Mystique Soul: A Cultivator's Flame
Chapter 81

Chapter 81: Chapter 81

The moment the powder reacted, staining the official’s fingertips with an unmistakable dark hue, a collective gasp rippled through the hall. The emperor’s expression darkened instantly, his sharp gaze locking onto the trembling official, Xun Zhong. The weight of the imperial presence bore down like an executioner’s blade, suffocating all who dared to remain in the room.

"Your Majesty, I-!" Xun Zhong stammered, hastily retracting his hands as if to hide the evidence. "This must be a mistake! Someone must have planted this on me! I swear, I had no part in this!"

Feng Jiao Xue’s gaze remained cold, unyielding. "You claim innocence, yet the reaction is undeniable. The poison was on you, Official Xun. Are you suggesting the emperor’s own imperial healers are mistaken?"

Xun Zhong’s face paled further. "N-no! Of course not! But please, Your Majesty, I have served the empire loyally for decades-there must be some misunderstanding! I would never-!"

A sharp crack echoed through the hall as the emperor slammed his hand against the armrest of his chair. "Silence!" he thundered. The sheer force of his voice made the air tremble, and Xun Zhong fell to his knees, forehead pressed against the cold floor.

"You dare try to lie to Us even when the truth is laid bare before all?" the emperor’s voice dripped with fury. "Poisoning this crown- your ruler! And my old friend, a hero to our beloved empire! Have you no shame?! Betraying the empire that has granted you status, wealth, and honor! You expect Us to believe you were unaware? Do you take Us for a fool?"

The crowd held its breath. None dared move. None dared speak. The weight of the emperor’s wrath was suffocating, absolute.

"Your Majesty, please! I was only-" Xun Zhong’s voice cracked. His lips trembled as desperation clawed at his throat. "I had no choice! They... they have my wife!"

Whispers erupted at once.

"Eh, didn’t his wife die because of illness?"

"Yeah, I heard she is secretly burried somewhere in his basement"

"His wife? I thought she ran away!"

"Wasn’t she a traitor who fled the empire?"

"No, no! I heard she was kidnapped!"

"What if this was all a setup?"

"Foolish man! To betray the empire for a woman?"

"Oh, please. It’s because he was beating her up! Who doesn’t know that the lady always hids bruises?"

"Shhh! The emperor is still speaking!"

The emperor’s eyes narrowed. "Explain. And choose your words carefully, Xun Zhong. You have but one chance."

Xun Zhong’s breathing was erratic, his fingers digging into the floor beneath him. "I-I don’t know who they are! A masked man approached me in the dead of night, claiming they knew where my wife was. He said if I wanted her back, I had to do as he said-he never revealed his face or identity!" He swallowed hard, trembling. "I just... I just wanted her back. I swear on my life, I had no desire to harm you, your majesty or my the esteemed Feng Patriarch! I only did what was asked of me because... because I couldn’t lose her again!"

The emperor studied him in silence. Then, with an unreadable expression, he turned toward his left, where an elderly man with flowing silver robes stood. His presence was unassuming, yet his aura was dense with power.

"Use the truth spell on him to ensure that he is telling the truth" the emperor commanded. "Assassination upon the crown is a capital offense punishable by death but if you speak the truth, I shall spare your life for the sake of the merits you have done for the empire!"

Gasps filled the hall.

"A truth spell? But that’s forbidden!"

"Not quite. It is only restricted because of how it makes others tell things that can be quite private to them, secrets that they are honored to keep but if it involves a crime, there is an exception..."

"It violates one’s rights! This is too cruel!"

"But Official Xun is already half-guilty... the emperor has every reason to use it."

"If he’s innocent, he has nothing to fear."

"But if he’s lying..."

Feng Jiao Xue remained silent, observing. The truth spell was indeed considered a last resort, rarely used because of its invasive nature. The empire valued justice, but they also valued individual rights. Yet, in the face of treason, the emperor’s judgment was absolute.

The mage stepped forward, eyes glowing with an eerie blue light. His voice was like a whisper carried on the wind, ancient and heavy. "Xun Zhong, you will speak only the truth. The spell shall strip all falsehood from your tongue. Resist, and it shall burn your soul." He warned before raising his staff,

"Zhai’la myr ka’thes, vi nor tal’eth. Sha vi nor tel’vrae, ael fyr tal’eth."

"Upon my command you will speak what is true for a false response shall burn for the truth."

A faint sigil glowed above the official’s head, and his body stiffened as the spell settled over him. It was a cruel magic, one that forcibly peeled away deception. It was said that those who resisted would feel an unbearable heat suffusing their body, as if their very soul was being set aflame.

"Hey, Jin De, remind me to learn that spell and also its counter" Feng Jiao Xue muses in interest.

"I’ll teach you how to refine a truth-seeking pill instead" Huang Jin De replied distainfully at the spell.

"Isn’t it less bothersome to just chant it?" Feng Jiao Xue asked confused.

"Figured you will find that useful but it can be easily countered if your prepared." Huang Jin De replied. "I’m not familiar with spells but I do know this one. As long as your wearing a runic spell for protection crafted specifically for invasive spells it won’t work but those spells only lasts for a few hours and depends on the attackers magic prowess" Huang Jin De explained. "Though, there is another less known way, it’s to strengthen your mental attribute to resist the coercion without the caster not knowing it’s not effective."

"Look at your grandfather’s broach"

Feng Jiao Xue discreetly glanced at her grandfather that was silently watching everything, a thoughtful look on his face.

"What of it?"

"That’s a runic sigil crafted by a high ranking magician based on the magic coming off of it. Possibly expensive but it is layered with defensive spells"

As they where talking, Xun Zhong let out a strangled gasp, sweat beading on his forehead as the spell’s hold tightened around his mind. His lips trembled, and his throat constricted as if struggling against an unseen force. Then, as though ripped from him, the words spilled forth.

"I... I added the poison to the cup!" he gasped. "But I didn’t want to! I swear, I only did it because they promised me my wife! I didn’t even know what the poison was meant to do, I was just given a vial and told to pour it in! I was going to meet the masked man tonight for proof of her location! Please, please, I just wanted her back!"

The crowd erupted.

"So he really did it!"

"But he was being manipulated!"

"He really is a foolish man! He really betray the empire for a woman?"

"No, you don’t understand, his wife... she vanished years ago! No one knows why!"

"Some say she was forced to leave. Others say she ran away because of debts."

"Or what if she was kidnapped? What if this whole thing is deeper than we thought?"

The emperor remained motionless, his face unreadable. Then, after a long pause, he spoke.

"Where were you to meet this masked man?"

"At an abandoned shack near the eastern district," Xun Zhong whispered hoarsely. "He said to come alone."

The emperor waved a hand. "Guards. Search the shack immediately. If this is a setup, We will not give the true culprit time to flee."

A team of imperial guards rushed from the hall, vanishing into the night.

The tension in the air was unbearable. Xun Zhong remained on his knees, trembling, whispering desperate prayers under his breath. The crowd buzzed with hushed speculation.

Minutes felt like hours.

Then, a guard burst into the hall, his face grim. "Your Majesty! We found a body! The masked man... he’s dead!"

A heavy silence followed.

"Dead?!"

"Was he killed to tie loose ends?"

"Then who was truly behind this?"

Feng Jiao Xue’s eyes narrowed. This plot ran deeper than she had anticipated.

The emperor’s expression darkened, unreadable. "Bring Us the body. And prepare an investigation. We will uncover every last thread of this treachery."

The hall erupted once more, speculation rising as the shadow of conspiracy thickened over them.

The guards returned soon after, dragging a corpse covered in a thin, bloodied cloth. Even in death, the masked man’s features were carefully concealed. Someone had made sure of it. The wound on his chest was precisequick, efficient, meant to silence rather than to cause suffering.

Feng Jiao Xue stepped forward, scrutinizing the body. "Whoever did this knew he was a loose end. This wasn’t random. It was premeditated."

The emperor exhaled sharply, fingers tightening around the armrest of his throne. "Then We shall find them. No matter what it takes."