Way of the Devil

“Let’s all drink together! No need to be shy! The whole point of this feast is to give our brave heroes the greatest blessing.

“We have the blessing of the Heavens and the support of thousands of people. Though the Devil World might be strong, we, the Great Yin, won’t be suppressed by a few armies!”

“His Highness is right. We bathe in the grace of His Imperial Majesty every day and enjoy endless honors when we guard our borders. Now, with the invasion of the Devil Army, we have the perfect opportunity to repay the Imperial Court.”

“I agree with Elder Chen. We, the Youyin Sect, don’t have much, but the only thing we do have plenty of are people unafraid of death!”

“We of the Spirit Bind Sect have also prepared rations and weapons. The only thing missing is Your Highness’s royal decree.”

Two elderly men with white hair and beards spoke in light voices, yet intentionally sent their words throughout the whole hall.

Master Yuan Zheng from the Thousand Sun Sect wasn’t happy about that, and whispered something to the people around him. Cave Master Jiuwei wasn’t present, while only a few palace masters were present from the Youyin Sect as well. The Thousand Sun Sect had the most people during this evening feast.

The prince chatted with a few elders he was familiar with, yet his heart gradually grew weary. He gave out some meaningless praise, and was promptly met by the elders’ meaningless promises.

To lighten the mood, a Spirit Bind Sect elder made a joke with the prince, yet failed miserably. It made the whole situation even more awkward.

About half an hour or so later.

“The night is falling, maybe Your Highness should consider…” An elderly man responsible for starting the conversation on the true purpose respectfully bowed toward Qiong Huan.

“Crack!”

The immense sound of shattering glass suddenly rang out in the Magnificent Pearl Court, where the feast was held.

The guests, who didn’t want to be involved with the inner affairs of the imperial family anyways, all paled as they heard the sound.

Qiong Huan was halfway through his talk, but was interrupted by this sound. A young man hurriedly approached and whispered something in his ear.

“For real!?” Ignoring everyone else’s looks, Qiong Huan reacted with a voice that rose a whole octave.

If it hadn’t been for the fact that Master Yuan Zheng left already and only the second-in-command of the three major sects were present, Qiong Huan’s act would have fooled a lot of people.

“For real!” The man nodded confidently.

Cheng Xiu, one of the vice sect masters of the Thousand Sun Sect, Situ Jin, one of the vice sect masters of the Spirit Bind Sect, and An He, one of the vice sect masters of the Youyin Sect, all looked at each other, confused. No one knew what kind of new strategy Qiong Huan came up with.

Prince Qiong Huan let out a long sigh, with a hint of a tear even appearing in his eyes.

“The three sect masters, could you come with me? This was only a scandal within the Imperial Court. This evil brother of mine could have gone anywhere, yet he decided to follow me. Just then, he was discovered by one of my guards.

“I thought he would be more sensible after my father, His Imperial Majesty, had a talk with him, yet…” Qiong Huan let out another serious sigh.

“We wouldn’t dare refuse a personal invitation from Your Highness. Brother Situ? Brother An? Why don’t we go with His Highness?” As the host, Cheng Xiu had to respond first. Even though he had a bad feeling about this whole thing already.

Of course, everyone agreed.

The top leaders of the three sects surrounded Prince Qiong Huan and walked out of the hall, advancing in the direction the noise had come from.

The noise had come from a clearing in front of the pond to the left of the hall.

A youth whose handsome face was filled with surprise and astonishment stood in the gray clearing. He looked somewhat similar to Qiong Huan, and wore the special princely attire with number 27 embroidered on his collar.

Everyone present instantly realized this was the 27th prince of the Great Yin, His Highness Qiong Shang.

Qiong Shang was special even among the royal family of the Great Yin. He didn’t have a background because of a powerful mother, nor did he possess potential for cultivation. But he did have an exceptional talent when it came to music, and was also very loyal to people he knew.

Now though, he stood in the clearing, astonished. Someone held his hand, and he didn’t know if he should leave or stay.

Beside him was a delicate girl with a noble air around her that looked very much like him. The pink, tight-fitting dress was torn, and she covered herself tightly with her hands. The dress had been torn in two from the side, and her thighs and hips would be exposed immediately if she stood up.

“27th…” Qiong Huan’s expression darkened as he saw this scene.

“Elder Brother! Help your sister, please!” the girl screamed sharply immediately as she saw Qiong Huan, her delicate nature disappearing instantly.

“Sister Yun… you… You are the 27th prince’s biological sister… and he…” Qiong Huan had a shocked expression, appearing speechless as he saw the girl.

The girl had tears in her eyes and started to cry. With how she was crying, combined with her desperate cry, no explanation was needed.

“Your sister… just lost her first sand…” the girl screamed amidst her crying.

First sand… The royal female’s virginity was called first sand. If she lost her first sand, then that meant…

The crowd was thunderstruck.

Especially the three vice sect masters from the three major sects. They finally understood why all their sect masters left early or simply didn’t show up. Now… now, they were somehow involved in a lowly scandal.

Though the Great Yin might be quite liberal, that didn’t mean they were going to allow relationships between direct siblings.

The 27th prince’s face paled as the girl spoke.

“I… didn’t… I never…” he whispered, trying to defend himself. But immediately, someone else stepped up and started to point out all the evidence present.

The 27th prince had lost all the color on his face from shock.

“27th, everyone knows you sold intel to the Devil Army, but I always thought you were a good person… But now… but now…” Qiong Huan said emotionally, tears in his eyes.

Qiong Shang was thunderstruck. He only heard a scream, and wanted to see what happened but… but his imperial sister who was always nice to him drugged him in the corner…. When he regained consciousness, it was too late.

His mind was numb, and only now had he realized that it was a trap set by his imperial brother he respected so much.

The 28th princess was his sister from the same father and mother! Incest! This kind of crime wouldn’t be pardoned because he was the prince, but would be prosecuted even more severe precisely because he was part of the royal family.

“Wait! Brother Qiong Shang wouldn’t do something like that! It couldn’t be him! There must be a misunderstanding!” The weak voice of a girl came from the crowd.

The girl who looked like Su Ningfei was breathing hard as she pushed through the crowd, then jumped in front of Prince Qiong Shang.

She looked around the scene and her eyes instantly turned red. She gripped Qiong Shang’s arm tightly and refused to let go.

Suddenly, the princess who was supposedly raped saw the girl’s face and screamed in terror, “You! The spy from Devil World!?”

The sound of clanking armor sounded from the surrounding area as teams of the Thousand Sun Sect’s inner police force arrived. They surrounded Prince Qiong Huan and his guards and left in a hurry.

“Boom!”

Suddenly, like a balloon, the princess started to rapidly bloat, then exploded before she even had the time to scream.

Flesh and blood that shone a purple light exploded everywhere. The explosion instantly killed ten or so guards that were close.

“Protect His Highness!”

“Assassin! There is an assassin!”

“Princess!!!”

The light of the feast hall dimmed violently as all the fire was extinguished. People couldn’t even see the fingers on their hands.

Before the crowd could react and use their own lights, another explosion came from the crowd.

“Boom!”

“Boom!!! Boom!”

More explosions rang out in the lightless hall. Faint purple flame exploded out one after another, and the upper management of the three major sects fell into chaos. Qiong Huan immediately fell backward, unconscious from the attack.

“Go!”

A low voice suddenly rang in Qiong Shang and the girl’s ear. They didn’t have any other choice but to run.

In the dead end of an alley a couple hundred meters away, a portal to a faraway Outer World was being slowly opened.

Hidden among the crowd, basically Lu Sheng saw everything. That Prince Qiong Shang was truly wronged. His imperial sister probably did lose her virginity, but not with him—she only wanted to blame someone for it.

If his observations were correct, that princess probably spent many nights with many different men already, and had probably lost her virginity a long time ago.

But that was an affair of the Great Yin’s royal family, and none of his concern. He was only curious about who the girl that looked like Su Ningfei was.

And who was meant to see this whole incident and why.

As he saw Qiong Shang and the girl leave, he was slightly intrigued, and soon disappeared into the darkness as well.

Despite Su Ningfei’s warnings, he decided not to meddle in royal affairs. Not because he was afraid, but because it wasn’t necessary.

Though the political battle between the princes might not elevate to the Weapon Master level, there were still many more hidden rules than he would like.

***

Qiong Shang sprinted with the girl and followed the path inside the Thousand Sun Sect’s inner sect area. No one noticed them amidst the chaos.

But unfortunately, a strong shape blocked their path, the only way to the portal.

“Your Highness… the fifth princess was your favorite elder sister… I don’t care much about that other little b*tch, but the fifth princess always loved you… How could you do this to her??” the man said in a truly sorrowful tone that evoked tears.

As Qiong Shang approached, he finally saw that the person was actually the Minister of Stars Liu Songbo, who brought him out of the palace to seek Qiong Huan’s help in the first place.

“Fifth Sister!!? What happened to Fifth Sister?!” Hearing Liu Songbo’s scream, Qiong Shang’s body trembled and stopped in place, like he had fallen into a trance.