Looking at Attendant Li before him, Zhang Yuanqing first looked stunned, then broke into a delighted grin.
"World Returns to Fire?" He hadn't expected Attendant Li to be a teammate. After all, this was the imperial palace; Zhang Yuanqing had instinctively assumed all his male teammates were deployed on the front line or stationed somewhere in the capital.
As for why he guessed World Returns to Fire, the reason was simple: the chief eunuch was a Fire Specialist and had immediately deduced his identity. Only World Returns to Fire possessed that level of sharp intellect.
Attendant Li's face darkened. "Screw off, I'm Brother Red Chicken."
"???" Zhang Yuanqing didn't believe him. "How on earth did you figure out I'm Yuanshi Tianzun?"
*Did I underestimate Brother Red Chicken's IQ?*
Attendant Li—no, Brother Red Chicken—thrust his chin up with immense pride. "The moment you entered the dungeon, you summoned three women to attend your bed. Fu Qingyang, Demonic Eye, and Zhao Chenghuang don't care for women, and World Returns to Fire isn't lustful either. Aside from you, Yuanshi Tianzun, who else could it be?"
*Yep, I definitely didn't underestimate his IQ.* The corner of Zhang Yuanqing's mouth twitched. "Those three female assassins are our teammates."
Brother Red Chicken was flabbergasted. "Those three little wretches—no, those three assassins are our teammates? But why would they try to assassinate you? Sure, when I first entered the dungeon and learned about the absurd, scandalous things Zhao Shun did, I really wanted to slap him dead myself. But my mission is to protect Zhao Shun, and Zhao Shun is you. We're on the same side!"
*No wonder your attitude toward me was so awful yesterday. Given a Fire Specialist's temper, holding back for that long must have been pure torture for you.* Zhang Yuanqing said, "I have two guesses. First, the foolish tyrant's identity is special and carries the highest difficulty. Second, the dungeon is simply dialing up the difficulty for me on purpose."
Both points amounted to the same thing: because he was the foolish ruler, the difficulty was cranked high, so assassins came for him.
Brother Red Chicken let out an enlightened "Oh," delving no further into it, and continued, "My main quest is to protect the ruler for five days, and my side quest is to help him identify the spies. When I woke up this morning, I suddenly found the side quest was completed. Did you find the spies?"
"We'll discuss the dungeon plot in a bit." Zhang Yuanqing took a sip of tea. "This dungeon's mechanics work progressively; each completed side quest unseals part of our power. What level are you at right now? Did your side quests change?"
"My strength has recovered to Level 4, but I'm still one level shy of my peak. I have two side quests now: one is to protect the ruler for seventy-two hours, and the other is to protect him for ten days. But I'm leaving the moment I finish the main quest. Surviving ten days feels like Dominator-level difficulty; staying that long would just be courting death," Brother Red Chicken said.
Zhang Yuanqing drew a sharp breath. Brother Red Chicken was currently a Level 4 Saint, meaning within seventy-two hours, Saint-stage enemies would attempt to assassinate him.
Yet Zhang Yuanqing had only recovered to the Transcendent stage.
A Saint killing a Transcendent was like crushing an ant. His situation hadn't improved at all; it was growing increasingly perilous. *At this rate, by the time I recover my Dominator status, the enemies I face will probably be Level 8 or even higher...* Zhang Yuanqing winced.
An A-rank dungeon at the Dominator stage was even harder than the S-rank dungeons he had tackled before.
Just then, a eunuch's loud cry came from outside the hall:
"Madame Ya has arrived—"
Zhang Yuanqing and Brother Red Chicken turned toward the entrance together, the former wearing an expression that said *just as I thought*. Based on the Court Annals, most of the five imperial consorts he had deduced were likely Spirit Realm walkers.
The only uncertainty had been Consort De, who didn't resist physical contact and whose aloof demeanor matched her background setting.
The doors were pushed open, and a woman dressed in plain white palace robes stepped over the threshold, gliding forward with light, graceful steps.
She appeared around thirty years old, with elegant facial features and a quiet, cool demeanor. Her dark hair was coiled into an intricate bun adorned with golden and jade hairpins, and her limpid, autumn-water eyes carried an icy chill.
Madame Ya paused in the outer hall and murmured softly, "Hearing that Your Majesty survived an assassination attempt, this concubine was filled with worry and has come specially to visit."
Zhang Yuanqing knit his brow. From Madame Ya's emotional aura, he sensed confusion, bewilderment, and gravity—hardly the reaction of someone recognizing a teammate.
*Is Madame Ya not a teammate? Did she really come to visit the emperor, only to feel distressed upon finding him hale and hearty?*
Suppressing his delight, he gazed at the thoroughly charming, mature Madame Ya and smiled. "My beauty is truly thoughtful. Well, there is no need for you to return today. Stay here in Our bedchamber. It has been several days since We last enjoyed your company."
He didn't forget to maintain his persona as a foolish, debauched ruler.
Madame Ya stood expressionless in the hall, her voice faint. "This concubine heard the palace maids say that last night Your Majesty received a dream from the Star of Literature and composed a poem. Is that true?"
"It is," Zhang Yuanqing replied smoothly.
"This concubine also has a poem, but only half of it. I wonder if Your Majesty can complete it," Madame Ya probed.
"Let Us hear it!"
Madame Ya paused for a few seconds before reciting, "'Hoeing crops under the noon sun, sweat drips onto the soil below.'"
*Madame Ya really is a teammate! Then what was with that mood earlier?* Zhang Yuanqing switched to a reply that unmistakably declared his identity: "Chu He has done way too many people."
Madame Ya's face melted instantly, joy surfacing between her brows. She strode briskly into the inner bedchamber, looked at Zhang Yuanqing seated on the soft couch, and smiled. "It's me, Xiao Yuan."
Zhang Yuanqing broke into a grin as well. "Come quickly and make merry with Us!"
Hearing that, Brother Red Chicken grumbled from the side, "Guan Ya isn't even around and you're already fooling around like this?"
Among the ambiguous women surrounding Yuanshi Tianzun, Brother Red Chicken was still biased toward Guan Ya. After all, they had fought shoulder to shoulder for months.
Zhang Yuanqing shot him a sideways glance. "Do you want to be thrown out on a pike?"
Brother Red Chicken shrugged. "You're the emperor. You call the shots."
With Brother Red Chicken playing gooseberry, Zhang Yuanqing and Xiao Yuan could only observe proper decorum. He invited her to sit on the couch, and they earnestly compared their quests.
"My side quest is to assassinate the foolish emperor, and my main quest is to overthrow the Southern Dynasty. My side quest isn't complete, so my level is stuck at Level 3." Xiao Yuan's expression turned somewhat peculiar as she said, "I always thought our team belonged to the Northern Dynasty camp, and that the dungeon's core plot was helping the Northern Dynasty overthrow the corrupt Southern Dynasty regime. I never expected you to be the foolish emperor."
Zhang Yuanqing's heart skipped a beat. He immediately understood why Xiao Yuan had looked so grim. Her main quest was to overthrow the Southern Dynasty, which meant she was a Dominator on the enemy side. In a deadly dungeon like this, failing the main quest meant death.
In other words, no matter who cleared the dungeon in the end, the other side would die.
Brother Red Chicken scratched his head. "Wait, that doesn't make sense. We're teammates in the same camp; how could we end up on opposite sides?"
That went against the Spirit Realm's mechanics.
Xiao Yuan frowned. "I suspect it has to do with classes. I am an evil class, after all."
Zhang Yuanqing had a sudden thought. "Demonic Eye is an evil class too. I wonder what's going on on Fu Qingyang's side. We can write a letter to ask. This is the White Tiger Brigade's guild dungeon; Money Prince will know more than we do."
Even if it contradicted ordinary Spirit Realm mechanics, the reality was right before them. What they had to do now was find a way to resolve it. In the worst-case scenario, if there was truly no way around it, they could temporarily sacrifice Xiao Yuan and Demonic Eye, leaving behind clones and spiritual flesh to resurrect them later.
Or they could ask his uncle for help to extricate her from the dungeon.
Of course, those were desperate last resorts.
Thinking up to this point, he shook his head again. "No, if it were an issue with classes, why did those three concubines try to assassinate me as well?"
Jiang Jingwei and the others certainly weren't evil classes.
Xiao Yuan pondered briefly and said, "Since you're the emperor, I assume the three of them are still alive. Bring them to the bedchamber shortly so we can ask about their situation."
She continued sharing the intelligence on her role. In a chest beneath Madame Ya's bed, Xiao Yuan had found a set of night-traveler clothes, a human-skin mask, and a waist medallion.
"All three items are ordinary, but I felt the medallion was more important than the clothes and the mask, so I carried it on me." Xiao Yuan retrieved a palm-sized bronze medallion from her bodice, engraved with a Taiji fish emblem.
Zhang Yuanqing took the bronze medallion and examined it. "It should be a quest item. Hmm, Xiao Yuan's main quest is to overthrow the Southern Dynasty, so she likely belongs to the Northern Dynasty. I get it—she was dispatched by the Northern Dynasty as an undercover spy embedded in the palace, a sleeper agent who hasn't been exposed."
Brother Red Chicken was overjoyed. "In that case, we can use her to set an ambush for the Northern Dynasty and feed them false intelligence! Haha, what a bargain!"
*Sigh. Having one of our own as an enemy spy is theoretically a huge win, but Xiao Yuan's side quest is to assassinate the emperor. Since she can't complete it, her strength will remain sealed, effectively costing us a Dominator-level Witch Doctor.* Zhang Yuanqing wasn't nearly as optimistic as Brother Red Chicken.
Whether it was a net gain or loss was hard to say.
"You were the one who saved them last night, wasn't it?" Zhang Yuanqing looked at Madame Ya's exquisite features.
Xiao Yuan nodded and explained yesterday's events. She had claimed illness to avoid meeting the emperor out of fear that she wouldn't play Madame Ya convincingly and would be discovered.
Furthermore, the emperor was notoriously lecherous, and as his consort, it would have been difficult to resist any advances. Daylight offered no opportunity for assassination either.
So she had chosen to avoid him entirely.
Once night fell, she intended to sneak into his bedchamber to look for an opening to strike, only to discover that the three concubines were also attempting an assassination.
Because they shared the same objective, she suspected the three concubines might be Spirit Realm walkers and teammates, so she stepped in to rescue them.
At this point, Madame Ya's plotline was largely sorted out.
Zhang Yuanqing said, "I'll go fish the three concubines out first. The Imperial City Division likely has people from the Zheng family, so we must tread carefully and avoid being seen. Let me think... Xiao Yuan, stay in the bedchamber. Brother Red Chicken, go find three palace maid outfits and bring them to the artificial rockery by the lake."
He whispered instructions to the two teammates, then shouted loudly toward the outside:
"We intend to enjoy Our time with Madame Ya. All of you, withdraw!"
The maids and eunuchs in the outer hall bowed their heads and complied, filing out one after another.
His temples frosted with gray, Brother Red Chicken strode into the outer hall, drew the gauze curtain to screen off the inner bedchamber from the outer room, and pushed open the doors, departing alongside the maids and eunuchs.
Entering night-wandering stealth, Zhang Yuanqing slipped out of the bedchamber quietly behind Brother Red Chicken. Without lingering, he dashed straight toward the artificial lake outside the palace.
Beauty Wan had already revealed where she had submerged Jiang Jingwei and the other two. After last night's assassination attempt, the Imperial City Division had launched a massive lockdown and search effort this morning.
Therefore, she had chosen to conceal the three concubines at the bottom of the lake to evade the search parties.
Zhang Yuanqing easily slipped past the Imperial City Division guards posted at the intersections and outside the halls, as well as the passing maids and eunuchs. Reaching the lakeside, he stepped cautiously into the water.
If anyone had looked toward the lake at that moment, they would have spotted suspicious ripples spreading near the shore.
Submerging beneath the surface, Zhang Yuanqing opened his inventory, retrieved the Yin-Yang Robe, and draped it over himself. Gaining the ability to control water, he dove swiftly toward the lake bed.
About half a minute later, he arrived at the hiding spot. Floating in the water were three concubines of varying ages, their limbs bound by chains condensed from water.
They hovered like balloons anchored to the lake bed, each with a crimson talisman drawn upon her forehead.
Singer Wang and Beauty Wan were in a deep slumber, while Beauty Chu looked sickly and listless, occasionally yanking irritably at the chains around her wrists.
This had to be the water-warding talisman mentioned by the loyal Beauty Wan. The reason the three concubines looked so frail was that pathogens had been introduced into their bodies, making them severely ill.
This had been done to prevent them from causing too much commotion underwater and being spotted by the Imperial City Division guards.
"Gurgle, gurgle..."
Seeing the debauched emperor diving toward her, Beauty Chu panicked, opening her mouth to berate him, but her voice emerged only as a flurry of bubbles.
Zhang Yuanqing pointed to the robe he was wearing.
Beauty Chu showed no reaction, continuing to gurgle bubbles.
*Brainless Jingwei...* Zhang Yuanqing complained inwardly. He wiped his face with a hand, casting an illusion to restore his appearance as Yuanshi Tianzun.
The dungeon no longer restricted Spirit Realm walkers from revealing their true identities to each other.
Beauty Chu froze, then erupted with wild delight, her gurgling growing even more frantic.
Zhang Yuanqing pressed an index finger to his lips, gesturing for her to be quiet. He channeled his water-controlling ability, snapped the fragile chains, gathered Singer Wang in his arms, tossed Beauty Wan to Jiang Jingwei, and swiftly led them toward the surface.
At a patch of the lake covered with withered lotus leaves, Jiang Jingwei and Zhang Yuanqing poked their heads out, warily scanning the shore and the distance.
Seeing no one paying attention to this area, they dipped their heads back down. A few seconds later, they emerged by the bank, each carrying one person on their back, and darted into the artificial rockery along the shore.
"Assassinate me, will you? Assassinate me! Assassinate me!"
Inside the rockery, Zhang Yuanqing raised a palm and smacked Jiang Jingwei over the head again and again.
Beauty Chu, who looked about fourteen or fifteen, flailed her fists, defiantly fighting back, but afflicted by illness, her resistance was utterly feeble.
Having delivered his lesson, Zhang Yuanqing poked Jiang Jingwei in the forehead, sending her toppling onto the ground, and grumbled, "Tell me your character information."
Chapter 850