Wen Ji closed her eyes. Her voice broke. "She peeled his soul apart while he was still alive."
A long, horrible silence fell over the room.
"I begged," she whispered. "I begged her to stop. I said I'd do it. Anything. Just stop…"
She opened her eyes again. " And she smiled. She said, "Fear makes the best leash."
Noah's fingers tightened subtly on Xin Yan's shoulder.
"So I took his place. I came to the palace, built a new identity, and did what she told me. Told me to gain the Emperor's trust or at least get past the arrays that block soul senses around the palace, as they can also hinder our spirit traveling and expose our whereabouts."
Noah nodded in understanding. "So you became the concubine to gain access to the inner palace."
Wen Ji confirmed with a faint nod.
The emperor interjected in between as he was more concerned about something else, "What kind of information did she want to look for?"
