THE SECOND EXILE 7

"Haaahh!" The executioner now shot his ax, pointed directly at Zhu Su's neck.

Zhu Su closed his eyes.

"Aarrgghh!"

An arrow dashed quickly, and now stuck straight into the left chest of the executioner. He immediately collapsed to the ground. His ax was thrown elsewhere.

"Who's that?!" The soldiers looked left and right, automatically raised their swords.

More arrows were dashing like falling stars. And they were straight to their all targets, stabbing the vital lives points of the soldiers. Seconds later, they had been lying on the ground, died.

No imperial soldiers were alive. Zhu Su decided to stand up. He was very curious about the savior of his life. He squinted to recognize the mysterious figures who were stepping closer to him.

"Good evening, Your Highness Zhou Wang. May we pay respect to you, and also to Zhou Shi Zi. It's been a long time not seeing both of you."

Zhu Su was shocked. "This voice... can you be?!"

Now his saviors were standing right in front of him, bowing.

"Wu Qi and Hu Nayin?!"

Ten years had passed by, there had been significant differences showed by those Yunnan youths. Wu Qi and Hu Nayin were in their thirties this time. Mustache and beard started to fill Wu Qi's chin, his chest was getting wider and his body was much heftier. But his friendly and easygoing expression was still visible on his round face. His eyes glittered sharply, but it was also accompanied by sincerity and deep faith. Besides him, Hu Nayin looked stunningly beautiful. She was far different from Hu Nayin before who was modest with the appearance of a common village girl, now she appeared similar to the elite women in Kaifeng. The changes in their appearance were huge enough, but fortunately, the lines of similarity still existed and helped Zhu Su to recognize them.

"Are you those... who have saved us?..." Zhu Youdun asked slowly.

"We'll talk about this later. Remaining here longer will be very risky for us. We'd better go to a safe place first," Wu Qi cut off.

"A safe place? Where is it?..."

Wu Qi chose not to answer; instead, he turned around, and gave a signal for Zhu Su and Zhu Youdun to follow him.

Maybe they had been walking miles away. However, Zhu Su began to recognize the path they were taking. It was contrast to the condition before, that he did not know the location of the dungeon he was once imprisoned. This narrow pathway was leading him towards Mount Laojun.

It felt like déjà vu for Zhu Su as he returned back to the mountain which brought him thousands of memories. Mount Laojun was even more beautiful at night. Standing tall, it was accompanied by the night sky studded with millions of stars as the background scenery. He followed Wu Qi and Hu Nayin, who did not stop even though they had reached the foot of the mountain. They continued to climb up the mountain. Until finally they arrived at a large residence that he was well acquainted with.

"Isn't this the previous Xie Wang's headquarters?" Zhu Youdun asked.

Wu Qi still chose not to answer. He slided the door gate. Then, they entered the mansion which was fully covered by the grove of trees.

Until finally they had been in the Entrance Hall. Zhu Su gasped. This spacious hall was very shiny. And also very crowded, filled with people he already knew very well.

"You are... Team of Wellbeing?!"

Nine members of Team of Wellbeing paid their respects. "Good evening, Lord Zhou Wang and Lord Zhou Shi Zi!"

"Are you those who have saved us?!"

"Exactly, Your Highness," Payloth replied. "We already know that both of you have been slandered by the new emperor and being exiled in here. We have planned to save you well in advance, but since our opponent is the emperor, we must be very careful. And because we are too careful, we move too slowly. But thank Heaven, it's just in time, we finally manage to save both of you."

"It's not only them who save you. I am also giving help."

Everyone complained in little voice as they saw who was just coming in and talking. Zhu Su gasped.

"Liu Ku! You... are not in Kaifeng?!"

"You are my master, Your Highness. How can I work for other people? It is unfaithful, isn't it? I should keep following you, right?" Liu Ku smiled broadly. "I am the one who set the strategy for all of them, I just worried they will fail, luckily they did it at last."

"Of course we can do it! Do you really think we're stupid?!" Xue Mei was sullen.

Liu Ku stepped forward, until finally he had been standing within a step before Zhu Su.

"My Lord, the Wang Fei has passed away, hasn't she?"

Zhu Su's eyes turned glazed. "Yes..."

"This naïve and inexperienced new emperor turns out to be a terrible monster. He is so hungry for power that he can do any kinds of brutality - even attempts to kill his uncle, aunt, and cousin. Especially your heartless son. Both of them are very unforgivable, my Lord. You certainly will not just remain silent, right?"

Slowly, Zhu Su nodded.

"You, for certain, will not let them live peacefully on the throne? You, for certain, will try to overthrow them from there?"

Again, Zhu Su nodded.

"I've said before, as a prince you will deal with power, and power is always accompanied with torture and murder. But you still have to do this, because that's what Fate has destined to you so as to be a successful leader."

"Yes, I remember."

"You were so angry at my words. But now, after this incident, will you change your basic principle?" Liu Ku stared straight into Zhu Su's eyes. "After everything the new emperor and your son have done, you precisely want to change your mind, right?"

Zhu Su pressed his lips together. He immediately understood what Liu Ku really meant by asking such questions. He then stared back at Liu Ku. His eyes burned with anger.

"Yes, Liu Ku. Now I change my mind. I agree with you. I will do everything, in order to overthrow Zhu Yunwen from his throne!"