"Protect His Highness!" Li Fang shrieked, his eunuch's uniquely shrill voice cutting through the howling north wind and piercing the night sky heavy with swirling snowflakes.
As the green light streaked toward them like lightning, Prince Yu stood frozen in shock.
With no time to retreat into the courtyard, Li Fang shoved Prince Yu into the carriage instead, slamming the door shut with a clang. He positioned himself at the carriage entrance while three guards drew their swords before the vehicle, their blades trembling uncontrollably—they were terrified too!
There was no coachman; the Yu residence was so impoverished that guards doubled as drivers, performing two jobs for one wage.
Serving in Prince Yu's austere household meant receiving only meager fixed salaries with no additional benefits, making it hardly worth risking their lives for.
Yet if anything happened to Prince Yu, they would all be executed.
Just as the green light was about to strike—BOOM! A golden flash of fire erupted before it, scattering ice chips and snowflakes like a blooming white lotus in the air.
The explosion halted the Dark Spectre's assault. The creature stopped in its tracks, emitting gurgling sounds.
"Get Prince Yu into the main courtyard! We'll handle this!" a voice called from behind.
The three guards turned to see Wang Daxia and Lu Ying, each aiming a flintlock rifle at the Dark Spectre. Smoke still curled from Wang Daxia's barrel—he had fired the shot.
That cripple who hated cilantro was surprisingly accurate with his aim.
Li Fang reacted fastest, opening the carriage door to help Prince Yu out. Wei Caiwei also descended from the rear carriage. Though lacking martial skills, she possessed experience from her previous life confronting the Dark Spectre.
When the creature appeared, she had soaked thick cotton masks in an invigorating herbal concoction—a formula she'd developed at the palace this past month. She had even tested it personally by wearing the damp mask while igniting hallucinogenic smoke to expose herself.
Her experiments proved effective; the masks could provide temporary protection.
The Dark Spectre itself wasn't frightening—merely a dog—but its illusion-inducing black smoke was deadly. Wei Caiwei had spent the month seeking countermeasures.
Prepared, she descended with the medicated masks and fastened them securely over the mouths and noses of Wang Daxia and Lu Ying, who stood aiming their flintlocks at the distant green glow of the Dark Spectre.
Unable to reveal her past life experiences, Wei Caiwei simply said, "Stay calm. Treat it like a rabid dog. These masks will prevent you from inhaling the black smoke and keep you lucid."
The reassurance was mainly for Wang Daxia. Lu Ying feared no ghosts or deities, but Wang Daxia certainly did!
While tying the damp mask over Wang Daxia's face, she could feel his trembling cheeks and even hear his teeth chattering.
Wei Caiwei took a spare mask for herself and tucked the remaining ones inside Lu Ying and Wang Daxia's armor.
Flintlock rifles required reloading with gunpowder and shot after each discharge. As Wang Daxia finished reloading and tamped the charge with his ramrod, he feigned composure despite his fear of ghosts. With his fiancée beside him, he couldn't show cowardice.
"Hurry inside the courtyard with Prince Yu," he said with forced calm. "We'll deal with the Dark Spectre. It's just a glowing green dog—I'm not afraid."
Wei Caiwei pretended to believe his bravado. "Alright, I'll go now."Wei Caiwei rushed towards Prince Yu and the others. Seeing Prince Yu moving towards the courtyard gate, the Dark Spectre also charged in that direction.
Lu Ying had been tracking it all along, her gun muzzle following the movement of the green glow. She fired.
Boom!
Another gunshot rang out. The green glow halted its charge and let out a whimper.
By then, Wang Daxia had already used the ramrod to compact the gunpowder and bullet, aiming at the motionless green glow in the snow.
Just then, a sharp, thin whistle sounded. The Dark Spectre stopped pursuing Prince Yu, turned around, and dashed toward the source of the whistle, disappearing into the bare woods.
Wei Caiwei and Prince Yu’s group also ran into the main courtyard and closed the gate.
Hearing the whistle, Wang Daxia thought, Isn’t that how you call a dog? It went as soon as it heard the whistle—so there’s nothing to fear from this Dark Spectre! As he reloaded the gunpowder and bullet, he and Lu Ying approached the spot where the Dark Spectre had been hit. By the light of the torches and the snow, they clearly saw several drops of bright red blood and… scattered tufts of hair!
Lu Ying’s earlier shot had grazed the Dark Spectre’s fur.
The hair still emitted a green fluorescent glow. Lu Ying pinched the green fur with her fingers, and the green fluorescence stuck to her hand.
“It’s powder made from fluorite,” Lu Ying said. “As expected, someone is using trickery, exploiting the legend of the Dark Spectre to target Prince Yu.”
Wang Daxia removed his damp face covering, dipped his index finger in the bright red blood, and licked it. “It tastes sweet and metallic. Monster blood is supposed to be black and foul-smelling—this is clearly animal blood.”
Lu Ying felt nauseated watching him. “Can’t you break this habit of tasting everything? A gentleman uses his hands, not his mouth. What if the animal was diseased? Even Doctor Wei tying that face covering on you couldn’t stop you from using your mouth.”
Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey! Wang Daxia immediately spat, grabbed an icicle hanging from a tree, chewed on it, spat out a mouthful of icy water, and put the damp face covering back on.
Lu Ying collected the green fur. “This is evidence.”
Wang Daxia gazed into the snowy woods. “No idea where the Dark Spectre ran off to.”
Woof! Woof!
The sound of barking echoed—it was Wu Xiaoqi and the other four Embroidered Uniform Guards disguised as craftsmen coming to assist. Following Lu Ying’s instructions, Wu Xiaoqi had that afternoon taken the meticulously raised and trained Shandong Greyhound from the Imperial Guard Office, smeared it with black ash, and trimmed some of its fur. The originally pure white, handsome greyhound—so flawless it could be called the Wang Daxia of dogs—was turned into a grimy undercover stray and led into Prince Yu’s workshop shed.
Hearing the gunshots, Wu Xiaoqi immediately brought the greyhound, Xiao Wang, to support his superior.
Lu Ying let Xiao Wang sniff the green fur dropped by the Dark Spectre and patted the dog’s head. “Find it.”
With a fierce bark, Xiao Wang charged into the snowy woods. Lu Ying and the others quickly followed the greyhound into the forest.
Now, as two flowers bloom on separate branches, each must be described individually. Let us turn to Wei Caiwei, who followed Prince Yu into the main courtyard. Inside, a group of maids and elderly servants, startled by the commotion, trembled with fear.
Princess Yu managed to maintain her composure, sitting with the nine selected attendants around a large round table. It was the eldest daughter’s birthday, and Princess Yu had ordered the kitchen to prepare a table of vegetarian dishes and several hot pots. Following Prince Yu’s request, she had gathered the nine selected attendants to wait for his return so they could have dinner together and steady the “morale.”
Outside, gunshots echoed one after another. On the dining table, the hot pots bubbled and steamed, but Princess Yu remained perfectly still. The nine selected attendants dared not move either; even if terrified, they could only sit there.Princess Yu said, "Everyone, don't be afraid. His Highness will handle everything. If even he can't manage it, we certainly can't. Worrying is useless—let's just wait calmly and see how things unfold."
Princess Yu thought to herself: No matter how terrifying the Dark Spectre is, it's nothing compared to being penniless!
Poverty is the most frightening thing of all!
With this thought, Princess Yu gradually calmed down, calculating that she still had a considerable portion of her stipend left. If Prince Yu were harmed by the Dark Spectre, the Imperial Clan Court and Ministry of Rites would surely handle his funeral arrangements—no need for a widow to pay out of pocket.
Once Prince Yu was gone, with no children in the household, that expense would vanish. She could dismiss unnecessary officials like the Registrar and Chief Steward, along with unneeded servants, further reducing expenditures. The remaining silver would be enough for her and the nine chosen attendants to live out their days in retirement.
Anyway, life would go on somehow. Whether widowed or not, her life wouldn't change much—she'd been living like a widow all along.
As Princess Yu pondered this, Prince Yu arrived in the main hall, surrounded by Li Fang and his guards. The last to enter was a woman wearing a face veil, revealing only her eyes. Even after stepping inside, she did not remove it.
Princess Yu quickly stood up, leading the nine chosen attendants to greet her husband. "Your Highness, are you alright?"
Seeing ten women calmly waiting for him at the dining table, Prince Yu couldn't let himself be outdone by them. His panicked heart settled, and he feigned composure, spreading his arms for Li Fang to untie the fastenings of his thick padded robe. "I'm fine. Someone was pretending to be a ghost, using the Dark Spectre to frighten me. That thing is afraid of firearms and has been driven off. They're pursuing it now."
Only Li Jiubao recognized the veiled woman who had just entered by the medicine bag on her shoulder. "Doctor Wei? What brings you here?"
Wei Caiwei inspected the windows one by one, explaining, "I encountered His Highness Prince Yu at Guanghua Temple. When he mentioned last night's Dark Spectre incident at the residence, I came to take a look. I've treated palace staff injured by the Dark Spectre before. I didn't expect to actually encounter it lurking here—it was driven off by gunfire from my protector."
This Doctor Wei truly is the salvation of this residence! She obtained funds from Yan Shifan, solving my urgent financial needs so I could repair the house. Tonight, she even accidentally drove off the Dark Spectre! Princess Yu warmly invited Wei Caiwei to join them at the table.
Until the Dark Spectre was eliminated, Wei Caiwei didn't dare remove her damp face veil. "I've already had dinner. Please take your time eating. I need to check the rear hall."
Prince Yu said, "Li Fang, take two guards and accompany Doctor Wei."
"Yes." Li Fang gestured. "This way, Doctor Wei."
Meanwhile, Lu Ying and the others followed the greyhound Xiao Wang out of the snowy forest. Even without the dog's guidance, they could see a trail of human footprints and dog prints resembling snow pits in the snow.
The greyhound indeed followed the line of snow pits forward until it stopped at a tightly closed courtyard gate. It barked furiously at the gate, scratching at it with its paws and leaving claw marks on the freshly painted vermilion door.
Wang Daxia exclaimed in alarm, "Bad news! There's a traitor in Prince Yu's residence! They've let the Dark Spectre in through the main courtyard's back gate! Doctor Wei is still inside!"
"Open the door!" Wang Daxia frantically kicked the gate. But no one responded.
Lu Ying distributed the damp face veils made by Wei Caiwei to Wu Xiaoqi and the other five subordinates. "The gatekeeper has been neutralized. We'll scale the wall. Everyone, be wary of smoke bombs."
Wu Xiaoqi and the others put on the damp face veils, threw tiger-claw iron hooks attached to ropes over the wall, and began climbing.The seven men rushed in and saw two guards lying in the snow by the entrance. There were no visible injuries on their bodies. Lu Ying checked their breathing and said, "They're not dead, just knocked out."
"Hurry and save Doctor Wei!" Wang Daxia led the charge at the front, following the greyhound Xiao Wang.
Author's note: With these three on the case, the Dark Spectre picked the wrong opponents.
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