Disorder in the Palace, Love Blossoms

Chapter 39 - The Petals Begin to Wilt

Guo Jia sat down at the desk in his room and tightly clenched his fists. He knew that Xun Yu used his powers heal him when they were at Guandu, it was the only explanation that he could come up with to logically explain his miraculous recovery. He grimaced and slammed his fists on the table in anger; however, he was suddenly distracted from his current thoughts by the flickering light of a nearby candle positioned on the desk's edge.

I hope that he's okay. I know that using his powers exhausts him, but I hope that nothing has happened to him. I should go and check on him just to be certain. Guo Jia gingerly got up from the seat at his desk and walked out of his room into the dimly lit hallway.

He squint his eyes as he struggled to see down the long corridor; however, he quickly covered his mouth to prevent an audible gasp from escaping his lips when he gazed upon a monstrosity at the end of the hallway. The creature's form resembled that of a human, its long jet black hair was wet and unkempt. It wore a white robe that was visibly soaking wet and its skin was so pale that it appeared to be gray.

The creature's body involuntarily jerked and it gazed down the hallway in Guo Jia's direction. By gazing at its dimly lit face Guo Jia was able to tell that this was the spirit of a drowned woman; however, he did not understand why she would appear in a place that was relatively far from any nearby waterways. There was a well close to the palace gardens, but it was still too far away for the spirit to freely roam the hallways. Nonetheless, Guo Jia was filled with fear and he quickly and quietly returned to his room. His heart was beating erratically in his throat and he closed the door behind him and leaned on it for support.

Did I really just see that? Did one of the soldiers drown a woman? I certainly hope not, the vengeful spirit of a drowned woman is ruthless and deadly. The palace was quiet, even the night air dared not to make a noise. In fact, Guo Jia thought that it was strangely quiet until a bloodcurdling scream pierced the night air. Guo Jia ignored his overwhelming sense of fear and rushed down the hallway in the direction of the scream.

When he entered the room, he saw the spirit with both hands tightly wrapped around a man's throat while he struggled to break free from her grip. Guo Jia gazed upon the scene with intrigue. If she is a ghost, then why is she trying to strangle him?

"Meng Jia I'm sorry! I never should have cheated on you! Please stop!" The man exclaimed as tears cascaded down his cheeks.

Everything now fell into place and Guo Jia walked over to the woman and pulled her off the man. The man thanked Guo Jia repeatedly, but Guo Jia signaled for him to stop and asked for a detailed explanation of what was going on. The girl then explained that she disguised herself as a drowned one to kill the man for cheating on her. Guo Jia shook his head to express his disappointment and sighed.

"I cannot allow you to kill a soldier in our army; however, I also do not tolerate those that would cheat on their significant other. I am sure that Lord Cao Cao wouldn't mind if one of his soldiers went missing... Now both of you get off palace grounds before I call the guards because they wouldn't be kind to either of you." Guo Jia stated coldly.

The two nodded in understanding and ran away. Guo Jia closed his eyes and forced himself to look away from the crime he just helped commit. He knew that the woman would likely attempt to kill the man as soon as they were a safe distance from the palace, and he tried to console himself as he walked back to his room; however, he quickly peeked inside Cao Cao's room to check on the two and noticed that they were asleep.

Xun Yu appears to be resting well, I was worried about nothing. The still silence of the night now brought Guo Jia comfort, and he smiled in relief at the sight of his friend resting well; however, a sudden throbbing filled his chest and he doubled over in pain. He clutched his chest that felt like it was constricting his lungs and robbing him of breath, and he stood still as he fought against the blackness that threatened to overtake him.