The matter of General Warren Yu and Sean Xuan getting drunk was quietly suppressed by Ninth Royal Uncle; aside from Serena Feng and the soldiers on duty that night, no one else knew.
The day after sobering up, Sean Xuan sought out Ninth Royal Uncle alone. No one knew what they discussed, only that by afternoon Sean had left with a group of martial artists and several strange figures.
At that time, Serena Feng was in the wounded soldiers' camp. By the time she received the news, Sean Xuan was already gone—he hadn't even left a note.
Feeling down, Serena avoided everyone and found a quiet spot, standing atop a small hill and gazing in the direction Sean Xuan had left...
She had always thought Sean Xuan came to her only because of their childhood promise, that he felt nothing more for her. She had always believed Sean saw her as a sister, but only yesterday did she realize he kept silent simply so she wouldn't feel awkward...
How could she possibly deserve such kindness!
Serena took a deep breath, lifted her head to the gloomy sky, blinked away her tears, and spent a long time calming herself down.
"I won't betray your good intentions. If you don't want me to know, then I'll pretend I never do." Facing the direction Sean Xuan left, Serena spoke these words, then resolutely turned and headed back to camp—only to run into Ninth Royal Uncle after just a few steps.
Their eyes met. Serena instinctively lowered her head—not from guilt, but out of a touch of awkwardness. "Were you looking for me?"
"Yes." Serena's swollen, red eyes were impossible for Ninth Royal Uncle to miss, but he simply chose not to mention it.
Sean Xuan got drunk yesterday, and today he left without even saying a word to Serena Feng. If Ninth Royal Uncle believed nothing happened, he'd be lying to himself.
But Ninth Royal Uncle wouldn't bring it up, nor would he investigate. Some things are best left unspoken.
Since Ninth Royal Uncle didn't mention it, and Serena didn't know how to start, she simply pretended not to notice. The two walked quietly back to camp. Once Serena reached her tent, Ninth Royal Uncle finally spoke: "We'll depart in three days."
"Back to the Capital? Is the army returning too?" Talking business at last, Serena secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If the silence dragged on any longer, she'd go mad.
"We'll go ahead. The main force will escort Prince Damien of Southlyn and Reid Yale." Night City only had a hundred thousand troops to begin with; after the great battle, less than forty percent remain. These survivors will be reorganized and won't stay in Night City.
A small city like Night City doesn't need fifty thousand troops stationed here. Apart from a basic garrison, the rest will be redeployed.
Serena nodded to show she understood. Ninth Royal Uncle paused, then added, "There may be danger on the road. Be careful."
"Night City's people? They still haven't given up?" Serena looked up, her eyes finally regaining some light. Ninth Royal Uncle shook his head: "It's not about Night City. Old Gray, who was with Prince Damien, has spoken."
Old Gray was a tough one. He sampled all the 'good medicine' prepared by the army's old doctor before finally revealing a bit of information.
"Old Gray? Who are they? What do they want?" Serena was instantly alert, ready for anything.
"Ghost Hall, the Hundred Ghosts Palace that once dominated the martial world." Ninth Royal Uncle spoke the last three words slowly, deliberately...
"Ghost Hall? The one founded by the prince known as the Ghost King?" Ghost Hall had long since vanished from the martial world; few knew of it. Serena only learned about it from the old men in the Assassin Alliance.
Those elders loved to tell Serena stories of the Former Dynasty, like the infamous assassin from a century ago—son of the King of Phoenixfield. Or how Ghost Hall rampaged through the martial world and court, destroying half of each; its master was a prince who called himself the Ghost King.
The Ghost King was the Empress's legitimate son. She died in childbirth; the Ghost King was stuck in the birth canal, and no matter what the imperial doctors and midwives tried, he wouldn't come out. The Emperor accepted it as a tragic loss of both mother and child.
But unexpectedly, just as the maids prepared to tend to the Empress's body, the Ghost King crawled out of the birth canal himself. And that wasn't the most horrifying part—he was born with blood-red eyes, twisted features, elongated limbs like a demon; the maid died of fright on the spot...
Still, he was the Emperor's son. No matter how strange his appearance, the Emperor couldn't bring himself to kill him; instead, he executed all who knew the truth and secretly raised the Ghost King.
After a few months, the Ghost King's features became normal, but his red eyes never faded. As time passed, he grew a head of silver hair; his nails grew unusually fast and sharp, and he was dozens of times stronger than other children his age.
Red eyes, silver hair—just short of growing fangs. Such a prince should never have been accepted by the royal family, but the Emperor refused to abandon him and kept him hidden.
But there's no such thing as a secret that never leaks. The Emperor's brother discovered the Ghost King's existence, used his appearance to attack the Emperor, stirred up public opinion, and eventually seized the throne.
Legend says the Ghost King witnessed his father's brutal death and was tossed into the underground mausoleum by his own uncle, buried alive with his father.
A child buried in an underground mausoleum shouldn't have survived, but the Ghost King did—he lived there for three years and finally crawled his way out.
There was nothing in that tomb but dirt, coffins, and corpses. It's said the Ghost King survived by eating human flesh. Such a being could only have come from hell itself, born for vengeance.
The Ghost King's goal was clear. As soon as he came of age, he founded Ghost Hall, recruiting only the strongest martial artists born with disabilities. Once Ghost Hall grew powerful, the Ghost King began to unite the forces of the martial world.
The Ghost King was brutal by nature, his methods merciless. Those who defied him died horribly. He never used weapons—his only move was to tear open his victims' chests with his bare hands...
Many martial arts masters met their end at the Ghost King's hands. The martial world united to hunt him down, but his skills were unmatched—no one could stop Ghost Hall from dominating the jianghu.
After consolidating the martial world, Ghost Hall turned its sights on the imperial court. The Ghost King's first strike halved the officials present at morning assembly, shocking and enraging the Emperor.
Thus began the bloody war between Ghost Hall and the imperial court. Ghost Hall slaughtered over half the nation's officials, crippling the government and leaving the people in misery. The Emperor ordered the King of Phoenixfield to mobilize and destroy Ghost Hall—kill the Ghost King.
"It's been a hundred years—surely the Ghost King is dead?" Back then, the King of Phoenixfield destroyed Ghost Hall, but didn't kill the Ghost King; he escaped, vanishing without a trace.
"Even if he's dead, he has descendants." Ninth Royal Uncle said meaningfully.
Serena paused, then her eyes lit up: "I see. If it's really Ghost Hall, then their goal can't just be the martial world. The Ghost King was a prince of the Lan royal family; his descendants are royal heirs too. That means..."