Such clean and lethal killing techniques were usually only seen in competitions. Facing it abruptly, the surrounding crowd was stunned. Meng Guifei turned her head in a daze, watching as her guard clutched his bleeding throat in disbelief before collapsing without even uttering a word.
The pure white Essence Power was all too familiar to them, but scanning the surroundings, there was no sign of Mingyi.
"What do you think you're doing!" she cried in panic, rising to her feet as three guards tightly encircled her, thickening the Shield by several inches.
Yan Shi was also taken aback. She had expected Ji Bozhai to act but hadn't anticipated Mingyi's assistance. It was a pity the strike had missed Meng Guifei—otherwise...
"What are you all standing around for? Protect me!" Following the prearranged plan, Yan Shi immediately summoned everyone in the palace to block the hall's entrance.
Having been demoted, her retinue had drastically shrunk. To block Meng Guifei's few followers, she had to mobilize all those loyal to her from other parts of the inner court. Scattered as they were, they numbered over thirty, forming layers at the entrance. If Meng Guifei wanted to force her way out, she would have to strike first.
No one had seen where the earlier attack came from, but now, if Meng Guifei tried to leave, she would have to act under everyone's watchful eyes. Once she struck first, she wouldn't be able to justify herself before the Minister Superior.
Meng Guifei realized this, but survival was paramount. She couldn't afford to hesitate. "Break through!" she urgently ordered her followers.
The guards immediately struck, killing seven or eight people from the Secluded Hall and carving a bloody path.
Yan Shi grew anxious, tugging at Ji Bozhai's sleeve. He nodded subtly and followed amidst the chaos.
Outside the Secluded Hall was a sentry post that would normally signal at the slightest disturbance, yet today it remained eerily silent. Meng Guifei glanced at it only once before fleeing in another direction, cursing as she ran, "That wretched woman actually dares to strike within the inner court!"
The entire area had been set up as a trap, clearly intending to kill her. Fortunately, the Essence Power of her remaining guards was strong...
...or so she thought.
Before she could finish the thought, another spray of blood splattered beside her. Meng Guifei's pupils contracted, her grip on her skirt tightening.
Her most formidable guard collapsed without even a chance to retaliate.
A wisp of black Essence Power drifted on the wind, coiling gently around the Shield surrounding her.
That faint wisp couldn't possibly break through the thick Shield, yet for some reason, Meng Guifei's legs gave way, and she crumpled to the ground.
"Your Highness!" The two remaining guards hurriedly shielded her.
The long path was flanked by high walls, its end visible at a glance, devoid of any patrolling guards. Turning her gaze the other way, she saw Ji Bozhai approaching slowly. The Sunrise River Flower Robe of Sunspire City draped over him exuded an eerie aura, the Mystic Dragon hovering behind him radiating killing intent.
Meng Guifei's eyes widened in disbelief. She couldn't fathom why Ji Bozhai was suddenly so obedient to Yan Shi.
As he drew nearer, she couldn't hold back a scream: "Didn't they say Xian'er once saved your life? I am her beloved aunt! If you kill me, how will you face her in the afterlife?"
"Ah, true." He smirked, raising a hand in mock distress. "What a dilemma this is..."The black Essence Power in his hand descended with the force of a thunderbolt, unaided by any Divine Tool, shattering the hearts and lungs of the two guards who raised their arms in defense. Even as they struggled to retaliate, their combined efforts couldn’t withstand ten moves against Ji Bozhai.
“Meng is a fine surname. Pity the people it produces are all ruthless and cruel.” His fingers clenched, and across from him, Meng Guifei was lifted by the throat.
She was utterly bewildered. “Why…?”
Had it not been said that the Meng Family had shown him kindness? She would never have barged in so recklessly today. No matter how she calculated, she never expected Yan Shi to resort to such a desperate measure—nor that Ji Bozhai would actually obey. Did he not fear the Minister Superior’s reprimand? Did he not fear punishment?
The wind lifted the crimson hem of his robe, eerily reminiscent of the red cloth fluttering over the ancestral tablet in the midst of that great fire.
Had Mingyi looked closer back then, she would have noticed the name on the tablet wasn’t Meng Shi’s Xian’er, but Bo Shi’s Qingshu.
From the very beginning, Ji Bozhai hadn’t told Mingyi the truth. The one he sought to avenge was never the former Empress Meng Shi, but rather Ping Wang’s consort, Bo Shi, who had been mercilessly killed by her.
Bo Shi had been far younger than Meng Guifei when she died. Her delicate face flushed with wine, her gaze gentle, she would sit by the side gate of the prince’s residence and beckon to him: “A-Zai, come here.”
A noble consort, yet she always wore old clothes, clutching a piece of pastry in her hand, smiling as she pressed it into his palm. “You’ve grown taller again.”
Back then, Ji Bozhai had just left the Slave Arena, his body still carrying an unspent ferocity. Yet she wasn’t afraid—she fed him, clothed him, and later, fearing he’d be caught in the rain, took him into the courtyard as her sworn younger brother.
Bo Shi had been born with a compassionate heart, but the heavens had never shown her any mercy. Though she had been a marriage alliance sought by Muxing, the Da Si, from Flying Blossom City, Prince Ping had intercepted the procession on Meng Shi’s word, forcibly defiled her, and then demanded her hand in marriage. Yet after the wedding, he subjected her to endless torment—all because Meng Shi had said, “The Minister Superior holds her in his heart. I cannot bear it.”
Meng Xian’er was a master of seduction, ensnaring not only the Minister Superior’s devotion but also securing frequent interactions with Prince Ping—all because the prince had once been a hostage in Sunspire City as a child, and the two had shared a bond of childhood friendship.
Ordinary interactions would have been one thing, but every time Prince Ping returned from visiting her in the inner chambers, he would drink himself into a stupor and then turn violent against Bo Shi.
Many times, Ji Bozhai had wanted to kill Prince Ping, but Bo Shi always stopped him. “The city’s power struggles are complex,” she would say. “Though you have Essence Power to rely on, you have no foundation here. If you rashly assassinate royalty, you’ll only meet death—and I don’t want to see you die.”
Yet the one who didn’t want to see him die had been forced to hang herself by Prince Ping while three months pregnant.
Ji Bozhai remembered it clearly. The weather had been beautiful that day. Bo Shi had promised to make almond pastries for him in the morning. But when he returned from an errand, the residence held nothing but her cold corpse.
Prince Ping stood beside her body, momentarily dazed, but quickly shook it off and waved a dismissive hand. “Bury her.”
His expression darkened as he reached out, but Bo Shi’s old nursemaid threw herself at him, clinging desperately before pushing him out of the residence.
“Don’t ever return to this devouring place. Her Ladyship wanted you to live well—so live well.”
The robe embroidered with sunrise and river blossoms fluttered in the wind. Ji Bozhai snapped back to the present, staring at Meng Guifei, whose pupils had already dilated. Disgusted, he hurled her from the high wall.
In a place that devoured people, if someone had to die, let it be the Meng Family.
Meng Xian’er’s beloved, her loyal subordinates, her proud maternal clan—none of them deserved to live.A cold wind suddenly rose. The two remaining guards in front of him fled in panic, wounded, yet he stood motionless in place, enveloped in a sinister aura like a malevolent deity.
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