Holding a lantern, guiding souls across, Lady Hou comes from the underworld.

Ren Fengjue and Xia Ximo shared an umbrella and walked out of the restaurant.

It had gotten completely dark.

To avoid slipping on the road, Ren Fengjue deliberately slowed her pace, then suddenly let out a long sigh and asked, "The Shadow Guards said so much just now, Miss Mo, didn't you have a single question to ask?"

Xia Ximo answered directly as always: "You've said everything you needed to say."

Ren Fengjue then asked, "Do you have any other opinions?"

"No, not at all."

Ren Fengjue paused slightly, then said, "It's clear you were very disappointed after your visit to the Marquis of Zhenbei's residence today."

These words immediately stunned Xia Ximo.

She stopped, gave him a deep look, and said, "You have a sharp eye."

Ren Fengjue then said, "I know this matter is of great importance to you, so it's understandable that you'll pay more attention to it."

Hearing his words, Xia Ximo looked away again. "This Marquis of Zhenbei is not the person Xueyin mentioned."

"Hmm," Ren Fengjue replied, "I should have expected it; it wouldn't be that easy to see him."

"However, now that we've come this far, we're determined to get to the bottom of this."

The way he said "we" so naturally made Xia Ximo's heart tremble.

She was silent.

But looking back carefully, I realize that I have experienced too much since leaving the capital.

People who were initially thought to be unconnected are now closely linked together.

She seemed to have long been accustomed to being with the people around her, including Yu Lang, Yan Zhengchu, and even A Xia.

"They" have become "us".

-

In the middle of the night, Yan Zhengchu was awakened by a strange sound of wind.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a very strange scene.

The ritual implements inside the room were inexplicably floating in mid-air, and he was unable to move his hands and feet.

I tried reciting the incantation silently, but it had no effect whatsoever.

In his horror, his soul was drawn to the magical artifact, forced to leave his body, and his consciousness was swallowed up along with it…

When I woke up again, I felt dizzy and lightheaded, and it was already daylight outside.

Yan Zhengchu felt extremely weak. After sitting up, he was startled again.

He discovered that he was wearing an outer robe and had not taken off his shoes and socks.

Not only that, the soles of the shoes were covered in mud and even had bloodstains.

An ominous premonition arose spontaneously.

Yan Zhengchu hurriedly got out of bed, and the next second, there was a knock on the door.

"Master Yan, something's happened!" It was Yu Lang's voice.

Yan Zhengchu sensed something was wrong and rushed forward to open the door, asking, "Did that Di person escape?"

Yu Lang said, "The formation has been broken, and six Golden Feather Guards have died. The princess wants you to go there immediately."

Yan Zhengchu nodded and was about to leave when Yu Lang suddenly stopped him.

"Master, how come there's so much blood on you?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Zhengchu looked down in surprise. It turned out that not only were there bloodstains on the shoes, but also large patches of blood on his clothes.

"broken…"

Just as Yu Lang was about to speak, two more Golden Feather Guards stormed in from outside the door. Without a word, they immediately drew their swords at him.

Yan Zhengchu was almost caught off guard, but Yu Lang intervened and blocked the attack for him.

"Why are you doing this?" Yu Lang demanded sharply.

The Golden-Feathered Guard said bitterly, "Last night, it was you, you sorcerer, who killed four of our brothers, severely injured our commander, and let that Di man go!"

Yan Zhengchu was startled and was about to explain, but the bloodstains on his body made it impossible for him to explain.

Yu Lang, of course, believed Yan Zhengchu, and said, "The matter hasn't been investigated thoroughly yet, and you dare to accuse Daoist Yan of being the murderer?"

The Golden Feather Guard immediately replied, "We have both witnesses and physical evidence; everything is crystal clear!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Zhengchu's heart sank.

But Yu Lang remained steadfast in his support for his own people: "You two don't need to rush into action. Let's go see the Princess and Lord Ren first."

They immediately rushed to the courtyard where the incident occurred.

Upon entering, one sees corpses lying haphazardly in the snow. The prison cart that once held the Di people has been destroyed, and the Di people have vanished without a trace.

As soon as Yan Zhengchu arrived, all eyes immediately focused on him.

Zhao Wan, her face contorted with anger, immediately demanded, "Taoist priest, what exactly did you do last night?"

Yan Zhengchu stared blankly at everything before him, yet in his dizzy head, scenes of fighting flashed by one after another.

The most shocking thing was that his jade sword was lying on the ground, with a piece broken off.

The disciples of Yunhe Mountain never part with their jade swords…

For a moment, his mind went blank, and he staggered forward to pick up the jade sword.

Seeing that he didn't argue, Zhao Wan became even angrier and immediately ordered, "Guards, arrest this Taoist priest!"

A Golden Feather Guard originally consisted of twelve men, but two were killed in the mortuary, and six more died last night.

Now, including the commander, there are only four people left.

It should be noted that this group of people were personally selected by King Wu from the Golden Feather Army. They have been by the princess's side for five years and can be described as brothers.

At this moment, the princess gave an order, and three Golden Feather Guards rushed forward with their swords drawn, ready to capture Yan Zhengchu.

"Wait a minute."

Ren Fengjue arrived upon hearing the news and was also taken aback by the scene before him.

Zhao Wan, however, was seized by her princess temper and, disregarding everything else, roared, "Take them down first!"

The Golden Feather Guards responded in unison, their emotions running high, and with three long swords, they mercilessly approached Yan Zhengchu.

Yan Zhengchu, who was in a daze, showed no intention of dodging...

At that moment, the three Golden Feather Guards suddenly froze, their expressions changed, and their long swords flew out of their hands.

"Princess, this... the sorcerer has used witchcraft!"

They thought Yan Zhengchu was causing trouble, and were about to bend down to pick up the knife, only to find that they couldn't move it at all...

At this moment, Xia Ximo slowly walked in from outside the courtyard gate.

She asked coldly, "Who saw it?"

After a moment of silence, a voice beside them replied, "I saw it..."

Ah Fu slowly walked up to the group and said, "Last night, I saw Master Yan suddenly break in, personally destroy the formation, kill the guards, and let the people go..."

Zhao Wanwei raised her chin: "Tell me about what happened last night in detail."

Ah Fu's account was also quite reasonable: "Around midnight last night, I heard a noise outside the door, followed by the sound of fighting..."

Upon hearing the sound, he knew something was wrong and immediately got up to check.

However, as soon as he opened the door a crack, a figure flew towards him, crashed into the door, and fell to his feet, already dead.

He was shocked and looked into the snow, where he saw Yan Zhengchu fighting with several Golden Feather Guards.

His face was cold and his actions were ruthless; in no time, he had killed several people.

Even the commander of the Golden Feather Guard was no match for him and was soon seriously injured on the ground.

Immediately afterwards, Yan Zhengchu opened the cage and released the Di people from it…

Everyone was shocked to hear this.

Yan Zhengchu felt his memories becoming confused and his head aching.

Xia Ximo looked at him, but said slowly and deliberately, "If I have wronged you, then tell the truth."

After saying this, she felt a surge of emotion, as if a long-buried memory had suddenly been breached...