In a room lighted by the moon, a family of three is sleeping in a three-man position. The youngest, a child that just earned his adult body structure, is sleeping on the edge of the bed hugging the arms of his beloved mother. The child is snoring very loudly with a bubble inflating on his nose. He is munching the fabric of his mother's sleeve while muttering gibberish on his sleep.

The man on the middle, the transmigrator of the group, is also sleeping soundly. But unlike the son who made a five-star eagle spread position, he was sleeping in a straight position. Well, he has no choice but to remain on that place. He was always in the middle so his body is forced to adapt on the position on the people on his sides. Though, he is really comfortable with his sleep.

Lastly, the master of the group, the emperor. This person also has a relaxed position. Like the royal man he is, his posture in sleeping is truly great and elegant. None of the external forces could destroy his good sleeping posture and even the destroyer son can't disturb his greatness. Though, there are a few changes with his sleeping posture since he got married with his wife.

Yu XueQin would always have his one hand touching the Empress.

If only they are alone in this room, Yu XueQin will not hesitate to pull the youth on his embrace. He would place the younger man on his chest, make him lie on his arms, and snuggle on his warm head. Lang Yuan is always attracted to warm objects so it is already expected that the youth will return the embrace. Lang Yuan would stick on him very tight.

But this night seems to be a bit different.

They are still on their usual positions but there was something unsettling on the air.

The wind blew pass to the open curtain visiting the settlers with a cold whisper. The curtain danced with the wind, swaying in a soft manner. The swaying lasted for a few seconds before the cooling wind is gone, letting go of the curtain that cascaded before settling down. The room returned to its original state.

Yu XueQin opened his eyes.

On the corner of the room where no eyes will look still, a presence of another person could be felt. However, this person's intention is not to harm the sleeping people inside. If he would plan to disturb the peaceful setting, he should have the power to endure the emperor's strength. Fortunately, the person is just here to perform a duty and is currently out of harm's way.

Yu XueQin sat up directly. It almost looked like he is a robot from the modern time being activated under a command. Though, he carefully kept his movements small as to not to wake up the sleeping person beside him. His emotions were gentle and soft when he was facing the sleeping face of the Empress, but his eyes suddenly went gone cold when he swiftly turned his head to look at the guest.

One shadow guard received the cold gaze. By just that one look, he could almost feel the surroundings dropped colder with a force that pressured him down. He has been serving the emperor for the thousands of years but that cold glare would never cease to oppress him. He lowered his head to at least lessen the heavy weight on his shoulder as he slightly shivered.

The rules of the emperor have been clearer to the shadow guards than to his other subordinates. That is, the shadow guards had known more law including the emperor's personal restriction when it comes to his majesty's well-being.

Yu XueQin had told them long ago that nobody should enter his room without his permission or dare to disturb his sleep unless it is something very important. It means that the appearance of the shadow guard inside the room meant that it met the standard of being 'important'. If it is not grave enough to seek the emperor's attention, then the punishment of the shadow guard that violated the law will never be shallow.

Despite his position, Yu XueQin still has the elegance of being a tyrant emperor as he sat on the side of the bed without wavering.

"Speak," Yu XueQin called out.

"Your Majesty," the shadow guards lowered his head further to show his deepest respect. "The former personnel, General Kun Shao, has requested for your audience."

The emperor is silent for a while. He slightly frowned.

"Kun Shao? When did he arrive?" he asked.

"The general just arrived," the shadow guard replied very quickly.

Yu XueQin watched the shadow guard with a complicated expression. Kun Shao, whose existence is unknown to all, is actually a former general that once led the strongest army of the empire. Before, when Yu XueQin is still a crowned prince, Kun Shao is the right hand man of the great emperor that won wars against other realms. The general has good tactics and strong so the emperor favored him very much.

When the emperor handed the throne to his son, Kun Shao somehow requested the new regent to leave his post of being a general and pass it down to the person next in line - General Gu. Though, he made the request not because he disliked Yu XueQin or he has any bad impression towards the new reign; the former general just thought that his time has already ended and handed the general position to the younger generation.

Also, he wanted to take the rest that he didn't manage to get when he was still a general.

Yu XueQin has no way to refute the request, however, he don't want to let a good asset go. So the emperor and the general reached an agreement that says that Kun Shao will be dismissed from his general position in exchange of his outmost loyalty to the new emperor under special circumstances.

That is to say, Kun Shao will be autonomous from the other personnel. He is allowed to ignore any military disturbances unless it is something grave that he needed to act without the permission from the emperor. Yu XueQin handed him a golden thigh so Kun Shao would only be responsible when using it.

After then, Kun Shao had remained inside the palace as a commoner. Yu XueQin wanted to gift the former general a huge courtyard but the Kun Shao quickly refused the offer. Instead, he asked for a secluded place inside the empire where he could freely build his own hut and small garden to tend. The emperor gave him the small place on the garden, and even let him join the royal gardeners as a new trainee.

Of all the trouble in the past, Kun Shao never acted on his own. He would just watch in the corner to see if things are going all right or just to spend most of his idle time in gardening. It is just now that the former general decided to move and actually even went down to the human realm just to meet the emperor. If he was hurrying out like this then the information that he is holding must be something very important.

"I will come," Yu XueQin decided.

The shadow guard showed his respect and leaves to send his report. Yu XueQin saw the figure took a step back and vanish in the air like a dust flowing to the wind. The curtains moved to sway again, giving off a sign that someone had just passed it.

Yu XueQin watched the still air for a while before shifting his position. He take a look at the sleeping Empress who has now turned to the other side to face JiDan. None of these two seems to care whatever is happening inside the room and are sleeping on their comfort. Yu XueQin did not dare to wake the two up and just slipped out from the bed after giving Lang Yuan a kiss on the forehead.

The emperor headed out to the room without making a noise.

During this time, Zhong Song who showed a very sullen look pushed the door of the room open with a bang startling the people who are passing by. He was writing the verdict of the court as he usually does and just finished it six hours after finishing the long discussion. That is to say, Zhong Song remained on the study room to collect information and evidence to be written on the verdict to make it wholesome.

Now that he is done, Zhong Song wanted to rest. He knows that after the verdict is implemented, he has to work for the new set of rules corresponding to the change. So he wanted to take this little amount of time to sleep before the hard mode battle starts.

But first, he has to have the emperor sign it with a stamp.

The YanLing Sect, despite being part of a foreign world, still followed a design that is from the old houses of China where pathways are either closed in by walls or opened to show a courtyard. These halls can be enclosed using the sliding doors made up of specialized papers.

Zhong Song is currently passing through these open halls, walking like a dead man with his back slouched down. His steps are unsteady like a drunk going home, taking his time to mess around than to directly meet the emperor. Yet, he was stopped not because of this behaviour but because he was attracted to a certain thing.

On the open skies, the round moon shone the brightest. It took all the spotlight on the evening skies pushing the colorful stars away to not steal its spotlight. Zhong Song somehow straightened his self as he watched the fascinating object illuminating the dark world that is only full of people in slumber. His eyes are glued to the asteroid while his brain started working.

Zhong Song isn't the type to believe on superstitions but somehow he felt something by just looking at it. It was said that the full moon is a bringer of bad luck; no one should be stupid and always be careful when this lunar phase appears.

Well, this case has been true to humans. For some reasons, abnormalities occur during the full moon. There are still no exact correlations or any definite evidence towards this phenomenon but humans would rather be careful than to doubt the unknown. Kun Shao found this kind of human activity fascinating so he was always interested to know the reasons.

He must have been watching the moon too much that he didn't noticed someone coming. A finger suddenly tapped on his shoulders. The reflex of a dragon suddenly moved and Zhong Song made a chopping action towards the stranger. However, his attack is futile when a hand blocked his attack.

To be able to block such attack, Zhong Song widened his eyes. He quickly looked at the person and found Kun Shao standing near him. He was both surprised and confused. What is this hermit gardener doing here? Though, before he could even start talking, somebody arrived just on time.

The two of them looked at the emperor as he headed towards them. The two officials quickly made their salute by bowing and greeting the emperor. Yu XueQin watched the two figures finish their respects and look up to see him. The emperor already expected Zhong Song to arrive on his room; it was Kun Shao who is out of place.

"Your Majesty, I already finished the verdict. I only needed your confirmation to apply it," Zhong Song quickly said.

"I know," Yu XueQin looked at Zhong Song then shifted it to Kun Shao. "Enter the room and wait for a while. I and the general have something to discuss."

"Hmmm? Who's general?" Zhong Song wasn't aware of Kun Shao's real identity and still treated him as a gardener. He looked around to look for General Gu but the official is not here.

Yu XueQin sighed. "Don't wake the empress up."

Zhong Song asked the question but didn't receive an answer. He turned around and walk towards the hall going to the room. He looked like a puppy with drooping ears as he walked away. The emperor and general watched the scholar to be gone before heading to the open courtyard.

The courtyard is quite big. This is because most of the master cultivators meditate on this place. The courtyard is only composed of a small fishpond unto the edge near the wall, and the century old three that has been leaning on one side to show its beauty.

"Speak," Yu XeuQin straightly commanded.

"I witnessed the death of the twelfth victim," Kun Shao answered.

The emperor's eyes narrowed. It seems that this general really made a move against the god killer. He walked towards the nearby tree and looked up at the moon. There is the feeling of premonition in the air as if saying that something will happen this night. He remained looking up as if trying to read the constellations.

"Then, what do you think about it, general?" The emperor asked.

Kun Shao explained everything from the start. He told the emperor that he was patrolling the night since the emperor and the general is not present to the realm. He is the next in command together with Zhong Song so he has to take control. He walked around when he noticed a suspicious movement from the shadows and followed the trail until he reached the alleyway.

"He was holding the legendary weapon, like what the other witnesses said. He ended the life of the god without conscience and took the godhead," Kun Shao narrated accurately.

"The killed gods indeed don't have any distinct pattern the reason why it took Song some time to understand this movement. Still, the clear reason of killing is to snatch the god heads," Yu XueQin said.

Kun Shao nodded as he agreed. "The god killer is quite nimble; his fighting style showed that he had some experience. Though, I will assume that most of the time he was defending than attacking. He is only trying to escape."

"His fighting style? You recognized it?" Kun Shao is a very good fighter, be it long ranged or close melee. For him to recognize the fighter's ability means that the person is excellent.

"Yes, your majesty. However, there are still flaws on his style. It only showed that he is still a greenhorn and had not molded well yet," Kun Shao said.

Yu XueQin nodded. Somehow, he already deducted that the god killer is someone who has not reached a few thousand years old. Lang Yuan had told earlier that the god killer only hunted half-gods, which means that the possibility of the god killer being a half good too is high. And since the half god is powerful, he must have belonged to the younger generation.

"Your majesty, there's something that I found weird with this god killer," Kun Shao called.

"What is it?" Yu XueQin asked.

"The god killer... at some point, he has the chance to use the legendary weapon to kill me. However, instead of facing me head-on, he used a normal weapon," Kun Shao has pondered over this matter.

During their fight, the god killer only used a simple weapon or even blocked few of his attacks with his arms. One can easily see that Kun Shao had the upper hand yet the god killer never used his advantage and hid the legendary weapon. Kun Shao is not suicidal but when it comes to practical use, he can see that the god killer avoided it.

"Actually, it seems that he has no plans in killing me that is why the god killer only defended than offending. He seems to be choosing his opponents and would kill someone who is weaker. But that is illogical," Kun Shao added.

Yu XueQin is aware that Kun Shao did not know about the recent discovery. He was about to tell the gardener about the deal with half gods when somebody appeared on the corner. Both gentlemen shifted their sights towards the person standing beside the sliding door. Lang Yuan is watching them from the upper floor.

"Her Highness," Kun Shao bowed before the empress.

The emperor walked towards the empress to greet it. He wondered if Zhong Song made a mess inside the room that woke the sleeping youth up.

"No, he didn't wake me up. I got ahead when I noticed the bed empty," Lang Yuan quickly retorted before the emperor could say anything.

Yu XueQin: "..."

The emperor reached out to his empress and quickly pulled him to his embrace. This thing seems to be normal for Lang Yuan as he let his self be covered by the warmth. The night is cold and Lang Yuan is walking out with such thin clothes. Getting warmth under this weather is really soothing and comfortable.

Lang Yuan got a kiss on his forehead. Then, he looked at the hermit gardener who is kneeling before them. Yu XueQin can sense the question of the youth as he caressed his cheeks. He back hugged the little empress while facing the kneeling gardener.

"Kun Shao witnessed it," Yu XueQin said gently. "The twelfth kill."

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I was really planning to post it yesterday but I things happen so I wasn't able to. I wanted to post two chaps today but the next chapter is still not yet edited. So, enjoy reading!

Yay! I Updated!