CH 93

Chapter 93: His Highness Was Summoned To The Imperial Palace In The Middle Of The Night?

From one moment to the next, the sound of the wind accompanied by the roar of evil spirits resounded in Qi Ci’s ears as he fell into complete darkness.

After passing out for a short period of time, Qi Ci woke up again, only to find himself lying in front of a pagoda. This pagoda was made up of bluish tiles, gray stones, and red lacquered columns. Above it, there was a sign with the words ‘The Ghost Gate to Guimen Pass’. If you looked up, only complete darkness could be seen, with no sun, moon or stars; while the bottom four corners were glowing with an eerie white light, which could barely illuminate what was in front of Qi Ci.

There were countless wandering souls arriving in all directions. One by one, they slowly headed to the gate in complete silence, looking somewhat terrifying as well.

Suddenly, an old man with a white beard and mustache stopped in front of the pagoda and began to laugh out loud. The laugh sounded hoarse and mournful, as if it would gasp for breath and die in the next second. Out of nowhere, the old man began to shout at the top of his lungs: “As soon as the suona sounds, you won’t go to heaven, or be worshiped in the hall! As soon as the banquet is held, covered in cloth on all sides, the whole town will be waiting for the food to be served. Some will cry, while others will rise, followed by a piece of white cloth behind. After the coffin is lifted and buried underground! You will no longer exist in the world! Hahahahaha!”

The old man laughed wildly, when all of a sudden, a small ghost ran out of the pagoda. This little ghost1 slapped a yellow paper approximately 1 meter long and 60 centimeters wide on the old man’s head. Then, the little ghost wrapped a chain around the old man’s neck and dragged him to the gate of Guimen Pass.

What had happened right in front of his eyes was truly horrifying. As Qi Ci stood up, he looked around only to notice that Empress Dowager Xianyi wasn’t with him. Therefore, Qi Ci had to go find the Crown Prince on his own account.

Qi Ci approached the pagoda and stood next to it feeling somewhat helpless. One by one, Qi Ci looked at each wandering spirit that had walked through the gate of Guimen Pass, trying to recognize the Crown Prince among them. Not long after, Qi Ci suddenly saw the little ghost that had dragged the mad old man earlier.

The little ghost looked around and sniffed the air, as if he was searching for something. Then, the little ghost started to get closer and closer to where Qi Ci was.

Instinctively, Qi Ci felt that the little ghost couldn’t see him, so he quickly lowered his head and tried to hide.

However, since all the wandering souls were heading towards the gate of Guimen Pass, if he were to turn back, he would look very conspicuous. Therefore, Qi Ci had no other choice than to hide his face and follow the wandering souls.

At that moment, the little ghost seemed to sense something and looked at where Qi Ci was.

Noticing this, Qi Ci held his breath and hurried to walk through the gate of Guimen Pass.

At first, Qi Ci thought that after walking through the gate of Guimen Pass, he would see a horrible landscape, but instead, he came across a long path of yellow loess. At the edge of the path, there was a large rock with the words ‘Road to the Yellow Springs2‘ carved into it.

Qi Ci waited by the big rock for a while, and when he realized that the little ghost hadn’t followed him, he began to behave more boldly. As he began to walk, Qi Ci yelled: “Crown Prince! Crown Prince!”

Next to Qi Ci, a wandering soul stared at him and said: “What ‘Crown Prince’? Is Laozi then a Retired Emperor3? He is already dead, why does he keep thinking about the status he had when he was still alive? Can’t you just call him by his name?”

Qi Ci: “….”

Qi Ci thought about it very carefully….

But he simply realized that he didn’t know what the Crown Prince’s name was.

Defeated, Qi Ci continued to yell: “Crown Prince! Crown Prince, where are you!?”

After walking a little further, Qi Ci suddenly saw a lake appear out of nowhere on the side of the road. By the lake, there was an old weeping willow. The surface of the lake was dimly illuminated with an eerie light; the water was calm, and the bottom of the lake was pitch black. Therefore, the silhouettes of the walking spirits were clearly reflected on the lake.

By the lake, there was also a large stone with the words ‘The Spring of the Three Lifetimes4‘ carved into it.

A wandering soul curiously approached the lake, when all of a sudden, and out of nowhere, an iron hook tied to a chain appeared. This hook caught on the wandering soul’s collarbone, dragging it away from the lake.

When the other wandering souls saw this event, they walked away one after the other. They no longer dared to approach the lake.

Qi Ci, who had been tasked with searching for the soul of the Crown Prince, would naturally not stop by to look at the lake out of curiosity. Therefore, he kept walking along the yellow path. After walking for a long while, he suddenly felt a gust of a foul smell slapping his face.

When Qi Ci looked at the direction of the foul smell, he froze in place.

The road of the Yellow Springs had come to an end. Between the road of the Yellow Springs and the Underworld, there was a river.

There was a white mist everywhere, caused by the boiling of the bloody-yellow river. The river was full of lonely souls and feral ghosts who weren’t allowed to reincarnate. If you looked carefully, you could see the copper snakes and iron dogs5 in the river, which were extremely fierce, attacking and biting the tortured souls in the river. From time to time, harsh howls of pain came from it.

The wandering souls wanted to avoid that place at all costs, so they hurriedly walked towards a lonely bridge located right in the middle of the river. This was an arched bridge made of blue limestone, looking a little dilapidated. Once the wandering souls walked over the bridge, they would be hidden in the heavy white mist, disappearing completely from sight.

Qi Ci wasn’t sure if he should go ahead or not, so he stood still and hesitated.

Suddenly, Qi Ci heard someone calling him.

The sound of a voice came with the wind. It wasn’t really audible, and it was a rather vague and faint sound. Even Qi Ci could barely make out some indistinct sounds of words.

However, for some inexplicable reason, Qi Ci was extremely sure that voice was calling him.

‘Could it be the Crown Prince?!’

Qi Ci hurriedly held his breath to identify where the voice came from. Finally, he discovered that the sound seemed to come from the river.

Qi Ci raised his head and looked at the frightening river in bewilderment.

At that moment, out of nowhere, the river began to roar and grow. For a moment, the murky waves were rowing in the air, and the fierce wind roared, as if something was about to emerge from the depths of the river.

In that instant, Qi Ci was able to see a huge blood-red eye slowly appear on the river. The pupil was as thin as a needle, and there were blue and black scales around the eye. All the spirits, insects and snakes in the river suddenly began to howl and hiss.

The eye that had emerged on the surface of the river stared at the shore, where Qi Ci was close at, and rushed towards him! With such a sudden movement, the river water churned greatly, flooding the banks of the river!

Instinctively, Qi Ci felt scared and took a few steps back. However, from one moment to another, he saw that the corpses from the river had come up to where he was and pounced on him. At some point, several little ghosts appeared and started waving chains with hooks towards the shore! However, it didn’t end there, because several little ghosts also ran towards Qi Ci with strange smiles on their faces!

Qi Ci has no way to escape!

In the midst of despair, someone suddenly grabbed Qi Ci’s arm and forcefully pulled him back.

Qi Ci’s body was already unsteady, so when he was suddenly pulled, he fell backwards, engulfed into darkness again.

…

At the same time, in the Secret Servant Residence, Bian Zhonghua woke up out of the blue.

Since he was choking, Bian Zhonghua clutched his throat, unable to relax the complex emotions surging in him. 

There were two emotions tearing at his nerves. One was the desperation to survive, and the other was a tidal wave of sorrow.

He had an odd dream.

Bian Zhonghua dreamed that he was in a river, looking at nothing and waiting for something or someone. From one moment to another, Bian Zhonghua saw Qi Ci.

However, out of nowhere, Qi Ci disappeared.

At that moment, Bian Zhonghua felt his heart shatter.

It took Bian Zhonghua a long time to compose himself, but when he finally did, he got up to pour himself a bowl of water.

For some reason, he suddenly wanted to see Qi Ci.

Although Bian Zhonghua knew that it was inappropriate to go to the Prince’s Residence at night to find the Prince, he still couldn’t resist the urge to want to see Qi Ci.

After Bian Zhonghua put down the bowl of water, he fixed his appearance and quietly walked towards the Prince’s Residence in the dead of night.

Bian Zhonghua just wanted to take a look at Qi Ci, so he didn’t want to disturb the others present at the Prince’s Residence in the middle of the night. Therefore, Bian Zhonghua didn’t enter through the front gate; instead, he slipped in from the side. Although he had lost all his Mana, his physical abilities still remained with him.

For some reason, there were very few guards at the Prince’s Residence at this time of the night, and only patrolling guards were present. Although Bian Zhonghua was a little surprised, he didn’t think much about it. Bian Zhonghua then slid to the ceiling of Qi Ci’s wing room, lifted a tile, and looked into the room lit only by the moonlight coming through the windows.

However, Qi Ci wasn’t in his room.

Bian Zhonghua stared at the room with utter surprise. Suddenly, someone shouted from the ground: “Who…?! Who dares to sneak over there?!”

The one who shouted was….a Secret Servant.

Bian Zhonghua thought that the Secret Servant had arrived just in time. After safely jumping off the eaves, Bian Zhonghua fell in front of the Secret Servant.

When the Secret Servant saw that it was Bian Zhonghua, he stammered: “L-lord Bian, why, why are you….?”

Bian Zhonghua didn’t bother to make excuses, and instead, asked bluntly: “Where’s His Highness?”

“Isn’t His Highness in his wing room?” The Secret Servant was confused.

Bian Zhonghua’s face instantly darkened. With a cold face, he called out all the Imperial guards on night patrol. In no time, the Prince’s Residence was brightly lit up.

Fortunately, there was a Secret Servant in the Prince’s Residence who was informed about the whereabouts of the Prince. After taking Bian Zhonghua aside, he said: “Lord Bian, His Highness has been summoned into the Imperial Palace by State Master Li.”

“His Highness was summoned to the Imperial Palace in the middle of the night?” Bian Zhonghua frowned.

After seeing the Secret Servant nod, Bian Zhonghua looked up. His eyes looked coldly towards the direction of the Imperial Palace.