Chapter 020: The Sharp Woman

After learning what the Demon Pearl really was, Wang Bo said frankly, 'I understand the situation now, but I can tell you: my power was not granted by the Demon Pearl—it is innate.'

"Innate?" Yuchi Zhenjin sneered a few times.

He had never seen anyone born with a body impervious to blades and spears. If it were innate divine strength, Yuchi Zhenjin could still believe it. But innate diamond-like indestructibility, impervious to blades and spears—do you take me for a fool?

Whether it was Yuchi Zhenjin or that eunuch, their eyes were filled with deep disbelief.

What could Wang Bo do? He was quite helpless too.

So Wang Bo had already prepared himself for battle.

The demonic pearl can bestow great power upon humans. No matter how you look at it, it is a treasure. Since it is a treasure, the court, in its thinking, would naturally not allow it to fall into the hands of ordinary people.

What if someone uses the demonic pearl to gain great power and opposes the imperial court?

Therefore, reclaiming the demon pearl was inevitable.

Unfortunately, Wang Bo could not clearly explain the source of his strength. A simple claim that he was born with such power would not convince this group.

So these people clearly believed he was holding the demonic pearl. Under these circumstances, the likelihood of them capturing him and forcing him to hand over the demonic pearl—Wang Bo could figure that out with his gut.

In Wang Bo's view, this battle was basically unavoidable.

So Wang Bo was already prepared: once the battle began, he would sweep away everyone present like dried leaves, then race straight for the imperial palace.

After entering the palace, defeat all the imperial guards, then hang up the old emperor and give him a good thrashing.

He believed that this way, the lofty emperor would learn whom he could provoke and whom he could not.

Although at first, Wang Bo did everything in his power to prevent this from happening, even going so far as to surrender and follow the others back to the Supreme Court prison.

But unfortunately, no one wanted things to come to this point.

If blame there must be, blame the demonic pearl's power for being far too wondrous—who the hell knew it could bestow such mighty strength upon a human.

Yet Wang Bo happened to possess strength of unknown origin.

This is truly a coincidence among coincidences.

"Wang Bo, are you truly unwilling to hand over the Demon Pearl?" Yuchi Zhenjin said coldly. The imperial guards behind him had drawn their bows to a half-moon, ready to shoot at any moment.

Wang Bo was also helpless. "If I say I don't have it, then I don't. If you don't believe me, then there's nothing I can do."

"I think you are..."

"Hold on, Lord Yuchi!"

Just as Yuchi Zhenjin was about to lose his temper, the eunuch beside him suddenly spoke up, stopping Wang Bo.

Yuchi Zhenjin was taken aback. He turned to the eunuch. 'Eunuch Li, what do you mean by this?'

Eunuch Li said, “Lord Yuchi, I believe the matter may indeed be as this Young Master Wang says—the other party’s power does not come from the Demon Pearl.”

Yuchi Zhenjin was taken aback, not understanding why Eunuch Li would speak favorably of Wang Bo.

Wang Bo raised an eyebrow, surprised in his heart, but he quickly realized—could there be some hidden secret in this?

Eunuch Li said, “This matter is rather complicated to explain. Lord Yuchi, Young Master Wang, why don’t you both follow me to the imperial palace? You will naturally understand the truth when we get there.”

Wang Bo nodded indifferently. To others, the imperial palace might be a dragon's pool and tiger's den.

But to him, the imperial palace was merely a slightly larger anthill.

Possessing superhuman strength, Wang Bo was just that confident.

Yuchi Zhenjin did not decline either, nodding his head in agreement.

Eunuch Li asked again, "Lord Yuchi, may I ask where the other person is?"

Yuchi Zhenjin cupped his hands and said, “He has already been placed under strict guard by my order, and can set out at any time.”

Eunuch Li breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Even so, we should still set out as soon as possible. We must not keep the Empress waiting."

Yuchi Zhenjin hurriedly said, "Yes, I will go and make the arrangements now."

Before long, the Court of Judicial Review had prepared a spacious carriage drawn by four jet-black steeds without a single stray hair. By ancient standards, this was already a carriage of very high specification.

The only carriages that could surpass it were those of imperial relatives, or the dragon carriage and phoenix palanquin of the emperor and empress.

Wang Bo, Yuchi Zhenjin, and Eunuch Li stood waiting beside the carriage. Yuchi Zhenjin fixed his eyes intently on Wang Bo, his right hand gripping the hilt of his blade, as if he would draw it at the slightest suspicious move from Wang Bo.

His wariness toward Wang Bo was not the slightest bit.

In his eyes, this man was far too dangerous.

Just now, he had suggested to Eunuch Li that Wang Bo should be bound hand and foot.

But Eunuch Li refused, and instead said, "Since Young Master Wang does not have the demon pearl, he would not attack a court official without reason."

But this reasoning could not convince Yuchi Zhenjin.

He could only keep a close watch on Wang Bo by himself.

Wang Bo didn't care either; after all, Yuchi Zhenjin was far beneath him. If he truly harbored ill intent, Yuchi Zhenjin would struggle to withstand three of his punches—no, he might not even be able to take a single one.

Clank, clank!

Just then, the sound of dragging iron chains came, and Wang Bo couldn't help turning his head. He saw a group of fully armed soldiers escorting a beautiful woman in red, her hands and feet bound by iron chains, walking toward him.

Wang Bo raised an eyebrow, thought quickly for a moment, and stated the woman's identity.

"Yin Ruiji!!!"

In the city of Luoyang, the person who suddenly displayed profound martial arts skills, besides Wang Bo, was also Yin Ruiji, the Luoyang courtesan of Swallow Tower.

In the original storyline, this woman was merely an ordinary courtesan, but now she is hailed as the foremost female swordswoman under heaven—a disparity so vast it boggles the mind.

Since even he himself was suspected of possessing the demon pearl, it was impossible that Yin Ruiji was not suspected.

Since the court chose to move against him, it will naturally move against Yin Ruiji as well.

What surprised Wang Bo, however, was that Yin Ruiji had displayed the prowess of the world's foremost swordswoman for quite some time, so why would the court choose to act only now?

Why not act when Yin Ruiji first displayed her martial prowess?

This doesn't follow logic.

Wang Bo couldn't help but glance at Yuchi Zhenjin in surprise, only to find Yuchi Zhenjin staring fixedly at him, as if on guard against something.

This left Wang Bo completely baffled.

After Yin Ruiji was escorted over, her eyes were as sharp as swords, as if they could pierce straight into people's hearts. Even Wang Bo felt that she was incomparably sharp, and that drawing slightly closer would leave one pierced and utterly lacerated.

Wang Bo couldn't help but sigh, "What a sharp woman, truly incomparably sharp."

Yin Ruiji swept a glance at Wang Bo with an expressionless face, then withdrew her gaze.