“Bzzzz.”
A nearly imperceptible low-frequency hum.
The microcurrent electrostatic panels hidden beneath the cracks between the plaza’s paving stones activated all at once.
A vast, dense network of faint electrical currents, like invisible serpents, followed the conductive metal mesh underground and spread across the entire red carpet leading to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Iron was an excellent conductor of electricity.
To project an imposing image, these elite assassins were wrapped from head to toe in heavy armor made of pure steel.
The instant the current reached the soles of their boots, something marvelous happened.
The weak but nonlethal static electricity shot through their pure-steel armor at the speed of light, spreading throughout the bodies of all five hundred assassins.
“Bzzzt, bzzzt, bzzzt!”
The burly men, who had been slipping and crashing into one another on the red carpet like headless flies, suddenly stiffened.
Then the current stimulated their muscles and nerves.
Five hundred heavily armored assassins who killed without batting an eye began to convulse violently, completely against their will!
The Assassin Commander at the very front, who had just executed a perfect split, was the first to bear the brunt of it.
He was sliding across the ground while clutching his groin, and the current surged straight into his most vulnerable area.
“Gaaah!”
The Assassin Commander let out a distorted shriek. His eyes rolled back, and a little foam dribbled from his mouth.
His legs, still spread wide apart, began bouncing up and down with astonishing regularity under the stimulation of the current, as though springs had been installed in them.
Once. Twice. Thrice.
With every bounce, the armor covering his body gave off a crisp metallic clang.
Behind him, the hundreds of soldiers still struggling on the ice displayed artistic talent they had never shown before.
When a person is repeatedly struck by static electricity, their muscles instinctively spasm and contract.
These broad-shouldered brutes now looked like frogs hooked up to a power source.
Their shoulders began to tremble at high frequency, while their arms jerked stiffly like mechanical limbs.
Some crouched on the ground, their legs shaking frantically as though they were pumping sewing machines, leaving behind a series of afterimages.
Others lay flat on their backs, their chests rising and falling violently in time with the pulses of electricity.
The mighty lion heads originally worn atop their helmets shook wildly along with their owners’ convulsions.
Five hundred suits of pure-steel armor, driven by violent muscular spasms, produced a perfectly synchronized chorus of metallic collisions.
“Click-clack! Click-clack! Click-clack!”
The clanging unexpectedly took on a strange sense of rhythm, as though invisible drumbeats were directing them.
Rebel forces storming the palace?
No, no, no!
This was a cutting-edge, cyberpunk-style electronic music festival!
Five hundred men convulsed in perfect unison across the plaza.
The scene looked astonishingly like the full-armor mechanical dance that would sweep the world in later generations.
Every pause at the joints and every tremor of their muscles landed perfectly on the beats of the electrical discharge.
Su Yaoyao sat on her little golden throne, tossing the unfinished mung bean cake in her hand as she laughed hysterically inside.
[Thump-thump, thump-thump! Thump-thump, thump-thump!]
[Yes, yes, that’s the rhythm! The one holding the red lion head—you’re not making the electrical wave smooth enough!]
[And you on the left—your mechanical vibrations are too intense. Remember to control your facial expression!]
[Honestly, people from ancient times have never seen the world. They can turn an electronic music festival into a dance with this much soul!]
Hearing his daughter’s live commentary in her thoughts, Su Zhen leaned against his pure-steel dragon throne, the corners of his mouth twitching uncontrollably.
He forced himself not to laugh and lifted the golden goblet before his face to hide it, though his shoulders continued to bob up and down.
What the hell was a mechanical dance?
And what the hell was an electronic music festival?
Where on earth had his precious daughter learned all these torturous sorceries?
Still, watching the rebels who had been brimming with murderous intent only moments ago now shaking on the ground like clowns, Su Zhen felt an unparalleled sense of satisfaction. It was like gulping down a large bowl of iced sour-plum soup on the hottest day of summer.
Below, Crown Prince Su Jin’s eyes shone with excitement.
Through the black cloak covering him, he stared at the assassins being electrocuted until their eyes rolled back, as if he had discovered an entirely new world.
So killing people didn’t require a blade?
This bloodless method of torture was simply wonderful!
Su Jin secretly swore that from now on, he would learn a few more tricks from Su Yaoyao.
Inside the main hall, however, the civil and military officials were completely dumbstruck.
They had no idea that electricity was responsible for what they were seeing, much less that the men were being tortured.
With their limited understanding, all they saw was a folk lion-dance troupe displaying an extraordinary, almost supernatural skill.
“My heavens! What an exquisite dancing technique!”
An elderly official in charge of ritual and music trembled with excitement as he pointed toward the plaza and exclaimed.
“Look! Their bodies are as rigid as iron, yet they can still unleash such tremendous power in time with the rhythm!”
“Every movement is filled with strength. It’s a perfect union of hardness and softness!”
Another civil official nodded enthusiastically and drained his cup of wine in one gulp.
“Magnificent! Our Great Yuan truly is a land full of hidden talents!”
“The trembling of their bodies seems to resonate with the rhythm of heaven and earth. It’s enough to set one’s blood ablaze!”
Several military officers who had had too much to drink could not help standing up and swaying their waists in time with the rhythm from the plaza.
“Hahaha! General, I’m thoroughly impressed by this lion-dance troupe of yours!”
“For the sake of this incredible talent—their whole-body convulsions—I’ll be paying the reward today!”
“Excellent! Reward them! Give them a generous reward!”
The entire Hall of Supreme Harmony erupted in a deafening wave of cheers and applause.
The officials raised their cups to General Lin Zhenxiong, the senior-most military commander, their faces filled with admiration and amazement.
“General, you truly went to extraordinary lengths!”
“To find such remarkable talents to celebrate His Majesty’s birthday—the General deserves immense credit!”
“This full-armor convulsion dance will surely go down in history and become one of Great Yuan’s most celebrated tales!”
Yet as his fellow officials enthusiastically praised him and jokingly lauded the performance, General Lin Zhenxiong stood frozen in place like a statue.
His ears were filled with the grating sound of applause and cheers.
Before his eyes was the invincible iron army he had spent countless fortunes and every ounce of his effort cultivating.
He had emptied his family’s coffers to forge their heavy armor.
He had spent five full years training these assassins deep in the mountains and primeval forests.
And yet now, the trump card he had been so proud of had become a humiliating farce!
The killing machines he had placed his hopes in and intended to use to overthrow the dynasty were currently writhing around in the plaza outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony like a troop of mad monkeys having seizures, providing entertainment for everyone.
And people were actually offering them rewards?!
Lin Zhenxiong’s breathing grew faster and faster. His chest heaved violently, wheezing like a bellows.
His eyes became bloodshot and crimson, and tiny veins split open at the corners.
An unbearable humiliation!
The dignity of the Lin family, along with his ambitions, had been trampled beneath the feet of the entire world.
The deadly trap he had meticulously planned and the great cause he had endured in silence for years had been reduced to a colossal joke by this ridiculous convulsion dance.
“General? General, what’s wrong?”
An official beside him noticed his ashen expression and trembling body and asked with concern.
“Has the General been moved by this marvelous dancing technique?”
Moved by my ass!
“Get lost!”
Lin Zhenxiong suddenly let out a hysterical roar.
His bellow, infused with powerful inner strength, drowned out every other sound in the great hall.
The cheers inside Taiji Hall came to an abrupt stop.
Everyone turned in shock to stare at the general, who had suddenly gone mad.
Lin Zhenxiong looked at the puzzled, astonished, and mocking faces around him.
The final thread of reason in his mind snapped with a sharp twang.
Since the assassination had become a joke, and all his trump cards had been exposed, why should he continue pretending to be a loyal minister and valiant general?
Lin Zhenxiong had completely lost control of himself in his fury. The muscles in his face twisted grotesquely beneath the force of his rage.
He abruptly drew the sword at his waist, and a flash of cold steel swept across the great hall.
Then he snatched up the pure-gold wine cup from the table before him.
Crash!
Lin Zhenxiong hurled the wine cup in his hand against the jade steps of Taiji Hall, smashing it to pieces.
Golden light flew in every direction as wine spilled across the floor.
Raising his sword, he pointed it at Su Zhen, seated high above him, and unleashed a desperate roar like a cornered beast fighting for its life.
“Su Zhen is a tyrant! That demoness is bringing ruin to the nation!”
“Since assassination has failed, then we’ll do this openly!”
