Chapter 31

XIAN

Feng was waiting inside Xian's chamber when Xian showed up nearly fifteen minutes later than they were supposed to meet. He

arched a brow at the soy sauce stain splashed on the front of Xian's lóng páo . "This is what you meant by finding an excuse to leave early?"

"Wang already took the sickness excuse, so I had to improvise." Xian shut the doors. "Did you manage to follow him?"

"He left the palace alone shortly after the start of the meal," Feng reported as he helped Xian remove his lóng páo . "He rode down the southern road along the lake. I followed for a short distance before coming back."

A jolt went through Xian. The southern road led to Leifeng Pagoda. Wang had hinted that he knew Zhen wasn't locked up in the palace prison. Could he have discovered that he was being kept in Fahai's underground laboratory in the pagoda?

"He's going after Zhen," Xian said. "It wasn't just me he needed to keep occupied at the meal. He knew Fahai would be there

too, which would leave his laboratory unguarded for a few hours."

Feng looked puzzled. "I still don't understand what Wang is after. How does he intend to use Zhen against you?"

"Maybe he just wants to spite me. To hurt someone I care about who can't fight back." Xian pulled an outer robe over his undershirt.

"Whatever it is, I don't intend to stand by and let him get away with it."

"If you're going to Leifeng Pagoda, I'll come with you," Feng said.

"No," Xian told him. "I need you to stay behind. Make excuses for me to my father."

Feng looked aghast. "You're asking me to lie? To the king?"

"I don't want to give Wang any chance to implicate you or get you in trouble." Xian glanced around and picked up a purple

clay teapot. "You tried to stop me, but I hit you on the back of the head with this." He hurled the teapot to the floor. Clay

fragments scattered around their feet. "By the time you came to, I was long gone."

"Why don't I just say you splashed me in the face with soy sauce?" Feng grumbled, but he relented. "If you're not back in

an hour, I'm riding out there to look for you. I don't care about Wang."

Xian clapped him on the shoulder. "You'll probably be in time to scrape whatever's left of him off the pagoda floor."

As Xian approached the pagoda, his suspicions were confirmed: Wang's horse was already there, its lead rope tied to a tree. The night was silent except for the chirp of crickets and the occasional sleepy hoots of orioles. He didn't want hoofbeats to alert Wang to his arrival, so he slowed and dismounted a distance away. Zhaoye let out a dissatisfied neigh but acquiesced to being hidden behind a thicket of weeping willows.

Xian stealthily made his way around to the back of the pagoda—the iron door leading to the laboratory was unlocked. Wang must

have discovered it while Xian and Fahai were in Changle; he'd had weeks to learn how to pick the lock and get inside.

Xian slowly pushed the door open so the creak of hinges wouldn't give him away. The light of flickering oil lamps emanated

from within, along with the crackling of firewood. He drew his sword as he crept down the steps.

Fahai's laboratory was lit but empty. The fireplace was burning brightly, and his worktable was in its usual state of organized

mess. Xian's ears detected a low, mechanical whirring that he hadn't heard all the previous times he had been here. When he

pressed his ear to the wall, the gear-like noise hummed louder, as if it were coming from within the stones.

Xian ran a palm along the wall and halted in front of one of the bookcases. One thick tome had fallen to the floor, its pages splayed open. As he picked up the book, its empty spot on the shelf caught his eye. There was a wooden knob in the back of the bookcase that the book had concealed.

He reached inside and turned the knob. There was a click—then the bookcase began to shift, rotating to reveal a stairway that

led down to a deeper level. The whirring grew louder, echoing from somewhere below.

Xian frowned. Fahai must have been aware of this secret entrance within his laboratory—so why hadn't he said anything to Xian

or his father? What was going on down there?

Xian cautiously descended the jagged steps, which terminated in another underground chamber. Its sparse furnishings and the

bas-relief carvings of deities on the stone walls were similar to the pilgrims' hall in a temple—except for the circular black

pool in the middle of the space, above which a familiar figure was suspended upside down from a system of pulleys and ropes

rigged to the ceiling.

Xian's heart plummeted. "Zhen?"

Zhen's eyes fluttered open—their gazes met, and neither of them could hide their shock. Zhen's arms were bound to his sides,

and his long hair was wet, hanging in limp strands, which meant he had already been immersed in the water.

"Zhen," Xian heard Wang say. "So this abomination of nature has a name."

Xian's head whipped around as his half brother emerged from behind one of the pillars. He didn't look at all surprised that

Xian had shown up. Xian had been so stunned to see Zhen hanging upside down from the ceiling that he momentarily forgot that

he had tracked Wang there.

"What the hell are you doing to him, Wang?" Xian demanded.

"Me? You give me too much credit." Wang gestured at the underground chamber. "I've always wondered where Fahai went when he

left the palace in the late evenings. He must have been working on this little torture chamber of his. No wonder you two get

along so well—both of you have such deviant inclinations."

A chill coursed through Xian's veins. Wang wasn't the one who had tied Zhen in this cruel position—it was Fahai. He had volunteered

to ride ahead of them and arrive a day earlier to make arrangements, but the court adviser had clearly been preparing this

chamber for far longer.

Wang looked up at Zhen, who was shivering as he hung upside down above the pool.

"Bet you hoped that you would be more than just another one of his conquests." Wang let out a scornful sound. "Well, congratulations,

you got your wish. I'm pretty sure he's never done this with any of the other boys he screwed."

"Shut up," Xian hissed. His hand tightened around his sword as he stalked toward his half brother. "Don't you dare speak to him—"

"Or what? You're going to save him?" Wang sneered. "You're the one who brought him back from Changle shackled and caged like

the animal he is—"

Xian drew back his fist and hit Wang. The other prince staggered back but caught himself a few feet from the wall. He held

his jaw as he stared at Xian, his expression darkening.

"This place wasn't the only secret I uncovered while you were away in Changle," he said. "I also opened the box behind the plaque."

Xian's jaw dropped. "What? You know that's punishable by death—"

Wang's face twisted as he threw an unfolded piece of parchment at Xian's feet. " This should be punishable by death."

The wax seal with the king's stamp, which kept the contents secret, had been broken. Xian stared at his own name in his father's

handwriting: 許仙 .

His father had chosen him to be his successor.

" I am the rightful crown prince." Wang drew his sword and leveled the blade in Xian's face. "Did he ever think about the humiliation

I would be put through when everyone finds out he chose the son of a concubine over his firstborn?"

Xian didn't understand why Wang had lured him all the way down here to have this confrontation.

"If you want to duel to the death to decide who gets to be the crown prince, fine." Xian gripped his own sword by his side.

"But leave Zhen out of this. He's nothing to you."

Wang laughed. "But anyone with half an eye can see that he's something to you. "

He moved toward a lever on the wall connected to the rope that suspended Zhen above the pool.

"No!" Xian shouted, rushing forward.

Wang swung his sword, severing the rope.

The pulleys rattled as the tension abruptly slackened. Above the pool, Zhen lurched. The rope caught in one of the riggings, slowing his drop—but before Xian could get close enough, the rope pulled loose and slipped free.

Zhen plunged headfirst into the water with a loud splash.

Xian dropped his sword as he reached the edge of the pool. Zhen had disappeared beneath the surface.

He jumped in.

After falling into the West Lake, Xian had learned to swim. But this felt nothing like water—it was cloying, unnatural, like

oil. He waved the bubbles away from his face and forced his eyes open. Zhen, bound hand and foot, was steadily sinking, as

if he were being sucked toward the bottomless depths by some kind of magnetism.

Xian dived deeper after Zhen. But the water slowed his movements, like invisible fingers tugging at his wrists and ankles,

holding him back while dragging Zhen farther from him. He surged forward, kicking his legs harder until he managed to grab

hold of Zhen's shoulders. He pulled Zhen's body against his own, wrapped his arms tightly around the other boy's waist, and

propelled them both upward. The glimmering light above seemed like a universe away; his lungs were on fire, screaming for

air, and with Zhen weighing him down, he didn't know if he could make it—

He finally broke the surface, gasping for breath, his head spinning.

"Zhen?" He shook the unmoving boy in his arms.

Zhen didn't respond. His eyes were closed, and his lips, slightly parted, were tinged blue as if from frostbite.

Wang was nowhere to be seen. Xian swam to the edge and, with effort, heaved Zhen onto the side of the pool and climbed out after him. The water temperature hadn't been uncomfortably cold, but Zhen, though unconscious, was shivering uncontrollably.

During his palace lessons, Xian had studied emergency rescue techniques written down by physicians from the Jin dynasty more

than five hundred years ago.

He laid Zhen flat on his back and tilted his head up to open his airway. He should also lift his arms, but they were bound

to his sides and he had no time to untie the ropes. There was an empty ceramic urn nearby, and Xian put it under Zhen's feet—elevating

them would help to return blood to his heart.

Zhen wasn't breathing. The ancient medical texts prescribed blocking the nostrils and breathing into the other person's throat

through a reed pipe or bamboo tube. He didn't have any of those, so Xian leaned forward and pressed his mouth directly to

Zhen's. It was nothing like the other times their mouths had touched; now the other boy's lips were cold, almost lifeless,

and all Xian could feel was panic and desperation.

He couldn't let Zhen die, and not because of the antidote.

Xian alternated between blowing air into Zhen's mouth and pressing down with both palms on his chest. Finally, a guttural

noise emerged from Zhen's throat, and he let out a shaky, wheezing breath.

Xian exhaled in relief as Zhen's eyes fluttered open. His unfocused gaze met Xian's—disbelief shaded his pale features, as

if he thought he had to be dreaming.

"Xian?" he whispered.

At the sound of his name falling from Zhen's lips, something cracked wide open inside Xian's heart. He embraced Zhen and held him tightly, stroking his palm over Zhen's damp hair. He could feel Zhen trembling.

"Don't worry." He spoke in Zhen's ear. "I've got you."

A stab of pain lanced through the back of Xian's shoulder. He reached around and pulled out a two-pronged dart, its twin metal

points stained with his blood.

"I have to thank Fahai for being so organized." Wang stepped in front of Xian with a mocking grin. "Shelves stocked with different

kinds of venom, all neatly labeled."

An icy, burning sensation spread through Xian's left scapula. The dart had been laced with snake venom. Suddenly he understood

why his half brother had lured him there: to poison him and frame Zhen for it.

"You son of a whore," Xian gritted out.

Wang laughed. "Who wouldn't believe a vengeful snake spirit would fatally attack the prince that had captured and imprisoned

him? The two puncture marks in your shoulder will be all the evidence they need."

Xian tried to stand, but a wave of dizziness hit him and his knees buckled. The pain in his shoulder had changed to numbness,

creeping down his left arm and up his neck. He stumbled and fell close to his half brother's feet, his body jerking involuntarily

as the toxin took hold. Copperhead venom, judging from the potency. It wasn't called the hundred-pacer for nothing.

"Don't exert yourself, brother." Wang picked up the incriminating dart and slipped it into his sleeve pocket. "The venom is taking effect. It'll be easier if you don't try to fight it."

Wang turned to Zhen, who was still bound. A prickle of dread went up Xian's spine.

"Lay a hand on him and I'll destroy you," Xian blurted out. "If not in this life, then I swear, I'll find you in the next."

"I have no intention of killing him," Wang replied, heading to the stairs. "When they find him alive next to your body, you

can be sure that Father, grieving the loss of his favorite son, will sentence him to the most terrible death imaginable."

He cocked his head. "Do snake spirits go to the same afterlife as humans? Probably not. What a shame..."

Xian lay helplessly sprawled on the floor as Wang's footsteps faded. His heart was racing, pumping the venom more swiftly

through his veins. Cold sweat broke out across his skin, and his muscles went rigid; paralysis was setting in.

A shuffling sound made him turn his head.

Zhen had rolled over to Xian's sword, which he had tossed aside before jumping into the pool. Zhen vigorously rubbed his bonds

against the blade until the ropes frayed. He disentangled himself and rushed over to Xian.

"Zhen," Xian croaked. "You need to get out of here before they—"

"Don't try to talk." Zhen tilted him onto his side, exposing his injured shoulder. "Just concentrate on breathing."

Zhen pushed down the collar of Xian's robe and pressed both palms to the puncture wound. A familiar weightlessness entered Xian's body—he had felt the same thing when Hei Xing touched his leg in the cave and healed it so he could walk. But this was different. Hei Xing's power had been like a black storm surge in a turbulent sea, but Zhen's energy was like white, luminescent waves warring with the venom in his blood—

Xian shut his eyes and clung to Zhen's light, his lifeline in the darkness.