Forensic Imperial Concubine by Erika Black

"Prince Matthew!" Catherine shrieked aloud to stop him. After being pushed aside by Matthew, Catherine almost stumbled on the
ground. She gathered herself up somehow and followed him. "Please stop. You can't go in. The miasma is too thick inside. You
will die if you inhale too much such poisonous miasma!" Catherine continued to warn Matthew.
However, the latter seemed to have turned a deaf ear to her warnings. At last, she had no choice other than chasing after
Matthew towards the Labyrinth Swamp. Matthew halted as he reached the edge of it. Catherine too came and stood right behind
him. Matthew's eyes were fixed on an unimpressive stone which displayed a line of strange characters. Matthew squatted down
slowly and observed the characters carefully. All of a sudden there was a spark of joy in his eyes and his lips spread into a
complacent smile. Then he turned around and walked away without looking back. From beginning to end, he didn't even spare a
glance at Catherine.
Catherine stood still at the edge of the Labyrinth Swamp, staring at the line of strange characters. 'What could this line of
characters point towards?' she thought to herself. At first, Matthew seemed to be all set to enter the swamp even at the risk of
losing his life, but when he saw this line of characters, he turned around and left! Was this an indication that Harper could get out
of the swamp?
"No way!" Catherine screeched, shaking her head from side to side. "How could it be possible? It's impossible! Harper can never
come out of the Labyrinth Swamp alive. The strongest danger in the swamp is not just the poisonous insects or the miasma, but
the flood of beasts. No one can survive the flood of beasts. Whenever that happens, it leaves no trace of human existence. The
beasts would not even spare her bones. There is no way she can come out alive!"
In the meanwhile, inside the Labyrinth Swamp, everyone's face looked ghastly and pallid after being swept over by the flood of
ants. It even weakened their enchanted barrier to a large extent. There was a sudden influx of ants as that continued for more
than an hour. It seemed as if all the ants inside the swamp had gathered to attack them. Finally, as the flood of ants ended, all of
them felt as if they had got a new lease of life.
"If it weren't for you, Harper, we all would have become the food for the ants," Diana said to Harper. Slowly her rebellious attitude
towards Harper was changing into a mark of appreciation and gratitude. Diana could feel her knees trembling due to weakness.

After the horrendous flood of ants passed, all the trees in the Labyrinth Swamp had been reduced to dust. It was an indication of

how terrible the flood of ants was. It was next to impossible for any human being to be able to resist the attack of so many ants at
the same time. Even Harper's face looked pale this time. Perhaps excessive use of her spiritual energy had left her exhausted.
Hence, she sat quietly on the ground and closed her eyes to adjust her breath. The secret guards were deputed to take care of
Harper's security.
Diana sat aside and stared at Harper. By this time, she was in complete awe of Harper. "Howard, don't you feel stressed to have
such a powerful younger sister?" As Diana found Harper busy in reviving her vital strength, she turned her attention towards
Howard with a hope to have a chat with him. However, Howard neither inclined nor had the luxury to indulge in a chat with Diana.
He had to be vigilant. They had already been through a lot. But their struggle had not ended yet. The Labyrinth Swamp seemed
to be even more alive and ready to throw more life-threatening challenges at them. More so, Harper had become exhausted at
the moment. If he let down the guard for a single moment, all of them would be dead. The twelve secret guards felt ashamed of
themselves. It was their job to protect their master. But all the martial arts skills that they had mastered since their childhood
turned out to be useless. None of their skills helped them in this situation. Each one of them was afraid of facing Matthew. They
thought he would despise them if he knew what was happening inside the Labyrinth Swamp. However, the secret guards were
not to be blamed. The Labyrinth Swamp was too powerful a place even for spiritually advanced and stellar martial arts
practitioners. Even though the secret guards were a notch above the ordinary people and were extremely
proficient in their craft, their levels of proficiency were still not good enough to combat the challenges thrown at them inside the
swamp. The only person who could take such challenges head-on was Harper. In fact, it was laudable how she seemed to have
adapted to the swamp so well.
Surrounded by the secret guards from all sides, Harper sat adjusting her breath for quite some time. Then she opened her eyes
slowly and said in a very low voice, "Keep going. The deeper we go into the swamp, the more dangerous it will be. We have to
make haste and leave the swamp as soon as possible."
"Yes, Your Highness." .

Then they started making their way through the swamp as fast as they could without halting for a single moment. The deeper
they went, the more poisonous insects and other dangerous elements they saw. All were intimidated by the dangers they faced
at every step except for Harper. She seemed to be undeterred even in the face of the most lethal situation.
"Your Highness, please go first. We..." one of the secret guards suggested, but Harper stopped him in the midway.

"If I leave, you all will be dead in a matter of few moments!" Harper was the true leader who knew how to keep everyone safe
under her protection. She displayed the deftness of a warrior, quick decision making skill of a minister, and compassion towards
her subjects. She went around, checking each one of the secret guards and found that some of them had been bitten by
poisonous insects which made the effects of the antidote pills weaker. Harper became worried. It was indeed an alarming
situation for them. And if things went on like this, it would slow down their pace. The longer they stayed in the Labyrinth Swamp,
the more dangerous it would be for them.
Harper remained thoughtful for a while. Then all of a sudden, she took out a dagger and slit her palm. Then she smeared her
blood on the shoulder of everyone else. "Energetic ones support the poisoned ones," she said. "My blood can support you for
two hours and prevent you from being attacked by poisonous insects. During the two hours, we should hurry. Don't forget to pay
attention to your feet. Don't fall into the swamp. Nobody knows what is hidden in the swamp," Harper cautioned her followers.
"Yes, Your Highness."
Howard took out a handkerchief from his pocket and bandaged Harper's hand with it. Then he ordered others to carry on with
their journey. They still had more than a hundred kilometers to cover before they could reach the Phoenix City. But going by their
current pace, they would still have to pass one full day and night inside the Labyrinth Swamp. In the night, Harper could use the
enchanted barrier to protect the whole team. But in the daytime, the only thing that could protect them from the attack of insects
was Harper's blood. And that would mean risking Harper's life due to excessive blood flow.
"Please take care of yourself, Harper. If you fall, none of us would be able to go out of this swamp alive," Howard said tenderly.
Harper was chewing Blood-generating Pills. Hearing Howard's words, she put a handful of Blood-generating Pills in Howard's
hand and said, "Take them. They can help increase blood. You also lost a lot of blood."
Howard looked at the pills in his hand and silently put them into his mouth. Harper used highly upgraded pills that were not
available to the other. Besides, it was rare for her to give her pills to others so generously.
Hearing their conversation, Diana came forward to ask for some Blood-generating Pills for herself as well. She said that even
she had lost excessive blood since she had been injured by Catherine, so she needed nutrition too. In this way, as they moved
ahead, all of them shared the Blood generating Pills among each other.
"Harper," Diana called out as she hobbled on the path. Over the past few days, blood blisters appeared on her feet, leaving her
in pain.

"What's the matter?" Harper turned around and asked in a concerned voice. Even after they had faced so many challenges in
the dangerous swamp, the profoundness of Harper's voice was not lost. Her strong leader-like voice still sounded clear and
devoid of cruelty or uneasiness. It gave strength to her followers and made people feel peaceful as if everything would be fine as
long as she was there with them.
"If I can get out of this place alive, I will take you as my teacher!" Diana said with a smile.