Chapter 790: The Hidden Chess Piece (1/2, Subscriptions Wanted)

"Lord Qi! Lord Qi, what's wrong with you?"

Don't think! Don't think!

"Lord Qi, why are you clutching your head, why are you screaming? Is there an enemy attack?"

Can't think! Can't do any thinking! Any thought stabs the nerves like needles!

"Someone come! Quickly call for a physician! Something's happened to Lord Qi!"

Take me away! Take me away! Get me out of here right now!

"Wait! Eyes! Blood-colored eyes have appeared on Lord Qi's arm! He's been hit, possessed by a curse!"

Ahhhh… twisting… so twisted… everything is so twisted…

Wherever Lord Qi's eyes fell, every scene, every person, seemed to twist like a vortex.

No! No, that's wrong! It really is twisting, it really is twisting!

"Aaaaaah! My hand, my hand suddenly bent!"

"Help! Help! My face, how did my face become like this!"

"Lord Qi! It's Lord Qi! Lord Qi, close your eyes quickly! Close your eyes, don't look at me, don't look at me!!"

All those still alive fled in panic, scrambling and crawling madly away, leaving only Lord Qi kneeling on the spot, hands pressed to his face, the skin and flesh of which melted like wax, exposing the bones beneath.

Ah… ahh… ahhh!!

As if realizing something, Lord Qi let out a despairing shriek of terror, only to find that what came out of his mouth was some eerie sound of bone scraping against bone.

Before he could understand what was going on, his vision went black, and the man lost consciousness completely, becoming a pile of white bones on the ground.

After Lord Qi's death, his remaining subordinates waited several days, confirming that Han Jiang had returned to calm and was no longer dangerous, before daring to approach and handle the aftermath.

As for the mission's status, and the token to be sent back, it had already been transmitted back via the Magic Box long ago.

Thinking that this time not only had the mission failed, but two lords had also been lost, the remaining subordinates were trembling in fear, handling the aftermath nervously.

……

Jingcheng, Imperial Palace.

In a courtyard paved with white chess pieces, a youth in white sat thoughtfully before a chessboard, playing chess alone for his own amusement.

The board was a black-and-white one, and the game being played seemed to be Go, yet also seemed to be Gomoku; the pieces on the board were scattered in disarray.

But that white-clad youth stood before the board, thinking for a long while, frowning from time to time, rolling his eyes now and then.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he walked to the pool in the courtyard, extended a jade-white hand that would put any woman to shame, scooped up a small ladle of Qing Shui, walked back to the chessboard, then carefully, along the seams in the middle of the board, sprinkled the Qing Shui down.

The Qing Shui flowed down along the board's uneven seams, quickly dividing the board apart like a little stream.

Seeing this, the white-clad youth's brow smoothed, as if he had figured something out, and he nodded slightly.

And just then, a gray-robed elder quickly walked in from outside the courtyard.

Arriving before the white-clad youth, he offered a slight bow.

"Master."

The white-clad youth glanced at him.

"……."

The gray elder's expression shifted slightly, and he quickly corrected himself.

"……Your Highness the First Prince."

"……Speak, how did the matter go?"

The gray elder kept his head lowered without speaking, instead producing a sealed small black box, atop which was a fine needle.

The white-clad youth calmly took the box, his fingertip lightly touching the fine needle atop the Magic Box; a drop of fresh blood slid down the needle onto the box.

The sealed Magic Box slowly opened like a lotus in bloom, revealing what lay within.

"A black handkerchief, and a letter?"

The white-clad youth glanced sidelong at the gray elder and said with a light laugh: "I recall that what You Lao wanted was that boy's head."

"……They failed."

"Enough. Actually, ever since the order was given, I've had this feeling that something was overlooked, and now it's been confirmed."

Taking out the letter from the Magic Box and giving it a quick read, the white-clad youth soon learned what had happened at Hanjiang Wharf, and fell into thought. He handed the letter to the gray elder, and once the gray elder had finished reading, he asked: "Gray Elder, what do you make of it?"

"This boy must either be brought to heel, or eliminated — otherwise he will be a great menace!"

"Hahaha!" Hearing this, the white-clad youth burst out laughing and lightly patted the gray elder's shoulder.

"Gray Elder, you're making too much of it. Heroes emerge from youth. Our Qing Guo hasn't seen a truly capable younger generation in a long time. Yet this generation seems to have all come at once: first there's the Sword Heaven disciple Tian Ruichi, then there's the tail of the Extreme Ice Sect's Saintess, and the Talented Woman… and now, suddenly, Yese Liming appears. So many prodigies and eccentrics gathered in the same era, converging on Jingcheng — this world is about to get interesting again!

Oh right, send the thing over to You Lao, and help me prepare a carriage or two, and have someone come help me with a disguise…"

The gray elder's expression tightened.

The earlier requests were fine, all small matters, but that last request…

"Don't be nervous. I'll just set up a residual-game stall at the gate of Jingcheng, and wait for a certain 'friend' who's come from afar, that's all."

The gray elder wanted to say something, but the thought that the man before him was the First Prince of Qing Guo — the man in this world closest to that existence! — made him lower his head, obediently take the things, and withdraw with a low-voiced acknowledgment.

A prince leaving the palace was nothing unusual.

In earlier years, whenever the princes of Jingcheng went out, they did so in grand style.

It was only later, when His Majesty imposed restrictions, that the commotion died down and they all slipped out quietly.

But occasionally, one could still hear various versions of princes' outings from street corners.

Whether it truly happened or was just rumor, no one could say for sure — it simply wasn't unusual, and to the Natives of Jingcheng, it was merely dinner-table talk.

……

You Family.

Ever since You Sisi returned to the capital, the rumors about her and the Seventh Prince had heated up another notch, becoming practically the most talked-about event in Jingcheng this month.

And once You Sisi returned to the capital, she began keeping her distance from the Seventh Prince, no longer the intimate pair they once were, and everyone's interest in this childhood sweetheart couple rose to a whole new level.

But since this matter involved the imperial clan and the You Family, no one dared gossip openly, only whispering behind closed doors.

Some said You Sisi had actually died out there, and the person the You Family brought back was merely someone who looked similar.

Some said You Sisi had changed her heart, that she had someone else out there!

Some said the You Family no longer wished to cozy up to the Seventh Prince, that this was a power game among the upper echelons.

With every sort of theory circulating, You Sisi—the once-exiled young lady of a great house who had been sent away from the capital to serve as a lowly clerk in some distant Green Office—suddenly found herself the talk of the town, so much so that even the recent rivalry between the 【Saintess】's tail and the 【Talented Woman】 Mu Liu was eclipsed by her.

The scandals of the Four Great Families were far more thrilling than the prodigy showdowns that came around every few years.

But no matter how the outsiders guessed, the You Family's intelligence leaked not a single whisper to the public.

(End of Chapter)