The shopkeeper hurriedly grabbed a shovel and dug through the piled-up snow.
Beneath the snow, there truly was a corpse, frozen stiff.
"Q-Quick, report this to the authorities..."
A death in front of the shop had left the shopkeeper utterly panic-stricken.
The corpse lay face down, arms stretched forward, fingers clawing desperately at the ground.
He had struggled to crawl forward, fighting for his life, trying to seek help from the shopkeeper, but by the time he reached this spot, his strength had run out, and he had frozen to death.
He had only been a few steps away from the bun shop.
Yet those few steps had been as insurmountable as a chasm.
The shopkeeper steadied himself, gathered his courage, and crouched down to brush the ice and snow from the corpse. Seeing the man's beggar-like appearance, he let out a soft sigh. "It's really Old Qi... No wonder I didn't see him this morning..."
Qin Sang squeezed through the crowd that had gathered, and quietly slipped away.
...
The capital of Guyuan Kingdom.
Inside the imperial palace.
On this snowy night, the emperor's sleeping quarters remained brightly lit, exuding a faint warmth.
"Get out!"
A sudden roar shattered the night's silence.
Bang!
A palace maid, carrying a tray with a bowl of medicinal soup, had the entire tray flung across the room by the bedridden emperor of the Guyuan Kingdom.
Soup splattered everywhere, filling the sleeping quarters with a pungent medicinal stench.
The palace maid fell hard to the ground, the blackened soup soaking her body. Pale-faced, she knelt trembling on the floor.
"Damn me! Damn me!"
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger!"
...
In the blink of an eye, everyone present had fallen to their knees, black figures dotting the floor.
On the imperial bed, the emperor of the Guyuan Kingdom flung aside his thin quilt and tried to get up. But his sickly body could no longer support such a movement. He toppled sideways, and if not for a quick-handed palace maid catching him, he would have crashed head first to the ground.
The emperor shoved the maid aside and struggled several times but could not manage to rise.
At this moment, the emperor of the Guyuan Kingdom appeared utterly disheveled, his hair hanging loose in wild disorder, his figure pitifully wretched.
Leaning over the bed like a madman, he pointed at a richly dressed young man standing nearby and roared hoarsely.
"Go... Go once more to Xianglong Mountain and beg the immortal master! As long as... as long as he can cure me, can grant me longevity, I am willing to offer up half of my kingdom, to share glory and riches with the immortal master..."
The young man he pointed at was none other than the current heir to the emperor.
The heir crawled to the side of the bed and spoke softly, "Father, please do not worry. I will go to Xianglong Mountain immediately, kneel, and beg the immortal master. If the immortal master refuses to appear, I will kneel until he does. I will surely invite the immortal master down the mountain and have him cure your illness..."
"Longevity! I want longevity!"
The emperor slammed the edge of the bed hard, his eyes bloodshot, glaring terrifyingly at the young man.
Shaohua Mountain had strict rules forbidding immortal cultivators from meddling in mortal affairs.
And Guyuan Kingdom was a small and weak nation, its emperor not even worthy of Shaohua Mountain's notice.
The heir dared not defy him, doing his best to soothe, "Yes, yes... I will surely ask the immortal master for the method of attaining longevity..."
"Then what are you waiting for!"
Only then did the emperor temporarily calm down.
The heir and the assembled officials all withdrew from the emperor's sleeping quarters.
With the emperor gravely ill, the heir oversaw the affairs of the state. However, he did not immediately set off for Xianglong Mountain. Instead, he returned to his study, dismissed everyone, and sat alone on the dragon throne[1]. Without touching pen or ink, he sat there in deep thought, his brows furrowed.
Just then, the door creaked open.
The wind stirred the candle flame.
A general, clad in armor, slipped inside and spoke urgently. "Your Highness, do you truly intend to obey His Majesty's decree, and hand over half of the Guyuan Kingdom to that so-called immortal?"
The heir answered coldly, "Uncle, are you suggesting that I defy the imperial decree, and become a traitor guilty of disloyalty and unfilial conduct?"
"I dare not!"
The general strode forward, his burly figure blocking the candlelight, casting the heir's face into shadow.
"The late emperor ruled through filial piety, but he was no fool. I have just interrogated the imperial physician—His Majesty’s illness is terminal, and his mind has already fallen into confusion. The imperial physician says this is a case of hysteria. Coincidentally, I know of a divine doctor among mortals, a man famed across the martial world for using liquor as medicine. He happens to be a guest at my residence right now. He can brew a kind of wine that is colorless and tasteless, and it can cure this affliction..."
The general’s voice dropped lower and lower.
After a long while, the heir slowly closed his eyes and nodded slightly. "Do it."
...