General Feihu's face lit up with delight, and he said hastily: "Thank you for your faith in me, Your Highness. I will not let you down. I will do everything in my power to see this matter through for you."

  Prince Suwen said: "Good. Now go. Unless something urgent comes up, do not disturb me."

  "Yes, Your Highness." General Feihu acknowledged the order, then retreated from the room and made his way out of the mansion through the front hall.

  After General Feihu departed, Prince Suwen remained in the room for a short while before walking out of the study. At that very moment, a shadowy figure crept up behind him and pressed something hard and cold against the small of his back.

  "Not a sound, if you want to live!" A cold, menacing voice rang out from behind Prince Suwen. He flinched in arm. Realizing that the object pressed against his back was a gun, he froze immediately and did not make a sound.

  "Go sit down in that chair over there." The cold voice spoke again. Prince Suwen complied without resistance, lowering himself into the chair in the reception hall.

  Soft footsteps followed, and a young man appeared before Prince Suwen — wearing a white smiley-face mask and holding a gun in his hand. This masked figure was none other than Rulu, who had been eavesdropping outside the room just moments before.

  "Who are you? What do you want with me?!" Prince Suwen did his best to keep his composure as he addressed the masked man.

  "It seems you haven't quite grasped the situation." Rulu lowered his voice and spoke in a ft, emotionless tone. "Your life is in my hands. That means I'm the one asking the questions — not you. Are we clear?"

  Prince Suwen gave a cold ugh. "Don't you know I'm a prince of the Sanctuary? The people of the Sanctuary possess powerful Psionic powers that ordinary humans don't have. Do you honestly think you and that gun of yours are enough to kill me?"

  Rulu ughed as well. "If it were anyone else, I'd genuinely be unsure. But you're a different matter entirely, Prince Suwen. I happen to know that you are the most mediocre prince in all the Sanctuary. You're nothing more than a low-level Ultra-capable individual — your Psionic powers are practically nonexistent. Forget me — any ordinary person could kill you!"

  A flicker of fear crossed Prince Suwen's eyes. "Who on earth are you? Where did you hear all of this?!"

  "Shut your mouth if you don't want to die. All you need to do is answer my questions honestly!" Rulu raised his hand and leveled the barrel of the gun at Prince Suwen's head. That settled it. Prince Suwen immediately fell in line. "All right… I understand. Please, ask whatever you wish. I'll tell you everything."

  Rulu thought for a moment, recalling the conversation he had just overheard between Prince Suwen and General Feihu. "I'm told you came here under the Emperor's orders, to find a young woman with green hair. Is that correct?"

  "You already know about that?!" Sweat broke out on Prince Suwen's forehead. The Emperor had made absolutely clear that this matter was not to be breathed to anyone — and yet it had been exposed this quickly.

  "What does the woman look like?" Rulu asked again.

  "Well…" A cunning glint fshed in Prince Suwen's eyes. "She's about one-fifty in height, on the heavier side, yellowish skin, big nose, small eyes…"

  "Stop right there." Rulu cut him off sharply. "Don't think for a moment you can lie to me. I'll ask you one more time — what does the woman look like?"

  This time, Rulu's tone carried a peculiar quality, and the eyes behind the white mask shimmered with a strange light. Under that gaze, Prince Suwen's tense expression suddenly dissolved into ease. He reclined loosely in the chair and said in a calm, unhurried voice:

  "She's approximately one-sixty-eight in height, looks to be around seventeen years old, with an oval face, slender build, fair skin, and very long hair…"

  "Just as I thought — it's her." Rulu said to himself. From Prince Suwen's description, he could confirm that the person the Emperor was searching for was the same green-haired young woman who had given him Spiritual-power. He pressed on: "What is the woman's name? Why is she so important that the Emperor is so determined to find her?"

  Prince Suwen shook his head. "I don't know. The Emperor only told me what she looked like and that she possesses the ability to be unkilble. He didn't disclose much else to me."

  "This woman must be truly significant, if the Emperor won't even tell his own son too much." Rulu thought to himself. He was currently using his Spiritual-power to control Prince Suwen — in this state, Suwen would not be able to lie to him. "Very well," Rulu said. "I have something else to ask you."

  "Please go ahead." Prince Suwen replied with perfect composure, entirely cooperative.

  "Do you know anything about the Sanctuary's 75th Imperial Consort and her children?"

  "I do." Prince Suwen said slowly. "The Sanctuary's 75th Imperial Consort was the Emperor's seventy-fifth wife. She was chosen by the Emperor and brought into the Sanctuary roughly twenty years ago. Together they had a son and a daughter. About seven years ago, this consort and her children were targeted by assassins. The consort and her daughter were killed in the attack, but her son managed to escape. Not long after the assassination, the young prince left the Sanctuary. Rumor has it the Emperor banished him, leaving him to fend for himself in the outside world…"

  "That's exactly right." When Rulu heard this, he became agitated, his voice trembling slightly. "Let me ask you this — do you know who orchestrated that assassination? Who was behind it?!"

  "I know something of it."

  "Who was it?!" Rulu pressed urgently.

  Prince Suwen said: "Many people were involved. A great many of them feared exposure and never revealed their identities directly. The mastermind behind the plot has not been definitively identified. What is certain, however, is that everyone who participated in the assassination was a member of the royal family — the majority of them the Emperor's own children."

  "Why? Why would they want to kill their own kin? What could possibly drive them to do something like that?!" Rulu said through gritted teeth, his voice seething with fury.

  Prince Suwen said: "At the time, the 75th Imperial Consort was the Emperor's most beloved wife, and her children — the son in particur — were exceptionally gifted. He had an extraordinarily rare talent for Magic and Psionic power, and the Emperor had expressed intention to groom him as his heir. This threatened the interests of most of the royal family members. Many of them feared that when this prince grew up, their own standing within the Sanctuary would be jeopardized — and so they conspired to carry out the assassination."

  "So that's how it was. What despicable, contemptible people!" Rulu said through clenched teeth. He swung his fist and smmed it against the wooden table beside him with a sharp crack.