Chapter 486 463: Mortal Hunts Immortal, Plebeian Slays Emperor

She turned her head and clearly saw the handsome figure in white, half-hidden within the Gilded Dragon Hall.

"Pei Yuhang—!!"

...

...

「An hour ago, on the main street of the Capital City.」

Government Office constables were banging copper gongs and shouting along the street, driving citizens out of their homes one by one.

The sides of the street quickly filled with people. A black mass of heads surged like a tide, and the clamorous noise nearly threatened to overturn the liuli tiles on the eaves.

"Stand properly, all of you! His Majesty's procession is arriving! Anyone who dares show disrespect will be severely punished!"

The constables swung their clubs, carving a path through the crowd.

Amidst the jostling heads, a small, thin beggar was trying to squeeze her way to the front.

"Halt!"

As a sharp shout rang out, a shadow suddenly fell over her.

A soldier in black robes, built like an iron pagoda, blocked the little beggar's path. The sword at his waist let out a piercing metallic clang with the movement.

'Have I been discovered?!'

Little Yueqiu's pupils contracted.

Just as she was stealthily reaching for something behind her back, she heard the soldier wrinkle his nose in disgust and shout:

"Hey! Why is a little beggar like you still in the Capital City!

Didn't the city-wide notice go out three days ago? All beggars were to leave the Capital City! The Emperor can't stand the sight of your poverty!"

The surrounding crowd let out stifled laughs, and a few lavishly dressed young ladies from wealthy families covered their noses and mouths with handkerchiefs, casting disdainful glances her way.

Little Yueqiu kept her head down, her messy bangs hiding the cold glint that flashed in her eyes.

With a sudden burst of strength, she shoved the soldier aside and vanished into the sea of people.

"Damn it, get back here!"

The soldier she'd knocked over flew into a rage, bellowing furiously. But in the blink of an eye, Little Yueqiu had vanished before him like a loach into a lake, leaving him to do nothing but stamp his foot in frustration.

After shaking off the soldier, Little Yueqiu finally breathed a small sigh of relief.

She looked toward the boisterous procession welcoming the Emperor and thought to herself:

'That damned Dog Emperor. No wonder when I was a child, I always thought everyone in the Capital City was well-fed and well-clothed, that the Zhao Kingdom was the happiest and most peaceful nation in the world. It turns out you just drove all the beggars and poor people outside the city walls!'

At this thought, two flames of fury ignited in Little Yueqiu's eyes. Her knuckles turned white as she clenched her fists, the veins on the back of her slender hands faintly visible.

Little Yueqiu gritted her teeth, adding another mark against the Dog Emperor in her heart.

'But... the soldiers are blocking the main road. How am I supposed to get close to the front and find a good position for the assassination?'

Little Yueqiu frowned, vexed.

'Assassinating an emperor for the first time is harder than I thought.'

WOO—WOO WOO~~

A few deep horn blasts sounded.

They were followed by the festive yet majestic sound of gongs and drums.

The previously raucous crowd instantly fell silent, as if strangled by an invisible hand.

Because the Emperor was coming!

Little Yueqiu snapped her head up. In the distance, she saw a group of armored soldiers and, surrounded by them, the tall horses pulling the Dragon Chariot.

Her pupils contracted, and her breath hitched.

A somewhat gaunt middle-aged man, dressed in a shimmering golden Dragon Robe, was sitting upon it!

The glaring gold of the Dragon Robe made her eyes ache.

"It's the Dog Emperor!"

Little Yueqiu whispered, a tremor in her voice she herself didn't notice.

She hadn't expected the Dog Emperor to arrive so soon. She swallowed involuntarily.

'What do I do now? I'm not ready. Even the hand holding my sword is trembling slightly.'

Just as Little Yueqiu felt her heart hammering faster than ever before, nearly bursting from her chest, with blood rushing to her head and blurring her vision...

BOOM—

Several thunderous cracks exploded over the Imperial Palace.

They were followed by flames and black smoke shooting skyward, rising above the Imperial Palace.

'The Im... Imperial Palace exploded?!'

'How is that possible? Today is the Great Zhao's National Celebration Ceremony. How could the Imperial Palace explode?!'

Everyone froze in astonishment, their faces frozen in disbelief, as if they were seeing the sun rise from the west for the first time.

Little Yueqiu, however, wasn't distracted by the roaring explosion. At this moment, all her focus was on the Dragon Chariot and the visibly shaken Emperor!

'An opportunity... No one has reacted yet.'

'This is—the only chance!'

Without a moment's hesitation, a terrifying, surging killing intent flashed in Little Yueqiu's crimson eyes. She instinctively seized the fleeting opportunity.

Holding her breath, the petite girl pushed off from her toes and shot up like an arrow released from a bow.

With her robes fluttering, she deftly stepped on the heads of dozens of people in front of her, moving like a gust of wind, and in an instant, arrived before the Dragon Chariot.

VMM—!!

The longsword left its sheath. Its cold glint was chilling as she pointed it directly at the still-dazed Emperor.

"Go down and atone to Prince Ning!!"

"Your Majesty, be careful!!"

A guard reacted first, stepping in front of Little Yueqiu. His speed was clearly that of a top-tier master in the Jianghu.

Seeing this tiny beggar dare to draw a sword on the Emperor, he immediately drew his own blade to clash with Little Yueqiu's.

In his eyes, Little Yueqiu was small and petite; her strength must be lacking—

CRACK!!

With a crisp snap of metal breaking, Little Yueqiu's sword had instantly severed the guard's blade!

The guard's eyes widened, but he had no chance to dodge. He could only watch as the sharp edge of the sword, carried by its momentum, sliced through his waist!

"Quick, protect me!! Someone save me! Block the sword for me!!"

Seeing his guard die in a single exchange, the Emperor of Zhao was so terrified he hastily rolled off the Dragon Chariot, revealing an utterly pathetic sight in front of all the people of the Capital City.

All the citizens stared, dumbfounded, at their old Emperor scrambling in the dirt.

So, even the Celestial Emperor, who could command the wind and rain, could end up rolling pathetically in the dust like a beggar...

"Quick, stop that girl!"

"Damn it! Her sword is too fast... Argh!!"

"Protect His Majesty! Protect His Majesty!!"

"Someone is trying to assassinate the Emperor! Heavens, it's that little beggar! A soldier was just trying to drive her away!"

The wealthy young lady who had previously mocked Little Yueqiu's dirty clothes shrieked, pointing at the little beggar who was moving as if in an Uninhabited Realm.

The center of the Capital City's widest avenue was now in utter chaos.

The soldiers guarding the Emperor drew their swords one after another, surrounding the little beggar who wielded a three-foot blade.

But these guards, each a first-class master in the Jianghu, were like wheat before the little beggar, reaped and cut down in swathes by the sharp sword in her hand.

Finally, someone recognized the sword in Little Yueqiu's hand.

"That's... That's the personal sword of Sword King Pavilion's Pavilion Master, Yu Tianxiang—the 'Long Sky Chant'! Are you from the Sword King Pavilion?!"

Before the man could finish his sentence, he was run through by a flash of light from Little Yueqiu's impossibly fast sword.

THUD—

As the body fell, Little Yueqiu looked around. She had already killed more than half of the Emperor of Zhao's personal guard.

The remaining guards were blocked by the frantically surging crowd and couldn't get through.

"So the best way to assassinate someone is to just kill everyone who sees you."

Little Yueqiu felt she had reached an epiphany.

"You, you're Prince Ning's daughter..."

A trembling voice pulled Little Yueqiu back from her thoughts. Her gaze refocused on the Emperor of Zhao.

His shimmering golden Dragon Robe was now covered in dust and even sported several large footprints. It seemed the Emperor of Zhao had just tried to use the distraction of Little Yueqiu being blocked to slip away through the packed crowd.

Unfortunately, the dense wall of people, shoving and pushing, showed the Emperor no courtesy. Not only did they push the Emperor of Zhao to the ground, but someone even stepped on him a few times—whether intentionally or not, who could say.

The irony was that these onlookers had been summoned by the Emperor himself. He had cut off his own last escape route.

Little Yueqiu looked at the old Emperor who was staring at her in terror. For the first time, she felt that the most powerful man in the world was so small and pathetic.

"How did you recognize me?"

"Your sword... I know about the time the great masters went to besiege..."

"Never mind. That's not important."

Little Yueqiu raised a hand, cutting off the Emperor of Zhao's attempt to stall for time. She raised her sword and thrust it violently toward his heart.

SQUELCH!!

The Dragon Robe ripped open, revealing gleaming silver Inner Armor underneath.

The Emperor of Zhao let out a wretched cry and grabbed the blade with his hands. Gushing blood instantly pooled on the ground.

"Don't kill me... I beg you. I'm about to leave this place and attain eternal life... Don't you want to know the truth of the world? I can tell—"

VMM—!!

Ten fingers were instantly sliced off by the sword's edge. Before the Emperor could even scream, his head tumbled to the ground.

Her great revenge was complete. Little Yueqiu clenched her fists, looking down at the slaughtered Emperor at her feet, and took a deep breath.

'Father... whether my days in Prince Ning's Mansion were real or not...'

'I have avenged you.'