Chapter 306: The Punishment of the Underground Palace
This novel is translated and hosted on BCatranslation
“Those who destroy the Underground Palace shall be executed without mercy,” the voice echoed through the dim, shadowy halls.
“Soul, return…”
“It’s not worth it… this world isn’t worth it…” muttered a deep voice, soft and almost broken. The owner of the voice was a tall figure, his eyes dark and distant. Over the countless years, his sanity had slipped away, bit by bit.
Yet, one thing remained unbroken—his memory of his master.
Even if everything else faded, even if his own mind dissolved into chaos, he would protect everything that had once belonged to his master. Guarding his master was etched so deep in his soul that nothing could erase it.
“Xing Hui, Xing Hui, I am your master!” Lu Chao Chao’s tiny voice piped up, her small hands waving frantically in front of him. But she was such a little thing, barely taller than his leg.
Seeing her efforts going unnoticed, she puffed up her cheeks in frustration. “Hmph!” She grabbed a nearby chair, struggled to push it closer, and climbed on top of it. Balancing on tiptoes, she waved her arms again. “I am your master!” she declared, trying to sound as stern as a little one could.
But Xing Hui, the Warrior God, stared blankly ahead. No reaction, not even a flicker of recognition in his eyes.
[Why isn’t he listening to me?] thought Lu Chao Chao, her tiny face scrunching up. [This is so frustrating!] She opened the Divine Record, a glowing book that floated before her, revealing a troubling sight: the Warrior God, Xing Hui, already had one foot in madness. Her little head began to ache.
Determined to help, she sent a wisp of her spiritual energy into Xing Hui’s soul. “Hmm, I’ve hidden your form. Let’s go outside for a walk,” she said with a mischievous smile, though her big eyes remained serious. She knew a change of scenery might calm his restless spirit.
Even without his memories, Xing Hui instinctively followed her. Wherever she went, he trailed behind, like a silent shadow, never straying far from her side.
The streets outside were chaotic and grim, a landscape of ruin and sorrow. Shadows stretched long and thin under the dim light, and the air felt heavy with despair. From time to time, distant sounds of fighting broke the silence—likely over treasures from the Underground Palace.
“Bad! Bad!” Chao Chao muttered, her baby face tightening in concentration as she tried to contain the dark aura swirling around Xing Hui. It was growing thicker, more menacing.
She was starting to understand. This plague that swept through the city wasn’t some punishment from the heavens, nor was it a calamity of human making. It was Xing Hui. For a thousand years, he had guarded the Underground Palace, and the treasures buried within had absorbed his dark energy. When people took them without permission and damaged the palace, it became the last straw that pushed him over the edge.
Now, his divine nature was collapsing, unleashing a sinister energy that could harm any mortals who came close.
Lu Chao Chao led him to a bustling medical hall. Inside, doctors were rushing around like ants, desperately trying to treat the sick.
At the center of the room, Lu Zheng Yue was surrounded by several physicians.
“How strange…” muttered an elderly physician, his hair and beard white as snow, but his eyes sharp with curiosity. “The word is that the plague spreads through blood, saliva, or even just breathing. But Lord Zheng Yue shows no signs of infection.”
He carefully examined Lu Zheng Yue’s limbs, pinching them here and there. “Do you feel any pain?”
Lu Zheng Yue shook his head. “None at all, not a single bit.”
The physician turned to Wen Ning. “Miss Wen, my apologies. Do you feel any pain?” He tapped her knee and arm lightly with a small hammer.
Wen Ning shook her head. “None.”
“How strange indeed…” The physician stroked his beard, deep in thought.
Little Chao Chao walked around the plague-stricken area, her tiny hands clasped behind her back. Everyone else was bundled up in layers of masks, but she had no protection whatsoever.
A fierce-looking woman noticed her and shouted, “Hey, child! Where’s your family? Who let you wander around here like this?!”
Chao Chao turned around, blinking her big eyes at the woman. The woman quickly pulled out a clean handkerchief and covered her mouth and nose. “Don’t you know the plague is spreading? What kind of adult lets a child out like this? Here, cover your mouth and nose with this cloth and get out of here! This is no place for a child!”
The woman’s stern face softened when she saw Chao Chao’s blank stare. “Where’s your family? They haven’t… all died from the plague, have they?”
She seemed to struggle with her words but finally gritted her teeth and pulled out two white buns wrapped in oiled paper. “There’s been a shortage of food in Desolate City lately. I work here in the plague area and get three white buns a day. Here, eat these…”
She placed the buns in Chao Chao’s small hands. “Hide them well, little one, don’t let anyone snatch them away.”
A sick man nearby, overhearing, rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a small piece of silver. “Little girl, here’s some loose silver for you,” he said, his voice weak but sincere. “I found this at the entrance to the Underground Palace on the day it opened. My family’s not well-off either, but here, take it.”
Soon, more patients chimed in, pulling out copper coins, bits of silver—whatever they could spare. They stuffed them all into Chao Chao’s little arms.
“Take it. We found all this at the entrance to the Underground Palace,” they insisted. “Those heartless folks who rushed in and smashed the place made the most, but we just picked up what was left outside.”
The patients seemed to have some conscience; they hadn’t dared to step inside the palace itself. But as they spoke, their expressions darkened with suspicion.
“My neighbor’s family went into the Underground Palace and took a lot of things,” the fierce-looking woman said, her brow furrowed. “And then… they were among the first to catch the plague. The whole family got infected and died.”
A man suddenly slapped his thigh. “Oh no, my nephew’s family also looted treasures from the Underground Palace. They’re all dead!”
The more they talked, the more terrified they became. Realization spread like wildfire. “Could it… could it be a curse for looting the Underground Palace?”
The crowd shivered as if touched by a chill wind.
“Thinking about it, it seems like everyone who went into the Underground Palace died!” they murmured to each other, searching their memories and finding no exceptions. All dead.
One person said, “I sell buns. Lately, lots of people have been coming to buy things with silver from the Underground Palace.”
Another chimed in, “I run a fabric shop, and I’ve received silver from there too.”
“I sell sugar canes on the street, and I’ve taken silver from the palace as well.”
After asking around, it turned out they had all handled silver from the Underground Palace.
The woman who had given Chao Chao the buns looked stunned. “I didn’t touch any, and I haven’t caught the plague…”
A strange silence fell over the crowd, a bizarre thought spreading through their minds like smoke.
Amid the chaos, Lu Chao Chao quietly led Xing Hui to a hidden corner. She looked up at him, her big eyes serious. “Xing Hui, this world is a mess, but there are still people trying to fix it. Good-hearted people shouldn’t have to pay for others’ actions!” she said, patting the bundles of silver and coins she had collected. “The innocent should not die in vain.”
She knew that if Xing Hui continued like this, he would be responsible for the deaths of many more innocent people. He was a god, after all, not a demon.
But Xing Hui simply stared at her, his gaze vacant and unfocused.
Meanwhile, the commotion in the plague area drew Lu Zheng Yue’s attention. Rong Che rushed over to investigate, and what they found was alarming: everyone who had looted, smashed, or stolen from the Underground Palace, without exception, had died from the plague. Those with milder symptoms had only accidentally touched items from the palace.
“No wonder Zheng Yue didn’t get infected,” someone said. “He never touched a single piece of silver or treasure from the Underground Palace!”
“Could it really be the palace’s revenge?” another person whispered.
This novel is translated and hosted on BCatranslation
“Do you remember the words carved on the stone door?” someone else asked. “The owner of the palace had only one request: do not damage the palace, and you may take what you need after bowing.”
“But they destroyed the palace beyond recognition!” Lu Zheng Yue exclaimed. “They deserve it! A bunch of greedy fools!”
The physicians exchanged bewildered glances. “How… how should we treat this?” one asked, his voice trembling.
Lu Zheng Yue frowned deeply. “Take the infected to the palace to bow… see if that earns forgiveness.”
And so, a dark crowd of people began kneeling every three steps, their knees bleeding, all the way to the palace’s entrance.
Lu Chao Chao stood at the back, Xing Hui following closely behind. She watched the scene unfold, her mind racing. [Even after bowing, the sinister energy around them isn’t going away,] she thought, biting her lip.
She looked up at Xing Hui. “Xing Hui, you can’t control the dark energy anymore, can you?”