Chapter 25: What Would You Do?

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“So, Lord Zhang means that among the soldiers in Beihai, something like that has infiltrated?” Yuchi Hong frowned. The Yuchi family was a ducal house, and Beihai City was a key military stronghold in the northern border. The stationed troops numbered over fifty thousand. Although the recent epidemic had caused heavy losses to the Beihai forces, more than ten thousand soldiers still remained. If the evil spirit the other side mentioned was hidden among tens of thousands, finding it would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. The critical point was that the Third Prince, Li Yu, wouldn’t be fooled for long; their time was running out.

“It’s not among the Beihai soldiers...” Zhang Rui shook his head. “What I meant just now was within the Yuchi Mansion itself!”

At these words, everyone was taken aback. Lord Luo’s brows immediately knit. “Does your lordship mean there is a traitor within the Yuchi household?”

“Impossible!” Yuchi Hong waved his hand. “Everyone in the Yuchi family has a clear background—unless it’s those from the Crown Prince’s residence who are unclean.”

“General, please choose your words carefully!” The Crown Prince’s attendants’ faces darkened. Their honor and disgrace were tied to the prince; how could they possibly act against him? If there was any investment to be made, what was more worthwhile than supporting a stable Crown Prince?

Lord Luo frowned as well. The Crown Prince’s people had no questionable motives. The prince’s position was rock solid; after his ascension, these attendants would be his trusted ministers, part of the old guard and sure to be highly valued. No outsider could offer greater benefits.

“Lord Zhang...” Lord Luo looked at him seriously. “How did you determine that the evil spirit is inside the Yuchi Mansion?”

“Based on the current situation,” Zhang Rui whispered. “I’m not trying to sow suspicion. I don’t yet know who the traitor is. But from what I heard just now, most of the Yuchi family’s younger generation are highly skilled warriors. General Yuchi Peng himself is a top-tier master. If even he was infected, then the evil spirit must be within the Yuchi household.”

“Why?” Lord Luo frowned. “This plague spreads so widely and is hard to guard against. It doesn’t have to infect someone inside the Yuchi Mansion, does it?”

“It does...” Zhang Rui nodded. “This plague doesn’t spread indiscriminately; it relates strongly to a person’s strength. Have you noticed that the stronger someone is, the later they get infected?”

At these words, Yuchi Hong and Lord Luo exchanged glances and recalled the order of infections in the mansion. Their eyes lit up immediately.

The infections in the Yuchi household began a month ago. At first, they found no pattern—age, travel routes, none explained it. But now, with this insight, they realized the infection progressed from the weak to the strong. The family patriarch, who personally guarded the Crown Prince and was closest to the patients, was actually the last to show symptoms.

“So, Lord Zhang means the stronger the person, the harder it is for the plague to infect them?”

“Yes...” Zhang Rui nodded. “This plague can be understood as a kind of evil spirit power, and power comes in degrees. If it could infect limitlessly, this evil spirit would have wiped out humanity long ago, wouldn’t it?”

He then looked at Chen Xiao. “Mr. Chen, you carry the plague. The first time I saw your smile, I was infected. But why was it only me? My niece, the Third Prince, even that eunuch Qin Gong also saw your smile but weren’t infected. There is only one reason: the plague’s power in you is weak. The source is elsewhere. That’s why you can only infect relatively weak people like me, but cannot threaten stronger ones.”

So that was it.

Chen Xiao and the others suddenly understood. Some earlier inconsistencies during their plague investigations now made sense. For example, this time Lord Zhang showed a smile but the little girl did not. They had thought the girl had special defenses, but it was simply because she was stronger.

Lord Luo nodded silently—this was indeed reasonable.

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He had never heard of such a strange and terrifying plague before, especially after learning of its mode of transmission just now: spreading through a smile that one cannot avoid even with a single glance. What in this world could possibly stop such a thing?

If those who conspired against the Crown Prince could control this plague, would they still need to deliberately set such a trap?

This only suggested either the conspirators had not fully anticipated this plague’s power, or that it was not as invincible as imagined.

“To infect the strong, that entity must be nearby and regularly able to see the strong person, constantly giving them subtle hints—namely, that smile,” Zhang Rui analyzed softly. “General Yuchi Peng is immensely powerful. To infect him, two conditions must be met: first, it must repeatedly and frequently appear before him without raising his defenses; second, the general must be unsuspecting and not avoid that eerie smile. Only then could he be infected.”

Hearing this, the group’s faces lit up with excitement. Over the past month, they had been tormented almost to collapse by this damned plague, using every means yet finding no clue. That helplessness lasted until the Crown Prince’s death, when despair was overwhelming.

Now, finally, someone had found a direction!

“Immediately have the recorders conduct thorough checks!” Yuchi Hong urged. “Before Father’s onset, who did he see most often? Hurry!”

Previously, Lord Luo had established a system of recorders to track everyone’s movements to analyze the plague’s patterns. Without any plague intelligence, all those records were useless. Now there was a lead—a glimmer of hope.

“Mr. Chen, you finding Lord Zhang truly is the Crown Prince’s luck!” Lord Luo solemnly bowed to Zhang Rui.

“You flatter me...” Zhang Rui quickly returned the bow. “I only learned some information by chance. I can’t help much...”

“Nonsense, you are too modest,” Lord Luo said earnestly. “If the Crown Prince survives this ordeal, the Yuchi family will repay you a thousandfold!”

“You are too kind...” Zhang Rui replied politely but inwardly dismissed it.

He hoped these lunatics wouldn’t drag him into their affairs again; he did not wish to have much further contact with them.

“Lord Luo...” At this moment, Chen Xiao suddenly remembered something and asked hurriedly, “What about the Third Prince and the others...?”

“That troublemaker...” Lord Luo stroked his beard and smiled. “They’re eager to add insult to injury but won’t risk their own lives. The city’s governor who came in is the same—he doesn’t even dare meet the Crown Prince in person, fearing infection. A few days of stalling should be fine.”

“I doubt it’s that simple...” Chen Xiao sighed.

Lord Luo frowned, about to reply, when a faint voice whispered in his ear.

“Lord Luo, let me explain privately...”

Chen Xiao’s voice was very low, employing a special sound transmission technique that only Lord Luo could hear.

Seeing Chen Xiao deliberately avoid the Crown Prince’s attendants, Lord Luo was slightly surprised but understood. The older members of the Crown Prince’s household were not fond of Chen Xiao, a newcomer from a martial sect. Even if he had clues, he probably didn’t want to share credit with those colleagues.

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He followed Chen Xiao outside. After about fifteen minutes of quiet discussion, both Lord Luo and Yuchi Hong were shocked by the revelations.

“The Master of the Painting Market?” Yuchi Hong gasped. “Are you saying one of the princes has been replaced by a painting spirit?”

“This is my bold hypothesis...” Chen Xiao smiled bitterly. “It’s so audacious that I dare not let my colleagues hear it, lest I be accused of great disrespect, which I could not refute.”

“That theory is certainly disrespectful!” Yuchi Hong’s brows knit tightly.

Lord Luo interjected, “Although bold, it is quite plausible.”

“You think this guess is reasonable?” Yuchi Hong’s frown deepened.

“I have long wondered who could wield such power and yet want nothing more than to destroy the Crown Prince and the Yuchi family. The Crown Prince’s position is rock solid. Our Emperor is shrewd; to support a prince openly is to sign one’s death warrant. I cannot imagine any noble family so brazen, not even the Qin family, the mother’s clan of the Third Prince Li Yu.”

“Mr. Chen’s hypothesis, while extremely bold, is indeed the most logical. A painting market accumulated over a thousand years has the qualifications and motive to set such a grand trap.”

“But who could it be?” Yuchi Hong took a deep breath, a chill running through him.

If a skin-changing demon had infiltrated among the princes, and succeeded—if the demon became emperor, countless painting spirits would secretly control the court, and all under heaven would be enslaved by this evil. The mere thought sent shivers down his spine.

“Our Emperor, to stabilize the Crown Prince’s position, married only women of humble backgrounds except for the Qin daughter, who once provided vast wealth to help win the northern campaigns. Given the Painting Market’s capabilities, if they pre-arranged this, anyone could be behind it. Even the great ancestor exploited the Painting Market’s flaws, yet still, this happened...”

“So what do we do now?” Yuchi Hong swallowed hard.

“First, survive the immediate crisis,” Lord Luo said softly. “If the Crown Prince falls, the Yuchi family won’t have the chance to care about the court’s fate. If the prince passes through this, we can hunt down the hidden demon later.”

“I fear the hidden demon won’t let us off so easily...” Chen Xiao smiled wryly. “They’ve invested so much effort to create a chance for succession. Now that the Crown Prince is half a step from death’s door, they won’t grant us time to stall.”

“Hmph!” Yuchi Hong sneered. “If they don’t show up now, fine. But if they do, they might never back down!”

“What would you do?” Lord Luo looked to Chen Xiao.

“I would cooperate with the Third Prince!”