The guest was stunned.
Not only the attacking guest, but the rest of the guests standing aside, and the guards and servants trying to put out the fire, too.
Even Lin Tianrong was shocked.
“Death Flame?! He actually… mastered the Law of Death Flame?”
“How is this possible? It’s a special flame, how… how could he master this?!”
“What is going on?”
No one understood the situation.
As the guards and servants of the Eastern Palace, naturally, they knew what a rare Dao the Death Flame was because it was a special Dao.
The attacking guest did not possess enormous power, only at the peak of Supernatural State, but he still held an important place in the Eastern Palace.
Thanks to the Dao of Death Flame.
But now, there was also another person with the Dao of Death Flame, how could such a coincidence happen?
The same Dao had collided.
The exact special Dao.
How would this not surprise everyone?
“Who exactly are you?” asked the guest with the Death Flame. He could not resist anymore, because the Death Flame was the sign of his identity and reputation.
Now, with someone who had also mastered the Death Flame before him, he could not help but ask for his identity.
“Do you wish to know?” The masked man asked with a smirk.
The guest froze. He wanted to say “yes”, but then he came to a realization. Since this man was already masked, he would not actually reveal his identity.
If he had revealed his identity…
Then he would have insulted himself.
“Go to hell!”
“Wait!”
Just as the guest was about to charge at the masked man, another guest spoke, his outstretched hand blocking the former.
Stunned, he looked at the guest who spoke.
The guest who spoke looked at Lin Tianrong behind him, and countless surprised guards and servants, then he said gravely: “Together!”
With a single sentence, he had doubted the attacking guest’s power.
This made the attacking guest clench his fists tightly. He glared at the masked man’s Death Flame and pursed his lips.
But he quickly relaxed his fists.
“Alright!” He nodded. He understood the meaning in the other guest’s words. He had lost. In fact, he had already lost when his opponent walked out of his Death Flame’s grasp.
Without hesitation, the remaining two guards lit their flames of different colors, ready to strike any moment.
Upon seeing this…
The guards and servants heaved a sigh of relief.
As the special guests of the crown prince’s residence, their powers were not weak at all. Even for the guest with the lowest level among the four, his special Dao reached the peak of Supernatural State.
And for the other three…
It was the Rebirth State!
Two with Rebirth beginning state, one with Rebirth intermediate state, and one with the Dao of Death Flame’s peak of Supernatural State.
If they attacked together in the Eastern Palace, how could the masked man escape? Besides, innumerable guards stood by behind the four guests.
“Prepare the arrows!” Lin Tianrong finally spoke.
Although he really wanted to capture the masked man alive, he could not risk him making an escape. Thus, he needed backup.
If the masked man managed to escape from the four guests, the arrows could lend a support.
Under Lin Tianrong’s orders, hundreds of guards armed with bows and arrows stood out from the crowd, each of them held a bow in their hands.
Then, razor-sharp arrows were mounted on the bows.
In fact, these were not average arrows, but specially enhanced arrows, one of the dynasty’s most powerful weapons. In the entire Yan Capital, only three places had these arrows.
The emperor’s palace, Ping Yang residence, and the Eastern Palace.
…
At the gates of the guesthouses in the Eastern Palace.
Ping Yang looked in the direction of the study anxiously. The fire was raging, and the study was completely charred. To make things worse, the fire seemed to spread outwards.
What a peculiar sight.
Ping Yang well aware of the Eastern Palace guards’ capabilities. It wouldn’t take too long for them extinguish the fire.
But…
The inferno that was engulfing the study had still not been extinguished.
And besides, countless guards gathered within the study, but they did not seem to be searching for the arsonist.
“Could the shameless fellow have been arrested?” Ping Yang had such a thought, but she dismissed it immediately.
Impossible!
This shameless fellow was so crafty, how could he be arrested this easily? He would’ve have planned his exit route before burning the study and then escaped.
It had to be like this!
But… why wasn’t anyone searching for him around the Eastern Palace? If he had escaped, knowing Third Brother’s character, the Eastern Palace would have been sealed.
Yet, why didn’t it happen?
Ping Yang’s worry compounded by the second.
In fact, it wasn’t just Ping Yang; Yan Xiu and Nangong Mu had the same thoughts too because the activity at the study was simply too strange.
The noise that they had expected could not be heard. Instead, it was peaceful, with so many people surrounding the study as if waiting for something to happen.
But, shouldn’t they be focusing on putting out the fire?
Could it be…
Something really happened to Fang Zhengzhi?
…
At the entrance of the study.
The four guests joined forces, attacking the masked man.
Three rays of light simultaneously charged towards from the sides and back of the masked man. At his front, a giant dark blue flame rose, ready to strike any moment.
The masked man finally moved.
He did not move as fast as the three rays of light, but he was retreating in the direction of the Death Flame. When the three rays of light approached him, he had moved beside the guest with the Death Flame.
“Die!” The guest with the growing Death Flame roared. If the masked man hadn’t moved, he would not have been attacked for all four guests at the same time.
But he had done so.
Thus…
It wasn’t the guest’s fault.
With a mighty fist engulfed in Death Flame, strengthened by the insults against him, he struck mercilessly toward the back of the masked man’s head.
Even if he didn’t die, he had to be unconscious.
And it was approaching!
Though the punch had reached the back of his head, the masked man continued retreating toward the guest, as if he didn’t notice at all.
“Go to hell!” The guest with the Death Flame yelled.
The fiery fist crashed on the back of the masked man’s head.
And then…
Nothing.
Because when the guest with the Death Flame was delivering his punch, he suddenly stopped, as if he was frozen in time.
He was completely shocked.
He couldn’t believe this. What had happened to his body? Why couldn’t he move at all? He felt like he had been shackled.
Completely unmovable.
What was going on?
Thoughts raced through his mind. A stoppage in energy? No. Even in the event of an energy stoppage, this wouldn’t happen.
Then it could only be…
“Heaven…”
A thought flashed through his mind. A scary thought. Too scary for him to say it.
And at this time, the masked man turned his head around and squinted at him.
His glance…
It was definitely an expression of mockery as if he was staring at a mentally challenged person.
Then, the masked man disappeared.
He swiftly moved behind the guest with the Death Flame without any hint of resistance.
“No!” The guest with the Death Flame screamed in his mind.
But it was too late. Because the three rays of light had charged into him.
“Boom!”
A terrifying blast wave rose from the collision.
The guest with the Death Flame stood still, unable to move. He could only let the three rays charge into him.
He couldn’t even fall back to cushion the impact.
As if he was against an imaginary wall, he had to bear the full force without a chance of moving backward.
“Splat!” Red blood was spilled from his mouth and into the air.
The guest with the Death Flame could not believe this. But far greater than disbelief was the extent of his shock.
At this moment, he had ascertained his guess.
The masked man was more powerful than him.
By a huge margin.
“You are…” The guest with the Death Flame wanted to voice this out, but he could feel his energy drain rapidly.
His chest!
On his chest was a fist that had smashed his heart into pieces.
He could only look at himself with incredulity.
Was he dying?
Many thoughts flashed through his mind. He had been a genius since young and grown up in a respectable family.
But his family was killed.
Stomped out by the imperial army.
And from then on, he became a fugitive wandering in the streets. Until he came to the Eastern Palace, became a special guest, and changed his name.
Because he knew perfectly well who had killed his family.
The current emperor’s sixth son, Lin Xinjue.
He did not have the ability to take a revenge, so he could only stand behind someone who was powerful enough, even if this person was equally as cruel.
But he still stood by this person, because he was the crown prince. When he ascended the throne, then he could have a chance at revenge.
But now…
He was dying.
Looking back at the things he had done in the Eastern Palace.
Like a puppet, he followed all kinds of evil orders by the crown prince and assassinated many officials who were of no use to him. Of course, he was also rewarded well.
For example, kidnapping an official’s daughter, or when he had killed an official, he toyed with his concubine for three days and three nights before killing her.
He was an obsessive gambler and squandered his money freely, but no one dared to stop him.
Because he was supported by the crown prince.
But now, it was all coming to an end. He could never avenge his family, and his sins had caught up to him. His life reached an end.
No one would erect his gravestone, and no one would pity him. No one would remember his birth name, because he was the just a guest, one who had changed his name and followed the crown prince around.
“Idiots, a bunch of idiots!” Lin Tianrong’s voice rang aloud. His sharp voice drained every remaining ounce of energy he had.
Indeed…
It had already been decided so when he could help the crown prince kill anymore, even though he had killed so many for him.
Idiots!
So that was his name right before his death?
“Heaven Dao. You possess Heaven Dao, and you dare to set a fire in the Eastern Palace and burn the study. There is only one person who can do all of this, right?”
The guest with the Death Flame really wanted to turn and look at the masked man behind him.
But he could not.
Yet…
He was already satisfied.
Because he had managed to guess the masked man’s identity. A person whom everyone had forgotten and believed he was crippled.
A disabled man and an idiot!
What ludicrousness!
His lips curled as he smiled mirthlessly. He didn’t say the masked man’s name because he no longer had any more energy to do so.
“Fang Zhengzhi!” The guest closed his eyes slowly. Never did he expect that his name would be the last thing on his mind as he left his world.
But it was the only thing he could think of.
“Useless idiots! Kill him now!” Lin Tianrong shouted. He did not know how the masked man did all of these.
But he saw it very clearly.
The masked man had used the guest with the Death Flame as a shield against the attack of the other three guests, who had reached Rebirth State. This made surprised him and angered him further.
Lin Tianrong’s voice echoed in the night.
All the guards and servants gaped at the falling guest and the black figure behind him.
While the three guests with Rebirth State stared closely at the masked man.
They did not understand why the guest with the Death Flame did not grab him but allowed the masked man to move behind him. Furthermore, he did not dodge when the three of them attacked.
“How did this happen? His movements weren’t quick at all!” The three guests exchanged looks, completely baffled.