Chapter Fifteen: The Imperial Cat Awakens

  Zhuge Xingli watched Han Zhang's movements, and after about a moment, Zhan Zhao suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. The blood splattered on the ground, and it was actually black!

  Zhuge Xingli nodded, "Alright, we can stop now!"

  Han Zhang's head dissipated the white smoke, withdrew his palms, slowly pressed down on his dantian, his face slightly pale, opened his eyes, and looked exhausted.

  Gongsun Ce and Bao Zheng hastily stepped forward, supporting Xian Zhao. The four of them stood there, staring at each other in dismay. What to do now? Should they let go and allow Xian's bodyguard to fall back into the coffin again? That didn't seem right, but on the other hand, could they just continue standing there like this, holding him up?

  "Give him a slap, and he'll probably wake up!" Zhuge Xinglei said.

  As soon as he said this, everyone in the public hall pulled a face and wanted to give him a slap! What kind of treatment is this?!

  "Or pinch him among his people!" Zhuge Xingli stroked his silver beard and said with a smile.

  Gongsun Ce suddenly let out a breath, then pinched Zhan Zhao's philtrum. He saw the person in his arms move slightly, and Gongsun Ce hastily released his hand!

  Zhan Zhao's eyes suddenly opened, flashing a thread of sharp light, and a mark similar to an eye appeared on his brow. At the same time, a sword cry sounded from the back hall, and an ancient long sword suddenly flew in front of Zhan Zhao!

  Zhan Zhao stretched out his hand and grabbed it, making a long whistle sound.

  Zhuge Xing's eyes narrowed, a sharp glint flashed across, and his gaze burned as he stared at the mark on Zhan Zhao's brow and the giant void on his hand. A faint smile floated to the corner of his mouth.

  He actually opened his heavenly eye? And looking at the long sword in his hand, it seems to be a spiritual object recognizing its master. This child is indeed extraordinary!

  Zhan Zhao's eyes closed again, then opened, his body tense, looking around, and asked in surprise, "Bao Daren, Gong Sun Xiansheng, how did you end up here?"

  Gongsun Ce hastily opened his mouth and said, "Zhan Huwei, this is Kaifeng, you're awake, you really are awake!"

  Zhan Zhao was stunned and looked around, only to find that everyone's eyes were red-rimmed, as if they had been crying tears of joy!

  "Zhan, when did you come back!?" Zhan Zhao hastily asked, "Did the old man arrive in Kaifeng? What about the killer?"

  Bao Zheng hastily said, "Xu Wu, don't worry, everything is fine. The old man who filed the complaint has arrived in Kaifeng, and the murderer has been captured by the Four Men of the Island of Traps!"

  Zhan Zhao let out a sigh of relief, "That's good, that's good!"

  Suddenly, Taishi Peng shouted, "How dare you, Zhan Zhao! The Emperor is present, yet you still don't kneel down and pay your respects! Are you trying to deceive the ruler?!?"

  Zhan Zhao suddenly felt a jolt, turned his eyes to look around, and indeed saw Emperor Renzong among the crowd. Zhan Zhao hastily wanted to stand up, but suddenly discovered that he was actually inside something very strange, no matter how he looked at it, it seemed like a coffin...

  Dizzy, isn't Kaifeng Prefecture preparing to bury me as a dead person...

  The Son of Heaven waved his hand and said, "Xu Huwei doesn't have to be so polite, Xu Huwei has just woken up, no need for formalities!"

  Zhan Zhao hastily cupped his hands together and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

  "Xuan Wei, you scared us all to death! We thought you were already dead!" The Eighth Highness took a step forward and said.

  Zhan Zhao was stunned and paused for a moment, Gong Sun Ce smiled and shook his head, telling Zhan Zhao what had happened.

  Zhan Zhao fell silent, let out a sigh, and bowed his hands to the four mice, "Thank you, brothers!"

  Lu Fang and others all had some redness around their eyes, and opened their mouths to say, "Zhan Huwei, it's good that you're awake!"

  A thread of emotion called being moved spread from Zhan Zhao's heart, he himself and the four mice, ah no, five mice, had only met a few times, yet they would rush to his side so quickly, even feeling happy for him to be reborn after death. These people were really lovely, compared to his past life, this world was too lovely!

  Suddenly, Zhan Zhao's chest hurt and he spat out a few mouthfuls of black blood. Zhuge Xingli smiled and said, "The elixir just now only dissolved part of the toxins in your body, allowing you to wake up from your dormant state. The toxins in your body have not been completely eliminated yet, and it will take two or three more days for you to fully recover!"

  "Thank you, Immortal, for saving my life!" Zhan Zhao bowed his hands and carefully examined Zhuge Xingli. He thought to himself, "So this world really does have beings similar to immortals. Not long ago, I saw a ghost and heard about the Demon Realm. Now, an immortal who has cultivated for two hundred years has appeared. It seems that there are still many things in this world that I don't understand."

  The Son of Heaven suddenly spoke up, "Why have so many people surrounded us? Everyone disperse! Father King, Lord Bao, Mr. Gong Sun, Mr. Zhuge, and the several from Trap Island, let's go inside the palace to talk!"

  Ma Han was taken aback and hastily said, "Your Majesty, may I also enter?"

  The Son of Heaven was taken aback and said, "Alright, let the four great marshals come in as well. Ah, Marshal Pang, do you want to come too?"

  Pang Taishi's expression changed, and he secretly thought to himself that even if he knew some things, it would be useless. At this moment, the most important thing for him to do was to quickly inform his son Pang Yun.

  After a moment of contemplation, Grand Master Pong hastily knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, I won't enter anymore. This old minister is old, somewhat weak-willed, feeling rather tired. Please forgive me, Your Majesty, and let this old man return to his residence to rest!"

  The Son of Heaven nodded and waved his hand, "Alright, let it be done!"

  Pang Taishi hastily thanked him and rushed out of Kaifeng Prefecture!

  Zhan Zhao watched as Pang Taishi left, feeling somewhat astonished. Why did this Pang Taishi suddenly leave? According to his temperament, shouldn't he have followed instead? What's going on?

  Bao Zheng and Gong Sun Ce exchanged a glance, both of them let out a sigh, they both guessed it, that Pang Tai Shi must have gone to deliver the message for Pang Yun!

  Inside the hall, everyone was silent, staring intently at Zhan Zhao and Zhuge Xingli. Zhan Zhao scratched his head, "Don't look at me, I don't know anything! At that time, all I remembered was trying to stop the assassin from killing someone. Then, I decided to risk my life to fight back, and managed to kill one of the assassins. After that, another assassin severely injured me and kicked me flying out, and then I didn't know anything else!"

  Everyone's eyes turned to Zhuge Xingli again.

  Zhuge Xingli stroked his silver beard and smiled, "As I said earlier, Zhang Chao's soul and body were somewhat hindered. At the moment when he was supposed to die, Zhang Chao's physical instincts opened up the Turtle Breath Skill, starting to heal himself, that's why there was no breathing or heartbeat!"

  "Not bad!" Jiang Ping suddenly spoke up, "We didn't think of this point, but what's the soul and body, we're not clear, we neglected that Nan Xia has a family-transmitted martial art called Gui Xi Gong. At that time, seeing Nan Xia's miserable state, I thought Xian brother was dead at first glance, it was a preconceived notion!"

  "However, Zhan brother is indeed extraordinary!" Jiang Ping's face was filled with incredulity, "He was pierced through the chest by the giant void sword and yet he can still survive!"

  Zhuge Xing smiled slightly, looking at the giant sword in Zhan Zhao's hand. In his heart, he secretly thought that perhaps it was a spiritual object automatically protecting its master. However, these were not to be said, and everything would go smoothly as it should!

  Zhan Zhao's face was shocked, "I'm not sure about this question either!"

  Zhuge Xingli saw the gaze of everyone shift back to himself, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke up, "This matter, I'm not very clear about it either, so let's not ask me!"

  "Gentlemen, is there anything else you'd like to say? I'll take my leave now!" Zhuge Xingli said.

  Everyone in the room was stunned. Bao Da Ren hastily spoke up, "Master Dao, why must you leave so quickly? Is it that I, the Prefect of Kaifeng, have been too slow?"

  Zhuge Xinglei smiled, "No, I still want to return to my hometown. Now that things are settled here, Zhan Zhao can be said to have profited from the disaster. His soul and body no longer have any hindrance between them. Since there's nothing left for me to do here, I won't stay behind!"

  Zhuge Xingli turned his head and glanced at Zhan Xiang and Bai Yutang, saying, "You two are only one line away from the Three Flowers Gathering on Top. If you have free time, can you come to Sichuan Shu Mountain to meet with me?"