Yang Zhao had gone completely mad.
He had grown hysterical, suspicious of everyone around him. He thought every civil and military official at court was Lin Hong, and that every one of them wanted to betray the country.
The day before yesterday, one of his favorite consorts had made an offhand joke during a casual conversation. He took it as mockery and ordered her beaten to death before the hall on the spot.
Her piercing screams had struck terror into everyone who heard them.
Now, throughout the imperial palace, maids and eunuchs walked on tiptoe and scarcely dared breathe, terrified that a single misstep would provoke the fickle emperor.
Inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
Yang Zhao's eyes were bloodshot and his face haggard as he gazed with near obsession at a Daoist priest of immortal bearing before him.
"Immortal master, can the immortal formula you spoke of truly grant me... eternal life?" His voice was hoarse, brimming with desire.
The priest had white hair and a youthful face, and held a horsetail whisk. Hearing the question, he smiled faintly and stroked the three long strands of beard beneath his chin.
"Your Majesty is the true dragon emperor, bearing the mandate of heaven. Last night, this humble Daoist observed the stars and saw that the light of the Ziwei Emperor Star had dimmed, a sure sign that the nation's fortune has suffered. But in a dream, an immortal also appeared to guide me and bestowed upon me a supreme pill formula. This formula was prepared precisely for one who bears heaven's mandate, such as Your Majesty. Once it is refined, let alone dealing with mere barbarians, even eternal life will be no difficult matter."
The priest was named Xuanjizi. Several noble and influential families in the capital had recommended him to Yang Zhao a few days earlier, saying he possessed immense powers.
Yang Zhao had therefore summoned him. Xuanjizi had performed several immortal arts before him, immediately winning the trust of Yang Zhao, who had run out of options, and earning recognition as an immortal master.
"Good! Good! Good!"
Yang Zhao rose excitedly from the dragon throne. "What does this pill formula require? I shall order preparations at once."
Xuanjizi smiled faintly, took a sheet of yellow silk from his sleeve, and slowly unfolded it.
"To refine this pill, gold and silver must be used for the vessels, lead and mercury for the base, supplemented by three hundred and sixty-five rare treasures and exotic herbs. But most importantly, one medicinal catalyst is still needed."
"What catalyst?" Yang Zhao pressed eagerly.
A mysterious smile appeared on Xuanjizi's face. "The blood of a thousand maidens of marriageable age whose primordial yin remains intact, combined with a thread of primordial red from each of their hearts. Only then can this... supreme immortal pill be refined!"
Yang Zhao was stunned at first, but a terrifying light immediately burst from his eyes.
The fear of losing power and of death had long since driven him mad. How could he still care about human decency or morality?
As long as he could live forever and escape the calamity that was about to descend, what did a thousand young women matter? Even ten thousand or a hundred thousand would be nothing.
In his eyes, these were merely necessary sacrifices.
"Deliver my decree!"
"Order the Military Patrol Office, the Arrest Bureau, the Six Gates, and the others to immediately search the city for a thousand women who meet the immortal master's requirements. They must gather them all within three days!"
"Anyone who resists or hides them shall have their entire household executed and all nine familial branches implicated!"
The moment the decree was issued, the entire capital became a purgatory on earth.
The soldiers of the Military Patrol Office, the constables of the Arrest Bureau, and the officers of the Six Gates-these government hounds who had maintained some semblance of decency in the past-now tore off their disguises completely and turned into a pack of true jackals and wolves.
With shackles in hand and steel sabers at their waists, they kicked down doors and stormed into homes one by one.
They asked no questions and listened to no explanations. Whenever they found a girl of the right age, they pounced as though they had found a priceless treasure, shackled her, and dragged her away.
For a time, heart-rending cries filled the city.
But before the cold imperial authority, those voices seemed so insignificant.
Of course, this calamity was, in the end, a calamity for the poor.
The constables naturally did not dare set foot in the homes of the noble and powerful. And those wealthy households with some resources had long since thought of a countermeasure.
Pay money to ward off disaster.
For a time, the capital's slave market enjoyed unprecedented prosperity. The price of a young girl was driven sky-high, yet even so, countless people waved banknotes about, all to buy a scapegoat for their own daughters.
The ugliest side of human nature was laid bare in this catastrophe.
And the common folk at the bottom, who truly had nowhere to turn, could only watch helplessly as their daughters were snatched from their arms.
The atmosphere in the shared courtyard was just as oppressive.
Fang Tao said to Chen Ye with a grim expression, "Something happened."
"What is it?"
"The Arrest Bureau raided the Cai Character Gate. None of the girls got away. They were all taken."
"Miss Xiaorui... was among them too."
Fang Tao still remembered when Wu Xiaorui had come to the shared courtyard looking for Chen Ye. Many people in the courtyard had seen them leave together and return late, so the nature of their relationship went without saying.
In his view, the bond between those two was anything but ordinary. Now that the beauty had met with misfortune and her fate was unknown, any hot-blooded young man in Chen Ye's place would surely have been frantic with worry, his composure in ruins.
He had therefore prepared many words of comfort, but to his surprise, Chen Ye reacted very calmly.
"I know."
He gave that indifferent reply and said nothing more.
The response left the whole bellyful of comforting words Fang Tao had prepared lodged in his throat, neither up nor down, making him terribly uncomfortable.
He frowned, feeling that the young man he had trained himself was shrouded in a lingering mist, making it impossible to see him clearly.
"You..." Fang Tao opened his mouth, but in the end it became a sigh. "Sigh, forget it. No need to bring it up."
Fang Tao left, and Chen Ye returned to his room, his expression somewhat cold and stern.
He had realized that some people, after holding high positions for too long, could no longer be called human.
They had lost their empathy. Their eyes saw only their own power and status, blind to the piles of bones beneath that throne.
The emperor!
Heh!
How many heads did the emperor have?
Chen Ye tightened his grip on the saber in his hand, and a flash of killing intent passed through his eyes.
Late that night, Chen Ye silently left the shared courtyard and headed straight for the imperial city.
Chen Ye had actually wanted to look inside the imperial city for some time, but in the end, he had never made the trip.
That was because he had sensed a trace of indescribable danger.
As though some terrifying existence were hidden inside.
Fortunately, after he advanced to Thousand-Faced Thief Saint, that feeling had grown much weaker.
Moving like a ghost, Chen Ye easily slipped past the squads of imperial guards patrolling the outer perimeter, scaled the high palace wall, and landed inside the imperial city.
He then slipped into the shadows in a corner and waited quietly.
A short while later, a young eunuch assigned to the night patrol came ambling over, carrying a lantern and yawning.
He'll do.
Chen Ye struck suddenly, knocking the young eunuch unconscious with a chop of his hand, then dragged him into the shadows.
A short while later, a young eunuch emerged from the shadows and headed straight for the depths of the imperial city.
The farther in he went, the quieter his surroundings became. Every palace maid and eunuch he passed kept their head down and walked on tiptoe, scarcely daring to breathe.
Chen Ye blended in among them, utterly inconspicuous, and approached the heart of the imperial city step by step.
He was just about to cross a garden and reach the vicinity of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, in the heart of the imperial palace.
But just then, a sinister, shrill voice suddenly came from behind him.
"What are you doing?"