Su Xi-er questioned, “Is that so? Then since you once said that we walk the same path, don’t you deserve death even more than me?” Her voice became bitingly cold. A few pebbles were already hidden in her hand, waiting for the opportune moment to strike his acupoints.
At this moment, a guard hurried over. “Third Imperial Prince, a group of people with unknown origins appeared out of nowhere. They killed a number of our brothers, but disappeared into the forest like phantoms before we could catch them.”
Situ Li didn’t believe in demons, and understood that this new force were experts that had concealed themselves deeply, and may even have a relation to Beimin.
His gaze grew frosty as he looked towards Su Xi-er. “You should be well aware of who these people are.”
Naturally, Situ Li was right. These were Su Xi-er’s followers that had served her for many years, and were even more skilled than most elite soldiers. She did not falter when faced with Situ Li’s questioning, but instead walked towards Daozhang Zixu. “Are you alright?”
The daozhang shook his head. “I’m fine.”
“Daozhang, you have to think carefully. Every single action of yours affects the Daoist temple.” Situ Li’s cold voice was crisp and clear.
Daozhang Zixu’s body slightly stiffened. The Third Imperial Prince’s obsession runs too deep.
Su Xi-er patted his shoulder. Considering how he didn’t collude with Situ Li, it looks like he is a daozhang with principles. “Nothing will happen to the Daoist Temple; he’s just trying to scare you.”
Daozhang Zixu stared at Situ Li firmly. “Third Imperial Prince, everything is ordained by the heavens; it is all fate. If one harbors evil intentions and defies the will of the heavens, they won’t meet with a good end. Please reconsider.”
A moment later, Situ Li raised his hand. “Guards, lock the two of them up in separate places.”
The guard bowed and accepted the order while Su Xi-er quietly followed him to a room that was isolated from the rest of the residence. Taking advantage of the lack of people, she seized a moment when the guard wasn’t paying attention to knock him out.
Su Xi-er exerted all her strength to drag the guard into the room before locking the door and leaving.
Later that night, a petite figure swiftly traversed the area. Having observed the terrain earlier in the day, she had deduced that Situ Li’s hiding spot was actually in Beimin’s capital. Not only that, it was also massive enough that she only arrived in the backyard after wandering around for some time.
Seeing steam billowing from one of the nearby rooms, she peeked inside to find a large pot filled with boiling water as a billowing fire was kept burning underneath.
She also managed to eavesdrop on two guards’ conversation. “Princess Consort Hao is rather beautiful. What a pity that she’s going to be boiled alive soon.”
“I just heard the daozhang talk about some demons and was quite puzzled. I heard that boiling a person alive is a way of expelling evil souls in the occult.”
”The Third Imperial Prince passed down the order that in an hour’s time, we will have to tie up Princess Consort Hao and throw her into this pot. Could it be that an evil soul resides in her body?”
“Who knows? It is a pity that a beauty has to die like this, but more importantly, the Third Imperial Prince will completely fall out with Prince Hao and the Western Region. As for us, after receiving the Third Imperial Prince’s favour for many years, we have to follow him until death.”
Su Xi-er was shocked to learn that Situ Li’s heart had become so twisted and vicious. She was suddenly reminded of the days he had looked out for her in the imperial palace, even going as far as to give her some rare medicinal powder. Despite him having maintained a certain distance at the time, she hadn’t thought of him as a bad person.
Yet, he had revealed his true colours. Just for the sake of dealing with someone who didn’t agree with him, he could use such vicious methods. In addition, his forces weren’t limited to the sishi[1] in this residence; he had several groups of them!
1. sacrificial soldiers or death soldiers who put their lives on the line. They are typically those people who you see biting the poison in their mouth in cnovels.
