Gyeongryeong Palace
I ignored his grip on my hand and asked, looking down, "Didn't your mother pass away early?"
“Yes,” Ah Shi nodded, “When my mother was still alive, I lived with her in Qingli Palace.”
The little imp standing to the side pointed at Ah Shi and interjected, "You're that little prince from Qingli Palace?"
"What?" Ah Shi looked over. "You know me?"
Curious, I asked the kid, "Do you know him?"
“I don’t know him,” the kid shook his head. “I’ve only heard of him.”
I casually asked, "What have you heard of him?"
Unexpectedly, the little devil opened his dark eyes, looked at me, and said, "Remember to bring me candy." Then he jumped into the well and disappeared.
I raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. At this point, Ah Shi was no longer afraid and hurriedly lay down by the well and shouted at it, "What do you know about me?"
The "ah" echoed down the mountainside, disappearing at the very bottom, and the little devil never reappeared. I pulled Ah Shi along and continued forward: "Let's go, there are still so many places to patrol..."
"Oh," he said, his attention successfully diverted, and he nervously followed me as I continued my inspection, still holding my hand...
Nothing unusual happened in the latter half of the night, and it passed peacefully. As dawn approached, I took A-Shi back to the Imperial Observatory. A-Shi's back was soaked with cold sweat. He waved to me and murmured, "I need to rest." Then he floated back to his room.
I sat back down in the recliner under the eaves; the supervisor wasn't there. I thought for a moment and then pulled the thick blanket on the recliner over myself... Indeed, I really did look too much like a human.
As I was falling asleep, a question popped into my head: I don't feel cold at all, so why am I still using this thick blanket? Is this some kind of obsession?
I don't know when I fell asleep. When I woke up again, I heard my own answer: Maybe.
Then I looked to the side, and the supervisor was still drinking tea. The rising steam followed the tea as he drank it, and then he let out a loud "Ah!" which made me smack my lips.
At that moment, the young man directly opposite the station warden turned pale. He glanced at me, unconsciously took a step back, and asked the warden, "Was that skeleton over there moved?"
“Skeleton?” I immediately straightened up and retorted, “You’re the skeleton, your whole family is skeleton.”
The young man's face paled even more upon hearing my words, while the supervisor chuckled again: "Haha, little Xu Yi is back again?"
I didn't refute it, but Ah Shi, who had just arrived, walked over in a dozen steps. As if to show that he wasn't afraid, he deliberately got close to me and called out, "Auntie, you're awake?"
The young man opposite the supervisor, upon hearing Ah Shi call me aunt, also cupped his hands in apology and said, "Auntie, I'm sorry..."
“He’s my nephew, you’re not, so why are you calling him that?” I interrupted him: “Call me Little White Bone.”
"Oh, oh," he quickly corrected himself, "Little... Senior White Bone, I'm sorry for offending you just now, I hope you won't hold it against me."
"Hmm," I mumbled a perfunctory "Hmm," "Don't make a fuss about it in the future."
"Alright, alright," the man replied repeatedly before saying to the supervisor, "Supervisor, I'll take my leave now."
The supervisor waved his hand dismissively and said, "Go ahead."
After the young man left, the supervisor told me, "That one was sent back by the Five Netherworlds Sect..."
One sentence reminded me of Wu Zi again, but I rationally didn't ask any more questions, and just said "hmm" to indicate that I had heard it.
The supervisor leaned back in his chair with a leisurely air, closed his eyes, and began humming an unknown tune, seemingly in a very good mood.
I looked at Ah Shi and said, "It's already broad daylight, let's go take another look at Qingli Palace."
"Huh?" Ah Shi exclaimed in surprise: "Going again?"
"It's already dawn, what's there to be afraid of? Let's go." I grabbed Ah Shi by the collar and left. Behind me, the warden's little tune seemed to be humming even more cheerfully...
Since it was daytime, I put on my light blue dress, mask, and gloves before I left, so that nothing seemed out of the ordinary from a distance.
Unexpectedly, the palace during the day was even more difficult to navigate than the palace at night.
At each gate we passed, the guards would interrogate us with a barrage of questions, from what we were doing to when we would return, and only after answering all of them would they reluctantly let us through.
After being interrogated like this four or five times, I was really fed up. I called out to Ah Shi, "Ah Shi, let's not go anymore, let's go back."
"Huh?" Ah Shi smiled at the soldier in front of him twice before running up to me in small steps: "What's wrong, Auntie? Why aren't you going?"
"Let's not go, let's go back and rest."
A-Shi glanced at the soldiers over there, then at me: "Does Auntie think it's too complicated? That's how it is in the palace, we'll just have to bear with it."
"No need, let's go straight back."
After saying that, I took the lead and went straight back. I ignored the few doors that had questioned us earlier and just pulled Ah Shi over there.
When I returned to the Imperial Observatory, I sat back down in the recliner and said to the Director, "Director, how can the Imperial Observatory be the only one patrolling the palace? We should patrol together with the Imperial Guards. You submitted a memorial stating that the Imperial Observatory has suffered too many personnel losses and that the patrols are not going well, and that the Imperial Guards should patrol together at night."
"Oh?" The supervisor asked me with an "oh," "What's wrong, Xu Yi? Are you annoyed by the Imperial Guards' questions?"
“Some pains you won’t know until you experience them yourself.” I looked at the Director of the Imperial Observatory: “It’s time to let the court see what the Imperial Observatory has actually been protecting for them.”
The supervisor's brow twitched, and he advised me, "Little Xu, ordinary people are ignorant and will naturally miss many things. If we ourselves cannot see clearly, then where do we place those ordinary people?"
“If we don’t let them see clearly today, they’ll ask you tomorrow where the ghosts are? Why didn’t I see them?” I turned and looked directly at the Director of the Imperial Observatory: “In the end, they will ask whether the existence of the Imperial Observatory is even meaningful.”
“This…” the supervisor paused, “But this… is completely different from the essence of cultivation.”
"The Imperial Observatory is said to be a place of cultivation, but it is indeed located in the mortal world. There is no problem with abiding by the rules of the mortal world."
After a long pause, the supervisor nodded: "Alright, I'll go write the report. These responsibilities should eventually be handed over to you young people..."
The Director of the Imperial Observatory acted swiftly, and the imperial edict ordering the Imperial Guards and the Imperial Observatory to conduct a joint inspection was issued that same day.
That evening, I changed the patrol route of the Imperial Observatory, dividing them into different teams. The teams with Imperial Guards cleverly avoided Qingli Palace, and I also had people set up a formation outside Qingli Palace early on to ensure that the palace maid ghost inside could not get out.
The first night passed peacefully without any major problems. On the second night, the Imperial Guards seemed to hear something when they passed by Gyeongryeong Palace. On the third night, perhaps because I hadn't shown my face for several days, the people at Gyeongryeong Palace became active again, squatting at the gate and watching the Imperial Guards outside. A few of them seemed to see something, but most of them didn't notice.
After five days of such patrols, something happened to the Imperial Guards.
First, some people fell into a deep sleep, their high fever persisting. Then more and more people fell into a deep sleep, and I couldn't help but become suspicious. When Ah Shi and I arrived at the Imperial Guards' quarters, the scene was one of utter despair…
The leader of the Imperial Guards had already gathered the unconscious people into a room. I told Ah Shi to wait for me outside, and went in alone.
As soon as I entered, I smelled a strong ghostly aura. The people who were sleeping had wisps of black ghostly energy wrapped around them... I recognized this ghostly aura; it was the aura of the palace maids of Qingli Palace.
I've already ordered Qingli Palace sealed off; she definitely can't escape. These patrolling imperial guards only pass by Qingli Palace at most; how could so many of them be affected by ghostly energy?
Could it be that the formation has weakened?
I didn't waste any more time and called Ah Shi in to exorcise the ghostly energy from them. After the unconscious people woke up groggily, I had the doctor treat their bodies and prescribe some medicine. Seeing that things were almost settled here, I was anxious to go to Qingli Palace to see what was going on. I strode out the door, but I was stopped by someone as soon as I reached the entrance.
Before me stood a splendidly dressed general, his sharp eyes fixed on me. He held a sword in his hand, blocking my path, and asked, "Who are you?"
"The Little White Bone of the Imperial Observatory".
"The Imperial Observatory?" Upon hearing "Imperial Observatory," the man lowered the sword he was using to block me. "Have you seen the soldiers inside?"
"You seem quite concerned about your subordinates, huh?" I said, stepping aside as I walked out. "They're all fine now. Most of them have woken up. They just need some rest and recuperation."
Unexpectedly, he stopped me again: "Where are you rushing off to, cultivator?"
I was already in a hurry, and my tone wasn't good: "I have other things to do, how many times do I need to say it?"
He looked at me and raised an eyebrow: "You seem to have a bit of a temper?"
"I have a bad temper? Fine, if you want to know, I'll take you there. I'm going to check if the seal on the Imperial Observatory has loosened. If the general has nothing else to do, he can come along too."
“Alright, then I’ll go with you, young lady.”
I took a step forward, and behind me came Ah Shi's voice chasing after me: "Auntie, wait for me, wait for me."
The general bowed to A-Shi and greeted him, "Tenth Prince."
"Ah, ah! No need for formalities." Ah Shi waved his hand and quickly walked to my side: "Auntie, where are you going?"
"I'm going to Qingli Palace." I raised an eyebrow at him. "What? You're going?"
"Huh?" Ah Shi's eyes flickered: "I... I can also not go."
Knowing he wouldn't go, I nodded: "Then you should go back to the Imperial Observatory first. Don't make any rash moves. I'll rearrange the evening patrol when I get back." I looked at the Imperial Guards resting in the courtyard behind me: "Let the Imperial Guards rest for the next few days. They don't need to come along on patrol."
“Okay,” Ah Shi nodded, “Then I’ll go back to the Imperial Observatory and wait for my aunt.”
"Okay," I nodded and strode out of the yard.
Unexpectedly, the general who had just stopped me also followed: "The Tenth Prince calls you aunt, are you a member of the royal family?"
“No,” I denied immediately, “I am a distant relative of his mother’s side.”
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