Xue Nu's surprise faded into a knowing smile. "Mn. Do you want me to keep you in line?"
As expected of Xue Nu—hardly an ordinary woman. Her eyes held a teasing glint.
"It was just a joke. Don't take it so seriously." Goku smiled faintly and turned toward the window. "Come on. Let's have a talk with the Yan King. I am not someone just anyone can put on a wanted list."
"You… are you the ones who killed Yan Chun-jun?" the noblewoman asked, startled by his words.
"What, do we not look the part?" Goku glanced back at her, voice flat.
"You're bold indeed, breaking into the palace," she said after a beat. "But if you killed Yan Chun-jun… perhaps you're not the villains here. You should leave quickly. No matter how strong you are, you cannot simply run rampant in the royal palace."
Strangely, her hostility had lessened; it seemed Yan Chun-jun's character hadn't been admirable.
"Leave? Not happening." Goku snorted. "I came here for the Yan King. He dared post my name—so I'll make sure he regrets it."
With a blur, he leapt through the window. "Let's go, Xue Nu. Time to make some noise."
Xue Nu gave the noblewoman a polite nod and stepped lightly after him.
---
"Assassins! Assassins! Stop them! Archers—ready!"
No sooner had Goku and Xue Nu appeared than patrolling guards spotted them. The palace erupted in alarm. Within moments, waves of soldiers flooded every passage, sealing the area tight.
Goku, unruffled, landed with Xue Nu at his side. He took in the sea of armored guards and asked softly, "Are you afraid?"
Xue Nu's expression was still water. She shook her head. "I'm only worried… for them."
Goku laughed aloud, eyes sweeping the ring of palace guards. "Have your Yan King crawl out here! He dared to post a bounty on me—he'll kneel and apologize, or I'll erase the Yan Kingdom from the map!"
"Impudence! You dare insult our sovereign and defy Great Yan?" the guard commander roared. "Archers—loose!"
"Heh. Ants, squeaking at a dragon." Goku flicked his wrist. A transparent barrier flared up around him and Xue Nu.
A black hail of arrows crashed down, slamming into the barrier—only to shatter into splinters under a vicious backlash.
"What?!"
The guards stared, ashen. The volley had done nothing.
"Loose! Keep firing! Crossbows—ready! Loose!"
Again arrows poured down, again they broke harmlessly upon the shield.
Xue Nu watched the barrier, shock bright in her eyes. Such fire would force any master in the world to retreat—yet Goku stood unmoved. In front of him, bow and bolt were decorations.
"Kill! Even if arrows fail, bury him under men! The palace's dignity cannot be defiled!" the commander shouted. Swords and spears leveled, the guards charged.
Goku sighed. "So you won't learn without blood."
The Demon Sword streaked from his hand, a crimson flash spinning through the air. Demonic aura billowed; red light throbbed; the blade hummed hungrily.
The sword wheeled once overhead, then plunged into the ranks like a blood-red comet.
Men fell before they even understood what had struck them. Screams rose; terror spread like wildfire. This was no battle—it was a one-sided slaughter.
Even officers with real skill died in a single exchange. The gap in power was simply too vast.
Hand in hand, Goku led Xue Nu forward while the Demon Sword danced around them. With each step, bodies fell and the flagstones ran red.
Soon, none dared come within twenty paces. The soldiers' hands shook around their weapons; fear clogged their throats; madness pressed at the edges of their minds.
It was a sight of overwhelming majesty—one man striding through ten thousand as if through mist.
Xue Nu's heart pounded—not with fear, but with an exultant awe.
---
Inside the throne hall, a guard stumbled in, armor clattering. He threw himself to the floor before the Yan King, voice breaking.
"Your Majesty—disaster! He's cutting his way in! We can't stop him! He's not human—he's a demon! Our elite by the tens of thousands—useless before him!"
Ministers and generals blanched.
"What? Tens of thousands of palace guards, and you can't hold off one man?" The Yan King's face drained of color; he nearly toppled from the throne. A coward's heart beat in a king's robe.
"The commanders—are no match… not even one exchange…"
"Calamity! For the sake of that petty Yan Chun-jun, we've provoked a scourge! Is Great Yan doomed?"
The civil officials shivered, at a loss. How could one man breach the palace without being stopped? It defied belief.
"Zheng!"
With a shriek of steel, the Demon Sword speared into the hall, burying itself in the floor. Demonic power poured out; cracks spiderwebbed across the polished tiles. Ministers were thrown flat by the shockwave. The Yan King tumbled from the throne, smashing his brow on the floor.
The hall dissolved into chaos.
They stared in horror at the figure who walked in, fingers laced with the hand of a breathtaking woman. Behind them, the corridor was carpeted with bodies; the air reeked of iron.
He stood there like an ancient demon-god, advancing atop a road of corpses.
His mere presence pressed down upon the court. Scholars and nobles alike felt themselves shrink to insects, unable to lift their heads.
They saw a king from hell—and felt only despair.
"You… what do you want?" the Yan King forced out, his voice stripped of all authority. If the entire palace couldn't halt a single step of this man's advance, what hope did he have? Cold crept up his neck; he felt his head might roll at any moment.
"You're the Yan King—the one who ordered my bounty?" Goku's gaze pinned him. The invisible pressure made the king's knees tremble. In that moment, he felt like an ant gazing up at a true sovereign.
"N-No… I—I'll rescind it—immediately!" he babbled, breath hitching.
Goku was a true god, master of a world. Even the faintest leak of his aura was more than mortals could withstand.
"Who dares run wild in my Yan palace?!"
A shout cracked across the hall. Three figures flashed in from outside, each an expert in his own right. The man in black at their head carried the greatest weight.
"Yan Taizi Dan…" Xue Nu's eyes settled on the leader.
"Miss Xue Nu," Taizi Dan said, face dark. "You've gone too far." On the way here, he had seen the bodies. Too many.
Goku snorted. "And what are you supposed to be? What right do you have to lecture me?"
He waved a hand. Yan Taizi Dan flew across the hall, smashed into a distant wall, and spat blood—heavily wounded in an instant.
"Your Highness!" The other two drew their swords and rushed Goku—only to be booted through the next wall, their fate uncertain.
Taizi Dan's eyes widened with shock. In secret, he bore a second title—Mo jia Juzi, the head of the Mohist School. His strength was formidable, yet he'd lost in a single move. The two he'd brought were well-known on the jianghu, and they too had fallen instantly.
"I didn't think… there was still such a monster in this world." Bitterness twisted Taizi Dan's mouth. "It seems Yan cannot escape disaster today."
All this, from a single wanted notice. Yan Chun-jun truly had brought calamity upon them.