“Your Highness, the Imperial Preceptor is inside the hall. You may enter.”
Clutching the embroidered pouch, Zongzheng Huangyue felt a rare flutter of nerves as her heart accelerated. Taking a deep breath, she braced herself and walked inside.
“Master.”
Clad in an opulent black robe, she bowed respectfully upon stepping inside.
Upon the main seat ahead, a figure clad in gold-threaded white robes abruptly materialized. Slender, jade-like fingers personally poured a cup of tea, his voice aloof, calm, and measured.
“Sit and speak.”
“Yes.” Not wanting to get too close to him for fear of being caught in his wrath should things go awry, Zongzheng Huangyue took a seat as far away as possible, on the leftmost side of the hall.
Zongzheng Yingchu naturally noted her movement, but said nothing. With a simple flick of his sleeve, the poured cup of tea flew toward her.
“What is it?”
He had only taken in this disciple out of consideration for Houchi Kingdom’s people and the Saint Emperor. On ordinary days, aside from discussing cultivation and spells, there was virtually no interaction between them, leaving each to their own peace and quiet.
At this point, Zongzheng Huangyue had yet to fully grasp just how deviously infuriating Wen Li could be. With a crisp motion, she raised her hand and presented the embroidered pouch before him.
“Master, an old acquaintance of yours asked me to deliver this to you.”
“An old acquaintance?”
Zongzheng Yingchu’s thin lips parted slightly, his indifferent brows shifting. What old acquaintances could he possibly have?
Pinching the embroidered pouch between his slender fingers, Zongzheng Yingchu opened it directly without checking for drugs or talismans, given that it had been brought by his own disciple.
Bang!
The moment he untied the pouch, the talisman within instantly triggered.
A small explosion resounded.
Zongzheng Yingchu’s eyes narrowed almost instantaneously. With a sudden surge of spiritual energy in the air, a pale green vortex flashed into being, enveloping the pouch along with the powders that had erupted from the blast.
Her expression changing slightly, Zongzheng Huangyue hastily spoke up, “Master, I don’t know what was inside! A person named... Makabaka asked me to give it to you.”
“Who?!”
The moment those words left her mouth, Zongzheng Yingchu’s already icy complexion morphed dramatically. A trace of fierce agitation surfaced, like an iceberg crashing into a dreadnought, splintering and crumbling from within.
The spiritual energy radiating from him overturned the teacup on the table before him, yet he paid no heed to the tea spilling across his immaculate robes.
“J-Just... the Makabaka who crossed paths with Master in the Central Province. I met her, and she gave me this pouch to hand to you.”
Knowing his germaphobic obsession with cleanliness and rigid neatness, Zongzheng Huangyue was startled by his indifference to the stain. She had only overheard whispers that Zongzheng Yingchu harbored a grudge against Makabaka, but knew none of the specifics.
He was usually so icy and composed, yet hearing merely her name had agitated him to this degree before even checking the contents of the pouch. Once he saw what was inside, would she even make it out alive?
Only now did she understand what Wen Li’s hesitant, lingering gaze had meant back then.
It turned out she hadn't been sent as an emissary to deliver a message—she had been sent as a sacrificial lamb!
Hearing this, Zongzheng Yingchu’s jaw tightened. Beneath his tea-soaked sleeves, his large hands clenched into tight fists. He had thought she was dead, never expecting that not only was she still alive, but she also dared to come to the Eastern Province to provoke him.
Reining in the turbulent spiritual energy around him, he ignored his disheveled state and stared coldly at the pouch enveloped in spiritual energy. With a wave of his hand, the powdery residue on the pouch's surface was swept aside, coalescing into a separate cluster.
With a single glance, Zongzheng Yingchu recognized the Beast-Attracting Powder, Frenzy Powder, and Estrus Powder. His gaze turned frigid, and in an instant, the powder was crushed and obliterated into nothingness by his formidable spiritual energy, vanished without a trace.
The scent had wafted out for merely a second before being thoroughly isolated.
It was her.
It was that madwoman!
No one else would be disgusting enough to do what she did back then—grinding dried female demon beast dung into the powders. Not only did it dramatically arouse the madness of male demon beasts, but no amount of spirit fluid could wash the stench away.
Zongzheng Yingchu had obsessed over every detail of that past incident, but Zongzheng Huangyue was completely oblivious. She had merely caught a brief whiff of something in the air that was... undescribably foul.
It smelled as if someone had just relieved themselves right next to her.
Naturally, she didn't dare utter a single peep right now. All she wanted was to get the hell out of here.
Only then did Zongzheng Yingchu open the pouch completely. There were no further traps—only a slip of paper and a shadow stone capable of recording and projecting imagery.
Knowing full well that Wen Li would never say anything pleasant, he held it close to himself, angling the text away from Zongzheng Huangyue's view.
There was only a single sentence.
Boom!
Yet the instant his eyes scanned across it, murderous intent erupted in his icy gaze. His spiritual energy flared uncontrollably into a violent tempest, visible waves of raw power radiating outward from him at terrifying speed. The gale whipped his dark hair and white robes as he sat, rendering the entire atmosphere suffocatingly oppressive.
Rumble!
Crash!
With a deafening roar, every porcelain ornament, table, chair, door, and window in the hall was violently shattered and sent flying by the terrifying, razor-sharp shockwaves of his spiritual energy.
Within three seconds, every last object was ground to dust under the sheer weight of his aura!
Even Zongzheng Huangyue was caught in the blast. Fortunately, having anticipated danger, she had already activated a protective talisman around herself. Though blown back by the spiritual shockwaves, she managed to avoid being injured by the flying debris.
Even so, the sheer might of Zongzheng Yingchu’s Late-Stage Nascent Soul spiritual energy jostled her internal organs. A sharp ache pierced her chest. Frowning, she raised a hand and nonchalantly wiped away the metallic trace of blood trickling from the corner of her lips.
It was just a bit of blood; the real trump card she anticipated had yet to drop.
Whatever was in there was enough to threaten Zongzheng Yingchu, which naturally provoked such an intense reaction. In his fury, he might interrogate her or get rough, but he would not kill her. First was the purity of her bloodline, and second was Master’s leverage over him.
Since Master dared to send her here, her survival was guaranteed.
Zongzheng Yingchu remained silent for a long time. He glanced at the shadow stone, and his gaze finally locked directly onto her.
“...”
Zongzheng Huangyue’s heart thundered against her ribs, feeling as if his gaze were a blade slicing her to ribbons.
“What is your relationship... with her?”
A voice saturated with bone-chilling cold and suppressed fury abruptly rang through the air.
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