Chapter 284: Imperial Martial Tournament – Part 3 (2/2)
”Welcome! Welcome, great masters! Come, take a seat. We shall observe the event from here!”
Dong Zhongying pointed at the large orb at the center of the throne room, which was projecting the images of the battle stages at the imperial training ground.
At the training ground of the imperial palace, 64 round stages had been arranged beforehand. Each battle stage was half the size of a soccer field, and it was five meters high. Had someone with a bad physique fallen from that height, they might have died.
Looking from below, the contestants could only see the tall elevated ground. The only way they could go up there was to climb a stair.
Despite seeing the grand stages, Miaomiao's party wasn't impressed. On the other hand, their attention was on the poor child, who was sobbing as he was standing with wobbling legs.
From a glance, he was only 3 to 4 years old. He looked pitiful standing there alone with all the heavy robes and a loose crown.
Jia Shan and Ma Ping's faces distorted in disdain. Just by seeing the state of this poor child and his emperor uniform, they managed to figure out who it was.
”Dong Zhongying, can you explain? I heard from the maids that the emperor has died and Liu Xie has become the new emperor, but why is he treated that way!? Why is he standing next to his throne, but you're the one sitting on it!?”
Jia Shan and Ma Ping didn't waste their time when they had been staying in the guest house. They had secretly gone out to investigate and probed around the imperial palace.
As they were the only nascent soul cultivators around here, nobody dared to obstruct them. These two elders roamed the palace and learned about the previous emperor's death and the identity of the new emperor.
Jia Shan and Ma Ping didn't care who would be the next emperor since it had nothing to do with them. However, bullying a 3-year-old child was distasteful and disgusting. Even Miaomiao, who was a brat-hater, had the urge to beat this fat 6th-stage cultivator to a pulp.
Ma Moxi muttered to himself, ”I know that Dong Zhongying is the counterpart of the historical tyrant ”Dong Zhuo”, but man, seeing this asshole in person ruins my mood.”
Miaomiao groaned, ”Same. Well, I understand why ”Dong Zhuo” from our timeline did it since political power was involved, but why this ”Dong Zhuo” is keeping the young emperor alive? Is there a point of keeping him alive?”
”Maybe he has a treasure or a bloodline on him? I don't know.”
Both otherworlders were curious why Dong Zhongying had enthroned Liu Xie and had been keeping him alive. As fellow cultivators, it was more logical to kill weaklings and steal everything, not playing around with political power.
It made them curious what kind of secrets that Liu Xie had.
”By the way, do you happen to have a seven-star sword that I can assassinate this fatass?”
”I thought you're not Cao Cao's counterpart.”
”I don't mind roleplaying him.”
”Too bad, boss. I don't have the sword.”
”I thought you are Gilgamesh's counterpart. Can't you just use that Gate of Babylon and create me one?”
”Gold element Qi ain't cheap. By the way, can't you just summon your stand and touch him to get this over with?”
”Killer-Queening ain't cheap. Hell, do you want to wage war against the Dong Clan and the Imperial Family in the open? Explosion attracts too much attention.”
”Messing with historical events is fun, boss. C'mon, let's kill this fatty. Say the word, and we'll slaughter every motherfucker here.”
”What's the butterfly effect if we kill Dong Zhuo's gang before the coalition event?”
”We can be forever remembered as heroes, maybe?”
”Not interested. Let's stay here and watch what happens.”
”But heroes are usually popular among bitches. Chicks dig heroes, and you can dig the holes of those chicks.”
”… Sounds interesting, but I already have too many wives.”
”I see. Very well, then. Come to think of it, I think Dong Zhuo in history collected a bunch of pretty sex slaves in his house. Do you mind if I kill Dong Zhuo and take Diaochan and his hidden concubines for myself?”
”Over my dead body! I'll kill this motherfucker right now!”
Miaomiao and Ma Moxi chatted in a hushed voice, but they still messed around like bratty children.
While the two bored otherworlders had been plotting the assassination, Jia Shan and Ma Ping slapped the back of their heads as they had heard everything. The elders transmitted his voice to their minds.
Ma Ping warned Ma Moxi, 'Don't start a fight here! Be patient and let the adults deal with the uncertainties first. I know that Dong Zhongying deserves a beating, but not now!'
Even Jia Shan didn't want his disciple to be reckless, 'Stay your hand, disciple. Even I can't be reckless in an enemy's territory. In this world, there are hidden arrays, poison, guardian beasts, familiars, or irregular techniques that can even kill immortals. Being strong doesn't mean you can be reckless!'
Miaomiao and Ma Moxi withdrew their killing intent. They sulked and shrank as if they were naughty children being scolded by their parents.
While everyone's attention was on the elders, Ju Shoufen already approached the child emperor and gave him a pill candy.
”Are your legs hurt? Why don't you sit on the throne? There's a wool cushion there, no?”
Liu Xie, the child emperor, sobbed while he looked at Ju Shoufen's face with teary eyes and shaking legs. He wanted to sit there as well, but he was afraid of Dong Zhongying, ”I'll be lashed again.”
”Who was it? I'll beat them to death.”
”… It's that scary man. He said that he will kill me and pluck my fingernails again if I don't do what he told me.”
”…”
Ju Shoufen paused and looked at the child's fingernails. A few of them had been pulled off recently as the fingers were swollen in red.
God knew what kind of infection and the pain that the child might be experiencing at the moment!
Ju Shoufen's bloodshot eyes reddened. She fed the emperor child a healing pill before she slowly turned around to glare at Dong Zhongying, to whom Liu Xie had pointed his finger.
”Boy, just sit.”
”But he-”
”If I said you can sit, that means you can sit. Trust me.”
Liu Xie hesitated at first, but he followed Ju Shoufen's instruction and sat on the throne anyway. When the boy finally rested his legs, he sighed and stopped crying.
Suddenly, Dong Zhongying yelled, ”WHO TOLD YOU TO SIT ON THAT CHAIR!? GET THE FUCK OFF!!”
Liu Xie shrank back. He got flustered and was about to hop down from the tall chair.
However, Ju Shoufen stood before the young emperor and summoned her sun crow avatar, getting ready to unleash her wrath, ”WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, DONG ZHONGYING!?”
At that moment, Jia Shan, Ma Ping, Miaomiao, and Ma Moxi's faces turned into a pokerface.
”Uh-oh.”