The night was dark and gloomy. After finishing her work at the medical clinic, Leng Ruoli, along with her two maids and two guards, got into a carriage to return to the Cold King's mansion.
Their carriage trotted along the streets back to the Cold King's mansion. Inside, Leng Ruoli was recounting various amusing incidents from the day at the clinic to her two young maids.
As the three were chatting excitedly, the two horses pulling their carriage suddenly reared up on their forelegs, neighed, and braked sharply. This sent the mistress and her servants inside the carriage tumbling into a corner.
"Ye Wu, Ye Liu, what's going on outside?" Leng Ruoli asked, frowning, addressing the two guards outside who were driving the horses for them.
"Your Highness Consort, someone has suddenly blocked our path ahead. My subordinates observed that their attire suggests they are not here with good intentions," Ye Wu replied truthfully.
Upon hearing this, Leng Ruoli lifted the carriage curtain and peered outside. Indeed, a line of people stood in front of their carriage. They were all clad in golden-threaded jade armor and black clothing, wearing hawk-beaked masks. Leng Ruoli counted ten of them.
"Ye Wu, Ye Liu, prepare for battle. Xing'er, Ling'er, hide inside the carriage and do not come out."
Leng Ruoli finished her warning to the two guards and then sternly instructed her two maids.
"Yes, Your Highness Consort!" the four replied in unison.
Immediately, Leng Ruoli leaped off the carriage, followed closely by Ye Wu and Ye Liu. Xing'er and Ling'er crouched down, but they still peeked outside through the gaps in the carriage curtain.
After dismounting, Leng Ruoli walked forward a few steps.
"Who exactly are you? Why are you blocking our carriage's path?"
Leng Ruoli looked up, standing tall in the middle of the road. Her features were clear and refined, and her beauty was unparalleled. However, as she spoke, her expression was as cold as ice, and her voice was devoid of any emotion.
After she finished speaking, the armored man at the forefront replied, ignoring her question.
"You are the Cold King's Consort, aren't you? We have been lying in wait for you on this road all day and have finally found an opportunity to assassinate you."
The voice of the leading armored man was rough and chilling, like the ice of winter.
"Oh, is that so?" Leng Ruoli responded indifferently.
With that, she swiftly pulled out a miniature pistol from her sleeve pocket and fired three shots at the armored men opposite her. The only sounds that followed were three "ding, ding, ding!" noises. Those men remained standing unharmed, as if nothing had happened.
This stunned Leng Ruoli on the spot.
Good heavens!
The "golden-threaded jade armor" they wore was actually a set of "bulletproof vests."
"How do you find it? Cold King's Consort, our master long ago discovered that you possess a formidable killing weapon. Therefore, our master had someone create this jade-piece armor that is impervious to swords and blades and cannot be destroyed by gunpowder. Now, what other tricks do you have up your sleeve?"
"Haha..."
After the leading armored man finished speaking, he burst into maniacal laughter.
As they were reveling in their triumph, Leng Ruoli suddenly hurled two bombs at them.
"Boom! Boom!"
With two loud explosions, all the armored men fell to the ground.
Fortunately, nearby residents heard the commotion and no one came out to spectate. Otherwise, it would have caused panic among the common people.
This time, only three armored men managed to get up from the ground. Their eyes, like those of venomous snakes, were fixed on Leng Ruoli.
"What do you think of my 'black fire'?" Leng Ruoli asked provocatively.
"You..."
The remaining three uninjured armored men were instantly enraged and speechless.
If they hadn't quickly used their internal energy to protect themselves, they would likely have been blown to death like those lying on the ground.
"Haha..."
This time, it was Leng Ruoli's turn to laugh heartily.
However, from her conversation with the leading armored man, Leng Ruoli noticed something important: some ill-intentioned individuals seemed to have discovered the secret of using gunpowder to create weapons. Could this be related to her frequent use of explosives and bombs, which had provided inspiration to those with ulterior motives?
It seemed she would have to be more careful with her weapons in the future, especially gunpowder and bombs—weapons with strong destructive power.
At this moment, King Qing, who was hiding at the entrance of a nearby alley, saw what was happening on the street and was furious.
"Mother ordered them to be the Ten Hawk-Beaked Shadow Guards, yet the people she cultivated are a bunch of useless fools. They're not even as good as the Diamond Death Warriors trained by his maternal uncle."
King Qing was so angered by these Ten Hawk-Beaked Shadow Guards that he gritted his teeth.
But as he was fuming, the battle outside had already begun.
The remaining three uninjured armored men, the leader and two subordinates, saw their brothers of many years killed. They felt a sense of loss and immediately drew their swords and lunged at Leng Ruoli and her party. 138 Reading Network
Leng Ruoli also retrieved a sword from her spatial storage and met their attack. Ye Wu and Ye Liu also drew their swords.
"Clang, clang..."
Soon, the sounds of swords clashing against swords echoed in the air, and sparks flew from the points of impact.
Leng Ruoli engaged the leading armored man, while the remaining two were left to Ye Wu and Ye Liu to handle.
The two groups clashed fiercely for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, then separated and landed on the rooftops of the buildings on either side of the street.
Leng Ruoli immediately infused her sword with eight layers of internal energy and slashed at her opponent. The surging sword qi, like a tidal wave, washed over her opponent layer by layer. The armored man opposite her also infused his sword with internal energy. His sword seemed to come alive, trembling continuously, and then the armored man raised his sword and swung it towards Leng Ruoli.
A red light and a white light met in mid-air. As the two streams of sword qi collided, a brilliantly colorful fireworks display erupted in the dark night sky.
Immediately, Leng Ruoli swiftly infused a new stream of internal energy into her sword with her free hand.
With this new infusion of internal energy, Leng Ruoli quickly gained the upper hand. The intersection of the two sword qi began to gradually tilt towards the armored man.
Before long, Leng Ruoli's sword qi struck the armored man, causing the armor on his body to shatter piece by piece under the force of Leng Ruoli's sword qi. The fragments fell onto the rooftop, leaving him with only the black close-fitting garment he wore. Even the hawk-beaked mask on his face fell to the ground, revealing a hideous and ugly face.
The lines on his face were like earthworms crawling across it, making him look extremely disgusting.
As the man was still adjusting to the change, Leng Ruoli immediately pulled out her pistol and shot him dead.
King Qing, who was watching the scene from his hiding spot in the alley, was so enraged that a mouthful of old blood surged up from his chest.
"Zuo Qing, get me a bow and arrow. This empress dowager's son must kill this lowly girl Leng Ruoli."
King Qing's eyes blazed with anger as he gritted his teeth and roared in a low voice.
Zuo Qing initially wanted to persuade King Qing not to reveal his identity, but seeing the furious expression on King Qing's face, he knew he couldn't dissuade him. He could only obediently hand the bow and arrow to him.