(MC POV)
"So… What are your thoughts on this?"
My shirt ruffled slightly, "If I am permitted to speak freely… I think Queen Guiying's suggestion is the best course of action."
"Ugh… I don't actually want to be an Emperor though… Can Guiying just be the Empress?"
"I believe she wishes to make use of your reputation to secure the new territory's stability… But… I'm not very well versed in politics myself, Master, so I could be mistaken in what she wants."
Hmm… Queen Guiying really is talented as a ruler, already thinking so far ahead even though she has been regent for less than a year.
If you ask me, I don't have the talent for such a thing. Using others to further my own gains, I mean.
Not saying that it's a bad thing, mind you, a leader should always know how to utilise the skills of the people under them. Guiying's doing a pretty good job on that front.
Still… All I wanted was a simple and easy life where I can sit back, drink tea and watch over my cute disciples. How did that dream turn into becoming an Emperor?!
I sighed, "Well, I guess I can put that aside for now and ask my disciples' opinions later. Whether I accept or not, we still need to do this properly."
Right now both Xun Guan and I were back in the prison we had escaped from before.
Queen Guiying's new plan was to make me "become a legend", at least, that's what she said.
Basically to make the Dongs fear me.
And to do that, I basically just need to do something worth fearing over…
There was the jingling of keys as my torturers returned for my morning torture routine, the usual group of two torturers and three guards accompanying them.
They were so used to this arrangement that they didn't even check my condition before opening the door, only stopping when they realised I was not on the floor like usual.
The guard looked up to see me leaning against the wall with my arms crossed, smiling casually at him.
"What the? What's going on?"
I waved at him, "Good morning, is the weather nice outside for a stroll today?"
The guard pulled out the club he had attached to his waist, "What is going on?! What happened to you?!"
"Oh, I guess we can start from there. The last few weeks, you guys have been torturing a fake body I made to deceive you. Therefore, I am not hurt in any way. Does that make sense?"
"You bastard!" He roared, charging at me with the club raised into the air.
"My, my, so violent," I tutted at him, not showing concern to his attack at all.
His club was just about to hit my head when my hand shifted, smacking his wrist to deflect his attack away.
There was a loud 'snap' as his wrist broke from the impact, his weapon flying off his hands to clatter onto the ground noisily.
Without giving him a chance to scream, I bent my waist low and struck my palm into his abdomen, sending him crashing into the prison cell's bars.
The force was hard enough to bend the bars, the guard falling onto the ground in a heap with a clearly broken spine.
The other guards looked at the dead body for a long moment before turning back to look at me with gaping mouths.
I dusted my hands and smiled at them, "Now, just want to thank you guys for your hospitality so far. But I think I've overstayed my welcome so I'm going to just… Walk out of here. Feel free to try and stop me if you want."
Two of them accepted the challenge, following the dead guy's actions by charging me with their clubs drawn.
I took a step forward, catching both of their wrists mid swing and snapped them easily.
The two of them clutched at their useless hands and screamed out in pain.
I lowered myself slightly and straightened my fingers, stabbing both my hands through their throats before pulling out.
The two of them gurgled and collapsed onto the ground, dying in their own pool of blood.
Ignoring the two new corpses, I stepped towards the gate where the last two men were standing, both of them still gaping at me.
"So… Are you going to move out of the way, or do I need to move you?" I asked, gesturing to them.
One of them stepped in front of me, "Go! Get help! I'll buy you time! Go–"
I stabbed my hand through his chest and pulled out his still beating heart in one smooth motion.
"This is no place for heroics, friend," I told him, tossing the organ over my shoulder.
The heartless corpse collapsed into a heap in front of me, the last guard staring at the body with wide eyes.
I gestured to the exit, "Feel free to go get reinforcements or just run away, I don't really care. Just know that I'm leaving and anyone that tries to stop me will die."
"HIIIEEEE!!" The last guard screamed, scrambling his way out of the cell.
I waited until his screams were far enough before stepping out after him.
"I never knew Master had this side of him…" Xun Guan muttered.
"There's a lot of things you don't know, Xun Guan. Besides, isn't this what Queen Guiying requested? To make my exit as dramatic as possible?"
"That is… I'm not sure if this is what the Queen had in mind when she told you that…"
"Ah, I think I know what you mean. Relax, that's for later. Anyway, don't tell anyone what happened here, ok?"
"Of course, Master. Though the Dongs will surely spread this amongst themselves."
"Let them, as long as my cute disciples don't hear of this, it would be fine."
"If Master says so…"
I slowly made my way towards the exit, even making sure I whistled a tune as I walked.
Expectedly, the stairs that was leading up to the higher floor was now barricaded with several guards hunkered down behind it, levelling crossbows towards my direction.
They fired the bolts at me without hesitation, not even demanding my surrender this time.
The crossbow bolts pierced through the air before coming to an abrupt stop in front of me, my barrier stopping them perfectly.
Most likely none of the guards actually expected me to be able to stop the bolts since they spent a good minute or two gaping at me before hurriedly trying to reload their crossbows.
"Time to put on another good show huh?"
Xun Guan shifted slightly, "I will watch Master's back."
"Umu, I shall depend on you then."
I cracked my knuckles slowly, time to get to work.
