In the maids' quarters, Court Lady Han suddenly opened her eyes and immediately rises into a sitting position. Beside her is her roommate, also his majesty's maid. The maid opens her eyes in a sleepy manner, awaken by Court Lady Han's sudden and hurried movements.
"What is it Court Lady Han?" The maid said as she closes her eyes back yet her ears are still waiting for her response.
"His majesty! I dreamed of him, being dirtied by a pig!" She said.
Her voice is a little hoarse. Perhaps it is because she just woke up that her throat feels dry. Or perhaps she got a cold from Eunuch Xu? She angrily said in the back of her mind, "Eunuch Xu, you really didn't do anything well, did you?"
The truth is, he indeed dreamed of his majesty but what dirtied him is not actually a pig. It's Xu Zhengming. How did our Mingming dirty him in her dreams? Who knows? But it must be quite interesting. (A/n: Sorry children! XD)
"Aiyah, Court Lady Han, we keep on telling you, we don't have pigs as livestock in the imperial farm. We only have chickens. You don't have to worry about pigs getting on his majesty."
"Actually, I'm going to check him in his hall." Court Lady Han puts her blanket aside and was about to stand but the maid stops her.
Ever since the day, hours before the Empress Dowager's banquet was held as a celebration for her recovery, she has always got anxious. Especially that she sees that Eunuch Xu is always with his majesty. She can't help but worry, she treats and takes care of the emperor as her own child after all.
Little did everyone knows, the severe illness was caused by her to herself in the first place. She got that illness because she passed her lifetime worth of prowess to the empress, all to make things in order to make things go her way.
"For goodness' sake, Court Lady Han. We're in the middle of the night! His majesty must be asleep right now." The maiden rubs Court Lady Han's back while her eyes close. It's only natural for her not to be able to keep her eyes open. It's currently past twelve midnight after all! And then there's Court Lady Han freaking out without any cautions beforehand.
The maid continues to console her, "It's just a dream, okay? No pigs, definitely no pigs."
Still, Court Lady Han remained anxious. "But I am really worried. I don't think I can sleep unless I check him out."
This time, the maiden halfway opens her eyes. "Court Lady Han, his majesty rarely gives us a half-day rest. You should indulge it to the fullest. We'll see him tomorrow anyway. We'll know by then if he really got dirtied by a pig or not."
"..."
It's true. In fact, this is the first time he gave them such a long break.
With that, Court Lady Han finally let it go. She keeps on telling herself that it's just a dream. That there is no need for her to worry. She closes her eyes and was about to go back to sleep but a thought popped out of her mind which made her open her eyes wide again.
"Why is his majesty even giving us all half a day rest except for Eunuch Xu?!" Her thoughts are like: What did they do all this time? What were they up to?!
The maid scratches her head annoyingly, "Seriously, Court Lady Han?! Please have mercy on me. Let me sleep!"
Meanwhile, in the Lotus Hall...
Clang!
A sharp clashing sound of pointed objects colliding into a metal echoes in the entire Lotus Hall. It was the sharp fingernails of Eunuch Ye that landed on Prince Yin Wenyan's blade. The resentful corpse was aiming for Xu Zhengming. Luckily, the prince has a fast reaction and immediately sways his sword to shield his eunuch. The distance between Mingmning's face and the prince's sword is only a mere couple of centimeters. Too close. Too close! Still, Eunuch Xu feels relief as the others made it in time.
Princess Yin Xiulan sways her fan. The upwards stroke created a wind blade. Eunuch Ye sensed her attack and immediately hops to dodge. Now that the target is out of the way, the wind blade approaches straight towards Xu Zhengming.
"Eunuch Xu, look out!" There's no way she could cancel an attack that's already released.
Xu Zhengming, on the other hand, got frozen and can't move a single muscle. Good thing, the prince is to the rescue and sliced the wind blade into half with his sword. He successfully nullified her sister's blow just in time. Just a split-second delay would most probably cause Xu Zhengming to be sliced into half.
"Can't you be more careful?" Prince Yin Wenyan complains.
"Sorry!" The princess general smiles apologetically. It was out of reflex. Her instincts are telling her to slice this creature into pieces. She never actually thought that Eunuch Ye would dodge it.
The two of them go after the deceased eunuch. Blows after blows are released but the eunuch is unusually agile. The Lotus Hall might turn into ruins yet they could still get a hold of him.
He's a eunuch. He must be an ordinary man before he died, right? But why does he has swift moves that could keep up with the two former cultivators? Even without communicating, the two came up with the same conclusion. His strength must be coming from the one who's taking control of him.
"Capture him first!" The princess general said to her brother.
"Got it!" Prince Yin Wenyan grabs a talisman underneath his sleeves.
Just like his majesty, he also has some talismans that their shizun, Zhao Yangguang, personally made. The talisman is for sealing. The charm is actually effective but Yin Wenyan knows that this is the same talisman that Emperor Yin Renshu used to seal the eunuch but still, he got away. The one controlling him must be someone who's familiar with charms and talismans.
To strengthen the sealing enchantment, he combines his spiritual energy with the talisman. A faint bluish-white light envelops the talisman in his hand. He cast the enchantments and the talisman flies towards the deceased eunuch and attached itself to the eunuch's forehead.
As the enchantment activates, a huge seal made up of water appeared before the creature. The said seal has several characters on it, mostly the characters written on the talisman. This made him immobilized and vulnerable to the incoming attacks.
Xu Zhengming witnesses how fierce their fight is. He doesn't know that the cultivation world, the field where his father wanted to stay in, is very dangerous. One small mistake and it could cause one's life.
He doesn't have any knowledge about cultivation, however, there's this one thing that even the common people like him know. It's the concept of five different spiritual roots. Metal is weak against the fire, fire is weak with water, water is weak against the earth, the earth is weak towards the wood, and wood is weak with metal.
Isn't his majesty's spiritual root fire? He even single-handedly produced flame several times, and Eunuch Xu saw it with his own eyes. Xu Zhengming tries to understand it. How come he uses the water element now? He thought, "Okay, let's just say the emperor has two spiritual roots. However, it doesn't make sense! Fire is weak with water. Is that even possible for a person to have a spiritual root that destroys the other?"
Before he could even continue with his thoughts, another strange thing happened. Out of nowhere, the eunuch suddenly becomes more aggressive. A dark aura surrounded him gradually. It's like he got another supply of strength. They didn't know, the one behind this, the empress dowager, has another trick hidden in her sleeves.
Number 35, the Stone of Avalon. The stone is a crimson red-colored gem. This amplifies the prowess of its use for a short period of time.
Because of this, the water seal cracks just like a thin sheet of ice. It breaks into tiny fragments that eventually dissipated before it could even reach the floor. The deceased eunuch managed to free himself, thanks to the empress dowager's sudden increase of spiritual energy.
"What the..." Prince Yin Wenyan is out of words.
He can't believe it. How come the talisman that his shizun made, combined with his own spiritual power hot easily destroyed? Or could it be he weakened the effect of the talisman? But he's sure he only added the durability of the spell though.
With him, free from restrains, his instincts made him go charge towards Xu Zhengming's direction. Princess Yin Xiulan quickly sways her fan for another wind blade, but still, even if his attention is all at Xu Zhengming, he still managed to dodge it.
"Eunuch Xu!" The prince hurried to his side as he extends his arms to his eunuch.
Prince Yin Wenyan managed to grab him on the wrist and pulled Mingming into his arms, right by his broad chest. But it was too late, Eunuch Xu got injured. The scratches on Xu Zhengming's right arm caused by the sharp long nails of the creature created four deep wounds.
Xu Zhengming groans as he buries his face on the prince's chest. He gritted his teeth in agonizing pain as he tries to endure his injury.
"Eunuch Xu!" Prince Yin Wenyan's eyes widen when he sees the blood rushing out of the other's arm.
Eunuch Ye was about to scratch his fingernails on Xu Zhengming again. The prince is supporting Eunuch Xu's weight with both of his arms so he could not block the upcoming attack. He could only hold Xu Zhengming tighter and planned to take the blow instead. Luckily, Princess Yin Xiulan got their backs and released another wind attack. This made the monster back off a few steps away from them.
"What are you doing? We don't have time for that! Are you two alright?" The princess asks as she stands before them with her back facing the two.
"I am not injured but Eunuch Xu is." Her brother replied.
Only by then did she notice that he really is injured. She thought her brother was just enjoying his moment while embracing the eunuch. Turns out they really can't move in time earlier.
Eunuch Xu, on the other hand, feels something weird within him. His blood seems to circulate faster and his heart beats louder. The veins in his temples bulge as his eyes glow in a faint blood-red-colored glint. Slowly, his consciousness fades.
Then the next thing that happened surprised the prince and the princess. Eunuch Xu frees himself from Yin Wenyan and runs towards the deceased eunuch at full speed. Xu Zhengming initially doesn't have an athletic body. His physique isn't made for active activities. However, his movements right now are a lot faster than he usually is. He could even catch up with this bloodthirsty monster.
Eunuch Xu aims to scratch the detected opponent with his long and sharp fingernails. He's as aggressive as Eunuch Ye. These two looked like untamed beasts that fight for their territory. Very brutal and instinct-driven.
Princess Yin Xiulan couldn't stay still and watch it any longer. "What happened to him?! Eunuch Xu!" She calls out. "It's dangerous, don't get close to him! Wenyan, do something!"
"It's no use, Xiulan." Princess Yin Wenyan said almost whispering. Although he can't believe he's seeing an aggressive Xu Zhengming, he knows more or less what's going on with him. "Do you really think he'll charge towards that monster if he's conscious about it?"
Now that he mentioned it, Princess Yin Xiulan realized something. Didn't he get terrified of Eunuch Ye earlier? He's actually running away with his life when he got chased. Why, all of a sudden, would he charge and go fight Eunuch Ye for a one-on-one battle?
"So... he's doing it unconsciously?" Cause if it's not the case, Xu Zhengming would never risk his short life to settle the score with him and Eunuch Ye. She continues, more like she's talking to herself. "He's in his bloodthirsty self, right?"
"That seems to be the case." Her brother answered.
The prince charged towards Eunuch Ye as well. Seeing this, the princess realized that she must go as well. They can't let Eunuch Xu do all the rest of the fighting, can they?
Since the effect of the Stone of Avalon is only temporary, the amplified prowess of the empress dowager gradually weakens again. She gritted her teeth and clicks her tongue. it's not going her way. They're already at a disadvantage so she must retreat together with Ye Feng.
"Ye Feng, enough. Let's go back for now." The empress dowager hates to retreat for now but things will go worse if this keeps up. She can't afford to lose Ye Feng again. Except for the fact that he's the strongest experiment, she doesn't want to let Ye Feng die in a cruel way the second time around. 
Eunuch Ye immediately withdraws himself from the Lotus Hall. He hops his way out from where he came from.
Princess Yin Xiulan was about to chase after him but the first prince stops her.
"What if it's a trap? He might want us to follow him and plans to ambush us. Don't rush things, we will definitely find out the real culprit behind all of this mess."
Princess Yin Xiulan nods. "Mn. You're right. I wasn't thinking about that."
Eunuch Xu, on the other hand. is standing still like a statue with his head up. He's motionless and doesn't say anything. His face shows indifference as well. Will he go berserk again and starts to attack them instead?
It was Yin Wenyan who first comes closer to him.
"Eunuch Xu." He calls out. Still no response.
He taps his shoulder but the next thing that happened is that the eunuch grabbed his hand on his shoulder and pulled him closer to him. The next thing the prince knows is that he feels stung by the neck. He finds himself bitten by his eunuch.
The sudden force made him lose his balance and the two of them fell on the floor with Eunuch Xu on top of him.
"Wenyan!" Yin Xiulan got her fan ready to strike any moment but she isn't sure if she would really have to charge a blow to their Lin-dage's son.
"I'll be fine. He just needs to recover." He pats Xu Zhengming's head. "Don't worry, he drank blood earlier, I won't be losing a lot."
And besides, if he can't drink blood, he might go berserk again. He won't stop until his thirst will be quenched. Or worse, he might not be able to recover his consciousness ever again. It's better to let it be like this than to involve other innocent people.