Romancing the Son of Heaven (Part 2)

Stratagem 57: All Is Fair in Love and War (4)

Jing He turned onto the narrow path that led around the building. A tall wall stood opposite with more guards on the other side. In the pathway, there was only one guard stationed halfway down the building though. This should give him an opportunity. At the very least, he hoped that this would be the case.

Jing He took a faint breath, once again reminding himself to keep calm. He moved his fingers slightly, taking the arrays he had prepared out of the spatial bracelet around his wrist. He didn't dare to glance over his shoulder to see if the guard behind him was looking in his direction. Instead, he carefully tried to sense his surroundings with his spiritual sense.

His magical ability had always been high, likely thanks to the ancient bloodline that had been carefully protected. While he had hardly any ability to attack, he was good at defending himself and his most used skill was actually this use of his spiritual sense that was supposed to keep him out of dangerous situations in the first place.

Usually, he could use it without even being noticed by others. He couldn't be sure if this would be the case today as well. His own state wasn't perfect because he was nervous and the guards stationed around the prison were likely to be especially strong. Since this was the case, he could only hope for the best.

Jing He faintly exhaled and his spiritual sense finally picked up some fluctuations behind him: The guards had picked up a transmission stone, probably relaying the message that he was going to see the God of Justice in a moment.

This was his chance!

Jing He didn't hesitate at all. He let go of one of the arrays, his magic plastering it against the wall as fast as he could. They were thin and the paper itself would crumble as soon as they were in place, not leaving behind any noticeable traces.

He fixed his gaze on the guard in front. The man had noticed him approach but turned back just as fast when he recognized him. While the guards tended to be overprotective whenever they saw him, this one was in charge of this position all alone. He really couldn't spare somebody he didn't perceive to be a threat any mind.

Jing He inclined his head toward him as he passed by, his heart racing. Nobody had stopped him yet as if he would actually manage to pull this part of his plan off perfectly. He knew he couldn't get complacent but ... he felt a little relieved already. If he didn't make a mistake later, he could really pull this off.

He made his way past the guard, not interacting with him apart from that short greeting. He continued to use his spiritual sense to observe his surroundings but the guard was simply standing in his position. He didn't move and also didn't seem to pay him any heed. Could he risk adding the other half of the prepared arrays as well?

His heartbeat seemed to become even faster and he didn't dare to act rashly. He glanced toward the corner of the building where the next guard was in position. That person hadn't turned toward him either but ... this could change at a moment's notice and it certainly would if he did anything that seemed suspicious.

Jing He hesitated but finally thought of Qiu Ling. He couldn't leave anything untried if he wanted to reach his goal for today. He hastily took out the remaining arrays and repeated the action from earlier, praying inwardly that nothing would go wrong.

Maybe it was that Heaven had heard his prayers and looked fondly upon a committed lover or maybe it was just that the guards of the Nine Heavens would never see him as a threat so that they were less vigilant toward him and his strength was enough to pull this off. Either way, he wasn't stopped. Clearly, nobody had noticed a thing. His plan was still on track.

Jing He made it to the corner of the building and inclined his head toward the guard there in greeting before walking further into the complex that housed the Court of Justice.