Remote farmhouse.

Misheng, who was in charge of reconnaissance, quickly brought back the news:

"The tracks of Prince Kang disappear at the front manor. I checked, there’s only one Native in the manor, a white-clothed youth, looks very young."

Ye Zi added, "But my Investigation Skills can’t gauge his strength. He definitely isn’t an ordinary person."

"Nonsense, appearing alone in such a place is definitely not ordinary. But he is so young, probably a rookie Martial Artist just starting out in Jianghu, not necessarily very strong." commented an Awakened from the Ma Bang.

"That’s right, the Martial Artists of the Celestial Hero World mainly cultivate Inner Family True Qi; the older they are, the deeper their skills."

Several Awakened from the Ma Bang nodded in agreement, and soon Ma the Third decided that everyone would infiltrate the manor’s various routes and capture that white-clothed youth in one fell swoop.

The infiltration went very smoothly, so smoothly that Ma the Third felt a bit uneasy.

This is the force that kidnapped Prince Kang Gou Zhao, could it really be this easy to catch their trail?

Thinking about this, Ma the Third quietly gave an order, "Everyone, hold on, I don’t trust those Fusang people. Du Jiu, you first probe that white-clothed youth from afar."

The gaunt-looking Awakened "Du Jiu" nodded in agreement and quietly sneaked forward.

"Use the smoke to incapacitate him, don’t use too strong a toxin, we need him alive." Ma the Third instructed again.

Before long, Du Jiu returned.

Ma the Third dispatched a Caster subordinate to cast a Fireball Technique at the gate of the courtyard where the "white-clothed youth" was, creating an explosive sound.

According to Ma the Third’s calculations, as long as the Native still had movement ability, he would definitely come out to check upon hearing such a sound or flee in panic.

However, after a long while following the explosion, the white-clothed youth remained seated within the courtyard, completely still.

"It’s done!"

Ma the Third led a few Awakened, along with the watching Misheng and Ye Zi, into the courtyard.

"Who are you?" the white-clothed youth asked indifferently, his back to them, without turning his head.

"Putting on airs." The Awakened, seeing the white-clothed youth unmoving, further believed he was affected by the smoke, his body incapacitated.

"You don’t need to know who we are." Ma the Third spoke, "Who are you? Where have Youyan Guest and Prince Kang gone?"

Even now, Ma the Third still didn’t know what role Youyan Guest played in Prince Kang’s disappearance.

But he was certain that the white-clothed youth before him was certainly one of those in the know.

And he did indeed guess correctly.

The white-clothed youth slowly rose, turned around amidst the wide-eyed Awakened, and spoke in a calm voice:

"My surname is Bai, Daoist title Yujing. Great Song State Preceptor."

Veins bulged on Ma the Third’s forehead; he finally knew the source of his unease and realized his oversight.

The Ma Bang created an explosion outside, and the white-clothed youth didn’t come out to investigate. There were two possibilities.

The first, the white-clothed youth was very weak, easily subdued by Du Jiu’s smoke, unable to move to check.

The second, the white-clothed youth was very strong, the smoke had no effect on him, but he was so skilled and bold that he didn’t care about the commotion outside!

At this moment, this young man claiming to be "Great Song State Preceptor Bai Yujing" had proven himself unaffected by the smoke, certainly the second possibility, the one Ma the Third had overlooked!

"Retreat!"

Ma the Third whistled. It was common sense for Awakened venturing the Spirit Realm to avoid fighting uncertainly powerful Natives.

However, as a few Awakened attempted to flee, a dense Sandfall Phantom suddenly enveloped them all!

Within the Sandfall Phantom, they all felt their bodies heavy, as if bearing a thousand-pound weight, their movement speed reduced by a full 65 points!

For a Mid-level Awakened, even an Agility-specialized Enhanced Elite, those who can exceed 65 in speed are very few.

Most of Ma Bang’s Awakened were in a "standstill" state.

Ma the Third was the only one here with an Agility of 85; his speed reduced to only 20 points. He tried to use an Acceleration Skill to escape but found priority limitations; he couldn’t escape! He could only move painstakingly, trying to leave the Sandfall Domain’s range.

The next moment, a dark yellow lasso swept out, and a mountain-like phantom descended.

Not only Ma the Third, but the other Awakened were also subdued by the dark yellow lasso, dragged before the "white-clothed youth."

"Do you want to die, or do you want to live?"

These four words sounded like celestial music in the Ma Bang Awakened’s ears, and all felt immensely fortunate not to have encountered a murderous Native. They hurriedly knelt to beg for mercy.

Bai Pu said, "I have found out, Prince Kang Zhao Gou unfortunately met his end early on his first mission to the Jin Kingdom’s camp. The so-called Prince Kang who escaped later is a doppelganger created by the Golden Dogs using a high-level Disguise Technique, real name Wanyan Gou.

"The Golden Dogs played a good strategy, deliberately taking away all the Imperial bloodline, leaving only Wanyan Gou as the Emperor for us Han People. Once Wanyan Gou ascends the throne, he will certainly execute loyal subjects and surrender to the Golden Dogs for mercy!"

These words from Bai Pu were entirely fabricated.

But Awakened have flexible moral boundaries.

The Ma Bang Awakened put on a look of sudden realization.

"Damn, we almost got deceived by the Golden Dogs!"

"Thankfully, the State Preceptor corrected things; otherwise, we would have followed Wanyan Gou and become national criminals!"

Bai Pu nodded slightly:

"Heaven did not abandon the Imperial Song, the Twenty-Eighth Prince, Duke of England Zhao Si, still in Bianjing, and will hold the enthronement ceremony soon. You serving Wanyan Gou as false subjects should have been rightly executed on the spot! But the ignorant are blameless; if you abandon darkness for light and loyally serve the new Emperor, you will be pardoned."

Ma the Third and others received a prompt from the Spirit Realm Will:

[Great Song State Preceptor Bai Yujing invites you to leave Prince Kang Zhao Gou’s faction and join the faction of the Twenty-Eighth Prince, Duke of England Zhao Si, do you agree?]

[Warning: If you choose to agree, you will lose all Reputation accumulated in Prince Kang Zhao Gou’s faction, and related Natives will greatly decrease their Favorability towards you.]

The Ma Bang members, bearing heartache, chose to agree.

Ma the Third, having commanded poorly this time, felt uneasy. But he was skilled at making amends, and immediately said in the temporary team channel:

"Brothers, we Huaxia have a saying, ’A blessing in disguise!’ This Bai Yujing clearly is a top master in the Celestial Hero World, also a State Preceptor, as long as we tightly embrace his thigh, there’s no worry about not achieving glory and riches."

Their expressions improved a bit.

Bai Pu then gave these Awakened orders, assigning them a delivery mission to dispatch the date of the Twenty-Eighth Prince’s enthronement ceremony to various provincial prefectures, to prevent local officials and both Civil and Military Generals from thinking the Great Song Imperial Family is completely gone, which might lead to other ideas.