C1

Great Yang Empire, Cyan Plains, Black Tortoise City.

The Black Tortoise Mansion. The towering pagoda gave off an inviolable feeling of majesty. The long corridor's silk curtains lightly rippled, light and empty, yet it could not conceal the dark killing intent in the air.

At this time of the night, the sky was dim, and the crescent moons were slightly lit up. However, the Black Tortoise manor was still brightly lit and magnificent.

Abruptly, a black shadow sprang out from the darkness of the manor wall. A man in black clothes covered his face, and a cold light flashed in his eyes. Although he was short, his movements were nimble. With a few rises and falls, he arrived at the main hall of the Black Tortoise manor.

He raised his head and looked at the sign in the hall. The three golden words, "Hidden Dragon Hall", reflected the light from the lamp. There were shadows of people outside the hall. Nearly a hundred guards dressed in purple were patrolling back and forth, their expressions serious.

The black clothed man only paused for a moment before turning into a shadow and dashing into the Hidden Dragon Hall. Wherever they went, the guards in purple felt as if they had been hit in the head by a baton, falling to the ground one by one.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

In the blink of an eye, the several hundred guards in front of the Hidden Dragon Hall all fell to the ground. The silhouette of the man in black also stopped in front of the door of the Hidden Dragon Hall. He stopped his cultivation and without any hesitation, he pushed open the door and stepped inside.

Entering the hall, the black-clothed man waved both of his arms, and two gusts of cold wind rose from his sleeves. The surrounding bronze lamp was instantly extinguished, and the hall sank into darkness. The man in black then bowed and cupped his fists, "Servant Wu Fu greets Master Hou!" His voice was gravelly, cutting into his eardrums like a knife in the darkness.

As soon as his voice fell, the curtain made from crossed Sky Worm Silk, which was laid on a red carved dragon bed in the Hidden Dragon Hall, slowly opened. With a light tap on the bed, flames lit up, and a youth sat up on the bed. His red python robe was loose and draped over his shoulders, and beside him were two beautiful girls who didn't know what to do. There was no trace of happiness or anger on the youngster's face. His pitch-black eyes did not have a single trace of brilliance. It was as if he was a terrifying black hole.

This red-robed youth was about seventeen or eighteen years old. He had sharp eyebrows and a pair of jade-like lips. He was the Great Yang Empire's Duke of the Black Tortoise — Jun Lin Yue.

Passing the barrel of the fire in his hand forward, Jun Lanyue looked at Wu Fu with an unfriendly expression and said,

"Wu Fu, you dog slave, how dare you trespass into my chamber late at night. Do you want to rebel?"

Unexpectedly, this Wu Fu didn't panic in the slightest. He raised his head and looked straight at Jun Lin Yue, his hoarse voice once again reverberating in the great hall.

"Reporting to the duke, this servant has two important things to say. "Firstly, you have come to bid farewell to the Marquis and secondly, to send you off to the West on the orders of the Madam!"

Without any hesitation, Wu Fu said these words and walked towards the bed with murderous eyes.

With a single sentence, he sent the Marquis to the west like a stone thrown into water, causing a huge wave in the Hidden Dragon Hall. The two young girls beside Jun Lanyue acted as if they had seen a ghost. Their pupils contracted and their breaths quickened, wanting to shout in alarm. However, they realized that they couldn't make a single sound.

When he looked at Jun Linyue again, the anger from earlier had long disappeared from his face. He got out of bed and said meaningfully:

"Wu Fu, stop talking nonsense. The First Madam has always doted on this marquis. How could she let you kill this marquis?"

Wu Fu walked step by step to the bedside, stared at Jun Bluemoon and said disdainfully,

Oh right, the first wife also sent a message to Master Hou, saying that I should be satisfied with my three years of service and enjoy my glory. After Master Hou dies, third young master will agree to let you take over his position so Master Hou can rest in peace.

Wu Fu's black robes fluttered in the wind, as a powerful force gushed forth from him. He lifted his right hand, and directly slammed it towards Jun Lin Yue. This palm strike was as powerful as a thousand kilograms, piercing through the air, and brought along the wind from Li Jun's palms as it flew towards Jun Lin Yue's head.

"AHH!" "Ahhh!"

The maid cried out in alarm. Just when Jun Lin Yue was about to be crushed to death by Wu Fu's palm. Jun Linyue smiled in ridicule, as both of his fingers formed a sword incantation. A ray of light shot out from the sleeves of his python robe, and as the wind blew, it transformed into a long sword. The sword edge sliced through Wu Fu's palm, piercing through his palm, and then, under his incredulous gaze, pierced through his chest. The black blade flew in a circle in the air before gradually fading into the shape of the sword. Then, it quietly slipped back into Jun Lanyue's sleeve as if it had a spiritual consciousness.

At this moment, it was as if time had stopped. The two young girls' eyes were like bells as they lay paralyzed on the bed. As for that Wu Fu, he only saw a transparent hole in his chest, fresh blood flowing out from it, surprise and fear written all over his eyes.

"Haha, this is the defensive profound artifact given to me by eldest uncle — — Mo Yujian, Wu Fu. I'm afraid you're overestimating yourself today!"

Jun Lanyue sneered as he looked playfully at Wu Fu, whose facial features were bleeding profusely.

Wu Fu widened his eyes as he glared daggers at Jun Lin Yue. He was unwilling, uncertain, and infuriated.

"How... How... How could this be possible … You are... Yes... Profound Practitioners... You... "You!" Large amounts of blood spurted out from Wu Fu's mouth. It was as if all his energy had been drained from his body. He could no longer bear the pressure and fell to the ground, dead with resentment.

Knowing that Wu Fu was dead, Jun Lanyue walked forward slowly. With a face as hard as steel, he walked barefoot to Wu Fu's corpse and muttered,

"Madame, why do you have to force me to do this? This position is mine, no one can take it away from me. He can't, you can't either. Who dares to think about my position, I will make him wish he were dead!" With that, he flipped his palm, and a ball of fire appeared in his hand. With a wave of his hand, the flame flew towards the corpse. In the blink of an eye, the overweeningly arrogant Wu Fu was reduced to a pile of ashes.

After the flame was extinguished. Jun Lanyue suddenly discovered that something within the pile of ashes had not been burned down. This confused him. After a moment of hesitation, he waved his sleeve and scattered the ashes. Then, he bent down and picked up the two items.

In his hand was a black box and an unknown book. He wanted to open it and take a look, but then he heard footsteps getting closer and closer to the entrance of the Hidden Dragon Hall. Jun Lin Yue hastily went to the bed and hid the two items in a secret compartment under the collapsed bed.

After hiding himself, Jun Lin Yue saw the two young girls on the bed trembling as they knelt on the bed, kowtowing to him as they pleaded:

"Lord Hou, have mercy!"

"Lord Hou, have mercy!"

Jun Lanyue stood in front of the bed, looking at the two girls. He extended his hands to lift their chins, gently stroking their delicate faces as he faintly said:

"Looks like all of you are very smart. You know what you shouldn't have heard, and you know what you shouldn't have seen. It's just that this marquis' secret, how can others know about it? " With that, killing intent flashed in his eyes. With a move of his two hands, he clutched around the necks of the two young girls. Before he could even let out a wail, the two maids had already perished.

After a short while, the main door of the Hidden Dragon Hall was smashed open. Dozens of guards rushed in with torches, followed by a group of servants. They surrounded the bed so that not even a drop of water could trickle through. A middle-aged man dressed in purple said:

"Subordinate Pang Yuanqing has arrived late and deserves to die a thousand times, please punish me!" After speaking, he didn't even bother to bow as he stared directly at Jun Bluemoon. That expression was extremely calm, so calm that it seemed to be filled with disdain.

Jun Linyue sat on the bed, closing his eyes in thought. Suddenly, the evil intent in his eyes retracted and his face turned ashen, as if he had transformed into a different person. He glared angrily at Pang Yuanqing who was standing there without saluting, then suddenly stood up and shouted:

"Pang Yuanqing, how did you become the commander of the Golden Scale Guard!?" You actually allowed an assassin to slip into my chamber. If something were to happen to me, it wouldn't be a pity even if you die a hundred times. This marquis will give you three days to catch the assassin, or you can raise your head and see him! Also, go to the outer court and receive a hundred staff punishment as punishment for your negligence today. Scram! "All of you, scram!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes!" Pang Yuanqing immediately turned around and left. The guards followed him out of the Hidden Dragon Hall one after another.

But very quickly, what came from outside the hall wasn't a miserable scream, but waves of unrestrained laughter. When Jun Lanyue heard the voices outside the hall, he couldn't help but feel infuriated. He clenched his hands tightly, completely unaware of the fact that his ten fingers had pierced into his flesh. However, he soon regained his calm. Looking at the servants standing in front of him with their heads lowered, he ordered:

"The two maids behind me, in order to save my unlucky death, can be considered to have done well. Carry them out, and give some silver to their families!"

The four servants stood up and carried the already dead maids out of the Hidden Dragon Hall.

Following which, Jun Lin Yue opened his mouth and said:

"Tang An, Zhao Huai will stay behind. Everyone else can leave!"

"Yes sir!"

Following the call of a servant, all of the servants in the Hidden Dragon Hall retreated, leaving behind only two young servants. They stood there with faces full of suspicion as they looked at Jun Linyue.

Clang!

The door of the Hidden Dragon Hall was tightly shut, and the bronze lamp was once again lit. It was just that the blood mark on the ground was very eye-catching.

Sitting on the bed, Jun Lin Yue's face was as cold as ice. Taking a deep breath, he asked the slightly taller servant standing in front of him in a low voice,

"Tang An, how is the investigation I asked you to investigate?"

"Replying to young master …" Tang An whispered something into Jun Lin Yue's ear.

"Is that true?" Jun Lanyue sighed as though deep in thought.

"Master Hou, this blood …" Zhao Huai looked at the bloody marks on the ground, then stepped forward and asked.

"Don't ask, just clean it up." Jun Linyue had no time to bother with this young servant, hence he casually gave orders.

The two of them quietly cleaned up the bloodstain on the ground. He then stood motionlessly in front of the bed, waiting for orders.