Chapter 537

Nine Curves Creek Hall, a scene of chaos.

Three clusters of flames merged into one, a fire pillar shot up into the sky, the surrounding ground shook violently, huge waves rose on the lake, the flames swept across the lake surface with intense heat, amid a 'hiss-hiss' sound, the lake surface rapidly dropped several zhang.

Flames and gale rushed to the outside of the Three Provinces Hall; the bamboo grove within swayed, each slender bamboo emitting a faint glow; a pliable ward protected the whole compound, and the raging wind and flames could not intrude even a bit.

Nearby buildings and houses all glowed with bright or dim halos; crowds of experts burst from dark corners, swiftly climbing to high places, standing atop towers and high towers, grim-faced, staring at the most blazing spot of the flames.

Inside and outside Anyang City, there is an extremely powerful formation prohibition; no matter how high your cultivation, you cannot fly. All spellcasters can only rely on physical strength to climb to high places, then stand there and look out in all directions.

Spellcasters began chanting and forming seals, using divine abilities to suppress earth, water, fire, and wind; the area around Nine Curves Creek Hall was filled with nobles' villas, garrisoned by many experts. Thousands of spellcasters acted in unison; the destructive force from the three maidservants' self-detonation had barely spread before being violently suppressed back, forcibly confined within a radius of several tens of zhang.

The retreat where the hedonistic young masters of the First Clan used to play was completely gone; the ground was torn open, forming a pit tens of zhang in diameter and a hundred zhang deep, inside which groundwater gurgled up, and upon hitting the hot pit walls, large amounts of steam rolled upward.

The stage built on the lake had vanished in smoke; a group of prim and proper singing girls had already been vaporized. Everywhere were shrill cries and angry shouts; the guards tasked with protecting the First Clan's young masters stood dumbfounded in the distance, trembling, many scorched blackened, yet they paid no heed to their own wounds.

First Lord Xiu Feng dead?

The lord of Great Jin's Divine Might Hall, commander of the Divine Might Army, leader of the Three Successions Gate of Great Jin, the son of the First Army whose martial prowess is said to be the best in the Great Jin military—was he publicly assassinated?

"Save, save me!" A shrill roar suddenly came from the bottom of the pit: First Lord Xiu Feng's voice: "Save me, my arms, my legs, Father, Mother, save me!"

The First Clan's guards, like beasts suddenly awakened, frenziedly lunged toward the pit blown open by the three maidservants' self-detonation. They fumbled to summon escape light and descended; shortly they helped support the blood-soaked First Lord Xiu Feng and a few of the First Clan's young masters back to the ground.

After all, he is the beloved son of the First Army's commander. Though struck at close range by a self-detonation from three assassin warriors, First Lord Xiu Feng had many life-saving trumpets, so he suffered only superficial wounds, not even internal injuries. Though he looked horrifying drenched in blood, much of that blood was splattered onto him by the young masters of the clean‑bureaucrat families.

The other young masters of the First Clan were also the cherished treasures of the clan's elders; each possessed life‑saving trumpets, and like First Lord Xiu Feng, the worst injury among them was merely two broken fingers.

The First Clan's guards on scene numbered several hundred; originally wearing only ordinary battle robes, they now donned heavy armor, formed a small battle array, and even unleashed several heaven‑path divine‑weapon‑grade defensive treasures to shield all sides, carefully escorting their young master toward the First Clan's manor.

They had taken only a few steps when a heavy tread suddenly sounded from the street outside Nine Curves Creek Hall.

"Boom, boom, boom"… the killing intent almost condensed into substance, the towering battle will turned into a visible black monstrous serpent rolling toward Nine Curves Creek Hall. The spellcasters standing on high towers saw a unit clad in black heavy armor, an elite force, rapidly charging down the street.

"The Northern Gardens Forbidden Army… the Northern Gardens Forbidden Army… who mobilized the Northern Gardens Forbidden Army?" These spellcasters are subordinates of the high officials and nobles of the Great Jin Divine Kingdom's court; they naturally know the ins and outs of court politics.

The Northern Gardens Forbidden Army, one of the reorganized Three Gardens and Twelve Guards Forbidden Armies, directly commanded by the imperial household… this force before us numbers at least around one hundred thousand; they appeared here suddenly—did a senior royal issue a troop mobilization order?

But that's wrong—the Northern Gardens Forbidden Army is under the command of the Capital's Military Command; its chief, Prince Xuan Sima Yi, is not such a reckless person. Moreover, the assassination at Nine Curves Creek Hall just happened; that Sima Yi, who likes to catch sparrows while working at his desk, how could he react so quickly?

Even if Sima Yi reacted faster, the Northern Gardens Forbidden Army shouldn't appear here this quickly.

In the small study of the Three Provinces Hall, Sima Wuyou suddenly widened his eyes, his hair standing on end strand by strand: "Haha, interesting, interesting, truly interesting. Who mobilized the Northern Gardens Forbidden Army? Besides Jing Sheng and Sima Fa, who mobilized the Northern Gardens Forbidden Army?"

Sima Wuyou's hand flashed with spiritual light, and the Great Jin Divine Kingdom's Imperial Jade Seal that Wu Tie had brought back from the southwest emerged from the light.

Sima Wuyou grasped the Imperial Jade Seal, cold light flickering in his eyes; he slowly raised the seal, as if to imprint it into the void. But as soon as the seal had been pressed three cun, Sima Wuyou forcibly checked his impulse.

"Wait a moment, wait a moment." Sima Wuyou narrowed his eyes: "See what they intend to do, find out who is behind it. Xiao Li, go, pass along the order—do your best to preserve First Lord Xiu Feng's life… if you can't, then forget it; the First Army doesn't lack such a spoiled son."

Princess Jing Sheng held a crystal flagon inlaid with seven treasures, trembling all over as she stood in the Crystal Palace. Blood covered the ground, blood everywhere; the young commanders she had painstakingly gathered—those of humble origins, clean backgrounds, utterly loyal to her, whom she could command at will, and who held real power in the Three Gardens Forbidden Army…

Right before her eyes, they were slaughtered like pigs and dogs by a group of assassins who appeared out of nowhere.

These assassins, these maidservants—these maidservants actually came from her princess's residence; they were palace maids of her own household!

Princess Jing Sheng felt a chill run through her body, cold penetrating to the marrow, her heart nearly frozen with fear—her princess's residence, which she boasted was as impregnable as a golden‑soup city, flawless, actually housed so many palace maids, who were in fact assassin warriors raised by others.

What if these palace maids weren't assassinating those young commanders, but were targeting her instead?

Imagine: usually she would revel freely in her own princess's residence, with no guard at all, while these maidservants attended her respectfully at her side. Nearly all her privacy, all her secrets, were seen by these maidservants…

…and seen by the masters behind those maidservants.

Inside Princess Jing Sheng's pores, beads of icy, viscous sweat kept seeping out; she shivered, her teeth clicking 'ka-ka-ka' nonstop; she opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but could not utter a word.

Several female officials of the princess's residence rushed forward, reaching out to support Princess Jing Sheng.

Princess Jing Sheng suddenly shrieked; a pink sword light at her waist rose like a dragon, and in one strike it cut several female officials in half at the waist. She screamed hysterically, jumping like a madwoman: "Get out, get out, who are you? Whose people are you? Get out, get out, no one may approach my palace, no one may approach my palace…"

One of the female officials, cut in half and writhing on the ground, suddenly cracked a grin, an extremely eerie smile.

She swung her right hand hard, smashing a delicate glass bottle against Princess Jing Sheng's face. The bottle was extremely thin and fragile; a light tap shattered it, and a tiny amount of viscous, pungent liquid inside sprayed out, landing squarely on the princess's face.

Just that one blow caused a palm‑sized patch on Princess Jing Sheng's left cheek to wrinkle, blister, and discolor, then spurt bloody foam. It was a vial of extremely potent corrosive poison; in the snap of a finger, more than half of her peerless visage turned ghastly, and strands of pus formed from liquefied flesh continually slid down her chin.

"Ah!" Princess Jing Sheng screamed like a madwoman.

Her face, her peerless beauty, the face she used to attract followers and drive her retainers mad with infatuation!

Princess Jing Sheng valued her beauty immensely; her looks were her most powerful weapon, one of her greatest assets.

Her face… someone actually dared to destroy her face, her beauty, her countenance!

Princess Jing Sheng could feel a dreadful evil force invading her cheek, rampantly infecting her flesh, blood vessels, meridians, even the bone of that side of her face. This wicked poison is extraordinarily vicious; with her cultivation, she could not resist its corrosion.

Such disfigurement caused by this evil poison is likely… permanent!

Princess Jing Sheng went mad.

Around her, dozens of pink, glittering sword lights shot into the air, wildly sweeping the surrounding area; the Crystal Palace, flowers and trees, even the female officials and palace maids of her residence—all were pulverized by the sword light.

Hundreds of guards tried to approach her, but as soon as they got near, a hundred or so were strangled to death by the sword light.

"Your Highness, Your Highness…" the guards dared not come closer, each shouting in panic and desperation. Several guard commanders stood on the treetops nearby; they likewise saw the Northern Gardens Forbidden Army rapidly approaching.

The crucial point is that they recognized the leader of this force of about one hundred thousand—the very young commander who had just been assassinated in the Crystal Palace. This youth, known to be of humble origins, was universally known to be Princess Jing Sheng's retainer, her subordinate; it was only thanks to her power that he could hold real authority in the Northern Gardens Forbidden Army.

In other words, the Northern Gardens Forbidden Army rapidly approaching outside is Princess Jing Sheng's direct subordinates.

But the guard commanders beside Princess Jing Sheng knew full well that she had not issued any troop mobilization order… the direct superiors of these Northern Gardens Forbidden Army troops had just been assassinated, and dead people naturally cannot issue such orders.

Then what are these Northern Gardens Forbidden Army here for? What do they intend to do?

The First Clan's major guard detachment marched forward in thunderous steps, escorting First Lord Xiu Feng and several young masters out of Nine Curves Creek Hall, hoping to retreat along the street toward the First Clan's manor. At the same time, a thousand‑strong private force of the First Clan, mounted on steeds, galloped out from the manor direction, rushing to reinforce Nine Curves Creek Hall.

However, flight is impossible within Anyang City.

Even though the First Clan's private guards reacted swiftly and mobilized in time, reaching Nine Curves Creek Hall to reinforce would still take at least a short half‑hour.

A short half‑hour… enough for many, many things to happen.

The Northern Gardens Forbidden Army has already drawn near; they are less than two li away from the emergency retreat of First Lord Xiu Feng and company.

A blaring bugle call came from the ranks of the Northern Gardens Forbidden Army—continuous, urgent, sharp and piercing; this is the Great Jin military's order to advance.

Inside Nine Curves Creek Hall and the nearby mansions, countless people shouted in unison.

The Great Jin's forbidden troops, within the very capital of Great Jin, have sounded the charge to attack.

The black monstrous python's illusory shadow above the heads of the ten‑thousand‑strong Northern Garden Forbidden Army rapidly condensed; in just a few breaths the black monstrous python had solidified like a living creature, and moreover it vigorously twisted and rolled, a single horn sprouting on its head and dragon claws growing beneath its belly—a sign that it was about to transform from a monstrous python into a flood dragon.

Everyone who witnessed this scene widened their eyes at once, each showing an expression of utter disbelief.

Something's wrong, something's wrong, this simply shouldn't be.

This performance clearly shows that this Northern Garden Forbidden Army has reached the peak of ferocity, with the soldiers' essence, energy, and spirit perfectly united, causing the murderous army spirit condensed in the formation to show signs of further transformation.

A second transformation of the murderous army spirit—such an elite force is extremely rare even among the four main corps of the Great Jin.

How could the newly reorganized Northern Garden Forbidden Army possibly have such an elite unit?

To enable a second transformation of the murderous army spirit, the hundred‑thousand Forbidden Army soldiers must share long‑term comings and goings, daily life, battles, and life‑and‑death experiences; only when they have formed absolute rapport, when each of their thoughts, ideas, and actions can resonate with their comrades, and when their fighting will has become instinct, can a second transformation of the murderous army spirit be brought about.

The Northern Garden Forbidden Army shouldn't have such an elite unit!

A powerful figure intervened in the reorganization of the Northern Garden Forbidden Army, and without a word, directly assigned a top‑notch elite force into it.

It's laughable that, while the reorganization of the Three Gardens Forbidden Army and Twelve Guards Forbidden Army was underway, the power‑grabbing Princess Jing Sheng and Sima Fa were stirring up trouble, yet not one of them noticed this. Such an elite force hidden under their command is like a poisonous snake slipping into their sleeve—it could strike a deadly blow at any moment.

"Impressive move…… but is it really just this single force hidden in the Three Gardens Forbidden Army and Twelve Guards Forbidden Army?" Many who received the news, or who personally witnessed this scene among the great figures of the Great Jin Divine State, all had the same question arise in their hearts.

Indeed, a terrifying method; indeed, a very formidable one.

"Kill!" a hurried shout rang out from the Forbidden Army ranks.

The monstrous python that had transformed into a flood dragon let out a long howl to the heavens; a commander in heavy armor of the Womb Storage Realm, wielding a Square Heaven Painting Halberd, turned into a rainbow and thrust forward, the strike instantly sweeping across the long street and slamming straight into the small formation formed by the First Shi clan's guards.

At the same moment, flames towering to the heavens suddenly rose from the east gate of Anyang City.

With a tremendous crash, more than a dozen huge gateways on the east side of Anyang City exploded simultaneously, layer after layer of massive hundred‑zhang gates collapsed, and countless defenders on the city walls were killed or wounded.

A sharp 'hiss' rang out, and nine warning signals shot up into the sky; nine red beams rose tens of thousands of zhang high, then exploded rapidly in the heavens, bursting into nine blood‑colored halos hanging in the void, clearly visible for tens of thousands of li around.

This is… the highest distress signal of the Great Jin Imperial house.

Once issued, all feudal states, prefectural seats, and county seats in every direction must dispatch troops to rally to the emperor's rescue.