“Hurry up your men! The coffin wasn’t prepared in the shop beforehand, and now my lord has to come and urge you!” a narrow-eyed official barked, his tone vicious.

In the past, he would always try to shirk or delay tasks assigned by Zhao Xuan, having figured out that this superior of his was “easy to bully.”

But now, the situation was different.

Old Zhang apologized profusely, “It’s truly delicate work, which inevitably takes time. It’s coming soon, it’s coming soon!”

Since the fall of the Yang Kingdom, those in the yamen who were blind to the situation had become fewer and fewer.

Zhao Xuan was, after all, of considerable rank, and now that trust issues had been resolved, promotion was only a matter of time. Any discerning person could see that clearly.

After scolding the coffin shop owner, the narrow-eyed official fawned, “My lord, why don’t you return to rest first? I’ll watch over things here! I know your requirements, and I guarantee there won’t be any problems!”

Zhao Xuan was used to doing things himself, but this time, due to an unease in his heart, he subconsciously wanted to agree.

“It’s here, it’s here!” Old Zhang, the coffin shop owner, shouted.

Zhao Xuan stopped and looked over.

From the end of the street, two young men carried a coffin, their steps steady as they walked towards them. The coffin itself was covered with thick cloth, not easily exposed to the light, revealing only its rough outline.

Having come to Little Lian Bridge countless times, Zhao Xuan was very familiar with everything here.

Who had good craftsmanship, whose goods were shoddy, who was more honest, how long each shop had been open…

Zhao Xuan’s gaze casually shifted, scanning the coffin shop in front of him, and landed on the middle-aged man in the paper figurine shop next door, who was looking up from his work.

He seemed to be a nephew of the original owner or something? Zhao Xuan had some recollection.

So he smiled at him, friendly but not lacking in dignity.

The man also smiled.

“A rather ghastly smile,” Zhao Xuan thought.

Then, the sky suddenly darkened.

Not the sky itself, but the “sky” within the confines of Little Lian Bridge, darkened.

Zhao Xuan, with the power of an Exterior Tower realm cultivator, quickly made his assessment.

The accompanying official collapsed one after another, falling to the ground.

At the same time, he heard the wind.

The wind seemed to emerge from some fissure, wailing and moaning.

He felt cold.

Extremely cold.

His whole body was on the verge of shivering.

His five Inner Palaces rumbled, surging with vast Dao Essence, and he resonated with his three Saint Towers, about to break free from all of this.

Then he saw the middle-aged man who had smiled at him stand up.

As he stood, he took but one step, and was suddenly before him. The honest face now wore a mask. A mask as black as ink, with a white gateway painted on the forehead, and within the gateway, bloody words written.

The three characters were chilling and cruel, reading: Song Emperor!

The Song Emperor of Hell Without Doors!

Zhao Xuan was about to flee this place, but only then did he realize that his body had already stiffened.

Who had interfered with his senses?

From left, right, front, back, and above, intense killing intent was closing in.

Killing moves erupted!

The sheer number of simultaneous attacks was impossible to count.

Five people!

Zhao Xuan only managed to think that thought before his consciousness plunged into infinite darkness.

He was going to die…

Was he going to die?

For some reason, he didn’t know why.

He sighed deeply.

In the fifty-fourth year of the Yuanfeng era of the Qi calendar, Zhao Xuan, the former Deputy Protector of Hengyang in the fallen Yang Kingdom, an Exterior Tower realm cultivator, and currently a Grand Master of the Ministry of Rites in the Qi Kingdom, was assassinated in Little Lian Bridge.

He left the world with only a long sigh.

The carriage was still on its way back to the manor when the commotion of the crowd was perceived by the three.

Jiang Wang opened the left curtain and saw figures flying through the air.

Linzi was the capital of the Qi Kingdom, and under normal circumstances, only official forces were allowed to fly.

Among those flying were armored warriors and constables in standard black uniforms…

Something had happened!

This was Jiang Wang’s first thought.

Linzi rarely saw such a commotion; at least, since he arrived, this was the first time he had witnessed such a scene.

He immediately thought of Hell Without Doors.

Chong Xuansheng looked out of the other window of the carriage, muttering, “The Imperial Guards and the Northern Yamen have been mobilized!”

Suddenly, he noticed something.

“The Commander of the Northern Yamen, Zheng Shi, has personally come!”

He became agitated, pulled back his head, and yanked open the curtain, ordering, “Quickly find out what happened!”

Without a word, the coachman dropped the reins and plunged into the crowd.

Chong Xuansheng personally grabbed the reins, gave them a sharp tug, and urged the carriage, “Return to the manor!”

In truth, he was so anxious that he didn’t even want the carriage.

But at times like these, one had to be cautious.

Maintaining a normal state of surprise and vigilance was best.

The target of Hell Without Doors was actually the Grand Master of the Ministry of Rites, Zhao Xuan!

Depending on the severity of the situation, the official forces of Linzi had different response times.

Involving transcendental powers, with a clear target, the Northern Yamen could deploy the corresponding transcendental forces to any location in Linzi, except for the imperial palace, within a quarter of an hour.

Zhao Xuan, as a fourth-rank official, his rank and strength meant that an attack on him, and the intensity of the battle, could trigger a high-level response in Linzi.

The battle at Little Lian Bridge was sensed as soon as it erupted.

After receiving the alarm, the Commander of the Northern Yamen, Zheng Shi, personally set out, arriving at Little Lian Bridge in less than twenty breaths.

But he did not expect that Zhao Xuan, a powerful Exterior Tower realm cultivator, could not even last for three breaths!

Beside his corpse, only a mark of Hell Without Doors remained: a ghastly white gateway.

Zheng Shi quickly assessed that at least five “Yamra” of Hell Without Doors had appeared on the scene, meaning there were at least five Exterior Tower realm assassins in Linzi.

He immediately ordered the closure of the five nearest city gates.

Linzi had one hundred and eight city gates, and as the Commander of the Northern Yamen, he only had the authority to close five at a time.

Zheng Shi knew very well that only by immediately closing the grand formation, sealing off the entire city, and requesting the suppression of high-level forces could they ensure that the potential harm caused by five or more Exterior Tower realm cultivators was minimized.

However, closing the grand formation and sealing off the entire city required the approval of at least one prime minister, and the Commander of the Northern Yamen did not have that authority.

He quickly requested an order from the Chamber of State Affairs, and the Rotating Right Prime Minister approved it as quickly as possible, but twenty precious breaths had already passed.

The assassins of Hell Without Doors had already fled.

In this assassination operation, Hell Without Doors had dispatched five or more “Yamra,” who had besieged and killed Zhao Xuan in three breaths, and then fled Linzi in less than ten breaths.

The meticulous planning, precise timing, and swift action shocked the world!

If the previous ambush of the border general of the Qu Kingdom made Hell Without Doors famous in the Eastern Region, then this operation in the Qi capital undoubtedly made Hell Without Doors known throughout the world!

The mighty Qi Kingdom was not comparable to small countries like the Qu Kingdom. This was one of the overlords of the world!

Yet they had lost face in this incident!

The incident occurred in Little Lian Bridge, a well-known funeral street in Linzi, but its location was relatively remote. This was one of the reasons for the slow response.

But the most important reason was that Linzi had not had an incident in a long time.

People had almost ignored the possibility!

There were many strong people in this giant city who could crush a few assassins, but at the time of the incident, everyone was thinking of the imperial palace, with top experts guarding key locations, and it was not easy to move them, lest they be tricked into attacking elsewhere.

By the time the Northern Yamen and the Chamber of State Affairs had communicated, and arranged for troop deployments, the reclusive Divine Progenitor experts who were requested to take action, the assassins had already fled.

Linzi’s reaction was already very fast. Zheng Shi had even skipped many steps and communicated directly with the Right Prime Minister. However, involving experts at the Divine Progenitor level and above affected everything. Chong Xuan Chu Liang’s previous disagreement to leave the city to deal with Su She also had this reason.

Hell Without Doors, however, was fully prepared, succeeding with one strike and immediately fleeing.

The Commander of the Northern Yamen, Zheng Shi, tentatively classified the case as an act of revenge by the remnants of the Yang court, and submitted a memorial of guilt to the Qi Emperor, resigning from his position as Commander of the Northern Yamen.

The Qi Emperor refused, ordering him to redeem himself by capturing and killing the Hell Without Doors assassins, as well as the Yang court remnants behind the assassins. The wording rarely included the four words “at all costs,” giving Zheng Shi great trust and power.

Throughout the vast Eastern Region, a storm was brewing.