Chapter 340

Chapter 340

Su Yi remained silent, but after a moment of stillness, her thoughts echoed again.

*'Whether sincere or pretended, you have always treated me well. So, this time, see me off one last time.'* Though it was a request, Su Yi’s worsening backlash proved that the other party's resistance was growing stronger.

"Ugh!" A stifled cry of pain and the sound of flesh being pierced rang out simultaneously, but both were drowned by the sudden roar of thunder. Outside, the sky darkened in an instant, thick clouds blotting out the sun, leaving only flashes of violet lightning streaking across like a shower of sparks.

An unseen force burst outward in waves, forcibly repelling everything near Su Yi. The delicate hairpiece atop her head fell to the ground, and her long black hair spilled loose, swaying gently as if caught in an unfelt breeze—almost mirroring a scene from many years ago.

The iron taste in her mouth grew heavier, as if her blood was draining away. The excruciating pain of being torn apart did not so much as flicker across Su Yi's expression. If not for the blood soaking her robes and the wooden stake embedded in her heart, her near-fatal condition would have seemed an extreme contradiction.

Splatters of blood stained her originally jade-like face, giving her soft smile a haunting allure.

She could feel it—the restraints had been broken. Her body was failing, about to break apart.

She swayed, like a wilting flower, nearly collapsing to the ground before Kangxi—now regaining control of his body—lunged forward to catch her.

*No wonder they deceived Consort Ping the same way. Wang Shi was just another pawn, with the same goal—to trap me, preventing me from leaving the imperial city. No, not the city itself, but the people within it. Then, using the Emperor's hand, they would eliminate me for good.*

But Su Yi would never obediently follow such a script.

She truly was ruthless toward herself. Shattering the restraints also left her severely weakened. The thunder tribulation was coming—just the rumbling alone foretold its strike. If not for the fact that she and Kangxi were still in the same room, where the tribulation would affect him, it wouldn’t just be the sound they heard—the lightning would have already struck.

The lurking being, eager to consume her while she was weakened and before the thunder tribulation could scatter her essence, had barely revealed itself when its supposed ally, its co-conspirator, betrayed it.

After all, to devour her, it had to manifest its true form. Having lost most of its avatars the last time Su Yi raided its lair, it had hidden its true form within a small fragment to escape swiftly. The tremendous loss of power had been the only way to stall Su Yi from pursuing it—a heavy price that left it with barely enough strength to lurk in hiding. Even in its schemes, it dared not reveal itself, relying only on avatars.

Only Su Yi’s severe injury and weakened state could draw it out. Its desire to devour her and reclaim its identity as the Heavenly Dao outweighed all else—which was precisely how it was caught.

It couldn’t believe that its supposed ally, who had agreed to eliminate Su Yi, would betray it at this critical moment. It had heard that human hearts were fickle, but this Demon Dragon was just as treacherous and capricious—no easier to predict than humans!

Weren’t these two mortal enemies? Su Yi had killed him—wasn’t that the deepest kind of hatred?

Otherwise, it wouldn’t have trusted his deceit and teamed up with him.

After all, he had even obtained the Divine Wood Core—the very thing capable of killing Su Yi. Back then, hadn’t he been killed by Su Yi precisely because he tried to steal it? Yet, he had managed to take it with him in death. Now, offering it as proof of sincerity—how could it doubt him?

At first, it had wanted to use Su Yi to kill him, but the Su Yi who arrived was far more troublesome. It had realized too late that throwing Su Yi into this world was like tossing a major problem elsewhere—thinking it was a perfect match, using one trouble to eliminate another.

But he had actually betrayed it!!! Were these two just putting on an act?!

Su Yi leaned against Kangxi’s chest, quietly feeling the life force of this body draining away at an alarming rate—like sand through an hourglass, never to return. She made no effort to resist the growing weakness from the loss of vitality. Cracks spread slowly, creeping from her neck to her face like fissures in porcelain. She looked like a broken jade statue, on the verge of crumbling completely.

"Why?" Kangxi’s voice was calm, but madness gleamed in his eyes as he pressed for an answer. His arms tightened around her, clutching at what was left, yet he restrained himself with painful caution—terrified that the slightest pressure would shatter her.

But it was useless. Useless!

Su Yi did not speak. At this point, she no longer had the energy to waste on words.

*'You wanted to kill me too, didn’t you?'*

*'Keeping me for last—wasn’t it because you hadn’t yet found a foolproof method to strike me down?'*

*'A mere mortal, daring to think ordinary poison could kill me—how pathetically stupid. Only fit to amuse me in passing.'*

*'But you… you’re different. Heaven’s Mandate is with you. You know how to wait, how to endure. Unlike those fools who only disgust me.'*

*'My time has come.'*

‘This time, there’s no need to guard me. I won’t be waking up again.’

Kangxi’s body froze completely as he watched the familiar, gentle smile and affectionate gaze of the person in his arms. His reddened eyes seethed with madness and hatred—even in these final moments, her torment brought him unbearable agony.

In this silent battle, he remained lucid yet succumbed to complete defeat, losing everything.

His arms were now empty, holding only bloodstained robes and a handful of gray, sand-like ashes. The soul that had sustained this body had dissipated into smoke, yet he remained frozen in that hollow embrace, unmoving for a long while, as if unable to comprehend what had happened. The only light that fell upon him was the flickering flash of thunder splitting the sky.

So much time passed that even Liang Jiugong and the others, who had been struck unconscious, finally awoke. The sky had darkened, and no one had lit the lamps. Realizing what had transpired, they were about to call out when they noticed the Emperor seated at the head of the room. On the desk lay neatly folded robes, now soaked in blood. His face was hidden in shadow, his entire figure swallowed by darkness—chilling to behold.

As for Noble Consort Rong, whose vigilance and concern for the Emperor’s safety had been their last memory before losing consciousness, there was no trace of her. The bloodied robes told Liang Jiugong all he needed to know. Daring not to make a sound, he moved with practiced caution, kneeling to the side as usual, awaiting orders.

One by one, the palace servants awoke, belatedly sensing the oppressive atmosphere. Liang Jiugong lowered his head, refusing to look further, thinking to himself: *These people won’t be allowed to live.*

—

The Cao family, who had just been honored by the Emperor’s favor, was met with devastating ruin in the next breath. Noble Consort Rong had been assassinated, and nearly all the palace attendants present at the time had perished in the attack.

The speed of this reversal stunned everyone.

The assassin was a woman from the Wang family, jointly presented to the Emperor by the Cao and Li families. Disguised with a human-skin mask, she had infiltrated the palace intending to kill the Emperor. By chance, Noble Consort Rong arrived and shielded him with her own body, dying in the process.

The Cao and Li families had offered a beauty to the Emperor, only to deliver an assassin. That very day, Jiangning was placed under strict lockdown. The entire Cao household was seized, their nine clans exterminated. Meanwhile, imperial envoys bearing the Emperor’s edict were dispatched to Suzhou to deal with the Li family, bringing annihilation upon them as well.

The fallout did not stop with the Cao and Li families. The lives claimed were merely the beginning.

Before the Emperor even returned to the capital, the silent approach of bloodshed and slaughter had already begun to envelop the Forbidden City.