Futile Devices Scans

Sun Ye finally located the Gu master, Mo Ru, at an inn.

Mo Ru was lounging in his room, drinking wine and enjoying himself, looking entirely carefree.

After Sun Ye explained his purpose, Mo Ru merely listened as if he were hearing an opera. Not the slightest ripple of emotion appeared on his face.

“May I ask whether Master Mo would be willing to accompany me to the palace?” Sun Ye asked respectfully.

Mo Ru tilted his head slightly and glanced at him.

“No.”

Seeing the expression on Mo Ru’s face, Sun Ye immediately realized persuasion would not be easy.

It seemed that the hardest part was not finding the Gu Master—but convincing him to return.

Sun Ye had heard that Mo Ru had a fondness for handsome men. Whenever he encountered a particularly attractive one, he would lower his guard and follow them willingly.

Perhaps if he mentioned that this visit concerned the Third Prince, the Gu Master might reconsider.

Mo Ru had long noticed the troubled look on Sun Ye’s face and nearly laughed.

It was true he liked handsome men—but that didn’t mean mere good looks were enough.

Take this young man before him. Sun Ye’s appearance was indeed quite pleasing, but his personality was too upright and inflexible.

Instantly, Mo Ru lost all interest.

He coughed lightly, indicating that if Sun Ye had nothing more to say, he could leave.

Seeing this, Sun Ye hurriedly bowed again.

“Would Master Mo perhaps be willing to serve the Third Prince?”

Mo Ru casually played with the wine flask in his hand.

“Who is this Third Prince? The Third Prince, the Second Prince, the Crown Prince… what difference do they make to me?”

Sun Ye was taken aback. Someone who adored handsome men so much had somehow never heard of the Third Prince.

Yet the Gu Master had visited the palace before—surely he should have seen him.

After a brief hesitation, Sun Ye quickly added,

“The Third Prince… is widely known as the most beautiful man under heaven.”

Mo Ru’s fingers suddenly stopped moving.

He raised his head.

“More beautiful than you?”

Sun Ye was utterly stunned.

Having grown up in the palace and served under the Third Prince for so long, no one had ever paid attention to his appearance before.

Now, hearing such a remark, he actually felt his cheeks grow warm.

“I am not worthy of comparison with His Highness,” he replied hurriedly. “The Third Prince possesses a dragon’s body and jade-like grace. His beauty is unmatched—”

Before he could finish, Sun Ye realized the room was empty.

The window had somehow been pushed open.

Mo Ru had already leapt out.

By the time Sun Ye reached the window, the Gu Master had vanished without a trace.

When Sun Ye returned to the palace, Mo Ru had already treated more than half of the Third Prince’s injuries in the prince’s cultivation chamber.

Alarm seized him.

When he had left earlier, it was Mu Xueshi who had been gravely injured.

How had the situation reversed?

Had the Third Prince treated Mu Xueshi himself because Mo Ru had not arrived in time?

The thought filled Sun Ye with a bitter feeling.

Partly it was guilt for failing his duty.

But partly…

Because the Third Prince seemed to care for Mu Xueshi far more than he had ever cared for anyone.

He had never once seen the prince smile before.

Yet in the past half month, the coldness in the prince’s expression had softened noticeably.

Meanwhile, sweat beaded across Mo Ru’s forehead as he treated the prince.

Even his hand resting on the prince’s back trembled slightly.

He had not expected such vicious poison to exist within the palace.

The toxin had been created by mixing the blood of countless thousand-year Gu worms with the victim’s own blood. Then, when another person used internal energy to heal the victim, the poison would invade the healer’s body instead.

Had he arrived a moment later, the Third Prince would already be dead.

Even now, the prince would have to endure days of torment as Gu worms gnawed through his body before he could recover.

As for the person who had planted the trap—

They would suffer even worse.

Unless they were treated within forty-nine days, they would die in agony as the Gu worms devoured them from within.

Mo Ru frowned.

Who could possibly hate the Third Prince enough to sacrifice themselves just to harm him?

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