Sure enough, quite a few wandering ghosts and corpse-fiends were already roaming the streets. Qin Yao and Yuan Jue dealt with them one by one as they went, exterminating no fewer than a hundred vengeful spirits along the way, yet the malevolent creatures on the streets only kept multiplying.
Lin Xiao knew that Qin Yao was most worried about Mr. and Mrs. Qu, so he went to the Qu residence first. As Qin Yao stepped down from the carriage, she saw that a vengeful corpse had indeed appeared at the gate of the Qu mansion. Without a word, she summoned the Soul-Devourer to incinerate it, not daring to delay even a moment, and rushed inside with her skirts hiked up to wake her parents, also ordering the servants to go wake her elder brother in his courtyard.
“Daughter has no time to explain to you,” she said hurriedly, helping a thoroughly bewildered Qu Chen Shi into her cloak. “Come with me to take shelter first, and you can return home once things have settled down.”
The Six Harmonies Formation could ward off ordinary vengeful spirits, but it could never withstand Nüxiu. Qin Yao was unwilling to let her parents and brother risk danger no matter what.
Mr. and Mrs. Qu still wanted to ask questions, but on the other side, Qu Ziyu saw that not only his sister but Lin Xiao too wore an anxious expression, and understood the matter must be grave. Without asking another question, he supported his parents and headed outside. “Father, Mother, even if you don’t trust others, you surely trust my sister and the young lord. Don’t delay any longer—just do as they say.”
After helping his parents into the carriage, Qu Ziyu stood with his hand on the curtain, looking at Qin Yao as though wanting to say something but holding back.
Qin Yao quickly told her brother, “I’m going to fetch Yingning from the prince’s residence now. You all go ahead to the academy—we’ll follow shortly.”
Only then did Qu Ziyu’s heart settle, and he climbed into the carriage and sat down.
The Qu household’s servants scrambled to crowd onto the carriage behind, nearly cracking its walls in the rush.
Qin Yao pasted talisman paper onto the walls of the carriage and laid down a Six Harmonies Formation, sending the carriage flying toward the academy. Then she and Lin Xiao boarded another carriage and rushed without pause toward the prince’s residence.
Although Minister Wang had once seen Qin Yao perform rites against the scorpion spirit on Shouhuai Mountain, upon hearing Lin Xiao’s words he remained half-convinced. Lin Xiao simply said, “Minister Wang, even if you don’t trust my character, if I truly wished to lay siege to your residence, I have a thousand ways to surround your mansion outside without wasting so many words.”
Minister Wang was startled, then gave a self-deprecating laugh and immediately ordered all the wives, young ladies, and young masters of the Wang family to be called out. Because there were so many of them, it took fully five carriages, barely managing to seat them all.
In just this short time, the streets already showed no shortage of commoners lying dead, clearly the work of vengeful spirits now under Nüxiu’s command, who had begun a slaughter of the city.
Minister Wang’s face turned utterly pale at the sight. He hurried back to his seat and no longer dared harbor the slightest doubt.
Once Qin Yao saw Wang Yingning seated, she set her mind at ease, cast the necessary spells, and went on to the Liu and Pei residences to fetch Liu Bingyu and Pei Min.
Along the way, whenever she saw fleeing commoners scattering in panic, she had the carriage stop, saving whoever they could.
The last stops were the residence of Prince Lan and the mansion of Duke Lu.
By the time Madam Wen, Madam Zhou and her daughter, and the wife of Duke Lu and her party had all been delivered to the academy, the spacious grounds were already crowded with people. The monks of Dayin Temple had also gathered at the academy gate, waiting only for Yuan Jue’s instructions.
Duke Lu himself had not been at his residence earlier—he had been stationed at the Southern Guard Office personally watching over Prince Wu, while also waiting for news from Lin Xiao.
After settling the duke’s wife, Lin Xiao sent Wei Bo riding hard to the Southern Guard Office to bring Duke Lu to the academy.
Prince Wu, restrained and unable to move under Duke Lu’s control, was pressed down and pulled from the carriage. Looking at Lin Xiao, he sneered repeatedly. “Eleventh Brother, you and your father truly harbor wolfish ambitions, scheming to usurp the throne—why bother flying the banner of ‘purging the emperor’s side’? I urge you not to laugh too soon. Be careful, lest in the end you not only fail to achieve what you desire, but also end up disgraced and infamous for ten thousand generations!”
Duke Lu, hearing this, did not bother to respond. He simply tossed Prince Wu to the guards behind him to be watched, then turned to ask Lin Xiao what exactly had happened.
After hearing Lin Xiao explain that evil forces were about to slaughter the city, Duke Lu, worried for the emperor’s safety, refused to remain sheltered in the academy and insisted on going to fetch the emperor out of the palace himself.
Just then Qing Xuzi, who had come outside the courtyard to meet Qin Yao, heard this. He leapt onto the wall, raised his eyes for a look, and saw a pall of killing intent rising over the imperial palace. He gave a cold chuckle and said flatly, “I’m afraid it’s too late. The female fiend has clearly already headed straight for the palace.”
Hearing this, both Lin Xiao and Qin Yao felt their hearts jolt, and could not help but follow Qing Xuzi’s gaze toward the palace above.
Lin Xiao naturally did not wish to bear the reputation of abandoning his sovereign. After a moment of silence, he said to Duke Lu, “There’s no time to lose. Let’s go save the emperor from the palace now.”
Jiang Sanlang too spurred his horse forward. “I’ll go with Weijin.”
With that, the two men gathered a portion of the Southern Guard troops and the Imperial Guard and prepared to set out.
Because blades and swords show no mercy, Lin Xiao absolutely refused to let Qin Yao follow this time and ordered her firmly to remain at the academy to await news.
Since Nüxiu was very likely inside the palace, how could Qin Yao possibly feel at ease? But Qing Xuzi needed to stay at the academy to maintain the formation, and besides, he had no interest in the emperor’s fate one way or another, so he would not go no matter what.
In the end, it was Yuan Jue, worried Lin Xiao might suffer a setback, who gathered a group of disciples, holding bronze bowls and chanting in unison, to escort the soldiers toward the palace.
Only then did Qin Yao reluctantly set her mind somewhat at ease, waiting anxiously at the academy for news.
A full two hours passed, and Lin Xiao and the others still had not returned.
The people in the academy could hear ghostly wailing outside, not knowing how many spirits lingered around the grounds, and all were too frightened to make a sound.
Only Liu Bingyu could not stay still. After sitting with her parents for a while, she ran over to chat with Qin Yao.
Qin Yao’s heart was entirely consumed with worry for Lin Xiao, with no mind to listen to Liu Bingyu’s chatter. After being pulled into conversation for a while, Liu Bingyu, seeing Qin Yao paying her no attention, tactfully fell silent, sensing the mood.
But when she looked up again, she saw A’Han following behind Qing Xuzi as they came in. She had been in too much of a rush earlier, and with so many people around, had not noticed A’Han at all. Now, suddenly seeing the object of her affections, she blushed without realizing it, watching wide-eyed as A’Han drew nearer.
A’Han’s headache had eased considerably by now. Having agreed with his master’s plan, he intended to lead Qin Yao to a quiet spot so the three of them—master and the two disciples—could discuss a way to deal with Nüxiu.
Just as he was about to speak, he saw a beautiful young woman standing beside Qin Yao, her eyes bright and fixed on him.
“Sister A’Yu?” he asked in surprise.
Liu Bingyu only felt that something was different about A’Han from usual, though she couldn’t say exactly what. Though puzzled, seeing that A’Han had greeted her first before even speaking to Qin Yao, she felt secretly pleased and smiled sweetly. “Brother A’Han.”
A’Han’s face inexplicably warmed. He looked quietly at Liu Bingyu, seeming unsure how to begin, and after a good while said, “Thank you for the pastries you sent to the temple last time.”
Seeing his demeanor so much more solemn, with much less of his usual foolish innocence, Liu Bingyu found it stranger still. She blinked, then smiled. “I’m glad you liked them. And thank you for the triple-flavor fruit you gave me.”
The girl’s smile was sweet, and A’Han suddenly found it somehow dazzling. Not daring to look any longer, he only said, “I need to discuss a plan against the evil fiend with my master and Sister A’Yao. I’ll come talk with you again later, if there’s a chance.”
Watching from the side, Qin Yao’s heart stirred—Senior Brother had spoken just a few words, yet already carried himself with the bearing of one capable of handling matters, his mind seemingly no different now from an ordinary young man.
Thinking of how hard the years had been for her master, an inexplicable ache rose in her chest.
Since Nüxiu might descend on the academy at any moment, the two siblings dared not delay any longer. After bidding Liu Bingyu farewell, they turned to leave, ready to discuss a plan with their master.
The two had taken only a few steps when Liu Bingyu suddenly chased after them again. Pulling a wrapped package of pastries from her sleeve, she said to A’Han, “I don’t know if you’ve eaten anything—have some of these to fill your stomach first.”
The small paper packet held eight pastries in total. With blatant favoritism, she handed six to A’Han and only two to Qin Yao.
Seeing Liu Bingyu so shamelessly forsaking a friend for a love interest, Qin Yao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and shot her a mock-angry glare.
Liu Bingyu shrank back at that glare, but the hand offering pastries to A’Han remained perfectly steady, determined to give him the larger share.
A’Han smiled faintly, accepted the pastries, and thanked Liu Bingyu.
But once beside Qing Xuzi, A’Han quietly handed all the pastries to his master.
Qing Xuzi naturally refused them, eating only one and forcing A’Han to finish the rest himself.
On the other side, Qu Ziyu, having seen all this clearly and worried his sister might be hungry, said to his mother, “A’Yao probably hasn’t eaten anything. Did you bring food when we left, Mother? Why not send some over to her.”
He knew his mother never forgot to bring provisions no matter the circumstance, especially when fleeing for shelter, and was certain she had prepared plenty.
Only then did Qu Chen Shi seem to wake from a daze—her attention had been entirely fixed on the ghostly wails rising and falling outside the academy, and she had momentarily forgotten to look after Qin Yao. She quickly had Grandmother Yelü fetch pastries and a water pouch from the bundles and personally delivered them to Qin Yao and her master and brother.
But Qin Yao took only one bite before she began retching violently, unable to eat any more no matter how she tried.
Seeing this, Wang Yingning and Pei Min, assuming Qin Yao was unwell, gathered around in concern. “What’s wrong? Have you caught a chill?”
Qu Chen Shi’s heart, however, gave a sudden lurch. Studying her daughter’s face closely, she pulled her aside, about to question her further.
Suddenly, a commotion erupted at the academy gate. Everyone looked up at once and saw Lin Xiao entering with someone on his back, followed by a number of palace attendants, nearly every one of them ashen-faced and trembling, clearly badly frightened.
“The emperor?” Qin Yao caught sight of the figure on Lin Xiao’s back dressed in bright imperial yellow, and rushed forward for a closer look—it was indeed the emperor.
Minister Wang and Duke Lu both went pale and strode quickly to Lin Xiao’s side, anxious to confirm whether it was truly the emperor.
Though the emperor’s complexion was poor, his spirit seemed reasonably intact. Seeing the crowd gathering around, he forced a smile and said to Lin Xiao, “All right, Eleventh Brother, set me down.”
Once Lin Xiao set the emperor down, Qin Yao noticed the emperor’s lower leg was exposed, marked with five terrible claw gashes, flesh torn and bloody—a gruesome sight.
Qin Yao recognized at once that this was the work of a vicious spirit’s claws, and her heart jumped—could the vengeful spirits have already broken into the palace?
Minister Wang, Liu Zan, and Duke Lu all knelt at once, bitterly blaming themselves for their failure to protect the emperor properly, while several palace attendants scrambled to tend to him, the scene falling into chaos for a moment.
Qin Yao pulled Lin Xiao aside. Seeing beads of sweat covering his forehead, her heart ached for him, and she took out a handkerchief to wipe his brow. “Did vengeful spirits get into the palace?”
Lin Xiao glanced back at the emperor and said, “By the time we entered the palace, it was already in chaos—corpse-fiends everywhere. Consort Yi was nowhere to be found. Only a portion of the on-duty palace guards were fighting desperately to protect the emperor. Because there were so many corpse-fiends, it took quite some effort to get the emperor out, but he was already injured by then.”
Qin Yao glanced quietly at the emperor’s leg wound. With Yuan Jue’s level of cultivation, and having brought so many disciples along, if he had truly wished to protect the emperor, there was no way the emperor should have been injured—clearly he had deliberately held back. She suspected this was because of his lingering resentment over the matter of Consort Hui and her son all these years.
But they had left in such haste that they hadn’t brought the powder to neutralize corpse poison. If the emperor’s poisoning went untreated for too long, it might do lasting harm to his constitution.
But she only turned this thought over in her mind once, not daring to voice it aloud in front of everyone. Seeing how exhausted Lin Xiao looked, she knew he had pushed himself to his limit and quickly handed him the pastries and water pouch her mother had brought. “Eat something first and rest a moment. Nüxiu’s whereabouts are unknown either way—there’s no use in us just fretting.”
Lin Xiao took the water pouch from Qin Yao and drank several large gulps, head tilted back. He was just about to pull Qin Yao aside for a brief rest when several soldiers suddenly appeared atop the wall, calling out to him. “Young Lord, the Crown Prince’s Garrison Commandant’s forces have already reached the road ahead and will soon arrive at the academy. The situation is urgent—shall we engage?”
Lin Xiao’s expression hardened, and he said in a deep voice, “Prepare yourselves. We engage.”
As his figure quickly disappeared toward the gate, before long, voices could be heard outside shouting loudly: “Traitor! Hand over our imperial father!”
A woman’s voice followed, tearful, calling out: “Your Majesty, this humble consort and the Crown Prince have come to rescue you! Both of us hold nothing but loyal hearts, wishing only to save Your Majesty from this crisis—please see clearly, and do not be deceived by the sweet lies of wicked men!”
The emperor’s face darkened, and he said nothing.
Prince Wu, however, struggled to sit up and called out toward the gate. “Mother, save me, quickly!”
A guard beside him, without a word, grabbed a cloth and stuffed it into Prince Wu’s mouth.