CMWKSD -Chapter 278 The Proper Spectacle a Mastermind Deserves

Prince Hui’s death instantly ignited the fury of the Northern Barbarian shadow guards.

But the moment Jiu Yue made her move, everyone on Great Qi’s side was utterly subdued.

Blood was set ablaze by that single, clean beheading.

Both sides were boiling with excitement.

Even though there was such a huge disparity in numbers, the opposing force was, after all, the Crown Prince’s guard unit combined with Eagle Eye—Great Qi’s top-tier experts—plus Jiu Yue herself.

On Great Qi’s side, every single person radiated one overwhelming thought:

I’m terrifyingly strong right now.

As a result, for a time, they actually prevented the enemy from getting close.

Ying Yi and Jiang Xunan finally cut their way through wave after wave of enemies and appeared behind Jiu Yue.

The three of them immediately stood back to back, facing the endless surge of Northern Barbarian shadow guards.

Jiu Yue kicked Prince Hui’s head high into the air with one swift motion.

Sure enough, the Northern Barbarian guards’ attention was instantly drawn to the severed head.

Every single one of them looked up, eyes fixed on its trajectory.

They were determined to retrieve Prince Hui’s head.

And that was exactly what Jiu Yue wanted.

She gripped the massive blade she had just used to behead him, cutting down everything in her path—like a god killing gods, a Buddha killing Buddhas.

Anyone who appeared in her line of sight was dealt with.

Even the people on Great Qi’s side dared not stray into her field of vision.

They were afraid of being accidentally cut down.

And whether it was Jiu Yue, Ying Yi, or Jiang Xunan, none of them gave even a thought to whether their backs might be in danger.

Because behind them stood Great Qi’s strongest warriors.

Even Jiu Yue herself had never imagined that one day she would entrust her back to others with such complete confidence.

Outside the house, Ji Yiqing and the others heard the earth-shaking commotion from the courtyard.

They stopped caring about everything else.

Those with blades grabbed blades, those with sticks grabbed sticks.

Howling like madmen, they charged straight through the mansion gates.

Ji Yiqing knew he was useless in a fight, so he had prepared in advance.

On the way, he bought supplies.

An iron pot on his head, wooden boards tied to his chest and back.

Even if he couldn’t kill anyone, he was determined not to drag anyone down.

Soon, the entrance of the mansion turned into a scene where the skilled fighters of Dark Moon Pavilion surged forward—slashing, chopping, stabbing.

Ji Yiqing and Shao Qing, the two with practically no combat ability, each held a long sword they had no idea where they picked up.

Alive or dead—who cared?

If they saw someone who wasn’t one of their own, they stabbed first and asked questions never.

The goal was simple: absolutely do not let even a single enemy who might still be alive slip through.

Fortunately, the enemies they encountered weren’t the most skilled batch.

After all, Prince Hui was afraid of death—the strongest fighters had all been stationed near the main residence.

And this was where the advantage of cramped terrain showed itself.

If it had been open ground, facing so many enemies head-on, Jiu Yue and the others would have had a hard time disengaging.

But in tight quarters, there simply wasn’t enough space for the enemy to swarm them all at once.

Jiu Yue and the others stayed inside the building, cutting down enemies who charged in one after another.

In the end, the shadow guards could only step over corpses to advance.

Then they were killed in turn, becoming nourishment for the growing mountain of bodies, lifting Jiu Yue and her companions higher and higher.

Until another pile of corpses rose in the courtyard.

From time to time, Jiu Yue would kick Prince Hui’s head again just as it was about to fall to the ground.

That was bait—if it hit the ground, she’d have to pick it up again.

So dirty!

Ying Yi and Jiang Xunan—one the emperor’s guard, the other the crown prince’s—had to admit something honestly: They had never fought a battle this exhilarating.

As expected, following Jiu Yue meant one thing—There was no such thing as the most hot-blooded.

Only more hot-blooded.

The Crown Prince and Ji Chaomian understood Jiu Yue well.

They knew she was never the type to wait for reinforcements.

She’d charge in alone without hesitation.

So for that last stretch of road, they spurred their horses like mad.

They ran so fast their legs practically left afterimages.

They forcibly cut the travel time in half.

When they reached the county city, the Crown Prince slammed a command token straight into the body of a gate guard.

Then he led his men charging straight into the city.

The momentum was so fierce that anyone who didn’t know better would think an enemy nation had invaded.

The entire county city was terrified into chaos.

Luckily, scouts had already ridden ahead to inform the city guards and the magistrate.

Otherwise, if the gates had been shut, this crazed group might very well have forced their way in.

A rescue operation could have turned into a full-on city assault.

Following the marks left behind, they finally found the mansion.

The suburban garrison soldiers, exhausted to the brink of collapse, saw the blood at the mansion gates with a single glance.

They forgot everything else immediately.

They knew Jiu Yue had already started killing.

The mansion sat on the edge of the county city.

In front of it lay a vast open space.

A thousand soldiers packed tightly before the mansion, so dense they couldn’t even see one another’s faces.

There was no time for tactics or orders.

The rule was simple: whoever rushed to the front got to kill.

The result?

Those in front all surged into the mansion.

Those behind were still lining up in the open field.

Eventually, seeing that if they didn’t move faster they wouldn’t even get a sip of soup, the impatient ones at the back started climbing the walls.

One after another.

Some braced themselves below, forming human ladders.

Others stepped on their comrades’ heads and vaulted over the wall.

The sight…

Terrified the neighboring households half to death.

They shut their doors tight, then quietly peeked over their walls to watch the chaos.

After all, although it really did look like bandits storming a village, every one of them wore standard military armor.

This was Great Qi’s army.

Not bandits.

A petty thief next door, who had been sneaking around prying doors, dropped to his knees in the street and started banging his head on the ground.

They were here to arrest him?

He’d only stolen a young wife’s undergarment—was this really necessary?!

The Crown Prince had originally imagined himself descending like a god of war, appearing before Jiu Yue in a blaze of glory.

Then Jiu Yue would look at him with starry, admiring eyes.

Just thinking about it made him feel smug.

But when he actually arrived—The Crown Prince and Ji Chaomian were scrambling through the mansion, rolling and crawling as they searched for people.

As they searched, both of them shouted at the top of their lungs: “Leave some alive! Leave a few alive—don’t kill them all!!!”

Good heavens!

If they killed everyone, how were they supposed to find clues?

That Northern Barbarian emperor was still a fake!

There were so many things they hadn’t figured out yet!

Don’t kill them all!!!

“Leave a few alive!!!”

They flipped over corpse after corpse, not finding Prince Hui, and actually felt relieved.

Good—Prince Hui wasn’t dead yet.

But then they thought again—was Prince Hui really that easy to kill?

This man had plotted for ten or twenty years.

Strategy, intelligence, capability…

None of it suggested an ordinary person.

That was the kind of presence a mastermind behind the scenes should have.

Finally, the Crown Prince, Ji Chaomian, and Ji Yiqing reached the main courtyard.

They had assumed that since Prince Hui had abducted Jiu Yue, he would be carrying out his conspiracy in some secret chamber.

There was no way he’d treat her politely and welcome her into the main residence.

So they had searched all the hidden corners and side courtyards first.

Only at the very end did they go to the main courtyard.

What they didn’t expect was that Prince Hui truly wasn’t ordinary.

He really had treated the abducted Jiu Yue as an honored guest.

Who kidnaps someone and treats them like a VIP?!

When they finally saw the scene before them, their vision went black.

Standing atop one corpse after another, killing with wild excitement and howling with joy—Who else could it be but Jiu Yue?

And her usually stone-faced, perpetually businesslike chief guard—The one who laughed loudly every time he killed two people—Was that really the same person?!

Even with masks on, you could tell the Eagle Eye members were grinning.

But the most outrageous of all was Jiu Yue.

Killing at lightning speed with her hands was one thing.

But after killing a few people, she’d casually kick around some black object like a shuttlecock.

Kicking something just to spice things up?

Several people rubbed their eyes and focused on what she was kicking.

Good heavens—

It was a human head!

The Crown Prince pinched his own philtrum, his body going stiff as he nearly toppled backward.

Ji Chaomian and Ji Yiqing scrambled to hold him up.

“Your Highness! Your Highness, what’s wrong?!”

The Crown Prince’s gaze followed the head as it bounced up and down with Jiu Yue’s kicks.

With a trembling finger pointing at that bobbing head, he still tried to deceive himself: “Hah… that… that can’t be Prince Hui, right?”

Ji Yiqing: ……

Ji Chaomian: ……

If not for the courtyard and rooms filled with corpses, they would really have liked to say that it definitely wasn’t Prince Hui.

But if it wasn’t Prince Hui—

How could there be such a massive commotion?

The Crown Prince’s vision went completely black.

It was over.