Chapter 308: Red Plum

Picking up a long blade from the ground, the Third Prince gripped its hilt tightly, took a few deep breaths, and responded, “So, Uncle has colluded with the Miao Gu¹ people. No wonder you’ve remained so calm.”

“However, it seems that the skill of the one who cast the gu poison is lacking. I still have several dozen iron cavalrymen left, and with myself included, taking your head doesn’t seem like such a difficult task.”

“Now that you’ve conspired with the Miao Gu people and harmed my Great Wu iron cavalry, the evidence is irrefutable. This just gives me a legitimate reason to kill you.”

Seeing that his nephew still remained so confident, Royal Prince Ye couldn’t help but laugh. “Do you really think that the cavalrymen still seated on their horses are your men?”

As soon as these words fell, the remaining iron cavalrymen steered their mounts toward Royal Prince Ye’s side.

Upon witnessing this, the Third Prince’s face instantly turned ashen, and he lost his composure!

If it were a one-on-one fight, he was confident he could kill Royal Prince Ye first and then cut down the Fifth Prince.

But now, if even his last remaining cavalrymen were actually under the other side’s control… survival today would be as difficult as reaching the heavens!

Nearby, the Fifth Prince was equally surprised at how swiftly the balance of power had shifted.

He hadn’t expected that his uncle had been prepared all along!

And it was clear that this plan wasn’t made on the spot—it had been premeditated!

If both he and the Third Prince died, then as the designated witness, Royal Prince Ye only needed to fabricate a reasonable excuse. Given that his daughter had already entered the Immortal Sect, he could leverage his imperial bloodline to ascend to the throne…

The plan was well thought out, but alas, the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it.

With this thought, the Fifth Prince revealed a faint smile. With his arms crossed, he now seemed to be the eagle watching over the oriole.

“All soldiers, hear my command!

First, execute the Fifth Prince! Then, capture the Third Prince!”

At Royal Prince Ye’s command, the remaining cavalrymen suddenly launched an attack, charging toward the Fifth Prince!

Realizing that he had become the primary target for execution, the Fifth Prince couldn’t help but ask, “Uncle, you’re truly biased, aren’t you? Why kill me first and only capture Third Brother?”

“I haven’t even said a word against you or threatened you!”

Royal Prince Ye turned his back to him and replied coldly, “You’re a sly one. If you don’t die first, I won’t be able to rest easy…”

At these words, the Fifth Prince chuckled in exasperation. He then gestured toward a charming young maid nearby. “Hongmei, they think we’re easy prey. Let’s show them who is the butcher and who is the meat on the chopping block.”

“Yes, my lord.” With a light chuckle, the maid’s back suddenly sprouted dozens of tendrils resembling wooden branches!

These terrifying appendages, like endlessly extending flexible spears, instantly impaled the iron cavalrymen charging at the Fifth Prince!

After skewering them, the tendrils retracted, lifting the soldiers into the air like lifeless puppets dangling from her grasp!

Blood dripped plop, plop from above, and a stray droplet landed on the maid’s fair cheek, adding an eerie beauty to her appearance!

“Royal Prince, would you like to join in the fun?”

Her voice was intoxicating, making Royal Prince Ye subconsciously step toward her.

It was only when a sudden heat burst from the communication jade at his chest that his gaze snapped back to clarity.

“A prince of Great Wu, colluding with demons—do you realize the gravity of your crime?”

“Are you trying to bring Great Wu to ruin?!”

As he spoke, Royal Prince Ye reached into his chest and grasped the communication jade that his daughter had given him!

He had suspected that the Fifth Prince might have dealings with demons, but he hadn’t expected that the demon would dare act so brazenly right in front of the Immortal Sect!

And what was even stranger—there wasn’t a single response from within the sect!

Could it be that the immortals inside intended to let the demon do as it pleased?

Apparently irritated by Royal Prince Ye’s reprimand, one of the maid’s tendrils suddenly shot toward his lower leg like a spear!

Just as the tendril was about to pierce through Prince Ye’s lower leg, a shimmering light blossomed in front of him.

In the next instant, his figure vanished from the sight of the Third Prince and his men.

Seeing this, the Fifth Prince clicked his tongue and remarked, “Having a good daughter really makes a difference—of course he has a treasure to protect himself!”

“Hongmei, can you find him?”

The maid, Hongmei, smiled gently, revealing two shallow dimples as she replied, “Young Master, this is an illusion technique from the Hunling Immortal Sect. Even I cannot see Prince Ye’s whereabouts.”

“But… just because I can’t see him doesn’t mean I can’t hit him…”

As she spoke, the tendrils behind her quivered, and the iron cavalry impaled upon them instantly exploded into a mist of blood, their shattered armor scattering across the ground.

With a heavy thud, the earth trembled slightly as Hongmei’s body began to rapidly transform. In the blink of an eye, she had turned into a massive tree, so thick that it would take two people to encircle its trunk, its roots sinking deep into the soil.

Immediately afterward, countless dark purple tendrils spread from the base of the tree, slithering like venomous serpents, roaring as they surged in all directions.

Not far away, Gu Ning’an watched calmly. The writhing branches, resembling serpents, automatically parted when they came within three feet of him, diverting elsewhere.

Through his eyes, the now-invisible Prince Ye, who had shattered a protective jade and activated an illusion technique, was clinging tightly to a weeping willow tree about twenty meters away from the “Red Plum Tree.²” He dared not make a single movement.

However, even if he remained motionless, given the speed at which the “Red Plum Tree Demon” was extending its roots and branches, it wouldn’t be long before he was discovered.

Meanwhile, the Third Prince’s situation was far more dire.

Even though Hongmei hadn’t deliberately targeted him, the expanding roots had already ensnared him.

He struggled desperately to break free, only to find that the more he resisted, the tighter the branches coiled around him, cutting into his flesh and drawing beads of blood.

As the orchestrator of all this, the Fifth Prince leisurely observed his surroundings. When he saw his Third Brother bound up like a giant “dumpling,” he clicked his tongue and let out a cold chuckle.

But when his gaze fell upon the white-clad gentleman, still standing there unscathed, a flicker of surprise flashed through his shadowy eyes.

This Mr. Gu was truly extraordinary!

Hongmei had already probed him earlier and confirmed that Mr. Gu had no cultivation.

Yet now, Hongmei’s branches seemed to instinctively avoid him, as if in fear. That alone was worth serious consideration.

Could it be that this gentleman’s strength surpassed Hongmei’s?

That was unlikely—after all, Hongmei was a tree demon who had cultivated for over five hundred years and was a trusted subordinate of the Northern Huangtian Flood Dragon Emperor!

The Flood Dragon Emperor—a being capable of going toe-to-toe with a True Immortal!

If it wasn’t that Mr. Gu’s cultivation exceeded Hongmei’s…

A thought struck him, and the Fifth Prince turned his gaze toward the mist-covered Half-Moon Lake, murmuring under his breath,

“Could it be that an immortal is protecting him?”