Dance Of The Dragons
Chapter 303 : The End Of A Reign (4)

Chapter 303: Chapter 303 : The End Of A Reign (4)

"Your Majesty...!!!"

Sorrowful wails filled the mausoleum as the palace masters, dressed in their finest mourning attire, paid their last respects to their fallen emperor. They knelt before his ice coffin, their heads bowed in grief. Their tears fell like raindrops on the polished marble floor, mingling with the fragrant smoke of incense.

All of the palace masters were present, save for Liu Yichen, who had escaped from the dungeon during the carnage. Whether he was alive or dead was unknown at the moment, but his absence was a stark reminder of the treachery that had led to the emperor’s demise.

The sudden attack was clearly orchestrated by demons, and Liu Yichen’s omega son Liu Wenyuan, who had faked his own death, was known to be in league with the First Demon King.

Xie Jianshen arrived at the mausoleum with his husband, Jiang Rufeng the Shuiran Palace Master. His face was pale and drawn, and his eyes were red from grief. Although he did not shed any tears, his sorrow was evident in every line of his face and every step of his gait.

Due to his pregnancy, Xie Jianyu had to travel using a cloud carriage. He thus arrived much later than the others.

Zhang Fengxi made a point to wait for his wife at the entrance gate to intercept him in time.

As he expected, Xie Jianyu burst through the carriage door as soon as he arrived. If Zhang Fengxi was not there to stop him, he might just jump down from the carriage without waiting for the ladder to be lowered.

His pale face was stricken with grief, and his eyes were red and swollen from crying. Zhang Fengxi’s heart ached at the sight of his wife in such pain.

"Jianbao, I am so sorry."

Zhang Fengxi reached out and pulled Xie Jianyu into his arms, hoping to offer him some comfort. But Xie Jianyu gently pushed him away. He couldn’t bear to be touched right now. His heart was too heavy with grief, raw anguish eating at his very being.

"Don’t," he said with a hoarse, broken voice. "Don’t."

Xie Jianyu extricated himself from Zhang Fengxi’s grip and rushed toward the mausoleum. Zhang Fengxi followed close at his heels.

When the sound of their footsteps reached the mausoleum, Xie Jianshen and all the other palace masters raised their heads in unison.

When Xie Jianyu stepped into the mausoleum, his gaze met Xie Jianshen’s. For a moment, time seemed to stand still. All the discord and quarrels of the past were forgotten in the face of their shared grief.

Xie Jianshen rose to his feet and rushed to meet his younger brother. Xie Jianyu ran into his arms and cried at his shoulder.

"Big Brother..." he choked with sobs. His tears started flowing like a fountain.

Xie Jianshen, too, could not hold back his tears. They welled up in his eyes and spilled down his cheeks, mingling with Xie Jianyu’s tears. The siblings hugged each other tightly, their bodies shaking with sobs.

In the raw and emotional moment, they poured out all their grief and sorrow into each other’s arms.

"Little Yu, Father is gone," he said. "There are only the two of us now."

Xie Jianyu’s wail pierced the air, his pain echoing through the cold, stone walls of the mausoleum. It was a sound of pure grief, a sound that seemed to come from the depths of his soul.

Jiang Rufeng silently approached Zhang Fengxi and landed a pat on his shoulder. The two men exchanged curt smiles with each other.

"Let’s talk," he said in a low voice while throwing a brief glance in the Xie siblings’ direction. "We should leave them alone for now."

Jiang Rufeng and Zhang Fengxi distanced themselves from the mausoleum. There was a common saying regarding privacy in the Golden Dragon Palace -- Beware, for the walls had eyes and ears.

In the aftermath of the massacre, this saying no longer rang true. It was not at all difficult to find a quiet and secluded spot to discuss.

"You were the one who led the troops to the palace this morning," Jiang Rufeng pointed out. "Is it true? Did the Demonic Realm do this?"

Zhang Fengxi nodded solemnly. "Not any demons but those under the First Demon King," Zhang Fengxi confirmed. "Most of the demons left as fast as they came. They did not travel through conventional method, because the palace would have noticed them long before they arrived."

Jiang Rufeng clicked with his tongue in distaste.

"So what you mean is..."

"They entered through a dimensional portal, created by the Three-Eyed Realm Wanderer."

At this point, Zhang Fengxi regretted not going back to the Ghost Island to seize the witch. Then again, at that time they were focused on finding Liu Wenyuan...

Seeing the distraught expression on Zhang Fengxi’s face, Jiang Rufeng gave him a few comforting words.

"Don’t blame yourself for not being able to save His Majesty. The most important thing right now is to give chase to the First Demon King. Otherwise, he might just attack the other nine palaces one after another. And then, the Heavenly Realm would truly be lost."

"True. Speaking about the attack..."

Zhang Fengxi was about to mention the eerie fact about the Empress’ disappearance when the very person showed up before them.

The Empress did not look like her immaculate self.

Her once-flawless complexion was now pale and drawn, her eyes also red and swollen from crying. Her long, black hair was disheveled and hung in her face, like a curtain obscuring her beauty.

Her purple robe was torn and stained with tears, and her fair cheeks were streaked with two lines of soot, mixing with thick facial powder that was smudged during her escape.

The Empress dragged her tattered purple robe along the steps leading to the mausoleum, her body trembling with grief. She relied on Xie Jianzhi for support, her hands clawed tightly around the alpha’s arm.

Xie Jianzhi wore a dark, but unreadable expression. How did he end up coming to Golden Dragon Palace with the Empress in tow? Zhang Fengxi narrowed his eyes at him in suspicion.