'Did Emperor Jianwu—no, the Grand Ancestor of Liang—actually fail?'
Su Chen's interest was piqued. The Tree Whiskers on his body surged, and in an instant, he transformed into another person—a nameless nobody who had once died by his hand.
If Su Chen had merely seen someone, he could replicate their appearance with about seventy percent accuracy. But if his whiskers had made contact, the disguise would be seamless, perfectly mimicking even their expressions and mannerisms.
This was why, despite hiding for so long, Su Chen had never been exposed in his identity as the Pharmacy Eunuch, Xu Ge.
'The Grand Ancestor of Liang was a Grandmaster-level Great Demon Fiend, the one and only in Great Liang. How in the world did he fall at the hands of a mere child?'
Su Chen moved a little closer, straining his ears to overhear some secrets.
However, at that very moment...
Among the five red robes, a leading elder's eyes shot open in a furious glare, instantly locking onto Su Chen's hiding spot.
"Insolent!"
"What rat dares to spy on His Majesty?"
"You're courting death!"
In that instant, the Second-Grade Expert struck out with a furious palm. The faint sound of wind and thunder gathered in his strike—it was clearly some kind of powerful Second-Grade killing move.
This expert of the Second-Grade Fury Gang Realm had faintly touched upon the universal nature of First-Grade True Essence.
'I haven't even heard anything yet!'
Su Chen's face paled as he turned and fled.
The next instant, the palm strike descended with the force of wind and thunder.
"Brat, it seems you know that a Second-Grade expert like me is more than you can handle..."
The old Red Robe Eunuch let out a sinister sneer.
Seeing no escape, Su Chen surged the Jade Marrow within him and met the attack with a palm strike of his own. He didn't dare use the True Intent of his Wind Rain Sword for fear of exposing his identity, and his Thunderbolt Force was too weak to be effective in this situation.
He had no choice but to rely on the foundation of his Jade Marrow Third Grade just to stand a chance.
'I remember this old bastard's name is Mu Xuan. He took the position of the late Martial Pavilion Chief Steward, and my old spot too, becoming the second-highest Red Robe beneath the Purple Robe?'
'Back when Zhang Gui was around, this old coot would bow and scrape like a servant whenever he saw me. I never expected him to be this strong...'
Feeling the power in the opposing palm, Su Chen grimaced.
"I thought it was some formidable expert. Turns out it's just a Third Grade White Marrow..."
"Even an ordinary Second-Grade Internal Organ Expert would struggle to block that palm strike from Chief Steward Mu. A single hit would probably obliterate that Third Grade Marrow Cleansing cultivator's body."
The other Red Robe Chief Stewards all sneered.
Hearing this, the young Emperor withdrew his gaze. He had no interest in a dead man.
The two figures collided. The sound of wind and thunder from one palm met the brilliant glow of Jade Marrow from the other.
BANG!
Su Chen was sent flying.
Seeing this, Mu Xuan stroked his white beard, a triumphant look on his face.
"See?"
"A single palm from me is enough to make him cough up blood and die on the spot."
Unexpectedly, not only was Su Chen completely unharmed, but with a twist of his body in mid-air, he leaped onto a roof beam and vanished without a trace.
"Hmm?"
Mu Xuan's hand, still stroking his beard, froze in place.
'He escaped?'
The scene became slightly awkward.
The number one Red Robe Chief Steward, Mu Xuan, a Peak Second Grade expert, stared in the direction Su Chen had fled, then looked down at his own palm. He checked back and forth several times before it finally sank in, and he cried out in alarm.
"What was that all about with that kid?"
For a moment, Mu Xuan began to question his entire existence.
'What just happened? The guy was a Third Grade Marrow Cleansing, not a Second-Grade Internal Organ Expert!'
'Forget a Marrow Cleansing cultivator; even a Second-Grade Internal Organ Expert would have been howling and spitting blood, kneeling on the ground, begging me to stop.'
'But this Third Grade Marrow Cleansing practitioner took my palm strike, was completely unscathed, and then just turned and vanished without a trace.'
"Chief Steward Mu, did you... go easy on him?"
Not only were the other red robes looking at him with surprise, but even the young Emperor cast a questioning gaze his way.
"I..."
Mu Xuan's face flushed red.
'He knew better than anyone whether he had held back or not, but how could he possibly explain how he, a dignified Peak Second Grade expert and the number one Red Robe Chief Steward, had failed to capture a mere White Marrow Third Grade?'
'While the lusters of White Marrow and Jade Marrow were different under the moonlight, it was impossible to distinguish them in such a hasty exchange. Besides, the historical records of Great Liang stated that the highest possible foundation in the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm was merely Golden Marrow Third Grade.'
"That's right, I went easy on him."
"I didn't expect this White Marrow Third Grade assassin to have a few tricks. It's my fault for being careless and not using my full strength..."
"Consider him lucky he escaped so quickly."
Mu Xuan said with a cold sneer, but he hid his right hand—the one he'd struck with—behind his back. It was trembling slightly, throbbing with pain.
'This assassin is seriously strange.'
'Not only did my palm strike fail to kill him, but it made my Second-Grade Anger Gang Hand ache in pain.'
'Is this guy really a White Marrow? Are we sure he isn't the legendary Golden Marrow Third Grade?'
"So he went easy on him."
"No wonder."
"For a second there, I almost thought that assassin was a Demon on the level of the Grand Ancestor, a Golden Marrow Third Grade."
"Golden Marrow? Didn't you see clearly? Under the moonlight, the glow on that assassin brat was white. White Marrow Third Grade, the most common type..."
The red robes present were all discussing it.
The Commander of the Three Guards looked displeased, because they were all White Marrow Third Grade practitioners who followed the Path of the Body—the very "common type" the Inner Palace's Red Robe Chief Stewards were talking about.
Little did they know, Su Chen wasn't a Golden Marrow at all. He was something beyond it, the first of his kind in Great Liang: a Jade Marrow Third Grade.
"Go and fetch the coffin nails left by Master Chu."
"We'll keep things simple. We will escort the coffin to the Imperial Mausoleum today. The sooner my father is laid to rest, the better."
The young Emperor paid no mind to the so-called assassin. He pressed down firmly on the coffin lid, feeling the impacts coming from within, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
'If his "Father Emperor" wasn't put in the ground, he would be the one having his heart and liver gouged out and replaced.'
As for the chaos that would engulf the world without a Grandmaster, or the invasion of the Great Zhou, he couldn't care less.
Besides, he had Master Chu. The world wouldn't necessarily fall into chaos.
...
...
「The next day, at the crack of dawn.」
Groups of Hidden Guards, armed and armored, were searching room by room. They soon reached the pharmacy, startling the doddering Chen Ge, who was sitting in his rocking chair.
"Masters of the Hidden Guard, what is this?"
"Searching for an assassin! Stay where you are!"
A Hidden Guard kicked the door open. Inside, a sleepy-faced Su Chen stumbled out, nearly getting knocked over by the guard's kick. With a look of terror, he scrambled and crawled over to Chen Ge's side, trembling.
"Elder Chen, what's going on?"
"Is there another assassin?"
Seeing the Hidden Guards find the secret compartment under his bed and stuff the silver he had saved up over the years from treating eunuchs and palace maids into their own pockets, Su Chen couldn't help but feel anxious.
"Sirs, that's my silver..."
Su Chen's mouth was covered.
Though the sixty-something Chen Ge's eyes were dim and his movements slow, he was unusually agile at this moment. He covered Su Chen's mouth and spoke sternly.
"The Hidden Guards are all Fourth and Fifth Grade cultivation experts. You and I are just lowly eunuchs with no cultivation. We absolutely cannot provoke these masters of the Hidden Guard. Otherwise, they could accuse you of being the assassin's accomplice and cut you down with one strike, and there'd be nowhere for you to plead your case..."
As he spoke, Chen Ge put on a fawning smile and cupped his hands toward the Hidden Guards.
"Sirs, please take the silver as a gift. There are also some aged herbs in the storeroom. If you have a use for them, feel free to take them. A few missing herbs won't be a problem."
"Hahaha!"
"You old-timer sure know your place."
"Otherwise, based on those words he used to offend us just now, we'd have no choice but to drag this young one to the Water Prison and 'take good care' of him for a couple of days."
The Hidden Guards laughed arrogantly.
Soon, Chen Ge, smiling obsequiously the whole time, saw the squad of menacing Hidden Guards off, leaving the pharmacy courtyard in a complete mess.
"Sigh."
"Ever since the Chief Eunuch's rebellion, we eunuchs have been in decline. Originally, we still had Vice Chief Steward Xu of the Martial Arts Bureau to support us, but three years ago, he was also exiled to hunt down the old remnants of the Eastern Depot."
"You have to accept your fate. In the palace right now, besides the red robes, even the Blue Robes have to live with their tails between their legs. You can ignore the Killing Martial Guards outside, but you must be respectful to the Forbidden Guards and Hidden Guards inside the palace. If you're not, your head might just roll."
Chen Ge patted Su Chen's shoulder, then began to clean up the courtyard without another word.
Su Chen, on the other hand, felt a little guilty. After all, he really was last night's "assassin," and the pharmacy had suffered this undeserved disaster because of him.
'Looks like I'll have to start saving up for Elder Chen's retirement silver all over again.'
Su Chen didn't care much about the silver himself—as long as he had enough to get by. But Elder Chen was nearing the age to leave the palace, and that silver had been saved up for him.
'I have to find a way to steal the silver back.'
'No, wait. The silver was mine to begin with. How can it be called stealing? It's taking it back.'
Su Chen committed the faces of those Hidden Guards to memory.
"Oh, right."
"I have an old friend who returned a few days ago. Go deliver a meal to him at the Library Pavilion."
"He should be in the Library Pavilion these days—the one that belonged to Eunuch Su, the place that Emperor Jianwu burned to the ground..."