Chapter 358: the trails lead to north
The atmosphere inside the Imperial Palace had become unbearably heavy.
The discovery of fifty corpses had shaken the entire capital.
The Ministry of Justice worked without rest.
Officials hurried through the palace carrying reports.
Imperial guards doubled their patrols.
Even the servants whispered only in hushed voices.
No one knew what had happened.
No one dared guess.
---
Inside the Imperial Study, dozens of scrolls covered the Emperor’s desk.
The Emperor sat silently while the Minister of Justice knelt before him.
Beside them stood Prince Liang, several senior officials, and the commander of the Imperial Guards.
The room was so quiet that even the crackling of incense sounded loud.
The Minister lowered his head.
"Your Majesty, we have completed the first stage of identification."
The Emperor looked up.
"Speak."
"The fifty deceased have all been identified."
Prince Liang frowned.
"Who were they?"
The Minister slowly opened a scroll.
"They were ordinary people."
"A cloth merchant."
"A spice trader."
"A carpenter."
"A farmer."
"A traveling herbalist."
"A blacksmith."
"There are also several laborers."
The Emperor’s expression became more solemn.
"No officials?"
"No nobles?"
"No soldiers?"
The Minister shook his head.
"No, Your Majesty."
"Every victim was an ordinary citizen."
---
The Emperor tapped the table thoughtfully.
"Have their families been informed?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"They have already begun arriving to claim the bodies."
Prince Liang asked quietly,
"What did they say?"
The Minister hesitated.
Then answered,
"Every family reported the same thing."
The Emperor’s sharp eyes narrowed.
"The same thing?"
"Yes."
"They all said..."
"...their family members disappeared approximately fifty days ago."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Prince Liang slowly looked toward the Emperor.
"...Fifty days?"
The Minister nodded.
"Some disappeared while traveling."
"Some while returning home."
"Some simply vanished after leaving the market."
"There were no witnesses."
"No ransom."
"No explanation."
The Emperor slowly stood.
His heart sank.
"So..."
"They weren’t killed yesterday."
"They had been missing for fifty days."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
---
The commander of the Imperial Guards spoke.
"We did not tell their families where the bodies were discovered."
Prince Liang looked surprised.
"You concealed the location?"
The commander nodded.
"We believed it would create panic."
"If word spreads that fifty missing people were found inside the Imperial Palace..."
"...the entire capital may descend into chaos."
The Emperor agreed.
"That information remains confidential."
"No one outside this room is to reveal where the bodies were found."
Everyone bowed.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
---
The Emperor walked toward the large map hanging on the wall.
His eyes became colder.
"This wasn’t murder."
Prince Liang looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
The Emperor spoke quietly.
"It was preparation."
The room fell silent.
He continued,
"Fifty ordinary people."
"Missing for exactly fifty days."
"No visible wounds."
"No obvious cause of death."
His voice became lower.
"...This resembles forbidden rituals."
The Minister swallowed nervously.
"Your Majesty..."
"Those practices were outlawed generations ago."
"I know."
The Emperor’s gaze remained fixed on the map.
"That is exactly why this troubles me."
---
Prince Liang stepped closer.
"You believe someone is practicing forbidden rituals?"
The Emperor remained silent for several moments.
Finally—
"I don’t know."
"But I cannot ignore the possibility."
---
The Minister carefully handed over another scroll.
"There is one more discovery."
The Emperor accepted it.
His eyes moved across the page.
Then...
His expression changed.
Prince Liang immediately noticed.
"What is it?"
The Emperor slowly looked up.
"The victims..."
"...share one more thing in common."
"What?"
The Emperor pointed toward several locations marked on the map.
"They all disappeared near villages connected to the..."
His finger stopped.
"...northern border."
The room froze.
Prince Liang immediately walked closer.
"The North..."
The Minister nodded.
"Forty-three of the fifty victims disappeared from settlements within several days’ travel of the northern frontier."
The commander added,
"The remaining seven were merchants traveling through that same region."
The Emperor stared at the map.
His thoughts immediately returned to Duke Lian Zheng’s earlier reports.
Strange disappearances.
Unusual events.
Villages behaving oddly.
People awakening stronger than before.
His heart sank.
"...The North."
Prince Liang looked at him.
"You’ve thought of something."
The Emperor spoke quietly.
"Duke Lian Zheng once submitted reports about unusual incidents near the northern frontier."
"At the time..."
"I believed they were isolated."
He slowly shook his head.
"I was wrong."
---
The room grew colder.
The Emperor’s gaze hardened.
"This is no coincidence."
"Whatever is happening..."
"It began in the North."
"And now..."
"...it has reached the capital."
No one dared speak.
The weight of those words settled over everyone.
If the Emperor was right—
Then the discovery of fifty bodies was not the beginning.
It was only the first sign that something far larger had already entered the empire.
The Emperor rolled up the map.
His voice was calm, but firm.
"Send a secret message to Duke Lian Zheng."
"I want every report concerning the northern border brought to me immediately."
"And until we know the truth..."
"No one is to underestimate this threat."
Outside the study, the palace remained peaceful.
Inside...
The Emperor finally understood one thing.
The enemy was no longer just hiding.
It was spreading.
The morning court convened beneath the soaring golden roof of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Usually, the atmosphere was filled with discussions of taxes, harvests, border patrols, and official appointments.
Today...
It was different.
The ministers noticed it the moment the Emperor entered.
His expression was colder than usual.
His eyes were sharp.
Even the chief eunuch sensed that something important was about to happen.
"His Majesty has arrived!"
Every official knelt.
"Long live Your Majesty!"
The Emperor took his seat upon the Dragon Throne.
"Rise."
The officials stood.
For several moments, the hall remained completely silent.
No one dared speak first.
Finally, the Emperor looked toward the Minister of Justice.
"How many unsolved disappearances have been reported in the last three years?"
The minister was caught off guard.
He quickly stepped forward.
"Your Majesty... according to official records, there have been twenty-three unexplained disappearances across the empire."
"And unusual deaths?"
"Thirty-seven cases, Your Majesty."
The Emperor nodded slowly.
"What about reports involving strange rituals?"
The minister hesitated.
"There have been rumors... but no verified evidence."
The Emperor’s gaze swept across the court.
"Rumors often begin with truth."
The hall became deathly quiet.
Several ministers exchanged uneasy glances.
The Grand Chancellor stepped forward.
"Your Majesty... has something happened?"
The Emperor rested one hand on the arm of the throne.
"There have been repeated incidents within this empire."
He spoke slowly.
"Unexplained attacks."
"People behaving as though controlled."
"Forbidden rituals."
His voice echoed across the hall.
"I will not allow such darkness to spread."
No one interrupted him.
The Emperor looked toward the Commander of the Imperial Guard.
"Effective immediately..."
"Every province shall begin an investigation into forbidden practices."
The commander bowed deeply.
"This servant obeys."
The Emperor continued.
"Any person found practicing forbidden black magic, human sacrifice, soul manipulation, or similar dark rituals shall be arrested immediately."
The Minister of Justice wrote every word carefully.
The Emperor’s voice became even firmer.
"Upon conviction according to imperial law..."
"...the guilty individual shall receive the highest punishment permitted by law."
The ministers listened without moving.
"Their property shall be confiscated."
"Their accomplices shall also be investigated and punished according to their involvement."
He paused.
"No official, noble, or commoner shall be exempt from this law."
A murmur almost spread through the court before everyone quickly fell silent again.
The Emperor’s eyes hardened.
"I care nothing for status."
"I care only for justice."
The Commander stepped forward again.
"Your Majesty, how shall investigations proceed?"
The Emperor answered immediately.
"Special inspection teams will be established."
"They will report directly to the throne."
"No local official may interfere."
The Grand Chancellor nodded slowly.
"A wise decision."
Another minister stepped forward cautiously.
"Your Majesty..."
"If rumors spread, people may become frightened."
The Emperor looked directly at him.
"Then let them know this."
"The Empire protects the innocent."
"But those who seek power through forbidden means..."
"...will find no refuge beneath Heaven."
His words carried throughout the hall.
The chief eunuch stepped forward with an imperial scroll.
The Emperor nodded once.
"Write."
The eunuch began recording the imperial decree.
---
By noon...
Imperial messengers rode out from the capital in every direction.
Fresh horses waited at each relay station.
No delay was permitted.
The decree reached city gates first.
Soldiers gathered.
Officials assembled.
Crowds began forming.
An imperial officer unrolled the scroll.
"By the command of His Imperial Majesty!"
The marketplace became silent.
The officer read aloud the decree.
Every sentence echoed through the square.
People listened carefully.
Shopkeepers stopped working.
Travelers halted their horses.
Children fell quiet under their parents’ watchful eyes.
When the proclamation ended...
The crowd erupted into whispers.
"So the Emperor is finally acting..."
"I heard strange things have happened in the western villages."
"My cousin spoke about people disappearing."
"Perhaps the rumors were true."
Others nodded nervously.
"Who would dare practice such forbidden arts?"
"No matter who they are..."
"They deserve punishment."
---
Inside the palace...
The Dowager Empress also received a copy of the decree.
She read every line slowly.
Her brows drew together.
"So serious..."
She had rarely seen her son issue such a sweeping order.
Princess Zhi, standing nearby, quietly asked,
"Mother... do you think something has happened?"
The Dowager Empress folded the scroll.
"I believe..."
"...your brother has discovered something."
---
Meanwhile...
Far away in another courtyard...
Shin Gu received news of the imperial decree.
The messenger finished speaking and hurried away.
Silence filled the room.
Lady Chen looked toward Shin Gu.
Her face had lost all color.
"The Emperor..."
"...issued such an order?"
Shin Gu slowly placed her teacup down.
For the first time in many days...
Her smile disappeared.
"He has begun moving faster than I expected."
Lady Chen swallowed nervously.
"Will this affect us?"
Shin Gu closed her eyes briefly.
"Not yet."
"But..."
She opened them again.
"...we can no longer act carelessly."
Outside...
Dark clouds slowly gathered above the palace.
A storm was approaching.
And although few understood the true meaning of the Emperor’s decree...
Those who walked the path of darkness knew one thing clearly—
The hunt had begun.
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