The White Bone Sect

In the afternoon, inside a private room at the Sun & Moon Tower ---

Just as Margaret had predicted, after dealing with Wenxing in the morning, Guanglong appeared at noon. And now, in the afternoon, it was Juntang’s turn.

Three of the most powerful royal princes had each come to visit her one after another in a single day.

Wenxing wanted her to investigate the mastermind. Guanglong was probing whether she was the mastermind. As for Juntang, he was testing whether she had some powerful figure backing her.

They all shared similar intentions, just with different focuses.

Margaret could only resort to vague, evasive responses to buy time, avoiding giving a definite answer.

After all, this kind of thing couldn’t be admitted openly. Otherwise, even more trouble would surely follow.

Of course, she also understood that no matter how tightly they locked down information, some word would eventually leak out over time.

In a few more days, those three princes would likely have pieced most of it together.

“Sigh…”

Margaret let out a soft sigh, her head aching.

Her original plan had been to seize the moment during Dustin’s breakthrough, when the Pantheon Gods’ palace and other forces were off guard, to eliminate the hidden threat in one decisive strike.

And the result had been achieved --- but at the cost of drawing trouble to herself.

Where she'd once developed quietly and made money discreetly, she had now stepped into the limelight.

It would be difficult not to attract attention now.

“A dignified Princess of Anyang sighing over trouble? That’s rare,” came Dustin’s voice from behind her.

Margaret turned to glance at him and said with some helplessness, “Don’t tease me. I really am getting a headache. Now all three princes have their eyes on me. I can’t avoid the trouble anymore.”

“So what if they’re watching? You’ve kept a low profile for long enough --- it’s time to show some strength,” Dustin said with a faint smile.

“I still prefer getting rich quietly. Power struggles are best avoided,” Margaret shook her head.

“You might not fight for power, but others will. Eventually, they’ll come for your slice of the pie,” Dustin said casually as he sat down, picked up a pastry, and added, “Have you ever considered that no matter which of your three brothers ends up on the throne, they won’t allow you to continue controlling such a massive intelligence network?”

“Whether you want to or not, they’ll strip everything from your hands. They might even place you under house arrest, keeping someone watching you day and night just in case.”

Hearing this, Margaret fell silent.

Had she not thought of these things before?

While her father still reigned, he could safely entrust her with power.

And she had used that power to serve the state and help her father.

But once the throne changed hands, everything would be overturned.

Her power would inevitably be taken back, and the intelligence network would be completely reorganized.

These were things she could accept --- because she wasn’t someone who lusted after power.

The problem was, even if she handed everything over, she still might not escape unscathed.

Because her very existence would be a threat to the new emperor.

Knowing her three brothers well, she understood that house arrest would be the best-case scenario. They could easily throw her into prison on trumped-up charges --- or worse, make her disappear entirely.

It wasn’t that she saw people as inherently bad, but she had seen too much darkness and knew well the nature of those in power.

Throughout history, most emperors were callous and ruthless.

“Boss!”

At that moment, a trusted aide suddenly knocked and entered the room, his expression grave. “We’ve just received news --- an epidemic has broken out in the southern frontier and is spreading rapidly. Many civilians have already fallen ill.”

“An epidemic?”

Margaret frowned. “There hasn’t been war or unrest in the south --- how could an outbreak suddenly happen?”

“According to our investigation, this epidemic may be related to the White Bone Sect from thirty years ago,” the aide replied.

“The White Bone Sect?” Margaret’s expression changed. “Weren’t they wiped out long ago? Could there be remnants still around?”

Thirty years ago, her father was still a prince.

At that time, the White Bone Sect caused havoc throughout the land. Her father was sent to lead an army of 100,000 into the southern frontier, sealing off roads and bridges to launch a full siege that lasted three months.

Over ten thousand cultists and hundreds of core members were wiped out completely.

Afterward, her father dispatched elite squads to hunt down the remaining remnants in every corner --- determined to eliminate the threat at its root.

Since then, the White Bone Sect had completely disappeared.

For thirty years, no news of them had surfaced.

And yet now, at such a critical moment, the long-destroyed White Bone Sect had risen from the ashes --- once again stirring up trouble in the south.

“We still need time to investigate the details. The epidemic is continuing to spread, and we need to contain it fast. Otherwise, over a dozen cities in the south will be affected,” the aide warned.

“Mobilize everyone immediately. Use all available resources. We must contain the epidemic and minimize casualties!” Margaret ordered, tossing her personal token to him.

“Yes!”

The aide accepted the token and left swiftly.

“Dustin, looks like we’re in for some trouble.”

Margaret furrowed her brow. “The White Bone Sect is back and stirring up chaos. Who knows how many people will die this time.”

“The White Bone Sect…” Dustin narrowed his eyes slightly.

Their sudden reappearance now… didn’t feel right at all. - Ton