Chapter 11: The Emperor's Life is in Peril

The Soul-Devouring Curse is cast three times; by the third time, the Emperor will explode and die, his soul not even spared.

If things go as Qiao Niannian expects and the culprit casts the spell for the third time tonight, wouldn't the Emperor be doomed?

The Emperor grew anxious. "Nian-ya tou, is there a way to break it?"

The Supervisor also looked toward Qiao Niannian.

Qiao Niannian nodded. "There is a way to break it, but I need to borrow the Crown Prince for a while."

The Emperor glanced at Xia Rongyu, wondering what use his son could possibly be. But with his life on the line, he naturally agreed to whatever Qiao Niannian requested.

"Granted."

The Supervisor, acting like a curious child, stayed behind as well; he wanted to see exactly how Qiao Niannian intended to find the person behind this.

After all, in his view, this matter was extremely troublesome. If it were him, he wouldn't be confident in finding the culprit before the spell was completed.

In the afternoon, Qiao Niannian had nothing to do, so she simply asked the Emperor for a quiet room to prepare for drawing talismans.

The Emperor pointed out a room for her, and the Supervisor tried to follow, but the Emperor immediately called him back.

He didn't feel at ease staying in a place by himself; he needed someone to keep him company.

As for the Crown Prince, he had been "borrowed" by Qiao Niannian.

The Emperor had no time to think about the Crown Prince, but the Supervisor looked at him with a strange, suspicious expression. Could it be that the Crown Prince had immense talent for cultivation, and Qiao Niannian intended to teach him?

That couldn't be right!

Back then, when he first saw the Crown Prince, he had wanted to abduct him as an apprentice, but the Crown Prince had firmly refused, saying he had no interest in metaphysics.

Aside from talent, what was useful to practitioners of metaphysics was the dense purple aura on a person's body; absorbing a few breaths of it could greatly increase a practitioner's cultivation.

However, the Crown Prince possessed a treasure gifted by the Imperial Preceptor, said to be able to gather spiritual energy. Anyone who dared to covet the Crown Prince's spiritual energy would be attacked by it—those with high cultivation would have their cultivation scattered, and those with low cultivation would lose their lives.

The entire Great Xia Dynasty knew of this, as a very powerful cultivator had once been killed on the spot.

Qiao Niannian and Xia Rongyu entered the side hall, and the Head Eunuch consciously remained outside.

Qiao Niannian laid out the talisman paper and cinnabar. Before she began drawing, she made a request.

"Can the Crown Prince sit beside me?"

Her spiritual energy had only recovered to one or two tenths. If she were to draw high-level talismans, the consumption would be too great, and she wouldn't have the strength to catch the villain tonight.

Xia Rongyu knew that the purple aura on his body was attractive, but wasn't Qiao Niannian being a bit too direct?

"You like the purple aura on me, too?"

Qiao Niannian nodded. "I do."

She had never seen such a dense purple aura before; even the Emperor’s aura was not as heavy as Xia Rongyu’s.

"Do you want to absorb it?"

Qiao Niannian shook her head. "You must be wearing some kind of treasure that gathers spiritual energy. Being near you allows me to absorb spiritual energy faster, and with the blessing of your purple aura, it’s truly twice the result with half the effort."

"Drawing talismans requires spiritual energy. If I use up my own, I won't be able to catch the villain tonight."

Xia Rongyu took a jade pendant from his person. It was made of top-grade spiritual jade, and a defensive array for gathering spiritual energy was carved onto it with runes. If anyone tried to seize the spiritual energy on Xia Rongyu, the pendant would launch an attack.

Xia Rongyu weighed his own value and smiled.

"How about you agree to a request of mine?"

Qiao Niannian:...

Again?

But this time, she wasn't going to be so passive.

"Your Highness, the request doesn't matter. I just want to know, are you aware that your fate has been altered?"

Xia Rongyu’s expression shifted, his gaze turning sharp as he looked at Qiao Niannian. But upon meeting her calm little face, his expression softened. "You can tell?"

Qiao Niannian nodded. "I noticed something was wrong the first time we met, but my body was too weak at the time to do anything."

"Now, I can draw a peace talisman for you to protect you. As for the matter of your fate, that is more difficult to handle; I will have to wait until I have fully recovered."

Xia Rongyu’s fate had been altered shortly after he was born. His father had been furious and immediately summoned the Imperial Preceptor and the Supervisor of the Astronomical Bureau to the palace. The two of them had studied it for a long time before coming up with the array that gathered spiritual energy.

This array could nourish the purple aura on his body.

Strangely enough, as he grew older, his purple aura became increasingly dense, and the person behind it never made another move. However, everyone knew this was a hidden bomb that could explode at any moment.

Because of his health, his father doted on him excessively.

Only the Emperor, the Empress, the Imperial Preceptor, and the Supervisor knew about this.

Qiao Niannian was the sixth person.

And she said she could help him.

The Supervisor could do nothing about his fate, and the Imperial Preceptor had scoured countless ancient texts to no avail, eventually leaving the capital to seek answers.

Yet Qiao Niannian, a little girl, claimed she could help him.

It was an unbelievable thing, yet he found himself believing her.

Xia Rongyu walked over and sat beside Qiao Niannian, fiddling with the jade pendant as he watched her draw.

Qiao Niannian became instantly focused, mobilizing her spiritual energy to begin.

The first one was the protective talisman Xia Rongyu needed.

After finishing, Qiao Niannian folded the talisman and handed it to him.

The moment he touched the talisman, his body, which was always tinged with a chill, felt as if it had been submerged in a hot spring; he felt comfortable all over.

Qiao Niannian didn't look at him, continuing to draw.

This time, it wasn't just peace and protective talismans, but other types as well.

Qiao Niannian drew for half an hour, finishing over a dozen talismans.

It wasn't that she didn't want to draw more, but the paper provided by the Supervisor had run out.

Once finished, Qiao Niannian simply began to cultivate her spiritual energy.

Xia Rongyu was bored, so Qiao Niannian kindly offered, "How about I teach you how to cultivate?"

With a spiritual-gathering array in his hands, his cultivation would definitely be twice as effective.

Xia Rongyu shook his head. "No interest."

As someone who didn't know how much longer he had to live, why would he bother with that?

Although Qiao Niannian said she could help him, and he believed her, he couldn't help but consider: what if something happened to him before she recovered her cultivation?

Qiao Niannian didn't say much more, just feeling that such great talent was a pity.

After meditating for a full hour and a half, Qiao Niannian’s spiritual energy had recovered quite a bit; it was now at three-tenths.

If she could stay by the Crown Prince's side all day, she might recover in a month.

If she relied on herself alone, it would take at least half a year to a year.

That was the difference.

Dinner was still eaten with the Emperor, but the Emperor had something on his mind and no appetite, putting down his chopsticks after only a few bites.

Xia Rongyu ate his normal portion.

Qiao Niannian and the Supervisor ate until their mouths were oily.

Xia Rongyu watched the two of them, inexplicably feeling that they ate in a similar way—both of them seemed to wish they had two stomachs, and even when they were full, they still stared longingly at the food.

One old, one young, their expressions were identical.

After the meal and a short rest, Qiao Niannian handed the peace talisman over and told the Emperor to prepare for sleep.

The Emperor:...

His mental fortitude wasn't that strong!

Knowing full well that he might explode and die tonight, who could possibly sleep?

Qiao Niannian waved her hand, and a talisman sank into the center of the Emperor's brow. The next moment, the Emperor closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.