Chapter 102: The Haunted Forest

On the high platform of the city tower, Jun Yeli stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing into the distance. At the boundless road before him, his face was shadowed by visible worry.

Seeing that he had remained motionless for a long while, the eunuchs beside him could not help stepping forward. One of them bowed carefully and said, “Your Majesty, you have been standing here for ages. Why not return and rest for a while? If there is any news, we servants will report it to you at once.”

“Two days have already passed. Why is your efficiency so abysmal?”

Jun Yeli turned around. His eyes, bloodshot from two sleepless nights, were as fierce and terrifying as a hellish demon.

The thunderous rebuke startled the young eunuch so badly that he trembled all over. He no longer dared even draw a breath, and hurriedly retreated a step in fear. “Please forgive me, Your Majesty. Since those thieves were able to slip in without a sound, they must have possessed some real skill...”

Besides, this was not even his investigation to begin with. Why had he been dragged over only to be scolded? Was he an innocent victim caught in the crossfire?

Looking at the eunuch’s cowering expression, Jun Yeli drew a deep breath, knowing full well that he had been too impulsive.

Still staring into the distance, he unconsciously removed the jade pendant at his waist.

It was a finest white jade carving, engraved with mountains and rivers, symbolizing the vast realm under heaven.

Jun Yeli had once given Huarong a pendant just like this, though she had not understood the deeper meaning within it and likely still treated it as nothing more than an ordinary treasure.

“I wonder how you are now.”

The cold wind carried a chill into the heart. A few strands of hair at Jun Yeli’s temples lifted in the breeze, lending him an air of desolation and loneliness.

Just then, a figure hurried over with quick steps and dropped to one knee behind him. “Reporting to Your Majesty, there is news from the matter we investigated before!”

The sudden voice arrived like a gift from heaven. Jun Yeli spun around at once. “Speak!” Even in a single word, the urgency and delight in his voice could not be concealed.

“This is the intelligence we gathered. Please, Your Majesty, have a look!”

Seeing him hand over a sheet of paper, Jun Yeli took it and read it with utmost seriousness, not daring to miss a single character, afraid that he might overlook some crucial detail.

“Ghost Domain Forest?”

At the sight of those three words, Jun Yeli’s pupils trembled violently, and even his body gave a sudden jolt.

The hand holding the letter shook faintly. I, gripped by fear, staggered back a few steps and braced myself against the edge of the tower.

“Your Majesty, what is wrong?”

The eunuch beside him hurried over, not daring to be careless for even a moment. He carefully supported Jun Yeli by the arm, looking at him with concern.

Jun Yeli waved him off and pushed the eunuch away. Still unwilling to believe it, he confirmed again, “Where did this news come from? Are you certain the Imperial Consort is in the Ghost Domain Forest?”

“Replying to Your Majesty, this came from the Shadowless Pavilion. It should not be mistaken!”

The so-called Shadowless Pavilion was the gathering place for all intelligence within the Fengling Dynasty. Its eyes and ears spread across the entire land. Nothing was too large or too small; if one wished to know anything, there was nothing they could not reveal.

“If that is so, then this matter truly is troublesome...”

Jun Yeli drew a deep breath. His subordinate’s brows were also tightly locked. Watching Jun Yeli fall into thought, he cautiously said, “Your Majesty, the Empress has never offended anyone, yet they went to such great lengths to trap her in the Ghost Domain Forest. I fear their true aim is not the wine, but the cup...”

The subordinate glanced at Jun Yeli with concern. Beauty had always been called a calamity, and Jun Yeli’s excessive favoritism toward Huarong had long been noticed by some people. Now it had become a weapon against him.

“Enough. Let this matter not be made public. I shall go among the common people incognito in these coming days. As for affairs of state, let the Chancellor handle them.”

As if he had made up his mind, Jun Yeli’s gaze became unwavering. With a sweep of his sleeve, he clasped his hands behind his back and strode toward the stairway of the tower.

Such a resolute manner made it obvious that he had already decided to risk his life.

The subordinate was somewhat flustered. “Your Majesty, you—”

Before he could say another word, Jun Yeli’s figure had already disappeared at the stairway.

The eunuch beside them, however, was left utterly bewildered. Unable to suppress his curiosity, he came closer and asked, “Tell me, Lord Captain, what kind of mystical place is this Ghost Domain Forest? Why do all of you look so grave whenever it is mentioned?”

At the question, the captain lowered his eyes. The furrow between his brows twitched slightly, as if recalling something terrifying. Only then did he murmur, “The Ghost Domain Forest... I fear that is a place from which one never returns.”

“What? Then the Emperor is not...”

Though he had said he would travel incognito, the eunuch was no fool after having served beside the Emperor for so many years. Whether Jun Yeli was truly going among the people in secret or going to the Ghost Domain Forest to rescue someone, he could still tell the difference.

The captain slowly rose to his feet and let out a heavy sigh before saying helplessly, “The decision has already been made by His Majesty. There is nothing we can do. We can only pray that the Emperor, true dragon that he is, will be blessed by heaven and protected by fate.”

After saying this, he too departed, leaving the eunuch standing there in baffled frustration. “What on earth is all this about?”

Fully prepared, Jun Yeli temporarily handed over the affairs of state to the Chancellor. Then, under the pretext of an incognito inspection among the people, he truly set out for the Ghost Domain Forest with two guards.

“Your Majesty, according to the map, that forest should be just ahead, but this...”

Everyone looked ahead. An open expanse stretched before them, with a few towering cliffs standing among it. The sight should have made the heart feel spacious and unburdened.

Yet however one looked at it, it did not resemble a forest at all. It looked more like a barren wasteland.

Jun Yeli’s eyes flickered. With a slight press of his legs against the horse’s flank, he guided the mount slowly forward. “Wouldn’t we know once we go and take a look?”

The legendary Ghost Domain Forest was, by nature, a mysterious and frightening place, one of the forbidden grounds.

The living could enter but never leave. It was said that one would be haunted by ghosts there, and just as the name suggested, it was steeped in the aura of demons and malevolent spirits.

As the three of them pressed onward, the mountains came into ever clearer view. The imposing peaks inspired a kind of instinctive awe.

“Your Majesty, should we keep going? It seems there is no road ahead...”

One of them swallowed hard. Around them were several clear springs, yet between the high mountains and sheer cliffs there was not the slightest blade of grass or tree. Even looking at it made one uneasy.

Yet Jun Yeli turned and gave him a cold glance. “If you do not wish to follow, then leave now. I will not force you to throw your life away.”

After all, the rumors could not be ignored. Their fear was understandable.

At that, the subordinate panicked at once and quickly bowed. “This servant swears to follow Your Majesty unto death!”

“That is better. Let us split up and search everywhere. Perhaps we can find some clue. The map should not be wrong. It was bought from the Shadowless Pavilion!”