Shadow Pavilion

Another aide reported, "The East Palace is heavily guarded, and our people can't get close. But according to our spies, the Crown Prince has kept a low profile recently. Aside from handling the daily affairs of state and receiving a few ministers, he hasn't left the East Palace."

"It's just that... Princess Xue Ke invited Tang Yuehua, the mistress of Moonlight Pavilion, into the palace to teach her the day before yesterday. Today, the Crown Prince spoke briefly with Tang Yuehua in the imperial garden."

"Tang Yuehua?" Xue Xing's brows drew tightly together. "That woman from the Clear Sky Sect... What is she doing in the palace? What did the Crown Prince say to her?"

"The content of their conversation is unknown. Only the Crown Prince, Tang Yuehua, and a guard were present. But according to a palace maid who watched from afar, the Crown Prince seemed relaxed and spoke as if making small talk. Tang Yuehua was perfectly proper in her manners, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary."

Xue Xing's fingers tapped unconsciously on the tabletop. Tang Yuehua... the Clear Sky Sect... The Crown Prince had suddenly reached out to her. Was it a coincidence, or was he deliberately trying to win her over?

"If it's the latter, what is the Crown Prince after? Does he mean to secure his position with the Clear Sky Sect's influence? Or... has he noticed something?"

The more Xue Xing thought about it, the more alarmed he became. The head on his bedside that night, the Crown Prince's recent "good behavior," Tang Yuehua's arrival in the palace... These fragments jumbled together in his mind, but he couldn't piece them into a clear picture. He only felt an invisible net tightening around him.

"Keep a close watch on the East Palace, and Moonlight Pavilion too!" Xue Xing gritted his teeth. "Also, find out who Tang Yuehua met before and after entering the palace, especially whether she had any dealings with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect!"

"Yes!" The aide accepted the order, then hesitated before asking, "Your Highness, what should we do about the families of those five... men? They've asked about their whereabouts several times."

A chill flashed in Xue Xing's eyes. "Give them a sum of condolence money and tell them the men died while carrying out a secret mission, and their bodies were buried where they fell. If anyone asks too many questions..." He made a slicing motion across his throat.

The aide felt a chill run through him and lowered his head in assent.

After his trusted aide left, Xue Xing sat alone in the dim secret chamber, drenched in cold sweat. For the first time, he felt that he might have provoked an opponent far more terrifying than he had imagined.

That opponent hid in the shadows. He could place a head on Xue Xing's bedside without a sound, and he could let the Crown Prince calmly lay his plans despite being confined.

"No... I can't just sit here and wait to die." Xue Xing sprang to his feet, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes. "I have to find a stronger ally... or stir up an even bigger mess and muddy the waters completely!"

He went to a corner of the secret chamber and opened a hidden compartment, taking out an old-fashioned black token. A ferocious ghost's head was carved into its face.

Xue Xing stared at the token for a long while. The struggle on his face grew more pronounced, then finally twisted into a look of desperate resolve.

Deep within the imperial palace, in the elegant courtyard where Tang Yuehua lived.

Beneath the candlelight, she sat alone at her desk, a book of music open before her, yet she hadn't turned a page in a long while. The Crown Prince's words in the imperial garden that day echoed in her ears like a demonic chant.

"Chilling, sinister traces of Soul Power... a Soul Master organization skilled in stealth and assassination..." Her fingertips felt icy.

Was the Crown Prince hinting that the killer belonged to some assassin organization? Or... was he leading her to think of a faction with an old grudge against the Clear Sky Sect?

She couldn't help recalling an old incident from many years ago. Back then, the Clear Sky Sect had yet to withdraw from the world, and it had clashed with a mysterious organization called the "Shadow Pavilion."

The organization acted in secret and excelled at assassination, and its Soul Power had a cold, sinister quality. Later, the Shadow Pavilion was besieged by several factions and vanished without a trace, though rumors said its remnants had gone underground.

If the Shadow Pavilion's surviving members were truly responsible, framing the Crown Prince and trying to stir up conflict between the imperial family and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, or even the Clear Sky Sect... Tang Yuehua's heart tightened.

Had the Crown Prince mentioned it on purpose because he suspected the Clear Sky Sect had ties to the Shadow Pavilion? Or did he want to use her to direct the clues toward the Shadow Pavilion and clear himself of suspicion?

She rubbed her temples, feeling a wave of exhaustion. In this palace, every word might conceal a hidden barb, and every step was like walking on thin ice.

The Crown Prince's thoughts were unfathomable, Prince Xue Xing seemed troubled, the emperor's attitude was ambiguous, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect watched like a tiger poised to pounce... She was caught in the heart of the whirlpool, where one wrong move could doom her forever.

"Brother..." she murmured, worry rising in her eyes. Her brother must have learned that she had entered the palace. Given his temperament, how would he react? Would he watch and wait, or...

A faint sound of something slicing through the air came from outside the window. It was barely audible, but Tang Yuehua sensed it. Her expression sharpened. In an instant, she suppressed every trace of emotion and regained the composure of the mistress of Moonlight Pavilion, then walked slowly to the window.

In the night, a hazy black shadow skimmed over the palace wall like a wisp of smoke and vanished in the direction of the East Palace.

Tang Yuehua gazed into the darkness for a long while, then gently closed the window.

"A storm is coming." Her quiet murmur accompanied the flickering candlelight in her still eyes, reflecting a bottomless, shadowy pool.

Prince Xue Xing rubbed his thumb over and over across the black token carved with a ferocious ghost's head. Its icy touch steadied his racing heart, yet brought an even deeper chill.

The Shadow Pavilion—a name the continent had all but forgotten—rose in his mind along with its sinister, uncanny legends.

Many years ago, at the height of the Clear Sky Sect's power, it had incurred the Shadow Pavilion's undying enmity over a secret treasure.

The two sides waged a covert war for years. The Shadow Pavilion's ruthless, treacherous methods caused the Clear Sky Sect no small amount of trouble. In the end, it enraged Tang Chen, who joined forces with several factions to uproot the organization almost completely.

The survivors fled underground, vowing revenge. The token in Xue Xing's possession had been left by a high-ranking member of the Shadow Pavilion before he fled, in exchange for protection. It was a token that could be used to demand one favor from the Shadow Pavilion.

This matter was so secret that even Emperor Xue Ye knew nothing about it.

"You forced my hand first..." Xue Xing muttered hoarsely, his eyes bloodshot.

The unfathomable Crown Prince Ye Yang, the terrifying warning on his bedside, and the Ministry of Justice's relentless pressure—all of it left him feeling suffocated.

He needed a sharper, more concealed knife to muddy the waters completely and even... make certain people stay silent forever.

Xue Xing quickly hid the token in the secret compartment again. He had made up his mind. He couldn't contact the Shadow Pavilion himself, but he could send word and an advance payment through an intermediary: a completely loyal death warrior with no apparent connection to him.

"Target: Ning Fengyuan, an external steward of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Location: the western market of Heaven Dou City. Time: noon, three days from now."

Xue Xing wrote his demands in a secret letter. Ning Fengyuan was Ning Fengzhi's cousin and managed some of the sect's businesses. He was important enough, but not part of its inner circle.

Killing him would be enough to enrage the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect once more, directing suspicion toward the "secret faction still active and targeting the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect," and drawing attention away from the investigation into the Crown Prince and the imperial family's internal affairs.

At the same time, in the ensuing chaos, there might be a chance to create an "accident" for the Crown Prince.

He could almost see Ning Fengyuan's blood splashing across the marketplace, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's fury, and Heaven Dou City thrown into a state of alarm.

Only a greater upheaval could give him, a frightened bird that had been startled by the twang of a bow, the chance to hide again—or even strike back.

The East Palace, the Observatory.