"Senior Brothers, do you require me to notify the Senior Brother stationed here?" Yue Haixia asked with a fawning smile.
"No need. Is this the imperial palace?" Lin Haoming asked.
"Indeed. This is the Soaring Cloud Tower, specifically built for the sect's cultivators! I am tasked with guarding the teleportation array," Yue Haixia explained.
"This Junior Brother Li is actually a member of the Southern Liang royalty. He's just back to visit family, so no need for formal preparations," Lin said.
The old man looked at Li Shuntian with surprise, seemingly wanting to say something but hesitating. Li Shuntian caught the look immediately. "Junior Brother Yue, do you know something?"
Lin Haoming flicked his wrist, and a spirit stone appeared in his hand. He tossed it to the elder. "Speak up. Don't stutter."
Seeing the casual tip, Yue Haixia realized these two were no ordinary disciples. He didn't hesitate further. "Senior Brother Li, your father, the Emperor, passed away three years ago. Your two older brothers fought for the throne. In the end, your second brother won and executed your eldest brother. Your mother was implicated and cast into the Cold Palace!"
"What?!" Li Shuntian cried out.
"My mother and the eldest prince's mother were cousins and very close," Li Shuntian explained hurriedly to Lin before turning back to the elder with a cold command. "Where is she? Take me there now!"
---
The Cold Palace
They followed Yue Haixia out of the secret door. The Soaring Cloud Tower was a magnificent seven-story structure in a remote corner of the palace. While the elder was a nobody to Lin and Li, he held an exalted status here as an Immortal Master. No one dared block their path.
As they reached the inner palace, a eunuch in brocade robes approached with a smile. "Immortal Yue, what brings you here?"
"Eunuch Liu, how is Lady Wang?" Yue Haixia asked.
The eunuch froze. His gaze drifted to Li Shuntian. Recognition dawned, and he shrieked in horror, "Ninth... Ninth Highness! It's you!"
"Liu Yang, so you still recognize me," Li Shuntian said, his voice dripping with venom.
Eunuch Liu knew the Ninth Prince had left years ago to study immortal arts. Seeing him back now, Liu's face turned ashen. Li Shuntian grabbed him by the collar. "How is my mother? Is she dead?"
"No! No! Lady Wang is still alive!" Liu Yang yelled.
"Then take me to her! Now!"
They arrived at a dilapidated courtyard. The red paint on the gates had long since peeled away. Inside, the grounds were overgrown with weeds. At the end of the courtyard, a woman with graying hair sat under a crumbling eave, staring vacantly at a single red flower growing from a crack in the brick.
"Mother!" Li Shuntian rushed forward.
The woman didn't react. Even as he reached her, her eyes remained hollow and dull—she was in a state of total catatonia.
"What happened? Liu Yang, speak!" Li Shuntian roared. The eunuch collapsed to his knees, trembling too hard to form words.
---
Frozen Vengeance
"Huh? Why is the crazy lady's door open?"
A eunuch and a heavy-set maid entered the courtyard. The maid was carrying a food box. When the eunuch saw the high-ranking Liu Yang kneeling on the ground, he gasped, "Eunuch Liu, what's wrong?"
But then, Li Shuntian's mother saw the newcomers and screamed, "Don't come near me! Stay away!" She scrambled back into the house in terror.
Fury erupted in Li Shuntian. He reached out with both hands, and the two newcomers were yanked through the air by an invisible force, landing in his grasp. The maid's food box hit the ground, spilling out sour, spoiled rice and moldy pastries.
"Is this what you feed my mother every day?" Li Shuntian's voice was like ice.
The two struggled to breathe, their throats crushed. They realized with horror that this was the Ninth Prince, the Immortal who had returned.
Li Shuntian didn't wait for an answer. Waves of chilling energy surged from his hands. Before the eyes of the terrified Liu Yang, the eunuch and the maid were flash-frozen, turning into two rigid, frost-covered statues on the spot.