Chapter 118: High Risk, High Reward

Chen Mo reined in the three white horses with one hand as they attempted to continue their frantic gallop; these three white horses were quite extraordinary, possessing a combined strength of nearly ten thousand catties.

It was no wonder the eunuch driving the carriage had been unable to control them.

Seeing the carriage stop and no longer charge toward the distant wilderness, the eunuch driving the carriage breathed a sigh of relief, his entire body going limp.

"I am Chen Mo, a Seventh-Rank Official of the Imperial Court, arriving in the Capital under a Command Order." Chen Mo displayed his Command Order and official seal to gain his trust.

"What exactly has happened in the Imperial Court, and why would a carriage from the Imperial Palace appear here?" Chen Mo stared intently at the eunuch driving the carriage and asked in a deep voice.

"In reply to you, my lord, this humble servant is a personal attendant eunuch to the First Prince, following His Highness's orders to accompany him on an outing outside the city.

Never did I imagine we would encounter an attack by bandits on the way; the Imperial Guards responsible for protecting His Highness were all killed, and only I managed to escape with the First Prince."

The young eunuch was not old, only about fourteen or fifteen; although he was terrified, he still managed to recount the situation as he knew it.

After hearing his words, Chen Mo frowned deeply.

The account was brief, but it contained a great deal of information.

For a prince to go on an outing, it was likely a spur-of-the-moment decision, perhaps even a secret escape, yet they still encountered bandits under such circumstances.

This indicated that the group of bandits had an informant within the Imperial Palace, and that informant's status could not be low, as they were able to leave the Palace City at will to pass on information.

It was even possible that the First Prince was able to sneak out because someone had helped or even lured him, specifically wanting him to run out.

Otherwise, he was only eight years old; where would he get the ability to secretly escape from the heavily guarded deep palace?

Furthermore, for this group of bandits to take action, it certainly wasn't a sudden impulse; it must have been premeditated, just waiting for an opportunity.

How they entered the city, how they lay in wait in the Capital City, and who in the city helped them communicate with the person passing information from inside the Imperial Palace.

Moreover, since this group of bandits could ambush and kill Imperial Guards, their strength was certainly not weak; they were definitely not from a grassroots background and must have had a faction behind them.

Either they came from a noble family, a sect, or at the very least, they had joined the military like himself, having had the opportunity to practice Martial Dao within the army.

And regardless of which it was, these people were inevitably entangled with countless connections.

Assassinating a prince, even if done cleanly, would require someone to come forward and take the blame.

What's more, it hadn't been done cleanly, and Chen Mo could already imagine that many people would likely die in the Imperial Court next.

The First Prince was not only the eldest son but also the legitimate heir; although he had not yet ascended to the position of Crown Prince due to his youth.

Yet anyone with a discerning eye could see that, barring any accidents, the position of Crown Prince would eventually be his.

Now that he had suddenly encountered an attack, perhaps this was a premeditated act of succession struggle.

In short, the waters of this matter were extremely deep.

But there was no doubt that if he truly got involved, the benefits would certainly not be few.

High risk, high reward.

Not to mention future matters, even if he saved the First Prince now, the rewards given by the Imperial Court would certainly not be small.

If he could truly ascend the throne in the future, then saving the life of the future Son of Heaven would surely make his official career smooth sailing.

Besides, he had already intercepted the carriage and could not stand by and watch them die.

"What is His Highness's current condition? What is the strength of the attacking bandits? Are they still in pursuit?" Chen Mo asked in a focused voice.

"This humble servant has not practiced Martial Dao and does not know the strength of those bandits. But the commander and two deputy commanders of the guards beside His Highness were all experts at the Tongmai Perfection realm. Yet, facing the leader of that group of bandits, they had no power to resist.

However, I still remember the commander shouting that the bandit was at the Acquired Realm."

The eunuch driving the carriage pondered for a moment before speaking, telling everything he knew.

Acquired Realm experts were not cabbages; it was impossible for every prince to have several Acquired Realm experts arranged as guards, even for the First Prince.

Because if one had Acquired strength, one would at least be a high-ranking official in a province; how would a martial artist of that realm be willing to serve as a guard commander in the Palace City?

Unless the maternal family's influence was strong enough to have elders who had reached the Acquired Realm willing to enter the palace to look after them.

Otherwise, the vast majority of guards beside princes and princesses were at most at the Tongmai Perfection realm, or were External Martial Artists not much different from that.

Hearing this, Chen Mo nodded slightly; in that case, he did not need to worry about that group of bandits.

Although he had not yet entered the Acquired Perfection realm, his physical body was sufficiently formidable.

According to Chen Mo's own assessment, his true strength was by no means inferior to an Acquired Perfection martial artist.

Since no Innate Expert had come, he did not need to worry about the bandits pursuing them.

"As for whether they are pursuing, this humble servant does not know; at the time, the horses were startled, and I was only concerned with controlling the horses, not looking back to see if that group of bandits was chasing," the eunuch driving the carriage continued.

Chen Mo had already lifted the carriage curtain; inside the carriage was a child, and judging by his stature, he was at most seven or eight years old.

At this moment, his face was deathly pale, and seeing Chen Mo, he hurriedly shrank back.

"Your Highness, rest assured, this lord is an official of the Imperial Court; with him here, we are safe!"

Seeing this, the eunuch driving the carriage hurriedly climbed into the carriage and said in a deep, comforting voice.

He actually didn't know if Chen Mo could handle those bandits, but for now, he could only say this.

"Your Highness, just stay safely in the carriage; I will handle everything." Chen Mo revealed a smile and nodded slightly toward the First Prince.

From the sudden decrease in the number of carriages nearby, he could guess that the Imperial Court must have discovered something, otherwise it would not have been easy to impose martial law.

It was just hard to say what exactly had been discovered, and martial law had likely not been in effect for long, otherwise how could the First Prince have snuck out for an outing?

Of course, there was another possibility: that even after martial law was imposed, the First Prince still had a way to sneak out of the city.

That would undoubtedly mean someone had left a backdoor for him, wanting him to sneak out specifically.

If that were truly the case, then even more people would die, and the Imperial Guard responsible for guarding the city would never escape responsibility.

But as for the specific situation, Chen Mo was not in the Capital and had no way to understand these matters.

Only one thing was certain: that he just needed to stay here and guard steadily.

If any bandits came, he would kill them.

If not, then the Imperial Guard would surely arrive shortly.

"That carriage is the one ridden by the current First Prince; he was ambushed by bandits and fled all the way here.

I estimate that the Imperial Guard will arrive to protect us momentarily; we just need to wait here for a while."

Chen Mo walked back to his own carriage and spoke in a low voice.

After finishing, he drove the carriage to the side of the First Prince's carriage.

With both Eye Consciousness and Ear Consciousness fully activated, he carefully observed everything in the surroundings.

He took the Kui Ox Bow from his Storage Bag, nocked an arrow, and waited for someone to arrive.

Time ticked away, and after only a short while, less than half an incense stick's time, Chen Mo saw someone rushing over from the distance at high speed.

These two were very strong; they should both be Post-Heaven Realm experts.

They rushed over from the endless deep forest in the distance, their figures turning in the air as they continuously borrowed force; they must have been using some kind of light-body technique.

The carriage-driving eunuch saw this, and his heart, which had just settled, hung back up; his face turned deathly pale, his body trembled slightly, and he didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

Zhao Yu clenched her fists tightly, her heart filled with unease.

She knew that Chen Mo saying they only needed to wait here was just to put her at ease.

Since that group of thieves dared to waylay a prince, they would absolutely dare to continue the pursuit.

If not for this, Chen Mo would not have needed to act as if facing a great enemy and even take out his bow and arrows.

She wore a smile and didn't say much, fearing that she would distract Chen Mo at this moment.

But when she truly saw the thieves approaching, her heart could not help but hang for Chen Mo.

Even though she knew that with Chen Mo's temperament, he would not stay here if he did not have ninety percent certainty.

Yet when it came time to fight, how could she not be worried?

Not only that, she also felt some resentment toward herself in her heart; if she also had Martial Dao cultivation, she could face the enemy with him instead of just watching now.

"Swish! Swish! Swish..."

Over a dozen feathered arrows pierced the air, shooting straight toward the sky; Chen Mo's speed in shooting arrows was very fast.

Post-Heaven experts were agile in their reactions and nimble in their movements; even in mid-air, they could trigger their Inner Qi to change direction.

He did not seek to wound them with his feathered arrows; being able to block and harass them was enough.

"Chirp!"

A feathered arrow pierced through a Post-Heaven expert's Inner Qi Gauze and stuck straight into their body.

Although it did not pierce through in one shot, the following few feathered arrows entered the body one after another, directly turning the Post-Heaven expert into a bloody hedgehog.

Chen Mo couldn't help but be stunned when he saw this scene; the strength of this Post-Heaven expert didn't seem as strong as he had imagined.

Judging by his own standards, when he was in the Postnatal Realm, his Inner Qi Gauze could never have been pierced by arrows shot from the Kui Ox Bow; why was this Post-Heaven expert before him so weak?

There was no helping it; Chen Mo had never been in contact with other Post-Heaven experts, and his estimation of other Post-Heaven Martial Artists' strength had always been based on himself as a benchmark.

He had never considered that whether it was his own physical strength or his Inner Qi, which had condensed to the point of being nearly substantial, neither was something an ordinary Post-Heaven expert could possess.

Comparing his strength to a normal Post-Heaven Realm Martial Artist could simply be called a crushing victory.

Seeing their companion hit by a feathered arrow, the other Post-Heaven expert reacted immediately; without the slightest hesitation, they decisively turned and fled.

Chen Mo suddenly took a step forward, and boundless dust was stirred up; he directly stomped a deep pit into the high-quality bluestone imperial road.

His figure leaped up, borrowing force again in mid-air; in the blink of an eye, the distance between the two was only a few feet.

The Post-Heaven expert knew there was no way to escape, so they turned around, eyes blood-red, a bloodthirsty ferocity on their face, and a sinister grin unconsciously appeared on their features.

Clearly, they had used some kind of Secret Technique that could greatly enhance their own strength in a short period of time.

The drawback was that using this Secret Technique damaged the body, and their sanity might also be affected.

"Clang!" The Post-Heaven Martial Artist drew a silver-bright Short Blade and, borrowing force in mid-air, turned to slash at Chen Mo.

Zhao Yu bit her silver teeth, her brows furrowed deeply; she knew Chen Mo's strength was very high, and that thief was definitely no match for her husband.

But seeing the thief brandish the blade, how could she not worry for her husband?

"Boom!"

An extremely crisp explosion resounded across the entire sky.

Chen Mo took out a large hammer and smashed it straight at the thief, the Eighteenfold Vibration Force erupting.

In an instant, that person turned into a mist of blood, scattering and drifting in the air.

Chen Mo hadn't bothered to block that blade at all just now, because he knew that blade could not break through his own defense.

These two people's strength shouldn't be considered poor; having reached the Post-Heaven Realm and being able to come to assassinate a prince, their strength definitely wouldn't be too bad.

It was just a pity that it depended on who they were compared to; compared to him, the difference was too great.

Seeing Chen Mo's enemy beaten into a mist of blood, Zhao Yu's heart finally relaxed, and she couldn't help but show a smile.

The carriage-driving eunuch also breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this, his body collapsing onto the ground, gasping for air as if using this method to soothe his suppressed and tense heart.

Chen Mo turned back and returned to the side of the Post-Heaven Martial Artist he had just shot down.

How vigorous was the vitality of a Post-Heaven Martial Artist? This person had been hit by several of his arrows and definitely wouldn't die that easily.

However, when that Post-Heaven Martial Artist saw Chen Mo approaching, they opened their eyes wide in anger and prepared to commit suicide.

How could Chen Mo give them that chance? He flashed forward, grabbed the other's wrist, and his own Inner Qi surged out to seal all of the other's dantian acupoints, simultaneously restricting their movements to prevent them from killing themselves.

He then took out a Green Wood Rejuvenation Pill he had previously purchased to keep the other's life hanging by a thread.

A prince had been attacked; this matter definitely needed to be investigated thoroughly.

The other person was more valuable alive than dead.

Carrying this Post-Heaven Martial Artist, Chen Mo walked back to his own carriage.

Zhao Yu rummaged through their carriage, found a bundle of hemp rope, and handed it to Chen Mo.

He smiled as he took the rope and tied the Post-Heaven Martial Artist's hands and feet tightly.

Although there was Inner Qi suppression, adding an extra layer of protection was still very necessary.

"Are you alright?" Seeing Chen Mo finish everything, Zhao Yu asked in a low voice.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Chen Mo pulled her into his Huai and gently patted her back.

"You go back to the carriage and rest first; we'll just wait here for the Imperial Court's Forbidden Army."

After giving instructions to Zhao Yu, Chen Mo walked to the front of the eldest prince's carriage, reached out to lift the curtain, and said, "Your Highness, rest assured, the bandits have been slain by me; we are safe from here on out."

The eldest prince, Zhao Renmin, nodded blankly, then spoke quite smoothly, "You have performed a great service, Renmin; when we return, I will certainly petition the Emperor to reward you."

These words were not necessarily what he was thinking at the moment; it was very likely someone had taught him that he should say this at such a time.

Even for a member of the imperial family, he was only seven or eight years old after all, and there is a limit to how precocious one can be.

Having been intercepted and attacked earlier, he had been truly terrified and still hadn't fully recovered his senses.

Chen Mo did not wait long on the spot; only about a quarter of an hour later, he heard cavalry rushing toward this location.

(End of this chapter)