The Ninth Prince slumped against the door, sitting limp on the floor with his face twisted in fury. He wished he could rush outside and slaughter every one of the guards keeping watch.
But reason prevailed, and he forced himself to hold back. This was not the right time to make a move. Clutching his chest, he slowly rose and walked toward the bed.
If he had not possessed internal energy, he might have already passed out on the floor.
He had used his internal energy to seal the acupoints around the wounds on his chest and knee, stopping the bleeding, and had wrapped them up as best he could. But the hidden weapon lodged inside him would have serious consequences if it was not removed. As soon as dawn broke, he would leave the county office and seek medical treatment.
If it were not for the group of people outside standing guard with their blazing torches, how could he have ended up in such a passive position?
At the thought, he lay down on the bed and cursed inwardly without end.
“Damn Xi Qingyue. Damn Nan Yun. Damn Lu Jinshuang. None of you will get away. Sooner or later, I’ll make you wish you were dead.”
Although he had no idea that Xi Qingyue and Lu Jinshuang had appeared at the county office that night, that did not stop him from hating them both.
If not for his need to obtain the hidden weapon for his future plans, would he have tolerated such humiliation?
He did not know how many times he cursed them in his mind or how many vicious schemes he came up with. Only after exhaustion overcame him did he slowly close his eyes and fall asleep.
No one knew how much time had passed when the door was gently pushed open and a small, slender figure walked in.
Xi Qingyue went to the bedside and looked down at the person lying there, the corners of her lips curving into an eerie smile. Then she slowly raised a finger.
She lightly tapped her index finger against the Ninth Prince’s body. A faint crack sounded, accompanied by what seemed like the noise of something deflating.
Just like that, she crippled his internal energy. Years of painstaking cultivation were destroyed in an instant.
Yet the person on the bed did not wake. He remained completely motionless, as though he had died in his sleep. Only his face was twisted horribly by the pain.
Xi Qingyue simply watched from the side, not the slightest trace of pity in her expression.
Someone of such high status and formidable martial ability would not have much impact if all he did was eat, drink, and enjoy himself without meddling in anything. But if he did too much and his heart was too vicious, then more people would only die because of him.
Xi Qingyue did not consider herself a good person, but compared with the Ninth Prince before her, she was practically benevolent.
Most importantly, he had plotted against her and even wanted to seize her weapons. She absolutely could not let him off easily.
She had crippled his martial arts so he could no longer soar through the air. When he woke the next day, he would surely be in for a wonderful surprise. She hoped he would like the generous gift she had given him.
With a satisfied smile, Xi Qingyue turned around and strode out of the room. She closed the door and slipped away without a sound. Not even the guards outside the courtyard noticed her departure.
In the blink of an eye, she had returned to the courtyard where Nan Yun was staying.
Inside the courtyard, Nan Yun was lying in a lounge chair with her eyes closed, resting. A black motorhome was parked beside her, and inside it, Lu Jinshuang was sleeping soundly on the large bed with Xi Weilan in her arms.
As soon as Xi Qingyue entered the courtyard, Nan Yun opened her eyes and stood up.
“Commandery Princess.”
Xi Qingyue waved a hand. “All right, get some rest. Go back to your room and sleep. We should be leaving too.”
Nan Yun glanced toward the motorhome. “Commandery Princess, the Princess and the Young Commandery Princess are both asleep. Should I wake them? Or perhaps we could stay here for the night?”
Xi Qingyue smiled and shook her head. “There’s no need to go to so much trouble.”
With that, she swept out her sleeve, and the people and motorhome vanished in an instant.
Nan Yun was left staring in stunned disbelief. She knew Xi Qingyue could put the vehicle away and had seen it happen many times, but there were people inside this time! Would living people not suffocate if they were put into her sleeve?
Her face filled with curiosity as she stared intently at Xi Qingyue’s sleeve, her desire for an explanation plain to see.
Noticing her gaze, Xi Qingyue smiled and said, “Don’t worry. My sleeve contains a universe of its own. It’s an ancient secret technique, and there’s more than enough space for two people.”
After saying that, she flew away, leaving Nan Yun standing there in a daze.
After a long while, Nan Yun remained where she was, murmuring to herself, “So that’s how it is…”
She thought of the things Luo Ling had told them after returning to the capital—the strange events she had encountered along the journey, including how the Xi sisters had scared her half to death. So it turned out that the sleeve could hide people as well as objects.
She could not help bursting into laughter.
“Luo Ling, Luo Ling… You were tricked by two children! Hahaha…”
The next morning, the Ninth Prince woke up in pain.
He felt that something was wrong with his body. The places where he had been injured the night before seemed to hurt even more.
He reached out and touched his chest, only to find blood seeping from the wound. His brows drew together.
He had deliberately sealed the acupoints with his internal energy the previous night. The wound should not have been bleeding.
When he sat up, he was utterly stunned. His clothes had long since been soaked through with blood, and even the bedding was stained red. Yet despite losing so much blood, he had not woken up.
What terrified him most was that his internal energy had vanished. It was as if it had simply disappeared into thin air.
Cold sweat broke out across his body.
“Damn it! What happened? If I had woken up any later, I would have bled to death. That hidden weapon is terrifyingly potent. No, I have to leave this place immediately.”
His face was frighteningly pale. He abruptly tried to get out of bed, no longer able to worry about anything else.
But his body was too weak, and he had risen too quickly. His legs gave way with a bang, and he fell to the floor, his forehead colliding intimately with the ground.
Just then, a knock sounded from outside.
“Your Highness, the Ninth Prince, you’re awake? I’ve prepared some clothes and breakfast for you. Shall I bring them in?”
The Ninth Prince lay beside the bed, gnashing his teeth in fury. But a trace of reason returned to him. Without his internal energy, he no longer had the slightest confidence.
He said in a low voice, “Leave the clothes at the door. I’ll go out to eat later. Also, all of you are to leave. Without my permission, no one is allowed to enter this courtyard. There’s no need to come in and clean either. Is that understood?”
“Yes, Your Highness. I’ll leave at once.”
The guard placed the clothes outside the door and then led everyone away from the courtyard.
The Ninth Prince pulled himself up with the support of the bed. After waiting a while to make sure there was no movement outside, he slowly walked to the door and opened it.
The guards from the previous night had already left, and everyone else in the courtyard was gone as well. The entire place was silent.
He picked up the fresh clothes and closed the door again. The hatred in his heart surged like a raging inferno, no longer something he could suppress.
He stripped off his bloodstained clothes and changed into the moon-white brocade robe the guards had prepared. The color matched his pale complexion perfectly.
He cast a glance at the blood on the bed and the discarded clothes. He planned to have them cleaned up after his injuries were treated. In any case, no one would enter without his order.
His wounds could not be delayed any longer. Nor could he afford to neglect the disappearance of his internal energy. He had to determine at once whether it was related to the hidden weapon and whether the weapon had been coated with poison.
With his pale face and moon-white robe, the Ninth Prince left the courtyard. As he passed through the front yard of the county office, many guards saw him.
Nan Yun even greeted him warmly with a smile.
“Your Highness, did you sleep well last night? The county office is short-handed at the moment, and we don’t even have enough maids and servants. If we failed to entertain you properly, I hope you’ll forgive us.”
The Ninth Prince suppressed his anger and said calmly, “It’s fine. I’m not the sort of person who indulges in pleasure.”
“That’s good to hear. By the way, Ninth Prince, thieves broke into the county office last night. I hope they didn’t disturb you?”
Nan Yun asked with a beaming smile. The Ninth Prince wished he could slap him to death, but without his inner power or concealed weapons, he simply couldn’t. Nor did he dare waste any more time—his life came first.
“I’m fine. I have other important business to attend to and will be leaving the county office for a few days. I’ll come see Seventh Sister later.”
With that, the Ninth Prince strode away, afraid that Nan Yun would keep him there talking endlessly. By the end, he was practically running.
