As soon as Xiang Cheng finished speaking, he rushed out like an arrow. He kicked open the locked door. As the door fell with a thud, a figure lying crookedly in the middle of the room was revealed.
The man was in a sorry state, with not a single intact part on his body. Filthy and thick bloodstains covered his face. Even so, Xiang Cheng recognized him.
"Yuan... Yuan..."
Xiang Cheng's voice trembled, an unusual occurrence. His eyes glared angrily. Before Shen Qingfeng and Yu Shuang could react, he roared, "Yuan Yang!!!"
Yuan Yang?
Shen Qingfeng was stunned. Didn't he tell Yuan Yang to guard the Shen residence? Why was he here!
A sudden sense of unease welled up in Shen Qingfeng's heart. Once again, the fragmented scenes of his past life flashed before his eyes —
Shen Yu being pinned to the ground by a long sword... Uncle Zhong having his head chopped off with a single knife... A Man lying in a pool of blood...
Shen Qingfeng felt dizzy in his eyes and almost lost his balance.
It couldn't... It couldn't be like that!
"Xiang Cheng! Be careful of a trap!" Beside him, Yu Shuang suddenly shouted sharply into the distance. He saw that Xiang Cheng had rushed in like a madman and picked up the dying Yuan Yang.
Yu Shuang wanted to go forward to help, but he was afraid of the enemy's scheme of luring the tiger away from the mountain. So he stood firmly beside Shen Qingfeng without moving an inch.
The once silent Eastern Palace suddenly seemed to be filled with traps all around.
"Sir, stand behind me. Don't leave my side!" Yu Shuang gritted his teeth and said. As he was speaking, he noticed that a strange mist had suddenly risen from somewhere, winding around them and gradually filling their vision.
"Damn it!" Yu Shuang cursed. The mist gradually blocked their sight. It was extremely difficult to ensure Shen Qingfeng's safety in this situation. Yu Shuang gritted his teeth and turned to Shen Qingfeng, saying, "Sir, please forgive me."
Then he grabbed Shen Qingfeng's arm.
But what he felt was not the warm body of a person. Only then did Yu Shuang notice that Shen Qingfeng's whole body was trembling slightly. His body was as cold as if he had just been fished out of an ice cellar, which was extremely chilling.
"Sir..." Yu Shuang was just about to say something when his ears caught a faint sound of the wind.
There was someone behind them!
In the blink of an eye, Yu Shuang quickly reached out his hand and pressed Shen Qingfeng down. Then he crouched down himself, dodging a horizontal slash that came like a gust of wind. He took advantage of the momentum and kicked hard in the direction of the attacker. Yu Shuang's move was a sneaky one. An ordinary martial artist would surely have been kicked by him, but the person easily dodged it.
A member of the Wuhen organization.
Yu Shuang almost instantly recognized the person's martial arts style.
Yu Shuang pulled Shen Qingfeng behind him and gritted his teeth as he scanned the surroundings. But the mist was too thick. All he could see was a vast expanse of whiteness. He couldn't see anything clearly.
"As a member of the Wuhen organization, how could you resort to such despicable means!" Yu Shuang roared angrily through gritted teeth.
The person in the mist was silent for a moment and then replied, "The Wuhen organization no longer exists, Vice Leader."
Yu Shuang recognized his voice immediately and gritted his teeth even more tightly. "Sen Ya! You actually attacked Yuan Yang! You two were once colleagues!"
"So what?" Sen Ya's voice was as calm as still water. "My current master is Shopkeeper Liu."
"Shopkeeper Liu?" Shen Qingfeng, who had been standing behind Yu Shuang all this time, suddenly sneered self - deprecatingly. "Oh... I should have realized earlier. Liu Mei is not a trustworthy person."
"Sir..."
Shen Qingfeng slowly brushed Yu Shuang's hand away. Then, he walked alone into the white mist.
Yu Shuang was about to rush after him in a hurry, but was stopped by Shen Qingfeng's words. "Yu Shuang, this is a matter between me and Xia Chuli. Don't interfere."
In the face of such a sudden change, Shen Qingfeng's voice was surprisingly calm. If Yu Shuang could see Shen Qingfeng's expression through the mist, he would have noticed that Shen Qingfeng's face was extremely pale, as cold as iron and as frosty as ice, sharp and despairing.
In just a short moment, Shen Qingfeng's once tangled thoughts seemed to suddenly become clear.
It was said that people would subconsciously avoid the things they once feared.
Shen Qingfeng was the same. He was not good at speculating about others with baseless malice, but the reality was not as he thought.
The Li Xia he had imagined was nothing but a beautiful dream after all. The belief he had fought for after his rebirth was shattered like a broken mirror. It was absurd, and at the same time, he felt the helplessness and desolation of fate.
Xia Chuli, Xia Chuli...
When I described the prosperous era of a wise king in front of you, did you secretly think I was ridiculous?
When you watched me spare no effort to eliminate your enemies, did you think I was stupid?
Yes, he was no longer the little crown prince who could sleep in the same quilt with him on a snowy day. He was no longer the simple and innocent young boy who simply liked and relied on him. He was the tyrant of Li Xia, the murderer who killed him, and — the last king of Li Xia, King Li of Xia.
Shen Qingfeng suddenly felt like laughing. He covered his stomach and laughed, his whole body shaking with laughter, and his eyes wet with tears.
"Is it fun?" Shen Qingfeng's body was on the verge of collapse. He took a few steps back, covering his chest, and roared at the boundless white mist with a heart - broken voice, "You've deceived me so much! Xia Chuli!"
In a place where Shen Qingfeng couldn't see in the white mist, Xia Chuli, who was sitting obliquely, gently trembled his eyelashes when he heard Shen Qingfeng's hoarse roar.
"Come out and see me, Xia Chuli." Shen Qingfeng lowered his head, and his voice was a bit muffled.
The air was extremely quiet.
Shen Qingfeng took a deep breath and shouted, "King Li of Xia! Come out and see me!"
Whoosh —
The white mist dissipated, and their vision was restored. Yuan Yang and Xiang Cheng were lying in the room, their life or death unknown. Yu Shuang was entangled with Sen Ya the moment the mist dissipated, and the two were fighting fiercely.
Shen Qingfeng slowly raised his head and saw Xia Chuli walking slowly towards him, accompanied by the woman beside him, Liu Mei.
"Snort —" Shen Qingfeng curled his lips.
"Sir!" Yu Shuang wanted to rush over when he saw this, but was blocked by Sen Ya's knife and beaten back.
Xia Chuli slowly walked up to Shen Qingfeng under his ambiguous gaze.
The souls of the past life and the bodies of this life. The meeting of the two was so absurd.
Shen Qingfeng didn't even raise his head and sneered, "The same old trick again."
Xia Chuli looked down at him and said, "Yes."
"Where are they?"
"The people in the Shen residence are safe for now." Xia Chuli said in a deep voice. For some reason, he suddenly felt that Shen Qingfeng in front of him was like a porcelain that had been broken and then laboriously glued back together. The soul that seemed to shatter at a touch made him feel a bit of pity.
"Changed?" Shen Qingfeng gritted his teeth and said, "Not going to kill them?"
Liu Mei was smoking and looking back and forth between the two with a puzzled look in her eyes.
Xia Chuli looked at Shen Qingfeng. After a long while, he said, "Do you want me to kill them?"
Shen Qingfeng's face was full of disgust. He knew Xia Chuli from his past life too well. "What do you want me to do?"
"Make a choice." Xia Chuli took a step forward. Seeing Shen Qingfeng retreat, he reached out and pinched Shen Qingfeng's chin, forcing him to look at his face. He said in a deep voice, "Choose between the lives of everyone in the Shen residence and Lu Yan's life."
Shen Qingfeng's pupils shrank suddenly. He could accept whatever Xia Chuli did to him, but he would never allow him to do anything to Lu Yan or the Shen residence. He slapped Xia Chuli's hand away and shouted, "You brute! What are you going to do?!"
"Hmm?" Xia Chuli suddenly smiled wickedly. He stared firmly at Shen Qingfeng and said word by word, "Why are you so nervous? I won't touch the Shen residence. But who is Lu Yan to you? It doesn't matter if I kill him, right?"
"My lover." Shen Qingfeng's eyes were blood - shot. Taking advantage of Xia Chuli's inattention, he pointed his sword at Xia Chuli's neck. "If you dare to touch him, I'll kill you!"
Xia Chuli looked at the sword tip only an inch away from his neck. Emotions surged like waves in his eyes. He gritted his teeth and said, "You're pointing a sword at me?"
"You may have forgotten that you once gave me poison." Shen Qingfeng said.
"Good, good!" Xia Chuli went crazy. He even ignored the sword tip and took a few more steps forward. The sword tip cut through his skin, and blood flowed down.
"Shen Qingfeng, how about I let your lover experience what it means to live in hell?!"