Shadow Lily

Hou Tian has spent the past month, not only training and researching about the world, but also trying to figure out the possible uses of the Devil Devouerer technique, and after so long, he cans safely assume...it's for f**king hunger issues...

He has tried to absorb qi into other parts of his body, but it seems to always enter his belly, and satiated his hunger.

"The system is indeed a devil system, it even knows how to scam a newbie like me" Hou Tian muttered in a low voice.

He stood up and wore his usual mask, at this point, it became a habit to wear it, and he would feel odd if he didn't wear it. The only annoyance is that that the public believes that he wears it because he's ugly, so every time he come back to his own room, he'd remove his mask, pick up the mirror and stare at his own face as he mutters.

"I'm not that ugly, am I? Although I'm not as handsome as my past self, I'd still give myself a generous six out of ten" Hou Tian lifted a brow and said.

His eyes flashed with bitterness as he shook his head.

"Anyway...I kinda want to go out to travel for fun because it's getting boring in here, despite my third brother's constant stupidity, I'm getting bored with it all...but the outside world is too damn dangerous" Hou Tian sighed

Thinking of all the possible dangers outside, he didn't dare venture out, especially when he doesn't have any cultivation yet. He merely spent the past month training his physical body so it wouldn't be in the unhealthy region, but now that he has achieved it, he felt he should work on the bigger goal.

But...

"I can't ask for a cultivation manual from father, if I do, it'll only draw more attention and suspicion, nor can I shake off the guards when I go outside, what if I get killed when I shake them off" He muttered to himself

In this month of stay, he hasn't met his second brother, nor his first brother. The two of them seems to always be elsewhere, either cultivating or wondering the nation.

"Then my only option left is...no, I need to think about my choices carefully...tsk, screw it, I'm not going to lose the little time I have left to cultivate, the best period to cultivate is twelve to nineteen, and when one hits twenty, the effects will reduce significantly...I didn't want to resort to this, but I have no choice" His eyes flashed with a tint of coldness.

The next day, he acted like usual and wondered the streets with his guards and maids, nothing seemed amiss the whole day, he merely bought a few herbs and various types of sweets before he headed back to the palace.

However, once he was in his own room, and the door was locked, he pulled a small pot out from under his bed and grinned.

"Well, time to get brewing" He muttered, he poured some water in and ground up a few herbs before he tossed them into the water.

As he mixed it, the color of the clear water gradually became a transparent purple. He then picked up a tanghulu and dipped it in the clear purple liquid.

The tanghulu carried a purple glint when he pulled it out, however, after a few moments, the purple glint disappeared. He smiled as he nodded in satisfaction.

"Not bad, the next thing to do..." He snickered and hid the pot away, as for the herbs, he burnt it all inside his incense, which created a wonderful aroma.

Hou Tian held the tanghulu in his hand as he walked out of his room, he carried his innocent and naive smile as he ran around the palace. When he reached the garden, he stopped in front of the tallest tree, he tucked the tanghulu into a clear plastic wrap so it wouldn't get dirty, then began climbing the tree.

He quickly reached the top, however, before he could step on the thick branch where he would like to sit, his foot slipped and he fell backwards.

'I hope my gamble is correct' He thought to himself

His head fell first downwards, his eyes flashed, as it reflected the approaching ground, the rocks, and the bits of leaves, they all seemed to have enlarged as he approached the ground. His pupils shrunk as his heart began beating quicker.

His eyes shut on the last second

*swoosh*

The incoming skull shatter didn't happen, when he opened his eyes again, he was high up on the tree, holding him tightly, was a person in black. With the face and body all tightly bound by cloth and clothes, Hou Tian couldn't tell who it was.

"Wh-What happened" Hou Tian looked around in confusion

The person in black pulled down the cloth over the face, revealing a stunning face.

'A girl?' Hou Tian paused and thought for a moment

"So pwetty, beautiful miss, who are you?" Hou Tian asked

The woman in black slowly placed Hou Tian down and kneeled down in front of him.

"Shadow Lily, greets your highness the fourth prince" She said reverently

Hou Tian looked startled

"Pretty miss, father said a man must always p-pay back debt properly, please don't kneel, no kneeling" Hou Tian spoke in a very childish way

The woman smiled

'Young prince is just like madame, even after such a thing, he's still so kind...sadly he has an illness and is known to be a lunatic...' She shook her head

Hou Tian thought for a bit before he pulled out a tanghulu

"Pretty miss, please take this, I-I was saving this for later, b-but you can have it" Hou Tian said, his face looked as if he was very unwilling to part with it.

Shadow Lily giggled

"Then I'll accept your offer" She said as she took the tanghulu

"uh...y-yeah" Hou Tian smiled, but he looked very reluctant to part with the tanghulu as his eyes remained on it for a bit before he shifted to Shadow Lily.

Shadow Lily rubbed Hou Tian's head

"Then...shall we share it?" She asked

Hou Tian's eyes lit up

"Pretty miss is so kind, I will definitely repay you in the future...b-but can-can we eat inside my room, f-father said no more sweets today, s-so please don't tell father or mother about this" Hou Tian placed a finger over his lips and said

Despite his age, his acting made it so...she actually couldn't resist his eyes.

She nodded instinctively

"Alright, we'll eat in your room" She said

"P-Promise f-father won't know about this" Hou Tian said with a hint of nervousness and aggression.

"I promise" Shadow Lily smiled and said

Hou Tian's eyes brightened, as it shone brighter than the rising sun.

Shadow Lily brought Hou Tian back to his room, when they entered, Hou Tian gestured for her to be quiet, as if he was afraid his father would come in any moment, so he quickly locked the door as well. Shadow Lily didn't suspect a thing as she giggled.

'To think a sixteen-year-old could still be this cute' She thought to herself

Hou Tian looked around, after confirming the coast was clear, he heaved out a sigh of relief.

"Pretty miss, we can eat now" He smiled innocently and said

Shadow Lily smiled and took out the tanghulu, she broke the stick in half and passed the other half to Hou Tian who was eyeing it as if it was treasure. She couldn't help but enjoy this sight.

"Young master your room smells quite nice" Shadow Lily smiled and said

"Mother said I'm a good boy because I clean my room very well" Hou Tian said proudly

Pfft

Shadow Lily laughed, she then bit into the tanghulu. Though it wasn't a high quality sweet, nor was it anything special, being given to her by this innocent child, she felt it was much sweeter than anything she has eaten.

Hou Tian smiled at Shadow Lily

"Miss Lily, I'll need to apologize for what's going to happen next" Hou Tian's innocence faded at the drop of a hat as he smiled at her, the smile wasn't like before, it was filled with indifference and slyness.

Shadow Lily was taken aback, and before she knew it, she felt her strength fade at a rapid rate. Her body became stiffer than steel as she dropped to the ground.

"Wh-What" Her eyes screamed with shock and confusion, what's happening, and is this still the innocent child from before?

No, is this still the fourth prince!?

Hou Tian crouched down, he took out a long steel chain and wrapped it around Shadow Lily, tying her up tightly.

"Again, I apologize for this" Hou Tian said with a smile, but she could feel it...it wasn't even a genuine apology.

"Wh-Who are you! What have you done with the fourth prince!" She roared, however, she realised that her voice was very quiet.

Hou Tian placed a finger over her lips

"Miss Lily, I am the fourth prince, and as the fourth prince, I need a bi~g favor from you" He said with a smile

Shadow Lily glared at him

"How dare you say such a bold lie! If anything happens to his highness the fourth prince, you won't get away with it!" She shouted at him

Hou Tian chuckled as he pulled the chain and tossed her onto his bed.

"Miss, I'm very impatient, if I don't get what I want, I'll do something horrifying" Hou Tian's eyes flashed with a cold glint as he grabbed her cheeks.

Shadow Lily glared at him fiercely, as if she wanted to eat him alive.

"So feisty, but if I don't get what I want from you today, I'll just have to kill you and target another Imperial Shadow, if one doesn't work, I'll target two, if two doesn't work, then three" His eyes flashed with ruthlessness as he pulled her face closer to his.

"So miss Lily, will you comply?" Hou Tian said with a cold smile

Shadow Lily struggled, but her body had no strength. The poison Hou Tian created wasn't a lethal one, it merely incapacitates a person below the gold core realm, however, it needs to be ingested in a large quantity to have effect.

He found this poison in one of the books he looked through, and thought of this plan for when he thinks he needs someone to help him.

And that time...is now.

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