Chapter 86: The Plot Exposed

The moon was already in the center of the sky.

The beams of the Hall of Supreme Harmony were almost entirely filled with people; besides Lu Xiaofeng and the others, there were thirteen mysterious figures who did not wish to reveal their true faces, as well as seven Imperial Guards in their official attire, clearly also wanting to witness the peerless grace of the two great swordsmen.

"The White Cloud City Lord has arrived."

Someone said this, and sure enough, a figure in white appeared under the moonlight, drifting as if riding the wind; the height of his lightness skill was barely inferior to Sikong Zhaixing.

Yet no one was surprised.

If his lightness skill were not so high, how could he execute that "Flying Immortal from Beyond the Heavens"?

Lu Xiaofeng looked at Ye Gucheng, always feeling that today's City Lord Ye was somewhat strange.

However, he was indeed poisoned; seen under the moonlight, he was completely devoid of blood color.

Although Ximen Chuixue's face was pale, it still possessed some vitality.

At this moment, Ximen Chuixue and Ye Gucheng stood facing each other; both were dressed in white like snow, spotless, and their faces were completely devoid of expression.

In this moment, they had also become like swords—cold, sharp, and entirely lacking human expression.

Who would have thought that at this very moment, a figure suddenly soared into the air and struck a palm toward Ye Gucheng.

This palm was violent and overbearing, its momentum like a thunderbolt; clearly, this person had achieved an extremely high level in palm techniques.

Although the crowd was somewhat surprised, they were not overly shocked.

Ye Gucheng was like a flying immortal, but after all, he lived in the pugilistic world, so it was inevitable that he would offend people and inevitable that he would be sought out for revenge.

Everyone was very calm.

They could, of course, see that this palm strike was not weak.

But the target of this person's attack was Ye Gucheng.

Even if Ye Gucheng were already injured, killing this person would only take a single light sword strike.

However, a look of panic actually appeared on Ye Gucheng's iceberg-like face.

An expression that should never have appeared on his face.

Ye Gucheng "swished" and thrust out a sword; this strike had plenty of momentum, not at all like something a person who had been poisoned and injured could execute, but it was far from as exquisite or swift as everyone had imagined.

Although it was enough to count as a First-class Swordsman, compared to the real Ye Gucheng, it was truly far too inferior.

The black-clad figure let out a thunderous roar, his palm momentum increasing by another thirty percent, shattering the sword light; his palm pressed against Ye Gucheng's chest, and with a burst of palm force, Ye Gucheng was sent flying out like a rag doll.

The crowd wore looks of horror; they truly could not believe that the legendary "White Cloud City Lord" Ye Gucheng had been defeated so easily.

Those as sharp-minded as Lu Xiaofeng and Hua Manlou could already guess that Ye Gucheng was being impersonated by someone else.

But where had the real Ye Gucheng gone?

The clues Lu Xiaofeng knew were far fewer than in the original timeline, and for a moment, he could not connect them.

And that black-clad person who had struck Ye Gucheng away pulled a short note from his bosom, flicked his wrist, and it flew toward Lu Xiaofeng; the figure then flashed and disappeared.

Lu Xiaofeng took the note, unfolded it, and his expression changed instantly.

The note had a few sentences written on it, each sentence being a clue.

When these clues were connected with the clues Lu Xiaofeng already knew, he had discovered a heaven-shaking conspiracy.

Lu Xiaofeng flew to find Yin Xian and urged, "Where is the Southern Study? Take me there quickly."

Yin Xian cried out, "You want us to take you to see the Emperor? Are you crazy?"

Lu Xiaofeng said loudly, "I am not crazy, but if you don't take me, even if you wanted to be crazy, you wouldn't be able to. Because a person whose head has been moved can only be a corpse, and cannot be a madman."

The Southern Study.

"You... who are you?" the young Emperor could not help but ask.

While he felt a sense of relief, he was also somewhat angry.

Were Yin Xian and the others truly fools? The Imperial Palace, where not even a mosquito should have been able to fly in, had seen group after group of people appearing within it.

Gong Jiu cupped his hands and said, "The Prince of Taiping, greeting His Majesty. This humble prince, having coincidentally learned that the Nanwang Shizi and others were plotting a rebellion, dared to commit a great transgression and break into the Forbidden City; I hope Your Majesty will forgive my crime."

Although he said this, there was not a shred of respect in his tone; his calm demeanor carried an air of arrogance.

How could the young Emperor not hear it? His eyes flickered, but he only smiled and waved his hand: "You saved my life and performed a great service; I should be rewarding you, so how could I punish you?"

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty. This humble prince will first deal with this group of rebellious subjects, and then..."

"Heh, rebellious subjects? Who exactly is the rebellious subject!" Nanwang Shizi sneered, interrupting their conversation: "City Lord Ye, you and Mr. Yu join forces and kill these two treacherous fellows."

"This person is not easy to kill." Yu Liancheng had already walked out from the Darkness; he wore clothes as black as the night and carried the Duoqing Sword in his hand.

"Indeed, not easy to kill." Ye Gucheng actually nodded as well.

From that sword strike just now, he had already seen that this person's swordsmanship was no longer inferior to his own.

"Yu Liancheng, I said that I would definitely kill you. Today is your death day!"

Cold light flickered in Gong Jiu's eyes, and the corners of his mouth pulled into an evil smile: "I will not only have you die, but I will also ruin your reputation and leave you with no place to be buried."

Yu Liancheng said indifferently, "You alone cannot do it, and with Ye Gucheng and me joining forces, apart from that old man, no one can last fifty moves."

In reality, apart from Xiao Laotou, if Ye Gucheng and Yu Liancheng joined forces, they could defeat or even kill any top expert in the world within twenty moves at most.

But Gong Jiu was different; his sword style was evil, and he feared Ye Gucheng might not be able to adapt for a moment.

More importantly, this fellow Gong Jiu had an overly strong recovery ability.

Unless it was a fatal blow from a sword, he could recover very quickly.

Therefore, even if Yu Liancheng and Ye Gucheng joined forces, wanting to kill Gong Jiu was not an easy matter.

"But you must not forget, His Majesty is also an expert. If His Majesty were to step into the pugilistic world, he would surely be ranked among the top ten experts," Gong Jiu said coldly.

The Emperor smiled: "Good eye."

I fear no one would have guessed that this young Emperor's martial arts were also unfathomably deep.

Nanwang Shizi let out a cold snort: "Even so, you will only hold out for a few moments longer."

Gong Jiu said coldly: "A few moments is enough; after a few moments, it will be your time to die. Even if you don't die, you will become fugitives, wanted everywhere under heaven."

"Could it be that you have already sent word to the Four Great Imperial Guards?"

Yu Liancheng's heart stirred: "If we cannot kill you before they arrive, we have already lost."

Gong Jiu let out a cold laugh: "Correct, you are indeed very clever."

The Emperor exhaled softly; no matter how indifferent he appeared, as long as there was hope, he still did not want to die.

"This time, it is all thanks to you; when this matter is over, I shall reward you heavily."

"Many thanks, Your Majesty."

Gong Jiu replied in an indifferent tone, though he was sneering in his heart.

He was by no means a loyal and patriotic person, and his purpose for appearing in the Imperial Palace was not pure.