Chapter 1
Chapter 1
The First Cycle: A Glimpse
The window stood half-open, and a peach-pink dress hung from a rack beside it.
On the morning of July sixteenth, a fine drizzle drifted into Chunchao Palace and dampened the dress.
Consort Zhan’s delicate brows shot up. She jabbed Shanhua and me in the forehead with one finger.
“You two witless girls! It’s raining, yet neither of you thought to close the window!”
We knelt obediently. Attendant Zhan Yue did not dare make a sound, and in the end, it was Zhan Zhao who spoke up for us.
“Your Highness has many important matters to remember. Palace rules require every room to have a window, and the windows must remain open, rain or shine.”
The Princess Consort grumbled, “His Majesty the King may govern diligently and care for his people, but he is far too suspicious. He insists on watching the every move of everyone in the rear palace.”
Seizing my chance, I said, “His Majesty the King can hardly be blamed for being suspicious. Your Highness is simply so beautiful that he cannot help worrying about you.”
She tapped me on the forehead. “Now that is more pleasing to the ear. Shanyue, stay. The rest of you may leave.”
Once Consort Zhan and I were alone in the chamber, she sat before the mirror while I stepped forward to arrange her hair.
She spoke languidly. “I am tired. I won’t be serving tea to His Majesty the King this evening. You go in my place.”
I accepted the order. The palace had run out of Dianhong, so I roasted a pot of Pu’er in the kitchen instead.
Zhan Zhao walked in and took the palm-leaf fan from me. “Take a break. I’ll watch the fire.”
I cheered. “Zhan Zhao, you’re the most handsome attendant in the whole world!”
From outside the door, Third Princely Heir Chang Yan glanced over. “Shanyue, come grind my ink.”
By the time I finished grinding the ink, the Pu’er over the brazier was ready as well.
Carrying the tea jar, I set off for Dianrong Hall.
That evening, the dying sun set the entire sky ablaze.
The glazed roof tiles shone dazzlingly in the afterglow, startling a flock of resting crows into flight.
I walked slowly with the tea jar in hand until I encountered His Majesty the King’s personal attendant along the way.
Attendant Wei smiled amiably. “Taking tea to His Majesty the King on Consort Zhan’s behalf? Be very careful.”
The light was dim at dusk, and all my attention was fixed on the ground beneath my feet. I was terrified of tripping and spilling the scalding tea.
That was why I failed to notice that the doors of Dianrong Hall, usually shut tight, had been left slightly ajar that day.
When I reached the hall, my gaze passed over the narrow gap, and my heart abruptly began to race.
Cold sweat poured down my body. Terror clung to my bones and crawled up my spine.
What… What was that?
Expensive luminous pearls were embedded in all four walls of Dianrong Hall’s front chamber, illuminating the cavernous interior as brightly as day.
A colossal golden statue of the Buddha stood behind the King of Nanzhao, its chest exposed and its enormous belly protruding as it smiled benevolently.
The King of Nanzhao, reputed to be a man of peerless beauty, sat upright in the center of the hall, facing the doors with his mouth stretched wide open.
A writhing worm crawled out of His Majesty the King’s eye socket and pushed his eyeball free. It landed on the desk with a wet plop.
From his nostrils, mouth, ears… countless worms poured from all seven openings of his head, and His Majesty the King’s body slowly deflated.
The colossal Buddha continued to gaze down with lowered eyes, watching its grotesquely transformed worshiper with boundless compassion.
The worms twisted their slender bodies and crawled toward a plate of pastries on the desk.
A mountain of worms engulfed the porcelain plate. A moment later, they slowly burrowed back into the shriveled human skin.
The empty skin on the couch swelled little by little, gradually regaining the shape of a grown man.
On the desk, the pastries on the white porcelain plate had vanished without so much as a crumb left behind.
The muscles at the corner of my eye began to twitch.
His Majesty the King was not human at all.
He was a monster wearing human skin!
The two guards stationed outside Dianrong Hall had their backs to the doors. They barked at me sharply.
“How dare you stand there gawking before Dianrong Hall? Get on your knees!”
I could not let it realize I had discovered its secret. Clenching my teeth, I dropped to my knees.
“This servant has brought tea on Consort Zhan’s behalf and humbly requests an audience with His Majesty the King.”
Once they heard that I served His Majesty the King’s favored consort, their expressions immediately softened into ingratiating smiles.
“Please, get up. We’ll report your arrival to His Majesty the King at once.”
A rich, magnetic male voice came from within Dianrong Hall.
“I heard her. Have the maid bring the Pu’er inside.”
I entered the hall, bowed, presented the tea, and knelt.
Keeping my head lowered and my manner meek, I warned myself not to show any fear. Every word and action had to be chosen with care.
Yet for some reason, the King of Nanzhao did not dismiss me that day.
The sound of him sipping tea echoed through the cavernous hall. I did not dare raise my head.
“Come forward and take this tea jar away.”
With my head bowed, I climbed the steps to the dais. A blood-red eyeball rolled across the floor and stopped at the tip of my shoe.
The King of Nanzhao drawled, “You. Look up.”
I did not move. He slowly descended the steps, seized my chin, and wrenched my face upward, forcing me to look directly at him.
In that instant, the blood froze in my veins.
One eye was missing from the King of Nanzhao’s face. Countless tiny worms writhed and tangled together in the empty socket.
“You have seen my secret. I must reward you handsomely.”
Agony tore through me as he ripped my left eye from its socket. Then he opened his mouth and began licking the empty cavity!
Worms crawled from his mouth, burrowed into my skull, and devoured my brain.
My entire body convulsed in pain as I tumbled down the steps. Plump, round eggs spilled endlessly from all seven openings of my head…
I died.
I died on the evening of July sixteenth, when I went to deliver the tea.
As my life flashed before my eyes, regret consumed me. If I could do it all over again, I would escape the royal palace at any cost!
I opened my eyes.