The Prince's Chambers.
Ren Ye stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Lian'er, his gaze fixed on the door to his private room, a cold knot of tension tightening in his gut.
The internal politics of the Huai Palace were a viper's nest. The slightest misstep could lead to disaster, even a severed head. The servants who attended Zhu Zigui were all seasoned survivors of the palace's cutthroat environment. The idea of someone "accidentally stumbling" into the Prince's private chambers was laughable.
The three hairs, all severed. Someone had definitely been inside while he was with the Consort.
Swish!
As he was thinking, Er Leng, who had gone in to search, emerged without a sound. "Your Highness, the room is clear."
"You're certain?" Ren Ye asked, his voice low and cautious.
"Positive," Er Leng replied, the usual simpleton's (simplicity) gone from his face, replaced by a sharp, military alertness. "But we should conduct a thorough search. In case they left traps or devices."
"This servant will summon others to assist the search," Lian'er interjected.
Ren Ye looked at her. "Make sure they are trustworthy. No more than four or five."
"Yes." Lian'er bowed and hurried away.
Er Leng stood guard at the door, his right hand resting on the famed saber, 'Moon Inviter,' at his hip. He glanced curiously at Ren Ye. "Your Highness, how did you know someone had entered?"
"This Prince has his methods," Ren Ye replied flatly, his mind racing. He'd placed the hairs secretly; even Er Leng didn't know.
Years working the border, undercover operations—it had bred habits. Constant vigilance. The hairs were routine. He kept his phone meticulously empty, zero chats, zero call logs, no apps that could betray a pattern. He hated the paranoia, this sickness of seeing everyone as a potential threat, but it was a sickness that had saved his life more than once.
Standing in the lantern-lit corridor, Ren Ye desperately sifted through Zhu Zigui's memories. Was there something hidden in these rooms? Something important?
Nothing came to mind.
If they weren't here to steal, then why?
Tap-tap-tap…
Footsteps. Lian'er returned with four trusted eunuchs.
"Your Highness." They bowed in unison.
In Zhu Zigui's memory, these were the only marginally reliable people left. But trust was a currency spent carefully here. Betrayal was always an option.
Ren Ye gave a slight nod and shot a look at Er Leng.
"With me," Er Leng said, hand on his saber, leading the four eunuchs inside.
The main doors were open. Ren Ye and Lian'er watched from the corridor, not daring to step inside.
Er Leng and the eunuchs fanned out, searching with efficient, practiced movements. They checked corners, behind tapestries, under furniture. They probed teapots with silver needles, checking for poison. Nothing.
Er Leng stood in the center of the room, looking up at the beams. "Check for disturbances in the dust. Be meticulous."
"Yes."
A eunuch on the left, sweating, got on his hands and knees, meticulously examining the base of a bookshelf.
By the bed, a young, clear-featured eunuch—maybe sixteen or seventeen—respectfully removed his shoes and outer robe before carefully beginning to search the elevated platform.
This was the most dangerous task. The hierarchy was absolute, royal decorum strict. Finding something too personal on the Prince's bed could mean a lost head for a lowly servant with no powerful backers. The life of a 'small potato' was always precarious.
The young eunuch worked, terrified but thorough, sweat beading on his forehead.
Er Leng dropped silently from the rafters and approached Ren Ye. "Your Highness, there's no sign anyone remained hidden. I believe—"
Thump!
A sound from the bed. The young eunuch, having lifted the crimson covers, had inadvertently pressed his foot against the bed frame.
"You clumsy oaf!" an older eunuch hissed, turning to reprimand him.
"Huh?"
The young eunuch on the bed froze, his body rigid. He was staring at something beneath the covers—a soft, nameless grub, uncurling its pale, fleshy body.
Er Leng spun around, a wave of intense killing intent radiating from him.
Shiiing!
Moon Inviter cleared its custom sheath. "DON'T—!" Er Leng roared.
Thwip!
The grub on the bed pulsed with a sinister black light. It shot up like a bullet, burying itself directly into the center of the young eunuch's forehead.
It happened faster than thought. From the corridor, Ren Ye only saw the flash of black light before the eunuch toppled backward off the bed with a crash.
"AAAAAGH!!!"
A scream of pure agony tore through the chamber. The eunuch clawed at his forehead, his body convulsing, thrashing on the floor. "The… the egg… it burrowed into my skull! Your Highness, p-please… help me…!"
The other three eunuchs, reacting first, moved to rush to his aid.
"STAY BACK!" Er Leng barked, stepping fully into the room to block them.
Ren Ye and Lian'er followed him in. "Er Leng, do something!" Ren Ye stared, aghast, at the writhing figure on the floor.
"We cannot, Your Highness! Do not approach!" Er Leng positioned himself as a human shield, muscles coiled, saber ready, his eyes locked on the dying eunuch as if facing a mortal threat.
"Aghh!! P-please…!"
The eunuch clutched his head, his body contorting grotesquely, shrieking his pleas between spasms of pain.
"It… hurts… GACK!"
He flipped onto his hands and knees, and with a final, guttural cry, vomited a torrent of pure black fire.
The sight stunned Ren Ye into immobility. Even from a distance, he felt the heat—a searing, unnatural wave that made the stone flags smolder.
WHOOSH!
Flames erupted from the crown of the eunuch's head. His form twisted and distorted. In less than two breaths, he was completely engulfed in black fire, burning from the inside out.
Everyone retreated to the doorway, horrified, powerless, forced to watch the gruesome spectacle.
After about ten seconds, the flames died down, then vanished.
Where a living, careful young man had been, there was now only a pile of skeletal fragments and a sickening, acrid stench that filled the hall.
He had been utterly incinerated in mere moments.
Ren Ye stared dumbly at the scorched outline on the floor, at the bits of bone, a cold dread creeping down his spine. In his previous life, he'd seen corpses, horrific crime scenes—his tolerance was far beyond a normal person's. But this… this invoked a deep, primal fear.
If not for his habitual paranoia, he would have been the one in that bed. Unprepared, he knew he would have had no defense against that… grub.
The clear-featured young eunuch had taken a death meant for him.
The thought made Ren Ye's scalp crawl, his legs leaden.
"Y-Your Highness!" Er Leng shook his shoulder, his voice urgent.
Ren Ye blinked, shoving the fear down, his mind snapping back into analytical mode—a trained reflex. "Someone is trying to kill me?" he asked, his voice surprisingly steady.
Er Leng was visibly surprised his master wasn't a sobbing mess. The Zhu Zigui he knew would have been.
"One moment, Your Highness." Er Leng stepped back into the room. He circled the scorch marks, poked at the remains with the tip of his saber, his gaze finally settling on a long, thin, burnt husk—the remains of the grub.
"Your Highness, I was born in the Southern Frontiers. I've seen… strange things," Er Leng said, turning and clasping his hands. "If my guess is correct, this grub is part of a mostly lost Southern sorcery. They call it the Soul Puppeteer Gu."
Ren Ye's greatest strength was his emotional control. The fear was there, but it didn't hinder his thoughts. "A Gu? What does it do?"
"The Soul Puppeteer Gu comes in two parts. The public Gu captures the soul. The mother Gu pulls the strings," Er Leng explained, dredging up the memory. "If it successfully infects a normal person, they become a corpse puppet, completely controlled. The grub here was likely the public Gu."
Ren Ye's mind raced, seizing the crucial point. "You're saying someone wanted to control me through this Gu? Then why did the young eunuch burn?"
"Every person's three ethereal souls and seven corporeal spirits are unique. The Gu was refined specifically for you, Your Highness. Young Xu couldn't withstand it," Er Leng reported matter-of-factly. "The Gu can only be used once. Wrong host, it self-immolates."
Ren Ye was silent for a long moment. "And if it had been me?"
Er Leng looked up, hesitating.
"The truth."
"You would have become a corpse puppet, your soul captured. The moment the Gu was removed… your fate would have been the same as young Xu's." Er Leng bowed his head.
Animals! Ren Ye seethed internally. Who would use something so vicious?
There were ten other players in this Star Gate. Was this attack on his first night connected to them?
Tap-tap-tap…
Hurried footsteps echoed in the corridor. Other servants, drawn by the screams, were gathering.
Ren Ye turned immediately to Lian'er. "Stop them. Say young Xu made a mistake assisting my bath and was punished with a beating. Quickly. Tonight's events cannot leave this hall."
"Yes!"
As Lian'er left, Er Leng(pondered) for a moment before speaking softly. "Your Highness, with a Gu sorcerer in the palace, defense is impossible. I don't think you can stay here."
Ren Ye's eyes sharpened. "No. The Gu sorcerer is far less frightening than a traitor."
"Huh?" Er Leng was confused.
"These chambers are deep inside the inner compound, far from the other halls," Ren Ye said, each word deliberate. "I was only at the Consort's for an hour. Think. Who could have entered my chambers so easily, planted the Gu, and left again, all in that narrow window? Was there even enough time?"
"You mean…?"
"There's a traitor. Or… the Gu sorcerer is among my own people." Ren Ye's conclusion was absolute.
…
In a certain room, in a certain courtyard of the Huai Palace.
Skritch-skritch…!
Inside a plain wooden box, a grub writhed in distress, emitting pathetic chirps.
Under the lamplight, a woman stared, her eyes wide, as a black line first appeared along the grub's body… and then suddenly snapped.
"?!"
The woman shot to her feet, disbelief etched on her features.
Pop!
As the line broke, the grub exploded, dissolving into dust motes that drifted in the air.
The mother Gu, the string-puller, held no poison itself.
But the woman stood frozen, stunned into utter stillness.
A cold, clear voice spoke directly into her ear. Her face flushed a deep, furious purple.
[Gu Sorcery Failed. Current Task Two: Terminated. You will face penalty.]
[Friendly Reminder: Esteemed Player, please cherish every mission opportunity. Use your brain. Use your brain…]