Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

Behind him, a Nightblade scout appeared and knelt on one knee in front of Cao Shengxi.

Cao Shengxi opened his eyes, his voice high-pitched, as if he were speaking in a pinched voice: "What is it?"

The spy reported:

"Gu Jun Gui disappeared without a trace from the Cui family. Not only that, but even the third wife of the Cui family is no longer in the capital!"

Gu Jun Gui's disappearance was quite strange. Her maid had confirmed her presence during her afternoon nap, but she vanished a short while later. The maids bribed by the Cui household searched immediately, but couldn't find a trace of her anywhere.

The secret agents stationed around the Cui residence also failed to find any clues; none of them discovered anything unusual.

In recent days, the patrol teams in various places have changed their patrol equipment, and there are many strange and unusual objects, such as those obvious jars, as well as some small objects that are hard to detect.

Although those below did not know why these things were needed, they dared not slack off due to the atmosphere and pressure in officialdom, and under such circumstances, they still gained nothing.

Cao Shengxi nodded. He was puzzled but not surprised by the result. He was puzzled because none of the methods the emperor had used had worked, but not surprised because the power of extreme yin was inherently difficult to fathom, so failure was to be expected.

"Have you collected the hair you were asked to collect?"

"some!"

The scout acted swiftly and decisively, immediately getting up and going to Cao Shengxi's side. He took out a box containing a large pile of hair. The hair included that of everyone in the Cui family, but it was all found on the ground and in discarded clothes, so it varied in texture, straightness, curliness, blackness, whiteness, fragrance, and ugliness.

Cao Shengxi took out an old-fashioned earthenware basin, with ancient patterns carved inside and out, giving it a somewhat eerie feel reminiscent of divine rituals.

This earthenware basin was given to him by the emperor, which was precisely what puzzled Cao Shengxi. He had served the Tianji royal family since the time of the previous emperor, and he knew everything about who presented treasures and what treasures his subordinates had found. To put it bluntly, Cao Shengxi knew exactly what treasures the current emperor had hidden in his treasury.

But the antique in front of him was one he had never seen before. How could the emperor, who was always in the palace, have obtained it?

Without thinking too much, Eunuch Cao poured all the hair into the basin.

Suddenly, the hair burst into flames, and the rising black smoke transformed into several small black balls that flew out of the hall.

Several black spheres remained stationary, indicating that the owner of the hair had gone far away and was difficult to trace.

Cao Shengxi's powerful senses split into dozens of paths, tracking those black groups. Most of these groups were heading towards the Cui residence, so there was no need to pay attention to them anymore; they were probably servants from the Cui residence.

One of the black spheres flew out of the city at an incredible speed!

Cao Shengxi's figure vanished from the spot. Before the afterimage in the hall had disappeared, his true form had already appeared at the gate of the capital in an instant. His figure disappeared again and quickly approached the black ball.

Chu Mingkong left the capital city unharmed, but not long after he flew out of the city on his sword, he sensed something following him, seemingly heading in his direction.

Looking up, one could see a black ball hovering above Ke Qing's head. It was incredibly fast; anyone with slightly lower cultivation could barely keep up with it, yet this black ball remained above Ke Qing's head.

The black mass had only been there a short while when it began to rapidly emit black smoke, the smoke column towering high in the dark.

In broad daylight, a rapidly moving black line appeared in the blue sky, quite conspicuous, attracting ordinary people on the ground to look up curiously, wondering why someone had drawn a stroke of black ink in the sky.

Chu Mingkong flicked a ball of extremely yin fire, and the black line was indeed burned away, but Ke Qing still had a locked aura on her body.

He didn't know how this was done, nor how to remove it. He couldn't very well burn Ke Qing with extremely yin fire just to remove her aura, could he?

This fire almost killed him.

"That's quite cunning. Knowing that they couldn't lock onto my aura, they turned around and locked onto Ke Qing instead."

Keqing also noticed the black line on her head and asked anxiously in a low voice:

"Mingkong, what's wrong?"

"It's a minor issue, don't panic."

As soon as Chu Mingkong finished speaking, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

He was dressed in court robes, his hands behind his back, a smile playing on his face beneath his white beard and hair. He exuded an extraordinary aura, and a wisp of dragon energy even swirled around him.

Cao Shengxi couldn't sense Chu Mingkong, but he could detect the presence of the woman he was carrying.

His gaze seemed to be fixed on the woman whose aura had been locked onto, but in reality, he was looking at Chu Mingkong:

"It's really surprising. The last time I paid attention to His Highness the Crown Prince of Xiling, you had just been sent to the capital by the Giant Sword Immortal and were bedridden, unable to step out of your residence for months. Now it seems like a long time has passed, but it seems like less than half a year has passed. His Highness's situation has truly turned upside down."

Even these persistent wounds have become His Highness's weapons; they are truly difficult to find!

Chu Mingkong stared at the eunuch. The eunuch's comical way of speaking made him want to laugh, but the eunuch's powerful aura prevented him from laughing easily.

Such imposing power could only come from Cao Shengxi, the chief eunuch who guards the palace.

This person's cultivation level is not comparable to the top elders of the upper-level sects, but his combat power in the capital city is overwhelming. It is said that during the reign of the late emperor, he once crossed a major realm to defeat a sect cultivator who wanted to put pressure on the Tianji Empire.

Unfortunately, this is the only truly capable fighter the entire Tianji Empire can muster, and such combat power is only found within the capital city.

No one outside knows how this was done, but it has indeed been proven that Cao Shengxi would never pursue them outside the capital city.

Faintly, Chu Mingkong sensed a vast yet invisible power slowly gathering around him, most likely the dragon vein.

"You flatter me, Eunuch Cao!" Chu Mingkong considered his greeting for a moment, then asked, "Have you eaten?"

Cao Shengxi said gently, "I have been practicing fasting for many years."

Chu Mingkong looked at the small golden dragon coiled around the eunuch's body and felt a sense of pressure.

"Is Eunuch Cao here to ask me to stay?"

"Indeed, His Majesty has long wished to invite His Highness the Crown Prince to the palace for a chat, but unfortunately he was seriously ill for too long a few days ago. Now that his injuries are almost healed, he is eager to meet with the Crown Prince."

"Too bad, I'm not interested in the emperor, I'm more interested in the empress." Chu Mingkong nodded.

"There's no rush. I'll have the chance to meet the Emperor in the palace later. It's just a pity that if the Emperor had been kinder to me back then, I might have actually believed he meant well... Do you have any ideas about letting the woman in my arms leave?"

"If Your Highness is willing to come with me, I will personally escort her away from the capital."

This guy is really cunning. Chu Mingkong was thinking that once Keqing left the capital, he would set off for the outskirts of the capital without saying a word. But this guy saw through his intentions and would only allow Keqing to leave after he entered the palace.

Chu Mingkong's words were an attempt to buy time, waiting for Zuo Qiuchi and Feng Ying to arrive. However, seeing the increasingly dense dragon vein energy gathering, it seemed even the eunuch was stalling for time...

If we delay any longer, something bad will happen!

"Sister-in-law Keqing, remember to cover your face later, or I'm afraid you'll get blood all over your face."

Chapter Eighty: I Left, and I'm Back

Most women who have spent time with Chu Mingkong are forced to adapt to some of his bad habits.

These bad habits do not include sexual intercourse such as "pricking one's thigh with an awl," but also when he does something while greeting someone, there is often little room for the other person to react.

For example, right now, as soon as Chu Mingkong finished speaking, Ke Qing, who was used to his tyrannical and domineering ways, thought he would immediately make good on his promise and severely injure the eunuch blocking her way...

puff-

The sound of flesh tearing came from beside Ke Qing's ears, and crimson lotus flowers bloomed before her eyes. All the scenes slowed down in an instant.

then,

Blood splattered on the beauty's astonished face, highlighting her confusion, helplessness, and a hint of fear that hadn't yet arisen.

Ke Qing never expected that Chu Mingkong's chest cavity and heart would suddenly rupture, and that the blood he had just mentioned was actually his own...?!

Were you scared?

Chu Mingkong looked down to check on Yan Keqing; her face was covered in blood. Unfortunately, he had no time to look at her closely, his gaze quickly returning to Cao Shengxi, while simultaneously trying to check on his own condition.

Ke Qing understood that there was no room for her to interfere at the moment, and the most important thing was not to distract Chu Mingkong. She simply shook her head and nestled in Chu Mingkong's arms, not daring to ask him to give a question.

Chu Mingkong had just attempted to recreate the state of being dominated by extreme Yin power when he saved his master. He discovered that the dragon veins on the ground were so tightly packed that he couldn't afford to make a mistake, and he also had to consider Ke Qing's safety.

Unfortunately, the release of the heart failed.

Perhaps he didn't absorb enough Yin energy, or perhaps the extreme Yang energy restrained him.

Just now, the feeling of my heart rupturing was like the explosive release of long-term pressure, but it was immediately reversed and locked back in, yet I still regained some of the strength I had at that moment.

Across from him, Cao Shengxi's usually unchanging expression showed a rare hint of surprise and emotion.

At the site of Chu Mingkong's torn chest, the wild and turbulent black Yin blood surged forth like a trapped beast struggling against its cage. However, several thin golden threads gently encircled his heart, suppressing the raging blood that could have stirred up a foul wind, as sturdy as chains forged by a master craftsman.

This striking scene was as if a ferocious beast had been calmed down by a ball of fur.

The blood that wasn't trapped clung to his body, flowing, writhing, and twisting, forming a thin, light armor, with flickering flames within the muddy flow of blood. High in the sky, it scorched out swirling, dark clouds of smoke that surrounded him.

"Your Highness has shown me a new use for the power of extreme Yin. It is truly frightening. I have never heard of any similar methods for the power of extreme Yang in all these years. I wonder if it is all show and no substance."

"That's unlikely. I prefer to appear weaker so I can see the remorse and regret in my opponent's death. If everyone who fights me dies without regret, wouldn't they die too easily? It's more painful for them to die happily than for me to die less!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Mingkong felt himself getting irritable again, with profanities and vulgarities welling up from his heart, and even some immoral thoughts like mocking a eunuch's sore spot. Fortunately, his strong moral compass allowed him to restrain himself.

"Come, come, I heard that Eunuch Cao Shengxi was born with a 'pure and tranquil mind' and could leave no trace with a single cut. He had nowhere to release his juices. After holding it in for so many years, Sengseng Cao must have developed a very powerful skill, right?"

After Chu Mingkong finished speaking, his figure had already left the spot, and where he had just stood, a golden dragon broke out of the ground.

His figure appeared to Cao Shengxi's side, thrusting forward with a spear. The spear tip flashed with silver light. Cao Shengxi took two steps back, raised his fist and smashed it. Before the fist and the spear tip even touched, they collided with a loud bang.

The clouds in the sky were frozen in shape by Chu Mingkong's shot, like a giant cone-shaped hourglass hanging in the blue sky, and then scattered by the aftershocks, leaving no clouds or birds in that area of ​​the sky.

After the first strike, Chu Mingkong moved to a different position and thrust out his spear again. Each time, Cao Shengxi was able to receive the blow safely, only to be forced back a few steps by Chu Mingkong.

Cao Shengxi glanced at his fist; the black flames had scorched the skin of his fist, but the golden dragon swirling around him swam across his fist and quickly healed the injury.

He was quite surprised; instead of being angered by Chu Mingkong's rubbish, he nodded approvingly.

"It's been many years, and it's been a long time since anyone could hurt me. The Gun Immortal, empowered by the power of extreme Yin, is indeed formidable. He can face me and escape unscathed, and even manage to injure me!"

No, it's not that no one can hurt you within the capital city limits!

Chu Mingkong retreated two steps awkwardly, feeling uneasy. Every inch longer, every inch stronger. He had just taken out his spear to test the eunuch's strength without harming Ke Qing as much as possible. Apart from the spear's poor quality, he hadn't held back in his attacks.

However, he never managed to hurt Cao Shengxi enough.

His skill was indeed ridiculously powerful. Just now, with each punch he threw, the spiritual energy, enhanced by the extreme yang dragon energy, seemed to condense into a thousand layers of shields in front of his fist. Each punch was equivalent to the most powerful strike from someone of the same realm, leaving them with no power to retaliate afterward. Yet, Cao Shengxi could continue throwing punches as if nothing had happened.

The dragon energy on his body also provided him with assistance, offsetting some of the corrosive power of the extreme yin fire spiritual energy. No matter how powerful his spiritual energy was, it was nothing more than a thicker sheet of paper.

"Your Highness, it's my turn to make a move this time. I won't be kind enough to avoid the woman in Your Highness's arms!"

This means that he will target women to force them into making a mistake!

Although this decision is understandable, Chu Mingkong still had to say, "You're a eunuch, not a stuntman!"

An even more concentrated Yin Fire spiritual energy clung to the spear in his hand, causing the spear to become rotten and black, its surface cracked like the surface of a volcano, with flames rising from the cracks and sparks flying out from time to time. The spear tip was completely burning.

Chu Mingkong turned to the side, using his body to shield Ke Qing, and swept his spear across the empty space in front of him, striking Cao Shengxi, who was trying to ambush Ke Qing.

This time, he couldn't block it as easily as before. The extreme yin energy on the spear was too concentrated and quickly corroded and burned through his protective spiritual energy.