"Shameless! I'm so furious!"
"I'm going to scare them to death!"
"Don't be impulsive. Be careful, or the mistress might abandon you!"
At these words, the little ghosts all quieted down, obediently shrinking into the corners to sulk.
"Sigh..." Suddenly, one ghost let out a long sigh and said, "If only the Ghost King was here..." Watching their mistress being bullied made her feel uneasy. If the Ghost King were around, he would never let anyone bully her!
Seeing how agitated they were, Morgan Shangguan simply sent them back into the gourd.
Truthfully, she didn't care about this at all. All along, only Damien Gray could touch the softest part of her heart. Only he could make her believe that he would never abandon her for anyone or anything, so she only cared about him! As for the others, she never had such expectations, so how could she feel disappointed or hurt?
Mona Shangguan was only pretending to faint. When she saw Adrian Yarrow give her the medicine, she was naturally delighted. She even had the urge to open her eyes and see Morgan Shangguan's expression. Her beloved man had abandoned her again and again—surely Morgan must be suffering, right? The thought of Morgan's pain filled her with immense satisfaction!
But hearing Adrian Yarrow's last words made her uncomfortable. Did Crown Prince Adrian really like Morgan Shangguan? Impossible! He was just using her. If he said he wouldn't abandon Morgan, it must be because she was still useful to him—yes, that must be it! Yet when she saw the way Adrian looked at Morgan, a faint unease crept into her heart.
On the cliff, Damien Gray searched all the way but couldn’t find any trace of Morgan Shangguan. All he saw were bloodstains and corpses on the ground. A sense of foreboding filled his heart. Glancing at the despondent Liam Duanmu nearby, he asked coldly, "Where is Morgan?"
Morgan Shangguan was a princess sent for marriage, and later given to the sickly yet tenacious Ghost King. There were plenty of rumors about her. Hearing Liam Duanmu call out that name, Noah Duanmu had already guessed her identity—which explained Liam's unusual behavior!
Now, when Damien Gray asked, Noah Duanmu sighed, "She fell off the cliff!" Such a high cliff—there was little chance of survival.
Hearing this, Damien Gray's expression grew grim. Without another word, he turned and leapt off the edge.
"Your Highness..." Ethan Gu and Maxwell Jing tried to stop him, but it was too late.
Maxwell Jing stomped his feet anxiously. "Why is His Highness so impulsive? There are other ways down!" He was both worried and guilt-ridden—if it hadn't been for him, how would Morgan Shangguan have ended up as Adrian Yarrow's hostage?
Ethan Gu held him back. "His Highness will be fine. Let's go find another way down!"
With those words, Liam Duanmu snapped back to his senses. He pulled Noah Duanmu along and joined them in searching for a path to the bottom of the cliff.
Damien Gray eyed the sheer cliff wall—it offered no foothold at all. But Morgan Shangguan was no ordinary person; she would be fine! He let his body fall, and only when he neared the bottom did he gather all his inner strength and strike out with his palm, using the recoil to land safely.
Damien Gray's martial arts were already unfathomable. Back at Qingyin Temple, Morgan Shangguan had given him an unknown white flower that greatly boosted his inner strength. So, although this cliff was bottomless, it was no match for him!
He searched all the way to a small wooden hut. When Damien Gray stepped inside and saw Morgan Shangguan safe and sound, his anxious heart finally settled.
Seeing Damien Gray appear, Adrian Yarrow was surprised. Shouldn’t he be fighting Prince Ethan for the throne right now? Even if the outcome was decided, he shouldn’t be here!
If he lost, he should be in the death cell by now. If he won, he should be seated on the throne, accepting the officials’ homage—why would he show up here?
Morgan Shangguan saw him, curled her lips into a smile, then suddenly closed her eyes and collapsed softly onto the bed.
"Morgan..." Damien Gray was startled, quickly rushing forward to pull her into his arms. The coldness of her body made his heart, which had just settled, leap again.
Adrian Yarrow hadn’t expected Morgan Shangguan to faint so suddenly—she’d been fine just moments before!
Damien Gray immediately checked her pulse, discovering two forces clashing within her body. One was weak but stubborn—clearly foreign—while the other was Morgan’s own spiritual power. It was only a matter of time before the foreign force was exhausted, but the process was sure to be agonizing for her.
That power was no ordinary force. Morgan hadn’t expected one of the assassins to use such a skill, and was completely unprepared. Plus, Mona Shangguan clung to her and wouldn’t let go, so she had no time to dodge and had to confront it head-on.
Although that force couldn’t compare to her spiritual power, it was cunning and sinister. Part of it had penetrated her body, and even though it was weak, it was fiercely persistent—trying to seize control and devour her spiritual power to grow stronger. If it succeeded, Morgan might lose herself and fall into madness!
She remained quiet only because she was focusing all her effort on mobilizing her spiritual power to fight off the foreign force. Yet, for all its weakness, she couldn’t drive it out. Fortunately, she had managed to contain it, and now could only slowly wear it down.
That’s why she called out the little ghosts—if she could use her spiritual power, this cliff would have been no obstacle at all!
From start to finish, neither Adrian Yarrow nor Mona Shangguan noticed anything unusual about Morgan. Even the little ghosts didn’t realize. She’d long since grown used to never showing any weakness before outsiders, used to always standing tall no matter what. Before, everyone was an outsider to her—but now, Damien Gray wasn’t. In front of him, she didn’t need any disguise; she could rely on him without fear.
"Morgan..." Damien Gray gently stroked her pale face, eyes full of pain. After a moment’s silence, he suddenly kicked Mona Shangguan off the bed.
Mona groaned, clutching her aching waist as she got up, her face dark with anger—she wanted nothing more than to curse Damien Gray!
Damien climbed onto the bed, sat cross-legged behind Morgan, and shook the purple gourd at her waist to summon the little ghosts for protection. Then he began to heal her injuries.