Chapter 1623: Into the Trap!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Without the testimony from Jade Consort Xiao, the Fifth Prince would be forced back into the Imperial Clan Court, and everything would return to its normal course.
This was the only way for Asura to express his loyalty to the First Prince and fix his mistake.
Thwishthwishthwish!
The numerous maids and eunuchs of Shuhua Palace fell over as Asura easily made his way into Jade Consort Xiao’s bedroom.
“Who are you?”
Within the room, Jade Consort Xiao was dressed in a white leisure gown and her hair was loose. She had seemingly been preparing to go to bed. The sudden appearance of Asura in her room had clearly given her a bad fright, but she was still a consort of the palace. Although she was alarmed, she did not panic. In fact, she even exuded an indifferent majesty and grace.
Upon seeing this, even Asura had to admit that this woman whose heart was one inch to the right compared to ordinary people had other astonishing attributes.
“Your Highness, I apologize for the offense! This lowly one must invite you to begin your journey.”
“What journey? This consort does not understand. This consort is about to go to bed, so leave now, or else I will call the guards!” Jade Consort Xiao coldly said.
Asura glanced at the fingers concealed in the consort’s sleeve and couldn’t help but internally chuckle. Although Jade Consort Xiao appeared very calm and composed, her trembling fingers revealed her true state of mind.
It was obvious that this consort was far from as fearless and righteous as she appeared.
I overestimated her. In the end, she’s just an ordinary woman!
Asura mentally shook his head.
He had been rather apprehensive about this whole operation, but it now seemed like he was being paranoid. Perhaps he really had thrust that needle into her out of habit, attempting to ensure that she was dead after he had finished hanging her up.
It hadn’t been a complicated mission and he had just been killing an ordinary person, so he might have just forgotten about it.
“Your Highness, do not panic. There will be no pain, and even if you shout, no one will come.”
Asura smiled. Unwilling to continue conversing with this woman, he stepped forward and suddenly grabbed at Jade Consort Xiao.
He had already used suicide by hanging, so he couldn’t use it again. This time, he would just make it seem like Jade Consort Xiao was a soul echo and shatter all her meridians!
Buzz!
But just when Asura snatched out with his right hand—
In a flash of light, Jade Consort Xiao vanished from her bed and appeared several dozen feet away.
Asura instantly paled.
“Who are you?!”
Asura’s pupils constricted and his heart began to thump in alarm. According to the information he had gathered, Jade Consort Xiao was just an ordinary person who should have been incapable of dodging his strike.
“Hehe, you must be Asura? His Highness has been waiting for you for a long time!”
Jade Consort Xiao took two steps back, a bizarre smile on her face. Asura’s eyes immediately began to twitch, his expression scowling.
If he had just felt suspicious before, he was now absolutely sure that this had all been a trap, one specially designed for him!
As these thoughts flitted through his mind, he felt an intense sense of danger.
“Damn woman, you’re not Jade Consort Xiao! Who are you?!”
Asura was both shocked and infuriated. The ordinary Shuhua Palace that was such an easy target was suddenly seething with danger.
“Heheh, you’re still worried about that at a time like this?”
A derisive smile appeared on Jade Consort Xiao’s lips. While still watching Asura, she continued to back away.
“Hmph, foolish woman! You’re too naive! This is the Imperial Palace, not the outside. Did you think that you could deal with me as long as you drew me out? I can kill you like I can kill a chicken.”
Asura coldly stared at the woman, his eyes gleaming with killing intent.
No matter what sort of scheme this woman had, she was underestimating his strength too much. He hadn’t chosen this time to strike without reason. The palace gates were closed and the First Prince had ordered away all the commanders and Grand Marshals of the Imperial Army. Even if this woman did manage to find some Imperial Army soldiers, they would be no match for him.
A person would have to pay a fool’s price for a fool’s words.
But what Asura truly wanted to know was just who was this person that dared to pretend to be Jade Consort Xiao, causing the First Prince to lose face and him to be kicked over in front of all his colleagues.
Buzz!
Asura suddenly vanished like a ghost into the darkness.
Suddenly, the room was brimming with killing intent. The calm and composed ‘Jade Consort Xiao’ also turned pale, an intense danger surging in her heart.
She had believed that this assassin would show some apprehension after she revealed herself and try to escape, but this man was so reckless that he refused to leave even though he knew it was a trap, choosing to attack her instead.
‘Jade Consort Xiao’ was so badly frightened that her beautiful visage lost its color.
As the sense of danger in her heart continued to multiply and that invisible killing intent continued to spread through the air, Jade Consort Xiao couldn’t help but call out, “Why haven’t you appeared yet?”
Boom!
The moment Asura appeared, accompanied by sharp bolts of Sword Qi and thin, sharp needles that converged on ‘Jade Consort Xiao’ from all sides, there was suddenly a terrific boom. The white curtains in the back of the bedroom suddenly blasted apart as a large armored figure wearing a black mask burst through a row of bookshelves.
Boom! One of the bookshelves was obliterated, showering the room with pages of Buddhist sutras. The armored figure moved with incredible speed, instantly placing itself in front of ‘Jade Consort Xiao’.
Boom!
Bolts of Sword Qi and sharp needles barraged the figure, but the armored man was like a steel wall, blocking all of these attacks while remaining utterly unmoved.
“How could this be?!”
Asura paled, his pupils constricting. He was a Brigadier General expert, bordering on the Great General level. Otherwise, the First Prince would have never regarded him as one of his trusted aides, and he would have never been assigned on such special missions.
No one except the three Grand Marshals of the Imperial Army were a match for him within the Imperial Palace. And the three Grand Marshals had been ordered away long ago by the First Prince. Those that remained were no match for him, not even that Imperial Army Marshal, Zhao Fengchen, who had caused so much trouble not too long ago.
This was why he had not cared or panicked upon learning that he was in a trap.
He couldn’t understand how there could be such an expert in the palace. To be able to take on his attack and be completely unmoved was simply absurd, and he had never heard about there being such an expert in the palace.
But the situation was still rapidly developing.
Bang!
A split-second after his attacks had been blocked, the air exploded as a massive axe, pitch-black and lightless, hurtled toward the air.
Fwoosh!
The air suddenly turned twisted and indistinct, and what was empty air just moments ago suddenly revealed a figure vomiting blood. That axe had struck his chest, which was now soaked in blood.
“How could this be? Who are you?”
As he gazed at the terrifying existence before him, Asura felt an intense fear and panic. He had never imagined that the figure who had emerged from behind ‘Jade Consort Xiao’ would be so frightening.
This was a completely one-sided battle. This man was far more powerful than he was, even finding his hiding spot with a single glance.
If he hadn’t been so sure that the King of Foreign Lands was in his residence and had never left, and if not for the large difference in body size between the two, he would have believed that the King of Foreign Lands himself had defied the laws of the Great Tang and entered the palace in the middle of the night.
Flee!
Asura panicked, and there was only one thought left in his mind. Swish! With no time to think, he blinked away, transforming into a zigzagging lightning bolt, leaving behind afterimages and splashes of blood in the air as he ran.
He had come with ease and grace, but left in utter panic!
Right now, the only thing he could believe in was that while his opponent was more powerful, his own movement technique was probably superior. As long as he could get out of Shuhua Palace, he was confident that his understanding of the palace would allow him to find a hall in which he could hide and throw off the pursuit.
But Asura’s plan was too simple!
A sharp cry of ‘Seize the assassin!’ shattered the silence of the palace and made Asura’s heart sink like a stone.
Asura hadn’t even left the grounds of Shuhua Palace when he heard the whooshing of torches coming to life in the darkness, so many of them that Shuhua Palace was as lit as brightly as day.
And within the light of the torches, one could see that countless Imperial Army soldiers had tightly surrounded the place.
Kaclack!
Creaking could be heard as countless master archers pulled on their bowstrings and took aim at Asura. In the blink of an eye, countless arrows were pouring down.
“Seize the assassin!”
“Don’t let him run!”
Furious roars came from all around.
“Bastard!”
Asura clenched his fists, his face ghastly pale.