Chapter 591: Trapped in One's Own Web

Zuan quickly darted backward, catching a glimpse of a cloudy yellow liquid and a wooden bucket plummeting from above the doorway. He could already smell a foul, acrid odor from a distance.

He immediately understood: someone must have placed a chamber pot or similar container above the door in advance. The intention was that anyone pushing the door open would be doused with its contents. While not lethal, it was highly humiliating.

Recalling Sang Hong's warning from the previous day, Shi Kun's face flashed in Zuan's mind. He sneered inwardly, thinking, *Last time in Mingyue City, you got away quickly. This time, let's see how I deal with you.*

So he summoned Lan Fu and instantly controlled the mass of cloudy yellow liquid, reflecting it back even faster than it had arrived.

Far behind the door, two figures were chuckling, watching the scene unfold. One, a portly man, was naturally the Crown Prince. The man beside him was significantly more handsome and statuesque, a striking figure by any standard. Only his melancholic gaze slightly diminished his overall demeanor, though even so, he was far more presentable than the portly Crown Prince beside him.

This man was, of course, Shi Kun. He had been enraged to learn that Zuan had also become a Crown Prince's Retainer. *How could this be?* he fumed. A mere street hooligan had not only married a goddess he could only dream of, but was now also a Crown Prince's Retainer, on par with him?

*Had the fellow just stumbled into incredible luck?* he wondered. And so, he decided to douse Zuan with a bucket of urine, hoping to spoil his good fortune.

The Crown Prince, being inherently dull-witted and primarily interested in amusement, was naturally easy to persuade.

What he hadn't anticipated was Zuan's incredible speed. He had even specifically arranged for a wind-element array to be placed behind the door, ensuring the liquid would be flung out so fast that even a Rank 6 expert would struggle to dodge it.

As the yellow liquid rebounded, the Crown Prince's mouth dropped open in shock. Given his limited abilities, he had no chance of dodging.

Shi Kun, however, had an opportunity to intercept the liquid for the Crown Prince. But doing so would mean standing directly in front and being drenched in the disgusting fluid himself. The thought of the specifically sourced, most pungent and foul-smelling eunuch's urine made his face twitch. He absolutely did not want to be splashed by that stuff.

So, Shi Kun decisively darted to the side. The Crown Prince was not so fortunate; even with eunuchs attempting to shield him, he was thoroughly doused from head to toe.

After his initial astonishment, the Crown Prince quickly burst into tears, wailing, "Wahhh... Ugh... Whose urine is this? It smells so foul! This Crown Prince must... Ugh..."

Shi Kun, watching from the side, felt his eyelids twitch. He thought, *Thank goodness I didn't try to intercept it just now; that would have been a lifelong trauma.*

At this moment, Zuan was also stunned. Seeing the portly man's pathetic state not far away, he knew he was in serious trouble.

*This idiotic fatty is truly foolish,* Zuan thought. *If he wanted to play a prank, why stand right behind the door?*

Just then, Shi Kun stepped forward, exclaiming, "How audacious! You dared to assassinate the Crown Prince! This is a grave crime punishable by the extermination of your entire clan!"

The surrounding eunuchs also began to rebuke Zuan, acutely aware of the urine splattered on themselves. *Damn it,* they cursed inwardly, *whose accursed urine is this? It's so pungent!*

The Crown Prince attempted to speak, but having held his mouth wide open, he had ingested a considerable amount. The moment he opened his mouth again, he felt nauseous and gagged, "Ugh..."

Zuan's eyelids twitched. He turned his gaze to Shi Kun, saying, "It's you again, young man. You're truly like a persistent ghost."

Shi Kun snorted. "Don't try to charm your way out of this. You attempted to assassinate the Crown Prince; no one can save you now."

This was the very reason he hadn't shielded the Crown Prince earlier. Drenching Zuan with urine was merely a prank to vent his frustration. But if the Crown Prince himself was doused, it would be a monumental disaster, and Zuan would be as good as dead.

At that moment, a group of guards rushed in upon hearing the commotion. They were equally dumbfounded by the scene in the room. *What's happening? How could there be such filth in the Crown Prince's study?* they wondered.

Nevertheless, having witnessed the Crown Prince's pathetic state and seeing Shi Kun pointing at Zuan, the guards immediately drew their swords, ready to apprehend him.

"Hold on!" Zuan interjected, looking at Shi Kun. "You claim assassination, but what weapon did I use?"

"Of course, with..." Shi Kun began, about to point at the chamber pot, but then faltered. *What deranged assassin would use a bucket of urine for an assassination? No one would believe that,* he realized. He cursed himself for his subconscious desire to maximize Zuan's guilt, which had led his first instinct to be "assassination."

Zuan then continued, "It seems you're referring to this bucket of urine. Everyone knows I brought nothing with me when I entered the palace; the guards along the way can testify to that. Therefore, this bucket of urine must have been prepared by my accomplice, who conspired with me to harm the Crown Prince. And surely, they too should face the extermination of their nine generations?"

Shi Kun instantly felt a sharp pang of dread. He was the one who had prepared the chamber pot, and many in the Crown Prince's palace knew this; it was impossible to conceal. He hadn't realized that in his haste to speak, he had inadvertently implicated himself.

Zuan was an orphan to begin with, and now that his engagement with the Chu family was broken, he was truly alone in the world; the extermination of his clan would be no different from killing a single person. Shi Kun, however, was in a different position. The Shi family was a large and prominent clan. If he were genuinely implicated by this, he'd be severely punished.

He was forced to change his accusation: "Even if it wasn't an assassination, everyone here witnessed you splashing urine on the Crown Prince. That is a crime of grave disrespect, punishable by death."

"Precisely... Ugh..." the portly Crown Prince immediately chimed in. He was truly disgusted and no longer cared about the camaraderie they had just established yesterday.

Shi Kun smiled smugly from the side. With the Crown Prince's backing, Zuan was certainly doomed.

Zuan recalled Sang Hong's warning and realized that this Crown Prince had indeed inherited his father's ruthlessness, coldness, and cruelty.

However, in that brief moment, he devised a plan. He summoned Lan Fu and, with a wave of his hand, completely absorbed all the yellow liquid from the Crown Prince's body. After all, in a sense, urine was a type of water.

The Crown Prince, who had been soaked, was miraculously dry again in the blink of an eye, and even the foul taste in his mouth had vanished.

A small yellow sphere gathered in front of Zuan, clearly a concentrated mass of the disgusting liquid.

With a casual flick of his wrist, Zuan sent the condensed sphere of urine flying directly into Shi Kun's open mouth.

Shi Kun, who had been laughing triumphantly with his mouth wide open, had no time to react. "Ugh... cough, cough... Ugh..."

He frantically clawed at his throat, desperate to expel it, but it was too late. An overpowering, repulsive odor surged into his head, and he could no longer control himself, vomiting up everything, including his stomach acid from the previous night.

*That bastard Zuan!*

Anger points from Shi Kun: +999, +999, +999...

Unfortunately, he was utterly incapable of speech, his mouth merely retching instinctively. Furthermore, tears streamed uncontrollably from his eyes. *Whose damned urine is this? It's utterly reeking!* he thought.

Zuan paid him no mind. Instead, he simultaneously activated his "Wealthy Friendship" skill on the Crown Prince. One hundred thousand taels of silver instantly vanished, but the Crown Prince had already subconsciously accepted him as a friend.

"This is fun, this is fun!" the Crown Prince exclaimed, clapping his plump hands. "Big Brother, you must teach me how to do that!"

Seeing the Crown Prince's affectionate gaze, Zuan breathed a sigh of relief. The previous two times he had used "Wealthy Friendship," the results had been underwhelming, failing to achieve his objectives. He had worried this time would be another flop, but fortunately, it had finally worked. It seemed the skill wasn't completely useless after all.

Shi Kun was dumbfounded. He couldn't comprehend why the Crown Prince was no longer blaming Zuan. Wasn't the Crown Prince usually rather petty and quick to anger?

"Alright," Zuan said, "but Crown Prince, please don't call me 'Big Brother' in the future. It's simply not proper." Zuan was wary of others using this against him later and preferred to prevent it early.

The Crown Prince, however, dismissed his concern. "Oh, right," he said, "you not only have to teach me this trick, but you also have to teach me how to become invulnerable to blades and spears!"

"Invulnerability to blades and spears?" Zuan repeated, looking utterly bewildered.

The Crown Prince pointed at Shi Kun beside him and explained, "He said it! He claimed that even though your cultivation isn't high, all those assassins on the way to the capital couldn't kill you because you possess the skill of invulnerability!"

Shi Kun, still nearby, was retching so violently he felt as if he were spewing bile. However, being a Rank 6 expert, he managed to circulate his vital energy and expel the urine from his body. He then grabbed the nearby wooden bucket and began to vomit loudly into it, nearly filling it to the brim.

Hearing the Crown Prince's words, he quickly chimed in, "Precisely! If Your Highness doesn't believe it, just have him stand at the doorway, and you can throw a flying dagger at him."