The temperature in the courtyard surged without warning, and the air around them seemed to fill with blazing fire. In that moment, even the grass and plants in the courtyard withered and shriveled in the invisible heat within the blink of an eye.
And the terrifying aura Murong Xiaoya had managed with such difficulty to suppress burst free in an instant, sweeping outward like a howling tempest and crashing waves.
Hu Rui'an and the others all changed expression at once and immediately retreated, putting distance between themselves and Murong Xiaoya as quickly as possible.
Among them, however, Wu Shang alone not only failed to retreat, but was pulled forward by a force he could not resist and appeared before Murong Xiaoya in an instant without any control over himself.
"You just mentioned Han Cuiyuan. Do you know where the Han family's people are now?"
Murong Xiaoya's eyes blazed with blood flame as she looked at Wu Shang before her. Her voice was ice-cold, and carried within it a killing intent of staggering intensity.
The scorching heat radiating from her body was like a furnace, and standing directly in front of her, Wu Shang could only barely manage to circulate his martial True Qi to resist the overwhelming burning sensation pressing in on him.
What was worse, under the weight of her terrifying pressure, Wu Shang felt like nothing more than a small boat in a raging storm, impossibly small and fragile, and liable to be crushed and destroyed at any moment.
"Miss Murong... you have misunderstood... I truly do not know where the Han family's people are..."
"I have no interest in hearing any excuses. I only want to know where the Han family's people are."
"I intend to kill every member of the Han household. Not one of them will be left."
Murong Xiaoya's gaze locked onto Wu Shang without wavering. Red-gold markings began to rise across the surface of her skin, and threads of fire drifted outward from the empty air behind her. In that moment it seemed as though the entire courtyard around her was about to ignite.
And at that moment, Li Musheng shook his head. His figure shifted and vanished from where he stood, then appeared beside Wu Shang.
He reached out casually, took Wu Shang by the shoulder, and gave him a light push backward. Wu Shang felt the terrifying force that had been pinning him in place release at once, and the pressure bearing down on his shoulders like a mountain disappeared in an instant.
His entire body then drifted backward as lightly as if carried by the wind, eventually coming to a smooth stop on the ground outside the courtyard.
Seeing this, Hu Rui'an and the others immediately moved and came to Wu Shang's side, asking after him with concern.
Once they confirmed he was unharmed, all of them looked together toward Murong Xiaoya and Li Musheng, now facing each other in the courtyard.
"His Highness will not be in any danger, will he?"
Wu Shang was still shaken, and he asked the question with an expression of deep worry.
At those words, the expressions of Hu Rui'an and the others shifted through several changes. They all knew Li Musheng's martial cultivation was extraordinarily powerful.
Yet the pressure Murong Xiaoya in front of them was giving off was even more immediate and more frightening.
Whether it was the sea of fire that had consumed the city earlier, or the terrifying red-gold flame flowing from her that seemed capable of burning through everything, both left them feeling fear and despair from the very depths of their souls.
Hu Rui'an and Shen Anran had both seen firsthand how Li Musheng had sent the old master of Zhanliu Manor, Shen Juesheng, flying with a single punch.
But at that moment they could clearly sense that Murong Xiaoya's aura was even more staggering than Shen Juesheng's had been.
And this left both Hu Rui'an and Shen Anran deeply uneasy, their hearts filled with worry for Li Musheng.
Was Li Musheng facing Murong Xiaoya like this perhaps far too reckless?
"We cannot let His Highness be put in danger. Let me go back in and explain things clearly to Miss Murong. Once it is all cleared up, things should be fine."
Wu Shang suddenly spoke up. He set his jaw, having made up his mind to return to the courtyard.
But right at that moment, Hu Rui'an reached out and grabbed him firmly, his brow locked tight, saying, "Do not move. That is not a place you can go right now."
At the same time, in the courtyard, blazing as though doused in rolling molten rock, Murong Xiaoya's eyes were wild with blood flame and churning molten gold vortexes as she looked at Li Musheng before her.
Deep in her gaze there was a faint, barely perceptible flicker of inner struggle. She asked, "Your Highness, do you mean to stop me?"
But the moment those words left her mouth, the last trace of struggle at the depths of her eyes dissolved entirely, and what remained in them beyond the scorching blood flame was nothing but pure killing intent.
"Miss Murong, something is wrong with your state."
At that point Li Musheng narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at her as he spoke.
"Your Highness, are you not being too presumptuous? Do you truly believe yourself invincible under heaven?"
The red-gold markings rising across Murong Xiaoya's skin began to spread without stopping, covering her entire body in the blink of an eye.
Within the depth of every marking across her skin, molten rock seemed to be imprisoned and boiling, and the threads of fire rising from them scorched the air all around her into fine, dense cracks.
Beneath Murong Xiaoya's feet, the powdered remains of the stone tiles had at some point been melted by the extreme heat into crimson crystalline dust, and were now being drawn by the invisible force of her terrifying aura into spiraling rings of fire.
And at that moment, the killing intent in Murong Xiaoya's eyes consumed every last trace of reason. The red tips of her hair moved without any wind, and the billowing fire mist rising behind her condensed into a fierce and savage Vermilion Bird phantom.
Then she stepped forward with sudden force. Beneath her foot, red-gold ripples spread through the space in the ground, and countless blazing fire trails like divine fire serpents were sent weaving through the distorted air, scattering burning wind, and then swept forward wrapped in dark red flame toward Li Musheng in a surging tide.
A thunderous crash rang out.
The countless fire trails like raging serpents swallowed Li Musheng in an instant. The wave of scorching heat they sent up even tore a vast spiral gap in the cloud layer above the entire Mei estate.
In that moment, pillars of red-gold fire pierced through from earth to heaven, and the sky full of fire serpents drifting in their light sent the air above the entire city trembling. The courtyard and surrounding buildings where Murong Xiaoya and Li Musheng stood had already become a boundless sea of fire.
The instant Murong Xiaoya moved, Hu Rui'an had already felt an overpowering sense of danger, and had taken Shen Anran, Wu Shang, and the others to flee at top speed in the very first moment.
Now, as they fled, they looked back, but all they could see was red-gold flame radiating extreme heat. The figures of Murong Xiaoya and Li Musheng could no longer be seen anywhere within it.
"Your Highness..."
Shen Anran stared blankly, her eyes fixed on the sea of fire behind them. Then a look of ice-cold killing intent and fury welled up in her eyes, and her entire body trembled faintly.
The expressions on the faces of Hu Rui'an and the others were deeply troubled. They could not approach the sea of fire before them even a fraction of a step, and had no way whatsoever of going to Li Musheng's aid.
At the same time, within the sea of fire, Murong Xiaoya's blood flame surged in her eyes as she looked at the flame-engulfed area before her. The face covered in red-gold markings held no expression in the burning light, nothing within it but the satisfaction of slaughter.