The accusations against Nuwa, whether true or not, were no longer important.
Among those present, Nuwa’s influence was negligible.
The Fuxi faction, once led by Xin Lei, Ren Yin, Tao Tu, and Cha Zhu, had been carved up by Nuwa and Sui Ren, leaving it a mere shell supported by these few individuals. Moreover, Jia Huang, the strongest and most influential among them, had already been turned.
Xin Lei was faced with only two paths.
The first was to swallow his pride, pretend nothing had happened, but face immediate cleansing and house arrest by Sui Ren afterward.
The second was to defect, join Sui Ren in his coup, but likely be sidelined and forced into retirement.
Xin Lei glanced at the four people behind him, as if seeking their opinions.
But as they hesitated, Cha Zhu, usually the most indolent, spoke up, “Actually, we have another path we can take.”
The three looked at Cha Zhu in confusion, their eyes asking for an explanation.
Cha Zhu narrowed his eyes, recalling the gentle yet tenacious demeanor of the young man who had pursued his own brand of justice, and slowly said, “Help Nuwa escape from here.”
“Escape where? How can we help? Why should we help?” Xin Lei asked with a frown.
“Are you willing to do nothing?”
Silence.
“Then are you willing to help Sui Ren?”
More silence.
“If we help Nuwa, we might fail. But here,” Cha Zhu pointed to his heart, grinning, “I’ll be at peace.”
Still silence.
Xin Lei looked into the distance at the uninhibited fighting within the ancient hall, his heart already holding the answer.
It was just that he was old, his will was not as strong, and he was unwilling to voice it.
But Cha Zhu had reminded him – if he remained indifferent, or defected, could he truly live with peace of mind?
The answer was likely obvious.
Xin Lei suddenly remembered the black-haired, purple-eyed youth.
Though he had been misunderstood and hurt, he still loved this country in his own way, even venturing into the dragon’s lair and the tiger’s den to serve the nation.
Perhaps… Xin Lei knew what he had to do.
On the other side, Nuwa’s strongest fighter, Gui Shui, was being cornered by six Earthly Branches, barely holding on with the help of Yin Shu. Meanwhile, Yi Mu, a non-combatant, teamed up with Nuwa to fend off Jia Huang’s attack.
The Imperial Guards remained still.
Di Ku remained still.
Sui Ren remained still.
The situation had entered an interesting phase – a cat-and-mouse game.
“Sui Ren! Why are you doing this! Do you want to be emperor?!” Nuwa exclaimed, parrying Jia Huang’s attack.
“Fuxi is dead, and no one knows what he left behind. If we two govern the country together, it will only lead to endless factional disputes, so it’s better to be direct and strike first,” Sui Ren said, sipping tea from his chair. “Besides, why can’t I be emperor?”
“When we overthrew that corrupt dynasty! You and I swore an oath!” Nuwa’s fury was enough to ignite the entire hall. “As long as we three are alive, this country will never have an emperor again!”
“People change,” Sui Ren said coldly. “Even if Fuxi were alive, I would have made these arrangements within a few years. Fuxi’s death merely accelerated everything.”
“You!” Nuwa was about to say more, but her distraction allowed Jia Huang to seize an opening and strike her shoulder, sending her crashing into the palace wall.
“Jia Huang, hurry up. I don’t want to wait any longer,” Sui Ren ordered directly, feeling annoyed by Nuwa’s outburst.
Jia Huang nodded, raised his palace lantern, and said, “Imperial Guards, eliminate the enemy.”
The Imperial Guards raised their palace lanterns. As spiritual energy was injected, points of light began to converge towards Jia Huang.
“Nanananana… This won’t do, you can’t just massacre everyone…”
Everyone was stunned by the voice. Turning around, they saw Cha Zhu holding a Guan Dao, beating back the Imperial Guards until they fell unconscious.
“Hahaha… Jia Huang, your Imperial Guards are poorly trained! They can’t even beat old Pig…”
Jia Huang’s bronze mask appeared exceptionally cold as he charged rapidly, appearing before Cha Zhu in an instant.
“Oh? Want to spar with old Pig?” Cha Zhu chuckled. “Let’s go!”
The two swung their weapons, their palace lantern and Guan Dao clashing and scraping. The ancient floor tiles quickly shattered under their fierce engagement.
“Hahaha…” Cha Zhu laughed. “Not enough! Not enough!”
Jia Huang seized the opportunity, sweeping Cha Zhu’s Guan Dao away with his palace lantern. He then reached out with his claws, aiming directly for Cha Zhu’s face.
At the last second, Cha Zhu dodged by tilting his head, then instantly created distance, panting and saying, “Using special abilities in a fight… so shameless…”
Just as Jia Huang was about to pursue, Sui Ren spoke, “Xin Lei, have you decided to be my enemy?”
Everyone stopped fighting and looked at Xin Lei, who stood between Sui Ren and Nuwa.
“I… I just hope that His Majesty the Human Emperor can change this country through more gentle means, rather than resorting to the current force and brutality,” Xin Lei said as he helped Nuwa up from the rubble. “If that is the case, I find it hard to believe that His Majesty will govern this country well.”
Sui Ren sneered and clapped his hands, saying “Good! Good! Good!” three times.
…
Jiaozhou, Xiangtageli, Miao Wang Village.
King Qin Guang bowed to King Zhuan Lun and said, “Your Excellency, our informant reports that Sui Ren should have launched his coup in Longjing at this very moment.”
King Zhuan Lun nodded upon hearing this and asked, “In that case, the Three Sovereigns no longer have Fuxi and Nuwa?”
“Not in the short term.”
“Hehehe…” King Zhuan Lun placed six human heads onto the six reincarnation mirrors of the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk. He then chanted something for a long time before cutting open the chest of the little girl in the center of the disk and extracting her internal organs.
Amidst the bloody scene, King Zhuan Lun frowned as he looked at the images on the reincarnation mirrors. “It seems old Fuxi left something behind before he died.”
“Then…”
“Postpone the uprising, inform others to remain in hiding, and notify King Tai Shan and the other four kings to return to their positions quickly. This operation must not have any further mishaps.”
As he spoke, King Zhuan Lun closed his eyes and began to deduce. King Qin Guang’s eyes flickered as he slowly walked out of the bamboo building.