You could see the clattering of two blades swinging against each other in mid-air. Feng had already heard of this from afar, as they had known, but the two couldn't care less. They knew for themselves that if they were ever dragged into any sort of trouble, they could easily get away with it just as fine.
"His royal highness is at it again, mischief...speaking of his majesty, did you not agree on yet another meeting again this evening, my lord?"Feng stiffened, but he admitted to it."It was to happen, but perhaps his majesty no longer requires me to finish up my report for the past month."
The clattering soon halted, and the sound of footsteps on the awnings(rooves)of the palace began to echo across the entirety of the imperial palace. The maid sighed in frustration, as she were to only watch and let them be.
"Oh, and please excuse his royal highness's mischievousness as of tonight, my lord. I have heard that he often trains with Ye Zai Shan inside these palace walls, and they often wear dark-hued clothes and a small layer of cloth attached to their faces. It is to prevent being recognized by outsiders who happen to be in these palace walls."
"And what do the palace guards answer when these outsiders ask?"
"They are but a crow and a raven dancing hopping from one tree to another(referring to the palace). Slightly similar, but very far in comparison."Feng was baffled, but he was reminded that it was Xiao Chen in that body."(How did he learn to do martial arts for himself, when he is but completely new to this world?)
"Well, it is unfortunate that his royal highness had attempted to commit suicide. You are not aware of this yet, yes? You have been asleep for a very long while, my lord. It must be his majesty's lucky day today, both his favored general and only son has awakened from their extended slumber!"
"This...do you not find his royal highness acting strangely from the moment he awoke?"
"Well, yes and no, my lord. The attendants knew for themselves he had attempted suicide, but it does seem he has forgotten all traces of this; which is very pleasing to hear for both the emperor and his wife, he will not be re-attempting it anytime soon."Feng was disgusted; only now did he understand why the previous prince had tried to commit suicide.
This palace was overflowing with an emotionless sack of attendants, and so were the emperor and all the rest of this family. The crown prince may have been sick of all of it, as they only really cared about the bloodline; nobody else bothered to comprehend one's emotions.
"Although...I do feel sympathy for his royal highness. The imperial family has remained this way for centuries; one must wonder how her royal highness the crown princess is dealing with the imperial family's way of living."
"We do not speak of the imperial family lightly, Shen Rie..." the guard beside her muttered. Her face remained still, and yet she chose to speak."Should we not be able to address this freely? If his royal highness hadn't forgotten everything he attempted, he would have unfortunately passed away by now.No heir would be left to handle the throne, would there be?"(The guard did not answer back...)
The echoing across the palace eventually disappeared, and yet swift steps that had touched the ground had seemingly taken their place. Ye Zai Shan had shown herself, at last."Ah, Zai Shan. We have been expecting you. Now, we must hurry. General Yan Hai will not be able to hold off the reverities for far too long.
"Rev—Rev what?"Feng questioned the maid. He had never heard such a term before, but the maid only looked at him, waiting for him to 'continue'."O-oh...right.We better get going then."The maid only looked away, and they continued their journey without any delay. While they had turned their backs on Xiao Chen watching from but the entrance of his room, he chuckled and began to make his move.
"General Feng, Ye Zai Shan! What has taken you so long?!" Yan Hai bowed shortly. His eyes were focused on Ye Zai Shan, but she did not even seem to notice him."Where are the reverities, have you managed to control them?"
"Fortunately, yes. However, if their movement towards the city keeps increasing, our defenses located here(the south)and there(the west)will eventually fall. General Sui Zhang Xie will not be able to hold on any longer, as he has sent through this letter."He handed the letter to Feng, as he unfolded the letter.
"(General She Yan Hai, we can no longer hold the reverities here at the west post. We need an immense amount of help, as the reverities have completely breached through the walls. They remain hostile towards our troops, and we are but stuck trying to minimize their numbers before they reach the city gates. Over a hundred casualties have been reported in this post alone.)"
Feng felt a rush of adrenaline running through his veins. The reverities were starting to breach through the south walls as well. He threw the paper away and ran off, as She Yan Hai snatched it before it reached the murky puddles below them; it reflected the fear in their hearts, it remained no matter how much they tried to rid of it.
"General Feng, where are you going?!"He screamed out to him in a hoarse tone, as Feng's guards tailed him. Zai Shan calmed him and assured him Feng was going to be alright. Feng had already begun to ride off to the west post; hundreds of thousands of innocent people were clearly at risk.
"Watch this post with Zai Shan. I will be back after I have dealt with the situation by the west. Be careful, don't let those reverities breach anything." he had told his guards before leaving. His guards all just seemed to look at each other in surprise, but they soon ran back to the post as the crackling noises of the walls began to get louder by the minute.
"(Wu Xiao Chen, this is not how we planned anything!)"His abdomen began to sting excruciatingly, but he had to endure it. As he got close to the west post after a few minute trips, you could hear for yourself blood-curdling screams and the sound of ravaging wolves. But, were these really wolves?
The west post was in shambles; the towers were falling apart as General Zhang Xie was floundering due to exhaustion. He looked as if he had not gotten sleep for several nights, but he chose to fight to the death with these hideous creatures." SUI ZHANG XIE, FALL BACK!" he had turned to look at Feng, but one of the reverities mercilessly pounced on him and began to devour him bit by bit.
The soldiers watched in horror, as he could no longer scream and felt numb head to toe. Feng didn't even come down from his horse, he had just unsheathed his sword and felt the urge to repay Zhang's sacrifice. His way of handling the sword was different from the previous general Feng's, but the others didn't have time to care about that; if Feng were to fall, they'd all be in peril.
The reverities were mutations, they looked like wolves, but they seemed to be thrice the size of them. Feng felt fear, but he'd rather lose his head here than let a thousand people die. He wasn't even certain if this was real, but he did not have second thoughts about his decision.
Before he had known it, his sword had been dripping with a purple, gooey substance. This was probably the reverities' blood, but without further ado, he unleashed the final blow. He had already wiped out the ones by the gate, but there was a swarm incoming. It felt hopeless, so he got down his horse. He felt an aura surge through his blood; he put the sword back into its scabbard and closed his eyes.
The soldiers watching from the towers watched in both curiosity and worry, and yet Feng remained calm. He opened his eyes, a glowing blue; he lifted his scabbard in front of him, pulling out the frosted blade. Without wasting another second, he deliberately pulled it out; slicing but the air, and yet...the battle was over.
The sword had left an impeccable trail of ice, quite literally impossible to miss. It had swept through a broad area of the forest, and the ice began to crack. The soldiers were frozen in place, unable to believe what they had just seen with their own two eyes. The ice shattered into a thousand pieces, leaving nothing but a million shards of ice of what used to be a bloodthirsty swarm of hellspawns.
"I-its...the frozen forlorn...how..."
Xiao Chen's voice interrupted the guard's gossip, as he began to call out to Feng."Feng Luo Xi, what did I tell you? It was you, wasn't it?"Feng scoffed at him, and he slowly walked up to Xiao Chen before kneeling."Your royal highness, please depart from here immediately. You are not safe here, how did you even get past the royal guards stationed at the imperial palace?"
"Ahahahaha!You really like underestimating me, don't you? Well, I mean, if it's you, I shall surely come forward!"
The soldiers' gossip halted themselves as Xiao Chen began to turn his head in different directions, looking towards each other the towers."Just look at how many of you are here, and you did not even bother to help General Feng? There are ladders on those towers, have you already forgotten?"
One of the nervous soldiers began to interrupt Xiao Chen."But your royal highness, General Feng had just performed the forbi—"
Xiao Chen pulled out a dagger and began to spin it as he interrupted, purposely letting it fly straight towards the guard's neck. It had gorged straight through his throat, instantly killing him."Oh, my sincerest apologies, who was it that dared to interrupt?"
No one dared to answer."Very well, no one? Alright then, what did everyone see today?"Once again, no one dared to speak up. They all knew that the only fate they would meet was death, nothing more."Very well then! Since General Feng's only affair here has been cleared up, I expect everyone to start cleaning up, lest we sabotage our own plans, yes?"
"As a y-you wish, your royal highness..." all their voices trembled, unable to convey anything more as Xiao Chen pulled General Feng out of the gruesome scene.
[To be continued in the next chapter, please be patient for the next one. Thank you for reading.]