An unfamiliar voice stopped her from smiling in victory. "How dare you kill one of my descendants?"
The voice was deep and husky as if something was dislodged from its throat—so unmistakably ancient and male.
Frozen in place, the tiny hairs of her back stood on its end as pinpricks of ice needles stabbed the expanse of her skin.
The unknown Ancestral spirit was just right behind her.
Xiu Rong's eyes were wide as she glanced from side to side in panic.
One wrong move on her part might offend the formidable Ancestral Spirit of the Emperor when she was the one who killed him.
The mad Emperor wouldn't survive sixty-two years of impulsiveness and lunacy without a strong Ancestor backing him up and teaching him a proper lesson about how the real world worked when he had an entire country eating at the palm of his hand.
In the Emperor's eyes, the whole world revolved around him, and everyone should scramble to do his bidding.
Xiu Rong couldn't blame him for the Emperor's undertaking, mandated by the high heavens.
She was just a black shaman in this political ruse who will soon welcome her bad karma with open arms, and it was her purpose in life as the Emperor's assassin to take his karma, as well.
The Emperor might be unlucky to be eaten by her 'gu' by his carelessness, but karma from his Ancestral Spirit will never lose her address.
It was coming for her, and she didn't even have to wait for a day to come knocking at her doorstep because it was there standing behind her back.
"I am forced to appoint which soul would give more contribution to the country in the future, Ancestor, and I have made my choice." She replied to the Ancestral Spirit without looking over her shoulder, wiping her clammy hands at the front of her ankle-length skirts.
Her coward heart couldn't stand to see another hideous spirit three times in the same hour of the night.
Where were the loud chirp of the crickets, the howling of wild animals, and the occasional hoots of an owl when she needed these noises to fill up this deafening, eerie silence? "I have seen it in the oracle bones that the Crown Prince have value and a bigger purpose than your decrepit descendant."
Her eyes flew to the Emperor's royal robes in a pungent pile.
Xiu Rong forgot that she was the one who placed spells on the Emperor's clothes, accessories, and the rest of his things upon his request so that his presence alone could drive off demons.
Of course, the 'gu' wouldn't like the taste of the fabric!
Xiu Rong had burned the protective talismans she created and scattered its ashes over sheep's broth, instructing the Emperor to wash his clothes and bathe in the same brew but the fact that her 'gu' can eat the Emperor just proved that his robes were useless.
The Emperor was too indolent to do that to secure his safety when he had too many enemies.
The poor old bastard believed that he was too invincible just because he had a shaman, like her, in his clutches.
He basically used her as a human shield from all spiritual attacks of their victim's ancestral spirit—good or bad.
"I commend you for not being afraid of me—an Ancestral Spirit of the Emperor, shaman." The male Ancestral Spirit said as Xiu Rong felt the sharp claws digging into her silk robe, tracing a horizontal line on her left shoulder.
She shuddered when his long fingernail reached her right.
'I would be if I saw your face.' Xiu Rong thought as she clenched her fists, knowing that the Ancestral Spirit of the Emperor couldn't read her mind.
He added with a drawl, "I would have expected you to hang yourself so that you would be spared from making a choice."
Xiu Rong winced at the audacity and the entitlement of this Ancestral Spirit.
It must be a part of their bloodline.
"The 'gu' might have given me the power to heal myself, but I have a huge aversion for pain. Hanging isn't for me, especially if it's for the sake of your descendant." Xiu Rong faked a gagging noise to express her disgust at being a sacrificial lamb for an insane, old man.
She wouldn't allow this Ancestral Spirit to compel her to risk herself either.
Xiu Rong hoped this vile attitude wouldn't contaminate the pure conscience of the Crown Prince.
"You sound smug for a person who allowed her Ancestral Spirit to be eaten by the 'gu' to gain the powers of a dark shaman." The Ancestral Spirit's mouth was now close to her ear, and it made her hunch her shoulders in horror. "You are not afraid to make a sacrifice."
"The Emperor commanded me to rescind my Ancestral Spirit to the 'gu' and become his dark shaman." She told him as she straightened her spine when she recalled the threat which rendered her helpless."—or else he would cut my head off."
"I know. I see everything." He clicked his tongue in malicious judgment. "At least you benefited from the luxurious life he had given you. Don't tell me you weren't grateful to your Master for living like this."
"Like you, I will not do my services for free, Ancestor." She stood in front of the 'gu' who awaited her next command while her eyes remained fixed on the yellow robes with dragon insignias.
"I know my soul wouldn't be free after killing the Emperor using my 'gu.'" Should she kill the Emperor's Ancestral spirit when he made no move to attack her and her 'gu' and just proceeded to chat behind her back? "If you could just kindly attempt to kill me so that we could move on—"
Xiu Rong heard the whistle of a sword cutting through the air as her 'gu' released one thunderous groan before its large body went limp.
"You were used to having the role of a god, dark shaman, despite being a full human. You can't choose who you would allow to live and die through your twisted perception." The Crown Prince's Ancestral Spirit, who she dispelled at the Palace Courtyard, loomed above her 'gu's head as she pulled the sword she had stabbed it with.
The 'gu' disintegrated into thousand bright green fragments in the air like green fireflies before fading into the ethers.
Alone, she was in the hands of two Ancestral Spirits who were out for her blood!
Xiu Rong finally saw the true form of the Ancestral Spirit who had moving raven snakes for hair, blank eye sockets, and a mouth of drooling blood earlier at the chamber and the courtyard.
Now, it was a mature lady with a beautiful yet confident face with gold and precious gemstones adorning her clothes, her neck, and headdress as thin gossamer silk floated around her head and sleeves.
"I'm glad that you didn't kill my favorite descendant, but you still need to be punished." The Crown Prince's Ancestral Spirit cupped her chin with her long fingers, forcing her to open her mouth and sucked her tainted pitch-black life force.
Xiu Rong raised her arms as she glanced down at her physical form in a panicked scream, watching herself vanish and lose consciousness.