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"By Your Majesty’s decree, the strangeness of Jiangnan is unprecedented in scale, unseen in a hundred years.

This matter concerns the nation’s fate; as the Crown Prince and heir apparent of the whole realm, you must shoulder the responsibility for the state at this time.

Today, I entrust the Golden Dragon Guard to you, hoping that the Crown Prince will meet the expectations and successfully resolve the issues in Jiangnan! "

"This son receives the decree!"

All those supporting the Crown Prince’s faction were visibly excited, while military generals and nobles headed by the Duke of Qin showed a grave expression.

The Golden Dragon Guard was a transformation of the Siao Family’s private army, the strongest force in the Siao’s possession. It followed the King of Qin in past glories, forming the Siao’s greatest asset. Since the founding of Great Jin, they had been stationed in the Capital City, never deployed!

Now that an entire force of 300,000 was mobilized and the command was directly given to the present Crown Prince, it indeed surprised everyone, even the Duke of Qin, who usually understood His Majesty’s intentions, was momentarily unsure of the motive behind this move.

After receiving the decree, the Crown Prince immediately went to pack up in his tent, preparing to head to the official roads to take charge of the converging army.

"Your Highness, this is a test from His Majesty!" Fei Jun, busy helping to pack, showed an excited expression, "Even back then... Not even your older brothers had direct control over 300,000 of the Golden Dragon Guard. His Majesty entrusts you with the nation’s destiny!"

"Speak cautiously!" The Crown Prince showed a pleased expression, but his voice was stern, "The Emperor is in his prime, and the land still needs him to steer the ship of state. I am still inexperienced and cannot bear such a heavy burden. It is my fortune to experience such a significant task under my father’s guidance. I must tread carefully to meet Father’s expectations. "

"These words of the Crown Prince are excellent indeed!

" Fei Jun led the compliments, followed by many from the Crown Prince’s faction who all nodded in agreement, their previous dispirited expressions gone.

After all, rumors had been rampant that the Crown Prince had fallen out of favor with His Majesty, causing unease among those who had committed to him prematurely.

Now it seemed, their worries were unnecessary. His Majesty... after all, valued the Crown Prince!

This wasn’t surprising since, within the Siao bloodline, only the Crown Prince could perfectly inherit the Golden Crow Bloodline.

The Crown Prince packed with a sense of achievement, yet a complex emotion flashed deep within his eyes.

There was worry, there was doubt.

Before departing, the Crown Prince still made his way to the Duke of Qin’s tent.

"Your Highness, at this time, you should avoid suspicion!" The Duke of Qin coughed a few times, his complexion worsening, his illness apparently quite serious.

"Uncle Lu must take care of his health..." The Crown Prince frowned, "Even if you were injured in the past, with your constitution, you should have recovered by now. Have you determined the cause, Uncle Lu?"

"The cause..." The Duke of Qin’s eyes flashed with an indescribable look, "Perhaps..."

"Perhaps what?" The Crown Prince quickly pressed for an answer.

"Let’s not talk about that now, let’s discuss you." The Duke of Qin changed the subject, "His Majesty has now dispatched the entire Golden Dragon Guard, all entrusted to you. What do you think?"

"I don’t know..." The Crown Prince shook his head, "For many years, Father has rarely involved me in military matters. To suddenly entrust such great authority unexpectedly makes me feel uneasy."

"Feeling uneasy is correct," the Duke of Qin sighed, "That one... when it comes to using his own children, he has never shown mercy."

The moment he heard this, the Crown Prince’s body involuntarily trembled.

Everyone said he was not equal to his two elder brothers, but except for the Duke of Qin, no one knew he was precocious.

When his eldest brother died, he was only one year old—a supposedly oblivious age—but he knew the true reasons for his brother’s early death, the real way the King of Qin was manipulated; he knew it all!

"Does it feel like... certain actions are similar to those in the past?" the Duke of Qin said with a smile.

The Crown Prince nodded, his face pale.

"Don’t worry..." The Duke of Qin looked at the Crown Prince earnestly, "The King of Qin once ordered me to ensure your ascension to the throne. Although I don’t know the reason, as it was his command, I will not sit idly by and watch your father use the same methods on you that were used on your older brother before you! "

"I trust Uncle Lu!" the Crown Prince said, invigorated, "With you here, I’m afraid of nothing."

The Duke of Qin smiled and shook his head at these words, "You... after so many years, you still haven’t grown up."

The Crown Prince responded with a smile, "Uncle Lu could see my maturity at a glance back then, but now you say I haven’t grown up, which is hardly fair..."

"Go now..." The Duke of Qin waved his hand, "If anything happens, contact me immediately. No matter where you are, I can find you at the first opportunity."

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince felt his unease gradually ease. He trusted the man before him because, over many years, it had been him who appeared by his side in countless dangerous moments first.

He couldn’t understand why the other was so committed to the King of Qin’s words—perhaps only the ancient ones possessed such loyalty!

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"Is he gone?"

"He’s gone..." the Duke of Qin said with a smile.

Within the tent, a shadow emerged. If Chen Qing and Murong Yunji were here, they would be astounded.

Because the old man appearing in the Duke of Qin’s tent bore an identical likeness to the magician elder who had perished at the foot of Azure Dragon Mountain some days earlier.

"The thing that killed you back in Lyuzhou, did you see clearly what it was?"

"The power was from the ancients, unmistakable..." replied the old man in a hoarse voice, "However, the identity of the person who acted is quite interesting. Indeed... one should not underestimate the Shen family of this generation."

"This generation of the Shen family is indeed remarkable..." the Duke of Qin nodded, "The ancients? They’ve finally come... It’s time to verify the King of Qin’s words, don’t you think?"

"Yes..." Mr. Heiyun also smiled and said, "If they don’t come soon... this old man won’t be able to wait much longer!"

"I’ll need your assistance for another trip to West Sea City."

Heiyun nodded, "My substitute body can still be used three times. Duke of Qin, please be mindful not to overwork an old man like me."

"Of course not," the Duke of Qin chuckled. "Lu Hong is one of my best sons; he will not disappoint me."

"Let’s hope that’s the case..." Heiyun nodded and transformed into a wisp of black smoke, vanishing into the mist above the river, but this time, his destination was West Sea City.

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By the time Chen Qing returned to Lyuzhou it was already the third day, later than expected because breaking through the blockade required the Nine Heavens Mirror to calculate when Lyuzhou could be assigned new zombies.

Like a program, it naturally needed operation time, and it seemed that Lyuzhou was being targeted.

The descendants of the nine great corpse insects were all trying to find a way to the entrance to Lyuzhou, and even if there were fewer zombies there, securing a position to fill the gap was not easy at this point.

Chen Qing waited nearly two days and nights at the entrance.

Leaving is easy but returning is hard...

Chen Qing couldn’t help but sigh. As soon as he arrived in Lyuzhou, before even entering the city, his presence was detected by Wei Gongcheng at the port, who couldn’t wait to find Chen Qing.

Chen Qing frowned slightly and whispered, "Your safety is of utmost importance right now. It’s very likely that top-tier descendants will infiltrate through this port position. It would be troublesome if you were targeted."

"I wasn’t thoughtful enough," Wei Gongcheng quickly responded, but immediately brought up urgent matters, "My Lord, the avatar you left in Lyuzhou has encountered problems..."

"I know..." Chen Qing nodded, "Tell me about what happened that day."

Wei Gongcheng hurriedly recounted the events of that day, causing Chen Qing’s brows to knit tightly together.

Is "Mister Five Poison" a taboo word?

Why is that?

Second Elder Shen was not killed by anyone?

The most fearsome enemy... is it one of our own?

Why speak in riddles? Why not tell the truth directly?

Chen Qing, staring at Wei Gongcheng, suddenly understood that perhaps his avatar had determined that these matters should not be spoken of directly. Once said, Wei Gongcheng, the messenger, would likely die on the spot.

But then, if someone had the power to do so, why not just kill Wei Gongcheng directly?

Giving hints without taking action - could it be a gamble that I wouldn’t figure it out?

There’s only one possibility... a program!

Chen Qing’s eyes brightened suddenly. Master Yang had some kind of program on him that, if anyone touched on certain secrets, would trigger that program, allowing something to take action.

On the contrary, as long as that program wasn’t directly triggered, the thing residing within Master Yang couldn’t act!

It’s a technique!

Chen Qing quickly pieced everything together; Ali’s words must be true.

Master Yang is indeed Mister Five Poison, but presently, Master Yang’s memories are in disarray, carrying too many secrets, and a very powerful being had set a forbidden technique on him.

Should anyone seek to uncover the truth within him, the technique would be activated, an unsolvable technique, which is why his avatar dared not speak the truth.

For if he did, Wei Gongcheng would die, as would anyone who heard the truth.

So, what I am facing is not some person, but the legacy of some method left behind by those people from the past.

With this in mind, Chen Qing continued walking while analyzing the second message his avatar had left behind.

Second Elder Shen was not killed by anyone!

Wei Gongcheng might not understand, but Chen Qing could make sense of it right away.

"Gongcheng, besides what we’ve just discussed, has anything else happened these days?"

"Yes!" Wei Gongcheng promptly said, "There have been issues with the underworld.

The dungeon was suppressing those malevolent spirits from the Path of Yin and Yang, and since the establishment of the underworld, no new malevolent spirits had appeared.

As you said, my Lord, Lyuzhou is completely isolated from the Path of Yin and Yang.

But just yesterday, a power shook that place.

I was about to investigate when the power disappeared, only to reemerge after a while. "

Chen Qing nodded, "And within the city?"

"There’s a very sinister force probing inside the city, I suspect it’s Ninth Elder Shen!"

"It’s not Ninth Elder Shen..." Chen Qing shook his head, "It’s Second Elder Shen!"

"Second Elder Shen?" Wei Gongcheng was taken aback, "His ghost?"

"Sort of..."

"Didn’t you say that no ghost could escape my inspection?"

"But it’s different if there’s a vessel." Chen Qing spoke ominously, "Ninth Elder Shen makes for an excellent vessel; his body is poisoned by corpse toxins, his soul extremely weakened, the perfect target for possession!"

"Possession?"

"I underestimated Second Elder Shen," Chen Qing sighed, "He’s truly clever. After observing the underworld for only one day, he dared to make such a choice, indeed a ruthless man. Come, let’s go and meet our Second Elder Shen!"