The moment Gu Fangchen fell unconscious, the gauze covering Princess Prajna's eyes restored itself, once again returning to that hazy, mist-like form.
Because of the eruption of the Heart-Poison Mark and the palm strike from Princess Prajna, Gu Fangchen lasted only for that brief instant of astonishment before fainting completely.
Though the strike itself was not fatal, with Gu Fangchen's frail body, even being hit by an ordinary person might have made him faint.
Princess Prajna's face remained cold. She pressed a hand to her eyes and stood in silence.
The attendant Xiyin stepped forward, glanced at Gu Fangchen lying on the ground, then looked toward her lady, and asked softly with respectful hesitation,
"Princess, His Highness the Heir may not last through one incense stick's time."
Her tone implied the real question, should she save him or not?
Princess Prajna's expression did not change, but her chest rose and fell sharply several times.
If she could choose, she naturally wouldn't want to save this man.
She had long heard that the Northern Garrison Prince's heir was a debauched wastrel who spent his days and nights in brothels. If not for the princess consort's strictness, he would probably have kept seventy or eighty concubines in his own mansion.
Yet tonight, when Gu Fangchen had predicted her movements and appeared to visit her, she had for a moment thought that this false heir might still have some hidden depths.
But who could have known that after only a few sentences, this man's true colors would be completely exposed!
He was nothing but a shameless, insolent scoundrel without the slightest restraint!
Princess Prajna truly wanted to fulfill Gu Fangchen's own wish and let him personally experience what it meant to die beneath the peony flower.
However—
The most infuriating part was that, just as Gu Fangchen had said, she truly could not let him die.
The whereabouts of the sacred relic were of immense importance, and she would not overlook even the faintest clue.
Especially since, while under the control of her illusion, Gu Fangchen had still managed to say that finding the relic's location was "very simple."
That meant he was truly confident, that he actually knew where it was.
Getting Xu Fu to act was not easy; the female national preceptor was eccentric and without desire. Most likely, this negotiation would not go smoothly.
And besides, Gu Fangchen himself was an obstacle to their communication with Xu Fu.
"...Save him."
The words came out between Princess Prajna's teeth.
"Yes."
Xiyin bowed her head, walked to Gu Fangchen's side, knelt on one knee, and unclasped her cloak. Beneath it was a delicate body wrapped tightly in bandages. She reached out and embraced him.
She began softly chanting in an ancient tongue. From her body, the bandages seeped a dark, earthen-red hue like decayed soil, forming countless mysterious, intricate scriptures.
Her body pressed firmly against Gu Fangchen's torn chest.
The mangled flesh and blood of his wound began healing rapidly, while on Xiyin's own chest, the bandages caved in with the same injury, blood flowing continuously.
Yet each drop that touched the bandages was immediately absorbed.
Soon, all of Gu Fangchen's wounds had completely healed, his body restored as though nothing had happened.
Meanwhile, Xiyin lifted her head slightly, breathing heavily. Her golden lotus eyes shimmered with a trace of red at the corners, and a faint confusion lingered within them.
When Gu Fangchen awoke to this sight, he froze for a moment, then couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
The Tara Sect, that cult which turned pain into devotion, truly was as perverse as ever.
Xiyin lowered her gaze, and upon seeing him awake, nodded slightly and stepped back, putting her cloak on once again.
Only then did Gu Fangchen realize.
The Tara Sect's wound-transfer ritual required direct contact of skin to skin.
In the game, this had never felt like much, but in reality, didn't this mean he had just been embraced by the Xiyin attendant, separated by only a thin layer of bandage?
The Xiyin attendants who served the saint were said to be devout virgins, their bodies consecrated to the World-Saving Mother Buddha, their souls destined for the Pure Land.
For them, such healing acts were sacred trials bestowed by the Holy Mother.
But for Gu Fangchen, it felt... slightly more personal.
He coughed softly, sat up quickly, and said,
"Miss, thank you."
Xiyin finished fastening her cloak, stepped back two paces, and said coolly, "It was the princess's order."
Gu Fangchen smiled, unconcerned by her tone, and said,
"If you care about the scars on your body, I have the recipe for Jade Refining Pills."
If he recalled correctly, he had seen a peach blossom embroidered on the inside of this attendant's cloak. That would make her one of the three Xiyin attendants, the one named Qingjian.
In the game, Qingjian's personal side quest involved the player searching for the lost recipe of the Jade Refining Pills to remove the scars from her body.
Many players had eagerly awaited the chance to see what she truly looked like.
But in the end, Qingjian had perished alongside Princess Prajna in the flames, and their hopes had vanished with her.
At Gu Fangchen's words, the golden-lotus-eyed attendant suddenly froze and looked up at him, her pupils trembling slightly.
Princess Prajna smiled faintly, though her smile held no warmth, and said softly,
"I didn't expect the Northern Garrison Prince's heir to be so licentious that even my attendants cannot escape his charm."
At that, Qingjian lowered her head again.
Clearly, Princess Prajna did not wish for Gu Fangchen to become close with her attendants.
Gu Fangchen sighed inwardly.
Was it really necessary to mock him like this just because he'd thrown a few barbed words after being trapped in an illusion?
He took a slow breath, turned, and grinned with a spread of his hands.
"Well now, what did I say earlier? You'd have to beg me not to die."
"Looks like I was right, wasn't I?"
Princess Prajna sneered.
"No more pretending?"
Gu Fangchen shook his head.
"What's there to pretend?"
Princess Prajna circled him slowly, her tone quiet and cold.
"Nineteen years of acting the fool, perhaps you've gotten addicted to the role, daring now to speak so rudely to me."
"I see your true nature now, arrogant to the extreme, proud beyond measure, and fearless of consequence."
Gu Fangchen merely grinned, neither denying nor explaining.
In truth, neither of those tempers were his real character, but without flaunting a tiger's skin, he'd never be able to deal with people like her.
And the reason she was saying so much now was simple.
She'd realized she could do nothing about him.
Originally, Gu Fangchen should have been the one seeking help from the Tara Sect to fix his unique condition.
But if he had come to them begging, all his leverage would have vanished.
In their eyes, he was insignificant.
If they sensed he was easy to manipulate, any "deal" between them would have ceased being a transaction and become simple domination.
That would have left Gu Fangchen completely passive.
So, he had to conceal his real needs as much as possible, to make it seem as though this meeting had another purpose entirely.
As though he had sought her out for his own agenda.
And now, Princess Prajna was realizing that this man didn't even fear death, much less poison.
Moreover, despite having no meridians or dantian, he had still displayed ninth-rank Divine Path cultivation and broken her illusion by force.
Who could still see him as useless?
Therefore, she could no longer use his poison as leverage against him.
Whatever the case, this round still went to Gu Fangchen.
Though it made things a little awkward to ask the Tara Sect to purge his poison now, keeping the upper hand from the start was far more important for the long game.
That was experience hard-earned from countless playthroughs.
And since he was already tangled up in the Tara Sect's hunt for the relic..
He might as well claim it for himself.
The Lotus Concealed in the Womb was one of the top-tier reset relics.
It could not only reset all stats but also awaken the rarest Sacred Bodies, a priceless advantage in the early stages.
Gu Fangchen weighed the thought. It seemed... feasible.
As for his poison, he already had another idea:
Instead of purging it, he could refine it into a weapon.
It would take effort, but if it worked, the resulting artifact would be unimaginably powerful.
Princess Prajna had no idea that the man before her was already plotting to seize her sacred relic. She said coolly,
"Speak. What is your purpose, or rather, what is your faction's purpose?"
Gu Fangchen was silent for a while, then said slowly,
"My purpose is beyond your right to know."
Princess Prajna's face darkened further.
Since she thought him arrogant, he would show her arrogance.
Gu Fangchen folded his arms and said coldly,
"I'm quite dissatisfied with your earlier attitude. Using an illusion against me was foolish."
"Originally, I came to the White Horse Temple intending to tell you directly where the relic was. But now, I think I'll wait and see."
"Until I feel like it, you can search on your own."
Princess Prajna's chest heaved violently. Since becoming the saint, she had never been treated like this.
Even the emperor bathed and burned incense before meeting her, bowing in reverence.
Yet this man dared to act so insolent!
And yet, the more he did, the deeper her doubts grew, perhaps her earlier guess had been correct.
Gu Fangchen didn't seem possessed, nor like someone hiding his power for years.
He seemed more like a reincarnated being, one with a mission to complete, thus explaining his sudden shift.
If so, there was a perfectly reasonable explanation.
"Tanyuan!"
Those who came from Tanyuan were destined to appear amid chaos and end the strife of the age.
And that matched Gu Fangchen's behavior almost exactly.
If that was true, then his arrogance made perfect sense.
Because he was likely the reincarnation of some ancient monster.
Princess Prajna's heart sank.
Those old monsters were indeed proud beyond measure.
And now, she had offended him. The relic's location, which had been within reach, was suddenly slipping away...
Damn it.
Without the relic, how could she bring that person back?
But as for yielding to this man, that was impossible!
Her face expressionless, she suddenly recalled how Gu Fangchen had spoken to her attendant earlier. She drew in a breath and said,
"Qingjian, escort His Highness down the mountain. Take good care of our noble guest, see that he suffers no harm at all, do you understand?"
Qingjian froze.
"Princess..."
But Princess Prajna had already turned away, lifting the curtain and stepping inside, her voice drifting out:
"From today onward, you are His Highness's attendant."
"...Yes."
Qingjian watched her leave respectfully, then turned to the young man beside her.
"Your Highness."
Gu Fangchen blinked.
"Just call me Young Master."
"Yes, Young Master."
She paused, then looked at his torn clothing.
"Young Master, you should change your clothes."
...
By the time dawn lightened the sky,
Ding Xingfeng was still waiting when Gu Fangchen finally descended the mountain.
The young man in white walked down the path, dew clinging to his robes. His face was calm, his expression composed, refined, unruffled, almost graceful.
The old man immediately noticed he had changed his outfit.
Then his gaze shifted behind him, a black-cloaked attendant followed quietly in his wake.
For a moment, Ding Xingfeng thought his eyes deceived him.
He watched blankly as the two approached, and only when they stood before him did he confirm, wasn't that the Xiyin attendant from Princess Prajna's side?
Yet she followed behind Gu Fangchen step for step, not as a guard but clearly as a servant.
Gu Fangchen waved a hand.
"Let's go, Master. Come home with me. I still owe you a disciple's tea."
Ding Xingfeng glanced at the golden-eyed attendant.
Gu Fangchen said cheerfully,
"Well, Princess Prajna saw that I was being kicked out of my mansion, pitiful and all alone, so she took pity and assigned me one of her attendants to look after me."
Ding Xingfeng was silent.
This kid was truly uncanny.
One trip to the White Horse Temple, and he'd somehow turned one of Princess Prajna's own attendants into his servant.
"Fine, let's go."
Ding Xingfeng snorted.
"Gu Yuye's probably been waiting impatiently."
He grabbed Gu Fangchen by the collar, transforming into a streak of light that shot toward Huangtian City.
Qingjian followed closely behind.
...
In the prince's mansion,
Ning Caiyong still couldn't believe it. Tears filled her eyes as she demanded,
"My lord, why did you try to kill Chen'er?"
"Though he's unruly, I raised him with my own hands! Even if you dislike him, must you ignore my feelings as well?"
"He was merely confused for a moment-"
Gu Yuye's face darkened, his voice like thunder.
"Woman's sentiment!"
"Public opinion is like molten gold! That little bastard has done countless disgraceful deeds under our house's name these past three years!"
"Now it's clear, he plotted all along, conspiring with the Demonic Sect to tarnish the Northern Garrison Prince's name and sow suspicion in His Majesty's mind."
"Caiyong, since he already knew his true parentage, for three years that boy, not of your blood, has stayed so close to you. Have you felt no shame?"
Ning Caiyong froze, her face turning pale, her body trembling.
Gu Yuye's words were cutting straight into her heart.
For the first time, she realized how ruthless the man beside her could be.
Even he knew he had gone too far the moment the words left his mouth.
He shouldn't have said that, but he couldn't bear to see her remain blind. He had to be cruel.
Never mind. He would comfort her after everything was over!