CH 91

Chapter 91: Are You Awake, Your Highness?! It’s Not Good, Something Bad Happened!

In winter, the weather was so cold that the wind could pierce your bones.

In the depths of a withered mountain, inside a dark and damp cave, the Taotie was lying on the ground, licking its wounds. All of a sudden, the Taotie seemed to notice something, and as it raised its head toward the cave entrance, the Taotie emitted a trembling roar from his throat.

“You’re looking pretty miserable right now.”

As if from thin air, a hoarse voice was heard. Although the cave was plunged into complete darkness, and it was impossible to recognize anything in the surroundings, the Taotie was able to immediately recognize who it was just from the voice. The Taotie snorted and said: “You’re not even capable of manifesting in a corporeal form, so what gives you the right to call me miserable?”

The voice laughed loudly, crackling like the countless legs of a thousand insects scratching at the walls of the damp cave.

“Get lost.” The Taotie roared impatiently.

“You’re still the same.” The hoarse voice laughed. “What is it? You don’t want to take the life of Demon Emperor Zhonghua anymore?”

The Taotie paused and said nothing.

The voice continued: “I have a method. Would you like to hear it?”

The Taotie frowned.

The owner of that hoarse voice was one of the Four Fierce Beasts, Hundun1.

Hundun was the most cunning and ruthless of the Four Fierce Beasts. It had no physical body and liked to control people’s minds the most. It created chaos wherever it went and absorbed the despair produced from it. Hundun could find the most vulnerable parts of people’s minds, alter their memory, and finally destroy their minds completely.

Hundun never slaughtered living creatures with its bare hands, but wherever the Hundun went, it would leave nothing but wails of despair behind.

Several years in the past, when Demon Emperor Zhonghua sealed the Four Fierce Beasts, Taotie, Qiongqi and Taowu couldn’t resist Demon Emperor Zhonghua.

But Hundun was different.

Since it had been able to control the mind of Demon Emperor Zhonghua.

However, in the end, Hundun was still sealed in the west of Kunlun Mountain by Demon Emperor Zhonghua.

After seeing the Taotie’s reaction, Hundun continued: “Speaking of which, I still have to thank you. If it weren’t because you forced Demon Emperor Zhonghua to integrate his form and spirit, which weakened the power on Demon Emperor Zhonghua’s seal, I wouldn’t have been able to escape. Now, Demon Emperor Zhonghua not only lacks his Neidan, but he also damages his spirit and his physical form. This is the perfect time for us to kill him.”

The Taotie was swayed: “Tell me how. If you dare to play mind tricks with me, I’ll eat you.”

After saying that, the Taotie opened its bloody mouth.

Hundun laughed again, and its laugh sounded like it was being muffled by bellows, making a gurgling sound: “It’s actually quite simple. You just have to free Taowu and Qiongqi first, and then come to the Capital to find me. Demon Emperor Zhonghua is no longer the Demon Emperor we once knew. As long as we join forces, we will be able to make his soul disappear.”

Taotie snorted coldly and then said: “I’ll free them, but what are you going to do?”

Hundun wasn’t annoyed with the Taotie’s snarky comment and chuckled: “Some bugs have set a formation to prevent us from approaching. I’ll go meet them, and while I’m at it, I may as well pay Demon Emperor Zhonghua a visit. After all, I haven’t seen him for so many years, of course I miss him, hahahahaha!”

After saying that, the hoarse voice slowly faded away. Just like the last hopeless cry of a bird buried under the snow in winter.

…

In the Capital.

After several discussions, Qin Yicang continued to take care of Lin Baihu at the Secret Servant Residence. On the other hand, State Master Li sent several competent Secret Servants to protect the Prince’s Residence.

Bian Zhonghua was appointed to stay in the Secret Servant Residence. After all, it was not a trivial matter that Bian Zhonghua had his meridians blocked and was unable to use his Mana for now. Because of this, Bian Zonghua was no longer able to protect anyone, not even himself. Bian Zhonghua knew this very well, so he didn’t argue further on that topic. He simply went to Qi Ci’s Residence to let him know.

Although Qi Ci felt lost, there was nothing he could do. He just said: “I’m still the Prince, aren’t I? I should be able to visit you in the Secret Servant Residence, right?”

Bian Zhonghua laughed and said: “Little Gongzi, the role of the Prince has become a bit boring, hasn’t it? How about when you visit me tomorrow at the Secret Servant’s Residence, you forcefully take me with you? Why don’t you tell everyone that you want to keep me as your male pet? That way, State Master Li won’t dare to say anything.”

At that moment, State Master Li, who was far away in the Secret Servant Residence, sneezed.

Qi Ci laughed out loud: “Good idea. Alright, I’ll visit you tomorrow.”

The corners of Bian Zhonghua’s mouth rose in a faint smile. He pushed Qi Ci against the wall and kissed him deeply. He really didn’t want to leave.

In the blink of an eye, the last part of the Shi hour2 had arrived. At that time, everyone was asleep, waiting for the moment when the rooster would begin to crow before dawn. But right now, the sky was at its darkest point, when the amount of Yin Qi reached its peak.

That period of time was, precisely, the moment of the day when the Yin Qi was heaviest.

As dark clouds covered the sky above the Capital, and the cold wind began to blow, it seemed like a torrential rain was about to fall.… As if it was implying that someone’s life was about to come to an end.

At that moment, Qi Ci, for some reason, suddenly woke up.

Since he felt thirsty, he got up to light the lamp, and then poured himself a cup of water. However, in a daze, he accidentally dropped the cup.

“Oops!” Qi Ci exclaimed softly.

Oddly enough, the sound of a cup shattering against the ground wasn’t heard.

When Qi Ci glanced down to see what was wrong with the cup, he froze.

After all, the cup hadn’t fallen to the ground.

The water in the cup was floating in the air, holding the cup up from falling…as if someone was controlling it.

Qi Ci was so shocked to see this that his body froze and he took a step back.

As if it had lost whatever it was that was controlling it, the water and the cup suddenly fell to the ground. Both the water and the broken porcelain pieces splashed onto the floor, leaving the ground in a mess.

At that, Qi Ci hurriedly looked around. However, both the doors and the windows were closed, and there was no one else in the room.

Suddenly, a strange feeling began to well up from the bottom of Qi Ci’s heart. This feeling was both familiar and strange. It was like when you picked up a brush to write on paper; you knew with determination that you could write a word, but you didn’t need to write to know it, so you didn’t even have to think when moving the brush.

As Qi Ci stared at the puddle of water on the ground, something suddenly came to his mind.

As if the water on the ground had ‘sensed’ something, it began to gather and rose into the air again! Without leaving a single drop of water on the ground!

Qi Ci was finding it difficult to breathe, and the pounding in his chest was increasing with each passing second. In an instant, his head began to ache intensely as well.

“Wha-….?” Qi Ci murmured as he held his aching head in his hands. Dizzy, Qi Ci began to stagger towards a chair, but before he could reach it, he began to feel as if something was drilling into his brain.

Then, right in front of him, someone pinched his cheek and scolded him with both anger and amusement: “Stupid! You can’t even learn this spell when it’s so simple? How are you going to enter the Ghost Realm in the future? How are you going to help me to join the immortal ranks like this?”

As he suffered from the pain on his cheek alone, he was unable to speak due to feeling both frustrated and upset.

At that moment, someone came walking slowly. As they stood in an elegant posture, with a voice that sounded as soft as water, they said: “Why are you bullying him again?”

The person who was pinching ‘Qi Ci’s’ face said bitterly: “I wasn’t! This is what I would call ‘a strict teacher raising a brilliant student’. Seventh Brother, the thing is that you only know how to spoil him rotten.”

“Alright, let go of his cheek. If our Fifth Sister were to find out, she would scold you.”

“Hmph! Fifth Sister will soon enter the Ghost Realm, she doesn’t have the time to scold me….”

Suddenly, the voice in his head turned into a roar and screams. Or, rather, in thousands of evil spirits roaring in anger.

At that, Qi Ci fell to the ground, with a splitting headache and trembling all over. After hugging himself, it took Qi Ci a long time to recover and stand up. Suddenly, the light of a candle flickered outside the wooden door, and a hurried knock was heard.

“Your Highness?! Are you awake, Your Highness?! It’s not good, something bad happened!”

…

Qi Ci wasn’t the only one to inexplicably wake up in the middle of the night…Yu Muyao, the County Princess of Bei’an, woke up too.

She had fallen into a deep slumber, but now she had abruptly woken up with a start, feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

After waking up, Yu Muyao couldn’t go back to sleep, so she tossed and turned on her bed for a while until she felt a little hungry. As she got dressed quietly, she planned to take some cakes and go out to enjoy the moon.

Yu Muyao tiptoed out of the inner room as quietly as she could. When she saw A-Lian sleeping soundly inside the side room, she didn’t dare to disturb her, so Yu Muyao walked out alone.

Since Yu Muyao didn’t want to be disturbed, she avoided the patrolling guards and secretly went to a deserted part of the courtyard.

Unexpectedly, she saw a man standing in the courtyard.

As the moon shone brightly in the vast dark night sky, Yu Muyao could see a man dressed in armor. The man had a long sword hanging from his waist, and since he was afar, his figure reflected on the ground stretched out by the cold moonlight.