Beneath the candlelight, the cold gleam of a dagger flashed across Zhang Yuanqing's eyes. Beside his ear came a death sentence ground out from between Beauty Chu's teeth:
"Tyrant, I will kill you for the people of the realm!"
With that, clutching the dagger, she charged forward in brisk, heavy strides.
*Jingwei wants to kill me? Fuck, the assassin is actually Jingwei?*
*Why does she want to kill me! Isn't she my teammate? And would she even need a dagger to take my life? A single blast of flame would reduce me in my current state to a charred crisp. Or is she not Jingwei? No, she has to be Jingwei. There's no way my deduction was wrong...*
A storm of thoughts churned in Zhang Yuanqing's mind, but this was no time to ponder. Making a split-second decision, he bellowed at the top of his lungs:
"Guards—"
Before the words were out, Beauty Chu executed a deft spinning kick that struck him square on the jaw. With a sharp crack, his jaw dislocated.
The rest of Zhang Yuanqing's shout collapsed into a muffled grunt. Seeing the dagger thrusting toward him, he hurriedly threw himself into a roll.
*Thud!*
The blade pierced the bedding and lodged firmly into the wooden bedstead.
Having missed her strike, Beauty Chu did not immediately try to yank the dagger free. Instead, she stepped in close, driving a lead punch straight at the tyrant's throat, followed instantly by a tempestuous flurry of Wing Chun chain punches to his chest.
The barrage battered the tyrant to the verge of suffocation, leaving him unable to utter a sound as he staggered and collapsed.
Only then did Beauty Chu turn to retrieve the dagger stuck in the bed. She knew full well that throughout the assassination, she could not let the tyrant cry out. The moment the guards and eunuchs outside caught wind, she would be as good as dead.
*Wait, don't hit me, I'm one of your own!* Clutching his throat, Zhang Yuanqing broke into a frantic cold sweat. He strained with all his might to shout, but only rattling wheezes escaped his throat.
His vocal cords had been injured by Beauty Chu's punch.
Seeing Beauty Chu raise her blade to lunge once more, Zhang Yuanqing looked around in a panic. Seizing an idea, he caught hold of the woolen rug spread beside the bed and yanked hard.
Beauty Chu stumbled, her balance tilting to the side. Quickly planting a single hand on the floor, she executed a graceful cartwheel and landed squarely on her feet.
Seizing the opening, Zhang Yuanqing sprinted toward the bedchamber doors, his damaged throat burning.
He had taken only two steps when a piercing pain shot through his calf, sending him sprawling to the floor. Looking back, he saw the dagger planted deep in his calf muscle.
Having scored a direct hit with the thrown blade, Beauty Chu charged forward like a leopard. She slammed her weight onto Zhang Yuanqing's back, nearly knocking the breath clean out of him, before wrapping her tight, powerful legs around his neck in a vice grip.
Leaning back, Beauty Chu wrenched the dagger from the tyrant's calf and prepared to slit his throat.
Right at that moment, a eunuch's distant herald echoed from outside the hall: "Announcing Beauty Wan~"
Beauty Chu's expression shifted. Her eyes darted rapidly as her gears began to turn.
*Beauty Wan is here! My Beauty Wan is here!* A surge of wild joy flooded Zhang Yuanqing's heart, like a man tumbling off a cliff grabbing a vine, or a bankrupt day-trader watching the whole market hit the upper limit.
"Tyrant, you'd better not make a peep. From here on, follow my lead," Beauty Chu's voice whispered by his ear, accompanied by the icy blade pressing against his throat. "Get into bed right this instant. Once Beauty Wan enters, dismiss her on the grounds of feeling unwell."
*Since when did Jingwei grow a brain?* Zhang Yuanqing was astounded. Feeling the chilling bite of the dagger, he decided to play along with Beauty Chu for now.
After all, he couldn't make a sound anyway, much less struggle. He might as well wait for Beauty Wan to come in and observe the situation.
He nodded immediately, signaling his compliance.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Beauty Chu hauled the tyrant up and dragged his stumbling form onto the bed.
"Pull the covers over yourself. Don't make a move, and don't make a sound, or I'll kill you on the spot," she threatened before swiftly surveying the scene.
Stripping off her outer robe, she pulled off the tyrant's outer garment as well and laid them across the bloodstains to conceal the mess.
Next, she lowered the bed curtains, pulled back the quilt, and slipped inside.
Zhang Yuanqing lay on his side, not daring to twitch a muscle. Straining his neck, he could faintly make out several figures appearing outside the windows, approaching the entrance through the veil of curtains and screens.
Curled up in his arms was Beauty Chu, who leaned against him like a timid maiden while pressing the cold dagger against his chest.
*Why would Jingwei try to assassinate me? Is her quest to assassinate the tyrant? If that's the case, the dungeon's restriction forbidding any disclosure of Spirit Realm walker identities is downright malicious.* Taking advantage of the fleeting calm, Zhang Yuanqing pondered.
Yet this also signaled something else: if he were to forcibly reveal his identity to defuse this crisis by violating the "Notes," he would inevitably suffer severe backlash in the subsequent stages.
After all, risk and reward were proportional.
Without this assassination plot, the backlash for disclosing a Spirit Realm walker's identity might not have been quite so severe.
*Thank goodness I kept my wits about me during the day and summoned all the teammates suspected of being Spirit Realm walkers to attend me tonight. Otherwise, I might have actually fallen victim to that little brat Jiang Jingwei.*
*Mm, with Jingwei's strength, killing the tyrant should have been child's play, yet she chose to use a weapon. That means her power is restricted too.*
*The fact that she's making me act along with her proves she doesn't dare expose herself as an assassin. Does she intend to slip out of the palace quietly after taking the tyrant's life?*
*If she's a spy, that means she's not on my team. Strange. This is a guild raid dungeon. She and I are both members of the White Tiger Battalion. Why would we be placed in opposing camps... Isn't that deliberately pitting us against each other?*
While his thoughts spun, the silhouettes came to a halt outside the bedchamber doors, and Beauty Wan's faint voice drifted in:
"You may wait out here. No need to follow me inside."
The palace maids outside gave their acknowledgment.
*Creak~*
The tall latticed doors swung open softly. Dressed in a simple, elegant palace gown, the remarkably poised Beauty Wan stepped into the bedchamber with lotus strides, parting the screens to enter the inner chamber.
She glanced left and right, her gaze lingering for a few seconds on the garments scattered across the floor. Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the bed and spoke in a plaintive tone:
"Your Majesty, didn't... didn't you summon this concubine to attend you? Why have you called another sister instead?"
Zhang Yuanqing felt the dagger against his chest press forward slightly. Curled in his embrace, Beauty Chu whispered in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, "Tell her to leave, or I'll kill you right now."
"Beauty Wan, We have already summoned Beauty Chu to attend Us tonight. You may return." Zhang Yuanqing tried his best to make his hoarse voice sound frail and pitiful, hoping his sharp-witted teammate would pick up on his predicament from his tone.
His only gamble right now was that Beauty Wan was either Little Green Tea or Auntie. As Musicians, they were exceedingly attuned to vocal tones and nuances.
They didn't need to know the emperor's true identity; as long as they realized he was in captivity, being Spirit Realm walkers, they would certainly make a move.
Pulling off such small tricks relied on taking advantage of Jiang Jingwei's lack of cunning. Anyone else would have seen through it immediately.
"So it is Beauty Chu... Huh? Your Majesty, what happened to your voice?" Beauty Wan asked from outside the bed curtains.
Zhang Yuanqing rejoiced inwardly and blurted, "There are always scoundrels out to harm Us..."
The dagger against his chest pressed in a fraction deeper.
Zhang Yuanqing hastily changed his tune: "We mean... We have lingering toxins in Our system, which have damaged Our throat."
"Your Majesty, if the residual poison has not cleared, this concubine has even more reason not to leave. Beauty Chu is still young and does not know how to care for Your Majesty. This concubine wishes to stay and attend to you." From beyond the curtains, Beauty Wan pleaded softly.
Without waiting for Zhang Yuanqing's refusal, she took two strides forward and drew back the bed curtains of her own accord.
*Brilliant!* Zhang Yuanqing was overjoyed.
Seeing that things had reached this point, Beauty Chu threw off the covers and sat up. Clamping her left hand over the emperor's mouth, she raised the dagger in her right, leveling it at Beauty Wan outside the bed, intending to finish off both of them together.
At that exact instant, Beauty Wan, having swept back the curtains, suddenly drew a dagger of her own, poised to strike.
The two dagger-wielding beauties came face to face, both freezing in shock.
The air hung silent for several seconds...
*You're here to assassinate him too?* Their gazes met. Though neither spoke, both read the utter bewilderment in the other's eyes.
Zhang Yuanqing: "???"
He suddenly realized something: whether Beauty Chu or Beauty Wan, both were Spirit Realm walkers. Since they were Spirit Realm walkers, why would they ever agree to attend his bed?
Agreeing to attend his bed meant they had an objective.
Beauty Chu was here to assassinate him, and Beauty Wan... was the exact same.
Both of their quests were to kill him! *Fuck, I underestimated the difficulty of this dungeon. No, I underestimated the role of the tyrant! The Southern Dynasty's enemy is the Northern Dynasty, but the tyrant's enemies aren't just the Northern Dynasty—they include the 'righteous loyalists' of the Southern Dynasty too!*
Zhang Yuanqing's heart sank to rock bottom, and he shrank silently into the corner of the bed.
After a brief exchange of looks, the two beauties seemed to reach a tacit understanding. Both turned their murderous glares toward the tyrant.
Just then, the eunuch's herald resounded once more outside the chamber:
"Announcing Songstress Wang~"
Beauty Chu and Beauty Wan's expressions changed. The latter sneered:
"As expected of a lecherous tyrant. Summoning three women to his bed in a single night! Putting you to the blade is far too lenient."
With that, Beauty Wan bounded onto the dragon bed, let the curtains fall shut again, pressed her blade against Zhang Yuanqing's back, and snapped:
"Send her away!"
Jiang Jingwei quietly curled back into the tyrant's embrace, pressing her dagger against his chest. "Right, tell her to scram!"
*Would you believe me if I told you she's here to assassinate me too...?* Another unforeseen development had disrupted the female assassins' rhythm, yet Zhang Yuanqing couldn't bring himself to feel the slightest bit of joy.
He lay back down, listening as the tall latticed doors were pushed open. A voluptuous, slender figure walked inside, halting beside the bed curtains, and purred alluringly:
"Your Majesty~ This slave has come to attend your bed."
In that split second, Zhang Yuanqing felt the two daggers before and behind him press gently into his flesh.
Looking at Songstress Wang standing beyond the curtains, Zhang Yuanqing spoke in a tone of utter, resigned desolation:
"Drop the act. You're here to assassinate me too, aren't you?"
Songstress Wang paused, her demeanor instantly shifting. Her limpid, watery eyes hardened as sharp as blades. From between her fair cleavage, she drew a short dagger and held it at the ready, her gaze darting warily around the room.
"No need to look, there's no ambush," Zhang Yuanqing rasped hoarsely. "Though you do have two accomplices on the bed."
As he said this, an overwhelming sense of cosmic irony washed over him. The great Yuanshi Tianzun, who had traversed dungeons for years, had actually fallen into the hands of three young chits.
He had already resolved that if he truly ran out of options, he would declare his identity. Backlash be damned; surviving came first.
"Tyrant, don't try any tricks with me." Songstress Wang remained unconvinced, holding her dagger in a defensive stance.
On the dragon bed, Beauty Chu and Beauty Wan exchanged a look, then threw back the covers and parted the bed curtains.
The two flanked the tyrant, one holding a blade to his chest, the other pressing steel to his throat.
The three women stared at each other, sizing one another up with looks full of suspicion, conjecture, and contemplation. Three people attempting to assassinate the tyrant on the very same night—even though they didn't know one another's identities, even Jiang Jingwei could tell something was amiss.
Songstress Wang stayed silent for a second before testing the waters:
"Why do you want to assassinate the tyrant? What are your plans after killing him?"
Beauty Chu spoke bluntly: "The tyrant is incompetent, relying on imperial in-laws to throw the court into chaos. Killing him is for the good of all the people. As for my plans afterward, I can't tell you."
Beauty Wan added, "Same for me!"
With that, she slipped into deep thought.
Songstress Wang looked at Beauty Chu, then at Beauty Wan, before suddenly breaking into a delighted smile: "I get it, you're... Without further delay, let's kill the tyrant first, then escape the palace together!"
Beauty Chu nodded. With a flick of her wrist, the tip of her dagger sank straight into the tyrant's chest.
Just as Zhang Yuanqing was about to lay all his cards on the table, the flame on the bedside candlestick cracked with a sharp pop and surged skyward. Three slender serpents of fire whipped out, striking the webbing of the three female assassins' hands like bolts of light.
"Ah!"
Beauty Wan shrieked, dropping her dagger as the tender skin between her thumb and forefinger was scalded raw and bloody.
Beauty Chu and Songstress Wang suffered the same attack. Clutching their burned hands, they stumbled back one after another, their eyes snapping toward the candlestick.
The flame atop the stand swelled once more, transforming into a massive fireball. From within the inferno, a figure materialized—tall of stature, dressed in senior eunuch robes, his brows brimming with irascibility and his temples frosted with white.
It was none other than Attendant Li.
Zhang Yuanqing was moved nearly to tears. *To think my palace harbored such a righteous loyalist! If We survive this, We will surely take him as Our adoptive father!*
"Your Majesty, flee! I will hold them off!" Attendant Li seized Zhang Yuanqing by the shoulder and hurled him clear of the dragon bed, trading a palm strike with Beauty Chu and Beauty Wan in the process.
Zhang Yuanqing soared through the air as if riding the clouds, crashing to the ground several meters away.
Songstress Wang's willow-leaf brows knitted sharply. Flicking a dropped dagger off the floor with the tip of her foot, she gave chase like a prowling tigress.
Attendant Li cut off Songstress Wang's path with a sweeping high kick, buying time for the sovereign's escape.
"R-remember to leave them alive!" Zhang Yuanqing urged before quickly scrambling to his feet. Throwing his body against the latticed doors, he burst out into the night and cried in a raspy voice, "Assassins! There are assassins! Someone save Us~!"
Chapter 844