Chapter 0246: This Place Is Not Safe for Long, Leave Quickly to Avoid Impending Disaster!
Without time to think further, Xie Chengze decided to flee first.
The battle between Wuhen Wuji and Sheng Shihai was earth-shattering, with debris flying everywhere. As a frail man without martial skills, it was wiser not to test his limits and instead distance himself from the fight as soon as possible.
“You go help Wuhen Wuji, I’m slipping away first!”
Before Shen Yuan could even speak, Xie Chengze had already lifted the hem of his robe and scurried off into the distance.
This place is not safe for long, leave quickly to avoid impending disaster!
Seeing this, Shen Yuan couldn’t help but chuckle softly, though his smile soon faded. He leaped up, retrieving his Azure Sword that had been embedded in the ground after being thrown earlier. With a swift swing, the blade cut through the air like a sharp silver flash, aimed straight at Sheng Shihai’s back.
“Prepare to die!”
“Hah! I never thought I’d fall into your hands today!” Sheng Shihai gripped his sword with one hand, pressing the other against the bleeding wound on his chest as he let out a cold laugh. His face was pale, and his once proud, handsome features now bore a sinister glare directed at Shen Yuan and Wuhen Wuji. “But do you really think the three of you can defeat me?”
Shen Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly. “You’re already injured. Even if we have to wear you down, we can finish you off.”
This was precisely why Shen Yuan hadn’t chosen to assassinate Sheng Shihai immediately after his rebirth. Sheng Shihai was extremely cautious, and his martial prowess far surpassed that of those who had started training later in life. Confronting him head-on would only result in mutual destruction.
The only way to capture him was through a well-planned ambush, injuring him first.
“Hah, that depends on whether you even have the chance to wear me down.” Sheng Shihai spat out a mouthful of blood, a strange smile flickering in his eyes. “Unfortunately, all of you have weaknesses. And those with weaknesses are destined to never achieve great things.”
A sense of foreboding rose in Shen Yuan’s heart, and his narrowed eyes tightened further. “What have you done?”
“Has Lord Shen still not figured it out?” Sheng Shihai threw his head back and laughed, the blood at the corners of his lips making his face appear even more ghastly. He raised a hand to his lips and let out a piercing whistle. Soon, several black-clad figures emerged, escorting two people forward.
The moment Shen Yuan saw them, his expression turned icy.
“Yuan’er!”
Shen’s father and mother called out as soon as they spotted Shen Yuan.
“The Second Prince foresaw this palace coup and found excuses to send all his people out of Jingcheng. Your Shen family was no exception, right? But unfortunately, if your entire family had left the city, someone as cautious as me wouldn’t have rashly initiated the coup.”
“It seems Lord Shen stayed behind in Jingcheng deliberately to avoid arousing my suspicion, giving me the perfect opportunity…” Sheng Shihai walked over to Shen’s father and mother, placing his blade against Shen’s father’s neck. “Perhaps I should thank you, Lord Shen?”
Shen Zhenpei, an elegant scholar, spat fiercely at him. “Do you think Yuan’er would spare a traitor like you just to save us?”
He raised his voice and shouted, “Shen Yuan, don’t worry about me! I am willing to die for Jian’an!”
With those words, he lunged toward the blade!
However, the next moment, his entire body froze in place, unable to move.
Sheng Shihai withdrew his hand after sealing Shen Zhenpei’s acupoints and said leisurely, “Did you really think I wouldn’t be prepared? You loyal fools always love this self-sacrifice act. How boring.”
Shen Zhenpei: …
I’m going to fight you people who know how to seal acupoints to the death!
“What do you want?” Shen Yuan stopped Wuhen and Wuji who were about to charge forward, his gaze cold and steady as he stared at Sheng Shihai. “To leave the capital safely?”
Although Sheng Shihai had temporarily stopped his bleeding by sealing his acupoints, the wound was in his heart after all. Even if he could hold on for a while, he could at most last until leaving the capital. Staying to fight for the throne was clearly not his current priority.
Yet, Sheng Shihai let out an inexplicable laugh, his eyes fixed on Shen Yuan. A hint of malicious mockery spilled from the depths of his gaze. “I want you to exchange your life for his.”
He pressed the blade against Shen’s father’s throat, enunciating each word slowly, “Shen Yuan, stab yourself in the heart!”
Beside them, Wuhen and Wuji, who had been restless and indifferent to Shen’s father’s life—only focused on following orders to kill Sheng Shihai—unusually quieted down. Both took a step back, leaving the space to Shen Yuan.
“Yuan’er, don’t!” Shen Zhenpei shouted anxiously, only to have his mute acupoint sealed by Sheng Shihai the next second.
Shen Zhenpei: …
Let me say it again, I hate people who know how to seal acupoints!
“One second of hesitation, and the blade will go deeper,” Sheng Shihai pressed the knife harder against Shen’s father’s neck, soon drawing a line of blood.
Shen Zhenpei frantically signaled with his eyes.
Shen Yuan tightened his grip on the Azure Sword, his expression growing darker. Rage churned and simmered within him.
In this second life, he had done everything possible to distance himself from the friends and family who had been close to him in his previous life. They had all died helping him, their tragic deaths etched deeply in his memory. Every night, he would wake from nightmares, his sheets soaked with sweat.
In this life, they were all still alive. He could have sought them out again, asked for their assistance, but Shen Yuan refused.
Some had died due to his negligence, some had died protecting him, and some had even sacrificed their entire families to save him. How could he drag them back into the fire?
He didn’t want anyone to die. He wanted everyone to live.
He alone would charge ahead.
“What, scared?” Sheng Shihai looked at him with a mocking smile, the blade digging deeper into Shen’s father’s neck. “Then this knife will drink its fill of blood today!”
“Don’t touch my husband!” Shen’s mother pulled out a knife from somewhere and lunged at Sheng Shihai.
But a quick-footed black-clad man kicked her away. Sheng Shihai lazily glanced at her before turning back. “No hurry, your turn will come soon.”
“Lord Shen, my patience is limited.”
His eyes trembling slightly, Shen Yuan raised the Azure Sword and without hesitation stabbed his own heart. Blood spurted from his lips as he stared fixedly at Sheng Shihai. “What else?”
“No stopping the bleeding,” Sheng Shihai said with a cold, cruel smile. “Now a stab in the abdomen.”
Shen Yuan gazed at him coldly. Seeing the blade press harder against his father’s neck, he lifted the Azure Sword, closed his eyes, and plunged it into his abdomen.
“Shhh—” The sword pierced his intestines. Shen Yuan staggered, his face growing paler. Blood soaked his white robes, making him resemble a withered plum blossom drifting in winter snow. He stumbled and collapsed to the ground.
“Yuan’er!” Shen’s mother wept bitterly, her heart aching unbearably. She screamed at Sheng Shihai, “You bastard, come at us if you dare!”
“Mother…” Shen Yuan breathed shallowly, looking up to reassure her. “Your son… is fine.”
The stab Wuji had previously delivered to Sheng Shihai had undoubtedly pierced deep into his heart. As long as he could stall for a little longer, leaving Sheng Shihai’s wound untreated, he would inevitably die.
With Sheng Shihai eliminated, the remaining forces would pose no significant threat. With Xie Chengze present and the Empress assisting, Jian’an would not repeat the mistakes of the past.
He was already a dead man—what did it matter to die once more?
Yet in his fading consciousness, a strikingly beautiful and cunning face flashed before his eyes—that furious, exasperated figure raging at him, condemning him for abandoning him alone in this place.