One day, after the chaos in the research room had just passed, the evening breeze blew through the orchard. The sound of leaves rubbing against each other was unusually quiet. Punya slowly walked past the large trees, noticing some traces that shouldn't be there.
"This is…" She bent down to examine the ground covered in fallen leaves. Under the dim moonlight, she saw large footprints that didn't fit with the palace's courtiers.
"It looks like someone just passed by here…" Punya muttered to herself. She followed the footprints until she reached an area where some of the trees seemed to have been trimmed unusually.
Suddenly, Wen Qing appeared from behind with the power of "Lightning Mango" ready in hand.
"Is something wrong?" She asked in a calm but resolute voice. Her sharp eyes followed the traces Punya had pointed out.
"A stranger must have snuck in," Punya replied. "I found footprints and trees that seemed to have been forced to grow faster than normal. It's like my world where people often use drugs to speed up fruiting."
Wen Qing nodded, before using her power to send small lightning bolts along the footprints to test their movement. "This trace is still warm. They must have left not long ago. It must be taking advantage of the chaos."
Suddenly, Xian Lan, the female official in charge of the palace's agriculture department, arrived. Her face was serious and filled with worry.
"You guys have to look at this," Xian Lan said, handing the two a piece of fruit.
The fruit in her hand was twisted, the skin was thicker than usual, and it had a strange smell that Punya could immediately tell was not a natural smell.
"It was forced to grow too fast," Xian Lan explained. "These fruits shouldn't look like this at this time of year."
Punya took the fruit and examined it closely before speaking in a resolute tone, "Someone is doing something to the fruit in the garden, maybe to steal its power."
Wen Qing frowned. "Or to experiment on something dangerous."
Xian Lan took a deep breath before speaking, "If we let it go on like this, the garden will suffer even more damage, and it might lead to a major problem in the palace."
The three exchanged tense glances before Wen Qing broke the silence.
"We must immediately start investigating, and I will protect this area."
"I will also help analyze the affected fruits," Xian Lan said. "We might find more clues."
Punya nodded. "I will help in every way I can!"
Tonight, in the quiet orchard, an investigation began that might reveal a new threat lurking in the shadows of the palace.
--
Princess Lingya's private hall was lit by oil lamps. The faint fragrance of flowers arranged in vases made the atmosphere relaxing. But beneath the silence, everyone in the room was discussing a plan filled with tension.
Punya and Wen Qing stood in front of Princess Lingya, sitting gracefully on a carved wooden throne. Lingya's indifferent face showed a deep thought.
"I found some clues about the group of courtiers who were responsible for transporting fruits from the orchard to the central warehouse," Wen Qing said in a low voice. Her tone was firm. "Their behavior is extremely suspicious. Many times, they transport fruits at unusual times, and sometimes they even bring unregistered fruits with them."
Punya added, "What we found in the orchard last night further confirms this suspicion. It seems that someone in this group is involved in stealing fruits or trying to abuse their power."
Lingya was silent for a moment before nodding. "I want you to investigate this matter in detail. But do everything as quietly as possible. I don't want to cause chaos in the palace. If there really are spies hiding, we must deal with them decisively."
At that moment, Xian Lan stepped out from the shadows of the corner of the room with a light green fruit in her hand. Her eyes shone with a new idea.
"I would like to propose a plan," Xian Lan said. "This fruit can accelerate its growth with my power. We will use it as bait, place it in an area that we can easily control. If the spies appear and try to steal these fruits, we will be able to track them down and capture them immediately."
Wen Qing nodded. "This plan sounds reasonable. I will arrange for the deployment of people in that area to be ready for the arrest."
"But we must be careful," Ling Ya warned. "If the spies find out before the plan succeeds, they may escape with the fruits, or worse, they may destroy everything so that we do not have any evidence."
"They will never know," Xian Lan said confidently. "I need time to prepare the area and plant these fruits as realistically as possible. Furthermore, I will strengthen the defense in that area to make sure nothing goes wrong."
Punya added confidently. "If we work together, this plan will definitely succeed. I will observe and use my power to analyze everything related to these fruits. To find out more about the spy."
Ling Ya looked at the three with satisfaction, before speaking in a resolute tone, "I trust you guys, I will do my part to prevent this news from leaking out, I hope this plan will lead us to the answer."
The three bowed to Ling Ya before going out to prepare the plan, each of them had a clear role in their minds, and this plan within a plan would become the beginning of exposing the dark shadows in the palace that no one had ever expected.
The evening breeze blew in the unusually quiet orchard. There was no moon tonight, only the occasional flicker of fireflies. Punya and Wenqing hid in the shadows of a large tree, near the area where Xianlan's rapidly growing fruit had been placed as bait.
"Will he come according to plan?" Punya whispered, her voice soft but filled with worry.
"The courtiers who transported the fruit were the only ones moving around in this area. That guy must be involved," Wenqing replied, gripping the dagger tightly. Her eyes were fixed on the target area.
Time passed until it was the dead of night. Finally, a shadow appeared. The shadow moved quickly and cautiously, as if it knew someone was watching. It rushed towards the rapidly growing fruit and began to harvest it in a hurry.
"That's it," Wenqing whispered before giving an order. "Wait until it starts to escape. We'll catch it off guard."
But just as the shadow was about to escape, Wenqing leapt out of hiding. The sword in her hand reflected a flash of fireflies before a blue lightning flashed from her palm.
"Stop now!" Wen Qing shouted. Lightning shot out from the "Thunder Mango" fruit she used. The power formed like a long whip and slammed down on the ground with a loud bang, causing the shadow to stop moving.
"No! I didn't do anything wrong!" The shadow tried to make excuses as he ran away, but Wen Qing's lightning struck again, this time right in front of him, causing him to pause for a moment.
Punya quickly came out of hiding, placing her hand on the fruit tree to draw its power. She closed her eyes and focused on the power flowing into her body.
When she opened her eyes, her eyes shone with a faint light, as if something was reflecting in her heart.
"I can feel it," Punya said firmly. "He didn't do it for his own benefit. Someone in the palace ordered him to do it, and it wasn't just for an ordinary fruit… It was about the forbidden fruit."
Punya's words made Wen Qing pause. She turned to look at Punya in shock.
"Are you sure?" Wen Qing asked.
Punya nodded. "I can feel the fear in his heart, and it is connected to someone powerful in the palace."
At that moment, the shadow tried to seize the opportunity to run away again. But Wen Qing didn't let that chance happen. She pounced and grabbed him tightly, bringing her sword up to his throat.
"Do you think you can escape?" She whispered coldly. "Now, tell me who gave you the order."
The man was stunned for a moment before he stuttered, "I... I'm just following orders! Please don't kill me!"
Wen Qing increased the force on his sword, causing the man to tremble. "Who is it?!"
The man looked at Punya, seemingly hesitating, but before he could answer, the surrounding air quickly changed. The shrill sound of an arrow rang out.
"Watch out!" Punya shouted, but it was too late. A black arrow pierced through the spy's chest, knocking him to the ground immediately.
Punya and Wen Qing turned to the direction the arrow had come from, but all they saw was emptiness. The darkness swallowed everything up, making it impossible to follow.
Wen Qing gritted her teeth as she tried to support the spy's lifeless body. "Someone doesn't want him to talk."
Punya looked at the corpse with a heavy feeling before saying, "It doesn't end here… Who is that person…"
--
The atmosphere in the central hall of the palace was gloomy and tense. As the first spy died, the other spy was captured and tied up with a thick rope with magical characters to prevent his escape. He sat in the center of the room, surrounded by guards, while Punya, Wen Qing, Xian Lan, and Ling Ya stood in front of him.
The spy lowered his head, his eyes gloomy, as if filled with fear and despair.
"Tell us, who ordered you to steal the fruit?" Wen Qing asked coldly. Her tall figure stepped closer to the spy, her face ruthless.
The man looked up at her briefly before shaking his head slightly. "I… I don't know. I was ordered to steal the fruit to give to someone… but I've never seen him."
The spy's answer made Wen Qing frown. She turned to look at Ling Ya and said in a low voice, "He lied."
"I didn't lie!" the spy shouted, his voice trembling. "I was ordered to do it. I don't know who he really is!"
Pun Ya stepped forward. She closed her eyes and placed her hand on a nearby fruit tree to draw in the energy from nature. She focused for a moment before opening them. Her eyes shone with a faint light.
"I can feel it," Pun Ya said softly but firmly. "There's something blocking his mind… It's like some of his memories have been erased or controlled by a certain fruit."
Xian Lan, who was standing nearby, squinted her eyes and analyzed the information Pun Ya had given her. "If that's the case… someone must have used a fruit related to mind control or memory control. Fruits like the Misty Peach or the Hallucinating Pear."
Ling Ya listened to the two with a solemn face before saying, "We have to find out who in the palace or nearby has this kind of fruit in their possession."
Wen Qing nodded. "I will check all the fruit accounts in the palace's main garden and warehouse. If there's any fruit like this anywhere, It won't escape my sight."
The still sitting spy looked at Punya with eyes filled with fear. "I didn't want to do this… I was forced… I know he's someone in the palace, but I don't know who."
"Are you sure he's in the palace?" Xian Lan asked doubtfully.
"I'm sure… He usually sends messages through my dead boss," the man replied, his tone filled with despair.
"This isn't just a matter of one spy," Xian Lan said in a deep voice after thinking for a moment. "We're dealing with a network that's bigger than we thought."
Ling Ya nodded, then turned to everyone. "You all have an important mission this time. We need to speed up the investigation and expand the search. No matter where they're hiding, we must find out who's behind this and why."
Ling Ya's words made everyone in the room fall silent. Everyone realized the gravity of this situation. Punya felt a weight in his heart, but She was ready to do anything to protect the orchard and the world she had become attached to.
"I will not let anyone destroy everything you have protected," Punya said with determination as moonlight began to stream in through the hall window, as if it were a sign of the remaining hope.