In the next instant, Mu Xueshi’s vision turned crimson.
The world before his eyes transformed into a sea of blood.
On the bed. Beneath the bed. Across the gauze curtains. Over the stools and furniture—blood flowed everywhere, spreading in dark streams.
In that single moment, he saw exactly what had happened.
The Third Prince stood there, his eyes blazing with murderous fury. With both hands, he had seized the woman’s head and twisted—
ripping it brutally from her neck.
Before her body had even collapsed, his sword flashed through the air.
With a single sweeping strike, the woman’s corpse was hacked apart. Limbs and flesh scattered in every direction, reduced to pieces that fell across the room like shattered remnants.
Mu Xueshi trembled uncontrollably.
A suffocating terror seized him.
The Third Prince’s eyes burned with bloodthirst, his entire presence radiating a savage, beastlike rage. Mu Xueshi had never seen him like this—never imagined such a terrifying side of him existed.
In the very next moment, Mu Xueshi toppled from the bed and collapsed onto the floor, losing consciousness.
The Third Prince bent down and lifted Mu Xueshi from the ground.
He carefully pulled the boy’s clothing back into place and draped the garments over him. Without a word, he turned and walked toward the door.
Behind him followed Sun Ye, his expression calm and steady. The only ones who seemed frightened were the people gathered outside the doorway.
Standing there was Li Gui.
The moment she saw the scene inside the room, she instantly understood who the man was who had leapt directly to the second floor.
She immediately dropped to her knees and lowered her head, not daring to utter a single word.
Beside her, Li Qian showed little outward reaction. Yet when his gaze fell upon the figure cradled in the Third Prince’s arms, a flicker of concern still passed through his eyes.
Someone suddenly cried out,
“Your servant pays respects to His Highness the Third Prince!”
At once, the noblemen and aristocrats who had been enjoying themselves in the establishment all rushed out from their rooms. They lined up across the hall, kneeling in a row.
Their robes were disheveled, their hair unkempt, their expressions full of embarrassment and fear.
But the Third Prince did not spare them even a glance.
Carrying Mu Xueshi in his arms, he walked slowly down the stairs.
When he reached the entrance, he stopped.
In that instant, every breath in the hall seemed to halt.
His voice fell cold and merciless.
“Take that woman’s scattered remains and hang them before the gates of Changxin Courtyard as a public warning.”
“If anyone ever again dares to receive the person in my arms—”
“—I will wash Changxin Courtyard in blood.”
Meanwhile, inside a traveling carriage moving through the night—
Hao Lin sat leisurely upon the cushioned seat. His deep eyes were fixed upon the man sitting across from him: Shangchuan Hong.
The smile in his gaze grew more and more pronounced.
“So it seems my guess was correct.”
“That son of the Grand Tutor is not as he appears.”
“Did you see his true face?”
Shangchuan Hong frowned slightly.
“The Third Prince affixed a mask of his own making onto the Grand Tutor’s son’s face. If one wishes to remove it… certain materials are required.”
Hao Lin lowered his eyelids slightly, his interest clearly piqued.
“Oh?”
“To remove that mask, one must use the water from Lingzi Lake at the Third Prince’s Qinyi Courtyard, along with the pollen of the Ruzhi Flower.”
Hearing this, Hao Lin leaned back lazily against the soft cushions of the carriage.
With a teasing smile, he lifted Shangchuan Hong’s chin with one finger.
“Even someone as skilled in the art of disguise as you cannot remove it with your own methods?”
Shangchuan Hong replied calmly.
“No.”
Hao Lin’s brows drew together slightly as he murmured,
“Just how breathtaking must that face be… for the Third Prince to go to such lengths to conceal it?”
Shangchuan Hong gently brushed Hao Lin’s hand away. His gaze drifted out through the carriage window, a faint, ambiguous smile lingering on his lips.
“I killed one of the women in Changxin Courtyard. Then I disguised one of our captured sex slaves to resemble her and sent her in.”
“I also administered an aphrodisiac to the Grand Tutor’s son.”
He paused before continuing.
“Does my emperor know what the result was?”
Hao Lin raised an eyebrow.
“The same fate as those men we ambushed on the road last time?”
Shangchuan Hong shook his head slowly.
“No.”
“Even worse.”
“The woman was hacked apart by the Third Prince until not even a complete bone remained.”
A cold laugh escaped Hao Lin’s lips.
“This is becoming more and more interesting.”
“Every corner of Yunxi makes me increasingly eager to claim it.”
Futile Devices Scans 
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