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Those who left in the greatest hurry were the offspring of the Sorcerer Family sent by the Imperial Court.

They boarded the ship and fled as though escaping, a vacant look in their eyes as if they had experienced a nightmare, sitting silently in the cabin, keeping a considerable distance from each other.

After all, if a Chief of Staff could be skinned and replaced by a Demon, who could guarantee that the people around them weren’t Demons wearing human skins?

The whole interior of the cabin was as silent as death, their minds pressed with countless unspoken thoughts, but no one dared to get too close, nor did anyone initiate a conversation.

It wasn’t until a detached voice came from outside the cabin.

"Gentlemen, we will soon arrive at Wangjiang. Your horses have been fed, and it is getting dark. Would you require the Warrior Army’s escort to the post station?"

The question startled everyone back to reality, and they turned to look at the impassive Scholar.

It was said that he was a Magician personally trained by the Lyuzhou Academy, and had taken part in constructing the top Array in Nanming Prefecture.

From initially being scoffed at, now, hardly anyone dared to underestimate him, especially considering his effortless control of the barrier entrance and his ability to halt the snowy weather they had encountered along the way.

All of them being Magicians, many had clearly seen that his method to stop the weather involved integrating a small Array into the countless arranged Arrays, which then produced such an effect.

At that moment, many were so astounded their eyes nearly popped out!

Only a Magician would understand the complexity and enormity of Nanming Prefecture’s grand Array.

After spending three days there, many of these young men, who thought they had a decent understanding of Array techniques, could not figure out even a single Array’s operational principle.

The complex structure left them unable to grasp even the simplest array connections after three days of scrutiny.

It was also for this reason that no one dared to recklessly use their Spiritual Power to touch the Array, fearing that they would be crushed by the immense energy.

And this young man... he looked to be... just over twenty, right?

With a casual insertion of an Array, he managed to alter the structure of at least dozens of points, and they saw clearly that each time he passed an area, the Runes he used were different, and he constructed a new Array each time on the spot — an operation they had not seen even from many master Array practitioners!

Someone even asked why he had to construct a new Array on the spot to alter the structure.

His response was that the grand Array was constantly changing, and one had to construct a new one in response to the situation, or else rashly inputting an Array could easily trigger an energy backlash.

This statement stunned everyone present, realizing he knew about... the possibility of Array backlash?

Since then, no one dared to underestimate the aloof Scholar, nor did they dare to look down upon the Magicians of Lyuzhou as they had before!

"That... Warrior Army escort?" Suddenly, someone couldn’t help but ask, "Could... could they possibly escort us back to the Capital?"

At this, everyone nodded in agreement.

Currently, everyone was paranoid for their own safety, afraid that the Imperial Court’s escort troops might be infiltrated by Lu Family’s peculiar beasts.

In contrast, the tall and robust Warrior Army seemed to provide a greater sense of security, particularly their leader, Di Yun, whose energy alone indicated his First Rank prowess!

"Escort you back to the Capital?" Shen Yuan looked at these direct descendants of the aristocracy, a complex look flashing in his eyes.

"I will go ask for permission. It shouldn’t be a problem, though we can only escort you to the post station outside the Capital City."

"Thank you so much, sir," the first person to speak hurriedly expressed their gratitude with several bows.

Sir?

Shen Yuan glanced at the individual, a hint of a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

He actually recognized him — the legitimate second son of the Fang Family, a millennium-old Sorcerer Family: Fang Shiming, the Minister of Justice’s son, the most talented of his generation in the Fang Family.

Although born out of wedlock, his top-notch talents had already placed him among those in line to succeed.

Now at twenty-nine, in no more than three years, he would be assigned to assist an Academic Commissioner, and in five years, he would become one himself, ranking Third Rank, with a probable post as a lesser minister or possibly Chief of Staff before turning forty.

Once... he was someone whose heels Shen Yuan couldn’t even touch, no matter how hard he tried.

Now... calling him sir?

How fast the world changes...

With a slight nod, Shen Yuan did not say any more and stepped out of the cabin, but among the Magician crowd, there was one person who had been watching Shen Yuan attentively from the start and, after some hesitation, carefully followed him out to the deck.

Shen Yuan, who stood on the deck enjoying the night breeze, quickly noticed the approaching figure. He had people protecting him, and the other was stopped ten meters away.

"Brother..."

"Oh... so you still recognize me, Shen Yang," Shen Yuan replied without turning around.

"Of course, I recognize you," Shen Yang forced a smile onto his face. "It’s just a bit hard to believe, after all, brother, you... have changed so much."

"Have I?" Shen Yuan touched his cheek, "I’ve only been in Jiangnan for two years. What’s changed so much? I haven’t grown taller."

"Brother still has such a sense of humor..."

"I’ve actually never been humorous," Shen Yuan said with a mock-serious look, "Didn’t you all call me a bookish nerd with no sense of humor?"

Shen Yang: "....."

"Since you’re willing to escort us back to Capital City, why not visit home? Mother... she misses you a lot."

"Mother..." Shen Yuan let out a snort and turned, "Mother misses me? You actually have the audacity to say that?"

Shen Yuan was the legitimate heir, born to the main wife of the Shen Family head, and had a truly noble status, but unfortunately, his talent as a Magician was subpar.

Despite having studied hard and earning the title of Second Place Scholar, the family didn’t even bother to celebrate, and mother... she didn’t even offer a word of congratulations.

He still remembered coming to his mother, heart filled with trepidation, to report his ranking after the official examination results were announced, only to be met with her impatience.

"Alright, go back and rest; having an official position isn’t too bad.

At least you won’t have to deal with your half-siblings’ affairs, and you can maintain some dignity.

Take up your post as soon as possible and don’t let the gossip affect your brother’s mood, he’s taking the Sorcerer Academy’s assessment tomorrow. "

To spend ten years toiling over his studies and achieving the rank of Second Place Scholar meant nothing in his mother’s eyes compared to a minor test his brother had at the Sorcerer Academy.

Two years have passed since he came to Jiangnan, but not a single letter from home had reached him. Now with Jiangnan facing such calamity, his mother... hadn’t even made the slightest move to find him.

Had it not been for his younger half-brother recognizing him during the Array adjustment, he would have doubted whether his family had assumed he was already dead.

Ha... did his mother miss him? What a laughable joke...

"Brother, don’t speak out of spite..." The man said with a laugh: "Your mother is your kin, she must miss you."

Shen Yuan looked at him and cracked a slight smile as the man’s calculated words slapped him in the face.

Would he even be able to return from the Capital City?

The family would probably suck him dry of everything he had; they likely wouldn’t let him go otherwise.

"Let’s wait a few more days," Shen Yuan said with a smile. "I will go home at the end of the year; after all, it has been two years since I’ve been home... I must pay my respects to the elders for the New Year."

"At the end of the year?" The man frowned slightly, but seeing the tall and sturdy soldiers of the Warrior Army all around, he dared not act rashly and said with a smile: "Then I will look forward to Brother’s return."

"Mm... I’m looking forward to it as well," Shen Yuan nodded in agreement.

He just didn’t know... did Mother look forward to it?

-----------------------------------

"Mother..."

Elsewhere, the little maid brought to be detained in Yun Yuye’s courtyard stood stiff as a board, staring dumbfounded at the woman whose body was bruised and contorted grotesquely, looking like an Evil Ghost. She could hardly believe that this was the same tender and beautiful mother of her memory.

But she knew, that was her mother...

"Yuye..."

Lumings approached, his face a mixture of emotions. It wasn’t his first time seeing the woman he loved tortured like this; he had witnessed even worse, but for the sake of the Lu Family, he had to endure it over and over again.

Now, although he had lost everything, the pressure in his heart was also gone.

He suddenly felt that maybe staying in Yunzhou was not a bad idea. Those days were actually quite good. If he had known this was the outcome of his struggles, why bother at all?

Lumings shook his head, moving closer slowly, while Yun Yuye descended into madness upon seeing him.

A mad roar erupted, and the ropes around her body were tightened so much that her shape almost deformed, like a starved beast seeing a chunk of fresh meat.

Full of a crazed desire to attack, Lumings could clearly see the trace of resentment buried deep within Yuye’s eyes.

She recognized him.

It was no surprise, as she had begged him for help when she was first tortured, and for the sake of not letting that vile woman think he cared too much, he had chosen to coldly observe. At that moment... she must have felt utterly hopeless, right?

And must have hated him deeply, right?

But he was helpless, if he had shown the slightest compassion, that venomous woman would have intensified her torture by a hundredfold, a thousandfold.

He just hadn’t expected that even after being so cold, the venomous woman still subjected Yuye to the punishment of ten needles!

"Sorry, I told you before, I asked you not to come..." Lumings approached, his face filled with pity.

The woman became even more frantic at those words, breaking free from the ropes and lunging to tear him apart!

But Lumings was a ghostly figure; although he could appear solid with Chen Qing’s help and Yuye could see him, she couldn’t touch him. She pounced to no avail and then let out a terrible howling on the ground.

In an instant, the little girl cried!

Since the attack yesterday, she wanted to cry but held on, hid with her mother, watched as the warriors who protected them get brutally killed; through all that, she held on. Even after her mother was captured, she kept it in.

Because her mother had taught her early on... that crying is pointless in the face of adversity.

So she held on, trying her hardest to help...

But how did her mother... become like this?

Finally... she couldn’t hold it in any longer!

The girl’s crying immediately drew the crazed attention of Yun Yuye, who stopped howling and stared dead at her own daughter!