The bronze beast incense burner exhaled its last wisp of green smoke, which silently diffused among the deep hall pillars of Xianyang Palace. Cheng Xi abruptly opened his eyes, cold sweat already soaking through his inner robe and clinging stickily to the thin back of a nine-year-old child. The phantom pain of a searing explosion still lingered in his throat as the laboratory's blinding white light and the swaying shadows of bronze lamps before him frantically tore at his consciousness.
"Lord Chang'an is awake!" A shrill voice pierced the stagnant silence. The brocade curtains were lifted, revealing the overly pale face of the eunuch Zhao Gao. Concern like floating ice filled his narrow eyes. "Did Your Lordship have a nightmare? Shall I summon the Imperial Physician?"
Cheng Xi—or rather, the modern soul named Chen Jue that had just been stuffed into this body—clenched the cool, slick brocade quilt beneath him. Fragments of memories that did not belong to him, carrying the chill of a Warring States deep palace, crashed against his nerves like a tidal wave: the third year of King Zhuangxiang of Qin... Lord Chang'an Cheng Xi... his royal brother Ying Zheng returning to Qin from Zhao... Lu Buwei holding power over the court... and the rebel's death that history had dismissed in a single line, the fate belonging to "Cheng Xi"!
"It's nothing." He forced out two stiff syllables, his childlike voice carrying a barely perceptible hoarseness. "I had... a strange dream." His gaze swept across the flash of scrutiny that passed beneath Zhao Gao's respectfully lowered eyelids, and his heart sank. In this deep palace, even an eunuch's glance was steeped in poison.
The muffled sound of a night watchman's clapper came from outside. It was the third watch. Cheng Xi was alone in the hall. Barefoot, he stepped onto the icy black pottery tiles and walked toward the half-man-tall bronze mirror in the corner, engraved with coiling chi dragons. Its surface was hazy, reflecting an excessively pale face. His features were delicate and still childish, but his eyes held a deep-pool terror and cold sharpness that did not belong to someone his age.
[Chaos Analysis System activating... Binding host: Cheng Xi (Chen Jue consciousness dominant)... Energy critically insufficient... Initiating emergency mode...]
An emotionless mechanical voice suddenly exploded in his mind! Cheng Xi staggered back and caught himself against the cold mirror frame, his knuckles turning white from the force. Countless pale-blue Data Streams cascaded across his field of vision like waterfalls:
Physique: 0.7 (Weak) Mental threshold: ??? (Abnormal fluctuation) Environmental spiritual energy concentration: 0.003% (Thin, suppressed by an unknown force field) Signs of High-Dimensional Gaze detected... Analyzing source... Warning! Analysis obstructed! Insufficient energy! Preliminary assessment: gaze intensity—weak; tendency—chaotic neutral...
The last few lines of text flickered wildly, turned into blinding snowy static, then went completely dark. A stabbing pain pierced his temples like steel needles. Cheng Xi groaned and dropped to his knees, gasping for breath. Cold sweat slid down his temples and struck the frozen tiles.
That had not been a dream! The system... and that so-called "gaze"... this was no ordinary historical time and space!
As dawn faintly broke, the hall doors silently opened. A youth in a dark robe stood against the light, already tall and straight, his outline edged with cold hardness by the morning sun. He was only thirteen or fourteen, yet his gaze was as still as an ancient well that had endured a hundred years, every ripple hidden in its depths.
"Younger brother, you're awake?" Ying Zheng's voice was not loud, carrying a steadiness unsuited to his age, like two pieces of jade softly striking together. He walked in, his gaze pausing for a moment on Cheng Xi's pale face before sweeping over the still-damp sweat stains on the floor. "I heard you were restless with fright last night."
Cheng Xi forced himself to raise his head and meet those unfathomable eyes. The First Emperor from the history books stood before him now—the future ancestral dragon, currently only a young dragon lurking within the whirlpool of the deep palace. Dangerous, yet perhaps his only chance at survival. He suppressed the turbulent waves rising from the depths of his soul and forced a weak smile with the lingering fright expected of a nine-year-old Royal Brother. "Thank you for your concern, Royal Brother. Perhaps the earth's breath stirred in early spring, and I dreamt of some bizarre and fantastic things."
Ying Zheng neither confirmed nor denied it. He merely stepped closer, the hem of his dark robe brushing the floor and bringing a faint, cool scent of pine ink. He took something from his sleeve and placed it on the table. It was an exquisite jade sphere formed from nine nested jade rings of varying sizes, linked one within another and gleaming with a gentle luster in the faint morning light.
"Nine-Linked Rings." Ying Zheng's fingers lightly tapped the central jade ring, his voice devoid of emotion. "The Chu envoy presented it to Mother Queen yesterday, claiming it is a secret treasure of Chu, containing the principles of heaven and earth. Only one of great wisdom can solve it. Mother Queen was greatly pleased." He raised his eyes, and his gaze landed solidly on Cheng Xi's face. "Younger brother has always been clever. Would you like to try?"
Cheng Xi's heart jolted. A test! A cold, understated test from the future emperor. This was far more than a game between children. Zhao Ji, the Empress Dowager's "great pleasure," Lu Buwei's power, Empress Dowager Huayang and the Chu Faction's influence... this tiny Nine-Linked Rings was now a piece of red-hot iron! If he could not solve it, he would be mediocre and incompetent. If he could, he would immediately be caught in an even deeper, more dangerous whirlpool.
He extended a faintly trembling hand and picked up the warm jade sphere, which somehow weighed as heavily as a thousand pounds. Its chill spread from his fingertips. Before his eyes, the nine jade rings were instantly dismantled, stripped apart, and reorganized. Topological structure... connectivity... pathfinding... the chains of modern mathematical logic spread through his mind like lightning, locking tightly onto the intricacy of this ancient creation.
[Analyzing target: Nine-Linked Rings (secret Chu craftsmanship)... Structural modeling in progress... Topological Path Deduction... Optimal solution generated...]
In his mind, the dormant system flickered weakly once more. Threads of pale-blue light outlined an incomparably clear three-dimensional model, countless lines shuttling, connecting, and separating within it!
Cheng Xi drew a deep breath, and his fingertips moved. There was no hesitation, no repeated attempts, not even the usual pauses and probing that accompanied solving the rings. His slender, pale fingers moved among the intricately nested jade rings with an almost indifferent precision, picking, turning, and circling. The rings struck one another, producing crisp, monotonous chimes that beat out a heart-palpitating rhythm in the silent palace.
One ring... two rings... three rings...
Ying Zheng stood with his hands behind his back, the calm on his face like a frozen lake. Only in those deep-pool eyes did dark shadows settle little by little with each clear jade chime.
The final core jade ring slipped free of its restraints and rested lightly in Cheng Xi's palm. Fine beads of sweat seep out at his temples. He handed the ring, still warm from his body, to Ying Zheng, while striving to keep the proper exhaustion and faint pride of a child who had solved a puzzle on his face. "Royal Brother, this thing... is quite ingenious."
Ying Zheng did not take the jade ring. His gaze passed over Cheng Xi's shoulder and fell upon the misty gray sky outside the hall, cut into a neat square by the high walls. For a long time, he said nothing. Then he slowly spoke, his voice low as an undercurrent flowing beneath the earth:
"Exquisite craftsmanship?" The corner of the mouth seemed to curve into an extremely faint, cold arc before it vanished. "In this Xianyang Palace, what craftsmanship is truly 'ingenious'?"
He withdrew his gaze and fixed it upon Cheng Xi once more. The scrutiny in his eyes had become so thick it could not be dissolved, like invisible shackles slowly tightening. "Younger brother's 'ingenuity' is likely not what the Chu envoy desired, nor what... certain people would be pleased to see." He bent slightly, the front of his dark robe casting a heavy shadow that enveloped Cheng Xi completely. He lowered his voice until it was almost a whisper, yet every word drilled into the ear like an ice awl:
"The next time you have another 'nightmare,' remember to shut the doors and windows tightly. The wind in this palace..." Ying Zheng straightened, his broad dark sleeves brushing through the cold air. His final words hung in the deathly silent hall, their echo like a serpent flicking its tongue.
"...doesn't only carry the earth's breath."
The hall doors silently closed behind him, cutting off the last trace of daylight.
Cheng Xi stood alone at the center of the suddenly darkened hall, pinching the cold jade ring between his fingertips as a chill surged from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
Beyond the window lattice, a gust of wind carrying early spring's chill attempted to squeeze through the tightly shut carved wooden frame, making a mournful whimper like a sigh.
[Energy restored by 0.1%... Passive perception module activated... Persistent weak gaze detected... Source analysis: locking on... Warning! Unknown interference encountered!...]
The cold mechanical voice abruptly sounded in his mind again, then cut off just as suddenly.
This time, Cheng Xi clearly felt that the soundless "gaze" enveloping him seemed to have drawn... a little closer.
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