Chapter 771: Traitorous Official

The Emperor transformed into thunder light in the high firmament, slaughtering in all directions as if he were the God of Thunder himself, defeating that unimaginably massive monster with effortless ease. The commoners below, partitioned and surrounded by a crowd of soldiers, could only watch, dazzled and filled with awe.

In the eyes of these commoners, the Emperor had always possessed a touch of the divine; the Emperor, like the immortals in heaven, was a figure beyond reach. Seeing the Emperor in battle at this moment naturally deepened this impression. At the same time, the commoners also knew the Emperor was fighting against demons, and with the distinction between righteous and evil so clear, their hearts naturally yearned for the Emperor to win, their emotions gradually leaning toward him.

After all, a deity sitting in a shrine and a deity who saves one from suffering are entirely different. The latter, besides awe, can also reap reverence and love; this is what is called "the hearts of the people."

Seeing the Emperor fight with increasing bravery, capable of protecting them from the demons' hands, the commoners who had been evacuated could not help but stop to shout and cheer excitedly, some even bursting into tears, only to be pushed along to leave again. Those who had not yet been evacuated knelt on the ground, shouting "Long live" in unison.

"Foolish men and women... It is clearly a disaster caused by the Emperor himself; he is merely cleaning up the mess he poked, and he hasn't even finished handling it well, yet you are actually feeling grateful and indebted. You deserve to be nothing more than ants and grass."

Among the crowd of commoners, a young man with an unremarkable appearance saw this scene, a flash of deep disgust and hatred in his eyes. He not only loathed these ants who could not distinguish right from wrong, but also loathed the monster that was so ill-timed, as if it had come to cooperate with the Emperor to boost his reputation. Of course, he loathed the one high above the most, but he dared not say it out loud, only mocking him repeatedly in his belly; after all, he had also just narrowly escaped death.

Yes, do not look at how unremarkable he is now, with his dark complexion as if he were a commoner weathered by wind and sun; in fact, only a moment ago, he was still holding sway atop Jindinglou, nearly becoming the supreme ruler of the world.

This young man, of course, was Shou Wang.

Just a moment ago, this Prince Shou Wang refused to accept the fate of suicide and took the risk of jumping off Jindinglou, hiding himself within a locust tree. Immediately after, the Emperor's lightning struck, charring the great tree into cinders. Everyone thought he was dead, but little did they know he had long since arranged a retreat. There was a Tishin Sword Technique within that locust tree that had swapped him out just in time. This was a stroke of extreme luck; he had left just a moment before, and his hiding spot was struck by lightning right after. Had he been a moment later, he would have been beyond saving.

Having escaped death in such a way, he quickly changed into the old clothes he had prepared in advance, blackened his face, and blended into the commoners, thus escaping a calamity. But this was only escaping the immediate threat to his life; he could not think about his subsequent grand plans for the time being.

At this moment, while his heart was filled with extreme resentment, he could not help but feel dejected. Thinking of how high-spirited he had been when sketching out his grand ambitions with his aides, he felt all the more lost now. He even felt some resentment toward the only loyal subject by his side who had come to meet him, An Xiansheng: "Although I know of your loyalty, aren't you supposed to be known for your wisdom? In the past, you pointed out the landscape as if you were a great talent with a plan for every contingency, yet from the very beginning, we fell into someone else's trap and plotted a joke. Do you still have the face to be a strategist? If I had known, I would have been better off being seasoned into a salted fish by the State Preceptor; at least I wouldn't have lost my wealth and status, unlike today, wandering in fear with nowhere to settle."

Of course, having fallen to such a state, he was not yet at the point of falling out with the only loyal subject before him, but he was in no mood to be humble to the worthy either, so he turned his back to avoid looking at An Xiansheng.

At this moment, he heard someone say: "Young Master."

He was startled, realizing it was calling him, and the voice was very familiar. Turning his head, he saw a long-lost acquaintance squeezing through the crowd and said in surprise: "You..."

This person wore a bamboo hat, and beneath it, white whiskers and white hair were visible; it was none other than the Sword Hero Cheng Jianxia, the number one confidant by Shou Wang's side. After Shou Wang had given up, he had discussed with An Xiansheng to go out and find the Gaoyuan Marquis for rescue, and he had never returned. To see him here now was a surprise.

Shou Wang was overjoyed at first, but then remembered something and frowned: "Old Cheng, you have returned?"

That Cheng Jianxia stepped forward and bowed: "Young Master, great joy."

Upon hearing this, Shou Wang was so angry his nose almost went crooked. He had fallen to such a state, suffering the worst luck in eight lifetimes, and he still called it joy? Joy to your ancestors for eight generations! If he were not currently down on his luck, he would have given him a piece of his mind.

However, Cheng Jianxia seemed to have suddenly lost the ability to read the room, stepping closer instead and saying: "Young Master, temporary gains and losses do not matter; you can laugh off the recent setbacks. There is a joyous event before us; if it succeeds, there will be double the..."

"Shut up!"

A low shout came from behind Shou Wang; it was An Xiansheng who had rushed over. Although it was inconvenient to fly into a rage in the crowd, one could see he was suppressing extreme anger. He glared at Cheng Jianxia, even stepping forward to stand between Shou Wang and Cheng Jianxia, intending to protect Shou Wang with his body.

"You traitor, you spy! You harmed the Young Master once, and now you dare to return to bewitch him? What conspiracy do you have this time?"

That Cheng Jianxia also darkened his face and shouted: "An Shaoqian, watch your tongue! What do you mean by traitor? I am the Prince's number one confidant, loyal for generations. How dare you be so rude?"

An Xiansheng sneered: "If you weren't a confidant, you couldn't have harmed the Prince to such a state. The news of the previous person being killed by mistake was brought by you first, and you even prepared various pieces of evidence to make us believe it without doubt. Later, contacting Shou Wang and plotting against the State Preceptor were also your suggestions, step by step, following the rhythm of the other side. You tell me, how could it be such a coincidence?"

Once he mentioned this, Shou Wang also reacted. Thinking carefully, it really was so. The origin of everything, the news of the accidental killing, was brought entirely by Cheng Jianxia. The reason was simple: the old connections of the Shun Wang Fu in the palace were all buried by the generation of Lao Shunwang. At that time, this old man was responsible for it. By the next generation, Shou Wang had grown up in Youzhou and no longer understood the affairs of the palace, so he could only rely on the old man. Whatever this old man said was basically the truth.

Thinking of this, Cheng Jianxia's suspicion was indeed not small. Shou Wang thought secretly: "This old fellow has been missing for so long; he must have finished his mission and slipped away. But now he has appeared again and wants to use me? He won't stop until he has chewed my bones, right?"

That Cheng Jianxia said decisively: "Young Master, do not listen to his nonsense. This old subject is definitely not a spy for the Emperor and has never betrayed his master. I dare to swear to heaven; if there is any falsehood, may I die without a burial place."

He spoke very sincerely, but Shou Wang did not believe him so easily. If he wanted to swear, he could do it even more sincerely.

However, An Xiansheng sneered: "So that's how it is. I underestimated you. You really aren't a lackey for that person in the palace. You are even worse than a lackey; you have actually defected to the..."

Suddenly, his voice stopped abruptly.

Shou Wang was behind him and could not see his expression, but hearing his voice cut off, he looked closely and found that this advisor seemed to have turned into a statue, motionless.

He was filled with extreme panic and hurriedly stretched his head to look at An Xiansheng's face, only to see his eyes wide open, his mouth agape, his face frozen in a look of shock and anger. He was actually... dead!

Shou Wang felt his scalp tingle. Before he could even feel anger, he first felt a fear from the bottom of his heart, stammering: "You..."

Cheng Jianxia's face seemed to tear off a layer of mask, becoming twisted and arrogant, and he roared in a low voice: "The dog deserves to die! This old subject had good intentions for you, but you have a treacherous official by your side! You didn't listen to me because of a treacherous official; you are truly muddled! Now that the treacherous official is dead, you should listen to me, right?"

Shou Wang felt the world spinning. Although An Xiansheng's last words were not finished, he understood: this guy was a traitor to humanity, and his master was not the Emperor, but a Heavenly Demon from outside the realm!

He had come to find him to defect to the demons!

But I don't want to defect to the demons!

Defecting to the demons was the most bottom-line-breaking evil act in the world. Even the Emperor could not bear the charge of defecting to the demons, so how could Shou Wang dare to?

But, in this situation, did he have any other choice?

At this moment, despair could not help but appear on Shou Wang's face.

Seeing him like this, Cheng Jianxia probably guessed that he had figured it out, so he simply stopped pretending and bared his teeth: "Prince, be quiet. The throne will descend soon. At that time, whatever Emperor or State Preceptor will be nothing but clowns. You just wait obediently and cooperate well. In a while, you can rightfully become the Master of the Human World. Isn't this what you have dreamed of? What else are you dissatisfied with? Don't be surprised by anything you see in a while; this is all meant to happen!"

As he spoke, he took off his bamboo hat, threw it into the sky, and then...

In the sky, the Emperor had cleared the battlefield with the momentum of wild thunder, leaving only thunder light wrapping his body, forming thunder light armor in place.

He was full of pride and satisfaction at this moment. With a thought, the thunder light actually condensed into a head and tail, growing horns and scales, transforming into a true dragon. The Emperor, wearing a yellow robe, stood alone in its midst, the coiled dragon wrapping around him, just like a god descending while riding a dragon.

A burst of exclamations rose from below.

How had the commoners ever seen this? They already knew of the "True Dragon Son of Heaven," and seeing it for real now, coupled with the majesty of defeating the Heavenly Demon earlier, they were even more excited. Regardless of the Imperial Guards watching from behind, they knelt down one after another, shouting "Long live" again.

The Emperor heard the shouts in the air, his spirit growing, thinking: "Today I know the nobility of an Emperor! In the past, those ministers bowed to me, but that was fake. Even if a piece of wood sat on the dragon chair, they would bow, but after bowing, they would do as they pleased. Whenever my orders conflicted even slightly with what they thought, they would feign compliance or even turn a deaf ear. But today, here, these commoners bow to me with sincerity, treating me as the Son of Heaven and King. The ministers and clansmen below will never dare to defy me again. Although there are only hundreds or thousands of people here now, as my sword continues to conquer forward, the people of the world will gradually bow their heads. Later, I will not lead the sword to battle myself; wherever the sword points, the people of the world will fight for me. At that time, I will truly be the Master of the Human World!"

He thought clearly here, his confidence greatly boosted, feeling that there was no difficulty left in the world. Suddenly, he heard a burst of exclamations from his feet. Looking down, he saw an old man in the crowd below suddenly rise to his full height and explode into nothingness with a boom!

After the explosion, the space seemed to collapse, revealing a small hole from which countless Yin Qi erupted!

"What is that?" The Emperor was startled and was about to swing his sword to destroy it, but he saw a person finally crawling out from the hole.