The Invincible Bodyguard Starting by Escorting the Doomsday Imperial Princess Chapter 100 : Chapter 100

Chapter 100: The Great Zhou Emperor, Zhou Tianyuan!

“Commissioner Wang!” The burly man addressed as General Zhang wiped the blood from his face, his eyes bloodshot.

“This is an order! Withdraw!” Commissioner Wang roared.

He knew that with their current strength, even if ten tis as many n ca, they still would not be able to bring down this thousand-year great fiend.

If they stayed, all they would do was add to the death toll.

General Zhang gritted his teeth and threw up a hand, shouting in grief and fury, “Withdraw! Head to Guang’an Commandery! Tell the Prefect to dispatch reinforcents!”

“I have only just broken free. How could I possibly let such brains delivered to my very door escape?”

When the Mountain Ghoul saw that the black-armored troops were actually trying to flee in the direction of the official road, it cast a contemptuous glance at Commissioner Wang, who was already at the end of his strength.

Then it shifted its attention outright, its massive body lunging forward as it charged after those black-armored troops!

The instant he noticed that enormous black shadow sweeping toward them, General Zhang’s pupils contracted, and he bellowed at once,

“Quick! Fall back!”

As they passed Chen Guan and Luo Li, one of the soldiers even called out a kind warning, “Brother, stop standing there and run!”

Yet Chen Guan acted as though he had heard nothing at all. He still sat on horseback at his leisure, stroking his chin as he watched the scene ahead with evident interest.

The charging Mountain Ghoul also noticed the two “stupid prey” who still dared remain in place and watch the spectacle.

A trace of mockery flashed through its blood-red vertical eye.

“I might as well collect these two little appetizers first.”

When it closed to within three zhang of Chen Guan, its gigantic body suddenly leapt into the air.

Its two enormous brown-furred claws descended like twin storm clouds, slamming straight down toward the two riders!

Yet at the very instant those claws were about to fall, a cold flash of steel suddenly thrust out from behind the man!

Slash!

The Mountain Ghoul only saw a streak of cold light flash before its eyes. In the next instant, its line of sight suddenly flew high into the air of its own accord. It spun several tis through the sky before crashing hard onto the ground.

Then its vision was swallowed by eternal darkness.

“Th-this... it’s dead?!”

Whether it was the black-armored troops who had been fleeing for their lives or Commissioner Wang coughing blood within the forest, all of them froze in place, unable to believe their own eyes.

“That... that terrifying monster whose defense they could not even breach even after losing more than a dozen n...”

“It was actually... cut down in a single strike?”

They rubbed their eyes hard and looked again.

On the official road ahead, that headless corpse, huge as a hill, stood rigid for an instant. A fountain of blood shot a full zhang into the air from its neck before the giant body finally crashed to the ground.

Its massive head rolled through the dust, the eyes still bulging wide, shock and disbelief frozen within them from the mont before death.

“Cough... cough, cough!”

Commissioner Wang coughed up another mouthful of blood violently from within the forest.

Only now did he suddenly realize that his desperate battle just now, along with the cost of more than a dozen lives, had in the end... simply been a case of his own self-importance.

If he had not interfered, that great fiend would likely already be dead!

At that thought, his old face flushed a deep red, equal parts ashad and fearful.

General Zhang finally ca back to himself as well. Setting his thoughts aside, he hurried into the forest with two personal guards to inspect Commissioner Wang’s injuries.

As for the soldiers who had fled farthest ahead, they all turned around without exception and quickly headed toward Chen Guan.

When they arrived before him, these n, all brimming with killing intent, first looked at Luo Li with her face veiled in gauze.

Then they looked at Chen Guan, clasped their fists in unison, dropped to one knee, and offered him the purest reverence they could as soldiers.

“Many thanks for saving our lives, young hero! May we ask the na of our benefactor?”

One of the captains raised his head, his voice ringing like tal.

“Escort Master. Chen Guan.”

Chen Guan only gave that bland reply.

He did not even lower his head to look at them. He simply pressed his legs to his horse’s flanks and rode forward, circling past the kneeling n and continuing on toward the end of the official road, with not the slightest intention of stopping.

Not a single one of those present dared speak to stop him, nor did a single one dare ask him to stay.

After all, this was a ruthless figure who could decapitate a thousand-year great fiend in a single stroke!

Only one of the captains, after examining the corpse of the Mountain Ghoul, felt his pupils contract slightly.

Decapitation?!

Their mission on this journey had been to escort the thirteen beheaded jianghu martial artists to Shangjing City, and they had happened to stumble into this scene, which was why they had co to assist.

With strength like this...

Could it be...?

A violent tremor ran through his heart. He no longer dared reveal even the slightest trace of that horrifying speculation. He imdiately rose and hurried back into the forest to join up with General Zhang.

Once Commissioner Wang’s injuries had been stabilized for the mont, that captain imdiately recounted everything that had just happened, along with his own suspicions, to General Zhang.

After listening, General Zhang’s brows drew tightly together, and he looked again at the corpse of the Mountain Ghoul.

A thousand-year Mountain Ghoul had been decapitated in a single stroke?!

A thousand-year Mountain Ghoul possessed strength comparable to a peak Purple Palace Realm human cultivator.

For it to be killed in one move ant that the Escort Master called Chen Guan had to be at least peak Purple Palace Realm himself!

With strength like that, killing four Purple Palace Realm experts of the sa level was indeed nothing difficult.

And yet, his identity was that of an Escort Master.

For an Escort Master to slay people attempting to hijack an escort was only natural and right. Even Great Zhou’s laws had no authority over that.

“That’s enough. Report the matter to the court exactly as it happened.”

General Zhang waved a hand, no longer dwelling on it, then turned toward the enfeebled Commissioner Wang and began discussing the next steps.

...

Up ahead, on the official road.

In the end, Luo Li still could not suppress the curiosity in her heart and asked, “Brother Chen, just now... clearly, so many people didn’t have to die. Why... why didn’t you make a move sooner?”

The mont the words left her mouth, Chen Guan suddenly turned his head, and a sharp gaze shot toward her.

“Why should I have made a move?”

“I had just praised you for finally having a bit of what it takes to beco a future Empress, and in the very next instant you go and ask sothing stupid?”

“Uh...” Luo Li was instantly left speechless. Regret surged in her heart at once. She regretted ever opening her mouth to ask that question in the first place.

Chen Guan tugged the reins and brought his horse to a halt. Then he fixed his eyes on Luo Li and said, word by word and with absolute finality, “Rember this well! In this world, the greatest taboo is sticking your nose into other people’s business!”

“The fact that you’ve seen that your uncle has problems, and seen that there is sothing wrong with the road of restoring the dynasty beneath your feet, already proves that you are walking your own road correctly.”

“The road of jianghu is long, and the human heart is treacherous. All you need to do is take care of yourself first!”

“So long as you yourself walk steadily and walk straight, that is enough!”

“To help is sentint; not to help is duty!”

“I, Chen Guan, am an Escort Master. I have no need of sentint. All I need to do is keep to my own duty.”

“And as for you, find your own place, walk the road under your feet properly, and think clearly about what you should do and what you should not do.”

Luo Li stared blankly at Chen Guan.

Though she still could not fully understand the deeper aning of those words, she vaguely understood that what Chen Guan had just said was crucial to what awaited her once she entered Shangjing City and faced her uncle.

It was just like that phrase Chen Guan had told her when they first entered Great Zhou—“the dangers of jianghu.”

It was precisely because she had rembered those words and had tried to reexamine everything from the perspective of jianghu

that she had finally seen through her uncle’s purpose and understood that sothing was deeply unusual about the road of restoration laid out before her.

“Brother Chen, I understand.”

Luo Li nodded heavily.

When she turned once more to look ahead, sothing subtle had changed in her entire expression, even in the aura around her.

Within that innate cold pride of hers, there now quietly appeared a few traces of genuine steadiness and resolve.

She was no longer the naive little girl from before, the one who blundered into one foolish thing after another.

...

Shangjing City.

This ancient city of a thousand years’ inheritance stood at the very center of Great Zhou’s territory and served as the axis of power beneath the heavens.

And the heart of Shangjing City was that towering imperial palace, vast enough to swallow mountains and rivers whole—the Forbidden Imperial Palace.

Though it was already deep into the night, within the heavily guarded palace, one great hall still shone brilliantly with lights. It was a towering palace known as Jade Pivot Palace.

Inside that resplendent hall, candle flas flickered.

And in their shifting light, the upright and imposing silhouette of a man was cast across the Nine-Dragon Imperial Throne, reflecting the unfathomable majesty of an emperor.

That man was none other than Great Zhou’s current sovereign—Zhou Tianyuan.

At that very mont, a eunuch with a deathly pale face and a cold, sinister aura about him entered from outside with small hurried steps, stooping as he moved. Then he said in a low voice, “Your Majesty, an eight-hundred-li urgent dispatch.”

The middle-aged man seated upon the throne set down the morial in his hand and rubbed at his brow, as though trying to press down the trace of worry hidden beneath that majestic imperial countenance. Then he said in a deep voice, “Read.”

The old eunuch bowed and began at once.

“Reporting to Your Majesty! Within the five prefectures inside the passes, over the last three days, five thousand-year great demons and three thousand-year Corpse Kings have broken their seals in succession and escaped!”

When he reached that point, the old eunuch’s voice carried an unmistakable anxiety.

“They have already caused tens of thousands of civilian casualties across the various prefectures and commanderies, and the local garrisons are mobilizing troops with all speed to suppress them!”

The trace of worry that Zhou Tianyuan had only just pressed down returned to his face the instant he heard that report.

He slowly rose, paced to the great sand-table map of the realm in the center of the imperial study, and fixed his eyes on the northern frontier for a long while before finally speaking in a low voice, “So... she has co.”

“She has co?”

The old eunuch behind him at first looked baffled, but then, as though suddenly understanding sothing, he cried out in shock, “Your Majesty, you an... that orphan of the Luo clan?!”

Zhou Tianyuan nodded blandly. “Who else would be worth such a large-scale mobilization from those people lurking in the shadows?”

His tone was calm, yet beneath it lay a strand of icy chill.

“If it were only a matter of ordinary Demon-Suppressing Towers falling into disrepair, then what escaped should have been a few insignificant lesser monsters and fiends.”

“And yet, within these three days, eight thousand-year demons and fiends have broken their seals in succession.”

“Every single one of them is a calamity to Great Zhou, and each requires heavy troop deploynts to suppress. This is the perfect chance to weaken Great Zhou’s national strength.”

“It seems Prince Luo of the North has never truly given up after all.”

Hearing that, the old eunuch’s face turned deathly pale at once.

The aning of Zhou Tianyuan’s words was simple—soone was deliberately releasing these thousand-year great demons in order to scatter Great Zhou’s forces and lay a road of rebellion for the arrival of that Luo bloodline.

“Your Majesty!” The old eunuch’s voice trembled. “These remnants of the Luo clan have lain in hiding for a hundred years. Clearly, they have already prepared everything!”

“This ti, it is no small disturbance. They truly an... to shake the fate of Great Zhou itself!”

“Sigh.”

Zhou Tianyuan let out a long sigh and walked once more back to the imperial desk piled high with morials.

“Even you can see the problem. How could I not?”

He dropped heavily into the dragon throne and asked in a weary voice, “Then tell —what should I do now?”

It was as though he only wanted to use this question to allow himself the briefest mont to breathe.

The old eunuch thought in silence for nearly half a minute before carefully replying,

“Your Majesty, in the present situation, you must at once dispatch both the Fiend Suppression Bureau and the Demon Suppression Bureau to comprehensively reinforce the seals on every Demon-Suppressing Tower inside the passes. Absolutely no more demons or fiends can be allowed to break free!”

“Otherwise, the mont that orphan of the Luo clan gives the order, those remnants hiding in the dark, together with the great demon overlords they control, will be able to overturn the mountains and rivers of Great Zhou outright!”

Yet when Zhou Tianyuan heard those words, the worry on his face did not lessen in the slightest. Instead, it deepened all the more.

With a bitter smile, he slowly shook his head.

“I wish that were enough as well...”

“But whether the seals are reinforced or not,” Zhou Tianyuan said, his voice full of a deep helplessness, “now that she has co, the result will be the sa.”