Chapter Eleven: Recruitment!

“Master??”

This time, Chen Xiao hesitated to approach. Earlier, when Master Tian lost control, Chen Xiao had rushed forward, confident that nothing serious would happen. His concern then was partly to gain favor—after all, a first-rank sorcerer wouldn’t so easily falter, right?

But now it was different. If there was a real chance of losing control, caution was necessary. First-rank sorcerers often carried bound malevolent spirits; if they lost control, those spirits could be even more dangerous than the sorcerer himself.

But what exactly was going on?

Master Tian had been a first-rank sorcerer for over twenty years, recognized for his Eye Spirit Technique—a well-practiced art. How could it backfire so severely?

Before Chen Xiao could figure it out, within a few breaths, Master Tian’s eyes bulged open, and he collapsed like a dried corpse. The hollow sockets of his eyes were terrifying to behold. None dared approach, including Chen Xiao. Then, with a deafening boom, Master Tian’s body exploded, his withered fragments scattering across the ground.

“Sir... let’s retreat?” The guards shielding Chen Xiao urged hastily.

Chen Xiao clenched his teeth, his face darkening.

Tian Ye was the only sorcerer among them. The Crown Prince’s safety was paramount; all sorcerers remained behind to protect him. Without their sole sorcerer, navigating this eerie painting market would be nearly impossible. The real question was: how had their opponent set this trap? Tian Ye was a first-rank sorcerer with over two decades of experience—how could he simply vanish like that? Even if they all escaped unscathed, how would they explain this?

“Who are you? What are you doing here?”

A familiar voice interrupted Chen Xiao’s thoughts. He immediately signaled his men: “Do not attack!”

The newcomer wore a green official robe, his features delicate and youthful—just barely in his twenties. Wasn’t he the magistrate of Fuchun County? Why had he returned? And where were the Third Prince and the others?

It was Zhang Rui, the very magistrate who had left but now come back. His return was meant to verify his suspicions, but he hadn’t expected to find a group of furtive individuals here.

“Who are you? What are you doing outside Master Qian’s residence?” Zhang Rui demanded, righteous but shrinking obediently behind Murong Yunji.

Chen Xiao composed himself, stepped forward, and looked at Zhang Rui with a flicker of doubt in his eyes. But more than the magistrate, his attention was drawn to the strange little girl in front of him. She looked no older than six or seven, yet held a slender black sword. Chen Xiao recalled the severed heads scattered in the dark alley they had just passed—the cuts had seemed unnatural before. Now he understood why: the sword that made those cuts was unusually thin.

Realization dawned, and his heart leapt in alarm. The swordsmanship expert was a mere child?

“Greetings, Lord Zhang. I am Chen Xiao, an aide of the Crown Prince’s household.” Chen Xiao glanced at Zhang Rui, then at the peculiar girl, finally biting his lip and admitting, “We came from Beihai but accidentally wandered into this painting market.”

“An aide of the Crown Prince’s household?” Zhang Rui’s heart skipped. Was this all connected to the Crown Prince’s sudden death?

“You recognize me?” Zhang Rui quickly realized that although the other party introduced themselves, he had never met them before. Yet they addressed him respectfully as “Lord Zhang.”

“I heard Lord Tian Ye mention your name…” Chen Xiao replied cautiously.

He wanted to know which side this mysterious magistrate belonged to.

“So that Tian fellow is actually part of the Crown Prince’s household?” Zhang Rui was stunned, realizing he had misunderstood the situation.

“Lord Zhang didn’t know?” Chen Xiao’s mind stirred. Though skeptical, he pressed on, “Master Tian has been a distinguished guest of the Crown Prince’s household for many years. This is common knowledge in official circles.”

“Ah... I’ve only recently taken office and am stationed in this remote area, so I was unaware.” Zhang Rui quickly asked, “What about Master Tian?”

“Master Tian...” After a quarter of an hour listening to their account, Zhang Rui began to grasp the situation.

“You mean the Crown Prince ran into trouble in Beihai, and Master Tian came to assist. You hadn’t gone far before being pulled back into the painting market, and Master Tian just died?” Zhang Rui found it hard to believe, but the corpse’s clothing did match Tian’s.

“Yes...” Chen Xiao answered sincerely. “We saw you from afar earlier, Lord Zhang, with the Third Prince’s group and didn’t dare approach. After you left, we found Master Qian’s entire family wiped out. Knowing you lingered here so long, we asked Master Tian to use his powers to investigate. We didn’t expect... this outcome.”

“Why return here? You said you were in Heishui County earlier.”

“Master Tian said the scroll is with you, and the female painted skin from that scroll escaped the painting market. There might be a way to leave quickly.”

“I see...” Zhang Rui stroked his chin, finding this plausible. Then he looked again at the spot where Master Tian died, brow furrowed.

He had assumed Tian was a conspirator, but instead, he had been a mere pawn—and now he was dead?

“Is Master Tian’s technique particularly risky?” Zhang Rui asked.

Zhang Rui was familiar with many things in this world—painting markets, painted skin ghosts, malevolent spirits—all fitting his discarded manuscript’s setting. But sorcerers were not part of his original story, so he knew little of their arts.

“All techniques carry risk, but Master Tian’s Eye Spirit Technique was his specialty. It shouldn’t have backfired so badly. We suspect other causes.”

“Most drownings happen to those who can swim,” Zhang Rui sighed. “Maybe Master Tian was too confident and lost his caution. You said his Eye Spirit Technique reveals information about the deceased’s life?”

“Yes, it is invaluable. That’s why we urgently summoned him—to find the culprit who framed the Crown Prince.”

“I see...” Zhang Rui nodded. “If that’s the case, it’s quite possible he was set up.” Thinking so, he instinctively stepped away from Tian’s death site. Who knew what else lurked there?

He was also puzzled whether Master Qian was involved in all this.

“Lord Zhang, this place is dangerous. Let’s discuss matters inside the night market.”

“Agreed...”

The group was already unnerved here. Upon hearing they could leave, the guards relaxed and escorted Chen Xiao toward the light.

“Lord Zhang, would you be willing to help us?” Chen Xiao asked bluntly on the way.

Zhang Rui paused.

“We are at our wit’s end,” Chen Xiao said softly. “The Crown Prince is in constant danger in Beihai. Master Tian is dead, and we know nothing of the painting market—it’s a dead end.”

“Is this your first time meeting me?” Zhang Rui looked at him. “Aren’t you afraid I might be on the opposing side?”

“Lord Zhang probably isn’t...” Chen Xiao shook his head.

“Why?”

“Master Tian said the scroll you carry is the key to leaving here. Now that Master Tian is dead, without any information about the painting market, if you ignore us, we’re doomed. There’s no reason to seek us out or flaunt the key.” Chen Xiao gestured to the scroll Zhang Rui held.

“I believe your return was accidental. For us, any chance is worth grasping.”

Trouble had indeed found them...

Zhang Rui sighed. Since learning that Master Tian belonged to the Crown Prince’s household, he knew there was no avoiding this. If the Crown Prince still died, as the emperor’s final tyranny suggested, Zhang Rui himself, as the magistrate who held the scroll, would most likely face extermination.

Resolved, he looked up at the group claiming allegiance to the Crown Prince. “I must know the Crown Prince’s current condition before deciding whether to help you.”

“Agreed!”

---------------------------------------------------

“Why doesn’t Your Highness stay with the magistrate? It seems safer in the night market.”

After leaving the night market, Qin Fang remained close to the Third Prince. The group carried protective lamps purchased with the life essence of two guards, calmly tracking Master Qian’s trail.

“That magistrate is too strange, and there are people you fear around him. Wouldn’t it be safer to keep distance?” Li Yu asked.

“I saw Your Highness talking amiably with him. I thought you intended to recruit him.”

“Only a fool would recruit someone so suspicious.” The Third Prince yawned. “People are always more dangerous than ghosts. Didn’t you teach me that, Eunuch Qin?”

Qin Fang nodded silently, sharing the sentiment. He, too, distrusted the magistrate but also disapproved of venturing into the dark wilderness beyond the night market.

“Stop...” Suddenly, Qin Fang looked ahead and ordered the guard tracking the trail with the lamp to halt.

“Sir?” The guard turned, confused.

Qin Fang took a breath, and the protective lamp’s flame flared violently, restoring their vision. They saw a chilling scene hundreds of meters away.

A cluster of green-eyed painted skin ghosts surrounded a woman clutching a child. The tracks showed it wasn’t Master Qian who fled from his home to outside the night market, but this woman.

She sat in the center, her neck severed, head missing, yet she cradled her child. Beside her, a small painted skin ghost in a long robe gnawed at what must be her severed head. Upon closer look, the child in her arms also had glowing green eyes, and though newborn, it emitted a beastly roar, feasting on its mother’s intestines!

The Third Prince instinctively stepped back. Though he had seen malevolent spirits before, this scene unsettled even him.

“Cui... Cui Yan?” Xia Xuezhou collapsed to the ground, pale as death. He stared fixedly at the painted skin ghost devouring the woman’s head—Master Qian himself!

“You haven’t called me that name in a long time...” Master Qian grinned, his bloodied mouth making the smile grotesque. “Lord Xia, long time no see.”