"My fellow soldiers, the tiger tally in the Emperor's hand is genuine. Today, we only obey the command of whoever holds the true tiger tally," General Lai announced loudly to the five armies.
Upon hearing this, Jing Dehai, once dignified and imposing, was so enraged that he spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot. His head spun, and he toppled from his horse. After convulsing for a few moments, he breathed his last.
Murong Qiansong immediately dismounted and checked Jing Dehai's breathing. He was stunned. Today, he, Murong Qiansong, had lost.
"Imperial Brother, quickly get on the horse. I will escort you out of the city immediately," Murong Shaolan rode up to Murong Qiansong and whispered.
"Shaolan, we cannot escape today," Murong Qiansong closed his eyes and said.
How could they, a mere brother and sister on horseback, possibly contend against fifty thousand troops?
"Guards, seize Murong Qiansong and Murong Shaolan," the old Emperor immediately ordered.
At that moment, a group of black-clothed masked assassins descended from the sky, forming a protective barrier around Murong Qiansong and Murong Shaolan.
"It's the Vajra Death Warriors of the Dark Night Pavilion again!" Leng Ruoli said, her gaze growing cold.
"None of you will take these two away today."
The leader of the black-clothed masked assassins spoke in a gravely hoarse and extremely unpleasant voice.
"Senior Brother, what do we do?" Murong Lichen asked, his brow furrowed.
"Fight! Inject your internal energy into your swords and aim for their heads," Jun Mohan replied calmly.
With that, he drew the soft sword at his waist and injected internal energy. Murong Lichen and Yin Chen followed Jun Mohan's method, injecting internal energy into their respective swords, preparing for battle.
"Li'er, you and Commander Qin protect the Emperor of Beichen. Leave these black-clothed masked assassins to us," Jun Mohan reminded them.
"Alright, be careful then!" Leng Ruoli nodded.
Following that, Jun Mohan and Murong Lichen gripped their long swords and charged towards the black-clothed masked assassins.
Since Jun Mohan and Leng Ruoli had previously fought against these black-clothed masked assassins, they already knew their weak points were above the neck. Therefore, they did not exert much effort in their fight against them this time.
Within a few exchanges, Jun Mohan had slain several assassins, their skulls shattering with each sword strike.
Although Murong Lichen and the others were not as powerful as Jun Mohan, they could still kill two or three assassins within a few exchanges. After the battle, the group of assassins had already dwindled by over ten.
Seeing this, the leader of the black-clothed masked assassins whistled to his subordinates. Then, with lightning speed, he threw two small white balls in front of him. The other assassins did the same, and a thick white smoke instantly billowed around them.
When the smoke cleared, the assassins, along with Murong Qiansong and Murong Shaolan, had vanished. However, what everyone failed to notice was that Jun Mohan and Yin Chen had also disappeared.
Half an incense stick's time later, these assassins appeared in a forest with the Murong siblings.
"Alright, First Prince, we have escaped danger. Here is a letter from our master for you. You may open it yourself. We must return to report," the leader of the black-clothed masked assassins said calmly.
Then, he turned to leave with his subordinates. Unexpectedly, Jun Mohan, who had caught up from behind, shot him in the head, causing it to explode. Jun Mohan then fired several more shots. His marksmanship was extremely skilled, hitting the heads of these black-clothed masked assassins with every shot.
Because the iron masks of these assassins had openings for their eyes, noses, and mouths, hitting them with a handgun was quite easy.
When Murong Qiansong and Murong Shaolan saw these assassins being killed one after another by Jun Mohan using an unknown hidden weapon, they were immediately panicked. Murong Shaolan pulled Murong Qiansong and bolted. The remaining assassins also became more vigilant.
Jun Mohan quickly put away his handgun, drew the soft sword at his waist again, and charged forward with Yin Chen.
Within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the two of them had eliminated all the remaining assassins.
They then swiftly pursued Murong Qiansong and Murong Shaolan, capturing the siblings and bringing them back to the old Emperor. The Cold King and his consort found it difficult to intervene in the matters that followed.
Afterward, Leng Ruoli and Jun Mohan bid farewell to the old Emperor and returned to the Third Prince's residence. Murong Lichen, having many matters to attend to in the palace, did not return with the Cold King and his consort.
Upon arriving back at the Third Prince's residence, Leng Ruoli immediately rushed into the kitchen to find her little snow fox. To her surprise, when Leng Ruoli finally located the creature, it was still ravenously devouring roasted chicken in the kitchen.
She hadn't expected Murong Lichen to arrange for two chefs to roast chicken for it on the spot, allowing it to eat to its heart's content.
Leng Ruoli looked at the scene in the corner of the kitchen with a speechless expression. She counted the pile of chicken bones discarded on the ground; there were sixteen. The two chefs, each holding a chicken, were sweating profusely.
"Get out of here!"
"Little snow fox, haven't you eaten enough after finishing all the chickens in the Third Prince's residence?" Leng Ruoli asked with great helplessness.
The little snow fox shook its small head upon hearing this, said nothing, and continued eating.
Leng Ruoli: "..."
"I'm leaving tonight. Are you coming with us?"
Leng Ruoli could only resort to her trump card.
With that, Leng Ruoli immediately left the kitchen, ignoring the little snow fox.
The little snow fox immediately dropped the roasted chicken in its mouth, its cheeks bulging, and said, "Master, I want to go with you. You can't leave me behind."
After saying that, it snatched the half-cooked roasted chicken prepared by the two chefs and hurried after Leng Ruoli. However, because it had eaten too much, it was running with great difficulty, tumbling and scrambling. It took a long time before it finally caught up with Leng Ruoli.
"Mas-master, wait for me. I'll go back with you too... You can take me back into your spatial grassland," the little snow fox said, panting heavily from exhaustion.
At this moment, Leng Ruoli suddenly stopped, glanced at the little snow fox with a look of disgust, and after a moment, unable to bear leaving the creature behind, she waved her sleeve and took it into her spatial realm.
In the middle of the night, after Leng Ruoli and Jun Mohan had eaten their fill and tidied up their belongings, they prepared to depart from the Beichen Kingdom on Jun Mohan's flood dragon, taking advantage of the ink-black night.
"Li'er, have you all put on enough clothes?" Jun Mohan asked concernedly.
As the wind was strong and the temperature lower when they ascended into the sky on the flood dragon, they needed to wear more clothes.
Leng Ruoli: "I'm ready!"
Yin Chen and Chu Mingxuan: "We are also ready."
Jun Mohan: "Then let's set off!"
Subsequently, Jun Mohan injected ninety percent of his internal energy into his soft sword, transforming it into a flood dragon. The group boarded swiftly, and the flood dragon soared into the sky, flying towards the Tianwu Kingdom.