Imperial Cultivation-Chapter 1150 - 1146: The Situation
After breakfast, Chu Zhiyuan transformed into an average-looking middle-aged man.
Slender in stature, neither tall nor short, he would not attract attention in a crowd.
Walking along the street, he slowly approached the west of the city, arriving at the street where the Prince Zhuang Mansion was located.
As he stepped onto the wide and flat street paved with stone as white as jade, he didn’t need the Super Sensing Illumination to feel the numerous gazes falling upon him.
Four pairs of eyes were fixed on his body, following him as he walked forward, staring intently.
As if trying to see through him, penetrating all his clothes to view his insides.
He pretended not to notice, strolling leisurely forward, arriving at the vermilion gate guarded by two giant stone beasts.
The tightly closed vermilion gate was studded with several rows of brass nails, glittering with golden light in the bright sunshine.
Four young men stood by with their swords, solemnly watching him, unmoving like a mountain.
Chu Zhiyuan clasped his fist: "Excuse me, I request an audience with the Prince."
As he spoke, he unfastened a brocade pouch from his waist and handed it over directly.
One young man took the brocade pouch, glanced inside, then closed it and said in a deep voice: "Please wait a moment."
Inside the brocade pouch was a piece of white jade, with an unusual pattern, not the token of the Heavenly Sword Sect.
Outsiders who didn’t know would be baffled by this jade token, not knowing its origin.
The young man turned and pushed open a side door, disappearing from sight after entering.
Chu Zhiyuan used Insight to scan his surroundings, not missing that valley, along with every part of the Imperial City.
He saw trouble at the east gate.
People entering the city formed two long lines, one for individual pedestrians and the other for those driving carriages or riding horses.
A total of twenty-four City Guards formed into four columns, making two queues, with the leading two pairs of eyes shining with golden light, scanning those entering the city.
Two middle-aged men suddenly sprang into action, launching a sneak attack.
They were not attacking the City Guard, but rather the citizens standing in line.
In an instant, four citizens were killed, and after delivering a fatal blow, the two middle-aged men turned and fled.
In the blink of an eye, they were gone, and eight City Guards immediately pursued them.
The people queued outside the city fell into chaos, and then another two middle-aged men took advantage of the confusion, killing four more innocent citizens before escaping again.
Seeing this, Chu Zhiyuan’s face turned grave.
He never expected these evil forces to be so rampant, so frenzied.
This is courting disaster.
How could the Court tolerate this?
He immediately felt a deep suspicion.
Where is the Divine Artifact?
Even if the Divine Artifact is not used, why not dispatch a large number of experts?
Has the Court not been able to severely damage the evil forces or establish enough deterrent so far?
What are the top Venerables in the city doing, just eating and doing nothing?
Allowing these evil forces to be so rampant is simply a huge incompetence.
The Dynasty is the only Dynasty in this Biyuan Heaven, the most powerful force, how can it allow such a situation?
He was deeply puzzled, wanting to figure out what exactly had happened.
It seemed like a dense fog enveloped the situation before him.
His Super Sensing covered a hundred miles; the entire Imperial City was as clear as viewing the lines on his palm.
Yet he still couldn’t understand what was happening, why the situation had deteriorated to this point.
Footsteps sounded, and the young man returned with a middle-aged man walking briskly.
The middle-aged man had a gentle appearance, a face full of smiles, and appeared approachable.
He clasped his fist in greeting: "Mr. please come in, the Prince is expecting your esteemed arrival."
Chu Zhiyuan clasped his fist in reply and entered the side door with him, following him inside.
Turning past the pavilion and water pavilion of the front yard, with corridors bridging several small ponds, he followed the corridor to the front hall.
At the entrance of the front hall stood two beautiful maids, hands hanging at their sides, bowing slightly in salute, lifting the heavy purple felt curtain.
Chu Zhiyuan stepped into the front hall.
The bright and soft, spacious and open hall had a desk placed at the far north.
This desk was placed atop five steps, entirely dark, exuding a sense of heaviness.
Behind the desk, a middle-aged man stood tall as a pine, placing down a document and looking over.
Chu Zhiyuan clasped his fist and smiled: "Heavenly Sword Sect’s Chu Zhiyuan, greets the Prince, this is from the Sect Leader, please open it personally, Your Highness."
He took out the letter from his bosom, respectfully presenting it with both hands.
This strikingly handsome middle-aged man was Prince Zhuang, Song Shoufang.
He now understood that he was indeed one of the Eight Princes, a descendant of the Eight Queens of old.
He possessed the Phoenix Bloodline.
Song Shoufang nodded: "Mr. Chu, I have heard of your great name."
He spoke, took the letter, and gently exhaled a breath.
This breath fell on the envelope, and the original envelope suddenly changed color.
The original gray-brown turned white, and it was covered with densely packed small characters.
Chu Zhiyuan was astonished.
He really hadn’t expected the letter to be so mysterious, and that breath was truly marvelous.
Song Shoufang opened the envelope, took out the letter inside, and set it aside, then looked at the words inside the envelope.
Both the inside and outside of the envelope were filled with small characters. He finally picked up the letter again.
After reading, he closed his eyes and remained still.
Chu Zhiyuan had already taken in the contents of the envelope and letter.
The contents of the envelope and letter were nothing more than ordinary greetings, and reminiscing about the past, without mentioning the real issue at all.
Chu Zhiyuan didn’t believe that Sect Leader Lu Wanshan would be so careful just to send such a letter.
There must be a secret message within.
Without knowing their agreement, it would be nearly impossible to decipher.
Song Shoufang slowly opened his eyes and sighed, "You didn’t lose any men this time, did you?"
Chu Zhiyuan shook his head, "We were lucky to retreat unscathed, but it was mere luck; next time might not be the same."
Song Shoufang said, "What exactly happened, tell it in detail."
"Yes," Chu Zhiyuan nodded solemnly.
Before coming, Lu Wanshan had already instructed him not to hide anything in front of Prince Zhuang, just to speak honestly.
It was clear that Lu Wanshan had a deep relationship with Prince Zhuang, and they trusted each other.
...
After listening, Song Shoufang got up, paced with his hands behind his back, with a grave expression.
Chu Zhiyuan said, "Your Highness, there’s something I don’t understand, and I’d like to ask."
"Speak," Song Shoufang waved his hand, continuing to pace.
Chu Zhiyuan said, "When I entered the city, there was a provocation by evil demons, and this morning, there was another provocation at the city gate... I want to know why this is happening? Hasn’t the Court always kept the evil demons at bay? How did things get so out of control?"
"Don’t worry about these minor troubles," Song Shoufang said in a deep voice, "Under normal circumstances, there shouldn’t be Giant Demons under Qinglian Sea."
Chu Zhiyuan was taken aback.
Song Shoufang said, "Qinglian Sea should only have a few Great Demons, and only a few."
Chu Zhiyuan frowned and said, "The Court doesn’t intend to suppress our sect, right?"
He didn’t fully believe these words.
Song Shoufang said, "When the Court first asked the Heavenly Sword Sect to suppress Qinglian Sea, there were no Giant Demons under Qinglian Sea, at least not at that time."
Chu Zhiyuan said, "In six years, Giant Demons appeared out of nowhere?"
The Heavenly Sword Sect moves every ten years and it’s been six years since they came by Qinglian Sea.
According to the Heavenly Sword Sect’s rhythm, it’s already the harvesting period.
But unexpectedly, an accident happened, almost causing a big trouble.
Song Shoufang slowly nodded, "I never lie."
Chu Zhiyuan said, "Is this related to the recent rampant evil demons?"
Song Shoufang’s eyebrows furrowed tightly, "The Court has always been investigating, always seeking the source."
Chu Zhiyuan said, "Not to mention demons, what about those evil demons? Why can’t they be eradicated from the surroundings?"
"It’s not that we don’t want to, but we can’t," Song Shoufang said with a grim face, "Every time they are eradicated, they reappear immediately, like wild grass, impossible to completely eliminate!"
"Isn’t there the Sovereign Suppressing Divine Artifact?" Chu Zhiyuan was puzzled, "It wouldn’t have malfunctioned, would it?"
A year ago, no evil demons would appear near the Imperial City, as it would be suicidal.
Because that artifact was there.
Song Shoufang’s expression changed slightly.
Chu Zhiyuan’s expression also changed slightly, his eyes narrowed, "Could it be?"
Song Shoufang said seriously, "This matter must not be spread!"
Chu Zhiyuan’s face turned solemn, "Do these evil demons know, and that’s why they’re so brazen?... Actually, it’s already been guessed, perhaps many people have guessed it."
If that artifact were active, today’s situation wouldn’t exist, proving that the artifact has malfunctioned.
Song Shoufang said, "The artifact has a minor glitch, but it will recover, just needs some time."
"What about the Court’s experts?" Chu Zhiyuan said, "Deploying experts from the military should be enough to handle these evil demons, right?"
Currently, the number of experts in the military is far from sufficient; it’s unreasonable to be so passive.
The Court of the Dynasty, such an absurd situation, is too far-fetched.
Song Shoufang said in a deep voice, "They still have to guard some Secret Lands, can’t recall too many."
Chu Zhiyuan didn’t understand, "Are those Secret Lands more important than the safety of the Imperial City?... The citizens of the Imperial City are panicking, living in fear, isn’t this bad?"
Song Shoufang said, "Within those Secret Lands, even stronger evil demons are suppressed, they must not be released, otherwise it would cause chaos, and even more trouble."
