Too Many Intruders

“It’s probably going to be your biggest project, right?”

“It definitely will be. The scale far surpasses my past creations, and I will need to create an actual space that must be used and worked in. Not to mention that I need to build it in a way that will allow for easy extensions in the future. It must be perfect”

Inside a blocky carriage pulled by two horses made of stone, two figures were calmly discussing, sitting opposite from one another.

The second to speak was currently playing with a ring adorning his ring finger.

After a long time of thinking things over and preparing, Haoyu felt ready to tackle the creation of the great farm behind his husband’s residence. It was important for him to succeed in creating a structure that was truly exceptional.

Haoyu normally did not dare to use the term ‘perfect’, as it was the kind of word that could make an artist like himself go mad. However, in this case, ‘perfect’ would be achieved as long as Anoteros liked it.

The disciple of Labyrinth Palace didn’t know why, but building for the sake of someone else instead of simply building for the sake of it felt different, and there couldn’t be anyone better to build for than his beloved husband.

Haoyu had been doing his best to learn and progress, so that he would be able to permanently move into Edrick’s residence and live alongside the other wives. Although he was grateful to be allowed to pursue his cultivation and passion in the best possible place, it was hard not to long for Edrick’s tight embrace in the dead of night.

…The bedchambers of Haoyu’s husband were definitely the opposite of lonely, in that respect…

The other passenger was a rather intimidating figure.

One hundred and ninety-five centimeters tall, with broad shoulders and limbs bulging with muscles that rippled with vitality despite the apparent age of their owner… Baplo was an elder of Labyrinth Palace, the kind of architect who enjoyed piling up stone after stone with his own two hands.

It was a slower process than the more typical method used by architecture cultivators, but it had its own benefits, and it also allowed the old architect to be a strong fighter in spite of his non-combat specialisation.

With his bushy grey beard, bald head, and stone-grey eyes, the elder looked intimidating–Yet his typical way of acting went against the impression he initially gave off.

He was here because Edrick had naturally made sure to inform everyone he knew that visiting him or otherwise going out in public while being associated with him might be dangerous due to the assassins currently after him.

Thus, Haoyu had gotten himself a premium bodyguard for this trip. He would remain at the residence for a while during the construction, so a bodyguard was only necessary on the way there.

It was a good thing that Baplo wasn’t actually as intimidating as he looked, since Haoyu was unfamiliar with him to begin with. The elder’s way of doing architecture was quite far removed from the Foppoof, who obviously couldn’t replicate such strength-requiring methods. He had thus never really received any direct guidance from Baplo.

On the other hand, although he expertly concealed it beneath a regular expression, Baplo was still rather shocked. Ever since Haoyu had become the sixth wife of Anoteros, it had become common knowledge that he had never been a girl and had, in fact, always been a Foppoof.

Baplo, like many others, was taken aback by this revelation. Especially the sizable number of male disciples who had had a crush on Haoyu, or had even tried to court him before. The elder had believed himself to be quite perceptive. He took pride in his senses since he was one of the few members of Labyrinth Palace who could actually fight, but he had never even noticed something weird about the star prodigy of the sect.

…He supposed that the initial impression had been convincing enough, and after that, there had never been any reason to suspect anything. Not like the elder often scrutinised disciples, anyway…

Regardless, Foppoof or not, it was an immense opportunity that Haoyu had opened for the sect by becoming a wife of Anoteros. As such, Baplo couldn’t allow even a single hair on the Foppoof’s head to be touched on the way there.

“I do remember Hulber and I building a barn back in the day with–Oh, and it seems like the Young Master was correct… We have some company”

“By the heavens…”

“Don’t worry, Haoyu. It doesn’t seem like they sent their best–At least I hope this isn’t their best”

The elder chuckled as he swiftly got out of the carriage and shut the door firmly behind him.

The carriage was actually a big block of hollow stone with wheels. It was a construct he had made with his own bare hands, and was thus imbued with decades–If not more–Of architectural mastery.

He casually dusted his shoulders before speaking.

“I already sensed all six of you. Come on out”

As he spoke, he stepped forward into the open field by the side of the road, and it did not take long until six figures revealed themselves as they removed their invisibility.

“The Young Master was right. Your invisibility is quite pathetic”

“Silence!”

One of the assassins shouted, but none of them actually advanced on the elder. They knew well that old cultivators were menaces, and they weren’t well-informed enough to actually know who exactly he was.

They knew that one of Edrick’s Foppoof wives was inside the carriage, but they had no idea if her bodyguard came from the same sect or not.

“Are you not ashamed of allowing filthy Samelinism?”

“Oh, buying time, are we?”

The old architect didn’t fall for one of the oldest tricks in the book, and neither did he feel like having a back-and-forth, so he drove his fist straight through the chest of the assassin who had just spoken.

The masked man didn’t even seem to realise his heart, lungs, and rib cage had been destroyed. He just went limp without making a sound.

“Shit! Attack at the same time!”

The five other assassins surged forward, only to see the corpse of their fellow–Who had still been held up by the fist through his chest–Turn to stone and be launched at another one of them.

The struck assassin was split in half by the shock.

The other four assassins didn’t fare much better. Two of them had their skulls crushed before they could react. One swung his blade with all his might, only to see his weapon bounce off and for brutal vibrations to spread through his body.

The bones in his arms and hands were covered in cracks… This was a typical injury when one used excessive force against a solid object they had no chance of damaging.

He was punched once, which caused his neck to snap on the spot.

As for the last assassin, he tried to run away, but was hit by a fellow of his who turned to stone. His spine broke, and he died whilst paralysed on the ground.

The elder sighed and very casually grabbed an invisible blade between his thumb and pinky.

“When I said I could sense all six, I was just baiting, you know?”

The seventh assassin didn’t even have time to register the words properly before his neck was seized and, with a brutal clench, crushed the flesh and muscles right up against the vertebrae.

‘Looks like they were of the same strength as the second wave of assassins the Young Master described… That sect is going to lose disciples in droves’