The light flickered, and the candle wick burst with a pop. Kneeling on the floor, Dou Jing, Prefect of Henan Prefecture, gave a violent shudder.
The last cicadas of autumn had all died, their bodies scattered haphazardly across the ground. In this dim secret chamber, a deathly silence shrouded everything; not even a single insect could be heard.
Thick paper covered the windows. Dou Jing could not tell whether it was day or night, nor whether this was a nightmare or cruel reality. All he felt was an indescribable fear pressing against his spine like a bank of dark clouds. Cold sweat dripped onto the thick Persian carpet, each drop swallowed by the heavy fabric in an instant, vanishing without a trace.
"Do as I say."
A hoarse voice broke the silence. Behind the curtain, a woman in gray monastic robes was faintly visible. Her cold gaze pierced the gauze curtain, fixed on the Prefect of Henan Prefecture kneeling on the floor.
The lord of an entire prefecture, a high official of the Third Rank, trembled uncontrollably. His forehead pressed firmly against the floor as he said in a quavering voice, "But this is one of the ten unpardonable crimes!"
"If you dare not act, then the guilt will be yours." The woman's voice was cold and firm, devoid of emotion. "Would you rather bear the blame and die in another's place?"
Dou Jing shook his head desperately. He was already in the twilight of his years and had come to Luoyang to prepare for retirement. He had no wish whatsoever to be drawn into such a disastrous, murderous affair, but his fate was no longer his own.
Despair filled his voice as he struggled to defend himself. "The true dragon bloodline, a body worth a thousand pieces of gold,