Chapter Seventeen: Uncertainties...

“All the night markets seem to be finished...” Li Yu glanced at Zhang Rui, who was marking the locations on the scroll, and said softly, “Are you sure it’s still useful to record these night market locations?”

Through the long night, to avoid those painting spirits, they should have sought a remote place to hide. But according to Zhang Rui’s requirement, they must find the locations of all five night markets to discover the way out.

By now, they had passed the third one. Like the first two, the scene was utterly grisly: the living inside had met a tragic end, with bones scattered everywhere and corpses drained of blood. Severed heads were gnawed beyond recognition. This scene was far more chilling than a battlefield.

“The life-preserving lamps can be extinguished with ghost blood, but the lights of the night markets cannot...” Zhang Rui shook his head. “So even if those beings strike, they only do so after the market closes. This means the night market rules still cannot be forcibly violated by them, which also indicates that the paths the night markets open cannot be blocked by them.”

“If they can’t block them, they could ambush in advance,” Li Yu countered, shaking his head. “This massacre is premeditated. They won’t allow a single survivor to leave the painted market.”

“Your Highness, do you know something?” Chen Xiao asked with a frown.

Li Yu did not respond. The royal family had been infiltrated; among his brothers, there was likely a painted demon. Such a royal scandal was not something a mere advisor of the Crown Prince’s residence was qualified to know.

If he could get out, he must return to expose that creature; if not, none of these people before him deserved to know the royal disgrace before death.

Yet, he struggled to guess which of his brothers was the one controlling the painting spirits.

The emperor had many sons; currently eleven princes had survived childhood, nine of whom had reached adulthood. Excluding the Crown Prince and himself, the other princes generally showed no great ambition.

The reason was simple: his eldest brother’s position was so secure there was no chance otherwise. Even as the only son of the Noble Consort, he had never dreamed of usurping his eldest brother’s place. Though dissatisfied deep down, he knew there was no possibility.

The emperor had established the heir early and had no suspicion of the Crown Prince. The ministers were all paving the way for the heir, never once glancing at the other princes. Under such circumstances, which prince would dare show even a hint of ambition?

Yet the more this was so, the deeper the painted demon was likely hiding...

“Let’s go. We must find all five night market locations before dawn,” Zhang Rui said after marking the spot.

“Why must it be before dawn?” Li Yu asked curiously.

“Your Highness, the night market’s location isn’t fixed. Every dawn, a new fire is lit somewhere else, and those who find it use the fire to form that day’s night market. This fire actually comes from outside the painted world. If we can predict its location, we can find a newly burned path out,” Zhang Rui explained.

“Fire comes from outside the painted world?” Li Yu’s curiosity deepened. “Where does it come from?”

Others were also intrigued. They had heard legends of the night market, but this explanation from the county magistrate was new to them.

“Evil spirits face minor calamities every century and great calamities every millennium...” Zhang Rui murmured, recalling his earlier concepts when he created the night market. “Any evil spirit surpassing a certain age is constrained by Heaven. Originally, the night market was a painting spirit that had lived hundreds of years. Fearing the impending millennial calamity, it hid within the painting paper of another spirit to mask its aura.”

“But they found that when a painting spirit enters another’s world, their auras overlap, confusing the calamity. Inspired, that spirit gathered other century-old great spirits to form a world, continuously devouring others, eventually forming the present night market.”

Zhang Rui’s words stunned everyone around, including Li Yu, who widened his eyes. In his youth, when he was close to the Crown Prince, they had secretly read the founding emperor’s notes, which contained much about the night market. But none had mentioned this; he even doubted the founding emperor knew it.

So why did Zhang Rui know? It sounded as if he had been personally involved...

“This invading fire is divine punishment, but it cannot target specific points, so it burns through a few passages and then stops spreading. The remaining traces are discovered by passing living beings, which form the night markets.”

“I see...” Qin Fang nodded at Zhang Rui. “So that’s how the night market was born. Quite enlightening, Lord Zhang is truly learned...”

Li Yu also said, “This is the first time I’ve heard this. Lord Zhang, where did you learn such secrets?”

“By chance...” Zhang Rui replied faintly.

Li Yu did not press further but analyzed what concerned him most. “Since the fire comes from outside, its location is uncertain. If the owner of the painted world doesn’t know where the fire will appear, we might reach the spot first and escape before they can ambush. But... can it be predicted?”

He hesitated, glancing at Zhang Rui. This mysterious county magistrate seemed to know many secrets. But if even the master of the painted world could not predict, how could Zhang Rui?

“It should be possible...” Zhang Rui’s voice showed the first hint of uncertainty.

Everyone looked at him, thinking it was modesty. Chen Xiao smiled first. “Lord Zhang is extraordinary, truly our benefactor.”

Li Yu nodded. “If Lord Zhang can lead me out, I will owe him my life. Whenever he calls, I will not refuse.”

“Ahem... Your Highness is too kind,” Zhang Rui coughed lightly and bowed. “You are of royal blood. As your servant, it is my duty to aid you. No need for thanks; it is my responsibility.”

He spoke sincerely. He truly did not want any involvement with this guy before him, who had tried to steal his father’s woman—even though this pervert was his own creation.

And another thing... he didn’t have complete confidence.

When he designed the night market, the book was abandoned early on. At that time, he had ideas about how to escape but hadn’t written them down. That draft contained no method for predicting the market’s exit in advance.

What puzzled him now was whether the current rules of the night market were based on that abandoned draft or on the ideas he had in his mind then.

If the latter, he could estimate the exit now; if the former...

Zhang Rui looked down at his nails, noticing the skin near them had darkened.

Recalling Li Yu’s earlier words, he smiled faintly to himself. Perhaps... his time was running out...

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“Your Highness, truly leave no one alive?”

In a ruined corner of the painted market, countless painting spirits knelt like a tidal sea. Those entitled to stand supported a young man who paced calmly.

“What’s the matter?” The young lord’s eyes shone bright like the moon—unlike Murong Yunji’s green, his were deep black like humans’.

“The noble families have invested heavily. This action may provoke backlash...” a subordinate spirit explained cautiously.

Since the founding emperor’s brutal slaughter of painting spirits, the painted market had been a forbidden domain for the royal Li family. Even when the emperor was alive, powerful clans dared to risk entering, drawn by the vast interests inside—the allure of longevity and preserved youth.

The main reason was that the market still upheld strict rules: no matter who or what took essence and blood here, it belonged to them. This fairness was why the clans tolerated and even sheltered the market’s growth.

But now... they had broken the rules and carried out a mass harvest. Although this reaped plenty of essence and blood and produced many high-quality painting spirits in the short term, it was like killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. Once rules were broken, the clans would surely retaliate furiously, and trust would vanish. Few would dare enter the market again.

“No matter...” The young lord smiled indifferently and stretched out a jade-like hand. The essence and blood of the entire market converged into a giant blood-red crystal.

“What we do is a world-upending act, a new era replacing the old. Once the old generations of clans are gone, who will care about such losses?”

“Master speaks truly!” Several spirits behind nodded repeatedly.

“But Master, the Third Prince Li Yu has seemingly disappeared. Could it be...”

“All exits are blocked. He can’t get out...” another large painting spirit rumbled.

Mentioning this, the jade-like lord frowned slightly.

He hadn’t expected that arrogant third brother of his to have such intelligence—knowing that drinking ghost blood could erase one’s aura. Even the founding emperor might not have known that.

Yet this posed little problem. If ghost blood wasn’t expelled within four hours, one would become a painting spirit. The thought of his proud third brother becoming one was somewhat intriguing.

“There is another trouble...” a subordinate spoke.

“The sword immortal, you mean?” the lord asked.

“Yes, Master.” An aged spirit whispered. “Her will has existed in the painted spirit world for a very long time, surviving the eras of three ancestors. Her will does not decay over a millennium, but unexpectedly, she was awakened by a living person. That person... is no ordinary being. She will be a great trouble.”

“No matter...” The lord spoke coldly. “Whoever it is, I will not let anyone escape this time. Be it my royal brother or that mysteriously appearing sword immortal, none shall stand in the way of my clan!”