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Ghost in the palace

Chapter 379: The Black Magic Plague · Nov 02, 2026

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Chapter List (462)

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351 Chapter 351: The Message in the Night 2026-11-02
352 Chapter 352: The Dowager’s Warning 2026-11-02
353 Chapter 353: the kingdom uneasy 2026-11-02
354 Chapter 354: the kingdom in the brink 2026-11-02
355 Chapter 355: The Forgotten Shadow 2026-11-02
356 Chapter 356: whisper in the garden 2026-11-02
357 Chapter 357: the women who returned from the forest 2026-11-02
358 Chapter 358: the trails lead to north 2026-11-02
359 Chapter 359: Whispers Across the Kingdom 2026-11-02
360 Chapter 360: hunt for the hidden cult 2026-11-02
361 Chapter 361: The Suggestion No One Had Considered 2026-11-02
362 Chapter 362: midnight inspection 2026-11-02
363 Chapter 363: The Traitor’s Letter 2026-11-02
364 Chapter 364: The Empire Stands Firm 2026-11-02
365 Chapter 365: The Fallen Minister 2026-11-02
366 Chapter 366: The Shadow on the Terrace 2026-11-02
367 Chapter 367: The Man Beneath the Hood 2026-11-02
368 Chapter 368: Unnamed A New Shadow 2026-11-02
369 Chapter 369: The Mysterious Letter 2026-11-02
370 Chapter 370: The Hand Behind the Shadows 2026-11-02
371 Chapter 371: The Man Who Walked Among Ghosts 2026-11-02
372 Chapter 372: doomed 2026-11-02
373 Chapter 373: The Letter of Doom 2026-11-02
374 Chapter 374: – The Price of Dark Magic 2026-11-02
375 Chapter 375: The Second Phase 2026-11-02
376 Chapter 376: The Shadow Over the Kingdom 2026-11-02
377 Chapter 377: The Shadow in Princess Zhi’s Courtyard 2026-11-02
378 Chapter 378: A Shadow of Death 2026-11-02
379 Chapter 379: The Black Magic Plague 2026-11-02
380 Chapter 380: The Courtyard Without Life 2026-11-02
381 Chapter 381: ghost staring 2026-11-02
382 Chapter 382: A Dangerous Truth 2026-11-02
383 Chapter 383: the empty cotyard 2026-11-02
384 Chapter 384: doubt 2026-11-02
385 Chapter 385: the trap 2026-11-02
386 Chapter 386: The Trap Behind the Trap 2026-11-02
387 Chapter 387: The Rumor That Set the Capital Ablaze 2026-11-02
388 Chapter 388: The Ministers Who Demanded Judgment 2026-11-02
389 Chapter 389: The Ministers’ Demand 2026-11-02
390 Chapter 390: The Missing Talisman 2026-11-02
391 Chapter 391: — A Midnight Visit 2026-11-02
392 Chapter 392: Fen Yu’s Terrible Date 2026-11-02
393 Chapter 393: The Silent Courtyard 2026-11-02
394 Chapter 394: The Ghosts Who Would Not Stop Fighting 2026-11-02
395 Chapter 395: The Court Demands Blood 2026-11-02
396 Chapter 396: The Whisper That Turned Into a Storm 2026-11-02
397 Chapter 397: The Mystery Beneath the Palace 2026-11-02
398 Chapter 398: The Maid Who Wasn’t What She Seemed 2026-11-02
399 Chapter 399: Whispers Beneath the Moon 2026-11-02
400 Chapter 400: The Black Altar 2026-11-02

A heavy silence settled over Princess Zhi’s courtyard.

The cheerful atmosphere that had once filled the elegant pavilion was gone.

Yesterday’s horrifying incident still lingered in everyone’s minds.

Princess Zhi’s personal maid...

Dead.

Not from poison.

Not from a weapon.

Not from illness.

A black shadow had passed through her body before the life disappeared from her eyes.

Now the Emperor had summoned everyone to discuss the matter.

The Emperor sat at the head of the stone table.

Beside him sat the Empress, unusually quiet.

Princess Zhi looked exhausted, having barely slept after witnessing her maid’s death.

The Dowager Empress slowly rolled her prayer beads between her fingers.

Prince Liang stood beside one of the carved pillars with his arms folded across his chest.

Lady Chen also sat in the pavilion, her expression filled with concern.

Several imperial guards stood outside the courtyard.

No one dared speak loudly.

The atmosphere itself felt oppressive.

Finally, the Emperor broke the silence.

”There are now one hundred and eighty-four confirmed deaths.”

His deep voice echoed through the quiet courtyard.

”Every report says the same thing.”

”A black shadow.”

”It passes through the victim.”

”They collapse instantly.”

”The physicians find no poison.”

”No wounds.”

”No explanation.”

He looked around the table.

”Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?”

Everyone remained silent.

Prince Liang was the first to answer.

”I have fought on battlefields for years.”

”I’ve seen strange illnesses.”

”I’ve seen poison capable of killing hundreds.”

”But never...”

”...this.”

The Dowager Empress nodded slowly.

”The imperial archives contain records of floods, famines, epidemics, rebellions...”

”But nothing like shadows killing people.”

Lady Chen frowned.

”The reports don’t even make sense.”

”How can a shadow kill someone?”

Princess Zhi lowered her eyes.

”I watched it happen.”

Her voice trembled.

”My maid wasn’t sick.”

”She wasn’t frightened.”

”She was speaking to me.”

”Then...”

Princess Zhi closed her eyes.

”The shadow appeared.”

”It moved faster than I could follow.”

”It entered her body.”

”She screamed.”

”And then...”

Princess Zhi’s voice broke.

”...she died.”

Silence returned.

The Emperor’s fingers tapped lightly against the table.

”The Ministry of Justice believes someone is spreading panic.”

”The Imperial Physicians say there is no disease.”

”The Ministry of War suspects a foreign plot.”

He sighed.

”But none of those explanations answer what happened.”

The Empress finally spoke.

”What about the places where the deaths occurred?”

Prince Liang picked up a scroll.

”I investigated that.”

”They are spread across different provinces.”

”No common water source.”

”No common food.”

”No connection between the victims.”

”The youngest was six.”

”The oldest was eighty-two.”

”Merchants.”

”Farmers.”

”Soldiers.”

”Children.”

”Nobles.”

”Servants.”

”There is no pattern.”

Lady Chen slowly whispered,

”Then...”

”It could happen to anyone.”

No one answered her.

Because everyone was thinking the same thing.

If there was no pattern...

Then no one was safe.

Just then—

A palace maid hurried into the courtyard.

She knelt immediately.

”Your Majesty.”

The Emperor looked up.

”What is it?”

”Lady Shin Gu requests an audience.”

Everyone looked surprised.

The Dowager Empress raised an eyebrow.

”Shin Gu?”

Princess Zhi blinked.

”I haven’t seen her in months.”

Lady Chen also looked surprised.

”She rarely comes to the palace anymore.”

The Emperor nodded.

”Let her enter.”

Moments later—

Soft footsteps echoed through the courtyard.

A woman dressed in plain gray robes walked inside.

Her expression remained calm.

Her movements graceful.

She bowed respectfully.

”This humble one greets Your Majesty.”

”Rise.”

Shin Gu stood.

Her eyes swept across everyone before resting briefly on Princess Zhi.

”I heard about the maid.”

Princess Zhi nodded sadly.

Shin Gu continued,

”I also heard about the one hundred and eighty-four deaths.”

The Emperor looked at her.

”You know something.”

It wasn’t a question.

Shin Gu nodded.

”When I was traveling years ago...”

”I visited an abandoned monastery hidden deep within the western mountains.”

”The monks there preserved ancient texts that had disappeared from the Imperial Library centuries ago.”

Prince Liang frowned.

”What did those texts describe?”

Shin Gu answered quietly.

”A forbidden calamity.”

”The Black Magic Plague.”

The pavilion became completely silent.

Even the breeze seemed to stop.

Lady Chen’s fingers tightened around her teacup.

”The Black Magic Plague?”

Shin Gu nodded.

”The manuscripts described exactly what is happening now.”

”A black shadow.”

”It passes through the victim.”

”The victim dies instantly.”

”The soul is extinguished before the body has time to react.”

Princess Zhi’s face turned pale.

”It’s exactly the same...”

The Emperor’s expression hardened.

”What causes it?”

Shin Gu slowly shook her head.

”No one knew.”

”The scholars searched.”

”The cultivators searched.”

”The physicians searched.”

”They never found its source.”

Prince Liang asked,

”And the cure?”

For the first time...

Shin Gu hesitated.

She lowered her gaze.

”The final pages of every manuscript ended with the same sentence.”

She looked back at everyone.

”There is no recorded cure.”

A cold silence settled over the pavilion.

Lady Chen whispered,

”Then...”

”People will continue dying?”

The Dowager Empress’s prayer beads stopped moving.

Princess Zhi’s breathing became uneven.

”What are we supposed to do?”

”What if another shadow appears?”

”What if it enters someone here?”

Her frightened eyes moved around the pavilion.

The Emperor slowly stood.

His voice remained steady despite the tension.

”No.”

”I refuse to believe that an empire which has stood for centuries will surrender because an old manuscript claims there is no cure.”

He looked directly at Shin Gu.

”Ancient records tell us what previous generations discovered.”

”They do not define what we are capable of discovering today.”

The Empress silently watched him.

She agreed with his words.

Yet...

Something about Shin Gu’s explanation troubled her.

Shin Gu had spoken with certainty.

Almost...

Too much certainty.

And for reasons she couldn’t explain—

The Empress felt that Shin Gu was hiding something.

Outside the pavilion, dark clouds slowly gathered over the palace rooftops as an uneasy wind swept through the flowering trees.

Somewhere within the vast Imperial Palace...

An unseen danger continued to move in silence.

A cold wind swept through Princess Zhi’s courtyard.

The flowering branches swayed gently, scattering pale petals across the stone floor.

No one spoke.

The words ”There is no recorded cure” still hung heavily in the air.

The Emperor remained standing, his gaze unwavering.

”I refuse to believe our empire’s fate was decided by words written centuries ago.”

His voice was calm, but every person present could hear the determination behind it.

”We will search every province.”

”We will question every scholar.”

”We will find the truth.”

Prince Liang bowed his head.

”I will personally lead the investigation.”

”The Ministry of War will cooperate with the Imperial Physicians.”

The Dowager Empress slowly resumed rolling her prayer beads.

”Then we shall pray that Heaven guides us.”

Princess Zhi lowered her eyes.

Her hands trembled slightly as she remembered her maid’s final scream.

The Empress quietly reached across the table and rested a comforting hand over Princess Zhi’s.

Princess Zhi looked up.

The Empress offered a reassuring smile.

”We’ll face this together.”

Princess Zhi nodded weakly.

”...Thank you.”

Across the pavilion, Lady Chen sighed.

”I never imagined such a calamity could exist.”

Her voice sounded worried.

Perfectly worried.

No one questioned it.

Only one person silently observed every expression around the table.

The Empress.

Her eyes briefly met Shin Gu’s.

Only for an instant.

Shin Gu lowered her gaze respectfully.

Outwardly, she appeared calm.

Humble.

Concerned.

But behind that composed expression...

A quiet satisfaction stirred.

She had carefully guided the conversation.

Not with outright lies—

But by revealing only fragments.

Enough to deepen uncertainty.

Enough to make everyone question what they knew.

Around her, she could see the tension growing.

Princess Zhi’s fear.

The Dowager Empress’s unease.

Lady Chen’s anxious silence.

Even Prince Liang, usually so composed, was deep in thought.

The Emperor remained resolute.

Yet Shin Gu noticed something else.

For the first time...

He looked burdened.

Not defeated.

But burdened.

Inside herself, Shin Gu smiled.

Not outwardly.

Only within.

The second step of her hidden design had unfolded just as she had hoped.

The plague itself was already spreading through the empire.

Every report arriving at the palace painted the same grim picture.

More villages.

More unexplained deaths.

More frightened citizens.

She believed that if events continued unchecked, the empire would soon face suffering on a scale it had never seen before.

Still...

She kept every thought hidden behind a mask of concern.

The Emperor looked toward the assembled officials.

”No one is to spread rumors.”

”We deal with facts.”

”If people panic, more lives will be endangered.”

Everyone bowed.

”Yes, Your Majesty.”

The Dowager Empress spoke quietly.

”We should arrange prayers in every temple.”

”If nothing else, it will calm the hearts of the people.”

The Emperor nodded.

”Do it.”

Prince Liang added,

”I will strengthen patrols throughout the capital.”

”If anyone is exploiting this tragedy, we will find them.”

The Empress finally spoke.

”There is something that troubles me.”

Everyone turned toward her.

She looked directly at Shin Gu.

”The ancient manuscripts...”

”You described them with remarkable detail.”

”The wording.”

”The sequence of events.”

”You remember them very clearly.”

For the first time since entering the pavilion...

Shin Gu paused.

Only briefly.

Then she smiled gently.

”I spent several weeks studying those texts during my travels.”

”The details remained with me because they were unlike anything I had ever read.”

The explanation sounded reasonable.

Prince Liang nodded thoughtfully.

The Dowager Empress accepted the answer without comment.

But the Empress wasn’t entirely convinced.

It wasn’t what Shin Gu had said.

It was how she had said it.

Too precise.

Too practiced.

Almost as though she had repeated the explanation many times before.

The feeling settled quietly in her heart.

She would not accuse anyone without proof.

But neither would she ignore her instincts.

The Emperor looked around the pavilion once more.

”From this moment onward, every unusual death is to be reported directly to me.”

”No report is too small.”

”No witness is to be dismissed.”

”If there is a pattern...”

”We will uncover it.”

Prince Liang bowed.

”It will be done.”

The meeting slowly came to an end.

Servants began clearing the untouched tea.

Princess Zhi remained seated, still shaken.

The Empress stayed beside her.

The Dowager Empress quietly whispered another prayer.

Lady Chen lowered her head, hiding her expression.

Shin Gu offered one final respectful bow.

”If Your Majesty has no further questions, this humble one shall take her leave.”

The Emperor gave a slight nod.

”You may go.”

Shin Gu turned and walked away at an unhurried pace.

Her footsteps echoed softly through the stone corridor.

She never looked back.

Behind her, the palace remained consumed by worry.

Ahead of her, the evening shadows stretched long across the gardens.

Above the palace roofs, dark clouds continued to gather.

The first distant rumble of thunder rolled across the sky.

And although no one in Princess Zhi’s courtyard realized it yet...

The struggle against the mysterious plague had only just begun.

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