At dusk, the slanting sunlight shone gently on the eastern streets of Heavenly Gate City.
Countless couples in bright clothes strolled up and down the pedestrian street.
Si Xuanji was standing in front of a stall selling sugar paintings*. Her yin and yang eyes stared as the sugar spoon in the stall owner's hand went back and forth, and in a matter of moments, the sugar water drew a curved moon on the board below.
"Little girl, your crescent moon."
"Thank you."
Si Xuanji reached out, took the bamboo stick handed over by the stall owner, and put down a spirit stone. Then, she happily put the corner of the crescent into her mouth, squinting and smiling as if she really was a little girl.
Just as she was sweetly licking the sugar painting, a loud bang suddenly came from behind her.
Boom---
Distracted, her teeth crunched the brittle sugar painting.
Si Xuanji pouted. She originally planned to lick it slowly, but now she suddenly became annoyed and turned her head to look in the direction of the loud sound.
The end of the street was full of smoke and dust, and it was impossible to see what was going on there, but the sound of swords clashing could be heard as faint flames flickered inside.
Ding ding---
Ding---
Si Xuanji's yin and yang eyes turned from side to side, and then she stepped out with her bare feet and went to the middle of the street. She measured the distance, then took out a bamboo hat she had just bought from her storage bag and put it on her head.
In the next moment, there was a dull sound.
Bang---
A woman in red flew out of the smoke and dust, drawing a parabola in mid-air before bouncing up and down several times on the ground tiles as if she were skipping on water before finally coming to a steady stop in front of Si Xuanji's feet.
"Cough--"
Hongyu spat out a mouthful of blood and hastily wanted to get up. Noticing the little girl with a bamboo hat standing by her head, she was stunned.
But the next moment, the imperial guard, chasing her with an iron spear in his hand, arrived in front of her.
The eyes of the imperial guard in the Core Formation stage burst out with murderous intent.
Looking at Si Xuanji, who was now standing next to Hongyu, he showed no intention of holding back his weapon, seemingly prepared to kill Hongyu and Si Xuanji together.
Woosh--!
The spear wind created an airwave, like a blue dragon breaking through dawn, stabbing toward Hongyu's brow.
Hongyu's eyes widened. She had thought that these imperial guards would take into account the passers-by on the street, so after escaping from the secret passage, she quickly went to a crowded place, hoping to have some protection from the passers-by.
The guards of the Imperial Sect would never hurt innocent people, no matter what.
But after seeing the shot, she understood that these guys did not mind if unrelated people were present. Anyone who got in their way would be punished with death.
Hongyu immediately raised the sword in her right hand in an attempt to parry.
But in the next moment...
Ding---
The sound of iron striking was heard as Si Xuanji used the rest of the sugar painting in her hand to intercept the fine iron spear in front of Hongyu's forehead.
Hongyu's eyes widened and she slowly looked up along the tiny arm holding the sugar painting. "You are..."
Si Xuanji stood in the backlight so that Hongyu couldn't see her face clearly. She only heard her say, "Hero Xuanji, who draws her sword to help when she sees an injustice."
?
Although Hongyu was a little confused, when she heard the name "Xuanji", she realized that she was Young Lady Xiao's sister. She immediately rolled over and stood up, preparing to fight against the imperial guard who was chasing her.
"Young Miss Xuanji, go and tell Young Master Ye quickly that the matter has been exposed. This imperial guard is in the Core Formation stage, I will stop him..."
At that time, she saw that Si Xuanji was only in the early stage of the Foundation Building, so she was certain that she must have used some magic weapon to help her block the blow just now.
Not paying much attention to it, she thought of asking Si Xuanji to deliver the message while she stayed behind to stop the imperial guards who were coming after them.
But before she finished speaking, Si Xuanji pressed her bamboo hat slightly with her left hand and said in a smooth tone, "Go find Young Master Ye and the others, and leave this to me, the Xuanji hero."
"Ah..."
Si Xuanji gently held the sugar painting and swept it like an arc of moonlight straight ahead. When the imperial guard saw it, he immediately lowered his spear in front of him to parry, but when the spear collided with the light arc, he felt a force that seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.
Boom---
Even with the armor weighing two hundred pounds, the imperial guard drew a trench dozens of feet long in the middle of the street.
Hongyu was dumbfounded, but when she saw Si Xuanji repelling the Core Formation imperial guard so easily, she came back to her senses.
Cupping her hands in salute, she turned around and continued running fast along the street toward the Western District.
As soon as she left, three or four imperial guards rushed out of the smoke.
What they saw was a little girl blocking the road, no taller than their chests and holding a sugar painting in her hand. They then glanced in confusion at their colleague who was lying on the street, not knowing whether he was alive or dead.
Si Xuanji waved the sugar painting in her hand to one side, then touched the bamboo hat on her head.
"Hero Xuanji can't stand anyone bullying a defenseless girl just because of their high level of cultivation. Today, I am acting in the name of heavenly justice! Beware!"
...
Hongyu glanced back at Si Xuanji, who was standing alone in front of several cultivators in the Core Formation stage. Although she was not afraid, she did not stop and walked quickly along the street.
After running for almost half an hour, she arrived at Flowing Moon Inn where Ye Anping was staying. She saw that the doors and windows of the inn were closed, but she couldn't care less and immediately went to knock on the door.
Bang bang bang---
"Young Master Ye!!! I am Hongyu!!"
At the sound of her voice, a rush of footsteps came from within the inn.
From inside the inn, Ye Anping quickly opened the door. Seeing Hongyu's bruised appearance, he frowned and immediately supported her to walk to the first floor.
The doors and windows in the inn were closed, and the first floor appeared to have been remodeled. Also, hanging there was a map of Heavenly Gate City with ink markings on it.
Liang Zhu, Pei Lianxue, Feng Yu Die, Xiao Yunluo, and Immortal Thief were all gathered around the wooden table as if Ye Anping was explaining to everyone the plan details just now.
Seeing Ye Anping helping the injured Hongyu, Liang Zhu glanced at the Immortal Thief and said, "Miss Ye, go take a look outside."
"I know."
Ye Waner immediately understood, and her figure disappeared from the crowd in a flash as she went outside to keep watch. Pei Lianxue took out the sword, asking, "Brother, did something happen?"
"It's not urgent..."
Calmly, Ye Anping removed the items from the table, laid Hongyu on it, and took out some pills from his bag to help treat her injuries.
"Miss Hongyu, did something happen in the palace?"
"Young Master Ye, the Emperor discovered that Her Majesty the Empress replaced the city guards. The servants of the Eternal Bliss Palace were all killed by the imperial guards led by Grandmaster Qi... I was the only one who escaped."
Hearing this, Liang Zhu's eyes widened and worry showed on his face as he immediately stepped forward. "Where is the Empress?"
Ye Anping glanced at him and appeased him. "Brother Liang, don't be anxious. The Empress will be fine. Although Immortal Qi is ruthless, he won't have the guts to make a move on the Empress."
"But..."
Hongyu paused for a moment before continuing. "The Empress was taken to the Heavenly Harmony Palace, and... there's also Young Miss Xuanji. She helped stop the imperial guards who were chasing me; Young Master Ye, you guys quickly go save her... She was surrounded by several imperial guards."
Hearing this, Ye Anping was somewhat speechless.
Since Si Xuanji had taken action, it meant that she was finally tired of shopping, and it also meant that the Demon King had probably arrived at the city gates.
Originally, the Demon King was supposed to be leading the Demon Clan to besiege the city, but now it seemed that because of his actions against the Immortal Thief and Gu Mingxin, the plot developed ahead of schedule.
However, although the development was different, it did not greatly exceed his expectations.
Everything was still under his control; he just needed to implement some of the backup plans.
Ye Anping lifted his chin and lowered his eyes, thinking for a while before looking at Xiao Yunluo. "Sister Xiao, go get your sister."
"Ah..." Xiao Yunluo paused. "She can handle it... Don't worry about her."
"Well, she is still your sister. You go and check on her, then wait for me in front of the main entrance of the palace."
Ye Anping said that lightly, then turned to look at Feng Yu Die. "Sister Feng, you come to the Justice Division with me and my sister to help Deputy Commander Yue get away. The Empress has been captured, and he has probably been exposed. We have to protect him. We still need him to break Heavenly Gate City's defensive formation."
"Got it!"
"Okay!"
"Finally, Brother Liang, you take Miss Ye to the Western Gate and find a way to open it. I guess the Demon King has arrived and is probably drinking tea at the tea stall outside the city gate, waiting to be invited in."
"Tea?"
"He likes tea."
After reassigning the tasks, Ye Anping clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention to him, took a deep breath, and said: "Success or failure depends on this. Although it is a little earlier than I expected, the Imperial Sect will come to an end today. Do you understand?"
Pei Lianxue took a step forward. She puffed out her chest, raised her head, and took the lead in shouting, "Understood!!!"