The Unruly Immortals

"What? Xinsu, Bei Feng? Boss Hong Zhong, do you have any business with him?" an old beggar dressed like a follower of Oblivion Path asked in surprise.

"Where is Bei Feng now!" Li Huowang's tone grew heavier, with the Purple Tassel Sword already positioned against the neck of the person from Oblivion Path.

Another follower of Oblivion Path, dressed as a charming married woman, hurried to smooth things over upon witnessing the scene, "Hey, we're all brothers here, why the knife? Boss Hong Zhong, I know this. Bei Feng and his crew should be at the East City Gate of the Imperial City right now, planning to check out what the Emperor of Da Liang is up to. And it's not just Bei Feng and his three men; the other members of Sanyuan and Sixi are basically all there too."

"East City Gate of the Imperial Palace....." Li Huowang gripped his sword a little tighter, and with a slight flick of his wrist, the beggar from Oblivion Path was instantly decapitated.

Li Huowang turned his gaze to the last member of Oblivion Path and spoke again, deliberately pausing between words, "Now tell me again, where is Bei Feng now?"

The pretty woman looked at the fallen body, her eyes wide and even brimming with tears. "Boss Hong Zhong, why do you have to do this? We... we really didn't mean to harm you!"

Seeing the tearful, pitiful look in her eyes, Li Huowang became infuriated. He kicked her away, and with a sharp blade, he sliced open her face from the chin, revealing underneath a bloodied orchid composed of twisted facial features.

"Heh! Playing the card game, huh? Fine! Let's see what else you can pull out of Oblivion Path! I'll ask you one more time, where is Bei Feng now!" Li Huowang shouted through clenched teeth, his hands tightening around her neck.

"Boss Bei Feng, they... really... went to the East City Gate of the Imperial Palace, I truly..." Lanhua struggled to say, her breath becoming difficult.

As Li Huowang increased the pressure of his hands, Lanhua started to fight back, but as the peak passed, her resistance grew weaker and weaker. Even so, she did not change her plea for mercy.

As she neared death, she gently rubbed her orchid-shaped head against Li Huowang's hand, which was bulging with veins from the stranglehold. Her twisted face did not show fear or despair before death, but rather a reluctant affection.

With her last bit of breath, she whispered almost inaudibly, "The mountains have wood, and the wood has branches... My heart delights in you, and you do not know..."

After she spoke, Li Huowang saw her body go limp, and the orchid on her face slowly withered away.

"Huff... huff... huff..." Li Huowang gasped for breath, and Li Sui's tentacle rolled up the clothing from a nearby corpse to wipe the blood off Li Huowang's face.

"These people of Oblivion Path are so annoying; even in their dying moments, they have to disgust me. They play their part so well, I actually felt a twinge of hesitation in my heart!"

After catching his breath, Li Huowang stood up again. He was still half in doubt about the card player's words, but whether Bei Feng was at the East City Gate of the Imperial Palace or not, he decided to check it out.

Everything was becoming increasingly chaotic outside; he had to hurry. Whether Bei Feng was killed or had escaped, neither was what he wished to see.

Li Huowang bent down to pick up the skin of the face from the ground, planning to reattach it to his own face.

But just as he was about to do so, he suddenly stopped. "Wait, would it be unwise to continue wearing Er Jiu's face?"

Looking around, Li Huowang bent down again and picked up the card player's facial skin instead, pressing it to his face as if applying a face mask.

He then took some nails from the Torture Tool Bag and secured the edges, instantly transforming into a completely different person.

If he was going to act the part, he had to do it thoroughly. Li Huowang quickly burned the red Taoist robe he was wearing and dressed in the clothes of the dead person next to him.

Li Huowang, now wearing an entirely new appearance, slung the six swords he had scavenged from the other corpses over his shoulders and pushed open the wooden gate on the wall.

After quickly orienting himself, Li Huowang leaped onto an unclaimed horse by the street and galloped toward the Imperial City Gate. "The Imperial City... Since it's where the Emperor of Da Liang resides, it must be the most heavily guarded place in Da Liang..."

Along the way, to verify the information, Li Huowang deliberately captured two other members of Oblivion Path. One wouldn't speak, but the other also said they were at the East City Gate of the Imperial Palace.

Just as he was about to reach the Imperial City, Li Huowang leaped onto a rooftop and gazed far into the direction of the East Gate.

It seemed a battle had already begun there. Amid the blinding snowfall, figures occasionally crashed down from the sky.

Li Huowang crawled forward, inching closer. Although the abilities and appearances of these combatants varied wildly, it was clear that the ones inside were the Imperial Forest Army, and those outside belonged to Oblivion Path.

The members of Oblivion Path were diverse in appearance and attire, which likewise made it difficult to guess who was who, and equally challenging to conjecture whether Xinsu Bei Feng was among them.

Members of Oblivion Path attempted to sit and recite something, but were met by arrows shot with remarkable accuracy that pinned into their foreheads.

In the face of the tense situation in the distance, Li Huowang was not in a hurry to join either side and began to search silently within the ranks of Oblivion Path.

"Is that person him? No, not right..." Li Huowang remembered the information he had found earlier at the Astrological Bureau. This Xinsu Bei Feng had the ability to swap bodies with others.

With this thought, Li Huowang shifted his gaze from Oblivion Path and started scrutinizing the royal guard at the Imperial Palace.

There, the Imperial Forest Army fought valiantly, with some wearing green masks fighting alongside them, showing no signs of anything amiss.

As Li Huowang observed silently, the tightly shut gates of the Imperial City opened suddenly, and a helmeted member of the Imperial Forest Army squeezed through and waved vigorously towards the outside.

Seeing an opening, Oblivion Path charged in. In an instant, the battlefield descended into chaos,

"Is it him? Is he Xinsu Bei Feng?" Li Huowang's heart thumped wildly as he stared at the royal guard who opened the gate in the distance.

The royal guard seemed to sense something as well and glanced in Li Huowang's direction from afar before turning and re-entering the city gates.

With a "whoosh," the snow around Li Huowang was thrown high into the air. He immediately shifted his position and vanished, quickly making his way across the rooftops.

By the time Li Huowang arrived at the East Gate of the Imperial City, it was clear that Oblivion Path had triumphed in this minor skirmish. The half-open door smeared with blood was evidence of that.

That person who might be Bei Feng must have gone inside! Li Huowang quickened his pace and slipped through.

The commotion here had clearly not only attracted Li Huowang's attention. From time to time, figures hurried along the blood-strewn trail leading into the fray.

As for whether they were from Oblivion Path or the Astrological Bureau, that remained unknown.

Following in their wake, Li Huowang quickly found himself within the Imperial Palace, whose vast and complex interior was a maze.

But Li Huowang didn't need a map; the bloodstains and scattered footprints guided the way.

As outside, the date-red walls occasionally bore human-sized, giant masks that appeared to be made of bronze, with verdigris hanging in places.

Their square faces, hollow eyes, triangular noses, and wide ears commanded a silent vigil, lending the Imperial Palace of Da Liang an added air of solemnity and austerity.

As he walked, the trail of blood and footprints thinned, and up ahead around the corner glinted with a golden light.

When Li Huowang cautiously reached the corner, the sight before him was utterly astonishing.

Gold, an entire area shimmered with it—the distant Golden Hall, the gold bricks on the ground, even the roof's ridge beasts, all were made of gold.