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"Do you need me to accompany you?" Chen Ying couldn’t help but ask, looking at their serious expressions.

Upon hearing this, Shen Qi and Wei Gongcheng both hesitated slightly.

As the current Vice Dean appointed by the academy, with Supreme Chen Qing being called away on short notice, if even she was absent from tomorrow’s opening ceremony, it would be easy for some forces to feel that the event wasn’t being taken seriously.

However, Chen Ying was the most knowledgeable about the Azure Dragon Formation at Daqing Mountain. Without her, the investigation would likely encounter difficulties.

After hesitating for a while, it was ultimately Shen Qi who said, "How about this, I will go alone, and you all wait for my message. If anything difficult arises, I’ll inform you immediately."

"You’re going alone?" Wei Gongcheng frowned. "I should come with you."

"You better not..." Shen Qi shook his head. "Now that Xuu Hu is in Nanming Prefecture and General Tian Heng is in Nanyang City, and that formidable kid has also been taken away by the Supreme, it would not be good if you were to leave..."

"This..." Wei Gongcheng also felt troubled for a moment.

As the master of the underworld, he was responsible not only for managing the affairs of life and death but also for assisting the Gate Deity in warding off demons.

Considering Shen Qi’s suspicions, a Super First Rank demon might have slipped into Liuzhou City, and if Chen Ying was left alone, it indeed wouldn’t be prudent.

In the past two years, Chen Ying’s growth had been rapid.

With her Azure Dragon Heritage, she had made strides as an Array Master.

Her overall strength was now close to Super First Rank.

Shen Qi had openly praised her talent multiple times.

However, being close to that level and being a true Super First Rank veteran Magician were still incomparable, and Chen Ying, focusing on scholastic pursuits, likely lacked combat skills.

If both of them were to leave, should that hidden demon make a sudden move, Chen Ying might not even hold out until they could come to the rescue.

"Then be careful..." Wei Gongcheng sincerely advised.

"Do you really need to worry about me?" Shen Qi laughed.

At his age of over two hundred years, what kind of battle had he not seen? He never thought there’d come a day when a junior would be concerned about him.

He shook his head and said, "With me gone, it’s all up to you in Liuzhou City. Make sure everything goes smoothly with the opening ceremony tomorrow."

"Rest assured..."

"Should we wake up Murong Yunji?" Chen Ying couldn’t help but ask, seeing how alert they were.

Murong Yunji had started her retreat about ten days ago, apparently because after spending years in Daqing Mountain with its rich Spiritual Energy, there was a chance for a breakthrough in her Wind Walk Sorcery.

But with the situation being so tense now, it was time for her to contribute after freeloading for so long within their power structure.

"No need to rush to wake her," Shen Qi shook his head.

"Why?" Chen Ying was taken aback.

"My sister-in-law is a bit hot-tempered..." Shen Qi smiled and said, "After all, we can’t be sure if there really is an issue, and to pull her out of retreat just for a suspicion, she is likely to lose her temper."

"This..." Chen Ying finally said with a wry smile, "It seems so..."

"Then that’s settled. You all stay calm and stay here, keep Liuzhou City secure, and make sure there are no disturbances during tomorrow’s opening ceremony. If there’s an emergency, contact me through the Thousand Eyes Technique immediately; I’ll come as fast as I can."

"Alright, Seventh Master, take care."

Shen Qi waved his hand, and with a gust of wind, he rode the breeze away, quickly becoming a speck in the direction of Daqing Mountain.

Wei Gongcheng watched as the other person left, his eyebrows tightly furrowed. Seventh Master’s arrangements were indeed logical, but he had an inexplicable sense of unease in his heart, and this feeling was becoming more and more pronounced...

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

Shen Qi didn’t go straight to Daqing Mountain alone; instead, he sought out an existence that had long been overlooked at the foot of the mountain.

It was none other than the old man who had retreated to this place a year ago and lived by the charity of Wei Gongzhan.

"What brings Seventh Master to visit this old man today?"

The elderly man, dressed in black, lived in a thatched cottage by the river at the foot of Daqing Mountain. He did not engage in farming, nor communicate with others much. His days were spent fishing and gardening; many people around Daqing Mountain knew this peculiar old man.

Occasionally, they would even trade mountain produce for the fresh fish he caught.

Naturally, the old man was Heiyun, who had sought refuge here. After hiding for the better part of a year, and finally coming to terms with being under surveillance, he no longer pretended and openly lived at the foot of Daqing Mountain, living off others.

When Wei Gongcheng and Shen Qi had the time, they would also come by to chat.

"That kid Wei Gongzhan is still paying his respects with wine, I see," Shen Qi said with a chuckle, smelling the Ginseng Blood Wine that filled the room. "His wine is popular lately; it’s in demand everywhere. And here you are, packing your wine cellar full of it."

"Kidding me, I’m a senior after all..." Heiyun picked his teeth carelessly. "What’s wrong with drinking his wine? When I was formidable, let alone him, even the Family Head of Wei Family would have lacked the privilege to offer me a bottle of wine..."

"Ha... You old rascal sure know how to gild yourself," Shen Qi said casually, sitting down and taking a gulp of wine from a bottle.

"Hmm... truly fine wine, but for us Magicians, it’s a bit too nourishing. You old rascal drink so much every day, aren’t you afraid of having too much qi and blood?"

"I am doing very well!" Heiyun glanced at him. "Spare me the pleasantries. What brings you here out of the blue? You’ve been quite busy lately, haven’t you? What makes you think of this old man now?"

"Something from the Capital City has made its way into Jiangnan..."

Heiyun’s comfortable demeanor vanished in an instant, and his body, previously as limp as mud from drunkenness, tensed up immediately!

He slowly sat up straight, staring intently at the other person, "Are you deliberately trying to scare me?"

"It’s not about scaring you, it’s about giving you a heads-up.

.." Shen Qi put away his jesting demeanor, speaking earnestly, "My trip to the Capital City was to set up the Great Thousand Eyes Array. What’s strange is that I encountered almost no obstacles, and it was so smooth that it felt excessive.

At the time, I was wondering what that thing controlling the Imperial Palace was up to, seemingly indifferent to such a significant event as the opening of the Ancient Dragon Palace. "

"But just a few days ago, I began to notice something was off..."

As he spoke, he shared his previous suspicions and the abnormalities he had noticed concerning Shen Xue.

"So, you mean that you set up a Thousand Eyes at the residence of an unmarried young lady of noble standing?" Hei Yun looked at the other person, "Your technique is really quite convenient."

"That’s not the point!" Shen Qi glanced at him in annoyance, "Why does everyone care about that?"

"How can we not care?" Hei Yun glared back, "Just because you can watch every day, you think it’s your right?"

Shen Qi: "...."

"Based on what you’ve said, it does indeed seem coincidental..." Hei Yun stroked his chin, "But why come to me with this? I’m not Chen Qing’s subordinate, and even if there were some secret plot against him, what does it have to do with me?"

"Then why have you been hiding here all this time?"

"What do you mean, ’hiding’?" Hei Yun jumped up immediately, "This is called being a recluse, do you understand?"

Shen Qi, too lazy to banter with him, responded directly, "Fine then, recluse, would you do me the honor of accompanying me today? If you refuse, you can hardly call yourself a recluse anymore."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It means I’ll drive you out..."

"You..."

"Enough, old fellow!" Shen Qi’s face grew stern, "Regardless of whether the thing that has arrived is what you fear or not, you can’t avoid it. After freeloading for so long, it’s about time you did some work, right?"

"Heh..." Hei Yun scoffed coldly at first, but seeing Shen Qi’s increasingly serious expression, he finally gave in, "Are you serious?"

"Do you think I came to you for a game?"

Hei Yun fell silent, his expression changing unpredictably.

After a long while, he finally stood up, "I haven’t eaten much from you guys, and now you’re commanding me to work.

Let me tell you, the few meals and bottles of wine I had at Chen Qing’s place are not worth risking my life for.

If any danger arises, I’ll be the first to abandon you. "

"Agreed!"

"Tell me then, what do you want this old man to do?"

"First, we need to check on someone’s condition."

"Who?"

"The first among the rumored ten great magicians of Great Jin: Zi Yue!"

Hei Yun: "....."

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"Little Mink, why are you here again?"

Upon entering, Wei Gongzhan immediately saw the little girl lying on his bed, her fluffy white tail twitching, and her plump face was excessively adorable.

Wei Gongzhan hadn’t really liked children before, but now, he was unusually patient with this little girl, of course, this was also related to her identity, after all, she was a girl of the purest royal bloodline.

"Shouldn’t you go home at this hour?" Wei Gongzhan asked with a smile as he set down his fishing rod, "If you don’t go back now, won’t your mother start worrying?"

"She won’t worry about Little Mink at all!" the little girl puffed up her face and grumbled.

"What happened?" Wei Gongzhan asked, amused. In his memory, this little girl rarely spoke ill of her mother; although he himself didn’t like the little highness’s mother either, considering she was a demon who had blood-stained hands and had once murdered the venerable Old Madam of the Weichi Clan.

"Recently, that strange man has been clinging to Mother, making her act all weird, and she often makes strange noises. I don’t dare to get close..."

"Uh..." Wei Gongzhan’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing this, and he really wanted to ask what kind of strangeness it was, but in the end, he didn’t have the gall to discuss such matters with a little girl and thus patiently said, "Your highness, adults are often like that, you’ll understand when you grow up. .."

"Grow up?" The little girl looked puzzled, "When I grow up, will I eat people too?"

"Yes... when you grow up, you will..."

"....."

"What did you just say...?"