Volume One: A Hidden Dragon in the Abyss Chapter 156: Chaos

"The Wu family has invited me to a banquet. What is your take on it?" Xu Qing asked him.

"My opinion doesn't matter much. In the past, His Highness never consulted me on such things. But since you asked, the Wu family is likely seeking peace. That's what they claim, anyway, but having spent my life in the world of commerce, I know it's a lie. The moment an opportunity arises, they will move against you," Yang Hao replied. "It would be completely understandable if you refused to go. If I were in your shoes, however, I would still attend and simply play along with their little performance."

That was... remarkably objective.

Xu Qing agreed completely and turned his gaze to Yan Mo. "You want me to go as well, don't you?"

"Yes," Yan Mo nodded.

Past grievances were water under the bridge, the Wu family claimed. They supposedly admired his upright and honorable character and wished to make amends, favoring peace above all.

Xu Qing felt not a shred of warmth or remorse; he still deeply detested such hypocritical displays.

Yang Hao took his leave shortly after.

Remembering something just before he departed, he turned back to add, "Ever since entering the capital, the Wu family has been currying favor with influential figures, and they are said to be remarkably generous with their wealth. For reasons I cannot fathom, aligning themselves with the Fourth Prince would be the most logical move, yet the Fourth Prince holds neither Wu Song nor the heir in high regard. I have never quite understood that."

"They have ulterior motives," Xu Qing gave a cold smirk.

The following day, just as Xu Qing was fully prepared, Yan Mo suddenly sidled up to him.

"I don't recall them inviting you," Xu Qing said with a puzzled look.

"I'm coming with you to see what's happening," Yan Mo stated.

"See what? What is there to see?" Xu Qing groaned. "There aren't even any beauties... Oh wait, you're still just a child. You should spend more time interacting with the Liu family instead; the young lady already has a rather poor impression of you."

Yan Mo was in no mood for jokes. He looked straight at him and asked, "Why don't you want me to go? Are you hiding some secret from me?"

"Not at all." Xu Qing's eyes flickered evasively as he motioned for the carriage driver to set off. "Actually, I never wanted to go in the first place, and I had no idea you were so keen on it. Had I known, I would have let them invite you instead so I could stay home and sleep."

"But they invited *you*. You are the Crown Prince's junior martial brother and the Commander of the Palace Guard," Yan Mo retorted, speechless.

"Er... I suppose that's true," Xu Qing nodded.

"I still think it's better for you to go and see for yourself what kind of person he is. As you always say, in a game of chess, one must know both oneself and the enemy," Yan Mo said. "So what are you really thinking? Honestly, I don't feel like they can ever see through you. Even I—after all these years of knowing you—still feel like I can't truly understand you."

"I swear you just have too much time on your hands. Today I'm simply going out for a meal; why do you always overcomplicate things?" Xu Qing muttered in exasperation.

"Deliberate before you act—you were the one who taught me that back then, but you never teach me anything else now. Xu Qing, have I disappointed you?" Yan Mo asked.

Xu Qing was even more speechless. "You are getting more and more out of hand, kid... What do they call this? Over-interpretation! I am utterly at a loss for words."

He leaned back into the corner of the carriage and, moments later, appeared to drift off to sleep.

Yan Mo stared at him for a while, then crossed his legs to meditate and sort through his own thoughts.

The carriage rolled on smoothly, the two occupants as steady and serene as the ride itself.

"Let me tell you a story," Xu Qing said to him out of nowhere.

"Go ahead," Yan Mo said, his interest instantly piqued as he listened intently.

Surely the other man wouldn't speak without a purpose at a time like this; there had to be some sort of test awaiting him.

"During the late Qin dynasty, there was a man named Zhang Lang who used a massive iron cone to assassinate the Ancestral Dragon at Bowang Shoal!" Xu Qing said.

"Mm-hm," Yan Mo nodded. "I studied that previously."

He then waited for the continuation, expecting it to be about the subsequent flight and the encounter with the Yellow Stone Old Man...

Instead, a soft sound of snoring suddenly arose.

Yan Mo waited and waited, completely stunned for a moment.

That was the result he had waited for.

"You're feigning sleep again," Yan Mo shook him gently. "What happened next?"

Yet it was impossible to wake someone who was pretending to be asleep, leaving him entirely speechless.

"If you had known beforehand, what would you have done?"

Xu Qing asked abruptly.

"What?" Yan Mo failed to catch his meaning for a second.

Suddenly, he felt himself being hoisted into the air as Xu Qing leaped out of the carriage, snatching the driver along with him in one fluid motion.

Boom...

Yan Mo heard a deafening roar, his heart plunging into absolute chaos.

Looking back at the street they had just traversed, he saw a storefront collapse entirely, reducing their carriage to splinters.

The horses lay on the ground, groaning in agony.

The buildings on the opposite side of the street had also been caught in the disaster.

He was left trembling with lingering fear.

---

Passersby on the street were stunned and terrified at first, then broke into a frantic panic, scattering in all directions.

After running several dozen paces away, some found the courage to turn back and look.

Bowang Shoal.
A massive iron cone.
If you had known beforehand, what would you have done...

Yan Mo suddenly understood. It wasn't that the other man refused to share anything with him.
Even if he had spoken of it, he himself lacked the insight to comprehend it.

"You knew all along? Why?" Yan Mo demanded.

"Where on earth has the Fiend Sovereign run off to?" Xu Qing muttered, looking slightly perplexed.

There had been no trace of these demonic cultivators anywhere; they were becoming increasingly stealthy, tucking themselves away into hiding.
God knows what schemes they were plotting behind the scenes.
Sigh...

"Why are you bringing them up right now?" Yan Mo asked, bewildered. "Could it be that they are behind this?"

Yet there were still too many details that couldn't be explained.

"You should head back first! Don't wander around, it's too dangerous out here." Xu Qing suddenly pulled a slip of paper from his tunic, his voice turning icy as he narrowed his eyes slightly. "They wanted to see what kind of person I am, so I'll let them see."

"Hey! Where are you going?"

Yan Mo cried out in alarm.

With lightning-fast footwork, Xu Qing executed his lightness skill and vanished into the bustling crowd in the blink of an eye.

Yan Mo hesitated for a fraction of a second before taking off at a dead sprint to give chase.

His martial arts and lightness skills were far from mediocre, but compared to Xu Qing, they were simply in different leagues—completely incomparable.
Fortunately, the other man wasn't moving at his absolute fastest, though the pursuit was still grueling.

He chased him all the way to the palace gates, where he was forced to halt.

Because Xu Qing had gone right inside. As the Commander of the Palace Guard, entering was as effortless as drawing breath.

Yet he himself could not pass, and standing outside left him feeling deeply unsettled.

Why today of all days... right after such an incident occurred, Xu Qing chose to enter the palace...

Xu Qing was the one who cared most deeply for the Crown Prince.
When they were dining with Gu Yunqi previously, they had discussed how someone like Wang Chuan could play a game of chess, seeing three moves ahead and calculating ten steps deep...
The true dawn of his rise had begun the day he left the State of Wei. Whether he had genuinely fallen ill back then or merely feigned sickness remained a subject of intense debate to this day.
Xu Qing must have been well aware of the truth behind that event as well.

He was the one who most resembled Wang Chuan.
Since he had known about today's plot in advance, would he take action?
He had even asked him earlier what he would do if he had prior knowledge.

How vast the gap between them truly was; while he had been fretting over what might happen at the banquet and how Xu Qing would handle it,
the opportunity had been seized differently—capitalizing on the assassination attempt, the other man had struck directly.

He suddenly realized just how immense the chasm between their capabilities was.

Not long after, Yan Mo heard a sudden commotion from within the palace. The gate guards panicked instantly, rushing to secure full defense across the entire perimeter.

That... could this be...

Yan Mo had spent a period studying in Yangcheng, and he seemed to recognize the sound.
Though for a moment, it eluded his memory.

The common folk outside the imperial city were thrown into turmoil as well. Listening to the distant clamor echoing from within, Yan Mo's memory snapped back into place.

"The Shihai Horn!"

It really was the Shihai Horn!

The imperial city had not sounded the Shihai Horn for many years, yet so many still remembered it.
Everyone cast anxious, worried glances toward the palace.

The Shihai Horn was the ultimate imperial warning signal, instantaneously reverberating across the entire capital as every single military guard mobilized for defense!

Something must have gone terribly wrong inside the palace, and it happened right after Xu Qing entered.

What on earth had taken place? Even his own mind was thrown into total disarray.

That was the Shihai Horn, after all—akin to lighting beacon fires on a battlefield, signaling a crisis of the utmost urgency.

He wanted to step forward and gather information, but under what pretext? He currently held no official rank or position.

Before much time had passed, the palace gates swung open once more, and a massive horde of imperial guards surged out.

At their forefront, mounted on a spirited steed, was none other than Xu Qing.

With a sweeping wave of his hand, he commanded,
"Kill!"

They charged forth, overflowing with murderous intent.

What were they doing?

Countless guards poured out of the gates, surging toward various parts of the city.

Following closely behind, Yan Mo watched in utter disbelief as they began smashing up shops and establishments.

As one of the most elite armed forces in Yangcheng, they met any resistance with brutal suppression and directly executed any cultivators who dared fight back.

Few commoners failed to recognize the imperial guard uniforms.
At the very least, they knew it was official attire, radiating a terrifying, predatory aura akin to wolves and tigers.

The people could only cower in terror, fleeing in blind panic.
There was simply nothing they could do!

Over a hundred storefronts were targeted and ravaged that night, a spectacle too cruel for the onlookers to bear. Anyone who dared to obstruct them was immediately labeled an accomplice harboring criminals and beaten mercilessly before being tossed aside without a second glance.

Consequently, no one else dared to utter a word of protest.

Yet for the dignified imperial guards, their tactics were far too disgraceful.

Plundering, smashing, and looting aside, their destructive capability was astounding.
They behaved like a pack of starved wolves, utterly ignoring rules, conventions, and mercy.

Not only did they strip every last coin of cash bare, but under the pretext of searching for evidence, they also plundered all valuables. Even the managers and errand boys were subjected to personal body searches and stripped of their belongings, leaving none spared.

What terrified the victims the most was that these men were not only ravenous and destructive plunderers, but also viciously brutal. Anyone who showed the slightest sign of defiance was met with ruthless violence, displaying an absolute lawlessness.

In the end, they nearly failed to restrain themselves from setting fires.

"A feint masking the real attack!"

Yang Hao had been waiting for news back at the Crown Prince's residence, only to receive word that Xu Qing had been targeted in an assassination attempt.

He was unhurt, thankfully; given Xu Qing's formidable abilities, it was hard to imagine what kind of assassin could possibly pose a threat to him.

At that moment, Yan Mo's thoughts and Yang Hao's were surprisingly aligned regarding the culprit.

Regardless of everything else, Wu Song remained the prime suspect.

This was the art of illusion and reality.
Everyone assumed the Wu family would never dare stage a *Hongmen Banquet*, yet precisely such an event had occurred, and others might well have seized the opportunity to frame them and strike in the shadows.

A trap.

Even if they managed to capture an assassin, what they found would likely lead only to a trail of smoke and mirrors, wouldn't it?

Xu Qing...

What should Xu Qing do in this situation? Trying to place himself in his shoes, Yang Hao felt his brain aching from the mental exertion.

Yang Hao took a sip of tea to calm his nerves as he waited for the other man's return.

Xu Qing should be back soon; once he returned, they could discuss the next course of action.

Before long, however, the outside grew chaotic.
The clamor from outside the estate began bleeding into the courtyard.

Someone really ought to quiet the commotion down; disturbing the Crown Prince's consort would be deeply improper.

"Lord, this is terrible! Lord Xu has led men to smash the Wu family's properties!" A trusted aide rushed in breathlessly to report.

"What did you say he smashed?" Yang Hao failed to process the statement.

"Over a hundred shops owned by the Wu family in the capital—silk stores, pleasure houses, inns, teahouses... they've all been completely demolished! You were the one who had us investigate the Wu family's background when they first entered the capital; these are definitely the Wu family's establishments, not a single one was spared!"