Chapter 227| Chapter 228| Chapter 229
Chapter 227: Noble Concubine
The emperor stared at the crude, unglazed teacup filled with murky, lukewarm water. A profound silence settled over the room. Even though his throat was parched, he couldn’t bring himself to accept the cup.
His gaze swept across the dilapidated, impoverished side hall, and his face turned ashen.
When his eyes finally landed on the small food box resting on the table—containing nothing but a pathetic half-plate of yellowed, wilted vegetables—his expression warped into one of absolute fury.
He was the sovereign ruler of an entire empire! Yet his own imperial concubines were actively starving under his very roof?!
Drawing a sharp, ragged breath, he turned to the head eunuch trembling beside him. “Go to the Imperial Kitchen this instant. Ask them if the imperial treasury has run completely dry, or if they simply believe my consorts are unworthy of eating a proper meal!”
The moment the command left his lips, the emperor violently swept his arm across the table.
Crash!
The crude teapot shattered against the floorboards. Murky water and moldy tea leaves splattered everywhere, and several jagged shards of porcelain ricocheted across the room, nearly slicing an attendant’s cheek.
The eunuchs and palace maids instantly dropped to their knees, pressing their foreheads against the damp floor, absolutely terrified to even breathe.
Even Attendant Zhu, who was standing nearby, was completely shocked by the outburst.
She had intentionally poured the awful tea to highlight her pathetic living conditions, hoping to win a sliver of sympathy. After all, the imperial kitchen truly was bullying her! They had delivered a pathetic half-plate of rotten vegetables without a single grain of rice! How was she supposed to endure such abuse in silence?!
But she never expected the emperor to react with such volatile, explosive rage.
If she had known his fury would be this intense, she wouldn’t have dared to play the victim so aggressively.
Attendant Zhu slowed her breathing, desperately hoping the emperor wouldn’t direct his anger toward her.
But that was entirely impossible.
The emperor had abandoned his schedule specifically to visit her; otherwise, why would the monarch ever set foot inside such a wretched side hall?
He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose to steady his temper. When he opened them again, his gaze softened as he looked at Attendant Zhu. “Quickly, sit down. Did I frighten you?”
He waved a hand impatiently at the kneeling servants.
Sensing the dismissal, the palace maids and eunuchs scrambled to sweep up the broken porcelain in record time before retreating into the shadows.
Attendant Zhu’s racing heart finally settled. “Your Majesty, I am perfectly fine…”
She rested a hand over her lower abdomen as she slowly lowered herself onto the bed, her eyes still flickering with residual anxiety.
The emperor was a highly perceptive man; he saw through her calculated vulnerability in an instant. However, knowing she carried his child, he was willing to indulge her.
He smiled warmly. “Someone, come here! Summon the entire staff of the Imperial Medical Bureau. I want every available physician to conduct a comprehensive examination of my beloved consort.”
Only after a procession of elite imperial physicians had thoroughly diagnosed Attendant Zhu and prescribed a premium regimen of nutritional tonics did her anxiety truly dissipate.
The emperor cast a cold, venomous glare toward the main hall outside, his tone turning dangerously grave. “This Jinse Pavilion is far too cramped and desolate. It is entirely unsuited for nurturing an imperial pregnancy. Effective immediately, you shall be relocated to the eastern side hall of the Jinyu Palace… and invested with the title of Noble Lady.”
Attendant Zhu gasped, caught between absolute shock and profound ecstasy. She had originally assumed that, given her lowly starting rank, her pregnancy wouldn’t command much immediate attention. She never dreamed the emperor would care so deeply that he would promote her the exact moment her conception was confirmed!
Thinking of her grand, long-term ambitions, she lowered her head and gently stroked her stomach, carefully concealing the fiery ambition blazing in her eyes.
Perhaps… this unborn child would be the stepping stone she needed to ascend to the true pinnacle of the inner court…
Crash!
“That treacherous bitch!” Consort Ji shrieked, hurling her exquisite porcelain teacup violently against the floorboards. She was trembling so hard with sheer, unadulterated fury that she could barely stand, her eyes wide and bloodshot with absolute hatred.
Lu Yunxi and Mei’er huddled quietly in the corner, keeping their heads bowed and their mouths firmly shut.
When the emperor had returned to the main hall after supervising Noble Lady Zhu’s relocation, he had unleashed a torrential, blistering tirade against Consort Ji. He accused her of being entirely unworthy of managing a pavilion, explicitly stating that a woman who couldn’t even tolerate the basic survival of a lower-ranking consort was unfit for leadership. The emperor had screamed at her for a full half hour without pause before storming out to his palanquin, thoroughly disgusted.
By the time he left, Consort Ji’s eyes were swollen and rimmed with red.
Right now, she glared at her maids with a dark, suffocating malevolence that looked genuinely terrifying.
After a long, agonizing silence, she finally withdrew her gaze, waving a dismissive hand to send them away.
Following the emperor’s brutal reprimand, Consort Ji grew remarkably quiet. She spent her days silently tending to her infant daughter, seemingly ignoring the fierce political battles raging outside her pavilion.
Lu Yunxi observed her closely for several weeks. Seeing no signs of further scheming, she finally allowed herself to relax.
However, the peace was shattered when news arrived that the next imperial draft was officially commencing.
When Consort Ji received word that the Earl’s Mansion had formally submitted her younger cousin’s name to the draft registry, she locked herself inside her private chambers, refusing food or water for an entire day.
When she finally emerged, her face was a mask of eerie, unnerving indifference. Looking at Consort Ji’s deadened eyes, Lu Yunxi felt a deep wave of unease.
Sure enough, a few days later, Consort Ji pulled her into a secluded corner. “Lan’er, you are the only person in this palace I truly trust,” she whispered, slipping a small paper packet into Lu Yunxi’s hand. “I am entrusting this to you. Find a way to slip this powder into my cousin’s meals.”
Lu Yunxi stared down at the packet. Her medical intuition instantly recognized the contents: it was a highly toxic abortifacient designed to induce permanent sterility. She was secretly horrified.
Consort Ji was truly ruthless! If a young woman ingested this poison, not only would she be rendered permanently barren, but the toxins would devastate her internal organs, drastically reducing her lifespan. The victim would be lucky to survive past the age of thirty.
Lu Yunxi didn’t utter a single word of protest. She simply nodded, silently pocketing the medicine into her inventory space.
Obviously, she had absolutely no intention of poisoning the second young lady of the Ji clan! Inflicting such catastrophic harm upon an innocent girl just entering the palace was unnecessarily cruel.
In truth, despite the rampant scheming within the harem, very few consorts were genuinely willing to cross the line into deploying lethal toxins; most preferred to stick to psychological warfare, social isolation, and verbal mockery. To think that Consort Ji was the one eager to break the taboo and initiate biological warfare was staggering.
Having delegated the assassination to Lu Yunxi, Consort Ji quickly pushed the matter to the back of her mind—because Noble Lady Zhu was going into labor!
A massive crowd had gathered outside the gates of the Jinyu Palace, consisting of practically every consort in the harem.
They sat stiffly in their chairs, twisting their silk handkerchiefs into tight knots, praying silently to the heavens that Noble Lady Zhu would give birth to a girl! Among the gathered crowd, the one praying with the most fervent, desperate intensity was Consort Ji.
Because if Noble Lady Zhu managed to birth a prince, her rank would skyrocket, potentially matching or even surpassing Consort Ji’s own status. Consort Ji would rather die than accept a reality where she was forced to stand on equal footing with her former maidservant!
Time ticked by with agonizing slowness.
It wasn’t until nightfall—shortly after the emperor finally concluded his state affairs and rushed to the Jinyu Palace—that the sharp, piercing cry of an infant finally echoed from the delivery room.
The midwife hadn’t expected her timing to be so flawless. The exact moment she stepped out of the blood-soaked room holding the swaddled newborn, the emperor arrived in the courtyard! Her exhausted smile split into a brilliant, joyous beam. “Congratulations, Your Majesty! A thousand congratulations! The Noble Lady has birthed a healthy, robust little prince!”
The entire assembly of consorts gasped in collective horror. They stared at the small bundle of blankets, their eyes swimming with profound, complex despair.
The emperor was utterly ecstatic, completely blind to the toxic, devastated reactions rippling through his harem. “Excellent! Rewards! Rewards for everyone! Every servant in the Jinyu Palace shall receive a bonus of two months’ salary!”
Seeing the monarch practically vibrating with joy, the consorts felt their hearts burn with sheer fury, yet they were forced to plaster stiff, congratulatory smiles across their faces.
“Your Majesty, the child is so incredibly adorable, truly worthy of the dragon bloodline…”
Before the lead consort could finish her sycophantic praise, a frantic, panicked scream erupted from the delivery room.
“Heavens! Her Ladyship has another child crowning!”
“Quickly! Fetch more hot water! Hurry!”
“The head is already out!”
The midwives who had stayed behind to manage the afterbirth were thrown into absolute chaos. After a prolonged, agonizing wait, a second midwife stumbled out of the room, clutching another swaddled infant.
“Your Majesty… the dragon and the phoenix have descended together! It is a set of imperial twins! This is a legendary omen of unparalleled prosperity!”
The emperor froze in pure shock. Staring down at his newborn son and daughter resting peacefully in their swaddles, tears of overwhelming emotion welled in his eyes.
“Splendid! Noble Lady Zhu has rendered an immeasurable service to the empire. Effective immediately, she is elevated to the rank of Imperial Noble Consort! She shall take permanent residence in the grand main hall of the Jinyu Palace. The rewards for the staff shall be quadrupled!” he declared, his voice booming with absolute authority.
The assembled consorts swallowed their bitter jealousy, hastily offering their forced blessings before fleeing the courtyard as quickly as protocol allowed.
Consort Ji’s entire body went rigid.
Despicable!
Although the titles ‘Imperial Noble Consort’ and ‘Consort’ sounded similar on paper, the hierarchy separating them was a massive, insurmountable chasm. An Imperial Noble Consort was a true, high-ranking sovereign of the inner court—second only to the Empress herself! In contrast, a regular Consort was merely a middle-management concubine. It was only because the current harem was incredibly sparse and mostly populated by low-ranking attendants that anyone even bothered referring to Consort Ji as a ‘high-ranking’ lady.
Forget about standing on equal footing. From this day forward, Consort Ji would be legally obligated to kneel and bow whenever she crossed paths with her former servant!
Terrified that the emperor might catch sight of her twisted, murderous expression, Consort Ji quickly lowered her head and retreated into the shadows.
Upon returning to the Jinse Pavilion, Consort Ji locked herself in her quarters, brooding for hours before finally summoning Mei’er, Lan’er, and Ju’er.
She pinned them with a grave, heavy stare. After a long silence, her voice cracked with desperate hoarseness. “His Majesty has not stepped foot inside the Jinse Pavilion in months. If this isolation continues, our estate will be entirely forgotten… I need one of you to serve the Emperor and drag his heart back to us. That is the only mission that matters now.”
“You do not need to worry about the logistics. The moment you secure his favor in the bedchamber, I will personally petition His Majesty to grant you a formal title,” Consort Ji promised, spinning grand, empty guarantees like a desperate grifter.
Lu Yunxi: …
Consort Ji had literally made this exact same pitch before. Did she honestly think they had all gone blind and deaf during Zhu’er’s meteoric rise? How did she have the absolute audacity to spew this garbage a second time?!
Mei’er and Lu Yunxi remained perfectly still, their expressions deadpan. Ju’er’s eyes sparked with immediate eagerness, but noticing the absolute silence of the other two, she forcefully restrained her ambition and kept her mouth shut.
The three maids stood with their heads bowed, silent as statues.
Consort Ji studied their faces, a glint of dark, profound calculation flashing through her eyes.
Naturally, she didn’t actually want any of them to consolidate her favor. She had been utterly devastated by the monster she had created in Zhu’er; she would absolutely never permit a second betrayal!
The only reason she had offered the proposition was to test their reactions. If any of them displayed even a fraction of Zhu’er’s ambition…
The corners of Consort Ji’s lips curled upward, a deep, lethal coldness settling into her gaze.
“Very well. Since none of you wish to volunteer, I shall not force the issue. Go out into the broader palace and see if you can locate any ambitious young maids willing to assist me.”
Chapter 228: Be Careful
Lu Yunxi stared at the food in her bowl. The level of toxicity laced into the broth was potent enough to drop a full-grown elephant in a single breath.
Letting out a helpless sigh, she quietly dumped the poisoned meal away.
She found the situation rather baffling. Ever since she had been pulled into the inner court, she had maintained a meticulously low profile. She spent almost all of her time managing the administrative ledger within the side rooms of the Jinse Pavilion, rarely even stepping through the courtyard gates. How on earth could she have offended someone deeply enough to warrant a lethal dose of toxin?
Reflecting on the timeline of recent events, her eyes sharpened.
Ever since Consort Ji had failed to rally her attendants to serve the emperor a second time, a dark, murderous intent had begun to seep into her behavior whenever she looked at them. Mei’er and Ju’er were entirely oblivious to the shift, but the baseline hostility could not escape Lu Yunxi’s heightened perceptions.
Could Consort Ji truly be the one behind the poison?
But it made no logical sense. Following Zhu’er’s sudden rise, Mei, Lan, and Ju were her only remaining childhood attendants. If she systematically slaughtered them, who would be left to run her household? And who would she rely on to execute her underhanded schemes? Was she not terrified of the imperial guards exposing her crimes?
While she was buried in her doubts, hushed voices suddenly drifted out from the main hall.
“Is the deed finalized?” Consort Ji’s voice asked softly.
“Rest assured, Your Majesty,” Ju’er replied, her tone brimming with smug triumph. “This particular poison is a secret formula passed down through my own family. It induces instantaneous death the exact second it mingles with the bloodstream; there is absolutely no antidote. Once Lan’er consumes that broth, I guarantee she will be dead before she can even make a sound. We will simply dump her corpse into the abandoned well in the rear courtyard. No one will ever locate her.”
“Excellent,” Consort Ji murmured, her voice sounding significantly lighter.
Listening from the corridor, Lu Yunxi raised an eyebrow, a flicker of dark amusement dancing in her eyes. She genuinely could not comprehend why Consort Ji was so desperate to murder her. She harbored absolutely no ambition to climb into the imperial bedchamber, nor had she ever betrayed her mistress’s secrets. Aside from politely refusing to poison the second young lady of the Ji clan weeks ago, she had been a flawless, model employee.
Furthermore, the entire internal layout and security of the Jinse Pavilion ran smoothly precisely because she managed it like an iron fortress. Even the elite head maids serving in the Empress’s palace couldn’t oversee a sector as flawlessly as she did!
“Do not mistake my intentions, Ju’er. I harbor no petty malice toward Lan’er,” Consort Ji explained, noticing that her subordinate kept her head low and remained silent. “But she is simply far too beautiful. If His Majesty ever catches a glimpse of her face, I fear he will never step foot inside any other pavilion again.”
She sighed, adding a self-righteous justification. “If a vixen capable of bringing ruin to the empire emerges from my own estate, the Empress and the Empress Dowager will strip my titles! I am executing this purely for the collective survival of the Jinse Pavilion.”
Ju’er kept her eyes trained on the floorboards, a tight smile playing across her lips. “Whatever Your Majesty decrees is entirely just.”
The flattery was delivered so smoothly that Consort Ji choked on her next sentence, momentarily wondering if Ju’er was subtly mocking her. But looking down at the girl’s profoundly deferential posture, she saw no sign of deceit. She waved a weary hand, dismissing the topic.
Right at that moment, a sharp, metallic scuff echoed from the courtyard outside, sounding as if someone had accidentally kicked an iron brazier.
The master and servant stiffened in absolute shock.
“Who goes there?!”
Ju’er hoisted her heavy silk skirts, bolting out the door and into the courtyard. Unfortunately, she only managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of a retreating figure sprinting around the corner. Judging by the simple cut of her linen robes, the intruder was almost certainly a palace maid.
Ju’er’s brow knit tightly together, a cold dread clawing at her chest. If the treasonous words she had just exchanged with Consort Ji were leaked to the Internal Affairs Bureau, it would be treated as a capital offense!
If a high-ranking Consort ordered the execution of a regular maid, she would at most receive a stern reprimand from the Emperor. But she—the low-ranking servant who had actively synthesized and delivered the banned toxin—would be dragged to the executioner’s block without a trial!
Panic-stricken, the blood drained from her face, and she began frantically stamping her foot in frustration.
“What happened? Who was spying on us?” Consort Ji’s anxious voice called out from the parlor.
“Your Majesty… a young palace maid was eavesdropping right outside the window. I have no idea how much of our strategy she overheard,” Ju’er gasped, dropping to her knees in pure terror. “What are we supposed to do?”
Consort Ji’s features warped with panic as well, but forcing her voice to remain steady, she commanded, “Do not lose your head. We will order the guards to lock down the outer gates for the next few days. Anyone attempting to cross the perimeter must present an explicit transit pass. The spy who overheard us is undoubtedly terrified and will want to escape the Jinse Pavilion as quickly as possible. We will immediately know her identity the moment she tries to clear the gate!”
Ju’er nodded frantically, scrambling back to her feet to lock down the main entrance.
Lu Yunxi’s lips curled into a cold, mocking smirk. Turning her gaze away from the courtyard, she casually resumed tapping her fingers against her wooden abacus.
“Lan’er!”
Mei’er burst into the storehouse, her face entirely white. She scanned the shadows in a frantic panic before carefully bolting the heavy wooden door shut behind her.
“Sister Mei’er, whatever is the matter?” Lu Yunxi asked gently. Looking at the girl’s trembling frame, she deduced the identity of the clumsy spy instantly.
Mei’er drew a ragged, shallow breath, collapsing onto a stool beside her. She clutched Lu Yunxi’s hands with a frantic, vice-like grip, her lips parted as she struggled to form words.
Lu Yunxi could feel the violent, uncontrollable shaking traveling through the girl’s fingers. Sighing softly, she squeezed back, offering her anchor-like stability. “Mei’er, do not be afraid. Whatever has happened, I am right here beside you.”
A heavy torrent of tears instantly spilled down Mei’er’s cheeks. “Lan’er, you must flee! You must escape this pavilion right now! I just overheard… the Consort… she has ordered your execution!”
Suddenly remembering something, her eyes darted frantically toward the table. “You… you haven’t touched your dinner yet, have you?! I overheard them say they have laced your bowl with a lethal poison…”
“Calm your breathing, Sister Mei’er,” Lu Yunxi interrupted smoothly, holding her steady. “Look at me. I am perfectly fine.”
Mei’er’s hyperventilating finally subsided. She stared at Lu Yunxi, tears continuing to stream from her eyes as an overwhelming sorrow crumpled her features.
“How could reality turn this hideous…” she sobbed. “Zhu’er was one thing, but why would our young mistress ever seek to murder you? We literally grew up together as sisters on the estate!”
Lu Yunxi quietly deployed dozens of invisible grandmaster-level protective shields around the room, ensuring their conversation wouldn’t penetrate the walls. She monitored the shifting attributes outside the storehouse while gently soothing the weeping maid.
But before Mei’er could finish crying out her exhaustion, the heavy wooden window frames shattered violently into splintered kindling. A masked assassin, dressed entirely in black, crashed through the opening.
The killer’s gaze swept across the room, locking onto the two women before he lunged directly toward Lu Yunxi’s throat without a shred of hesitation.
Her eyes turned stone-cold. Reaching into her inventory space, she pulled out her longbow—
The exact millisecond her fingers gripped the wood, the entire reality warped. The scenery cracked like cheap glass, shattering into a million shimmering fragments before vanishing entirely.
The illusion dissolved, and Lu Yunxi found herself sitting cross-legged on the vibrant green grass of the hidden valley.
She blinked, thoroughly perplexed. What exactly had the parameters of that trial been? Why had she materialized back in the meadow? Where had that random assassin emerged from, and what criteria had she met to officially trigger a successful clearance condition?
“Master? Are you feeling alright?”
Shen San’s tight voice shattered her train of thought.
He was kneeling directly beside her, scanning her features with intense concern. His robes were torn to shreds, heavily stained with dark blood, and caked with loose dirt and grass debris. He looked utterly disheveled and wretched.
Lu Yunxi smoothly returned her longbow to her inventory, her brow raising. “How on earth did you manage to get yourself into such a disastrous state?”
He waved a hand dismissively, entirely unbothered by his condition. “It’s just a few superficial scratches. I’m just glad you safely cleared the illusion, Master.”
Without warning, the talking fox materialized from the underbrush, glaring at them with pure, unadulterated fury. “You two absolute savages! I granted you entry into the trials to test your intellect and resolve, not so you could violently smash and slaughter your way through my architecture!”
It raised its right paw, pointing a trembling claw directly at Shen San’s nose as it shrieked, “Especially you! You actually deployed your highest-tier combat attributes inside a delicate mental construct, violently obliterating both illusions from the inside out! Do you have even the faintest comprehension of how many rare, astronomical materials are required to forge a single historical illusion?! Years of my meticulous gathering, thoroughly wasted by your brute force in a matter of minutes!”
The more it ranted, the more its fur bristled, completely consumed by an explosive temper.
Lu Yunxi ignored its tantrum entirely. She cast a high-level healing spell over Shen San, completely restoring his health bar and clearing his physical trauma before settling back to rest. Shen San mirrored her apathy, casually retrieving a thick travel mattress from his inventory, laying it across the grass, and promptly falling asleep.
Staring at the two players completely tuning out its monologue, the fox looked ready to combust from rage.
Once their attributes were fully restored by a long, peaceful sleep, Lu Yunxi and Shen San stepped forward to face the final level—Decryption.
The fox marched them down a stone corridor, ushering the master and disciple into a completely sealed, windowless secret room.
“This chamber contains the explicit mechanism required to unlock the ancient treasury. Whether you possess the capacity to successfully breach the vault depends entirely on your own wits,” the fox delivered coldly. Slamming the heavy reinforced door shut behind them, it turned the key and departed without looking back.
“Hey! Wait a minute!” Shen San called out, lunging toward the entrance. He fiddled with the iron handle for several minutes, but the lock remained completely unmovable.
“Master, the exit is locked down tightly,” he muttered, thoroughly deadpan.
Left with no other alternative, the master and disciple turned to survey the sealed chamber.
“Let’s begin hunting for clues,” Lu Yunxi instructed, mapping the layout. “Go examine the contents of those wooden cabinets and the stone windowsill. I will handle investigating the bed frame.”
With their tasks divided, the two prepared to separate.
Unfortunately, the exact second she took her vanguard step, Lu Yunxi’s boot hit an incredibly slick patch of substance on the floorboards.
Thud!
Losing her balance completely, she crashed heavily against the stone floor, her momentum driving her forehead straight into the thick leg of a massive wooden desk.
Crack!
She massaged her aching head, staring up at the heavy hardwood table that had been violently split clean in half by the impact of her passive physical stats, her face turning a distinct shade of annoyed blue.
Shen San gasped in horror, instantly spinning around to sprint to her side. “Master! Are you alright?!”
Lu Yunxi’s eyes went wide. Ignoring her own injury, she shrieked, “Get back! Watch your step! There is slick oil caked across the entire floor!”
But her warning came a fraction of a second too late.
Shen San’s boots hit the grease, and he went flying, crashing toward the floorboards with a thunderous slam. Because she was currently sprawled directly in his path, his massive, heavy bulk missed the shattered desk entirely—colliding squarely and brutally with her ribs instead.
Chapter 229: Young Master in White
Lu Yunxi’s face darkened immediately. She drove her elbow back into his side. “Get off me, you’re so heavy!”
Shen San’s face flooded with intense guilt. “I’m so sorry, Master!” Grabbing the surviving edge of the fractured desk, he carefully scrambled back to his feet.
The desk wasn’t a standard four-legged piece of furniture; it was supported by a single, central pedestal. Lu Yunxi’s initial impact had sheared away half of the tabletop, but the remaining half was still attached.
Unfortunately, Shen San was a heavily built grown man. When he pushed down hard to hoist himself up, the asymmetrical weight completely threw off the pedestal’s balance, and the remaining wood flipped over, crashing violently toward the floorboards.
Staring at the incoming timber, Lu Yunxi gasped.
This was solid, dense hardwood! It was incredibly heavy!
Her eyes widening, she executed a rapid side roll across the greased floor, narrowly evading the crushing impact.
Shen San, however, failed to react in time. The heavy corner of the table board collided squarely and brutally with his foot.
Hiss! He sucked in a sharp, ragged breath, his features twisting into a bizarre, pained grimace.
Staring at his speechlessly agonized expression, Lu Yunxi offered him a single second of silent sympathy before grabbing the heavy wood and tossing it aside.
The timber shattered into splintered kindling with a loud crack.
Letting out a breath of relief, she cast a high-level healing spell, instantly restoring both of their health bars to full.
With their vitals stable, the master and disciple resumed their investigation of the sealed chamber, moving with exponentially more caution this time.
Lu Yunxi watched Shen San carefully navigate his way around the slick oil patches on the floorboards, working his way toward the wooden cabinets. Dusting the grime from her own robes, she prepared to inspect the bed. But the exact moment she lifted her boot, a tiny scrap of parchment lying flat against the dirt caught her eye.
Pausing, she bent down and picked up the note.
[You’re remarkably clever to have completely bypassed the grease traps and uncovered the secret tucked beneath the table!]
Staring at the elegant script, she rubbed her chin, attempting to decipher a hidden clue from the message. But no matter how she analyzed the phrasing, it read exactly like a completely ordinary sentence.
Perplexed, she flipped the parchment over. Written in bold strokes on the back was a single character: “Great.”
After pondering the meaning for a moment, she tucked the note into her inventory, walked carefully toward the bed, and began tearing into the frame.
Because of the clue hidden inside the table structure earlier, when a thorough hands-on inspection of the mattress yielded absolutely nothing, Lu Yunxi lost her patience. Clenching her fist, she brought it slamming down directly into the center of the bed.
The heavy wooden frame exploded into a shower of splinters. Sifting through the wreckage, she successfully located a second scrap of parchment.
[Wow! Absolutely spectacular! You’ve successfully uncovered another clue! It looks like you’ll be breaching the gauntlet in no time!]
She flipped it over. The reverse side bore the character: “Azure.”
Great Azure? Big Azure?
Lu Yunxi stared at the broken timber, a sudden realization striking her like a bolt of lightning. Her eyes lit up as if she had just unearthed a massive chest of legendary loot.
She understood the puzzle now!
Raising her fists, she transformed into a absolute whirlwind of destruction, systematically smashing every surviving piece of furniture in the room into toothpicks, carefully sifting through the debris to extract the hidden notes.
Watching her aggressive methodology from across the room, Shen San’s eyes widened. Catching on instantly, he lunged forward, throwing his full strength into violently tearing the wooden cabinets to pieces.
Within minutes, the two had completely pulverized every single object in the chamber. The floor was a chaotic disaster zone of splinters, caked dust, and shredded fabrics.
Gathering all the hidden scraps of parchment, the master and disciple began arranging them in sequence. While the front of each note contained nothing but patronizing, cheerful praise, flipping them over revealed a hidden phrase written across the backs:
“Master Azure Dragon is the absolute strongest!”
Lu Yunxi stared at the words, cleared her throat, and read the sentence out loud.
The entire secret room shook violently.
The master and disciple stood rooted to the spot, watching as the vast sea of broken timber vanished into thin air. In its place, a massive, rotating stone disk materialized in the center of the floor, its surface engraved with intricate, geometric patterns.
A blinding, dazzling column of golden light erupted from the mechanism.
The two instinctively raised their arms to shield their eyes.
A moment later, the luminescence faded, leaving behind a solitary chest resting perfectly in the center of the disk.
Lu Yunxi and Shen San exchanged a swift look and stepped forward.
The chest resembled an ornate, antique jewelry box, its polished surfaces intricately inlaid with fine gold trim.
“Is this the ultimate reward indicated on the treasure map?!” Shen San exclaimed, his voice tight with excitement.
They had crossed a frozen continent, fought a high-level mountain eagle, and dropped through a massive avalanche, only to be subjected to a grueling gauntlet of psychological trials. Now, finally, the ultimate treasure was within their grasp.
Both players were vibrating with anticipation.
“Master, would you do the honors?” Shen San stepped back, deferring the opening privilege to her. After all, the absolute best part of acquiring a loot drop was the split second the chest popped open.
Lu Yunxi didn’t refuse. Rubbing her palms together, she offered a quick, silent prayer to the system gods for premium RNG luck.
Slowly, she unlatched the lid and pulled it back.
A brilliant, explosive pillar of golden light filled the chamber. The master and disciple blinked against the glare. The exact second the light dissolved, they eagerly thrust their heads forward to inspect the contents.
Huh?
Lu Yunxi and Shen San froze in absolute stupor.
Why on earth was there another piece of paper inside the chest?!
Lu Yunxi pursed her lips, reaching into the velvet interior to extract the note. The handwriting was powerful and authoritative, but the text was brutally concise:
[Congratulations on successfully clearing the gauntlet! You have conquered every trial established by Master Azure Dragon. You have undoubtedly gained an absolute bounty of wealth from this journey. Not only have you sharpened your cognitive faculties against my riddles, but you have also learned the true value of seamless collaboration and joint problem-solving… The wisdom and personal growth you have extracted from these trials are the ultimate treasures!]
Reading the message, Lu Yunxi went entirely rigid. The hand clutching the parchment began to tremble violently with an explosive, suppressed rage.
Noticing her terrifying expression, Shen San realized things had gone horribly sideways. He quickly leaned over her shoulder. “Master, what does it say?”
Lu Yunxi drew a sharp, deep breath, allowing him to snatch the note from her fingers. She watched silently as the color drained from his face, his complexion slowly turning a bruised, volatile shade of furious purple.
She patted his rigid shoulder gently. “Look on the bright side. We experienced personal growth.”
The parchment slipped from his paralyzed fingers, floating limply toward the floorboards. While Shen San’s pupils were still shaking in raw, unadulterated disbelief, a sudden flash of geometric light enveloped them, and the master and disciple were instantly teleported out of the hidden valley.
“Master, that was truly… ah—! Son of a… achoo! If I had known it was a scam, I never would have dragged you… achoo… into that canyon!” Shen San hissed, letting out a rapid succession of violent sneezes.
Lu Yunxi ignored his complaints, her brow furrowing with immediate concern as she checked his attributes. “What is wrong with you? Did you manage to catch a cold?”
If he was suffering from an infectious debuff, she would need to equip a face mask immediately; catching a systemic illness in this zone would tank her attributes!
“Don’t worry about me, Master, my constitution is robust!” Shen San barked, sniffling loudly. “I haven’t suffered a single day of illness since I created my character!”
Lu Yunxi remained deeply skeptical. Knowing her disciple possessed an absolute blind spot regarding medical diagnostics, she reached out and checked his pulse.
Just as she suspected! The system interface confirmed it explicitly.
Shen San was suffering from a severe cold.
Staring at his goofy, congested grin, she felt a massive headache coming on. She had previously read threads on the system forums regarding the ‘Random Sickness’ mechanics implemented by the developers. Supposedly, the game corporation had introduced these rare health debuffs purely to enhance the immersion and realism of the world. After all, what living entity never fell ill?
The real problem was that Shen San’s diagnosis was incredibly thorny. According to the game’s hardcoded parameters, a random sickness debuff carried a fixed duration—lasting a minimum of seven days and potentially persisting for several months.
In other words, even if a Grandmaster-level physician administered the highest-grade remedies to him right now, Shen San’s code would still require a mandatory seven days to fully clear the virus.
Lu Yunxi found herself caught in a terrible dilemma.
To make matters worse, as the sub-zero winds of the Ice Continent lashed against their position, the fever took hold. Shen San’s face flushed a brilliant, burning crimson—resembling the heavy cosmetics Consort Ji had worn during her garden disaster. His breathing turned ragged and shallow, and his eyelids fluttered before closing entirely.
A moment later, his knees buckled, and he crashed onto the snowdrift, completely unconscious.
Lu Yunxi’s heart skipped a beat. Hoisting his heavy bulk onto her shoulders, she sprinted toward the nearest outpost structure.
She didn’t need to consult a map to know a transit array was nearby; the stone pavilion looming ahead was identical to the standard architecture housing the teleportation array they had used to enter the continent.
She plowed through the drifts at breakneck speed, bursting through the pavilion doors with the unconscious Shen San in tow. She didn’t know which region the array was currently calibrated to target, but her absolute priority was escaping this freezing wasteland immediately.
With a blinding flash of light, the icy plateau vanished, and the world reconstituted itself before her eyes.
Stepping out of the transit pavilion while supporting Shen San’s weight, Lu Yunxi blinked as she adjusted to her new surroundings. To her utter astonishment, the entire horizon was a single, endless expanse of crystal-clear water.
It appeared the array had deposited them directly into the Water Continent.
“Excuse me, young lady? Do you require assistance?” a gentle, melodic voice called out from behind her.
Lu Yunxi spun around, finding herself face-to-face with an exceptionally handsome young man dressed in pristine white robes, a warm, reassuring smile gracing his features.
She froze for a fraction of a second, temporarily caught off guard by his flawless appearance. Shaking her head to clear her focus, she felt a sudden surge of inward surprise. Was she truly the type to be dazed by a pretty face? She had navigated an entire imperial harem; she had seen plenty of attractive people.
Gathering her composure, she said, “Greetings, sir… we are merely travelers passing through the transit point. My companion has contracted a severe illness. Is there a medical clinic or an apothecary nearby?”
The young man in white blinked, a helpless, sympathetic expression settling between his brows as he shook his head.
“I am terribly sorry, miss,” he replied, his tone smooth and comforting. “There are no public clinics established within this sector. However, if you do not mind the imposition, you are more than welcome to bring your friend to rest within my sect’s estate. It sits just beyond the adjacent ridge—roughly a half hour’s walk from here.” He gestured toward a mountain path cutting along the water’s edge.
Lu Yunxi suddenly felt an incredibly strange sensation creep across her consciousness. The young man’s words were simple and easy to understand, yet it felt as if her brain was operating through thick mud, taking an agonizingly long time to process the simple meaning of his sentence.
Forcing a tight, strained smile onto her face, she stammered, “Then… I shall accept your kind hospitality. May I inquire as to how I should address…”
Before she could finish her sentence, a violent wave of vertigo slammed into her. The blue horizon spun out of control, her vision crashed into absolute darkness, and she slumped toward the earth.
