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He scanned his surroundings alertly and carefully, searching for possible sources of danger.
To his surprise, Weia's owner did not hide and appeared in front of him openly.
It was a middle-aged man, and he said calmly: "Don't be so nervous. This is the foot of the imperial city. As long as there is any commotion, someone will come immediately. Even if I am a ninth-level soul master, I dare not attack you here."
"You are safe, put away your soul guide." In order to express his sincerity, the middle-aged man also put away his pressure.
He Caitou looked at him silently for a while, agreed with what he said, put away the soul-guided heavy artillery on his shoulder, but his eyes were still alert.
Judging from the middle-aged man's pressure, he should be at least a Soul Douluo and an eighth-level Soul Master.
His clothes were also from the palace.
The middle-aged man said, "I just want to ask you a few questions."
He Caitou nodded slightly: "What's the problem?"
He guessed that it was probably the Eight-clawed Fire Dragon Order he displayed in the final that attracted the opponent's attention.
However, the number of owners of the Eight-clawed Fire Dragon Order was very large, and even the royal family members could not know all the owners one by one. He had already thought of a way to deal with it.
The middle-aged man said, "I just want to know where did you get your Eight-clawed Fire Dragon Token? And...what is your true appearance?"
The first question did not surprise He Caitou, but when the second question was asked, his expression changed instantly.
The middle-aged man said calmly: "Don't hide it, your disguise skills are indeed very high, but I am an expert in disguise, it is not difficult to see this."
He Caitou quickly checked the street environment with his peripheral vision. The street was wide and it would not be difficult for him to escape using the propulsion soul guide. And as the middle-aged man said, it would be difficult for the other party to attack him near the imperial city.
The middle-aged man continued, "There is a slight difference between your Eight-clawed Fire Dragon Order and the current Eight-clawed Fire Dragon Order. Others may not be able to notice it, but it will not escape my eyes."
"If I'm not mistaken, this should be the Eight-clawed Fire Dragon Order issued by the late emperor, right?"
After saying this, he still looked at He Caitou calmly.
Hearing the words "late emperor", He Caitou was briefly dazed, Tong Kong shrank suddenly, and his vigilant eyes were filled with uncontrollable madness.
Who is the other party? He can even tell this!
"Now, most of the people who hold the Eight-clawed Fire Dragon Order of the late emperor should be dead, so I am very curious about who you are?" Just when He Caitou was stunned, a soul guide ray shot out from the middle-aged man's hand.
The white rays were not very powerful, but they were extremely fast, accurately hitting the human skin mask on He Caitou's face without damaging the real skin at all.
The human skin mask fell off, revealing the originally dark skin underneath.
He Caitou reacted and quickly covered his face with his right hand, staring at the middle-aged man viciously through his fingers.
He knew very well that if the middle-aged man was a subordinate of the current Sun and Moon Emperor, he would never let him live after knowing that he might be related to the late emperor.
All the soul guide cannons on his body were unleashed, ready to fight the opponent to the death.
However, after seeing his true face, the middle-aged man was completely stunned and pointed at He Caitou: "You...you..."
His eyes were full of horror and his steps were unsteady due to excessive excitement.
"Are you... and the prince?"
Finally, the middle-aged man uttered a complete sentence.
The murderous intent in He Caitou suddenly disappeared, and he looked at the middle-aged man with a dull look.
He hadn't heard this somewhat intimate title for ten years.
"Your Highness Prince He, don't you remember me? It's me." The middle-aged man walked up to He Caitou and took off the human skin mask on his face, revealing a weathered look with tears in his eyes.
He Caitou also recognized him and said hesitantly, "Are you... Uncle Xiao?"
"It's you, His Royal Highness, He Prince. You are still alive." The middle-aged man called Xiao Bo by He Caitou shed two tears and said, "I thought you had gone with the late emperor."
He Caitou didn't know the other party's identity at this moment. The other party was one of his father's most trusted and loyal confidants.
"Your Highness, this is not the place to talk. Come with me."
"it is good."
The two came to a hotel, found a secret room, and asked each other about their experiences over the years.
After the dramatic change in the palace that night, both of them thought that they were the only ones who survived by chance, but they never imagined that ten years later, the monarch and his subject would meet again in such a dramatic way.
Great joy hit both of them at the same time, and they chatted for a whole hour.
"Your Highness Prince He, you have been wandering in a foreign land and suffered for so many years." Xiao Bo looked at the tall He Caitou like an elder and burst into tears.
"Uncle Xiao, please tell me what happened that night?" He Caitou asked after the joy.
"Your uncle colluded with the Demon Cult and launched a coup. But in fact, they were not the only ones involved in the coup." Xiao Bo gritted his teeth and said, "Xu Guozhong, Xu Guohai, Xu Guoyi... these people were deeply trusted by the late emperor, but they forgot their loyalty when they saw profit, killed loyal people, and exterminated all the late emperor's supporters."
"The late emperor was kindhearted, but it's a pity that he ended up like this."
After hearing Uncle Xiao add a lot of inside stories from that year, He Caitou became even angrier.
Xiao Bo sighed and continued, "Before and after the coup, I stayed in Mingde Hall the whole time, which is why I was lucky enough to survive."
"Mingdetang...Uncle Xiao, what was Mingdetang's reaction after the coup?" He Caitou asked urgently.
Xiao Bo's face was filled with grief and indignation. Upon hearing this, he shed two more lines of muddy tears: "My prince, Mingde Hall is completely indifferent to the coup!"
"what?"
"In fact, I got the news a few hours before the coup that night. I knelt in front of Jing Hongchen for a whole night, begging him to come to the palace to protect the emperor. But..."
"but what?"
"But he refused on the grounds that he did not want to get involved in the royal family disputes, and took the entire Mingde Hall out of it to protect himself."
The grief and indignation that had been hidden in Xiao Bo's heart for ten years finally got a chance to be vented, and at this moment he was already crying uncontrollably.
"When the previous emperor was in power, he gave Jing Hongchen so many gifts, but he was so ungrateful and just stood by and watched."
"Afterwards, he even told me hypocritically that if it weren't for his and Mingde Hall's protection, I wouldn't be able to survive."
"Since then, I have changed my appearance and hidden my identity. I have stayed in Mingde Hall and looked for an opportunity to avenge the late emperor."
He Caitou asked in confusion: "Uncle Xiao, but what you are wearing now is the clothing of the imperial palace."
"I have many identities. My identity in the palace is that of the traitor Xu Guozhong." Xiao Bo said, "If I have the chance, I will retaliate against these traitors in my own way to repay the late emperor's kindness."
Chapter 355: The Quarterfinals Begin and He Caitou Disappears
Xiao Bo gritted his teeth and said, "On the night of the coup, Xu Guohai was one of the biggest accomplices. Now he is in a high position of power and has been entrusted with the important task of guarding the arsenal. The benefits and treatment are unimaginable."
"Xu Guozhong..." He Caitou whispered the name which he still had some impression of.
Judging from the Xu family genealogy, even the current crown prince Xu Tianran had to respectfully call him Imperial Uncle.
He Caitou vaguely remembered that when his father was alive, he had never treated Prince Xu Guozhong badly. But this man with the word "loyalty" in his name was not loyal at all.
Xiao Bo continued, "I am currently hiding under his command. If there is a chance, I will make him apologize to the late emperor."
He Caitou listened to Xiao Bo, whom he hadn't seen for many years, expressing his resentment, and the negative emotions that had been suppressed in his heart for a long time were ignited again.
His father was kindhearted and diligent, and was a benevolent ruler known throughout Mingdu. He was loyal to the vast majority of his subjects and was also deeply loved by the people of Mingdu, leading the entire Sun and Moon Empire to prosperity.
However, such a benevolent monarch was ruined by his own "benevolence".
Before He Caitou's grandfather died, he asked him to deprive his younger brother of all power. However, He Caitou's father refused out of kindness.
He also brought disaster upon himself because of his kindness, and that bloody night happened.
He Caitou's expression became more and more ferocious. Without the human skin mask, his face looked even more terrifying.
After a long silence, He Caitou lowered his voice and asked, "Uncle Xiao, you said that you are now working under Xu Bozhong and have the opportunity to access the largest underground arsenal in Mingdu, right?"
Xiao Bo nodded: "Yes, with His Royal Highness the Prince."
He Caitou's voice became even deeper: "So how many level nine fixed-type soul guide shells are currently stored in the arsenal?"
"Many of the fixed shells have been withdrawn by the military. Now there are only three." Xiao Bo answered immediately, but soon froze, "Prince He, do you want to..."
"But if we really do this, even the people of Mingdu will be implicated!"
He Caitou said excitedly: "Uncle Xiao, I don't care about anything anymore. I just want revenge!"
"I don't know why I am alive now. The only motivation that keeps me alive is revenge!"
"I will make those evil beasts pay with blood!"
"There is no time for me to bide my time. Only the ninth-level fixed-type soul-guided artillery shells can send them to my father to make amends now!"
"Will you help me?"
He Caitou could feel his heartbeat getting faster and faster and his breathing becoming heavier, as if the scene of successful revenge was already happening before his eyes.
After a long hesitation, Xiao Bo shed a tear and said in a trembling voice: "I will never forget the late emperor's kindness. Your Highness, I will follow you till death."
He had already sensed He Caitou's madness, and a strong sense of sadness filled his heart.
The Prince He, whom he had watched grow up, the only bloodline of the late emperor who remained in the world, had completely changed after that night.
After more than a decade of wandering in a foreign land and carrying a deep blood feud, the young man in front of me has long changed.
Xiao Bo did not disobey He Caitou. In fact, he knew in his heart that he was the same as He Caitou. The only motivation to keep him alive was revenge.
After losing this goal, one can only live in a muddle.
Xiao Bo calmed down his emotions and said, "Prince He, I know there is another place with a large amount of ninth-level fixed-type soul guide shells stored."
He Caitou hurriedly asked, "Where is it?"
"Mingde Hall."
When He Caitou heard this, a hint of coldness appeared in his eyes.
"Uncle Xiao, let's go."
"Okay, Your Highness, please follow me."
There was silence between the king and his ministers for a long time, and then they left the hotel.
He Caitou took one last look in the direction of Mingyue Hotel, then resolutely followed Xiao Bo and left.
Today is the day before the quarterfinals begin, and it is also the day when the draw will determine the opponents.
The quarterfinals will be divided into two halves, with all four games completed within one day.
The upper half consists of the four second-placed teams in the group, and the lower half consists of the four first-placed teams in the group.