Suddenly, a crucial question occurred to Rulu. He fixed his gaze on Prince Suwen's face and said slowly: "I recall that you and the 75th Imperial Consort were never on good terms. Let me ask you directly — did you have a hand in the assassination of the 75th Imperial Consort?!"

  Prince Suwen froze for a moment. A look of inner struggle crossed his eyes, as though he wanted to refuse to answer, but in the end he spoke:

  "I am the most mediocre prince in all the Sanctuary. I have managed to remain there only through the support of other royal family members and allies. The Emperor has never thought well of me and has long been displeased with my continued presence in the Sanctuary. The 75th Imperial Consort and her children were a tremendous threat to me. If her son had grown to adulthood, I would certainly have been expelled from the Sanctuary. I could not allow them to remain alive. I was indeed one of the pnners of that assassination."

  "What?! So it was you — you bastard — who killed my mother and my sister?!" Rulu's pupils contracted sharply. He let out a roar of pure rage and swung his fist hard into Prince Suwen's face. However, as a Magic Psionic power user, the physical force behind the blow was not particurly great, and though Prince Suwen took the hit, he was not seriously hurt.

  "What else do you know — tell me, now?!" Rulu was in an extreme state of agitation, shouting furiously. Perhaps because of the intensity of his emotions, a sharp and violent pain erupted in his head. The pain made it nearly impossible for him to concentrate and maintain his control over Prince Suwen.

  Prince Suwen's expression went bnk. He opened his mouth but said nothing. Rulu pressed a hand to his forehead, forcing himself through the searing pain, and shouted at Prince Suwen again: "What else do you know? Who else took part in that assassination — tell me everything you know!"

  "Who's in there?!" Suddenly, General Feihu's voice rang out from beyond the door. A tremendous crash followed — the door burst open as General Feihu drove his body straight through it and into the hall.

  "Damn you — how dare you interfere!" Rulu gred at General Feihu with open hatred. He raised the gun and fired six shots in rapid succession. Two of the bullets struck General Feihu in the chest and abdomen, tearing through his body. Bright red blood began seeping from the wounds.

  General Feihu let out a thunderous roar. Though struck by bullets, he did not fall. His eyes flew wide open, and with a bellowing cry he drove his feet into the ground — and his powerful frame shot forward like a cannonball, unching seven or eight meters straight at Rulu.

  With a dull thud, General Feihu's body smmed into Rulu, sending him flying four or five meters before he crashed to the ground. The gun skittered away to one side. General Feihu's face had gone an ashen grey. He pressed his palm against the area beside his bullet wounds and squeezed hard.

  Two soft sounds — tink, tink — and the bullets were forced out of his wounds and fell to the floor. The bleeding from the wounds stopped at once, and within ten seconds the areas that had been hit had completely healed.

  "This man is a level-four Refining body Psionic user — he can heal himself rapidly. I have no choice but to take out Prince Suwen first." Rulu's mind sharpened back into focus. He forced himself up from the ground, retrieved the gun, and trained the barrel on Prince Suwen, who was cowering and trembling in the corner of the room.

  "No — His Highness must not be harmed!" General Feihu's expression changed in an instant. He lunged toward Prince Suwen and threw his broad body over him as a shield. Rulu pulled the trigger again and again, firing continuously at Prince Suwen as sharp gunshots rang out through the room.

  Because General Feihu had covered Prince Suwen with his own body, every bullet aimed at the prince buried itself in General Feihu's back instead. By the time Rulu had emptied his gun, Prince Suwen remained completely unscathed.

  "Intruder! There's an assassin!"

  "Prince Suwen is under attack!"

  Urgent footsteps erupted from outside the room. The soldiers standing guard had sensed something was wrong inside and came running toward the mansion, shouting as they went.

  "I can't stay any longer — I won't make it out if I do. Just you wait. This isn't over!" Rulu shot a fierce gre at Prince Suwen, then dashed up the staircase in the reception hall to the second floor, leaped from a window on the second-floor balcony, and rode the wind away into the distance.

  "The assassin is out — don't let him escape!" The soldiers outside spotted Rulu the moment he flew out, and immediately raised the arm. A rge number of soldiers and humanoid armored soldiers surged toward him, raising their weapons.

  "Cover me — don't let them pursue." Rulu's eyes fshed with a strange light as he fixed his gaze on a nearby soldier who appeared to be a squad leader. The soldier froze for a moment, then raised both hands high in the air and shouted: "By order of General Feihu and Prince Suwen — hold your fire! Let him go! Do not pursue the assassin!"

  The soldiers and humanoid armored soldiers came to a confused halt, staring at the shouting soldier with baffled expressions. None of them moved to chase or attack Rulu. Rulu slipped away without incident, melted into the crowd in the pza, found his car, and drove away.

  Worried about being tracked, Rulu did not head directly back to the secret room in the cemetery. Instead, he drove to a rge market far from the cemetery, stripped off his bloodstained outer clothes and mask and burned them, changed into fresh clothing, and then made his way on foot to the cemetery under cover of the night, returning home.

  "Rulu, you're back!" The moment he descended into the basement of the house, Nana came hurrying out from one of the other rooms with a look of delight on her face, rushing toward him.

  "What's this — still up at this hour, Nana?" Rulu kept his expression light and carefree, as though nothing had happened at all, smiling as he spoke to her.

  Nana came quickly to his side and looked him over carefully from head to toe. When she saw no obvious injuries on him, a relieved smile spread across her face. "Thank goodness," she said happily, "you're all right, Rulu. I was so afraid something had happened to you out there."

  "What are you talking about, Nana? Don't worry yourself over me like that. Your body has only just recovered — you need to rest properly." Rulu gave her a gentle hug and said in a soft voice.

  Nana smiled. "As long as you've come back safe, I'm at ease. Have you eaten dinner yet, Rulu? Would you like me to make something for you?"

  "No need — I already ate out. Nana, you…" Rulu began, but at that moment a sharp, stabbing pain and dizziness hit him without warning. The room seemed to spin, his vision blurred, his body swayed, and he began to crumple toward the floor.

  Nana let out a startled cry and quickly grabbed Rulu by the shoulders, catching him before he fell. She looked at his pain-stricken face with deep concern and asked urgently: "What's wrong, Rulu? What happened?"

  Rulu shook his head and pressed a hand to his forehead, his voice weak. "It's nothing. I'm just exhausted — a little dizzy. I just need to sleep. Let go of me, Nana."

  "Are you sure you're all right, Rulu?" Nana carefully released her grip.

  "Really, I'm fine. Don't worry about me, Nana. It's te — you should get some rest too." With that, Rulu suppressed the pain and dizziness as best he could and walked into his bedroom.

  "Then rest well, Rulu. I'm going to sleep too." Nana called after him toward his bedroom door, then turned and walked toward her own room. After only a few steps, she stopped.

  Her brow furrowed slightly, and she murmured softly: "Strange… why does Rulu smell of blood? Could it be that he…"