Chapter 100: The Eight-Headed Serpent

Unable to find anyone for the time being, Juexin had no choice but to take the Guard Army back to Tianhuang Palace.

Juexin told the Emperor about the matter of Ergou, and the two lamented that their opponent this time was too cunning.

After the Emperor dismissed Juexin, he went alone to the Forbidden Land of the Imperial Palace.

There was no one guarding the Forbidden Land, but waves of a bloody stench drifted out from within.

Inside the Forbidden Land was kept the Emperor's greatest trump card—the Eight-Headed Serpent.

The Emperor looked at the cage outside the Forbidden Land, stepped forward to open it, and released the sika deer inside.

After regaining its freedom, the sika deer was bleating happily, but the Emperor gave a cold snort and kicked the sika deer into the Forbidden Land.

Soon, the sika deer's shrill, miserable screams came from inside the Forbidden Land.

The Emperor laughed wildly; with the Eight-Headed Serpent, he would not fear any opponent.

Inside the Forbidden Land, a huge, incomparable snake was gorging itself.

One could see that this snake had eight heads and eight tails, its eyes were as bright red as "physalis," and its back was covered in moss and trees.

The snake's belly was ulcerated and bleeding; this was the Eight-Headed Serpent.

No one knew the origin of the Eight-Headed Serpent; hundreds of years ago, after the Imperial family defeated it, they imprisoned it in this Forbidden Land.

Successive Emperors had all hoped to enslave the Eight-Headed Serpent and use it for their own purposes.

But how could an exotic beast like the Eight-Headed Serpent be constrained by others? For this, the Imperial family had paid an unknown price over many generations.

It was not until the previous Emperor's time that the Eight-Headed Serpent discovered that being kept by the Imperial family was not so bad, as it had food and drink every day, so it no longer rioted.

In return, whenever the previous Emperor was in danger, the Eight-Headed Serpent would step in to save him.

Therefore, starting from the previous Emperor, the Eight-Headed Serpent became the lifeline and trump card of successive Emperors.

Whenever he encountered an irresistible enemy, the Emperor would release the Eight-Headed Serpent, and the Eight-Headed Serpent would always resolve the enemy.

Thus, the Emperor was not afraid of enemies in the shadows; with the Eight-Headed Serpent there, he believed that no matter how cunning the enemy was, it would be useless.

After scouting for a day, the three of Duan Fengyun still had no leads on Juexin.

Duan Fengyun proposed:

"Why don't we go to Tianhuang Palace and see if we can find an opportunity to sneak in, directly eliminate the Emperor and Juexin, and be done with it once and for all."

Nie Feng and Bu Jingyun, anxious to return home, agreed to Duan Fengyun's suggestion in order to settle the matter quickly.

The three arrived outside Tianhuang Palace and saw it heavily guarded by troops; it would be difficult even for a fly to fly inside.

Sure enough, the guards here were incomparable to the guards of the Fist Sect and Quanzhuang from before.

Duan Fengyun was surprised to discover that when he approached Tianhuang Palace, the spine of the Dragon Vein he had integrated was burning hot.

This situation had never occurred before, and Duan Fengyun guessed that there must be something inside Tianhuang Palace that had attracted the attention of the Dragon Vein.

At this moment, the Eight-Headed Serpent inside the Imperial Palace's Forbidden Land also sensed the existence of the Dragon Vein.

The Eight-Headed Serpent was now both afraid and joyful.

What it feared was the terrifying suppression power of the Dragon Vein; even it would be suppressed by it.

What it rejoiced in was that if it could swallow the Dragon Vein and make the Dragon Vein's power its own, then it would be able to shed its snake body.

Thinking of this, the Eight-Headed Serpent let out a huge hissing sound, and the terrifying noise reached the Imperial Palace.

People in the Imperial Palace who were unaware of the situation panicked upon hearing this terrifying sound, and the Emperor immediately realized it was the sound of the Eight-Headed Serpent.

But he was puzzled; for so many years, he had never heard the Eight-Headed Serpent make such a terrifying sound. Had the Eight-Headed Serpent discovered something?

The Emperor immediately rushed to the Forbidden Land, but outside the Forbidden Land, there was nothing at all except for the living creatures in the cages.

And with the departure of Duan Fengyun, the Eight-Headed Serpent also stopped its strange cries and returned to tranquility.

Unable to find the truth of the matter, the Emperor came in a daze and left in a daze.

Just as the three of Duan Fengyun saw that the Imperial Palace guards were impenetrable and were preparing to turn back to the inn to think of a way, Duan Fengyun caught a glimpse of Juexin, whom they had been searching for for so long.

When Juexin had gone to the Red Clothes Building to look for Ergou earlier, the desires stirred up by the dancers at the Emperor's birthday banquet had flared up again.

So, after returning to Tianhuang Palace to report to the Emperor, he immediately ran to the Red Clothes Building to vent.

At this moment, Juexin had just returned from the Red Clothes Building, fully satisfied, and his whole demeanor was light and airy as he walked.

Duan Fengyun tugged at the clothes of Nie Feng and Bu Jingyun; the two looked in the direction Duan Fengyun pointed, and they also saw Juexin walking toward the Imperial Palace.

The three looked at each other, then pretended to chat nonchalantly as they walked toward Juexin.

When the three of Duan Fengyun walked up to Juexin, Duan Fengyun called out:

"Juexin, long time no see."

Juexin looked at the three men in front of him with a puzzled expression; he had no impression of these three at all.

Having just finished venting, he was in a pleasant mood, so he asked:

"Who are you?"

Duan Fengyun and Nie Feng stepped forward, pretending to put their arms around Juexin's shoulders, but in reality, they were restraining him.

Duan Fengyun said in Juexin's ear:

"Let's go, come with us, and I will tell you who we are."

Restrained, Juexin dared to be angry but dared not speak, allowing the three of Duan Fengyun to take him into an alley.

Duan Fengyun let go of his hands, and Nie Feng alone held Juexin in check.

Juexin looked up at the three and said:

"I have no grievances with you from the past, nor any recent enmity; what is your intention in doing this?"

Duan Fengyun took a bag of powdery substance out of his bag and signaled for Juexin to drink it, promising to tell Juexin their identities afterward.

Juexin looked at the thing in Duan Fengyun's hand and recognized what it was at a glance.

He gritted his teeth and said:

"Bone-Softening Powder! So you are the ones who killed the Dao God and burned down Quanzhuang."

Duan Fengyun laughed and said:

"Our identities are far from that simple. Swallow this bone-softening powder, and I will tell you our true identities."

After speaking, Duan Fengyun shoved the bone-softening powder into Juexin's mouth, then opened a water flask and poured several large gulps of water down Juexin's throat.

Watching Juexin swallow it down, Duan Fengyun began to laugh wantonly.

He looked at Juexin and said:

"Juexin, take a look at who we are."

Immediately, the three of them took out the weapons wrapped in cloth. Looking at the three strangely shaped weapons, the unique appearance instantly allowed Juexin to recognize the trio's identities.

He said viciously:

"Duan Fengyun, Nie Feng, Bu Jingyun, it is actually you three.

You have a lot of nerve, actually daring to come to my Dongying."

Duan Fengyun signaled for Nie Feng to release Juexin, then stepped on Juexin's face himself and said:

"What is there that I dare not do? I came to your Dongying to kill Jue Wushen, hack apart the Dao God, and burn down the Fist Sect and Quanzhuang.

But have you guessed who we are?

You Dongying people delusionally think to challenge our Shenzhou Continent; it is truly like throwing an egg against a rock, ignorant of the height of the sky and the depth of the earth."

Duan Fengyun struck Juexin unconscious with a palm, and then the three of them left with Juexin.