Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Ren Baqian was awakened by a pang of hunger that roused his brain like a crashing tide.
The surroundings were dark, but his familiar bed was underneath him.
The sound of heavy rain was heard coming from outside the window.
However, Ren Baqian was in no mood to think of other things.
Hungry, hungry, hungry…
He felt that his eyes were turning green.
He quickly took out a bag of candy near the bed, unwrapped the candy with trembling hands and swallowed them promptly.
Piece by piece, about 1.5 kilograms of candy went into his stomach. The burning sensation in his stomach didn’t abate at all as his brain continued to signal the need for food.
Ren Baqian tumbled from his bed to the ground, staggered, and stabilized himself with great difficulty before rushing out through the doors.
When he saw Tiantian and Gungun taking shelter from the rain under the eaves, he seemed to see them as delicious food. As saliva flooded his mouth, he gulped it down.
Although the 1.5 kilograms of candy didn’t alleviate his hunger, it let him retain the ability to think.
Otherwise, if he had rushed out upon waking up, he would have seen a pile of bones on the ground the next day.
Ren Baqian floated as he rushed through the rain, climbed over the wall, and headed for the imperial kitchen.
Ever since he woke up, he kept on feeling that his body was very light. Previously, he could only jump around 10 meters, but now he could easily jump 20 to 30 meters and almost hit his head against a tree.
He used one hand to slow down, jumped up to land on a branch, and moved toward the imperial kitchen again.
“Who’s there!” A voice rang out from the darkness.
Although Ren Baqian couldn’t see, he could distinctly sense the presence of two people there.
Previously, he had difficulty sensing the presence of people, but now, he could easily sense where they were and even feel their approximate power.
Is this the Earth Wheel level? Ren Baqian wondered. He said in a deep voice, “It’s me, the principal of Black Bamboo Academy!”
The voice that came out stunned him because it didn’t seem like his own voice. It was deeper and huskier.
“Sir Ren?” the voices in the dark asked.
“It’s me!” Ren Baqian jumped down from the tree and was gradually able to see the guards.
“Who are you?” The two guards changed their expressions after seeing him and thrust their sabers at him.
Ren Baqian was speechless.
“Can’t the two of you recognize me?” Ren Baqian endured his constant hunger as he retreated. He dropped behind the wall with a light jump, but the sabers of the two guards cut through the rain and followed him like a shadow.
“Devil, where are you from? How dare you impersonate Sir Ren!”
Ren Baqian jumped up as the two guards brought down the entire wall.
If this were to happen before, his only option would have been to return to Earth. Although the two were fast with their sabers, Ren Baqian was able to sense the sabers and dodge them.
“I’m Ren Baqian. Why don’t you recognize me?” Ren Baqian frowned again, wondering why the palace guards didn’t recognize him.
“You should try to look more like the person you are impersonating. You do not look like Sir Ren at all. Furthermore, if you were him, that thrust just now would have killed you,” the two shouted as they chased him.
Ren Baqian was dumbfounded.
Following their shouts, other people in the palace responded with loud roars.
It was as if he had disturbed a hornet nest. Groups of people appeared on the roofs and on top of the walls, rushing in Ren Baqian’s direction to surround him.
These people didn’t waste time talking. Instead, they drew their sabers to join the attack on Ren Baqian.
“Bloody fools!” Ren Baqian shouted in exasperation. He was already extremely hungry, yet still had to face their incessant assault.
It would be the biggest joke if he was killed by these guards immediately after breaking through to become an Earth Wheel expert.
However, he felt a great sense of danger from the sabers around him. All of his hair stood on end. He could definitely sense the gaps around him, but his body couldn’t keep up with his brain, and he watched helplessly through the falling rain as these precious exits were sealed.
It was as if he would be cut in half the next second.
Metal chain! Ren Baqian uttered a silent cry.
If he didn’t manage to block these attacks, the empress would be collecting his corpse soon.
Furthermore, the metal chain had appeared frequently before—even if they couldn’t recognize him, they should be able to recognize the metal chain.
Following his desperate cry, a section of the metal chain appeared from his head, but the sight of the sabers around it caused it to stiffen like a frightened animal.
Boom! As a lightning bolt streaked down, the metal chain became a lightning rod… Ren Baqian, who was in midair with the metal chain protruding from the top of his head, was struck down directly.
“Bloody fools!” Ren Baqian crashed to the ground while emitting smoke. He had never expected that he would ever have such rotten luck.
After overcoming great difficulties to become an Earth Wheel expert, he was attacked by imperial guards after waking up and then struck by a lightning bolt… Ren Baqian didn’t know who was to blame for these incidents.
Only now did he understand the misery of those who spent many years training hard to be the world’s number one expert, merely to be killed by a flying shoe after they had just reemerged.
Only those with the same misfortune would sympathize with each other.
“Has he been struck dead by lightning? It smells like he has been cooked!” Many of the guards who had rushed overlooked each other in bewilderment.
This guy was killed by lightning before they could even lay a hand on him. What an unfortunate guy! However, this guy was asking for trouble by intruding into the palace.
“Report to the commander that there has been an intrusion.” The two guards remembered the most important point and quickly reported, “Furthermore, the intruder tried to impersonate Sir Ren. Check whether Sir Ren is okay.”
“This person is still alive!” someone said after noting that Ren Baqian was still breathing.
“Watch him until the commander is here.”
After a short while, Xin Zhe arrived at the scene, her armor wet from the rain and her face uncompromisingly cold.
“There’s an intrusion in the palace? How many people are there?”
“We only found one! However, he tried to impersonate Sir Ren. I’m afraid Sir Ren may be in danger, so someone was sent to check on him.”
“Send an order to sweep through the whole palace and see whether there are any accomplices.”
“Commander, Sir Ren is missing!” someone reported.
“What?” Xin Zhe was shocked. It would be a big problem if Ren Baqian was missing.
“But no one seems to have gone into his room since there are no wet marks on the floor. With such heavy rain, it would be impossible to enter his room without leaving any traces. It looks like he left his room of his own accord.”
“The tracks left by Ren Baqian after leaving his room were very few because of the heavy rain. However, based on the direction, they should lead here…”
Everyone was baffled when they heard this.
The two guards that were the first to see him said in bewilderment, “But his voice, physique, and face aren’t the same as Sir Ren’s!”
The crowd carefully looked at the person on the ground. The lightning bolt had left only a few shreds of clothing on him, his whole body was blackened, and he exuded the smell of roast meat…
A metal chain protruded from the top of his head…
Upon seeing the metal chain, Xin Zhe’s cold look disappeared. Nobody else had such a dreadful-looking metal chain.
“Hurry up! Inform the clinic! I will inform Her Majesty!” Xin Zhe declared anxiously.
