The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 450 Startled and Fleeing
There are still differences even among the four paths combined.

An Qisheng had only recovered 50% of his strength, and the emperor had only practiced with Li Miao for three days, recovering 50-60% of his martial arts. However, the difference in their fundamental abilities not only allowed An Qisheng to break free from Ji Zhao's illusion, but also created an insurmountable gap in strength in reality.

Faced with An Qisheng's raised palm, the emperor knew he couldn't withstand the attack.

Having just had his illusion of silence broken and been momentarily distracted when An Qisheng struck him with a palm, he had already injured his dantian and heart meridian. He had only recovered about 50-60% of his martial arts skills to begin with, and now he only had 20-30% left.

Another blow, and he'll either be dead or crippled.

An Ziyang and Mei Qinghe would immediately turn into a pile of minced meat.

Faced with death, the emperor felt little fear; he only felt resentment… If he died, An Qisheng would probably immediately kill Li Miao, and that was what he couldn't let go of.

But he could only muster the remaining true energy in his dantian, forcefully exert his strength, and throw a backhand punch as a final act of resistance.

clang! ——

The punch was blocked by the extended protective energy.

And An Qisheng's palm has already begun to emerge.

The same face appeared in the minds of the Emperor, An Ziyang, and Mei Qinghe at the same time.

"Commander Li..."

It was as if the face they had been looking for had suddenly come to life and started speaking, and a familiar voice suddenly rang out.

"It's quite lively."

The three were initially overcome with grief, thinking they were hallucinating in their dying moments. Then they were stunned, finding the hallucination all too real. Not only was the familiar, three-part sarcasm, four-part laziness, and twelve-part aloofness in the tone of voice so perfectly imitated, but the sense of distance was also slowly closing in, as if…

It was as if Li Miao had really come!
Even An Qisheng's imminent palm strike came to a halt!
The three of them suddenly turned around.

Several feet away, at the corner of the palace, that familiar figure was sitting on a four-wheeled palanquin, being slowly pushed out by Zhu Zai.

A bearskin cloak hung down from his dark black python robe. His hands, gloved with black gold, rested on the armrest, one supporting his face, while the other hung naturally along the armrest. His heroic eyebrows and eyes were closed in a relaxed manner, and the corners of his mouth were curved into a familiar smile. His face was a little pale, which only made his temperament stand out even more.

Who else could it be but Lord Li Miao?

While the three were still in a daze, Zhu Zai pushed the four-wheeled carriage past them and arrived in front of An Qisheng.

An Qisheng withdrew his palm and stared intently at Li Miao.

Li Miao tilted her head, seemingly looking at him, but without opening her eyes.

"What, did I interrupt your fun?"

"Weren't you quite the talker just now? Weren't you going to trample me in front of you? What, you've recovered half your strength? Now the distance between us is only a few feet—"

"Aren't you going to run it over?"

It was that familiar tone, full of sarcasm and irony.

An Qisheng, however, made no move.

I'm not afraid, not at all.

But the fear is real.

Everything he said before was true; Li Miao was indeed one of the most formidable enemies he had encountered in the past thousand years.

A reckless brute, a bloodthirsty killer, he has killed at least eight hundred, if not a thousand. In essence, Li Miao is not much different from these people... But he is Li Miao, the most skilled killer in the world today. Even An Qisheng, who has accumulated thousands of years of experience, was forced to risk his life by Li Miao after he had exhausted all his resources and was seriously injured.

The distance is now only a few feet.

An Qisheng remained silent for a few moments, then suddenly withdrew.

He knew that if Li Miao were in good condition, he wouldn't be talking to him at all; he would just rush up to him and fight to the death. Since he hadn't made a move, he was probably just bluffing. He could even hear Zhu Zai's heartbeat and smell the faint scent of cold sweat on him.

But he didn't want to gamble.

Liu Jin's arrangements extended beyond this point.

It's not too late to settle the score once things are back to normal.

In the blink of an eye, An Qisheng had completely disappeared from their sight.

Zhu Zai let out a long sigh of relief.

“He really left… Da Li, why are you so sure he’ll leave? If he really makes a move, even if it’s just a slight test, we’ll all be dead.”

Li Miao smiled with his eyes closed. "Because I saw his memories."

"He is an assassin. He is not afraid of death, nor does he lack the decisiveness and fighting spirit to the death. Ridicule, injuries, hatred, and predicaments cannot affect his mind. He is a formidable opponent, at least far more formidable than His Majesty the Emperor."

"But precisely because he was an assassin, he had no competitive spirit. When there was a better option or a safer opportunity, he would immediately retreat and seek the next success."

"Even after a thousand years of cultivation, he would still be the best assassin but a mediocre martial artist. Therefore, he will not make a move."

Zhu Zai let out a long sigh of relief.

"I see……"

As the two were talking, they heard An Ziyang excitedly say from behind.

"Commander, you... Your Majesty!"

With a thud, the emperor collapsed to the ground.

An Qisheng's palm strike, delivered with only half its power, left him with considerable injuries, and it was already remarkable that he had managed to hold on until now. Now, seeing Li Miao awaken, he lost the will to persevere and could no longer maintain his posture, falling backward.

An Ziyang quickly helped him up and turned to call out.

"Commander, His Majesty is seriously injured, you—"

Zhu Zai slowly shook his head, turned the four-wheeled carriage around, and Li Miao faced An Ziyang and spoke.

"Xiao Anzi, Xiao Mei."

"Hey, Commander..." "Commander."

"Wang Gongchang's setup is quite good. I've also worked hard during the time I was unconscious."

An Ziyang almost burst into tears, and Mei Qinghe also bit her lip tightly.

Li Miao continued.

"Is His Majesty still awake?"

An Ziyang replied.

"Fainted."

"I see. That's not bad."

Li Miao smiled.

"If he were still awake, I really wouldn't know how to talk to him. I should never have used Ji Tianrui's methods to control him. Now it's all so awkward. It's good that he's unconscious, it saves me the effort of figuring things out."

An Ziyang breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Miao was still able to joke and tease, which finally put his mind at ease.

"Commander, what do you mean by this?"

"I'm fighting, but I'm only distracted by talking to you in my mind."

An Ziyang hesitated for a moment, then said softly.

Will you win?

Li Miao's lips curled up.

Have I ever lost?

An Ziyang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Then Li Miao continued speaking with a smile.

"Alright, it's none of your business how I am."

"Listen carefully now. Today's matter is far from over. Liu Jin has prepared more supplies for An Qisheng than what we have now. The officials and Jianghu people living in Jiangmi Lane have only used up about 30 or 40% of the supplies at most."

"The remaining amount is enough for An Qisheng to recover to his full potential."

"Find them, kill as many as you can, stall for an hour until I wake up."

"Leave the rest to me."

(End of this chapter)