Chapter 82 Attendant Thirty-Four
"The giant scorpion is gone?" Shinju's eyes widened in astonishment, clearly extremely shocked.
Surprisingly, the King of Zhen remained calm, his sharply defined eyebrows not twitching at all.
"No need to search anymore." King Zhen glanced at Shinjuku without explanation and stepped straight into the inner room.
Yuu-er was naturally puzzled and cast a questioning glance at Shinjuku, only to see that Shinjuku looked blank and clearly did not know more about the inside story than they did. So she had no choice but to give up, cup her hands and take her leave.
Shinju returned to the side room slowly, pondered for a moment, and finally decided to unleash his divine consciousness.
Although the imperial palace was far from their Lianshui Palace, it was still within the range of his divine sense.
Therefore, Shinju closed his eyes and concentrated his mind, completely opening his divine sense, and his perspective traveled back to the Scorpion Shadow Palace.
Today, Zhixi was on duty. Usually calm and composed, she was now showing signs of panic. She was leading several guards, carrying insect feed, searching the palace for traces of the Tongshan Giant Scorpion.
Searching inch by inch was far too slow, so Shinju simply concentrated his mind and transformed the scene within the red walls into colorful lines. However, looking at the whole picture, he couldn't find that arm-length, crimson figure at all.
"They shouldn't have disappeared so completely... Could they have left the palace?"
Puzzled, he then extended his divine sense beyond the palace, wandering throughout the capital. Due to the limited range, he was unable to conduct a thorough investigation and still could not find that unique crimson-purple hue.
Unable to find anything, Shinju had no choice but to withdraw his divine sense. Operating his divine sense over such a long distance would have been extremely taxing in the past. However, in his current state of demonic possession, he felt no burden whatsoever.
The benefits of demonic possession to the Golden Core are extremely significant, and the same is true for the Secondary Purple Mansion. However, the Five Ultimate Scriptures ultimately do not follow the demonic path, but rather a side path that lies between the righteous and the demonic. If he cannot resist demonic transformation, he will never be able to reach the Great Perfection of Ultimate Poison and form a golden body. Even worse, he may very well become a demon without any self-awareness, with nothing in his mind but killing.
Fortunately, after advancing to the highest level of Poisonous Realm, the scriptures for the next major realm, the initial level of Yin Realm, were also unsealed. He had already studied them for a while before the Poison King came to find him yesterday.
Not only did Shinju find a way to suppress the demonization, he also glimpsed a daring plan that might allow him to escape this small world.
The reason he became possessed by demons was ultimately because the toxins he had been consuming and refining contained too many impurities. Although the potency of impure toxins remained, they greatly reduced the ability of his meridians and root chakra to process them. The principle of "the more specialized, the more efficient" applies here as well.
The accumulated impurities decayed his meridians and acupoints, and as the blockages increased, the toxins corroded his true immortal body. Furthermore, the long-term deficiency of true qi allowed demonic energy to rage within his body without being expelled, which affected his secondary dantian and consequently his mental state.
The tattoo on the back is a manifestation of demonic possession.
The five-petaled nature of the disease signifies that it has reached a critical stage. However, this small world lacks spiritual energy and the conversion of demonic energy is insufficient, so it is in a very delicate balance, which is why it took him so long to discover such a fatal hidden danger in his body.
If he were in the cultivation world, he wouldn't be sitting here so calmly, analyzing himself and seeking a way out. He'd likely be blinded by rage, and the slightest displeasure towards a stranger or even a familiar face could become the trigger for him to raise his sword. Worst of all, he wouldn't even need a reason.
The only solution is to kill.
He dared not imagine what it would be like if he were facing that person... Thinking of this, Shinju suddenly closed his eyes, reaffirming his resolve to stay away from this world.
After refining the Golden Core, his body, riddled with poisonous veins, can be tempered using the technique of "fighting poison with poison," thus reshaping his golden body. Afterward, he can form an array to descend to the Yellow Springs, turning death into life. Because the world created by history books does not enter the cycle of reincarnation, as long as he ensures he enters the true underworld, there is a high probability of communicating with the upper realm and returning to the real human world.
As he pondered this, Shinju lay down on the bed, barely managing to withdraw his consciousness back to the palace's range.
However, at that moment, he noticed something amiss—in the main room next door, the crimson dragon aura surrounding the Poison King was more than twice as intense as before. And for a fleeting moment, that blazing dragon aura condensed into the phantom of a giant scorpion. Upon closer inspection, however, it was no longer discernible; only the humanoid outline of the Poison King remained.
Before Zhen Su could delve deeper into the mystery, the figure appearing in his divine consciousness, only shrouded in purple aura, was leaning against the headboard, sitting on the bed with one leg propped up, and the outline of what appeared to be a hand connecting to the lower part of his body—
"?!" Shinjuku was stunned for a moment, which caused him to look several times without realizing it and see something he shouldn't have seen.
When he hurriedly withdrew his divine sense, his extremely sensitive senses instead transmitted the low, hoarse breathing of the Poison King to his ears with exceptional clarity, as if it were breathing right next to his ear.
Suddenly, Shinju's cheeks flushed as if he had drunk the finest nectar, and his whole body felt unbearably hot.
"How could he..."
How could I be alone in my room...
The ambergris was as strong as fine wine, seemingly capable of easily intoxicating a person. By the time Shinju remembered that he could shield his five senses, the heat emanating from his body had already become unbearable.
He could only curse under his breath, his face flushed, and he too tried to slip his hand under his clothes.
Then, the technique to shrink the penis was quietly lifted...
The sweet fragrance of agarwood also permeated the hall, gradually intertwining with the scent of ambergris.
The last day of the autumn hunt was even more lively than the day before. The nobles, who had finally developed a tacit understanding with their partners, all rode into the hunting grounds early to compete for their prey.
Unfortunately, this lively scene had nothing to do with the two people in the palace.
King Zhen was not participating in the hunt today either. An urgent report seemed to have arrived from the palace, so King Zhen abandoned General Yan and ordered him to oversee the hunt and be responsible for judging and awarding prizes. Afterwards, he led his entourage, weary from their journey, back to the palace in a carriage.
True Night did not ride in the same carriage. Rather than intentionally distancing himself from the other, he was more forced to do so at this moment. After what happened last night, he felt guilty and dared not look directly at the person. His gaze shifted and flickered, always avoiding that person.
On the contrary, the King of Poison was calm and composed, always looking directly at the True Lord, his gaze even somewhat aggressive, without the slightest hint of evasion.
Indeed, after all, the King of Poison hadn't done anything wrong; the one who truly did something wrong was someone else. Shinju rode his dwarf horse after the imperial carriage, his mind in turmoil.
Being in the palace is different from being outside; there are many miscellaneous tasks. Just being responsible for relaying messages is enough to keep Masakuni busy.
It seems that King Zhen has now placed Masaya back in his position of attendant, and no longer takes care of him as much as before. In the past, when King Zhen was busy with state affairs, he would specially have the royal kitchen prepare some food and desserts for Masaya to sit and enjoy. If he got tired of grinding ink or writing, he would occasionally carry him to the couch to rest.
Currently, not only is he not being taken care of, but even trivial matters are no longer being handled by the head maids. Instead, he is being ordered around by the maid, Masakatsu, to handle everything.
Thus, for the first time since entering the palace, Shinju truly understood what it meant to be a "servant"—a true servant is one who is available whenever called upon.
Fortunately, after nightfall, the King of Poison stopped sending Zhen Su away and allowed him to return to the Scorpion Shadow Palace to rest.
Slightly tired, Shinjuku walked into the side room, lay down on the bed, and stared at the gray ceiling, thinking that everything was about to return to normal, back to the position of ruler and subject.
This should have been exactly what he wanted, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to smile.
Unexpectedly, less than a cup of tea had passed since he lay down when Tang Quan strolled over to his door and knocked three times.
Shinju got out of bed and opened the door for Tang Quan.
"What is it, sister?"
Tang Quan looked strange. She hesitated for a moment before speaking, "His Majesty summons you to his bedchamber. Please move to Zhengren Hall, Eunuch."
Before he could finish speaking, Shinjuku froze, as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard.
Serving him in bed?! Is that man so sexually insatiable?! Just last night... how dare he! He was rejected the day before yesterday, and now he wants to summon concubines? Summoning concubines to serve him in bed, and then ordering me to be in charge of relaying the message?!
Shinjuku felt a dull pain in his chest, and his golden eyes instantly turned crimson, even the area around his eyes spreading a thin red. He clenched his fist tightly in his sleeve, struggling to suppress the surging killing intent.
Tang Quan took a few steps, but seeing no one following him, he hurriedly turned back to urge them on.
Then she heard Masakatsu ask her, with a hint of gritted teeth, "Whom does he want to summon to his bedchamber?"
Tang Quan was suddenly taken aback, realizing that Masatsu had not understood her words, so she explained, "...His Majesty summoned you."
Shinjuku's eyes widened instantly.
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Author's Note: Majutsu: Oh, it's me being talked about, then never mind... Wait a minute!
There will be one more update today.
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