Chapter 373 - 224: Assassination

Chapter 373: Chapter 224: Assassination

A cold glint of light suddenly appeared from the roof, stabbing down violently.

Bao Lingyun didn’t hesitate for a second, rolling his body to the side.

PFFT!

A flash of sword light stabbed right where he had just been lying.

If he had still been there, his throat would have been pierced by the sword light.

Bao Lingyun leaped up. With no blade in hand, he used his hand as a knife, chopping through the air.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

His vision filled with sword light, obscuring the figure of his attacker.

His hand-blade clashed with the sword light, creating a series of ringing clangs.

In a flash, the two figures met and broke apart.

Bao Lingyun finally got a clear look at his ambusher.

It was a human completely shrouded in a black robe, holding a longsword.

The opponent was forced back several steps by his ferocious power.

Bao Lingyun snorted coldly. ’With such meager strength, he dares to assassinate me?’

’How utterly foolish!’

He took a step forward, about to capture the assassin.

As for calling the guards—

’What a joke. An assassin like this doesn’t warrant calling the guards.’

’I, Bao Lingyun, can deal with him myself!’

Just as he took a step, Bao Lingyun suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest and abdomen.

The spot where Su Mu had injured him earlier that day began to throb again from the sudden exertion.

Normally, such a minor pain would be nothing to him.

But now, his movements faltered for just an instant, and the assassin opposite him seized the opportunity.

A flash of sword light shot toward him like a shooting star.

Bao Lingyun instinctively tried to dodge, but the pain from his wound slowed his movements by a fraction.

PFFT!

The longsword instantly pierced through his palm.

At the same time, the assassin kicked him right in his wound.

Excruciating pain surged through him, and Bao Lingyun’s vision went black.

Before he could react further, the longsword had pierced his throat.

Bao Lingyun’s eyes widened. He threw a heavy punch that slammed into the opponent’s chest, sending them flying backward.

He clutched his throat, his eyes filled with rage.

Although his throat was pierced, for a demon of his caliber, it wasn’t a fatal wound.

"You—deserve to die!"

Bao Lingyun yelled indistinctly.

Suddenly, he saw the figure before him dissolve into a pool of blood.

"Huh? Dead?"

Bao Lingyun was stunned.

’Did my last punch just turn him into a puddle of blood?’

’That shouldn’t be possible.’

’Did my strength have a breakthrough?’

’This assassin’s strength is less than mine, but he’s still an expert.’

’Even when I’m uninjured, a single punch shouldn’t be enough to kill an expert of his level.’

’Unless my own power has broken through.’

’Could it be that my fight with Su Mu really helped me break through my bottleneck?’

Bao Lingyun looked at his palm with a pleasant surprise.

Just then, the pool of blood on the ground began to coalesce back into a human figure.

PFFT!

The figure lunged at Bao Lingyun.

Bao Lingyun was completely unprepared for this, still lost in the joy of his supposed cultivation breakthrough.

By the time he reacted, the longsword had already plunged into the center of his brow, exiting through the back of his head.

"You—"

Bao Lingyun’s eyes bulged, filled with utter disbelief.

He couldn’t believe he would actually die at the hands of an assassin!

BANG!

The assassin gave him no chance to speak.

He raised a hand and smashed Bao Lingyun’s massive head into smithereens.

With such an injury, no matter how high Bao Lingyun’s cultivation was, survival was impossible.

After doing all this, the assassin flickered and dashed outside.

"Emergency! The Thirteenth Prince has been assassinated!"

He hadn’t gotten far before he heard a loud shout.

Immediately after, a powerful aura surged toward him from behind.

He turned and thrust his sword, only to see a demon’s claw slam down on the blade.

CRACK! The longsword shattered into pieces.

Then, the claw continued its momentum and struck the assassin.

BOOM!

The assassin’s body violently exploded.

The force of the explosion flattened everything within a hundred feet. A demon stumbled back two steps, looking somewhat disheveled.

The demon frowned as he looked at the wreckage.

’This assassin was so resolute he chose to self-destruct?!’

After confirming that not even bones remained of the assassin, the demon turned and flew back into Thirteenth Prince Bao Lingyun’s palace.

A group of demons was gathered around Bao Lingyun’s body, at a complete loss.

Suddenly, a red glow burst forth from Bao Lingyun’s corpse. The light enveloped the body and quickly formed a massive cocoon.

"Lord Yin—"

The demons all bowed when they saw the one who had returned from chasing the assassin.

Their expressions were full of terror.

The Thirteenth Prince had been killed. As his guards, they could not escape the blame.

But the demon, Lord Yin, did not blame them.

"What a pity."

Lord Yin said, "The Thirteenth Prince’s substitute Divine Technique was wasted on a human assassin.

All of you, withdraw. The Thirteenth Prince will take eighty-one days to resurrect. I will personally act as his Dharma Protector here."

The Thirteenth Prince’s substitute Divine Technique only granted one chance at resurrection. If it was interrupted, he would truly be dead for good.

The Saint Venerable and the National Preceptor have high hopes for the Thirteenth Prince. We cannot allow anything to truly happen to him.

「...」

Lv Lake left the Da Xuan Embassy in a drunken stupor. Just as he returned home, a demon acquaintance came looking for him.

"Did you hear? The Thirteenth Prince was assassinated!"

the demon said gossiping.

"What?"

Lv Lake was so shocked he sobered up instantly.

"How is the Thirteenth Prince now?"

Lv Lake asked in a grave voice.

"Dead."

the demon said. "But the Thirteenth Prince has a substitute Divine Technique and can be resurrected once.

Lord Yin is guarding the Thirteenth Prince right now."

"What kind of assassin could kill the Thirteenth Prince?"

Lv Lake’s first thought was of Su Mu.

’But that’s impossible.’

Su Mu had been drinking with them all night. He had absolutely no opportunity to assassinate the Thirteenth Prince.

’But besides Su Mu, who else has the ability to kill the Thirteenth Prince?’

"I heard it was a human, but Lord Yin killed him on the spot."

the demon said.

Lv Lake frowned. Although it all sounded reasonable, for some reason, he still felt that something wasn’t quite right.

Su Mu had just defeated the Thirteenth Prince during the day, and then the Thirteenth Prince was assassinated that night.

’Is this really a coincidence?’

Based on his understanding of Su Mu, after the Thirteenth Prince had schemed against him so thoroughly, Su Mu would never just swallow his anger.

The fact that Su Mu let the Thirteenth Prince go during the day already seemed out of character to Lv Lake.

’Is tonight’s assassination really related to Su Mu or not?’

Lv Lake wondered to himself.

’But everyone from the Da Xuan Envoy was here tonight, except for that Zhu Jiuyuan.’

’The assassin couldn’t possibly be old Zhu Jiuyuan, who can barely walk, could he?’

’Besides the people from the Da Xuan Envoy, there are no other humans here in the Demon Court.’

After thinking for a while, Lv Lake shook his head with a wry smile. ’Why am I thinking so much about this? I’m just a lowly Demon Investigator. What does the Thirteenth Prince’s assassination have to do with me?’

’Does it matter to me if the assassin was from the Da Xuan Envoy?’

「...」

At almost the same time, Tushan Hanyu and Niu Zhong also received the news.

The two of them had the same thought as Lv Lake, immediately thinking of Su Mu.

But they quickly realized that Su Mu had been with them all night and had no time to act.

Besides, the assassin had already been killed by Lord Yin, so it was no longer their concern.

The news of Thirteenth Prince Bao Lingyun’s assassination spread quickly through the Demon Court, and then... nothing followed.

After all, the assassin was dead, and everyone from the Da Xuan Envoy was at the embassy.

When the news reached the Da Xuan Embassy, Qianyun Mountain, Huo Zhen Court, and Zhuang Bufan were all dumbfounded.

"I say, Lord Su, is your friend Jing Ke always this efficient? Why didn’t you tell us he was here in the Demon Court?"

Huo Zhen Court couldn’t help but exclaim, "If we had known he was in the Demon Court, we would have met with him first.

It’s a shame he was killed by the Demon Court.

To never have the chance to meet such a heroic figure... what a pity, what a lament."

Qianyun Mountain looked at Su Mu with some suspicion.

He vaguely recalled that back at Hujue Pass, Su Mu seemed to have used some kind of Physical Divine Technique, though he hadn’t seen it clearly at the time.

"Jing Ke is dead, so what about the reward?"

Zhuang Bufan suddenly asked.

"I will give the reward to his family."

Su Mu said lightly, "Although he is dead, Bao Lingyun is also dead. Brother Zhuang, you’re not planning on backing out of the deal, are you?"