"I don't want you to die, but you are utterly worthless." James Thompson said slowly, "The eunuch faction owes you, now go..."

Then he waved his hand and was about to turn and leave. Two eunuch warriors stepped forward, ready to drag Henry Clark away.

At that very moment—right then! The "assassin" should be making his move now.

Henry Clark began counting down in his mind, then put on a look of shock and terror, even the hairs on his neck standing on end.

"Whoosh..." The assassin hiding in the crowd suddenly fired an arrow.

"Headmaster, look out..." Henry Clark shouted.

At the same time, he calculated the distance in his mind and lunged toward James Thompson, shielding him from the arrow.

In a flash, thunder rumbled—everything happened in an instant!

In that moment...

"Thud..." Blood splattered as the arrow pierced straight through Henry Clark's chest, then continued toward James Thompson's back.

The force of this arrow was truly terrifying!

Henry Clark couldn't even feel the pain; it was as if he had been struck by a tremendous force, his whole body thrown forward, blood gushing wildly from his chest.

"Bianner..." Outside the main gate, the wet nurse let out a heart-wrenching, desperate cry, then rushed toward Henry Clark, but after only a few steps she collapsed in a faint.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go—he had planned for the arrow to go through his arm, not his chest. The chest meant either the heart or the lungs; getting hit there was basically a death sentence.

Damn it, could he really die here from his own scheming gone wrong? Henry Clark felt his body growing colder, his vision darkening.

"Thud..." After piercing Henry Clark, the sharp arrow still struck James Thompson's back, but only penetrated less than an inch.

Everyone froze, then cried out in alarm, "An assassin!"

The whole scene erupted in chaos, countless eunuch warriors rushing to protect James Thompson.

James Thompson spun around, but instead of immediately pulling out the arrow as in his dream, he let it remain in his back, his sinister, deep eyes staring in disbelief at Henry Clark, at his handsome face and the wound on his chest that kept spurting blood.

At this moment, James Thompson was truly shaken to his core.

He knew all about this assassination attempt—after all, he had orchestrated it himself, just to strike back at the Cui family. According to the original plan, this useless Henry Clark was to be beheaded and his head sent to the Cui family as a declaration of war.

But he never expected that this little eunuch Henry Clark would be so loyal, so passionate, that he would risk his life to shield him from an arrow?

Such loyalty was beyond words—if someone is willing to die for you, is there any greater loyalty in the world?

Chapter 6: You May Call Me Godfather

And just now, everything happened so suddenly—there was no time to hesitate, no time to scheme. Henry Clark had rushed out to block the arrow purely on instinct, driven by the deepest part of his heart.

This... this made it all the more precious!

Before, James Thompson had treated Henry Clark like a discarded shoe, killing him would have been as easy as crushing an ant, with not a shred of pity. But now, when James Thompson looked at Henry Clark, he saw someone of immense value.

"Catch the assassin, catch the assassin..."

A group of eunuch warriors surged out, drawing their weapons and charging at the Cui family warriors outside.

James Thompson still didn't pull out the arrow. He slowly walked down the steps to stand before Henry Clark, his fingers quickly pressing acupuncture points to stop Henry Clark's bleeding. Then he took his pulse, checked his heartbeat.

Though weak, at least his life was not in danger—the arrow had missed his heart.

Just an inch more, and it would have pierced his heart—just one inch!

"Headmaster... I... I'm innocent, please take care of my wet nurse..." Henry Clark said, as if giving his last words.

"Don't worry, you won't die. Even if you reach the gates of hell, I'll pull you back." James Thompson said, then took a deep breath and solemnly declared, "Child, our fates are now bound together."

Hearing this, Henry Clark felt a wave of relief inside, but dared not let it show for fear of being exposed. His vision went black, and he fainted on the spot.

Lifting Henry Clark in his arms, James Thompson looked coldly at the Cui family warriors outside and said icily, "How dare the Cui family attempt to assassinate me! Do you really think the eunuch faction is so easy to bully?!"

Bang bang bang bang...

Hundreds of eunuch warriors mobilized, surrounding the Cui family warriors outside the gate.

Immediately, hundreds of archers took up advantageous positions, drawing their bows at the dozens of Cui family warriors.

"Lay down your weapons and hand over the assassin, or you will be killed without mercy!"

The dozens of Cui family warriors outside turned pale with fear. They had only come to take away Henry Clark, who had offended the Cui family's young lady—how could they dare to assassinate the powerful eunuch James Thompson?

But the assassin was among them; whether the mud in your pants is shit or not, it looks like shit.

"Kill, kill..." James Thompson gave the order.

The eunuch faction's sharpshooters released their bowstrings!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh...

Ten Cui family warriors fell dead on the spot. The remaining Cui warriors quickly dropped their weapons and surrendered.

Then, James Thompson looked down at the blood-soaked Henry Clark, then raised his head and said slowly, "Go tell the Cui family: if I don't turn all of Guangxi into a river of blood, I will have no face to return to the capital and see the Chief Eunuch!"

Immediately, a bloody storm swept through Guilin Prefecture.