Great Qing Royal Palace!

Wang Ke felt safer after Zhang Zhengdao lured She Miejue away. She Miejue was the most dangerous person inside the royal palace; who could rescue Princess Youyue if she was around?

Wang Ke took out the Longing Orb and explored his surroundings. He shuttled through the palace with the guidance of the artifact.

Royal guards were patrolling the palace at night. He still ran into a patrol by accident, despite his best efforts to avoid them.

“Which section are you from? What are you doing running around at night?” the patrol leader shouted.

Wang Ke was properly disguised as a royal guard with a hat, he still aroused suspicion since he was running around at such an hour.

He lowered his head in shock; he knew he would have to knock them out, but he had to do it instantly so that things wouldn’t get out of hand.

“I was ordered to head over to that palace! ” Wang Ke pointed ahead.

He intended to strike them down the moment they looked back, and he was already about to move—

But the people on patrol didn’t look back. Still, they seemed to be dismayed.

“Brother, sorry for the offense! We shouldn’t have interrupted you! Let’s move, quick!” the leader swiftly offered a bow before leading his men away, as though they were fleeing.

Wang Ke: “..........................!”

What is happening?They just left like that?Aren’t they going to interrogate me?And now they don’t even care who I am? Why would they run off so quickly?

None of the soldiers gave a damn about Wang Ke. They ran away in an instant. They are actually running?

“What’s wrong with you guys! And I already had my flying sword ready!” Wang Ke stared at the fleeing soldiers.

Then he looked toward the palace he had pointed at and muttered to himself, “If I remember correctly, that’s the Empress' Residence. The Longing Orb is directing me to the Empress' Residence. But why did those guys patrolling choose to flee? Were they afraid because I said I was going there? And they even pretended not to see me?

“Could it be... Do they think the empress is having an affair with me? Was that why they didn’t even dare to investigate who I was? Is the Qing Emperor dead? Is that why the empress had nothing to fear? Why did the imperial harem become such a messy place?”

Despite his doubts, the Longing Orb still pointed him toward the Empress' Residence, and so he followed; no one stopped him along the way.

Some guards saw him again from a distance, but they only took a glance. None of them stopped him; they looked at Wang Ke with eyes full of pity, shuddered at the sight of the Empress' Residence.

“Creak!”

The gate to the Empress' Residence was left unguarded. Wang Ke strutted up and pushed open the door with ease.

Is this for real? I got in this easily? Wang Ke was doubtful. He entered the palace after confirming the coast was clear.

---------------

Inside the royal palace—there was an enclosed and dimly lit dungeon under the Empress’ Residence.

The faint light from the flames lit up the dead bodies laid across the floor. All the victims had died horrible deaths, as though their blood would have been sucked dry.

A man with disheveled hair was hanging on a torturing frame. His face was full of fear.

The prisoner on the torturing frame cried out in horror, “Qing Emperor? Qing Emperor? You... You... How can you mix around with the demons? And you were demonized? No, no, no…!”

In front of the prisoner stood a middle-aged man who wore a dragon robe, the Qing Emperor himself.

A group of shadows was hiding in a dark place behind the Qing Emperor. Those were the demons the prisoner was speaking of.

“Tsk tsk tsk? An immortal sect’s disciple? Hahaha! It’s too late to know the truth now! Too bad for you, you’ll be consumed by the Qing Emperor and become like those dried bodies on the ground. Hahaha!” The demons laughed wildly in the dark.

The prisoner ignored their mockery as he stared at the dragon-robed emperor.

“Qing Emperor? Don’t you know the consequences of you becoming a demon? The three emperors in the mortal zone and all their predecessors can’t become disciples of either the righteous or the demon sects. Whenever this happens one group or the other would kill the new disciple of the enemy! You the emperors must be neutral! But you... you became a demon! And you’re committing such evil deeds here?” said the prisoner as he stared at the Qing Emperor with unmasked abhorrence.

“So, emperors like me can only have short lives? Serve us right, huh?” the Qing Emperor questioned back coldly.

“Isn’t it enough for you to enjoy a life of wealth and splendor?” the prisoner roared.

“Not enough, not enough! How could that be enough? I don’t want to be just a human king; I want to be an immortal human king! I have had enough of being a mortal! I want immortality! I want immortality! The immortal sects came to a consensus to reject me? And also bar me from attaining immortality? Hahaha, I’m going to get it anyway!” the Qing Emperor shouted in disdain.

“You... You only became an emperor in the mortal zone because your ancestors’ contributions garnered the protection of both the righteous and the demonic factions. If only you would have continued to stay put, you would have been able to enjoy a luxurious and glorious life. But now, no one can protect you, no one! The Great Qing Empire is over, hahaha, the Great Qing Empire is over! HAHAHAHA!” The prisoner cackled.

“It’s not up to you to decide!” The Qing Emperor walked over to where he was.

“You have been demonized, and you created a dungeon in the palace to commit heinous crimes! No wonder there are countless rumors that you kill people in your dreams. And that shrill cries are often heard when you sleep at the Empress’ Residence. Any guard that comes close to this place is killed on the spot. So, was it all to conceal this dungeon? Hahaha! The truth will be revealed eventually! A demon is a demon, after all! A demon generates demonic Qi when he commits evil. I’m sure your cultivation grew significantly after killing a lot of immortal sect’s disciples, which means that your demonic Qi should have multiplied. So long as you leak a sliver of demonic Qi, the immortal sect disciples in the empire will find you and kill you! You can’t hide it! HAHAHAHA!” The prisoner let out a burst of sinister laughter.

“If I can’t hide it, then why didn’t you notice it before? Why did you become our prisoner?” the Qing Emperor mocked.

“I? No, how did you…?”

“Demonic Qi? Hahaha, take a look and see if I have demonic Qi or not. Hahaha!” The Qing Emperor burst out laughing.

His face contorted as he laughed; two massive fangs grew out of his mouth. Then, he bit the prisoner in the neck.