Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 548 Zhuan Zhu Part 2
"Alas! The king is dead!"

Inside the hall, Gao Cheng's head had already flown onto the roof, and the ministers cried out in alarm.

However, Gao Cheng's body was completely unaffected. He kicked off with both legs and his fists turned into blood-red meteors as he rushed towards Lan Jing. Wherever his fists passed, the air emitted a piercing explosion!

'Lanjing' seemed not to have expected that it would still fight back even without a head. Before it could dodge, it was hit by the heavy punch that shattered the stars, and its body turned into dust.

Before Gao Cheng could retract his fist, Lan Jing appeared behind him again, the Chaos Blade piercing straight into his heart!
"Your Majesty, be careful!" Amidst the ministers' exclamations, a massive bronze shield instantly materialized behind Gao Cheng, actually blocking the earth-shattering blow of the Chaos Blade!
At the same time, a bronze axe engraved with ancient runes appeared in Gao Cheng's hand, which he swung in a circle and transformed into a crescent moon to chop towards 'Lanjing'!
The powerful shockwave instantly cleaved the Shence Hall in two, tearing the pillars and even the standing ministers inside in half. Only those who had cowered on the ground in terror escaped unscathed, only to be buried beneath the rubble...

"Xing Tian wields his shield and axe! You are actually the reincarnation of Xing Tian!" Na Lanjing looked at Gao Cheng, who had lost his head and was holding a shield in one hand and an axe in the other, in astonishment.

"It really is true that 'the new generation surpasses the old,' but it's a pity we won't see you evolve into the real Xingtian."

"That's right, because you're going to die today!" Gao Cheng roared at 'Lan Jing', using his own navel as eyes and his belly button as mouth.

“Wrong, you’re already dead.” ’Lan Jing’ shook his head and pointed to Gao Cheng’s neck.

Only then did everyone notice that blue smoke was rising from the wound on Prince Qi's neck; it was his divine blood that had turned to ashes under the erosion of the chaotic power...

Gao Cheng desperately tried to save himself, but to no avail. He could only watch helplessly as all the divine blood in his body turned to ash. His divine body rapidly withered, and the surging divine power within him naturally receded like a tide…

He roared angrily, his voice filled with resentment, and threw his giant axe at Lan Jing, refusing to stop resisting until the very last moment!

The two sides were already vastly different in strength, and Gao Cheng was further ambushed. From the moment his head was chopped off, the outcome was already decided.

With a flick of his finger, Lan Jing sent the giant axe soaring into the sky like a flying wheel, transforming into stars and disappearing from sight.

"Impossible!" Gao Cheng's head rolled to the ground, his eyes still wide open in anger, the golden light in them still lingering. He stared intently at his own body, now withered and decaying like a piece of rotten wood, still unable to believe that he was finished.

"I am the man who will unify the world..." He murmured.

"Sorry, it wasn't you." Lan Jing stomped on his head, turning it into a rotten watermelon.

Gao Cheng's divine body still refused to fall. He futilely reached out to grasp at the void with both hands, and the remaining divine power around him continued to erupt, but the destructive power was controlled within a small area.

As a result, He could only destroy Himself; His divine body shattered and turned into a dense mass of bloodthirsty energy.

'Lan Jing' absorbed all the bloodthirsty energy into the chaotic vortex, and a perfectly intact divine core appeared in his palm.

He put away the divine core with satisfaction and glanced at the survivors, including Cui Jishu.

Cui Jishu was so frightened that he hid under the bed, and the other ministers were also stunned.

Lan Jing had no interest in harming them, so she leisurely left the hall.

The roof of the Shence Hall was ripped off, but the guards and servants outside remained oblivious, continuing to do as they pleased...

'Lan Jing' walked to the well in the backyard, beckoned, picked up the real Lan Jing, and flew up into the sky with him.

The witch had been waiting in the clouds, having enjoyed the spectacle. Seeing the two approach, she laughed, "Why beat around the bush when you could have just killed Gao Cheng directly?"

"It's probably a professional habit," Ren Yuan said, reverting to his original demeanor. "Besides, I feel it's better if I don't appear in history."

"Wouldn't history then become—Gao Cheng, the Grand Chancellor of Eastern Wei and the de facto ruler, was killed by his own cook, Lan Jing, on the eve of his usurpation?"

"Why not?" Ren Yuan said.

"This is too outrageous!" Wu Gu put her hand to her forehead, both amused and exasperated. "History isn't a story; it doesn't need to be plausible," Ren Yuan said calmly.

"No..." Nalan Jing finally seized the opportunity and asked in a low voice, "Lord Jingzhongxian, did you really kill Gao Cheng?"

"Didn't you see? I always keep my word." Ren Yuan replied in the voice of the Immortal in the Well, and with a flick of his sleeve, he dispelled the illusion that shrouded the Shence Hall.

The guards and servants of the Prince Qi's residence were horrified to discover that the Shence Hall, where the King held meetings, had been reduced to ruins at some unknown time...

"What's happening here?"

"An earthquake?" The crowd looked at each other in bewilderment.

It was Gao Cheng's younger brother, Gao Yang, who was the first to react and shouted, "Quickly, save them!"

"Yes, yes..." Everyone rushed forward and worked together to move the rubble and rescue Cui Jishu and the others who were buried underneath, but they could not find Gao Cheng anywhere.

"Where's my older brother?!" Gao Yang grabbed Cui Jishu by the collar.

"No, that's all..." Cui Jishu said, distraught.

"You're talking nonsense!" Gao Yang roared, his eyes wide. "My elder brother has already become a god, how could he just disappear like that?"

"The King has been assassinated..." At this moment, another minister named Chen Yuankang confirmed, "His head was crushed, and his body turned to ash..."

"Who the hell is making such a fuss?" Gao Yang's eyes widened.

"Chef Lan Jing," everyone said in unison.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Gao Yang waved his hand violently, saying in disbelief, "My elder brother is invincible, how could he be killed by a cook? And even reduced to ashes..."

"But that's the truth!" the crowd said with bitter faces. "We saw it with our own eyes."

"What about Lan Jing?" Gao Yang asked with a gloomy face.

"After committing the crime, they just swaggered away..." Cui Jishu replied.

"..." At this moment, the guards found Gao Cheng's head, which was already shattered into pieces, in the ruins.

Gao Yangcai finally believed that his elder brother had passed away, and knelt on the ground, crying loudly.

Everyone joined in the weeping, and Cui Jishu reminded him, "Lord Taiyuan, please accept my condolences. With the passing of the Prince of Qi, there will surely be those who will take advantage of the situation to cause trouble. If we do not quickly stabilize the situation, your father and brother's legacy will be destroyed."

"Hmm..." Gao Yang, being the one to listen to advice, stopped crying, found a relatively intact skull from Gao Zhan's remains, wiped it clean, kissed it, and put it in his sleeve, saying, "Remember, it was Yuan Shanjian who held a grudge and ordered Lan Jing to assassinate him."

"Understood," Cui Jishu and the others replied hastily.

"If you understand, why aren't you doing it now?!" Gao Yang glanced sharply at the crowd, then issued orders in an orderly manner, focusing on city defense, controlling the army, appeasing important officials, arresting the emperor... all hitting the nail on the head.

Cui Jishu and the others were relieved; they had thought that with Gao Cheng's death, the Gao family was doomed. They hadn't expected the second son to be so capable!
“Killing Gao Cheng doesn’t seem to have much impact on Eastern Wei.” The witch in mid-air also realized this.

“The Gao family’s fortunes haven’t run out yet, let’s go.” Ren Yuan was not surprised at all, and he and Wu Gu led Lan Jing away from Ye City.

(End of this chapter)