The Human Emperor

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

The most dangerous place in the entire Imperial Palace was undoubtedly the Sage Emperor’s residence, Taihe Palace.

The vast energies soaring into the air, azure tinged with violet, were pure and boundless, extending into the heavens.

The Sage Emperor’s Dragon Guards!

Wang Chong thought back to these powerful guards. These were the most determined of guards, grim and taciturn, but their formidable strength was enough to shock anyone.

The black-armored General Li who had held the Nine Dragon Blood War Banner in the Battle of Talas was one of them. His strength that had exceeded the Great General level was enough to make anyone pause.

But the Taihe Palace that was surrounded by the Dragon Guards was dim, lacking any of the energy of the supreme existence of the realm.

Taihe Palace seemed to be shrouded in fog that made it impossible to see what was going on inside.

How is the Sage Emperor faring? Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

His original intention had been to try and get into Taihe Palace, but after thinking about it, he cast aside the idea. Although he had reached the Subtle realm, he was still not confident that he could get past the guards.

The Imperial Palace was a gathering place of experts, as it had been for dynasty after dynasty. The Sage Emperor himself was said to almost be at the Saint Martial realm, and no one could guarantee that there weren’t formidable experts hidden within the palace, perhaps even those of the Subtle realm.

If he were discovered by the Dragon Guards, the situation would probably get even more complicated. Even if Wang Chong didn’t care about himself, he still needed to worry about the Wang Clan.

His eyes paused on Taihe Palace for a few moments before looking elsewhere.

The Crown Prince’s Eastern Palace!

The Eastern Palace had always been the residence of the Crown Prince. Although the First Prince had not officially been assigned to that post, he had lived in the Eastern Palace for many years. All he lacked was the title itself.

But this was not what Wang Chong was paying attention to. What he had noticed was an extremely dark and inexplicable ball of energy within the Eastern Palace.

This ball of energy didn’t seem that intense, but the danger hidden within was even more frightening than the Sage Emperor’s Dragon Guards.

That should be Eunuch Yin! Wang Chong noted.

During the harem incident, Wang Chong had met with Eunuch Yin and was extremely familiar with his energy. Moreover, anyone who could reach the rank of chief eunuch in the inner palace could not be mediocre. Whether it was Gao Lishi or Eunuch Yin, they seemed to cultivate powerful and unique arts that made them stand far above normal martial artists.

In this night excursion into the Imperial Palace, it was hard to say if Wang Chong would alarm Eunuch Yin or not, even though he was sure that he was not leaking even a sliver of energy.

Experts were extremely sensitive to each other’s presence.

“Your Highness, over here!” came a voice from the bottom of the wall. Two figures could be seen in the darkness, apparently waiting for him.

Thwish!

Wang Chong jumped down and was welcomed by Heaven Deaf and Earth Mute.

“Is your investigation finished?” Wang Chong said.

“Yes. In the entire Imperial Palace, this is the place where Eunuch Gao has the highest chance of being. Moreover, the various clues indicate that he’s probably stuck there for the short term.”

They used the term ‘stuck’ instead of ‘imprisoned’ because even after all the information they had gathered, they still found it impossible to believe that anyone could imprison Eunuch Gao. But this was exactly what it seemed like at this time.

“Take me there!”

Wang Chong’s eyes flashed, and then a burst of Stellar Energy latched onto the pair, who swiftly began to make their way into the palace.

The Imperial Palace was heavily guarded and constantly patrolled, but with the pair guiding the way, Wang Chong was able to make his way through like a ghost.

Even though he was far stronger than the Imperial Army soldiers, Wang Chong remained cautious, not daring to be careless. While the Imperial Army soldiers were not fearsome, if the soldiers discovered him and raised the alarm, everything would change.

The Imperial Army and servitors were part of a single system, and a single alarm would mobilize all of them.

There was a reason that the Great Tang Imperial Palace was known as one of the most dangerous places in the world.

Wang Chong’s group had an experience that was more harrowing than dangerous. They drew closer and closer to the place where Eunuch Gao was being held.

“Your Highness, it’s up ahead. But that place is being tightly guarded, and it will be very difficult to get inside,” Heaven Deaf and Earth Mute warned.

The layout of the Imperial Palace was incredibly complicated, and without guides like Heaven Deaf and Earth Mute, it was easy to get lost.

Wang Chong nodded, restraining all his energy and lowering his profile before beginning to head over.

After crossing over several walls, Wang Chong finally reached the place Eunuch Gao was being imprisoned.

Wang Chong had imagined many times what this prison would look like, but when he finally saw it, he was struck dumb.

“You’re sure this is the place?”

Wang Chong’s brow creased as he looked forward.

“How could it be like this?” Heaven Deaf and Earth Mute muttered in shock.

Based on what they had observed, this residence should have been lit and heavily guarded by numerous experts. But this residence was in complete darkness, and there weren’t even any guards. It was clearly just an empty palace.

“Impossible!” Heaven Deaf suddenly said, obviously shocked. “We’ve been watching this place the entire time. During the day, there were still many people guarding this place. We were worried about being discovered, so we didn’t go in any farther to observe.”

They were renowned for their observation arts, and they had never committed such a major mistake before.

“Did we go to the wrong place?” Earth Mute couldn’t help but say.

As the two best trackers in the martial arts world, the pair had always been confident in themselves and had never doubted their ability, but… the current situation was far too different from what they had reported.

“No, this should be the place!” Wang Chong declared with surprising resolve, a thoughtful light in his eyes. “There’s the scent of medicine here, and didn’t you say that there were a few bronze pillars in front of the door? This is the place!”

There truly were several bronze pillars in front of the door.

These bronze pillars were known as ‘hitching posts’.

This dynasty was one that emphasized martial prowess, and horse archery was one of the fundamental skills. In the Imperial Palace, there was also a place where horses were raised exclusively for the Princes and Kings. With horses, there would naturally be hitching posts.

However, all the hitching posts here were set up in Taizong’s time. No one liked horse archery more than Taizong, resulting in his nickname, ‘the Horseback Emperor’.

But in the current reign, these hitching posts were not used as much.

The hitching posts of the Imperial Palace were each different, and the Taotie1 designs on the hitching posts were identical to the ones in Heaven Deaf and Earth Mute’s report.

“It seems like we were a step too slow. They’ve already moved Eunuch Gao away,” Wang Chong said heavily.

His foe was much more cautious than he had imagined. It seemed like they moved Eunuch Gao’s location every few days.

Eunuch Gao had clearly been moved to a new area.

This was something that Wang Chong had never expected would happen so quickly.

Thwish!

Wang Chong shot away like a bolt of lightning, entering the building.

“Your Highness, wait for us!”

Heaven Deaf and Earth Mute hastily followed in alarm.

The building was completely empty, just as Wang Chong had expected. Someone had already moved everything out, even the furniture.

As for Eunuch Gao, not even a trace had been left.

“I came too late!”

Wang Chong once more slightly frowned at the sight.

There were still a few telltale signs that the room had recently been cleaned, but it was obvious that the other party had taken the appropriate measures when moving Eunuch Gao away.

“Your Highness, our apologies! Give us another chance! We’ll definitely find Eunuch Gao!”

Heaven Deaf and Earth Mute couldn’t help but apologize after seeing the empty room.

But the two of them knew that finding Eunuch Gao again would be even more difficult.

They had needed to expend an enormous amount of time earlier to find Eunuch Gao and had needed to follow many clues. But now that he had been moved, it would be easier said than done to find Eunuch Gao.

“Forget it. You did your best.”

Wang Chong waved his hand. Although he was inevitably rather disappointed, Wang Chong knew that the two of them had done their best.

Eunuch Gao was extremely important, and since the First Prince had dared to make such audacious schemes, he would naturally ensure that he left no clues.

“Hurry; it’s up ahead…” As Wang Chong was talking with the pair, they heard soft whispers.

Wang Chong’s heart thumped and he immediately stopped speaking. Heaven Deaf and Earth Mute noticed Wang Chong’s expression and also stopped speaking.

A few moments later, a second voice came out of the darkness, slight resentment in its tone. “Isn’t His Highness being too careful? Is there a need to constantly change locations? And we already cleaned the place up, but he’s having us go and check again to see if we left any clues. But what sort of clues could have been left?”

As the two spoke, light footsteps could be heard getting closer and closer.

______________
1.The Taotie is a mythical creature, known as one of the four evil creatures, that was often used as a motif in ancient Chinese bronze artifacts.↩