Huangxiu

Chapter 1148 Situation

After breakfast, Chu Zhiyuan transformed into an ordinary-looking middle-aged man.

She was thin and of average height, and wouldn't attract attention in a crowd.

Walking down the street, we slowly approached the west side of the city and arrived at the main street where the Prince Zhuang's Mansion was located.

As soon as he stepped onto this wide, flat street paved with white jade-like stones, he could feel several gazes falling on him without needing to use his supernatural senses.

Four pairs of eyes were fixed on him, staring intently as he walked forward.

It was as if they wanted to see him clearly, to see through all his clothes and see inside.

He pretended not to know and slowly walked forward until he arrived at the vermilion gate guarded by two giant stone beasts.

The tightly closed vermilion gate had rows of copper nails that gleamed in the bright sunlight.

Four young men stood with their hands on their swords, staring at him solemnly, unmoved as mountains.

Chu Zhiyuan clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Please inform Your Highness that I wish to see you."

As he spoke, he took a brocade pouch from his waist and handed it over directly.

A young man took the brocade pouch, opened it, glanced at it, then closed it again, and said in a deep voice, "Wait a moment."

Inside the brocade pouch was a piece of white jade with an unusual pattern, which was not a token of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Outsiders who are unfamiliar with this jade pendant will be completely baffled upon seeing it, unaware of its origin.

The young man turned around, pushed open the side door, and disappeared after entering.

Chu Zhiyuan scanned the surroundings, not missing the valley or any part of the imperial city.

He saw that there was trouble at the east gate.

People entering the city formed two long lines: one line of individual pedestrians and the other line of people driving carriages or riding horses.

There were a total of twenty-four city guards, divided into four rows, forming two teams. The two at the front had gleaming golden eyes, scanning the people entering the city.

Two middle-aged men suddenly attacked, launching a sneak attack.

They didn't attack the city guards, but rather the civilians who were queuing up.

Four civilians died instantly, and the two middle-aged men turned and ran after delivering the fatal blow.

In the blink of an eye, they were gone, and the eight city guards immediately gave chase.

The people queuing outside the city were thrown into chaos. Then, two middle-aged men took advantage of the confusion and killed four more innocent civilians before fleeing again.

Chu Zhiyuan's expression turned solemn upon seeing this.

I never imagined that these demons would become so rampant and so insane.

This is self-destruction.

How could the imperial court allow them to do this?

He was immediately filled with deep doubt.

Where's the magic weapon?
Even if we don't use divine artifacts, why not deploy a large number of experts?

The imperial court has yet to severely damage the evil forces and has failed to establish a sufficient deterrent.
What are these top Venerables in the city doing? Are they just sitting around doing nothing?

To allow these evil spirits to run rampant is utterly incompetent.

The Imperial Dynasty is the only Imperial Dynasty in Biyuan Heaven and the most powerful force. How can it allow such a situation to continue?

He was filled with doubt and wanted to find out what had happened.

It's as if a heavy fog is shrouding everything in front of me.

Its super-sensory ability illuminates a radius of hundreds of miles, making the entire imperial city clearly visible, as if looking at the lines on one's palm.

However, they were unable to figure out exactly what had happened or why the situation had deteriorated to such an extent.

Footsteps sounded, and the young man strode out with a middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man had a gentle appearance and a smiling face, making him very approachable.

He clasped his hands in a respectful greeting: "Please come in quickly, sir. His Highness is waiting for your arrival."

Chu Zhiyuan clasped his hands in a salute and stepped through the side door with him, following him inside.

Turning past the front courtyard of the pavilions and waterside terraces, he walked along the corridor between several small ponds to the front hall.

Two beautiful maids stood at the entrance of the front hall, bowing respectfully before lifting the thick purple felt curtain.

Chu Zhiyuan stepped into the front hall.

In the bright and spacious hall, a desk is placed facing due north.

The desk was placed on the fifth step, its entire surface dark and exuding a sense of weight.

Behind the Xuan case, a middle-aged man, as upright as a pine tree, was putting down the case file and looking over.

Chu Zhiyuan clasped his hands and smiled: "Chu Zhiyuan of the Heavenly Sword Sect greets Your Highness. This is the sect leader's order, please open it yourself, Your Highness."

He took the letter out of his pocket and presented it respectfully with both hands.

This handsome and imposing middle-aged man was none other than Prince Zhuang, Song Shoufang.

He now knows that he is one of the Eight Princes, a descendant of the former Eighth Prince.

He possesses the bloodline of the phoenix.

Song Shoufang nodded: "Mr. Chu, I have already heard of your great name."

As he spoke, he took the letter and gently exhaled.

The breath landed on the envelope, and the envelope suddenly changed color. The original grayish-brown turned white, and it was covered with densely packed small characters.

Chu Zhiyuan was surprised.

He really hadn't expected that this letter would contain such profound meaning; this breath was indeed mysterious.

Song Shoufang opened the envelope, took out the letter inside and put it aside, then read the words inside the envelope.

The envelope was covered with small writing inside and out, and he picked up the letter one last time.

After watching it, I closed my eyes and remained motionless.

Chu Zhiyuan had already taken in the contents of the envelope and the letter itself.

The envelope and the letter itself contained nothing but ordinary greetings and reminiscences; no important matter was mentioned at all.

Chu Zhiyuan didn't believe that Sect Leader Lu Wanshan would ask him to be so careful, just to send such a letter.

There must be a secret message inside.

Without knowing their agreement, it would be almost impossible to decipher.

Song Shoufang slowly opened his eyes and sighed, "You didn't lose any men this time, did you?"

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head: "We were lucky to escape unscathed, but it was just a fluke. We might not be able to do it next time."

Song Shoufang said, "Tell me the details of the situation."

"Yes." Chu Zhiyuan nodded solemnly.

Before he came, Lu Wanshan had instructed him not to hide anything from Prince Zhuang, Song Shoufang, and to just tell the truth.

Clearly, Lu Wanshan and this Prince Zhuang had a very deep relationship and trusted each other implicitly.

……

After hearing this, Song Shoufang stood up, put his hands behind his back, and paced back and forth with a solemn expression.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "Your Highness, there is something I don't understand and would like to ask you about."

"Speak," Song Shoufang waved his hand and continued pacing.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "When I entered the city, a demonic provocation occurred, and this morning, another demonic provocation occurred at the city gate... I would like to know why this is happening? Hasn't the imperial court been suppressing the demons all along? How could things have gotten so out of control?"

“Don’t worry about these minor troubles,” Song Shoufang said in a deep voice. “Under normal circumstances, there are no giant demons beneath the Azure Lotus Sea.”

Chu Zhiyuan was taken aback.

Song Shoufang said, "The Azure Lotus Sea should only contain great demons, and only a very few of them."

Chu Zhiyuan frowned and said, "The imperial court has no intention of suppressing our clan?"

He didn't completely believe that.

Song Shoufang said, "When the imperial court asked the Heavenly Sword Sect to suppress the Azure Lotus Sea, there were no giant demons in the Azure Lotus Sea, at least not at that time."

Chu Zhiyuan said, "In just six years, a giant demon appeared out of nowhere?"

The Heavenly Sword Sect moves every ten years, and it has been six years since they arrived at the Azure Lotus Sea.

According to the Heavenly Sword Sect's pace, they have already entered the harvest season.

Unexpectedly, this accident happened and almost caused a big problem.

Song Shoufang nodded slowly: "I never lie."

Chu Zhiyuan asked, "Is this related to the recent rampant spread of evil spirits?"

Song Shoufang frowned and said in a deep voice, "The imperial court has been investigating and searching for the root cause."

Chu Zhiyuan said, "Leaving aside demons, what about evil spirits? Why can't we wipe out the evil spirits around here?"

"It's not that we don't want to, it's that we can't." Song Shoufang's face was gloomy: "Every time we try to eradicate them, they immediately reappear, like weeds that can never be completely removed!"

"Isn't there a divine artifact to protect the dynasty?" Chu Zhiyuan asked doubtfully. "Could it be that the artifact has malfunctioned?"

A year ago, the absence of demons near the imperial city was tantamount to suicide.

Because of that divine artifact.

Song Shoufang's expression changed slightly.

Chu Zhiyuan's expression also changed slightly, his eyes narrowing: "Really?"

Song Shoufang said in a deep voice, "This matter must not be revealed to outsiders!"

Chu Zhiyuan said solemnly, "Did these demons find out, and that's why they're so unscrupulous? ...Actually, I've already guessed it, and I'm afraid many people have guessed it too."

If that divine artifact were still here, we would never be in this situation today. The current situation shows that the divine artifact has malfunctioned.

Song Shoufang said, "The artifact malfunctioned a bit, but it will be restored; it will just take a little time."

"What about the court's experts?" Chu Zhiyuan asked. "Shouldn't the experts transferred from the army be enough to deal with these demons?"

The number of skilled soldiers in the military is far from sufficient; otherwise, we would be in such a passive position.

For a mighty dynasty to be in such a state is utterly outrageous.

Song Shoufang said in a deep voice, "They still need to guard some secret locations, so we can't withdraw too many."

Chu Zhiyuan was puzzled: "Are these secret locations more important than the safety of the imperial city? ...Isn't it bad for the people of the imperial city to be living in fear and anxiety?"

Song Shoufang said, "These secret places suppress even stronger demons. We must not let them out, otherwise the world will be in chaos, which will be even more troublesome."

(End of this chapter)