Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Pingyuan County, Huang Shiying's residence...

"Who is it? Do you know..."

puff-

Before the servant of the Huang family could finish speaking, a member of the Jingwei Guard whose face was covered by a cloth mask cut off his throat with a single stroke.

"Those who obstruct will be killed without mercy."

At a command, a group of Jingwei warriors dressed in flying fish robes and wearing cloaks drew their gleaming steel blades and launched a bloody massacre against the Huang family.

Zhuque stood on the second floor of the main hall of the mansion, his hands behind his back, quietly observing everything in the mansion.

Behind him, kneeling was a fat man whose tendons in his hands and feet had already been severed.

Beside the fat man was a group of elegantly dressed men, women, and children, all kneeling on the ground, trembling.

"Who exactly are you?"

Zhuque turned around: "Huang Shiying, do you know your crime?"

Huang Shiying's lips twitched: "Are you a dog of the imperial court?"

The Vermilion Bird remained silent.

puff-

The next moment, a warrior from the Jingwei Division slashed a middle-aged man to death with a single blow.

"Ah~"

The moment blood splattered, it drew gasps of alarm from the others.

"Second brother!"

Huang Shiying couldn't help but gasp when she saw the man lying in a pool of blood.

"What on earth do you want to do?"

Suzaku: "Tell me the location of Blackwater City."

"dream!"

puff-

As soon as he finished speaking, another sound of metal slicing through a body echoed.

"Third brother!"

"Ah~~"

Huang Shiying and his family members gasped in surprise once again.

"Will you tell me the location of Blackwater City or not?"

Suzaku's cold voice rang out again.

Huang Shiying's cheeks twitched uncontrollably. She opened her mouth, but hesitated.

"No, I don't want to die, I don't want to die!"

Just then, a fourteen-year-old girl was dragged by one leg by a Jingwei Division warrior to Huang Shiying's side.

The moment the cold blade was raised, the girl's face turned deathly pale, and she immediately lost control of her bladder.

puff-

With a swift stroke of the knife and a splatter of blood, the life of a fourteen-year-old girl was frozen in that instant.

"Wen'er..."

Huang Shiying was overcome with tears.

"Kill me, kill me!"

His face was contorted with madness as he repeatedly expressed his desire to die to Zhuque.

Suzaku: "Want to die? Before you die, I'll make you watch your family members die one by one before you."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a mean-spirited old woman was dragged out.

"Don't touch my mother! She's seventy-three years old! Let her go!"

Huang Shiying's eyes were bloodshot, and bright red blood even flowed from her nostrils due to her intense emotions.

Suzaku did not respond, as he was wearing a mask and no one knew what his expression was at that moment.

"My son, just tell me! I've raised you my whole life, can you bear to watch me die like this?"

The old woman looked at her son and cried so hard that she soiled herself.

Huang Shiying was in a dilemma at this moment, his face showing alternating shades of blue and black, making him difficult to understand.

Just as the Jingwei warriors raised their swords again...

"I said!"

Huang Shiying finally broke down.

Zhuque slightly raised her hand, and the warrior behind the old woman immediately stopped her falling blade.

"Blackwater City is located ninety li south of Pingyuan County. The method of entry requires..."

Huang Shiying told Zhuque everything she knew.

After listening, Zhuque instructed one of the Jingwei Division personnel: "Notify Commander Mu to investigate immediately. If it is true, report back right away."

"Yes!"

The martial artist obeyed the order and leaped off the second-floor platform, quickly disappearing into the snowstorm.

At this moment, another warrior from the Jingwei Division reported: "Reporting to Lord Zhuque, more than thirty women who had been abducted and trafficked have been found in the West Wing Garden, among whom..."

The martial artist paused, seemingly hesitant about whether to continue.

Suzaku: "Go on."

"Among them, many were once renowned female warriors in the martial arts world, but now..."

The Jingwei Division is composed mostly of martial arts practitioners who are loyal to the Empress. Before pledging allegiance to the Empress, they had traveled extensively in the martial arts world and naturally knew several female warriors.

Now, seeing the heroine they once admired controlled by drugs and reduced to someone else's plaything, it's like a pure love movie suddenly being filled with a lot of NTR scenes, instantly healing the low mood.

Zhuque: "Take them back to the palace and hand them over to His Majesty for judgment and punishment."

"As for Huang Shiying's family, they will be detained for the time being, and their fate will be determined after we investigate the news from Blackwater City to see if it is true."

"Yes."

Huang Shiying and his family were quickly taken away.

Zhuque, meanwhile, continued to watch the scene of blood flowing like a river within the Huang mansion, finding it rather amusing.

……

Inside Shen Lang's room in Blackwater City.

For the entire day, Shen Lang entered a meditative state as soon as he sat down on the bed to heal his injuries.

It continued until late at night, and as a flash of golden light swept over Shen Lang, he finally woke up.

"My cultivation has finally broken through."

Feeling the new changes within his body, Shen Lang felt a wave of comfort wash over him.

This chance encounter with Jiang Yue triggered an accelerated flow of true energy within his body, forcibly breaking through a bottleneck. His cultivation of the "Yuhuang Chaos Technique" was elevated to the third level, and his cultivation level entered the Innate Perfection Realm.

But Shen Lang remained unusually calm. He knew that even now that he had reached the peak of the Innate Realm, dealing with Jiang Yue would not be easy.

Breaking through the protective aura of someone at the Immortal Realm would require considerable effort, let alone her five senses.

Last time, Lü Meng was able to kill Yuan Xiuren with a lance using a lance with a lance that was actually due to the difference in their understanding of each other. If it were a face-to-face confrontation, even ten Lü Mengs wouldn't be able to touch the hem of Yuan Xiuren's clothes.

"Let's go out and scout out the terrain of Blackwater City first."

Shen Lang got out of bed, quietly opened the door to the side room, and planned to familiarize himself with the geography of Blackwater City.

But as soon as I stepped outside, I noticed a shadow passing overhead.

Looking up, a stunning sight flashed by.

"Jiang Yue?"

Upon smelling the faint scent of blood mixed with the strange fragrance of clivia, Shen Lang immediately recognized the figure in black as Jiang Yue.

Without thinking twice, he immediately used his movement technique to follow.

……

In a dilapidated garden behind Blackwater City, a faint candlelight shone.

Before long, Jiang Yue appeared outside the garden.

"My son has met his mother."

Jiang Yue seemed terrified of the people inside the room; her body trembled slightly as she bowed and made greetings.

Soon, a woman's voice came from inside the room.

"How are things going?"

"Your Majesty, I have made all the necessary arrangements and am just waiting for the right moment to storm into Jinling."

A silence fell over the room.

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea passed before the sound rang out again.

"Very good. I have waited twenty years for this day. Jiang Yan ruined my life back then, and I will use his legacy to make amends!"

The voice was filled with intense hatred, which Shen Lang, who was hiding a mile away, could feel.

Jiang Yue stood outside the door, showing none of the arrogant demeanor she had displayed in the main hall, appearing quite docile.

"Congratulations, Mother! Your wish is about to be fulfilled."

As soon as he finished speaking, the door opened.

A peasant woman dressed in coarse linen clothes with a fur coat appeared in front of Jiang Yue.

Upon seeing the peasant woman, Jiang Yue turned pale and immediately knelt down in the snow.

The peasant woman was none other than Jiang Yue's birth mother.

Yu Ling Shuang.

"Look at you, you shameless wretch! It makes me angrier the more I look at you!"

"You're just like your father. I should have strangled you back then."

Yu Ling Shuang grabbed Jiang Yue's arm tightly with her hand.

Jiang Yue pursed her lips and remained silent, letting Yu Ling Shuang bully her.

Despite being an immortal being, she was extremely obedient and compliant to her mother, who had no cultivation whatsoever.