"Pfft, just the likes of you think you can catch ?" atball hunkered down in the Imperial Palace, claiming that if it hadn’t run so fast, it would have been minced into at paste.
Yes, its ability to heal fast was remarkable, but no matter how quick, it couldn’t recover from being chopped into at paste. That would have spelled certain death.
Moreover, as the Calamity of the Last Law grew increasingly powerful, its strength had been further weakened, a reduction that was quite apparent.
This wasn’t felt only by atball; the other Demon Gods had felt the sa, as did Li Qinglian, naturally.
Presently, Li Qinglian was slaying Demon Gods across several lands to strengthen his own God-eating Spirit Body. atball watched this situation unfold with considerable envy.
If only it hadn’t been so hasty earlier, it would not have fallen to such a state.
What atball didn’t know was that its earlier actions weren’t a major issue. Pei Jiang, who valued it highly, could have diated on its behalf. However, atball unexpectedly flew into a rage and even tried to kill Pei Jiang. That created a serious problem.
So, it was nearly beaten to death.
The Heavenly Luo Million Paths Dog Deity didn’t dare to face the army directly, let alone atball. Therefore, simply escaping was already a considerable achievent.
Lost in thought, it heard a commotion not too far away, accompanied by sighs and groans.
"Damn Pei Jiang! It was just sacrificing a few peasants to the Demon Gods. He made out to be so despicable and even dared to disrespect ." The Heng Emperor sat alone in the Royal Garden, surrounded by beautiful scenery he was in no state to appreciate. He was oblivious to the severity of his situation.
After Pei Jiang ca to power, he purged everyone in the Court, replacing them with a whole new governing team, essentially forming a new Court. Whether eunuchs or palace maids around the Heng Emperor, every single one was thoroughly investigated. Anyone found to have any links with the Demon Gods was dealt with accordingly.
The Capital was the country’s center of power, and Pei Jiang wouldn’t allow anyone else to ddle; it had to be solely under his control.
"Are you also dissatisfied with Pei Jiang?" atball suddenly appeared out of nowhere, giving the Heng Emperor quite a start.
"You... you... how did you get in here? Guards, protect your Emperor!!!" The Heng Emperor shrieked as he backed away, stumbling and falling in the process. Panicked, he scrambled away from atball.
Of course, he recognized atball. It was one of the beings that had killed the Heavenly Luo Million Paths Dog Deity and had apparently also fallen out with Pei Jiang, though for what reason, he didn’t know.
But one thing was certain: a monster like this would surely try to kill him.
"You seem to be scared of ?" atball found this sowhat amusing; it had never encountered such a situation before.
Mostly because it had never waited for people to get scared before; it had already eaten them.
The Heng Emperor saw that atball had not attacked him right away, and his initial fear sowhat dissipated. He gathered his courage and carefully asked, "Not at all, not at all. May I know why you are here, sir?"
"There’s actually no specific reason. I just noticed you also have a bone to pick with Pei Jiang, like . How about we join forces?" atball suggested.
Of course, it was no fool; it knew what significance the Heng Emperor held.
The very legitimacy the Rebel Armies needed rested with this man, the Heng Emperor, no matter how useless he was. As long as the symbol he embodied remained untouched, he was useful.
When he fell into Pei Jiang’s hands, Pei Jiang gained control over two sources of legitimacy: the Holy Emperor and the Heng Emperor himself. Subsequently, if Pei Jiang first secured the Heng Emperor’s abdication and then perford the rites of enthronent at Mount Tai, his dynasty change would be orthodox, not achieved through illegitimate ans.
Hence, whether the Heng Emperor was in Pei Jiang’s hands or not involved many interests.
"What’s your plan?" Although the Heng Emperor wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, he did understand the issue of interests and knew his own importance.
Whilst it seed he was left without protection, in reality, he was encircled by a ring of guards hidden outside the Royal Garden.
It was just that, to show him sufficient respect and to avoid tarnishing Pei Jiang’s reputation, he received all due treatnt and honor—despite having no actual power—provided he didn’t abuse the consideration shown to him.
And yet, atball’s words revived a glimr of hope in him.
If he could successfully escape, he stood a chance to reclaim his power. With his ’ability to govern’ the Court, raising an army of his own wouldn’t be a problem.
"Of course, I want to give Pei Jiang so trouble. If you’re willing, I can help you escape from here." atball didn’t care what the Heng Emperor wanted; all it wanted was to screw Pei Jiang over.
As for the Heng Emperor raising a new army and rivaling Pei Jiang, that had little to do with atball.
"Really?" The Heng Emperor was taken aback by the suddenness of this surprise, but he quickly returned to reality. "That’s impossible. The Imperial Palace is heavily guarded. You might be able to co and go freely, but it’s not certain if you’re bringing along."
Hearing this, atball was also startled. That was indeed a problem.
After all, it had only considered making trouble for Pei Jiang but hadn’t thought about how to actually carry it out.
"Is there any secret passage or sothing in the Imperial Palace? Ideally, it should be so secret that only you know about it." atball naturally wouldn’t give up so easily.
If there was truly no way to sneak the Heng Emperor out and hand him over to other rebel armies or factions, then atball would have to settle for the next best thing: kill him directly. This, at least, would cause so minor trouble for Pei Jiang.
"Well, let think about it." As his mind went through the various scenes of the Imperial Palace, it quickly settled on a certain perspective, and he responded, "There is one, but I need your help to access it."
While there indeed was a secret escape route, there was only one option known exclusively to him.
"There’s one in the Imperial Study Room. Knowledge of it is passed down by word of mouth, and now only I know of it."
"But getting to the Imperial Study Room is no easy feat; there will certainly be people following ," the Heng Emperor explained.
In the Royal Garden, no one kept watch. After all, it had already been ticulously inspected. All secret passages had been found and blocked off, leaving no way out.
More importantly, even if there were secret passages in the Royal Garden, he wouldn’t use them because their destinations were sowhat awkward.
The secret passage in the Imperial Study Room, on the other hand, was much safer.
"Then why don’t you escape?" atball was sowhat puzzled. For an emperor like him, the Imperial Study Room wasn’t exactly a top-security location.
"Pei Jiang is working in the Imperial Study Room..." the Heng Emperor revealed the truth.
"Alright, I’ll figure out a way to lure Pei Jiang away, and then we can leave together through the secret passage in the Imperial Study Room." A glint flashed in atball’s eyes; it intended to leave with him too.
Previously, its actions had been minor mischief in Pei Jiang’s eyes. But now, by trying to take the Heng Emperor away—one of Pei Jiang’s sources of legitimacy—it was definitely going to offend Pei Jiang grievously. An irreconcilable conflict was inevitable.
If it didn’t run now, staying in the Imperial Palace and trying to hide in plain sight would be no different from seeking death. Hiding in plain sight wasn’t so foolproof strategy.
"Really?" The Heng Emperor was pleased, but then he also beca cautious. The creature claid its goal was to provoke Pei Jiang, but Was that really the case?
But he soon figured it out. If the creature wanted to kill him, he couldn’t resist anyway. Why would it go to such lengths to take him out of the Imperial Palace just to do it then?
And if he were to die along the way, he wouldn’t regret it. It would still be better than staying here as a puppet mascot.
"Naturally. You can head to the Imperial Study Room now. I’ll go ahead and distract Pei Jiang for you." atball was a creature of action. Even if this plan seed bizarre and crude, as long as it was feasible, it would implent it.
It never relied on its brain to get by anyway. Exposure wasn’t a concern; at worst, it could just kneel and beg for rcy. The Heng Emperor’s life or death ant nothing to it—it wasn’t its own life on the line.
Actually, atball knew that even if it defected now, it wouldn’t get the sa opportunity as Li Qinglian to travel around slaying Demon Gods and strengthening itself. It would most likely just be sidelined. It understood the reasons: first, because of what it had done; second, its personality was too capricious; and third, it wasn’t human, so it naturally couldn’t enter the core group. So, atball had given up on the idea of defecting directly, unless it was truly caught; only then would it choose to surrender.
Seeing atball leave, the Heng Emperor was filled with hope. He imdiately left the Royal Garden and called out, "Guards, escort to the Imperial Study Room."
He certainly couldn’t just walk there. Even as a puppet mascot, the dignities he was due hadn’t been diminished, so the proper imperial procession was required. Moreover, this was the Imperial Palace; the Emperor’s protocols had to be strictly observed, lest he make a mistake that Pei Jiang could exploit. That would be dire.
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