Chapter 8

Chapter 8

At my words, the man looked as if he had been struck by lightning. He froze on the spot, unable to recover for a long while.

“Your… Your Majesty…”

“That light is…”

I waved my hand, cutting him off.

“I was just curious. It was a casual question.”

A moment later, it seemed as if he had reached some sort of realization. With a loud thud, he fell to his knees again, his eyes shining brightly as he looked at me.

“As expected of Your Majesty! Your thoughts and considerations are beyond those of ordinary men. Your Majesty must intend to first observe the enemy’s vital points, then pay them back in their own coin-striking where they are unprepared and seizing the initiative. Brilliant! Truly marvelous!”

Well, if that’s how you want to think, there’s nothing I can do about it.

I remained silent for a moment, looking at the man while biting back my words.

“Rise.”

He was… a talent of sorts.

I thought for a moment and asked him, “Can you calculate the location of that shadow?”

He shook his head, a bitter expression on his face.

Seeing this, I dismissed him.

It wasn’t as if I had gained nothing.

From his mystical, long-winded, and nonsensical rambling, I had managed to grasp the gist of it.

Che’er was still there.

As long as I had a direction, things were manageable.

I immediately summoned people to find those proficient in Yin-Yang and the Eight Trigrams.

With a heavy reward offered, brave souls were bound to appear.

And indeed, I managed to find a few people with some genuine skill.

They said that all things have a fixed destiny; the ebb and flow of one is the growth of another-this is the principle of Yin and Yang. To weaken the darkness, one must make the light even brighter. By the same logic, if one wishes for the darkness to increase, it can only be achieved by weakening the light.

In short: if I am weak, Che’er will be strong.

Someone offered a method called the Blood Curse, which could transfer the essence I released into Che’er’s body.

Inside the secret chamber, I had already made my preparations.

I only had to wait for the appointed hour to make the incision and draw blood.

My remains on the ice crystal bed were still in their original state.

As I watched, a sliver of worry crept into my mind. If Che’er woke up and found himself in my body, would he be terrified?

Furthermore, if anyone saw him, they would surely say I had come back from the dead. What would I do then?

Before I could untangle these troublesome questions, I heard a call.

It carried a slight tremor. “Father…”

I immediately turned to look at the dagger resting nearby. Was it really this effective? I hadn’t even started drawing blood yet.

I rubbed my eyes and leaned closer to the ice crystal bed.

“Che’er?”

But the person on the bed did not move.

I pinched my brow. It was probably a hallucination. I had spent these past few days listening to those Taoists argue in riddles; it wasn’t just the noise, it was mostly the mental exhaustion.

I had no idea where they had studied; not a single one of them spoke like a normal human being.

The time was almost right. I picked up the dagger, preparing to slit my wrist.

At that moment, an anxious cry echoed in my mind.

“Father, don’t!”

This time, I was certain I had heard it.