In the dark night, inside the courtyard was soaked in red blood. Death's bodies were laying across the ground, their arms and legs are bent in strange ways, their face before death looked in terror, anger or despair. Blood was gathered in pools that shine under faint flashes of lightning from sky blending with the light rain that had just begun to fall. The heavy smell of blood in the wet air.
The boy stand in the middle of all these death bodies and atmosphere is chaos.
His long black robe was already soaked and covered with blood, and he was tall and slender. One hand held a sharp sword, the other a drippy, slippery weapon. Thin waterways of blood-red threads clung to the steel and then dropped to the ground below. As he raised his head toward the dark sky and his white hair fell over his sharp face, almost glowing in the dim light of the storm.
The rain seemed to ignore the bloodstains that remained firmly to his chest and sleeves but it did fall slowly following the lines of his icy face and beading along his lashes. His piercing and clear eyes turned into the emptiness above, seemingly searching for something beyond this brutal and bloody world.
Someones Footsteps was approached in rush from the edge of the courtyard.
A guard was soaked in the rain, he stopped at the doorway of the courtyard. His eyes grew wider when he saw secen in front of his eyes — Death bodies across the ground and Prince was standing with sword and clothes turned into blood-red clothes. Guard mouth was open to speak but no sound came out. His legs gave way and he dropped to his knees both hands pressing against the wet ground that became pool of blood.
"Prince Are you okay? His voice were hardly able heard over the sound of the rain as he mumbled.
The prince slowly turned his eyes toward him. His eyes were cold and unreadable. For a moment, he said nothing. The guard's breath caught, his eyes darting downward in fear, awaiting judgment.
The Prince move forward without speaking a single word. The silence was filled with only sound was the wet squish of blood under his feet. He stopped before the guard who was knelt on the ground and spoke in a low and firm voice that carried through the damp silence.
"Clear this mess."
As if telling someone to sweep dust off from floor the words were clear and emotionless.
Rain was kept falling on ground, washing the blood from ground and stones. The guard face was turned pale and his body trembled in fear then he quickly bowed and lowered his head
The prince turned his back With his robe floating due to wind behind him like a shadow vanishing into the night.
The Prince's chamber still smelled of steam and a hint of blood. As the blood on his black robe turned into thin red lines that trickled down the basin's edge, Prince Shen Yun stood silently under the warm water.
The flash of light passed through the lattice windows and caught his white hair, soaked and clinging to his sharp features. After last night's slaughter his purple eyes remained closed for a long time remain calm and unreadable, as though he was communicating with his inner spiritual energy to dispel the gloomy aura that clung to his body.
With deliberate care, he dried his skin, tracing the muscles hardened from battle, then drew out a robe of white spirit-silk from an ornate chest. Protective runes and seal-threads woven by imperial masters gave its fabric a faint shimmer. As if putting on armor for the soul instead of the body, he effortlessly wrapped it around himself.
He bowed once toward the jade-carved ancestral tablets before he go to bed for sleep, he silently thanking the lineage that had given birth to him. Then calm as if he had not just taken a bath in blood, he lay on the plush bed of embroidered silk and fell asleep without stress or haste.
In the servant's quarters, hushed conversations broke out as they prepared morning decoctions and incense.
"Did you hear it?" whispered one servant, his eyes wide with fear. "A scream… it came from the First Prince's courtyard. It shook the whole compound!"
"I heard it too!" another whispered back. "It wasn't like any ordinary fight. It was… like a soul being ripped apart!"
A third servant clutched his chest. "The omens are bad. These past months, every time someone covets the throne, bloodshed follows. Heaven must be watching us."
The smell of rain and wet stone filled the air as they exchanged dreadful looks.
At the first rays of sunlight come through the curtains inside the Shen Yun bedroom when light fell on his face he woke up. Calmly his eyes opened as if he had woken up from a deep meditation not from tiredness. He drew on his white robe and stretched once, the movement graceful and natural. The runes on the fabric pulse faintly at his touch, absorbing spiritual energy from the morning air.
He was holding a cultivation book with pages full of spiritual meridians and deep formulas. He got out of bed without a sign of worry and passed the wooden altar where the incense was still burning softly and took slow steps toward the courtyard.
Once spread with corpses and flooded with blood the courtyard was now spotless. Using wind seals and sacred powders the guards had worked through the whole night to remove all traces of blood from the stone floor and ground. There was only the smell of incense and wet earth instead of blood. As if even the rain had wiped away every sign of unrest.
Shen Yun walked into the courtyard as though entering a garden. He set on a carved stone bench then open a book and start reading quietly his eyes moving calmly over the text of the book page.
Shortly after, the Right General of the Empire arrived, his armored form steady despite the drizzle. His eyes flicked to the spotless courtyard, then to the prince's composed posture, and worry clouded his stern face.
He bowed with formal respect but spoke with restrained concern. "First Prince Shen Yun… last night screams were heard from your courtyard. Tell me… are you unharmed? Have they… have they tried to kill you again?"
Shen Yun closed his book slowly and allowed a small smile to spread across his face, an innocuous and clever one, as though the question itself had made him laugh.
"Yes," he replied, his voice clear, light, and almost joyful. "I think many desire my death."
The General's eyes widened briefly, his jaw tightening. But the prince's calm demeanor left him unsure how to respond. Shen Yun's eyes sparkled with cold amusement, yet no fear or anger shadowed them.
As if the threat of assassination were a passing like a wind, the prince opened his book and continued reading without waiting for more questions.