"Your Majesty, you must send Long Chen to the dark room. That is absolutely impossible. His inner demons are so heavy—please don't tell me you can't see it. This is no joke! In
the pavilion by the lakeside in the Royal Garden, Yu Xiaoyun was sitting alone in front of the grill, eating fish and drinking wine. When Empresses Jiang Huixin and Xu Lanxin arrived, Xu Lanxin spoke directly.
Xu Lanxin's expression showed some anger. At their level, they could easily sense someone's state of mind from their eyes.
And Long Chen wasn't guarding against them, so they could see a part of his heart—the powerful inner demon within him—and they could see it clearly.
That little black room was designed to temper people's willpower and guide negative emotions. While it was called punishment for princes and princesses, it was actually a form of training and testing.
But for those with inner demons, sending them to the 'Little Black Room' means a death sentence—and the most cruel and painful punishment. People die in the torment of their inner demons. Once the inner demon takes control and controls the entire soul, those inside the Little Black Room are doomed—no cure or remedies.
"You can't say that. That kid wanted to go in himself. I didn't force him. I need to make a statement first, and I've already warned him, so don't blame me.
Hmph, I haven't even settled accounts with you yet, and I've lost so much face. Luckily, I can at least make up for some losses. Yu Xiaoyun looked at the two of them and said irritably, clearly annoyed because they had concealed the origin of the Vermilion Bird Pear Blossom Brew, leaving him unable to catch any evidence against Long Chen.
"Your Majesty..."
Xu Lanxin frowned as if to say more, but Jiang Huixin pulled her along. Jiang Huixin smiled slightly and said, "
Your Majesty is a wise ruler, with everything under your control. Let's not worry. Come, since Your Majesty is in such a good mood, let's have a drink with him." This must be His Majesty's rainbow dragon fish, right? It looks delicious. "
Hmph, luckily I arrived early and still had more than half left, otherwise these two little bastards would have ruined everything."
but ... This kid's cooking is really good, not spoiling the rainbow dragon fish. Two empresses, let's have some together—there's no outsiders here. Yu Xiaoyun said.
A dignified ruler of a nation actually ate what others had leftovers. If word got out, it would invite ridicule from the world. Therefore, Yu Xiaoyun dismissed everyone and activated the grand formation, fearing no one would find out.
In fact, Long Chen and Zhu Yifeng barely ate a few bites because it was so delicious that eating too quickly would ruin the food.
Long Chen took out a jar of fine wine—a large jar filled with no less than a hundred jin. Long Chen planned to drink heartily with Zhu Yifeng, but now that everything was at a good price for Yu Xiaoyun, confiscating the stolen goods would make Yu Xiaoyun feel a bit better.
After a few bites of the fish, the three of them couldn't stop praising it. On one hand, the seven-colored dragonfish was delicious; on the other, Long Chen was an alchemist who knew how to bring out the fish's flavor. The seasoning was just right, and the cooking was impeccable.
Meat is good meat, wine is fine wine. Suddenly, Jiang Huixin smiled and said, "The two of us sisters really have to thank this child, Long Chen. If it weren't for him, His Majesty definitely wouldn't want to roast this dragon fish for us to eat." Xu
Lanxin also smiled. This seven-colored dragonfish was exceptionally precious. If Long Chen hadn't arrived, they would never have known what it tasted like in their lifetime.
"Empress, you're getting too serious. Am I really that petty? If you want to eat fish, isn't it just a matter of saying a word? Yu Xiaoyun said awkwardly.
Of course, since the fish was already dead, he could only say this. If it were alive, he would never have eaten it.
"Long Chen's ...," Xu Lanxin said worriedly.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I've already arranged surveillance in the little black room. Once Long Chen enters, everything will be under our control. Nothing will happen. I just want this reckless kid to suffer." Yu Xiaoyun said.
Hearing Yu Xiaoyun say this, Jiang Huixin and the others felt relieved. Since Yu Xiaoyun allowed Long Chen to go back on his word, things would be much easier.
...
"Long Chen, are you really going? Let me tell you, no one in the little black room can last seven days. You're being too reckless. After the emperor left, Yu Qianxue looked at Long Chen with a complicated expression in her eyes.
She hadn't expected Long Chen to be so loyal, bearing everything alone, even though it was all his own doing.
"Big brother, we should apologize to Father. Please retract your order. Let's each stay three days." Zhu Yifeng gritted his teeth and said.
Long Chen looked at Zhu Yifeng. This kid was quite loyal. Long Chen smiled and said, "
Your willpower is so weak, better forget it!"
Long Chen looked at Yu Qianxue again and said, "Actually, you're a pretty good person, and quite good-looking." Yu
Qianxue snapped, "Why are you talking nonsense? Can it solve the problem? Long
Chen wasn't angry either. He smiled and said, "I, Long Chen, never do anything I'm not confident about, and I never risk my life. I have my reasons for going into the 'Little Black Room.' Don't worry!" After
Long Chen finished speaking, he left under the guidance of the royal guards. When the guards tried to put shackles on Long Chen, Long Chen immediately turned hostile:
"Don't mess with me, or I'll slap you hard."
Long Chen was neither a prince nor a princess, so he didn't need to follow royal rules. The royal guards' expressions changed, and they were about to lose their temper, but the leading elder said, "
Forget it."
The old man was also sensible and knew how to assess the situation. Long Chen wouldn't even give the emperor any face, let alone theirs.
At present, they still couldn't figure out Long Chen's background. If they let their past dealings with princes and princesses be so reckless, they might suffer a huge loss.
So, Long Chen was led to a square palace. The palace was square and pitch black, so dark it seemed to swallow light. Approaching it, he felt even the sunlight seemed dim.
At the same time, a sinister aura rushed toward him. Long Chen was slightly stunned:
"The aura of hell?"
This aura was somewhat familiar, very similar to the aura of hell. That dark aura was enough to stir the most primal fear in people's hearts. Even the guards, looking at this dark palace, their expressions grew somewhat uneasy.
"Click, click, click..."
The stone doors of the palace rose, and upon entering, a larger palace appeared. This was actually a visual difference, containing space inside, appearing larger than the palace outside.
The guards stopped moving once they reached the gate. Long Chen pressed forward, entering a total of eighteen palaces, growing larger and darker as he went. Behind him was a large door forming a distant passage. At this moment, Long Chen seemed to be walking step by step toward the abyss of death.
When Long Chen entered the eighteenth palace, a series of explosions rang out, and the palace doors closed one after another. At that moment, the whole world fell silent—no light, no sound. A person was trapped in endless darkness, overwhelmed by endless shadows, loneliness, fear, and hesitation.
If an ordinary person came here, they would immediately suffer a mental breakdown; even cultivators could not bear such terrifying darkness.
Long Chen smiled faintly, sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes, and quietly felt the darkness.
"Come out, I want to talk to you."