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

"I…"

Looking at the broken jade sword in his hand, Yan Zhengchu felt extremely complicated.

He carefully sorted through his jumbled memories, but mumbled incoherently, "These things seem like I did them, but they don't seem like I did them..."

Hearing this, Xia Ximo felt a tremor in his heart.

In my memory, she seemed to have said something similar before…

Suddenly, she seemed to hear a cold voice pressuring her: "It is or it isn't! Or are you saying you have the guts to do it, but not the guts to admit it!"

At this moment, Zhao Wan also questioned, "What do you mean by that? Don't you know in your heart whether you did it or not?!"

Yan Zhengchu said, "I initially thought it was a dream, but now it seems it wasn't..."

Xia Ximo listened to their conversation, her face turning deathly pale. Suddenly, a hand reached out from the side and gently supported her.

"What's wrong with you?"

The voice cut through the doubts and went straight to her ears, while she felt a warm touch on her arm.

She snapped out of her daze and met Ren Fengjue's eyes.

However, she didn't answer. Instead, she turned to Yan Zhengchu and asked, "Taoist, if you really did this, why didn't you run away? Why leave so many clues and wait to be caught? Are there really such stupid people as you in this world?"

"Think it over carefully, and answer when you've thought it through."

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

These words sound like a reprimand, but anyone could hear the protective intent in her tone.

Despite being scolded like that, Yan Zhengchu's eyes were filled with gratitude. After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Last night I woke up once in my sleep and saw all my magical artifacts floating in mid-air. Then, my soul was sucked in..."

"If I'm not mistaken, it was an evil spirit that used my body to break the formation with the jade sword..."

"Yesterday, I specially set up the Nine Stars Clear Radiance Spell within the Soul-Locking Array, and reinforced the talisman with the young marquis's pure yang blood using my jade sword. No evil spirit that enters will be able to escape so easily..."

Yu Lang said, "So, the evil spirit used your hand to destroy the formation itself!"

Yan Zhengchu looked at the jade sword in his hand, nodded, and felt a pang of sorrow in his heart.

It is clear that this incident dealt him a significant blow.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Wan's anger subsided by half.

She has always been straightforward, and realizing that she had indeed lost her temper, she took the initiative to say to Yan Zhengchu, "I was too hasty just now, and I have indeed offended you. Please forgive me."

Yan Zhengchu simply said, "It's understandable that the princess suspects me, and just now, I even doubted myself. This evil spirit..."

He didn't say the rest, but his hand holding the jade sword involuntarily tightened.

Yu Lang quickly reminded him, "Master Yan, have you forgotten? You still have a backup plan!"

Yan Zhengchu nodded, but the next second, for some unknown reason, he spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted on the spot.

Everyone in the room was shocked and immediately fell into chaos.

Ren Fengjue quickly steadied him and, maintaining his composure, said to Zhao Wan, "Princess, please summon the royal physician as soon as possible."

Zhao Wan panicked as well, "There's no physician in the manor, but in the Prince's residence..."

Half an hour later, Yu Lang rode the princess's little red horse back to the Wu Prince's mansion and brought the mansion's physician with him.

After examining Yan Zhengchu, the doctor claimed that he was suffering from excessive physical exhaustion and emotional distress, and needed rest and recuperation, but there was nothing seriously wrong.

Ren Fengjue finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

But then he immediately instructed Yu Lang, "Go and call Afu here..."

Yu Lang didn't understand the meaning behind calling out to Afu at this time.

But Lord Ren always had his own reasons for doing things, so he simply followed his advice.

When Afu was called in for questioning, his eyes were completely calm.

Ren Fengjue didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point: "The reason Master Yan had this accident must be related to you, right?"

Afu was taken aback by his directness and immediately began to admit it, saying, "What does this have to do with me?"

Ren Fengjue said, "The commander of the Golden Feather Guard just woke up. I've already asked him. Last night, when Daoist Yan went to the courtyard to check the formation for the last time, you suddenly appeared and called him into the room. Although it was only for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, it was enough time to get a lot done..."

Upon hearing Ren Fengjue's words, Afu paused slightly but did not reply.

Ren Fengjue continued, "I can't understand how Master Yan, with his abilities, could have fallen for an evil spirit's trap without anyone noticing. There must be someone interfering..."

"And you are the prime suspect."

Afu suddenly smiled, "Lord Ren's deduction is certainly correct, but even Daoist Yan hasn't suspected me, so why are you?"

Ren Fengjue also sneered, "He didn't suspect you because he's not that wary."

"In fact, he trusts you a lot."

These words instantly froze the smile on Afu's face.

Ren Fengjue observed the change in his expression and continued, "You should understand best how difficult it is to be trusted by others."

Afu lowered his head, his body trembling slightly, as if struggling...

Ren Fengjue knew the time was right, so he immediately raised his voice and pressed, "Afu, why did you do this?"

At this point, Afu knew he couldn't hide it any longer. After a moment of silence, he whispered, "For...the sake of my people, I had to do it..."

Ren Fengjue frowned in confusion. "You know where those Di people are?"

Ah Fu shook his head, tears streaming down his face, and said, "Yesterday, after you went to the Marquis of Zhenbei's residence, the princess's maid suddenly came to find me..."

"A maid?"

Ren Fengjue then realized that he had not seen the maid since returning from Zhujia Village.

Afu nodded. "She told me that the Third Holy Son sent her to deliver a message..."

When Afu opened the door, he was also surprised.

Standing outside the door was Zhao Wan's personal maid, Xiao Xizi. She smiled charmingly at him, and her first words upon opening the door shocked him.

"The Third Holy Son sent me to deliver a message to you."

Afu immediately asked, "You...are one of the Three Holy Sons?"

Xiao Xizi replied, "It should be said that all the people of Liangzhou City are the 'subjects' of the Three Holy Sons, including you and your clansmen."

I don't understand what you mean.

"No, you understand. You are the smartest person in the entire Di people, and the one with the greatest hope of enabling the Di people to live a normal life."

Her voice was seductive, and as Afu listened, images of what he had always longed for began to surface in his mind.

The Di people didn't need to hide in the deep mountains...

There's no need to become a slave...

They can walk in the sunlight and enjoy the equality of all beings.

Afu felt a warmth in his heart.

Seeing his wavering, Xiao Xizi immediately pointed to the Di people huddled in the cage beside her, "They keep saying they want to help you, yet they imprison him like this. How is this any different from what happened in the Di slave camp?"