Chapter 52 (Part 2)

Instinctively, she closed her eyes tight, bracing for the pain—but it never came.

A large hand shielded her forehead, and a cool voice tinged with amusement spoke: “So the story of waiting for the hare is true after all.”

Yu Zhengzheng felt her cheeks flush. What was he implying?

Was he comparing her to that foolish rabbit that ran itself into a tree?

She turned her head away, her tone carrying a hint of grievance: “Who told you to wander around? This is your fault.”

Rong Shang raised an eyebrow. Wasn’t it her fault for not watching where she was going?

He didn’t argue with her. Instead, he raised his hand to gently rub her forehead. “Does it hurt?”

Yu Zhengzheng froze for a moment, then quickly slapped his hand away. “Men and women shouldn’t touch. Don’t you understand?”

Rong Shang chuckled softly. “Places that shouldn’t be touched have already been touched. What’s the difference now?”

Yu Zhengzheng: “…”

Her face burned with embarrassment. If it weren’t for the cover of night, she’d have wished for the ground to swallow her whole.

She couldn’t understand it. Once aloof and distant, a high mountain flower, Rong Shang had been someone she’d known on Mount Penglai for over ten years. In all that time, he had spoken fewer than twenty sentences to her, the most frequent being “Hmm,” “Oh,” and “What is it?”

How had he now become so clingy and talkative?

Where was the grace and untouchable aura he was supposed to embody?

Yu Zhengzheng  simply left him with one sentence and ran ahead, “Stop following me.”

Rong Shang watched her retreating figure but didn’t pursue her.

When she returned to her room and realized he hadn’t followed, her emotions were conflicted.

At first, there was a trace of disappointment, but soon it turned into relief.

She wished to stand firm in her resolve and hoped he wouldn’t persist in entangling her. She yearned for a simple life, yet as long as Rong Shang was present, such simplicity would remain unattainable.

Even so, she couldn’t shake an underlying restlessness.

She took out her spirit plant, placed it on the table, watered it, and then stared at it in a daze.

In just a few days, the plant had blossomed and borne fruit.

If the plant bore red fruit, it signified command: the ability to control all spiritual plants of the six realms at will, useful in both offense and defense.

If it bore green fruit, it symbolized healing, with restorative powers so great that even someone whose soul had been scattered could be revived as long as a fragment of their soul remained.

Since the day she summoned plants within an illusion to attack Xiang Feng, Yu Zhengzheng  had guessed that her plant had borne red fruit.

Yet, whether the red fruit had gone astray or the green fruit had wandered, what she saw didn’t resemble any normal outcome. The fruit wasn’t fully red; it was tinged with light green, leaving it an odd mix—neither purely red nor green.

Carefully, she brushed her slender fingers over the fruit. After observing it for a while, she still couldn’t make sense of it.

She put the plant away and walked out of the courtyard.

Though she hadn’t been fasting deliberately, she hadn’t eaten much all day, yet she felt no hunger.

A strange “hiss” sound interrupted her thoughts. Yu Zhengzheng  raised her brow and looked toward the source of the noise.

There, the Seventh Prince, dressed in black, was crouched in the shadow of a roof corner. He had one hand shaped like a snake, “hissing” as if signaling to her.

As she moved toward him, he frantically waved her off and pointed toward the latrine.

Yu Zhengzheng : “…”

When both of them ended up in the women’s latrine, she felt utterly speechless.

She glanced at the Seventh Prince standing awkwardly beside her and said dryly, “Your father must have had remarkable foresight to name you Wei Shengjin (‘produce life fluid’).”

Seventh Prince: “Huh?”

Yu Zhengzheng : “Never mind. What do you want?”

The Seventh Prince got straight to the point. “That damned ghost is threatening me to give you the antidote. But I lost the antidote, and I can’t contact the seller anymore. Now he’s threatening to drag my entire South Sea down with you if I don’t figure it out…”

She interrupted him, “Who’s the damned ghost?”

Seventh Prince: “The Ghost King, obviously.”

Yu Zhengzheng : “…”

Just as she was about to speak, footsteps sounded outside the latrine. Panicked, the Seventh Prince crouched into the nearest pit.

Yu Zhengzheng ’s expression twitched. Hearing the steps drawing nearer, she reluctantly followed suit and crouched in the adjacent stall.

The footsteps approached, accompanied by a familiar female voice.

“This antidote for the Fatal Scattering Powder is ridiculous… Ugh, it hurts so much…”

Yu Zhengzheng  froze. It was Yu Jiangjiang’s voice.

The Seventh Prince recognized it too. Both Yu Jiangjiang and Yu Zhengzheng  had been poisoned by him, and though he hadn’t asked Yu Jiangjiang for anything yet, she was technically one of “his people.” At least, he didn’t need to hide from her.

Thinking this, he was about to stand up when Yu Jiangjiang suddenly approached his stall, swiftly undoing her trousers.

The Seventh Prince was horrified, utterly unprepared for the fact that she had come to relieve herself.

In the brief moment he froze, she had already pulled down her skirt, her pale backside lowering straight toward his face.

The sound of something splattering filled the air. Alarmed, he instinctively reached out and caught her buttocks with both hands. “Stop! Hold it in!”

Yu Jiangjiang, startled by the deep male voice, clenched instinctively, but the pressure was too much. A fountain-like spray burst forth, splashing directly onto the Seventh Prince’s face.

Seventh Prince: “…”

He coughed violently as Yu Jiangjiang hastily pulled up her skirt. “Who are you?!”

The Seventh Prince dared not open his mouth, remaining silent.

Yu Jiangjiang’s face twisted with rage. “You pervert! I’ll kill you!”

Not wanting further entanglement, he bolted out of the latrine, his face smeared with unspeakable hues of gold.

Yu Jiangjiang chased after him, leaving Yu Zhengzheng  alone in the now-empty latrine.

Once the noise outside subsided, Yu Zhengzheng  finally stepped out.

Her mind wandered as she recalled Yu Jiangjiang’s words—the antidote for the Fatal Scattering Powder?

The poison the Seventh Prince had used on her was called the Hundred-Day Fatal Scattering Powder.

Had the lost antidote he mentioned ended up in Yu Jiangjiang’s hands?

Rubbing her temples, Yu Zhengzheng  felt the weight of too many recent events. Everything seemed shrouded in mystery, leaving her feeling almost paranoid.

Forget it. She decided to put the antidote matter aside for now.

Returning to her palace, she bathed and prepared to rest. But the sound of rain outside her window kept her awake.

She tried to cover her ears, but the rain only seemed louder.

Unable to sleep, she walked to the window and stared out silently.

It was late at night, and the rain was growing heavier, enveloping the world in stillness.

There was no thunder—just rain. He should be fine.

With that thought, she moved to shut the window tightly to block out the noise.

Just as her fingers touched the window frame, an urgent knock sounded at the palace doors.

“Miss Yu, open the door!”

It was Xiao Yuqing’s voice.