Chapter Ninety-Eight: The Dragon’s Reverse Scale

“Wake up, Hua Liang?”

When Hua Liang opened his eyes, all he saw was a pale whiteness. A Liu was calling him from beside him.

“A Liu?” Hua Liang was stunned for a moment before he finally concluded that he must be dreaming.

Suddenly, he remembered that he had been abducted by the Fourth Prince. Could it be that he was already dead?

“Hua Liang... you’re not dead yet.”

A Liu’s smile warmed Hua Liang’s heart. He tried to go to him, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t reach his side. Hua Liang furrowed his brows as tears streamed down his face. “A Liu... do you still not want to see me?”

“Hua Liang... I miss you too, but... I can’t keep you here.”

As he spoke, tears welled up in his eyes like they did before he died. He took off a bracelet from his wrist and said, “Hua Liang... I’m here to say goodbye.”

The bracelet flew into Hua Liang’s hand. He clutched it tightly, unable to stop the tears. He called out,

“A Liu! Where are you going? Don’t leave!”

A Liu’s figure gradually disappeared from the white world. No matter how he reached out, he couldn’t grasp even a trace of his fading soul.

When he woke again, the world had darkened. What he tightly held in his hand was not the bracelet, but a hand.

Hua Liang looked in alarm at Ye Hao, who was tending to his wounds. Suddenly, he jerked Ye Hao’s hand away, trying to distance himself, only to find that his hands and feet were bound in chains.

“I... you...” Hua Liang was so angry at the sight of the chains that he was at a loss for words. He never expected he had truly become a prisoner.

“Don’t move... you have wounds,” Ye Hao warned him.

Hua Liang realized then that the Fourth Prince didn’t want him to die just yet; he probably intended to use him as a hostage to blackmail the Seventh Prince.

Trying to calm himself, Hua Liang pressed down Ye Hao’s hand as he applied medicine. Ye Hao was momentarily stunned but gradually withdrew his hand.

“Why did you capture me?” Hua Liang asked directly.

Ye Hao replied, “I’m only following orders.”

“You must know something... tell me,” Hua Liang pleaded earnestly.

Yet Ye Hao remained silent. After finishing the dressing, he left.

Hua Liang leaned against the cage and looked around. The place was very dim, like an underground chamber, and quite large.

There were many cages here. Hua Liang had a feeling that each cage probably held prisoners before... and those people surely met a grim fate.

As Hua Liang imagined their ends, a sharp pain began to spread through his body, as if he were undergoing some cruel torture.

The physical pain snapped Hua Liang back to reality. The pain was real, as if something was crawling in his veins, accompanied by a burning sting.

Suddenly, he recalled the wounds on his body and understood—the knives must have been poisoned.

Hua Liang curled up on the ground, hugging himself. The cold floor seemed to ease the pain somewhat, and he began to writhe on the ground.

Hearing footsteps in the darkness, he slowly regained some composure and propped himself against the cage.

The visitor was the Fourth Prince, who looked at Hua Liang with a sinister smile, as if viewing some creature for amusement. Hua Liang hated that look.

The Fourth Prince clicked his tongue and said, “Tsk tsk, the poison is acting so quickly?”

Hua Liang knew he meant the poison. He shouted at the Fourth Prince with all his strength, “You want to use me to threaten the Seventh Prince to rebel? Dream on!”

The Fourth Prince’s expression darkened, then he sneered like a madman, speaking slowly, “Threaten? He’s been under my threat all along... Didn’t he tell you?”

Hua Liang’s heart sank as he realized the Seventh Prince was truly conspiring rebellion with the Fourth Prince.

The poison spread through Hua Liang’s body mercilessly, as if insects were gnawing at his blood vessels.

The pain was unbearable, and he had to bang his head against a pillar to stay conscious. Seeing this, the Fourth Prince cut his finger, grabbed Hua Liang’s chin to force his mouth open, and dripped his own blood into Hua Liang’s mouth.

Though disgusted, Hua Liang could only swallow the blood.

“Haha, how could I bear to let you die, little painter?”

The voice faded from his ears. When Hua Liang regained consciousness, the Fourth Prince was gone, and the pain had subsided. He thought to himself—could the Fourth Prince’s blood be the antidote?

But it was no use pondering. He had always cared for the Seventh Prince, yet the latter was truly plotting rebellion with the Fourth Prince. It made sense; the Seventh Prince disappeared every midnight—surely to conspire.

If that was the case, the Seventh Prince must have known about his capture by the Fourth Prince.

Hua Liang didn’t know how long he sat there thinking until the poison flared again. This time, the agony caused his veins to bulge as he writhed on the ground, groaning.

But this time, it wasn’t footsteps he heard—it was the sound of porcelain shattering.

Hua Liang instinctively knew the visitor wasn’t the Fourth Prince. Ye Hao came over to check on him, worried.

What he saw stunned him beyond words. By the dim light, Hua Liang’s blood vessels appeared black against his pale skin, and the pain etched deeply on his face was unforgettable.

Ye Hao had seen this before—this was exactly how the Second Prince looked when poison took his life.

It happened eight years ago on the Linghe battlefield, where the Second Prince was the commander, the Fourth Prince the deputy. The Second Prince was infected with a rare poison and died from its sudden flare-up. Before dying, he ordered Ye Hao to protect the Fourth Prince and break through the enemy lines.

Ye Hao could never forget how the Second Prince died. Now seeing Hua Liang in the same state, he panicked. He never imagined the Fourth Prince would use such a deadly poison on him.

Had the Fourth Prince found the same poison that killed the Second Prince? Or was the poison originally created by him? Ye Hao dared not think further.

If it was the latter, it meant he had been serving his enemy all along.

Unable to bear watching Hua Liang die, Ye Hao unlocked his chains.

Cradled in his arms, Hua Liang was semi-conscious, aware that death was near. He struggled through the pain and urged, “Go... find the Seventh... Prince... please.”

Ye Hao frowned, “I’ll ask my lord for medicine.”

Hua Liang suddenly grabbed his clothes, gasping, “Please... don’t... go to him.”

Ye Hao frowned again, “He will save you.”

Hua Liang clung to him desperately, biting his lip through the pain, “I... just... want to see... him once... please.”

Unable to refuse, Ye Hao deceived the night guard and fled with Hua Liang.

Hua Liang’s consciousness was already faint, drifting in and out. When he saw the Seventh Prince again, all he heard was his name being called softly.

The Seventh Prince had never imagined their reunion would be like this. He held Hua Liang tenderly, cupping his cheek with a look full of regret.

“Who did this...” His voice was heavy and threatening.

Ye Hao replied slowly, “The Fourth Prince.”

The Seventh Prince frowned but said nothing. The royal physician arrived and, after examining Hua Liang, declared he was at a loss.

The poison was beyond even the royal physician’s understanding. Wang Ruosheng stood behind him, deeply worried for Hua Liang, who was his closest friend.

“May I take a look?” Wang Ruosheng volunteered.

Though suspicious, the Seventh Prince consented. At that moment, Hua Liang’s poison flared again.

Hua Liang writhed in pain on the bed, his blackened veins protruding eerily. Wang Ruosheng immediately recognized the symptoms.

“It’s a living gu poison.”

The Seventh Prince held Hua Liang, “What?”

The royal physician was shocked as well, “What?”

Wang Ruosheng composed himself. “It’s called the living gu, or blood gu. This poison is nurtured inside the blood; the person’s blood becomes the gu. The gu only recognizes its owner and does not attack others. Its poison flare is very unique... I remember.”

“Blood?” Ye Hao’s expression grew complicated as he recalled the Fourth Prince giving the Second Prince a steamed bun stained with his own blood.

At the time, the army was outnumbered, but the Fourth Prince insisted on fighting the enemy head-on despite the Second Prince’s opposition. The Second Prince was punished with twenty lashes for insubordination.

Later, the Second Prince devised another strategy to defeat the enemy. While lying in wait, the Fourth Prince gave him his own steamed bun to eat after waiting too long.

Back then, it was thought that the Fourth Prince was being kind. Now, Ye Hao realized it was all part of the Fourth Prince’s plan.

He wanted the Second Prince dead. After his death, their army suffered a crushing defeat. The late emperor deemed the Second Prince unfit as a commander, and the Fourth Prince was never allowed to lead troops again.

Returning to the present, Ye Hao looked at Hua Liang, writhing in the Seventh Prince’s arms, his fury rising uncontrollably.

“Does the book say how to cure him?” the Seventh Prince asked urgently.

Wang Ruosheng replied, “The antidote requires the blood of the one who implanted the gu.”

Ye Hao exclaimed, “I’ll go!”

“Stop.” The Seventh Prince’s voice was cold and burning with anger as he called him back, “I’ll go.”

Meanwhile, the Fourth Prince, reclining on a mat appreciating paintings, heard footsteps outside and slowly closed his book.

He gripped his sword cautiously, but relaxed when he saw the Seventh Prince enter.

Annoyed at being disturbed, the Fourth Prince reproached, “Didn’t we agree to meet the day after tomorrow? Meeting so frequently will arouse suspicion.”

“Fourth brother...” The Seventh Prince lowered his head, his tone dark.

The Fourth Prince suddenly felt uneasy. If his seventh brother looked like this, it meant he was truly angry. Could he have found out that Hua Liang was captured?

He abandoned his scheming, “Fourth brother, bringing him out is for your own good. I’ll return him to you now.”

As the Fourth Prince stepped away from the desk, the Seventh Prince moved swiftly, thrusting his sword forward. The Fourth Prince dodged but the Seventh Prince caught the hem of his robe.

He suddenly laughed, “Seventh brother, what do you mean by this?”

Hearing the commotion, Ye Mo wanted to intervene but was stopped by Ye Fang behind the Seventh Prince.

The Seventh Prince glared at the Fourth Prince, cold and sharp, “Why did you use the gu on him?”

The Fourth Prince feigned ignorance, “Seventh brother, what are you talking about? Using gu?”

Unrelenting, the Seventh Prince struck quickly, slicing the Fourth Prince’s arm. He did not use force, merely cutting the skin lightly.

The Fourth Prince frowned as blood trickled down his arm.

The Seventh Prince held a small vial and drew the blood into it. The Fourth Prince did not resist but watched silently.

As the Seventh Prince turned to leave, he shouted behind him, “I do this only to remove your weakness!”

The Seventh Prince exhaled heavily, his voice grave, “He is not my weakness, but my reverse scale.”