Qixuan and Panlong are only about twenty or thirty miles apart.
This distance might seem far for ordinary people, but for Tang Muxi and Jiang Yin, who have mastered the Star Shift Technique, they don’t even need to stop for a rest.
After leaving the government office, they headed straight for the capital.
Before noon, they had already arrived near Panlong.
The capital was sealed off, supposedly because of evil spirits haunting the city.
Tang Muxi initially thought there would be a large number of cultivators stationed here to prevent the evil spirits from escaping.
To her surprise, upon arrival, she found not a single cultivator from the Nine Sha Hall, but rather many ordinary people and rogue cultivators.
The entire capital was enveloped in a massive formation, making it impossible to see the scene inside clearly.
The city walls appeared deserted, silent, and eerie.
The gates were locked, the high walls stood tall, and even dust had settled on the bricks and statues, indicating they hadn’t been cleaned for a long time.
Rain and snow were all blocked by the formation.
This wasn’t just a sealed city; it was an abandoned ghost town, and it was unclear if there was any life inside.
“What’s going on here? Why isn’t there a single cultivator from the Nine Sha Hall?” Tang Muxi was stunned, caught off guard by the unexpected scene.
Jiang Yin’s expression turned serious as she looked at the city sealed tightly by the formation, her gaze growing darker.
She didn’t answer Tang Muxi’s question rashly.
Instead, she approached a nearby rogue cultivator who was camping out and asked, “Fellow Daoist, is this Panlong?” The person looked at her as if she were a fool, “If it’s not Panlong, why would everyone gather here?” Jiang Yin raised an eyebrow, pretending not to understand his sarcasm, and asked knowingly, “I heard Panlong is sealed off to exorcise spirits.
Are you also waiting for the city to reopen?”
“Exorcise spirits?” The person snorted coldly, gritting his teeth, “What evil spirits? This is the capital, under the emperor’s feet! What kind of evil spirit can’t be eradicated by the Nine Sha Sword? I think it’s all a sham! I’m indeed waiting for the city to reopen, but not for some opportunity, but for my friend who got caught up in this!”
“The Nine Sha Hall claims to have evacuated the people, but it’s all nonsense! Look around, who isn’t waiting for their family and friends? I see you don’t seem worried, so you must be an outsider who came to visit after hearing about Panlong’s fame.
I advise you, the Nine Sha Hall is full of lies, this place is dangerous, you should leave as soon as possible.” After saying this, the person left in a huff, clearly angry.
Jiang Yin continued to ask four or five more people, both rogue cultivators and ordinary citizens, and got the same result.
Everyone gathered here was affected by the city’s closure, unable to leave their family and friends, so they waited here.
Tang Muxi was stunned, “Mingyu… Wen Mingyu was right, the evacuation of the people was probably fabricated.” Jiang Yin, however, did not agree.
Looking at the crowd around, she said, “Not necessarily.
Look at their clothes, all simple and cheap, they must be ordinary civilians with no status.” Seeing her junior sister’s confusion, she continued, “If the capital was truly sealed off without warning, the most anxious would not be the common people, but the nobles whose interests are affected.
But there isn’t a single noble here…” She didn’t continue, but Tang Muxi understood her meaning, “It means the closure didn’t affect them at all!” Jiang Yin nodded approvingly, pleased with her junior sister’s progress.
If she had said something like “two great demons sleeping together to play with each other’s tails,” she would have been at a loss.
“No impact, in other words, those with status were informed and secretly evacuated before the city was sealed.
Do you remember what Feng Yuan said this morning? ‘The princess escaped,’ why would the king’s daughter leave the capital and hide in Qixuan instead of staying by her father’s side?”
“Perhaps the princess was also secretly sent out of the capital.”
The more Tang Muxi listened, the more anxious she felt.
“Evil spirits causing chaos, yet not using the Nine Sha Sword to eliminate them.
Evacuating residents, yet leaving defenseless civilians in the city… It’s contradictory.” Thinking of the dream of the flood dragon asking for help, Tang Muxi became increasingly fearful and worried.
The mountain of corpses and sea of blood in the dream, could it really happen? Her emotions were so intense that they continuously transmitted to Jiang Yin through their contract and the power of the drop of heart blood.
Jiang Yin, fearing that her junior sister’s excessive worry might harm her body, gently placed her fingertip on Tang Muxi’s forehead, channeling her own power to soothe her, “Don’t overthink it.
Remember, we’re here to gather information today, don’t act impulsively.” Under her senior sister’s comfort, Tang Muxi gradually calmed down and nodded, “I understand, I was overthinking it.
Even if we need to act, we should wait until the people from the demon realm arrive.” Jiang Yin smiled, thinking of the dream, and asked, “Now that we’re here, can you still feel the flood dragon calling for help?” Tang Muxi shook her head, “No.” Jiang Yin nodded and didn’t ask further.
Outside the city, a crowd of citizens and rogue cultivators gathered, all eyes on them, making it difficult to approach the city to test the formation.
They could only gather information around Panlong City.
However, since these people also gathered here later, they knew little about the situation inside the city, and further inquiries yielded no new discoveries.
Jiang Yin and Tang Muxi watched as the sky gradually darkened, deciding not to linger here any longer.
Before sunset, they set off on their return journey, flying back to Qixuan.
They moved quickly, arriving at Qixuan before the sun had completely set, hanging obliquely in the sky.
It was winter, the weather was cold, and the slanting, dazzling light of the red sun fell everywhere, but it wasn’t warm.
Instead, it mingled with the biting cold wind, making the twelfth lunar month even colder.
As they entered the city, it was just as Feng Yuan had said, entering smoothly through the side gate.
The city gates were still tightly guarded, with each cultivator’s expression grave, as if the princess’s escape would lead to very serious consequences, weighing down the atmosphere.
They also saw a person dressed in luxurious clothes, exuding an aura of authority and arrogance, likely the lord of Qixuan.
Tang Muxi sneaked a few glances at them, noticing people whispering to each other, and wanted to listen in, but since they were surrounded by cultivators, she didn’t dare to be too obvious, only catching extremely vague fragments.
“…Still not found, but should be in the city.”
Does that mean Her Highness the Princess is still in Qixuan? Tang Muxi furrowed her brows and, once they were a bit further away, leaned over to Jiang Yin to share the eavesdropped information.
Jiang Yin seemed thoughtful.
“We need to investigate this further.
If we can meet the Princess, we might get a more detailed understanding of what happened in Panlong.”
Tang Muxi nodded, wanting to say more, but suddenly felt a strange gaze on her from behind.
The gaze was intense, like a nail that couldn’t be ignored.
She immediately tensed up, summoning her Illusion God, ready to attack, but found no one behind her except for the passing mortals.
That intense gaze seemed to vanish like a fish returning to the sea, leaving no trace.
Her reaction was too big, and the bow and arrow in her hand were too conspicuous, quickly attracting attention.
Fortunately, this was still the outer city area, populated by ordinary people.
Even if someone looked over, they wouldn’t covet a cultivator far more powerful than themselves.
Jiang Yin was startled by her sudden reaction.
Seeing her frozen in place, he asked in surprise, “What happened?”
Tang Muxi frowned, putting away her bow and arrow, hesitating.
“Senior Sister, I felt like someone was watching us just now.
The gaze was sharp and hard to ignore, but when I turned around, I saw nothing.”
After speaking, she released her divine sense to search the surroundings, but the result was the same.
The outer city was a place where ordinary people lived, making it easy to scout.
But no matter how she scanned, there was nothing but mortals.
Could such a sharp and intense gaze belong to a mortal? Tang Muxi instinctively denied it in her heart.
Jiang Yin’s expression grew serious upon hearing this, discreetly observing the surroundings.
“Are you sure?”
Tang Muxi looked troubled.
“I don’t know, but for a moment, it made me very uncomfortable.”
Even though Jiang Yin didn’t sense the “gaze” her junior sister mentioned, she wouldn’t underestimate it.
When it came to her junior sister’s safety, even baseless suspicions couldn’t be ignored.
Jiang Yin patted Tang Muxi’s back.
“Stop searching.
If we can’t find it, it means the person has either fled or hidden.
This place isn’t safe; let’s return to Tian Ci Pavilion.
If the gaze persists…”
At this point, a fierce glint flashed in her eyes.
“Then don’t blame us for being impolite.”
Whether they fled or hid, no matter the purpose, anyone daring to covet her junior sister would not be forgiven.
Tang Muxi nodded, taking one last look behind her, reluctantly putting away her Illusion God, and left with Jiang Yin.
As she turned, a faint wisp of spiritual energy clung to her clothes.
The action was so subtle that it almost went unnoticed, the control of power so precise that it nearly fooled Jiang Yin.
It was only thanks to the Imprisoning Demon Sword’s timely warning that she wasn’t kept in the dark.
Jiang Yin sneered inwardly but didn’t remove the spiritual energy, pretending to know nothing, waiting for the person to fall into their trap.
However, to be safe, she communicated this to her junior sister, so she wouldn’t be clueless and fall into a trap.
Tang Muxi stiffened upon hearing about the spiritual energy on her, instinctively wanting to remove it.
But before she could act, Jiang Yin stopped her.
—Don’t be afraid.
Since we’ve discovered it, let’s use this opportunity to catch the person behind it.
Previously, they were in the open, and the enemy was in the dark.
Now that the situation had reversed, they couldn’t miss the chance to eliminate the threat.
Tang Muxi agreed, deciding not to act rashly.
She pretended to be unaware, chatting and laughing with her Senior Sister on the way back, appearing carefree while they communicated cautiously through telepathy.
The person in the shadows followed them quietly until they saw the two enter Tian Ci Pavilion, then reluctantly stopped.
“Panlong City…” Their eyes turned obscure.
