Chapter 49: Unlucky Assassin

A cold dagger quickly appeared in Lin Ran’s vision.

The long and narrow blade was about a foot long. The back of the blade had teeth, and the blade had a slot. The entire blade emitted a blue luster under the dim light. It was obvious that it had been coated with poison.

In addition, Consort Rong had been hiding very well and only attacked at the last moment. If the empress was standing here, death was surely unavoidable.

Unfortunately, the person standing here was Lin Ran.

He did not know why Consort Rong wanted to assassinate the empress, but with his current cultivation level, Consort Rong’s “all-out attack” was almost as slow as a nail.

Seeing the saber beam coming at him, Lin Ran even had time to lean back. Feeling the soft touch on his back, he couldn’t help but feel surprised by how busty she was. There was indeed something wrong with Consort Rong.

“Looks like this “Consort Rong” came prepared.” Lin Ran thought to himself.

At the same time, the sharp tip of the knife was about to touch his neck.

Only until this moment did Lin Ran snap his fingers and shout, “Divine Sword Technique Manual!”

Clang!

A long sword appeared in Lin Ran’s hand. The sword was divided into black and white. It was the Yin-Yang Sword he found near Mount Sword’s seal!

“Medal!”

historical

Endless sharp golden sword energy penetrated the short saber and a destructive aura instantly turned it into powder!

“Earth!”

A powerful sword energy with earth attribute shot out from the ground like an invisible python and climbed up Consort Rong’s body. In an instant, it formed a sword cage and imprisoned Consort Rong.

All of this happened within a matter of seconds.

Lin Ran turned his body slightly and broke free from Consort Rong’s arm.

Looking at Consort Rong, who couldn’t move, Lin Ran first sized her up carefully. Then, he reached out and touched the back of Consort Rong’s ear. Then, he looked surprised. “You’re not wearing a human skin mask?!”

Seeing that her intentions had been exposed, Consort Rong no longer hid it. She stared at Lin Ran with hatred in her eyes and sneered. “Although the human skin mask is useful, there are subtle flaws when you look closely. Of course, I can’t allow any flaws for such a big assassination… How did you discover it?”

Lin Ran smiled and looked down from Consort Rong’s face. “Because I have a photographic memory of women’s figures… Tell me, who sent you?”

As he spoke, the powerful earth attribute sword energy transformed into sharp metal sword energy according to the five elements.

“Consort Rong” was imprisoned by the sword energy cage. She felt countless cold swords stuck to her body, instantly scaring her until her face turned pale.

Even so, “Consort Rong” still pretended to be calm and replied, “No one sent me here to do this. I just want to kill you, you useless emperor!”

“Do you think I’m stupid?”

Lin Ran sneered and looked at “Consort Rong” as if he was looking at an idiot. “Consort Rong is the daughter of General Guo Fuzhen, who is in charge of the northern border. Previously, when the war in the north was lost, General Guo couldn’t absolve himself from the blame. Fortunately, His Majesty was lenient enough to not kill him and asked him to stay in the north to kill the enemy and redeem himself.”

“Consort Rong” frowned at Lin Ran, her eyes filled with fear and confusion. She knew about this information, but she didn’t know why Lin Ran mentioned this.

Seeing that “Consort Rong” didn’t understand, Lin Ran could only explain, “Outsiders only thought that General Guo was grateful to His Majesty so he left his only daughter here in the palace, but they don’t know that it was Consort Rong who took the initiative to ask to stay in the palace.”

“In other words, among all the consorts in the harem, Consort Rong is the last person who would want to kill His Majesty… You’re unlucky.”

After hearing Lin Ran’s explanation, Consort Rong’s expression immediately became complicated. After a moment, she suddenly thought of something and narrowed her eyes. “You kept saying ‘His Majesty’ just now. Are you not…”

“Aiya!”

When Lin Ran realized the mistake he’d made, he slapped his forehead, but then he looked relieved. “It’s okay. You’ll die sooner or later anyway. It doesn’t matter if I let you know.”

As he spoke, Lin Ran grabbed the edge of the human skin mask and tore it open, revealing his original appearance. Although he was not as good-looking as the empress, he was still considered handsome.

“Consort Rong” was stunned for a moment before she smiled sadly. “So the rumors are true. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the chance to spread the news.”

Lin Ran looked puzzled. “What rumor?”

“Consort Rong” looked at Lin Ran and smiled without saying anything.

Lin Ran was a little anxious and tried to persuade her patiently. “If you cooperate and tell me who’s behind this, I can plead with His Majesty and spare you…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Consort Rong’s face suddenly jerked. Then, dark red blood seeped out of the corner of her mouth, and her eyes became frighteningly wide-open.

Lin Ran quickly retracted his sword energy to save her. However, he did not expect the poison to be so strong that in the blink of an eye, Consort Rong was already dead!

As the corpse fell to the ground, Lin Ran immediately felt a headache coming on.

Now that “Consort Rong” had died, although she was fake, this face was flawless.

Moreover, it was impossible for a person to disappear into thin air for no reason. If the fake Consort Rong died here, where was the real Consort Rong?

Lin Ran had no idea what to do, so he could only go and inform the empress of this matter first. However, Li Tianyi was guarding outside with a group of eunuchs. It was definitely impossible for him to go out like this.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Ran gently took off his dragon robe and chanted, “Five Elements Sword Technique—Water!”

Outside the Cloud Prayer Palace.

Li Tianyi was sitting on a rattan chair and drinking tea when he suddenly heard the sound of rain.

The originally bright night sky was suddenly filled with dark clouds. Large raindrops fell from the sky, and in an instant, heavy rain poured down.

“That’s strange… Didn’t the Imperial Astronomer say that it won’t rain this month?”

Li Tianyi held his teacup and muttered to himself. He did not notice that a drop of water had seeped out of the door and disappeared into the heavy rain.

In imperial study.

After the empress finished dealing with the last state affair, she put down the brush and gently pinched the space between her eyebrows. Just as she was about to go to the dragon bed to rest for a moment, she accidentally saw a water droplet seeping in through the crack in the door. Then, it slowly twisted and turned into a human form in front of her eyes!

“Guard…”

“Don’t shout! It’s me!”

Just as the empress was about to call for the guards to protect her, the water man actually spoke! Moreover, his voice was very familiar.

“You’re… Lin Ran?”

Before she could finish speaking, the “water man” quickly took shape. It was Lin Ran, who was wearing a yellow robe.

Seeing this, the empress heaved a sigh of relief. She frowned slightly and asked softly, “Why aren’t you in the Cloud Prayer Palace in the middle of the night? What are you doing here? Where’s your mask?”

“It’s a long story.”

Lin Ran sighed and looked at the empress seriously. “Someone wants you dead.”