of threat and coercion—must be a spy with ill intent!

The surrounding guards sprang to their feet in unison and rushed toward the gaunt man.

The two sides were close, and they were fast—just a raise of the hand subdued him, slamming him hard onto the table.

So easily? Jia my lord was somewhat surprised. Does this man have no skill at all?

The guards pinned the man down and quickly frisked him, aiming to eliminate any hidden threat.

"Timing was perfect!" The gaunt man's face was squashed against the table, distorted, yet he grinned, baring his gums: "You destroyed my homeland, killed my wife and children—you deserve to die, all of you deserve to die! Blast!"

As his words fell, his skin suddenly turned red all over, even emitting light.

Immediately, Changsheng Lou exploded.

How powerful was it? With Changsheng Lou as the epicenter, within a radius of seventy zhang, buildings and people alike were basically reduced to dust; even those in pavilions three streets away were killed on the spot.

The tremors from the explosion were felt throughout the city. Pedestrians at the street's end turned at the sound, horrified to see Changsheng Lou reduced to ruins, crimson-gold flames sweeping in all directions, black smoke coiling into a dark dragon that shot straight into the clouds.

This explosion was several times more powerful than mountain-opening gunpowder. Business at the tavern was good today—two hundred or so people across three floors, plus the kitchen staff, nearly three hundred in total, almost all turned into muddled ghosts in that instant.

Though Heishuicheng has long been a major border stronghold, such an accident has never occurred before.

Inside and outside the official offices, everyone stared dumbstruck. After a few breaths, someone stammered with chattering teeth: "No, not good—the prince and Jia my lord seem to have been dining right there!"

Everyone felt a wave of despairing dizziness.

Then, several streaks of light headed that way—experts stationed at the official offices rushing over.

After that, the startled officials and troops also surged toward the scene.

At that moment, He Changjue was actually not dead. He Chenghua doted on this eldest grandson, and knowing he was to escort supplies to the front lines, had bestowed him many protective treasures. When the explosion occurred, these artifacts automatically activated to shield him, causing at least ten flashes of light across his body—only obscured by the blast's blinding light.

Though he didn't die, he was mangled by the sudden blast—seeing double, his ears filled with a roaring buzzing noise.

Fluid streamed from his nose and eye corners; He Changjue reached up and touched it—bright red blood.

His mind also grew foggy and sluggish, uncertain of what had happened.

Jia my lord was gone, and the guards he brought were missing too. He Changjue rolled his eyes, seeming to see half a body hanging on a broken pillar forty zhang away—one of the guards who had accompanied him for thousands of li.

Was he—was he attacked?

By whom?

Originally, dozens of guards had surrounded him and Jia my lord in tight protection—now it's a mess, the defensive ring completely broken.

He was flung over thirty zhang by the blast, landing amidst the rubble. From his angle, Changsheng Lou was gone, replaced by a deep pit.

Oh, the three fingers on his right hand seemed to be gone too.

He Changjue heard someone shouting:

"Your Highness!"

Not his personal guard—the latter was either dead or half-dead. Rather, it was the expert Shen Wang had specially placed in the entourage, seeking him. This person was only half a step from the Immortal Realm, usually low-key and quiet; He Changjue usually called him Mr. Meng.

On Shen Guo territory, Mr. Meng should have been able to protect him fully. But Changsheng Lou's explosion sent He Changjue flying instantly, and Mr. Meng, trying to find him amid the wreckage and casualties, found it no easy task.

These three districts were everywhere littered with ruins and flames, corpses and wounded scattered about, every face blackened by smoke—no one could tell who was who at a glance.

Mr. Meng didn't know where He Changjue had been blown to, so he could only search everywhere.

He Changjue wanted to respond, but a mouthful of blood blocked his throat—he couldn't make a sound.

Besides, he couldn't even sit up—where would he get the strength to shout?

At that moment, He Changjue saw two figures flash before his eyes—or maybe four or five? His vision was blurred, seeing double, unable to count.

One of the figures sighed in relief: "Good thing we marked his boot; otherwise, where would we look now?"

"It's our luck we didn't see that half-body hanging in the tree? Only the upper torso—no legs, no boots."

"Hey, he can still breathe?" The first man exclaimed in surprise: "Blasted right at the center of the 'Volcano Pile'—this kid's actually still alive?"

This isn't ordinary explosives, nor an ordinary blast.

The ground sank two zhang deep; most things near the blast were vaporized, even the scorched earth glittering with crystalline light—no telling what substance the high heat had precipitated.

"His cultivation is ordinary—He Chenghua surely gave him many life-preserving treasures. Besides, he also has yuan energy, huh, that damned yuan energy."

He Changjue is a prince, and on this military expedition he also held an official post. The power of Changsheng Lou's explosion was weakened considerably by his yuan energy, further reduced by various treasures' mitigation—so the boy didn't die.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry—get it done fast!"

This explosion shook heaven and earth—it will draw all the city's armed forces here.

At this moment, onlookers and civilians began entering the blast zone to carry the wounded; these two figures weren't conspicuous there. But Mr. Meng, still searching, was getting closer—no more than a dozen breaths away from reaching this spot.

"You……who are you?" The dying youth strained to lift his head, trying to make out their faces: "Shen Guo won't, won't let you off."

"No need to trouble yourself." One of them seized his neck and twisted hard.

Crack—He Changjue's head spun a hundred eighty degrees, facing his back.

Then the two stood and ran.

That move was too obvious—two streaks of rainbow light flashed from behind, attacking in fury.

Mr. Meng finally arrived—but too late.

￥￥￥￥￥

Shen Guo Ducheng, the palace.

Evening, He Chenghua and his wife were dining. After all, they were a couple who had struggled together since youth, sharing meals and conversation—Lady Ying spoke her mind freely, saying whatever came to her. When she lost her temper, the Shen Wang still had to soothe and amuse her, with none of the usual imperial formality.

Lady Ying was over fifty, her black hair like clouds, her complexion rosy and wrinkle-free—she looked younger than she did in Heishuicheng. Against the backdrop of rapidly rising spiritual energy in the world, she had learned breathing techniques to maintain her youthful appearance.

She was about to return a plate of herb-marinated lamb chops, asking the cook to remake it.

Lady Ying came from the borderlands and still loved large cuts of grilled meat; she wasn't particularly interested in Ducheng's refined delicacies. However, this lamb chop wasn't cooked through, still carrying a trace of blood.

He Chenghua wanted to throw it away, but Lady Ying gave him a white-eye: "Why waste it? Just grill it another half moment, won't that do?"

(End of Chapter)