Chapter 121: Before the Imperial Palace

“Sir! How about we slow down a bit?” Li Zhi’s heart pounded with anxiety. He wasn’t afraid to charge in and fight these walking dead, but he worried about being thrown off.

“Don’t worry! I’ve driven war chariots before! My driving skills are rock solid!” Mr. Wen laughed heartily. Suddenly, he grabbed the tip of a leaf and veered sharply to the side.

The leaf executed a flawless ninety-degree drift, smooth and seamless, without breaking speed.

Li Zhi ducked under a claw reaching for him, nearly losing grip of the pillar of flame in his hand. He shouted, “Why don’t we just fly up into the sky?”

“Because I’m afraid of heights!” Mr. Wen replied matter-of-factly.

“...”

At that moment, several dark figures suddenly leapt from the shadows, lunging straight at them.

“Monsters!” Mr. Wen’s eyes narrowed. “I didn’t expect so many had already infiltrated the capital.”

Though startled, he remained calm, steering the leaf left and right like a wild racer weaving through traffic.

When a cat demon pounced, leaving no room to evade, he guided the leaf to skim along the wall, performing occasional side flips.

“Ahhhhh!” Li Zhi screamed. If not for an invisible force supporting him, he would have fallen long ago.

Despite the flips, he held the light pillar firmly, keeping it pointed toward the night sky so others could see.

Once they passed through the circle of monsters, Mr. Wen glanced back and waved his hand. A breeze swept through, instantly obliterating the demons.

“Why didn’t you just strike them down earlier?” Li Zhi, still shaken, blurted out.

“The speed was too fast—I couldn’t react in time,” Mr. Wen chuckled.

Li Zhi’s lips twitched. Now he understood why his father had told him: Mr. Wen was reliable when steady, but truly crazy when wild.

“Nephew, how’s my driving?” Mr. Wen asked with a grin.

Li Zhi gave a thumbs-up, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes. “Exhilarating!”

...

“That light keeps flickering, why is that?”

“Maybe it’s fighting the walking dead. They move fast, heading toward the palace. Probably trying to gather everyone nearby.”

“I wonder whose doing this. If they really manage to gather all the living in the capital, our burden will be much lighter, and it’ll make things easier for the Young Master.”

Ji Junhong stood among a crowd of hundreds, including himself and dozens from the Earth Fiend group. They were not far from the palace, but the pressure was greater than before. Someone inside the palace was deliberately sending countless walking dead to wear them down—especially Ji Junhong himself.

In the center of the crowd, Ji Junhong turned toward a swiftly approaching pillar of light. The beam flickered irregularly, swaying like a flashing signal—visually thrilling in every way.

Ji Junhong smiled. “Look at that light dancing around. The one holding the fire must be having a lot of fun.”

In the distance, the palace’s silhouette was clear, yet the endless mass of walking dead was already gathered. Just killing them all would take forever.

The tired and breathless martial artists who had fought their way through were growing weak, their hands trembling at the sight of the black sea of enemies.

Kun Er stood at the front with the Earth Fiend group. Having slain many with the “Killing Heart Sword Technique,” his sword intent was steadily rising, and he showed no fear.

Just as he was about to strike, dozens of bursts of energy exploded from the side, sending walking dead flying.

“Such a grand affair by the Young Master—how could the Six Doors miss out on lending support?”

Out of the darkness appeared dozens of constables, led by the Four Great Constables.

Iron Hawk shouted, “Men! Keep your spirits up! Don’t let these martial artists look down on us!”

“Yes, sir!”

From another direction, dozens of tall warriors clad in black official robes appeared. Their leader called out, “Count the Dali Temple in as well!”

Upon hearing this, the tall warriors and Four Great Constables exchanged glances in midair, silently cursing: That old bastard really showed up.

In truth, these two groups had been stationed at the palace gates for some time. Due to busy official duties, most of them worked undercover, often living at their workplaces.

After the thunderous awakening, they gathered quickly. Being experts, few walking dead had infiltrated the Six Doors or Dali Temple.

When such a major incident occurred, their first thought was to head to the palace—it was clear the emperor was in trouble.

However, judging by their own strength, they felt like they were just adding fuel to the fire for the palace’s occupant. So, they coincidentally chose to stake out the gates, hoping to catch the big players.

The Six Doors and Dali Temple were technically brother departments—one focused on arresting, the other on judging.

But usually, the Six Doors were too lazy to follow procedure. Most criminals were notorious bandits, and gathering evidence was troublesome. They handled cases themselves: simple ones sent to prison, complex ones executed on the spot, and unresolved cases ended with the defendant eliminated.

The Dali Temple didn’t like this; they accused the Six Doors of hogging credit and KPI points. So they competed for cases, providing full arrest-to-judgment service. Over time, people stopped knowing whom to turn to—all worked.

The Dali Temple had a saying: “If the Six Doors can handle it, so can we; if the Six Doors can’t, we still can.”

The Six Doors’ motto was straightforward: “Don’t dawdle, get it done!”

After this incident, both sides surprisingly began cooperating, even guessing each other’s agents were lurking nearby.

So both waited quietly, not revealing themselves.

Only when Ji Junhong arrived did they show their faces.

As for Ji Junhong’s purpose? Everyone had vague guesses but refrained from asking.

After all... some things were better left unsaid.

With the two groups breaking through and killing the walking dead, the three forces united and advanced toward the palace.

“Hm? Who’s that?”

Iron Hawk’s sharp eyes immediately spotted Kun Er standing at the front, wielding a bright red longsword.

Unlike others from the Earth Fiend group, Kun Er had pride. Usually, he hid behind a mask due to his daily deeds of killing and arson.

Today, doing a rare righteous deed, he made no effort to conceal himself, even wielding his usual sword.

Noticing someone looking his way, Kun Er glanced back with a warm smile, then cleaved a blocking walking dead in two—yellow, red, and white alike.

Just as Iron Hawk prepared to speak, another constable slammed a hand over his mouth.

“Shhh!”

“Wahhh!”

“You saw nothing!”

“Wahhh!”

“Stop crying! Didn’t you see the Dali Temple people spotted him ages ago? And they didn’t say a word!”