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

Before dawn, a group of Wan Ting soldiers gathered outside the manor belonging to the Wu King's Mansion, their ranks orderly and solemn.

The sleepy servant opened the door, only to find the snow-covered ground filled with a vast crowd of people. Startled, his legs went weak, and he almost tripped over the threshold.

The leader was still Wu Kai, the deputy general of Wan Ting Army. However, compared to his respectful and polite attitude last time, this time his eyes were cold and aloof.

Before the servants could react, Wu Kai waved his hand, and two squads of Wan Ting Army soldiers immediately flanked the manor from both sides.

"The Marquis has ordered the arrest of the sorcerer and his accomplices, and their return for interrogation."

As a ray of morning sun pierced through the clouds, the entire manor instantly erupted in excitement.

When Steward Sun heard the commotion, he immediately rushed out and was taken aback by the large scene.

"General Wu, what is the meaning of this?"

Although Wan Tingjun runs rampant in the northern border, he still gives the Wu Wang Mansion some face. This is the first time they have ever been so unreasonable as to force their way in like this.

Steward Sun's heart skipped a beat; he knew something must have happened.

Wu Kai's attitude was firm: "I am ordered to arrest people. Please forgive me, Princess."

"Who are you arresting?"

Manager Sun forced a smile, clearly puzzled.

Wu Kai explained: "Last night, an incident occurred outside Liangzhou City where 'corpses' were seen injuring people. It was clearly the work of sorcerers. The Marquis has ordered that all the sorcerers in the city be arrested and interrogated."

"If I'm not mistaken, there is a Taoist priest here who claims to be from Yunhe Mountain. He has profound Taoist skills and is the most suspicious."

Steward Sun was taken aback and subconsciously asked, "Could there be some misunderstanding?"

Wu Kai, however, remained unmoved: "Whether it's a misunderstanding or not, we'll just have this Taoist priest come with us."

As soon as she finished speaking, Zhao Wan also came over. When she saw that Wan Tingjun was standing all around her, she immediately became furious.

"Wu Kai, what do you mean by this?"

When Wu Kai saw Princess Fenghua, he showed no sign of panic. After bowing, he said, "The Marquis also said that to prevent the princess from being bewitched by evil spirits, he would like the princess to go to the Zhenbei Marquis's residence for a while."

Zhao Wan could easily understand the implication in his words, and immediately retorted angrily, "Have you all lost your minds? You even dare to touch me?"

Wu Kai waved his hand, and four Wan Ting soldiers immediately stepped forward.

At this moment, the commander of the Golden Feather Guard led the remaining three guards to surround Zhao Wan, trapping her in the middle.

"With us here, who dares to harm the princess?"

Wu Kai looked at the four of them, a mocking smile playing on his lips, and said, "If I'm not mistaken, the Golden Feather Guard is now down to just a few of you. Does the commander really think that you few alone can protect the princess?"

The general, still wounded, sneered upon hearing this, "We are acting on the dying orders of King Wu to protect the princess with our lives. Today, unless you step over our dead bodies, no one will be able to harm a single hair on the princess's head."

Wu Kai didn't say much, simply waving his hand: "Let's do it."

Upon hearing this, Wan Tingjun immediately drew his long sword from his waist.

Just then, two figures walked over from not far away; they were Yu Lang and Yan Zhengchu.

"Wait a minute."

Wu Kai glanced back, his expression still haughty.

Yu Lang said, "General Wu, is this not appropriate? Princess Fenghua is the Emperor's own niece. The Emperor treats her like his own daughter. Even if Prince Wu is not here, he will not allow you to bully the princess like this."

Wu Kai coldly replied, "How could Young Master Yu have witnessed us bullying the Princess?"

Yu Lang immediately pointed at Wan Tingjun beside him, "They're about to start fighting, are you still going to deny it?"

Wu Kai didn't speak, but gestured with his eyes for Wan Tingjun to step back before walking up to Yan Zhengchu.

"The Marquis has ordered that this Taoist priest come with us directly, or that I should handle it myself?"

Yan Zhengchu then asked, "What exactly did you mean by 'injuring people with corpses'?"

Wu Kai scoffed, "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

Zhao Wan questioned loudly, "This Daoist Yan hasn't left the manor since returning from the Marquis of Zhenbei's residence the day before yesterday. How could this matter be related to him?"

"Princess, don't be so naive. This Taoist priest knows magic; who knows if he's using some unorthodox methods behind the scenes?"

"The current situation is jeopardizing the entire city of Liangzhou, and we are doing this for the sake of the people of Liangzhou."

After hearing this, everyone fell silent.

Knowing that he had no choice but to leave, Yan Zhengchu took the initiative to say, "It seems that I, this Daoist, must go there in person to prove my innocence."

He then changed the subject, saying, "However, if it is indeed a dead body that is causing injury, this matter truly requires my intervention to resolve."

Wu Kai snorted, "That's not something you should worry about, Daoist. Our Wan Ting Army will naturally protect the safety of the people of Liangzhou City."

Yan Zhengchu nodded and also made a request.

"I can go with you, but I have a few things to say to Yu Shaoqing, so please make an exception."

Wu Kai glanced at Yu Lang, then waved his hand, and the two Wan Ting Army units withdrew from the manor.

Yan Zhengchu then pulled Yu Lang aside and said, "Young Master Yu, after they leave, you must go and see for yourself to verify whether the matter of the corpse injuring someone is true or false..."

"If it's just a rumor, that's not a big problem, but if it's true, then it's troublesome..."

Yu Lang looked anxious: "Daoist Master, you're not really going to go with them, are you? This matter is so strange; this Marquis of Zhenbei must be hiding some kind of conspiracy!"

Yan Zhengchu said, "They outnumber us and have the upper hand. We can't resist them, and it might even implicate the princess."

"Besides, the young master and Miss Xia haven't returned yet, so we can only take it one step at a time."

Yu Lang knew Jiang Ting's power, and this was the northern border, so even if they disobeyed orders, it would be useless.

"Then... if you go to the Marquis of Zhenbei's residence, what will Jiang Ting do to you...?"

Yan Zhengchu comforted him, saying, "I have magic powers, so it won't be difficult for me to escape at a critical moment. Besides, I can take this opportunity to go to the Zhenbei Marquis's residence again. Who knows, we might actually find out something this time."

As he spoke, he handed Yu Lang the compass and the Xuan Guang Mirror he carried with him. "Take good care of this. If any evil spirits appear, this compass will give you instructions. I'm sure you'll find it useful in a critical moment..."

"Also, keep this Mystic Mirror safe. I will find an opportunity to use it to provide you with clues."

Yu Lang knew about these magical artifacts; he always carried them with him. Upon hearing these words, he felt even more panicked, as if he had a bad premonition.

Yan Zhengchu seemed to see through his thoughts and quickly said, "Don't look at me like that. I'm not giving my last instructions. You have to believe me..."

Yu Lang knew the situation was urgent and there was no point in thinking further, so he grabbed his hand tightly.

"Okay, I believe you."