Chapter 37 (1/2)

“What’s wrong, Younger Sister?” Prince Zhao hastily walked over to Princess Zhao. When he grabbed her hands for a look, he saw a very thin cut on her middle finger. Purple blood was flowing out of the wound.

“Sob… It hurts so badly. Why is it so painful…” Princess Zhao was in so much pain that tears were flowing freely from her eyes.

Xiao Chen immediately walked to them. He clearly saw a wisp of black Qi rising from the zither string and entering Princess Zhao’s finger. It was a very dense Death Qi! Of course, with the others’ superficial knowledge, they could not see this Qi.

He picked up her hand and immediately ushered energy into her body to force the Death Qi out. Stunned, Prince Zhao cried, “Y-Y-You! How audacious! Let go of my sister’s hand at once!”

Princess Zhao blushed and immediately pulled her hand away.

“Oh, I apologize. I offended you in a moment of urgency. Do you feel a little better now, Princess?”

“It seems like… it’s not hurting much anymore…” Princess Zhao replied quietly. She then glared at the zither. “Brother, your zither bit me! I want to smash it!”

“Dear God! Can you stop causing a fuss, my little Princess?” Prince Zhao immediately hugged her but despite her petiteness and delicateness, she possessed incredible strength.

Princes Qi and Yan held their foreheads and pretended that they did not see anything. Xiao Chen said helplessly, “Come on, let’s go out. There’s a Demon inside this house.”

“Ah! So there’s a Demon here!” The moment Princess Zhao heard that there was a Demon lurking here, she was so frightened that she ran out of the courtyard until she was under the sunlight.

Thus, when afternoon rolled around, Prince Zhao finally managed to scare the little princess enough with mentions of Demons, spirits, and hobgoblins and force her to go home. When Prince Zhao returned to the courtyard, he smiled wryly at them. “That… I’m very sorry, Senior Brother Xiao. My sister is just that mischevious…”

“Hmph!” Xiao Chen walked away with a flick of his sleeves.

“That… Brother Qi and Brother Yan…”

“Hmph!” Prince Qi and Prince Yan also flicked their sleeves and walked out of the courtyard.

“That… Younger Sister Lil Ruo…”

“Hmph!” Lil Ruo stomped her feet and went back inside the house as well.

“Er… Fine. It’s all my fault…”

When night fell, Xiao Chen entered the house and looked at the Jade Zither. “That was a little excessive, Evernight. She’s just a little girl. Why take her so seriously?”

Evernight materialized out of the zither and looked at him, “You think it is I who did it?”

“Who can it be if not for you?”

Placing her hands over her chest, Evernight raised her head with a laugh. “What a joke! Now that I’m no longer in the zither, why don’t you find someone to try it?”

Xiao Chen’s expression turned solemn. “What do you mean, Evernight? Are you saying that this zither…” He suddenly recalled how ferocious the wisp of Death Qi that came out of the zither was. How could Evernight possess such dense Death Qi?”

Evernight gave a cold laugh and said scornfully, “Youngster, I suppose you don’t know the origins of this zither.”

“Speak.” Xiao Chen looked incredibly somber. The zither had always been strange since it was brought to the Xiao Family Manor. No matter who strummed the strings, no one made any noise. Their fingers would be cut as well. The zither was very bloodthirsty. He initially thought that it was Evernight being protective of the zither but that was evidently not the case.

Evernight looked at the Jade Zither that was of deep sandalwood color on the table and said slowly, “This zither is named the Jade Ornament of Ninth Heaven. It has many owners over the years and each one would suffer a violent death without exception! That’s why its murderous aura doesn’t dissipate and it becomes so bloodthirsty. It’s also why there’s such a dense Death Qi inside!”

Xiao Chen’s heart jumped. Jade Ornament of Ninth Heaven! He had also heard about the legendary zither of the Lei Clan. The Master of the Lei Clan had spent all of his efforts over a lifetime to build the zither called the “Jade Ornament of Ninth Heaven” but when the zither was completed, the entire clan suffered a great calamity and the zither also went missing after. The later generations then recorded its legend in books.

“That’s right! The Master of the Lei Clan had spent all of his efforts over a lifetime to make the zither. He didn’t expect that the moment he unleashed the zither, there would be a blood moon in the sky and safflowers everywhere. More than a hundred old and young Lei clansmen met a violent death in a single night! Their grievances were all concentrated in this zither!”

Xiao Chen was deeply startled. Wouldn’t that make this zither the most fearsome zither in the world?

Evernight snorted, “Why would there be such a dense Death Qi hidden in the zither otherwise? Once someone with Living Qi, his or her predestined lifespan will surely take a hit. Yet a youngster like you is able to restrain the Death Qi of the zither…”

Restrain the Death Qi of the zither…

Suddenly, a chill ran through Xiao Chen’s entire body and he felt as if he had been submerged into an icehouse. Only Death Qi could restrain Death Qi, something that Living Qi could never do. Yet why was he able to restrain the zither’s Death Qi? Could he possibly be…

Everyone had died thousands of years ago, yet why was he alone the survivor? This was not a coincidence but a shockingly great scheme!

The next morning, Luo Shangyan brought him two books that were copied by hand and said in a quiet voice, “This is the mental technique for the third and fourth level. Use them for the time being. I’ll come up with a way to get the rest.”

Xiao Chen accepted the books and felt that any words that he could say now would only be superfluous. “Thank you, Senior Sister Luo,” he said gently.

Luo Shangyan did not reply. She walked quietly to the door and left on her flying sword.