# 1658
Chapter 1658: True Emperor, False Emperor
The Imperial Palace.
Three figures—Lin Qiye, Gongyang Wan, and Wu Quan—continuously穿梭 through the scattered palace halls.
Within this vast palace complex, finding Huo Qubing was no easy task. What's more, they occasionally had to stop to kill a few stray赝品. After searching for quite some time, they still hadn't found any trace of Huo Qubing.
"Since entering the palace, have you seen the Marquis?" Lin Qiye asked.
"I've seen him, but only when I first came in." Gongyang Wan nodded. "He wanted to bring me to see the Emperor, so he had his men put shackles on me and lock me in a prisoner carriage, escorting me into the palace... Hmph, he has the【Heart-Returning Gu】in his grasp. As long as he wills it, I couldn't escape even if I wanted to. Why would he need such a grand display? It's merely for show—for the Emperor and others to see."
"After entering the palace, you were waiting in front of that hall the whole time?"
"Yes. It seemed the Emperor was meeting with others at the time, so he left me there, saying someone would come to escort me inside shortly... But until now, no one ever came."
Lin Qiye frowned, deep in thought.
Huo Qubing had brought Gongyang Wan into the palace, most likely to propose the establishment of the Bureau of Evil Suppression. However, so much time had passed—the Marquis shouldn't have forgotten about Gongyang Wan... Could something have happened to him?
Or perhaps even Huo Qubing had been switched out?
Impossible... Huo Qubing was a Human Apex, and possessed the【Emperor's Dominion】. Even if that smoke could replicate a carbon copy of the Marquis, it would be nearly impossible to silently kill and replace him in such a short time.
"Is it possible the Marquis is no longer in the palace?" Wu Quan suddenly spoke up. "With such a major incident happening outside, he should be aware of it. What if he's already gone outside the palace?"
"Hmm, we can't rule that out..."
As Lin Qiye contemplated, his peripheral vision swept across the surroundings, and he suddenly froze in place.
"What's wrong?" Gongyang Wan saw Lin Qiye suddenly stop and asked with a frown.
Lin Qiye didn't speak. He extended his hand and pointed into the distance.
The two followed his gaze. In the night sky not far away, a section of palace wall had already collapsed. By the flickering firelight nearby, they could see a pool of crimson blood spreading across the ground.
"There was a fight here?"
"It's【Life-Extinguishing Moon Slash】." Lin Qiye gazed at the savage blade marks on the ground, his voice deep. "Only【Life-Extinguishing Moon Slash】could cause this kind of damage..."
"Zhan Yuwu? Who was he fighting?"
Lin Qiye didn't answer. He walked to the collapsed ruins and, through the gap in the palace wall, could see the devastated Chang'an City beneath the night sky.
"It seems the Marquis really has run into trouble..." Lin Qiye murmured to himself.
"Look, the sky over there—why is it changing color?" At this moment, Wu Quan seemed to have noticed something and suddenly pointed toward the sky beyond the city walls.
Lin Qiye looked over. The moment he saw the kaleidoscopic smoke approaching beyond the walls, his pupils constricted sharply!
"That thing can actually move on its own?!"
Lin Qiye certainly remembered that swirl of colorful smoke. It was the reason Chang'an had become what it was now. Lin Qiye had intended to wait until the chaos in Chang'an settled, then personally investigate the mountain valley to see what that smoke was about. But he never expected it to actually move to Chang'an itself!
"Not good!" Lin Qiye's mind raced. His legs pushed off hard, his身形 hurtling through the air above Chang'an like a cannonball, heading straight for the edge of the city walls!
That kaleidoscopic smoke covered an enormous area. Back at the mountain valley, it had easily enveloped an army of thirty thousand, producing identical赝品in a very short time without a sound. If that thing were to cover all of Chang'an City...
This most prosperous and central imperial capital of the Han Dynasty would be completely replaced by赝品, perhaps even becoming a nest for Cthulhu Faction creatures!
Gongyang Wan and Wu Quan also realized the severity of the situation and followed closely behind!
Lin Qiye's身形 tore through the wind. That colorful, shimmering sky rapidly enlarged before his eyes. He carved an arc through the air and finally crashed down before the walls of Chang'an, creating a crater dozens of meters in radius.
Among the flying shards of stone, Lin Qiye's eyes locked onto the kaleidoscopic smoke. It was less than ten li from Chang'an, and this fog moved quickly. By his estimates, in no more than ten minutes, the smoke would pass through the city walls and enter Chang'an.
"Lin Qiye."
A voice came from atop the city wall. Upon hearing it, Lin Qiye's eyes lit up slightly.
He turned to look. There stood Huo Qubing, who had also arrived at the front of the smoke. He had already shed his original armor, now wearing a black marquis's robe, gripping a spear, his expression grave.
"Marquis, are you alright?"
"Injured, but it's nothing serious." Huo Qubing shook his head. "The priority is to stop this smoke from entering the city, otherwise chaos will reign across the land... But this smoke is bizarre. Lin Qiye, will you accompany this Marquis?"
Lin Qiye gazed at Huo Qubing's silhouette against the night sky and opened his mouth, but didn't answer. He couldn't determine whether this Huo Qubing was a赝品, so naturally he couldn't agree to join forces with him.
"Lin Qiye? You're here too?"
At the same time, another figure flew in from the distance. Hearing this voice, Lin Qiye's body jolted violently.
He turned in astonishment. There was another Huo Qubing, wearing bloodstained armor and gripping a spear, arriving at his side.
Lin Qiye's jaw dropped slightly, and his expression immediately soured!
Two Huo Qubings?!
At this critical moment?!
He had considered the possibility that Huo Qubing might have been replicated by that smoke. After all, while【Emperor's Dominion】was powerful, it wasn't unique in this world. Back then, the赝品of himself in the smoke had even managed to imitate the Hongmeng Lingtai. Replicating a human's Forbidden Ruins should be no difficulty for it.
But up until now, Lin Qiye had only considered whether Huo Qubing could have been silently replaced. After all, since leaving the mountain valley, there hadn't been a second Huo Qubing appearing... He never expected that this time, the smoke had changed its tactics—from impersonation, it had switched to a "choose one" scenario.
So back then, the kaleidoscopic smoke hadn't failed to replicate Huo Qubing. It was just that after replicating him, it didn't attempt to replace him. Even it couldn't silently kill the real Huo Qubing in a short time, so it had kept him concealed within the smoke all along—until it arrived outside Chang'an City, when it finally let the赝品appear?
The kaleidoscopic smoke had reached the city gates, and two【Emperor's Dominions】had appeared simultaneously... In the past, this would have been an extremely difficult choice. But fortunately, they had another trump card.
Lin Qiye turned his gaze. Two streaks of light followed across the night sky and landed behind him.
Gongyang Wan saw the two Huo Qubings, froze momentarily, then the corners of her mouth curved upward slightly...