Exposed

--- Chapter 11 ---

Gu Quihong walked into a hallway with a weird expression because the emperor called him out of nowhere.

He pondered whether the emperor had discovered about Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite or not. Nonetheless, it wasn't a plausible thought because the parasite was hard to detect, even for an expert.

"Since I'm the only medical saint in this remote blue wind empire." Gu Quihong chuckled slightly. "There is no way the emperor found out about it."

Even though there is a rumor about the miraculous doctor in a far city of the Blue Wind Empire, Gu Quihong remained sure no one was equal to his skill in this place.

Gu Quihong arrived in the emperor's bedroom and saw the princess Cang Yue look with a worried expression. A few patches of blood also could be seen on the floor.

"What happened?" He solemnly asked.

Cang Yue covered her mouth and replied, "F-Father suddenly coughed a mouthful of blood when I tried to feed him porridge."

"He fainted afterward."

She cried a little and added, "That's why I told my younger brother to check him."

Hayate, whose presence was extremely faint until Cang Yue mentioned him, appeared from behind.

"It seems the emperor has a heart's illness," Hayate stated while staring at Gu Quihong. "When I tried to examine it, he lost a breath and began to convulse violently."

Gu Quihong frowned but smiled inside because he didn't expect the princess would be this stupid.

'To think, she let a hairless brat treat the emperor.' He sneered at Cang Yue's idiotic behavior.

The Emperor, Cang Wanhe, hosted a Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite near his heart. Any action to remove this parasite would cause extreme pain to him.

There are only three people who know about this fact, the third prince Cang Shuo, Fen Juecheng, and Gu Quihong himself.

Since Gu Quihong planted the parasite into Cang Wanhe's body, he basically has control over the emperor's life.

Without even having to command Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite spiritually, Cang Wanhe will eventually die as his life is deteriorating.

"I used Burning Soul Flower to ease the emperor's pain, but it doesn't work," Hayate said with a regretful tone. "Can you explain, senior Quihong?"

"Aren't you the one who told the princess to obtain this herb?"

Gu Quihong sighed and calmly explained, "Burning Soul Flower has an effect of "Soul Detach." and worked well to help the emperor's illness."

"Oh, but I heard his majesty only had a bad cold at first, so why does it connect to the soul?" Hayate countered with a doubtful tone.

"Hmph, What do you know about the emperor's illness?!" Gu Quihong commented indifferently, which was the first time Cang Yue witnessed it.

The Medical Saint, Gu Quihong, was virtuous and harmless on the outside, but in reality, he was very despicable. Nevertheless, Master Gu was still treated with respect because his medical expertise was unquestionable.

"Senior, you can't be like that." Hayate sighed sadly. "This junior requires some explanation about the illness unless it wasn't an illness, to begin with."

"What if someone in the future has the same problem?"

"How heartless are you?"

"Are you even a doctor?"

Gu Quihong could feel Hayate's sarcasm in such a raw form because he was asking/insulting him.

"Aih... Youngsters these days don't know their limits." He looked disappointedly at Cang Yue because she was the one who brought Hayate here.

Cang Yue lowered her head in shame, but Gu Quihong hadn't realized it was an act. Cang Wanhe also faked his sleep and observed the conversation calmly.

"Fine." Gu Quihong moved his gaze to Hayate. "I'll tell you about the emperor's illness."

"The emperor experienced a disease called Soul and Vitality Deterioration. It is a rare case where one's soul affects the physical body."

"With Soul Burning Flower, we could prevent the soul from damaging the emperor's body."

"I see... You weren't a doctor, huh." Hayate nodded in understanding of Gu Quihong's fake disease. "The amount of bullshit you spouted made my ears numb."

"There is not even a disease called Soul and Vitality Deterioration."

"Your majesty, I assumed this enough to convince you?"

Cang Wanhe opened his eyes and coughed a few times, startling Gu Quihong because he didn't expect such a scenario.

He stared at his personal doctor and questioned, "Gu Quihong, who commanded you?"

"Your majesty, I don't know what you are talking about?" Gu Quihong replied with a confused expression.

Hayate grabbed Gu Quihong from behind and forcefully pressed him onto the floor, making him squeal in pain.

A wriggling red worm was hanging in front of Gu Quihong's face.

"H-How..." Gu Quihong's eyes widened in surprise because the Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite's spiritual connection was still attached to him.

"It's easy. I only have to change the host's parasite," Hayate answered indifferently.

He used a micro-sized Kaiju called [Cell], which could copy one's blood to several extents and manipulated the parasite to think it was its host.

"I thought you were an expert, but you're actually just a scammer."

Hayate approached Gu Quihong's ears and silently whispered, "You shouldn't have left the scar on the emperor's chest."

"What a rookie mistake you have there..."

"Y-You... ARGH!" Gu Quihong's arms suddenly were yanked by Hayate.

Cang Wanhe stared at Hayate and asked again, "Gu Quihong, who told you to plant a parasite inside me?"

Gu Quihong was about to answer Cang Wanhe's question, but Hayate applied a little pain for him.

"I-It's... ARRRGH!"

Cang Yue moved her gaze in discomfort, but Hayate's words saying that she was naive still echoed in her mind. She bit her lips and decided to harden herself from now on.

Gu Quihong breathed heavily and stared at the floor with a disgruntled look.

He could feel his shoulders dislocated but couldn't fight back because Hayate placed him in a position where body movement was barely possible.

"Do you want more?" Hayate asked playfully. "I can do this all day."

Gu Quihong swallowed his saliva nervously and said, "Third Prince."

"ARRGH!"

"It's the third prince!"

"The Burning Heaven Clan supported us from the shadows."

Cang Wanhe nodded and muttered, "I see."

"That ungrateful son of mine..."

"I thought he was having a healthy battle for throne succession against the Crown Prince, but he committed such an act against me."

Hayate smirked inside because Cang Wanhe was now furious at the third prince and probably punished him quite hard or even beheaded him.

Cang Wanhe massaged his forehead and slowly moved his gaze to Hayate again. "Junior Hayate, I'm indebted to you." He said with a solemn tone.

"Not only did you save me from the parasite, but you also exposed the mastermind behind this matter."

"It's okay, your majesty." Hayate humbly responded. "I only did my job."

"Princess should be the one you praised."

"She searched for any method possible to heal you and flew several kilometers to find me."

"Princess waited persistently on a cold night, only to convince me."

"I guessed you got blessed with a good daughter."

Cang Wanhe couldn't help but chuckle, and Cang Yue's face blushed a little because of Hayate's overpraising her.

"Well, she is indeed a virtuous daughter of mine." Cang Wanhe always noticed his daughter's similarity to his past wife. A kind-hearted and wise girl.

He shook his head and continued, "I still won't ignore your deed. As long as it doesn't harm or break any rule within the Blue Wind Empire, I'll try to fulfill your wish as an emperor."

"Hayate had stated his price earlier, father." Cang Yue opened her mouth.

"Oh?" Cang Wanhe reacted with a curious look.

She told her father about Hayate's two conditions and made Cang Wanhe laugh in amusement.

"I guess you want to expand your business more, huh." Cang Wanhe smiled at Hayate. "Very well, I'll grant you a noble status and a portion of land in Blue Wind Imperial City."

"Not only that, but you also could become my daughter's fiance."

"Father!!!" Cang Yue shouted immediately.

"Hayate is two years younger than me."

Cang Wanhe's eyes widened because Hayate's appearance was like an 18 years old young man. He honestly thinks Cang Yue is younger than Hayate.

"No, that's even better." He spouted with a firm tone.

Hayate raised his hand to interrupt them and replied, "Can I decline that for now?"

"Eh?" Cang Yue reacted with a sad expression.

"Sorry, Princess." Hayate politely smiled at her. "I couldn't be your fiance because we barely know each other."

Even though being Cang Yue's fiance would benefit Hayate later, this sudden jump in a relationship is not good. They literally just met yesterday.

"If you want to, you could become my big sister first." Hayate proposed naturally. "I'll start calling you my big sister from now on."

Cang Wanhe wondered about something and stated, "That's also good because you two could know each other more."

"Cang Yue, Is this okay for you?"

Cang Yue actually felt disappointed inside when Hayate rejected her father's proposal but understood they were nothing but business partners and strangers to each other.

She sighed and responded, "Well, please be gentle with me, young brother Hayate."

They nodded in agreement and heard a painful groan on the floor, making the mood awkward again.

"What should we do with him?" Cang Yue coldly asked.

A man in black fell from the ceiling and landed on the floor, surprising Cang Yue.

Hayate sensed another presence beforehand, so he wasn't that surprised anymore. After all, everyone has their secret.

Cang Wanhe looked at his loyal spy and instructed, "Throw him into the prison."

He grinned at Hayate and Cang Yue. "What about lunch with the three of us?"

Even though Cang Wanhe was still injured, he wanted to deepen his daughter's relationship with this young man. A simple lunch shouldn't be a problem.

"Sure." Hayate also wants to gain some valuable information from the emperor himself.

As they are having lunch, Hayate and Cang Wanhe exchange so much information, forgetting about Cang Yue on the side.

"I thought there were three people here." Cang Yue muttered something to herself and joined the conversation slowly.

"Ah, sorry, Yue'er." Cang Wanhe nervously laughed.

Hayate smiled at Cang Yue and gently added, "I'm sorry, big sister."

"Hmph." Cang Yue shook her head, causing Hayate and Cang Wanhe to look at each other wryly.

.

.

.

A few weeks passed quickly, and the third prince Cang Shuo got his royal status stripped by the emperor. He was beheaded shortly after because of his crimes.

The Blue Wind Empire's emperor recovered his health gradually because of Hayate's treatment, making his feat known to the public.

However, people are still clueless about the miraculous doctor's identity because Hayate told Cang Wanhe to hide it.

Since Cang Shuo got eliminated from the throne succession, the Crown Prince was most likely the candidate for the next emperor, but people were still uncertain.

The balance between the candidates now has become unstable, which might lead to some problems in the future.

--- Silver Lake City ---

Hayate was sitting lazily on a seat and reading some martial books, but his expression was weird.

"Ah... What do you want, Senior Yueli?" He closed the book and moved his gaze to Xia Qingyue's teacher, who had been observing him for hours.

Chu Yueli suddenly visited Silver Lake City because the Frozen Cloud Asgard's Mistress instructed her to mend her past mistake.

She hasn't informed anyone about the misunderstanding accident one year ago, which left Hayate speechless.

'Just how prideful are you?' Hayate solemnly thought while staring at Chu Yueli.

After Chu Yueli explained her punishment, Hayate couldn't help but sigh inside because she couldn't return to the Frozen Cloud Asgard until he forgave her.

However, there is one more task the Frozen Cloud Asgard's mistress added to Chu Yueli's punishment, which was to confirm Hayate's ability to open all profound entrances.

Heavenly God's Spiritual Veins are such a heaven-defying treasure for the sect, so they couldn't afford to lose this chance, especially over a misunderstanding.

Of course, Chu Yueli didn't tell Hayate about this because it was a secret task she must accomplish.

"Fine, I forgive you," Hayate stated while reading his book back. "You can return to the Frozen Cloud Asgard now."

"Huh?" Chu Yueli gazed at him with a dumbfounded look.