W.R. Eternal: Wow. Going to find a job soon and enter the working world. Big interview next week. Yikes. Been busy traveling with friends also. Anyway, here is this week's chapter. Barely finished it. Once the arc finishes, probably a good time for a time skip. Right? Going out of town the whole week too. So I might post the chapter early if I learn I have no internet access there. Someone commented saying I won't have much readers. That's cool. I write for the love of writing. If it pleases enough readers, that is fine with me. Summer is ending and life just ain't stopping.

Chapter 16: The Long Night

"Finally..." Xin muttered as he could hear steps approach the door. Wei walked over to the bed and stroked his sabertooth's head, the prehistoric tiger purring as it awoke. The door slowly opened to reveal Eunuch Gao holding a lantern. The old man smiled at them and closed the door softly behind himself.

"Eunuch Gao," the two Hans bowed their heads respectfully.

"You truly are a mystery, young duke. His Imperial Majesty was pleasantly surprised," the eunuch smile.

"I apologize to His Imperial Majesty if my uncle's glance to the Black Dragon Scroll made others suspect an act His Majesty did not do," Wei bowed low, Xin rushing to do the same.

"His Majesty does not mind. He is well pleased. With the two factions fighting each other, he does not need to look that frequently behind his back," Gao smiled. "He expected a young man to act heroic, but did not expect a calculative general. You knew exactly what to do to maintain a neutral state."

"Thank you for the compliment, Eunuch Gao," Wei said.

"You are not normal. A duke who actually wants to avoid getting close to the imperial family, attempting to avoid imperial politics altogether. The emperor understands this and wants you to continue the façade of pretending to back the person the emperor claimed to support. That, the emperor hopes, will keep them off their toes. Of course, avoiding the imperial court means you cannot be promoted to Great Duke, but there are other positions," the eunuch began.

"The emperor also hopes for you to kill someone tonight. He is a minister who has been acting too actively in the night. We believe him to be a spy, but the court is meddlesome. The emperor hopes for your assistance in slaying him. He is at the ninth layer of Qi Condensation. The true aim is to kill the people he reports to. The minster sneaks outside the palace so it is definitely not one of his troublesome heirs," the eunuch asked. "In return, future profits your clan makes from the mines of the mountain will be yours and not counted as part of the tax. We've found three more similar resources in the western dukedoms. It is no loss to us."

"We accept," Xin blurted. "Eunuch Gao, what do I do?"

"I may be a eunuch, but I am also a master in divine sense. I could detect your bloodlust very easily. Know that the two factions are sure to sent people here to steal the scroll. Killing them, you may have your fun until the morn," the eunuch smiled ominously and gave Wei an amulet. "This is a rare magical treasure used by adepts of the emperor's spy organization. It can disguise your spirit energy and even your very life force. Unless the person sees you, they could not possibly discover that someone living was actually following them. Naturally, His Majesty's elite spies and spymasters use more advanced methods. When the deed is done, you need not return it. What you find, you may keep. When you discover the identity of whoever is backing the spy, simply write a report and leave it with your uncle. He will stay for breakfast and covertly pass it to me while you return to the academy."

"I understand. Which minister is it?" Wei asked.

"You may find this to be quite interesting. It is the same minister whom you called an ass-kisser," Eunuch Gao smiled. "His identity is Yang Suo. It is preferable if he does not report to His Majesty's daily bi-weekly morning court tomorrow morning."

"Where is he now?" Wei asked as he took out a longbow.

He had it made into a weak magical weapon thanks to the turtle-shell cauldron and hadn't used a bow since he left Black Sea Island. His heart ached when he thought of Grandma Lin and the others. They felt more like family than his Han Clan. Those memories were more intimate and real.

"He is still in a meeting with a few minor ministers. The palace guards have been notified of your future actions. The minister usually uses a palanquin after leaving the palace, but our spies discovered the palanquin is usually a cover when he needs to go to a meeting. One carrier always seems to change the night of those meetings. As one changed this time, the palace guards will follow him and notify you of where he headed once the minster is out of sight," Eunuch Gao smiled as he opened the door, revealing a man shrouded in black robes and a mask.

"Wear this. No one should know what you look like should you be seen," the guard said and gave Wei black leather armor and a silver mask smooth to the touch with no revealing features accept for eye slits. As Wei put on the black hood attached to the armor, he found out it was enchanted to not fall off. Wei instinctively wondered if any of the emperor's spies were among the Han Clan's workers and staff. He shook the thought away and said goodbye to Uncle Xin.

Wei waited with the palace guard inside the guard tower built atop the palace walls until another notified him of the minister's directions. Wei was startled as he activated the talisman. Even Wei could not detect the spirit energy in his own body. He nearly shouted in alarm as he was lifted like a potato sack and appeared behind a stall along the main road just twenty meters from a man walking in a hooded black cloak.

"That is your target. Good luck," the palace guard whispered and vanished faster than Wei could blink. Wei sighed helplessly and kept his movements at a minimum. The minister didn't even notice someone was following him in the shadows.

As the minster walked ten blocks, he always looked back every sixteen steps. He noticed the minister sigh with relief as he entered a large estate in the district where the minor noble clans lived. Wei didn't immediately scale the wall, placing a palm on the ground. He attuned to his wood essence and let it spread deep underground.

Wood was the element closest to life. Wood was life and empowered by earth, light, and water. Wei closed his eyes and sensed multiple life signatures in the estate. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the main building, so he searched the smaller buildings. Finally, one caught his attention with six people sitting around.

Wei scaled the walls silently and walked swiftly toward the building. He shot one guard in the neck while letting one of his flying daggers pierce the other straight on the forehead. Both died without screaming or making a noise.

He realized his cultivation was higher than the six people in the room. In fact, no one was at Foundation Establishment in the minor noble estate. He put his boy away in his spatial ring and held flying daggers with both hands as he entered the building from an open window on the second floor. Thanks to memories of those he executed, he only spent effort trying to copy their stealth techniques.

As he reached the room above the minister, he placed a palm on the wooden floor. Using his spiritual energy, he made the wood thinner where his hand was so as to hear the conversation below. As no one else was in the building, Wei could divert his whole attention to listening to the people below without risking being discovered.

Thanks to Wei's unique undead soul, he had an unnaturally high connection to life and death. He could tell the people below had killed lots of people, able to sense the hidden killing aura their bodies could generate. Still, their kill count could not match the million plus he killed. Not to mention the cultivations of some of those people akin to gods.

"The empress and Consort Yu are still going at it. It seems that the Crippled Duke wishes to refrain from imperial politics," Minister Yang Suo said to the people around the table. "He won't be a problem."

"He is already a problem. We didn't expect Shen Qing and Shen Ling to finish the Space Gate Trial so quickly. Not only that, the Crippled Duke brought back a Cosmos Ring full of Spirit Pearls. The empire and academy will be even more powerful," one man snapped.

"From what our spies said, you failed to instigate trouble with the Han Clan and the royal factions," another agreed. "You know how powerful an influence control over the trading routes in the southern dukedoms is. Even the Great Dukes have less influence over trade. With the duke's minister promotion, he is entitled additional battalions for his personal army. He has become a threat."

"What makes matters worse, Director Ji has taken a liking to the brat. We can't assassinate him in the school either. He won't even leave the capital for a long period of time," another spat. Wei frowned but secretly wrote down every word on a scroll.

"One of my spies reported that the empress killed another five members of the harem allegiant to Consort Yu. The balance of power in the harem is broken. Almost no concubine serves Consort Yu both in the open and the shadows," the only woman among them said through her teeth. Wei believed her to be one of the emperor's wives.

"Consort Yu's faction is weakening. Since Wei defeated her champion first, the generals believe the empress's forces to also be superior. The bitch still has most of the ministers under her wing, but a coup de tat is now impossible," the minister sighed. "We need the two factions balanced to act behind the scenes. What do we tell Great Duke Cao now?"

"Silence. Do not speak the benefactor's name so abhorrently," the woman hissed.

"You're just bitching that he's not in you right now," a fat man smirked, the woman slamming the table in rage.

"The benefactor hasn't sent us any new orders. The people backing him are definitely biding their time. In the meantime, we need to find a way to halt and regress the empress's control. The First Prince cannot replace the Crown Prince. We must also continue to observe the rest of the emperor's children. He bedded many maids in his prime. Finding his bastard children and obtaining proof of their lineage is a must," the leader, a man in a black cloak growled.

The skinny man wearing a green noble robe said, "I've managed to met a few likeminded individuals among the noble clans. As soon as we decide to destroy both factions, they'll accept to join the coup to slay the emperor and enthrone our puppet heir. So far, it seems only I'm doing my job besides the leader who hands out the benefactor's commands."

"I think I've heard enough," a cold voice said, causing the floor above them to shatter. The eyes of the black-armored intruder seemed to smile under the light of the blazer in the room.

"Who the---" the woman began before a dagger impaled her throat. Wei smiled beneath his mask and flicked his wrist, the dagger returning to his left hand. He didn't know it, but the more he utilized the memories of the dead, the more it influenced him.

"I must thank you, Minister Yang Suo. You led me straight to them," the intruder smiled, the minister panting heavily as he stared into those cold blue eyes. They all paled with fear as they saw Wei grab a screaming grey fireball that levitated from the corpse.

"That's a soul! A soul! You know those forbidden techniques?" the fat man screeched, so scared he caused his chair to fall backwards. The fat man screamed with pain and rolled on the ground as he held the back of his head.

"Technique? This is no technique. It is just me eating a soul. You've never seen someone devour a soul before?" Wei asked, smacking his lips. The remaining five conspirators blanched as the grey flames broke up and phased through the mask of the assassin.

"Who are you? Who do you work for? We can pay you. Pay you enough to for you and ten generations to live a comfortable life with riches and power," the leader cried.

"Money? Power? Both mean nothing to me. My aim is higher than this puny nation. I have set my eyes on the horizon of the world since I was young. For now, I am too weak. I can only record my findings in a book. I don't want to be here. I never asked to be here. Earlier today, and even now, I have no choice but to play the role I'm destined," Wei said coldly.

"What role is that? You---" the noble began before Wei threw a dagger into his thigh. The man yelped with pain and fell to the ground. He couldn't even scream as Wei lifted him by the throat with one hand.

"The role of an antagonist. I don't want to be evil, but heroes are blind. They never know what truly happens behind the scenes. They only ever see the girl, thinking their rival is the person who is more likely to get her. I tried to reason with him, but he's blinded by jealousy," Wei continued, forgetting the other people in the room.

"What do you want from us? You could have killed us," the leader asked.

"Who is backing you?" Wei asked, tightening his hold on the noble's throat as no one spoke. "Nothing? Not a word?"

"How much did you hear?" the leader asked, suspicious.

"Who is the benefactor?" Wei asked coldly. "If you don't tell me now, this noble dies."

The leader stared at the three men beside him and slammed a smoke bomb on the ground. Wei narrowed his eyes and released a fireball. However, one of the men threw himself in its way and burst into ash. Wei released the flying dagger in his left hand and the one in the noble's thigh.

Seeing the approaching daggers, the man beside the leader pounded his chest and jumped backwards. One arm went flying into the other as the other dagger pierced into the back up to the hilt. Wei's eyes narrowed as guards began running to the building. The flying dagger that cut off the man's arm managed to scrap the leg of the leader.

"Hmm. He got away. Pity," Wei said as he threw the noble at the wall like trash. The noble lost consciousness due to the pain and slumped to the floor. Wei turned toward the minister and frowned as the minister revealed the teeth in the right side of his mouth. Wei realized what the minister meant to do as a false tooth was pushed out.

"Cyanide," Wei snarled as the minister laughed.

"You won't know what happened here. The leader is long gone," Minister Yang mocked before foam began to appear in his mouth.

"Don't worry. I'm sure the emperor will send his regards to Great Duke Cao," Wei smiled, the minister's eyes widening in despair. They didn't close after his body underwent three spasms.

"I'm sure the spies can track using blood. It contains a person's spirit energy after all. I read it once in a novel back on the island," Wei shrugged as he stored both the noble and the bloody dagger in his hidden body space. He burned the woman's corpse with a fireball before fleeing the building in a flash.