The Emperor composed himself and nodded, “I’ve already used it. It’s much better to calm my heart and mind. It’s indeed quite effective. Thank you, Perfected One.”
Zhou Jing nodded and solemnly continued,
“His Majesty is the son of the True Dragon and has the protection of the dragon qi. The heavenly secrets of the immortals should also be on His Majesty. If anything happens, it will turn disaster into blessings. This assassin went against the heavens, so naturally, he failed and was exposed. It’s impossible for him to succeed.”
Hearing this, the Emperor’s lips curled up slightly as he said with a smile, “Perfected One is right.”
Everyone liked to hear good words. He had heard many compliments from others, but he never got tired of hearing them.
The Emperor composed himself and restrained his smile. He waved his hand and said, “Perfected One, you can leave first. Help me find another trace of the criminal.”
“Then I’ll leave first.”
Zhou Jing bowed and left the hall.
Before he could take a few steps, he heard the Emperor cursing the commander of the palace guards behind him.
Zhou Jing raised his eyebrows and pretended not to hear him. Without looking back, he left.
In the next few days, the palace guards continued to search the city.
However, Zhou Jing knew that the assassin had long escaped. These searches were all useless, and he was only pretending.
The assassination of the Emperor caused the entire Ning Tian Prefecture to panic. This news seemed to have grown wings and quickly spread to the nearby states as well.
…
In the Jiangchun area, near a certain county city.
Chen Feng and the others rested in the forest, eating dry food and chatting casually.
Compared to more than a month ago, the team had grown much stronger.
From the Lu River to the Jiangchun River, Chen Feng had killed corrupt officials and eliminated tyrants along the way. He had been chased and surrounded by the officials many times, but he was still safe and sound. He had made a huge name for himself, and his reputation in the Green Forest was rising. He was already a famous figure in the Green Forest in the Southern regions.
Wherever he went, there would occasionally be men who came from poor backgrounds and had been bullied. They wanted to change their ways of living and were willing to follow Chen Feng, but such people were extremely rare.
In addition, there were many people from the Green Forest who respected Chen Feng and came to support him.
At this moment, Chen Feng’s group had already reached more than 40 people, akin to a small bandit team.
More than half of them were poor families like Zhang San. There were about ten martial artists in the Green Forest inside, as well as some new faces.
However, although Chen Feng’s reputation in the Green Forest was high, his reputation among the masses was mixed.
After all, his killings were too much. Even if he killed some tyrants and nobles, many citizens were still afraid and thought that he was a lawless murderer. His ferocious reputation could even stop children from crying at night.
However, there were also people who praised this kind of behavior. Most of them were poor families who had been bullied by the local nobles. Some people had even taken the initiative to follow the trajectory of Chen Feng’s actions, hoping to invite him to visit their hometown.
At this moment, there was a commotion in the forest. Fang Zhen, who had been gathering information, had returned.
Fang Zhen strode closer and said excitedly,
“Brothers, I just heard some big news. It’s said that someone assassinated the fatuous ruler in Ning Tian Prefecture and almost succeeded!”
“There’s actually such a thing? Brother Fang, tell me in detail!”
When everyone heard this, they were immediately interested and asked repeatedly.
After Fang Zhen explained in detail, everyone was surprised to no end.
Guo Haishen could not help but praise,
“To be able to assassinate the Emperor alone and retreat unscathed, he’s also a good man with superb martial arts!”
“He’s indeed a character. Unfortunately, I don’t know his name. I really want to meet him.”
Hong Dingxian also nodded repeatedly.
However, Zhang San noticed another point and said unhappily, “Heh, the people suspect that this was done by our brothers? It’s really ridiculous. We don’t have wings, so how can we fly to Ning Tian Prefecture overnight? As men, we should be honest. Since we didn’t do it, we can’t be implicated.”
Chen Feng sat on the rock and snorted,
“It’s just a rumor among the people. There’s no need to care. Even if the Imperial Court really blames me, what’s there to be afraid of? If they provoke Grandpa, I might really just go pluck the head of the dog emperor!”
“Brother, you’re courageous! If the Imperial Court dares to send people, we’ll kill them all!”
Everyone laughed in agreement.
At the same time, on the main road dozens of kilometers away.
Shen Sanqiu and the other 28 experts were riding their horses at full speed, getting closer and closer to Chen Feng.