CHAPTER 478: CHAPTER 478 : THE FINAL WAR (1)

The string of words sent a jolt through Jiang Rufeng, leading the hardened alpha to whip around, his face a canvas of shock. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead as he met his wife’s scowling gaze.

"Oh, Jianshen, it’s just..."

He clutched the soft candies behind his back like a squirrel desperately trying to shield a stolen nut, but Xie Jianshen, with the swiftness of a hawk, snatched them from his grasp.

"No candies before bed," he announced.

Ignoring his helpless husband, he took both boys by their hands and dragged them toward his own bed chamber. "Rufeng, sleep in your own chamber tonight."

"..."

Jiang Rufeng only dared to heave a sigh after his wife and his twin nephews were out of sight.

With a decisive turn, he strode off to his private quarters. These were graciously allocated for his use whenever the Heavenly Emperor didn’t require his presence.

Xie Jianshen propped himself up on one arm, his gaze lingering on the peaceful faces of Zhang Mingrui and Xie Junjie. Though the boys had stubbornly resisted bedtime, exhaustion from the day had been a swift victor. They’d drifted off the moment their heads touched the soft pillows. A gentle smile played on Xie Jianshen’s lips as he patted the twins’ small forms beneath the covers. However, his mind couldn’t help but wander back to the outlandish story Zhang Fengxi had regaled him with earlier.

He was not sure which one was more ridiculous -- the story of Zhang Fengxi going back in time to fix his poor life choices or the story of Xie Jianyu’s transmigrated soul choosing to side with the Demonic Realm and serving as the Second Demon King.

"Foolish," Xie Jianshen murmured while shaking his head.

"Utterly foolish..."

Perhaps, after recovering from his head injuries, Zhang Fengxi would offer a different explanation, one that could shed a more positive light on their situation. But hope, as it often does, proved fleeting.

The next morning, Xie Jianshen was left with no option but to take the rioting little boys at his side to Silver Mist Pavilion to visit Zhang Fengxi.

Inside the pavilion, a somber atmosphere hung heavy. The three attending physicians wore expressions as dark as storm clouds. When the news of the Heavenly Emperor’s surprise visit pierced the gloom, their faces drained of color, turning as pale as death itself.

"Rise," Xie Jianshen wearily sighed when he saw the three physicians prostrating themselves to the ground.

"We do not dare, Your Majesty!" They cried out in unison.

"What’s wrong?" Xie Jianshen asked, his gaze pivoting to the man sleeping on the bed.

The twin boys ignored the row of kneeling physicians and ran toward the bed.

"Daddy!!!"

"Daddy, Daddy...!!!"

Zhang Fengxi’s head lolled to the side when the boys pulled at his limp arm, but his eyes remained tightly shut, his bloodless face and whitish lips showing no signs of life.

Xie Jianshen glared at the three physicians, who did not dare to raise their heads at all.

"What is happening here?"

Panic flickered between the three physicians as they exchanged desperate glances. Each seemed silently urging another to break the terrible news. Finally, the eldest, perhaps reflecting on a long and fulfilling life, took one for the team and spoke up.

"Answering Your Majesty’s query," he rasped, "Supreme General Zhang Fengxi has unfortunately succumbed to his injuries. A few hours ago, he slipped into a deep coma."

Xie Jianshen’s face drained of color, a stark transformation mirrored moments later by the boys who, though oblivious to the physician’s words, sensed the gravity of their father’s condition.

They immediately broke into tears.

"Wahhhhhhh Daddy!!!"

"Daddy, wake up, please wake up!!!"

"..."

Xie Jianshen stared at Zhang Fengxi’s lifeless form in disbelief.

Had he finally gone too far this time?

Certainly, 99 lightning bolts and a stab into the gut were too much to handle, even for an alpha of Zhang Fengxi’s caliber.

The hopeful tone of Xie Jianyu’s last letter echoed relentlessly in Xie Jianshen’s mind. The words, imbued with immense trust in his elder brother’s abilities, resonated deeply.

"Big Brother, please take care of Fengxi and my children during my absence. You are the only one I can rely on."

"Your Majesty!"

A sharp pinch on his upper arm startled Xie Jianshen. He pivoted his head just enough to see the eldest physician, already on his feet, catching him before a stumble.

"I don’t care what you do and how you do it," he snapped at the physicians. "Do everything you can to pull him out of his comatose state. If he dies, all of you will accompany him to his grave!"

The physicians swallowed hard.

"We will do our best, Your Majesty!"

"Please take care, Your Majesty!"

"Thank you for the chance, Your Majesty!"

Xie Jianshen pulled his screaming and crying nephews away from Zhang Fengxi.

"Mingrui and Junjie, you already saw your father. As you can see, he is not well. If you don’t want their condition to worsen, you must be obedient and let the physicians work on your father. Understand?"

Zhang Mingrui responded with a wail reminiscent of a little beast.

Xie Junjie buried his little face into Xie Jianshen’s robe and sobbed loudly.

"When is Daddy going to wake up?" He asked in a heartwrenching voice.

"Soon," Xie Jianshen lied between his teeth, all the while knowing that Zhang Fengxi was walking on a tightrope, teetering between life and death.

As if the day wasn’t already a disaster, it took a turn for the worse. Several gods and deities stormed the Golden Dragon Palace, their faces etched with urgency. Chaos, they reported, had erupted in the Human Realm.

The Demonic Realm, this time under the direct command of the First Demon King, had unleashed a monstrous horde -- a twisted amalgamation of demons and ghosts -- to invade the fragile peace of the human world.

As Zhang Fengxi’s second-in-command, Wu Shenxia descended unto the Human Realm, taking half of the Heavenly Empire’s military forces with her to launch a counterattack against the demonic forces.