“Third Brother! Third Brother!”
Wang Yunteng’s urgent shouts drifted from not far away.
Shortly after the voice fell, Wang Yunteng’s figure charged through the curtain of rain.
Just as he burst through the arched gate of Anzhi Garden, he witnessed the sight of the building collapsing with a thunderous roar.
The house, sliced open by the sonic waves earlier, finally lost its support and crumbled completely.
Drenched to the bone, Wang Yunteng’s face turned deathly pale.
A roar of “Third—” had just left his throat when he spotted Wang Sandong standing perfectly fine under a nearby eave.
Wang Sandong waved at him.
“Brother Teng.”
Wang Yunteng’s taut nerves instantly relaxed.
He rushed over, scanning Wang Sandong from head to toe.
Seeing her unharmed, he still asked, “Are you okay?”
“Close call,” Wang Sandong chuckled.
She asked, “What’s the situation? Did our family offend some top-tier master?”
Wang Yunteng was about to answer when his gaze shifted to the Yuan Emperor, his brow furrowing slightly.
“Oh, let me introduce you,” Wang Sandong said with a smile.
She actually reached out and slung an arm over the Yuan Emperor’s shoulder, pulling her closer into her embrace.
“This is a Qingguan (non-consensual entertainer) from the Fengyue House, Lady Yuanyuan. She is my confidante.”
She then looked at the Yuan Emperor and smiled.
“Yuanyuan, this is my cousin. You can just follow suit and call him ‘Brother Teng’.”
The Yuan Emperor’s gaze remained cool as she glanced at Wang Yunteng, then gave a slight bow.
“Greetings, Master Teng.”
Wang Sandong added, “Brother Teng, Yuanyuan isn’t an outsider. You can speak freely.”
Wang Yunteng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry upon hearing this.
In this world, those who don’t treat courtesans as outsiders are either fools or hopelessly romantic.
His third brother was certainly no fool, but she didn’t exactly seem like the romantic type either…
Forget it.
It wasn’t important.
And there was no need to hide anything; this matter was so massive that it would be common knowledge sooner or later.
Having reached this realization, Wang Yunteng spoke: “The Qin Emperor sought to destroy the Zheng family. The Life-Snatched Sword and Grandfather took action.”
As he spoke, his brow creased, and a flicker of indignation crossed his face.
“Unexpectedly, the Qin Emperor threatened Grandfather not to interfere and directly struck out with a sonic wave.”
Wang Sandong was stunned.
Recalling Cui Jinnian, she asked, “Did the Cui family suffer too? Is Cui Er okay?”
Wang Yunteng’s expression darkened further.
“The Qin Emperor and the Life-Snatched Sword are on excellent terms; he didn’t raise a hand against the Cui family.”
It wasn’t that he wished ill upon the Cuis, but this blatant “favoritism” made the Wang family look like an easy target.
Wang Sandong understood Wang Yunteng’s frustration.
She gave a bitter smile and asked, “With Wang, Cui, and Zheng—the three Kings—joining forces, the Qin Emperor shouldn’t have been able to gain much advantage, right?”
“If it were just three Kings against one Emperor…”
Wang Yunteng sighed.
“The Qin Emperor wouldn’t just fail to gain ground; he might even suffer a loss. However…”
He stared at the ruins in the rain, his brow tightly knit.
“In the face of an enemy strong enough, family members don’t become helpers—they become liabilities.”
Wang Sandong fell silent.
The torrential rain poured down, and the wild wind howled incessantly.
Waves of chill hit her, causing Wang Sandong to break out in goosebumps.
Wang Tong brought a cloak and draped it over Wang Sandong’s back.
“The Zheng family… how are they?”
Wang Sandong asked.
Wang Yunteng continued to stare at the debris before them.
“Jinnian and many others are at the Zheng estate helping… to collect the bodies.”
The zither music stopped abruptly.
The wind and rain ceased along with it.
There wasn’t a single sound between heaven and earth; it was deathly still.
Dong!
The sound of a drum suddenly rose.
Dong!
The sound was thick and distant.
Dong!
The drumbeat was slow, yet no other sound dared to interrupt it.
Dong!
Wang Sandong noticed that the Yuan Emperor, whose shoulder she was holding, suddenly went rigid.
Dong!
Wang Yunteng said, “Since the Human Emperor has arrived…”
He looked at Wang Sandong and added, “Stay home and rest. I’m going to the Zheng estate to help.”
Dong!
“Alright,” Wang Sandong agreed, watching Wang Yunteng hurry away.
Dong!
The Yuan Emperor whispered, “Although the ‘Return to Heaven’ technique can hide your cultivation so ordinary people won’t notice, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors are not ordinary people. With your current cultivation, you are completely exposed before them.”
As she spoke, without any visible movement, Wang Sandong—who had been leaning against her—was pushed two steps away by an unseen force.
Dong!
Wang Sandong regretfully withdrew her arm and looked toward the Zheng estate, smiling.
“It’s still more exciting outside.”
The Yuan Emperor glanced at her.
“Since the Human Emperor is here, Zheng Xiao won’t die. Why are you still unable to look happy?”
Dong!
“I am happy. Can’t you see I’m smiling?”
After saying that, Wang Sandong asked Wang Tong with a grin, “Wang Tong, does your master’s smile look fake?”
Wang Tong glanced cautiously at the Yuan Emperor, appearing conflicted.
Finally, as if steeling himself, he said, “The Master’s smile is very genuine.”
The drumbeat did not sound again.
The world knew: Nine drumbeats signify the arrival of the Human Emperor.
This was the protocol.
Wang Sandong was sixteen, yet this was the first time she had heard the “Human Emperor’s War Drum.”
The “Number One Person in the World” rarely left the New Capital.
Even so, the affairs of the world were within his grasp.
Because he possessed a supreme treasure that could monitor the world—the “Human Emperor’s Eye,” which could see anywhere he wished.
Staring blankly toward the Zheng estate, Wang Sandong’s eyebrow twitched.
“I have a question in my heart. Saying it out loud might make me sound like I’m asking for a beating.”
The Yuan Emperor looked at her.
“Not saying it makes you even more deserving of one.”
“Haha.”
Wang Sandong laughed, then added with a strange expression, “I was wondering, why didn’t the Human Emperor act sooner? Was he too late?”
The Yuan Emperor let out a scoffing laugh.
“The affairs of elephants are truly—”
“Stop!”
Wang Sandong had truly had enough of the Yuan Emperor’s “elephants and ants” rhetoric. While the logic was sound, it was incredibly grating to hear.
“I won’t ask.”
“Just concern yourself with your own matters,” the Yuan Emperor said.
“Like the wedding on the sixth.”
The wedding?
It was surely canceled.
The Zheng family had met with disaster and suffered deaths; how could they hold a wedding immediately?
Besides, she didn’t even know if the head of the Zheng family was still alive.
If he had been killed by the Qin Emperor, then there was naturally no need for her wedding with Zheng Xiao to proceed.
Dong!
Another drumbeat actually rang out.
Wang Sandong looked at the Yuan Emperor in surprise.
Before she could ask, she heard a note from a zither.
“Heh…”
The Yuan Emperor chuckled.
Wang Sandong guessed, “I say… the two of them aren’t going to start fighting, are they?”
Before her words faded, the drumbeats grew frantic, and the zither notes turned sharp.
In an instant, it was like two armies clashing, the air filled with the roar of battle!
On the ruins before them, more tiles were shaken loose.
Wang Sandong’s complexion began to flush, and her heart rate accelerated.
She gasped for air, looking pitifully at the Yuan Emperor.
“My chest feels a bit tight.”
Each drumbeat felt as though it were striking Wang Sandong’s heart.
With her naturally frail body, even as a demonic cultivator, her constitution was worse than that of an ordinary person; she simply couldn’t withstand this kind of “beating.”
What’s more, there was the zither music disturbing her state of mind.
Wang Tong panicked and hurried to support her.
“Master, should I go call a doctor?”
Wang Sandong shook her head weakly, looking at the Yuan Emperor without speaking.
The Yuan Emperor frowned. Seeing Wang Sandong’s face turn from red to white, she sighed helplessly.
“What a useless waste.”
After the insult, she walked over and once again placed a hand on her shoulder to transfer energy.
Wang Tong hurriedly brought over a chair.
Wang Sandong sat down weakly, leaning her head against the side of the Yuan Emperor’s chest, panting heavily.
Recalling the “waste” comment, she smiled bitterly and said in a soft, weak voice, “If I weren’t a waste without spiritual roots, how could you have taken a liking to me?”
Standing beside her, the Yuan Emperor laughed.
“True.”
Wang Sandong gave a self-deprecating laugh, then grumbled dissatisfaction, “But just hearing the sound from afar and not being able to take it… that’s just too pathetic. I’m a third-grade cultivator after all.”
Suddenly, a clattering sound echoed above them.
Curious, Wang Sandong looked up and saw the tiles on the eaves vibrating.
With an even more urgent drumbeat, a tile finally shattered.
The Yuan Emperor glanced at the broken tile, then at Wang Sandong, whose complexion was slowly improving.
“If you weren’t a third-grade demonic cultivator, you would actually be fine. This ‘Human Emperor’s War Drum’ has the effect of suppressing demonic energy. Combined with the heart-disturbing zither music, it’s normal that you can’t handle it.”
“Uh…”
Wang Sandong leaned lazily against her.
“In that case, it’s lucky you’re here today, or else I’d probably be cold by now.”
The Yuan Emperor said nothing more, appearing to listen intently to the war drums and zither music.
Her gaze drifted into the distance, a faint shimmer appearing in her eyes, as if past events were flashing back within them.
“By the way. Some wealthy families keep songstresses.”
For example, Cui San had over a dozen at home.
Now that he was dead, she wondered who would benefit from those charming women.
Feeling regretful, Wang Sandong asked with a chuckle, “What do you think? Want to consider it?”
As she spoke, her small hand rested on the Yuan Emperor’s waist and slowly began to slide downward.
On the walls, white plaster flaked off.
More and more tiles slid from the roof.
The war drums thundered, and the zither notes spiraled.
Standing behind Wang Sandong, Wang Tong was shivering with fear.
He told himself that as a mere mortal, he was probably not even as sturdy as those tiles, yet for some reason, while the tiles shattered, he could still stand.
Or would he eventually break like them?
His gaze fell on Wang Sandong’s wandering hand, and a sense of admiration welled up in his heart: Master is truly a hero; in such a perilous situation, she still has such leisure and elegance.
Suddenly, Wang Sandong’s hand jerked back as if bitten by a venomous snake.
At the same time, she let out a pathetic cry for mercy: “I was wrong, wrong, wrong!”
The Yuan Emperor snorted coldly.
The hand resting on Wang Sandong’s shoulder lifted slightly, and her complexion improved.
Looking at the falling debris, the Yuan Emperor took a deep breath and said, “Do you want to see the ‘Clash of Emperors’ with your own eyes?”
Wang Sandong moved her still-aching arm and asked, “How?”
“It’s a bit dangerous, but…”
The Yuan Emperor’s eyes twinkled.
“A ‘Clash of Emperors’ is rare to see; it would be a shame to miss it.”
Wang Sandong couldn’t help but snort.
“You sure are curious.”
“You aren’t?”
“No! Life is hard enough; I’m not going to go looking for death.”
Wang Sandong’s tone was firm.
“Spectating is risky… Hey, hey, hey!”
Before she could finish, she was grabbed by her belt and hoisted up like a little chick by the Yuan Emperor.