Chapter 74 - 73: Mutual Destruction
"If a single word of what happened today gets out, I’ll have your entire clan executed!"
Xia Wushang glared at his trusted Imperial Physician, his face a mask of fury.
The Imperial Physician kowtowed repeatedly. "Rest assured, Your Highness. I understand."
In the days that followed, everything in the Gold and Silver Palace appeared normal on the surface, but a dark undercurrent was surging in secret.
The search for the thief never stopped; in fact, even more manpower was dispatched. Secretly, however, a vast amount of resources was also being used to seek out famous physicians far and wide.
From the Capital City to the provinces, from the Xia Dynasty to the surrounding kingdoms... Xia Wushang sent men to consult any famous physician he could find, using every possible channel.
The results, however, were rather despairing. One after another, the famous physicians examined him, only to shake their heads and sigh. Among them were even a few who had treated Super Grade Celestial Humans, but they too were helpless.
More terrifyingly, as time went on, Xia Wushang began to feel his ’root’ growing softer and softer. It looked like he would soon have to squat to relieve himself.
Even his voice began to change, and his beard gradually stopped growing. At this rate, it wouldn’t be more than a few months before he became a genuine eunuch.
While searching for doctors and remedies, Xia Wushang also began to re-examine the theft from that night.
He who ties the bell must be the one to untie it. He suspected that the person who had attacked him must have the solution.
Xia Wushang summoned his Upper Three Grades experts and numerous Famous Constables, repeatedly questioning them about the details of that night in search of anything suspicious.
But no matter how he asked, the answer was always the same: they hadn’t found anything abnormal, nor had they detected even a trace of an unfamiliar aura.
"Unless it was a Grandmaster of the First Grade or higher—and one who is a master of Concealing and Evasion Skills at that—it would be absolutely impossible. It might have even been a Super Grade Celestial Human."
The Upper Three Grades experts stated this with certainty, and the Famous Constables agreed.
This conclusion made Xia Wushang even more convinced that the Third Prince was behind it. In the entire Imperial Palace, the only faction capable of commanding a Martial Artist of the First Grade or higher was likely the Northern Zhao Family.
Xia Wushang not only dispatched a large number of men to investigate Xia Wuchen but also launched his retaliation against him.
This wasn’t limited to economic pressure; he also resorted to some ruthless methods.
Soon, an important official from the Third Prince’s faction met with an "accident" on his way home and ended up dead in a river.
Afterward, one after another of the Northern Zhao Family’s businesses in the Capital City ran into trouble, and many of their treasures and resources were plundered.
Although these acts of revenge were covert, how could they possibly escape the notice of the Third Prince?
The Third Prince felt thoroughly wronged. If he had actually benefited, it would have been one thing, but he truly hadn’t stolen the Bone Marrow Cleansing Fruit and the Seven Hundred Year-Old Monkey Wine. How could he possibly tolerate such retaliation?
Soon, the Third Prince, Xia Wuchen, launched a fierce counterattack. The two sides immediately came to blows, clashing violently from within the palace to without. One after another, important members from both factions were killed.
Through the small animals in the palace, Xia Wuyang knew everything that was happening as if it were in the palm of his hand. Both the Third Prince, Xia Wuchen, and the Fifth Prince, Xia Wushang, were his enemies.
Now they were at each other’s throats, a classic dog-eat-dog situation. To him, any losses they suffered were a good thing. It also helped to conceal his own existence—killing several birds with one stone.
Everything was developing in his favor, and he could finally focus on his cultivation in peace. But there were always a few clowns who wouldn’t let him be.
Outside Wenhua Hall, Junior Commander Wang Heng rested his hand on the Waist Knife at his hip, carefully peering inside through a crack in the Sleeping Palace’s door.
Ever since that day he thought he saw the glimmer of Qi Blood on Xia Wuyang, Wang Heng had been on alert. He had been secretly spying these past few days, hoping to find definitive proof and claim a handsome reward from the Third Prince.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t found anything unusual since that day, which made him gradually start to wonder if he had really been mistaken.
But his innate Spiritual Power was strong, and he had never been wrong before. How could he be wrong this time?
’I should just observe for a while longer. I’m not doing anything else anyway. As the Third Prince’s hidden agent, my mission is to watch Xia Wuyang. What I’m doing now is just part of the job.’
What he didn’t know was that as Xia Wuyang’s Spiritual Power grew stronger, now exceeding one hundred and thirty points, the range of his Mental Force Field had also expanded to over one hundred and thirty meters.
Wang Heng, who had originally gone unnoticed, was now within Xia Wuyang’s detection range.
Although he had long known that Wenhua Hall was crawling with spies from other Princes and Princesses, there were very few as diligent as Wang Heng, who also seemed to have discovered something.
Seeing Wang Heng’s strange behavior, Xia Wuyang couldn’t resist using the Soul Capturing Technique to probe his surface thoughts. After several days of observation, he was stunned to learn that the man seemed to have noticed something was off about him.
And now he was acting so recklessly, relying on his strong innate Spirit and special ability in this area to grow ever more brazen.
If he let this continue, it would not only affect his cultivation but might also lead to a real discovery.
’This man cannot be allowed to live.’ Although Wenhua Hall was full of spies, many of whom Xia Wuyang was aware of, they were either incompetent or had long since stopped suspecting him. Even if he let them be, they posed no threat.
But Wang Heng was different. This man had truly noticed something and was in the process of verifying it.
’For my own safety, I must get rid of him.’
Inside the Sleeping Palace, Xia Wuyang accepted a grape from the cherry-like lips of a Qiuci Dancer. With a ripple of his Spiritual Power, he enveloped both Wang Heng and another spy—Song De, who worked for the Fifth Prince, Xia Wushang.
Song De was also a Junior Commander in Wenhua Hall, with a Power level similar to Wang Heng’s.
Under the influence of the Soul Capturing Technique, the two men unknowingly appeared before a flowerpot in Wenhua Hall. Just then, a small cat was digging around in the pot and accidentally unearthed a Jade Box buried inside.
The eyes of both Wang Heng and Song De lit up. They lunged for the Jade Box at the same time, tearing it in half and revealing several ten-thousand-tael silver notes inside.
A quick count revealed at least ten notes, totaling one hundred thousand taels of silver. Even for Martial Artists of the Middle Three Grades, this was a considerable fortune.
If they could use it properly, both of them could significantly increase their Power, perhaps even breaking through one or two of their bottlenecks.
Their pupils contracted as they both lunged for the silver notes.
At the same time, Xia Wuyang, lounging amidst soft jade and warm fragrance, channeled even more Spiritual Power into their minds.
Wang Heng suddenly drew his knife and thrust it toward Song De’s vital points in his chest and abdomen. "The silver notes are mine! Don’t even think about taking a single coin."
"I saw the silver notes first, so they naturally belong to me." Song De didn’t hold back either. A poisoned dagger slid from his sleeve, parrying Wang Heng’s strike.
The two immediately began to fight wildly, flashes of blades and shadows flickering as each tried to kill the other.