"Ho…you seemed prepared for this."
I couldn't help but smile. Unfortunately for them, I had already sensed their presences long ago. They might have been keeping their distance, not wanting to spy on me and Lan Bei Er the same way Huang Wan Hai did, but at the very least they had been keeping an eye on their charge and ensuring she didn't run out of their sight.
Their duty was to protect the seventh princess, after all. I doubted it mattered to them if she was in the wrong. They just had to ensure she didn't lose her life.
However, I wasn't going to let them take my life either. I was a living person with my own dreams and sentient will. Why the fuck would I let people kill me for no good reason? It was one thing if I was asked to sacrifice my life to save other people (though that would make me an awful demonic cultivator or villain), but there was no way I was going to consent to dying at a spoilt royal princess's convenience.
So I was going to fight back as best as I could, even if the opponent was the royal guard.
As they descended upon my position, I sank into the shadows and appeared elsewhere. They hit the ground and spun around, their swords flashing and their eyes darting about. They could trace my qi and track the shadow from which I would emerge from. Already they were springing forward.
Fortunately, I had anticipated that and was preparing a counterattack of my own. Drawing my Hou Yi bow, I conjured six black arrows and unleashed them.
"Watch out!"
"What's this technique?!"
"Arrows?!"
The six royal guard who had attacked me were blasted away by the arrows, which lit up as if they were miniature suns. Engulfed by black flames, the poor royal guards fell onto the ground and rolled about, cursing in pain. Blood dripped from their mouths and their flesh and robes were scorched by the intense fire.
They tried to get up, only to crash back down because of the raw agony and also probably because of heavy internal injuries. They cursed and grunted incoherently, fumbling about. I watched them impassively, then turned away.
"What?! How!?" Huang Wan Hai was staring at her downed royal guard in disbelief. She turned to stare at me with wide eyes. "How did you defeat all six of them in one go?"
"Because I'm strong and they're weak?" I shrugged. I wasn't sure how else to explain it. It was the only reason that made sense.
"What…how…?"
"I'm pretty much peak Innate Realm. Your royal guard are mid level Innate Realm at best. Normally they should be able to give me a much harder time and even have a possibility of winning, but I took them by surprise." I glanced at my Hou Yi bow and put it back in my spatial pouch. Evidently none of them expected me to pull out a bow and shoot them with arrows. If they knew what was coming, they would have avoided them.
Unfortunately for them, I had caught them entirely by surprise. Otherwise it wouldn't have gone as smoothly as right now. There wouldn't be a repeat of this next time…if they were to attack again, they would know what to expect.
Perhaps I had been too hasty in revealing my trump card…but what was the fucking point of having a bow if I didn't use it? I didn't use it during the intersect tournament. I bet my Hou Yi bow was just begging to be used.
Anyway, with the real threat down, I approached the stricken seventh princess.
"So this is how the royalty act? Oppressive tyrants who kill people for defending themselves? We should die because you want us to die? And if I fight back, you'll set your royal guard on me? Six versus one? How very honorable and prideful of royalty."
"D…don't you dare insult royalty!"
"Oh, I'm not insulting royalty. My good friend is a prince. That's the only reason why you're still alive right now – because you're his sister. But I'm insulting you. Because you deserve it."
"I…I…!" Huang Wan Hai spluttered and pointed her spear at me. Unfortunately, she didn't have the strength to thrust her weapon in my direction. She ended up coughing out a mouthful of blood and doubling over. I stared at her, my gaze bereft of any sympathy.
"But I might just kill you after all, since you clearly want my life."
"You…you dare?!"
"Why wouldn't I?" I barked out harsh laughter. "Who in this world would willingly die? Everyone wants to live. Why would I be any exception? Should I happily let you kill me just because you're royalty? What kind of logic is that? The royal family exists to serve the people. If they are tyrants who abuse their power, the heavens will punish them by causing disasters and laying waste to the kingdom. The heavenly mandate will be passed to another person, who will in turn become the new Emperor and lead the kingdom to prosperity."
"Heavenly mandate? Why do you know about that!?" Huang Wan Hai turned pale. I scowled. Why wouldn't I know about that? Every history student knew about that. And I studied history in great detail.
"Husband, I think we should leave it here. We have evidence that we can submit to his majesty the Emperor if he opens up a query into this." Lan Bei Er landed beside me, hoolding a recording crystal. Well, it was actually a recording mirror, with the reflective crystal designed to double as a mirror in addition to its recording function.
"Yes, if you say so, wife." I nodded. Then I frowned. "So we just let her off like this?"
"That's right." Lan Bei Er turned toward the royal guard. By now they had recovered enough and were clambering back to their feet. That didn't mean they were taking their injuries lightly, however, and so they paused to listen to my wife. "Is that all right? My husband will spare your lives. In return, you will all testify before his majesty the Emperor and tell him nothing but the truth. And I mean the truth. You will be our eyewitnesses and testify that it was her highness the seventh princess who wilfully attacked my husband and tried to kill him first. He was only fighting in self-defense."
"I don't think we have a choice, do we?" One of the royal guards said with a wry smile.
"You're showing us mercy in return for us telling the truth?" A second royal guard said. "Basically, you're sparing our lives so that we will do the right thing? That's something we should be obligated to do from the start."
"We agree," a third royal guard declared.
"You…you…!" Huang Wan Hai spluttered, outraged, only to be silenced when the six royal guard glared at her.
"Your highness, our duty is to protect you, not to hide your lies or help you with your corruption. Besides, you have no authority over us. We answer only to his majesty your father."
"Ugh!" The seventh princess cursed in a very unprincess-like manner, but the royal guard ignored her. They seemed used to her spoilt behavior…and ignoring it.
"Speaking of which," a fourth royal guard spoke up. "Why don't we all travel together? We are all heading to the imperial capital anyway, so we might as well travel together."
"You've got to be kidding me!" Huang Wan Hai almost shrieked. Everyone stared at her, and then returned to conversing, as if she didn't exist. She stomped on her foot, and then doubled over from her internal injuries. The kick I gave her must have caused quite a bit of damage. Even so, it didn't stop her from whining. "Hey!"
"What do you think?" I asked my wife. Lan Bei Er considered for a moment before nodding.
"Sounds like a good idea." She turned to the royal guard and bowed. "We'll be counting on you then."
"Same here, same here."
"Are you guys going to ignore my opinion?!" Huang Wan Hai whined, stomping her foot again. We did exactly just that, pretending that she was nothing more than thin air. That only infuriated her further.
"We'll set off tomorrow then. We'll contact you then." The royal guard nodded and left. One of them picked up the struggling Huang Wan Hai under his arm and jumped away, paying no attention to the seventh princess even as she thrashed about wildly. His grip on her waist was far too strong. He wasn't going to let her go no matter what.
I watched them go and then turned back to my wife. "Let's go back to sleep."
"All right."
The next morning, we had breakfast, gathered everything and prepared the heavenly carriage for the next part of the journey. We were about to set off when the royal guard showed up as promised, arriving with their own carriage.
"Let's move together."
"Understood."
The royal guard and the seventh princess had their own horses and stuff, but they also had a lot of Kirin. They didn't just have two like the Lan family did…they had twelve.
Holy heavens…then again, what did you expect? This was the royal family we were talking about here. As for their horses, they left them in the city we had temporarily stopped over.
"We usually just buy new horses at the cities we are in and sell them once we are done. Or rent them." One of the royal guard was kind enough to offer an explanation.
"That sounds…expensive."
"I won't deny that it isn't, but we can afford it."
Yeah, well…they were the royal family, after all.
We boarded our respective carriages and set off. As usual, we had to spend the entire day cooped up in our carriages, soaring through the skies. I spent whatever time we had reading and studying, practicing formation techniques and stuff. I also wanted to practice my archery techniques and consolidate my cultivation now that I had reached peak Innate Realm and six arrows for the Nine Suns Slaying Arrow, but I needed a range for that. A more open space. I couldn't exactly swing a sword or shoot arrows inside the narrow confines of a carriage, could I? I mean, I could, but I would end up destroying it, hurting the passengers inside – including my wife – and falling to the ground below.
By now, we should have flying techniques…I wondered if I could just ride on my sword and fly over, but…never mind.
Before I knew it, day turned to night, and the royal guard set their carriages down. Our chauffeur followed their example, and we landed in another city that was near the royal capital. The imperial capital should be another two days away by my estimation.
"We're close," Lan Bei Er said somewhat enthusiastically. I nodded, though I couldn't muster the excitement. I was only going there to refuse the engagement, after all.
We booked rooms in an inn for my wife and me, our chauffeur and staff, as well as the entire royal convoy serving as the seventh princess's escort. In addition to the six royal guard, she had an entourage of maidservants as well, each of them competent cultivators at the Core Formation Realm. At least two of them were at the Acquired Realm. Not bad.
Nothing compared to the Innate Realm royal guard, but still a pretty potent force that was above the usual families. As expected of the entourage following a royal princess.
"All right, we'll see you tomorrow," the royal guard told me. I nodded and waved in greeting. Then I proceeded to the huge courtyard at the back of the inn to train.
"Are you really going to train?" Lan Bei Er asked, raising an eyebrow. I nodded.
"I should use this opportunity to consolidate my cultivation realm and make sure my archery skills are up to par. I'm still not that…confident in them yet, so I had best practice as much as possible."
"Don't overwork yourself," Lan Bei Er reminded me. "I'll get dinner ready when you're done."
"Thanks." I smiled at her gratefully and then began my training. Halfway through it, though, I noticed something.
Someone was stalking the inn, but this time neither Lan Bei Er nor I was the target.
The target, it seemed, was the seventh princess.