Chapter 156: The Zhuyan Beast

Inside the dungeon stood a row of iron bars.

Behind the iron bars, many people were imprisoned, and each of them held various strange and bizarre tools. Clearly, judging by their equipment, they must have all belonged to the various sects of treasure-hunting masters. Chang Yu had written the character "Bie" (treasure-hunting) above.

Outside the iron bars stood a stone sculpture shaped like a beast, with an extremely bizarre and terrifying appearance, closely resembling an elderly giant...

To stop the loss of spiritual energy, one had to forcibly destroy that object, or rely purely on external force to extricate oneself from this predicament.

Only a single lamp was left lit by the door. Deep within the room, the glow of the fireplace cast fiery, gloomy shadows across the furniture. The wind blowing through two gaps rattled the curtains, making them sound like lingering ghosts.

Until more and heavier footsteps echoed from half a flight up, Huai Zhen knew instantly: someone had caught up.

The conversation over, he turned and closed the bedroom door, and the world grew instantly quiet. He ripped off his sweat-drenched undershirt and buried his face in the bedding with a muffled groan.

Song Tingjun looked at his attire again: suit trousers, a shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and the tie pulled off.

With that, Li Jingyi walked straight over to the front passenger seat, while Yusheng smiled awkwardly, walked around to the other side, opened the driver's door, and sat right inside.

Hearing her actually struggling with how to reward Zhang You, Zhu Yijun couldn't help but glance sideways at Zhang You, his gaze falling back onto Wang Xijie, filled once more with utter indulgence.

The imperial palace, which usually felt suffocating even if stayed in for a single extra moment, seemed endless at this very moment. Dark clouds surged across the sky, and the wind whipped the tree shadows into ghostly dances. Rushing all the way, at the moment of utter exhaustion, he finally pushed open his mother's bedroom door.

Wujin stared fixedly for a few moments, then pulled out the tranquilizer gun without hesitation, pushed the dose forward, and cocked the syringe.

After all, it was only the beginning; once they grew accustomed to it, things would surely become much easier. They just needed to practice more when they had time. The morning was bright and the valley prosperous, and aside from the dead silence shrouding the side toward the dense forest—where no one dared to set foot—everything had returned to normal.

Concubine Fang was clearly anxious now and could no longer care about etiquette. She had originally thought the emperor's affection for Lu Nuoxin would be enough to keep her in the palace, but Concubine Fang had not anticipated that Lu Nuoxin herself wanted to leave, yearning impatiently to get away.

Liu Siren, who had been unable to get a word in, was instantly reminded by their mention of that battle on the avenue ten years ago—such an ungracious thing was something Chu Tao had only ever done once, and wasn't it all Xie Junhe's fault?

The words had barely fallen when a black figure flashed past like a ghost, followed immediately by the crisp sound of a slap. The perm-haired man slammed into the door like a rubber ball, bounced back onto the ground, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, and a huge bump prominent on his forehead.

With this thought, Nan Ruochen raised his horse whip high and lashed down fiercely! The horse bolted forward as if frightened, and those who had been lurking in the shadows to shoot poisoned arrows refused to give up, chasing at full speed right behind the carriage.

Ling Yu and Jin Ling'er were startled and instantly came to a halt. Almost simultaneously, a black and a white Tang saber appeared in their respective hands, and they vanished into invisibility, replaced by two figures flashing with golden flames.

Both families had contributed effort, and the Torrent Mercenary Corps had paid a much heavier price, yet the ultimate benefits had been snatched away by the Starlight Mercenary Corps. How could such a good thing be missed?

He softly called out Xia Haijun's name, turning it over and over in his mouth, low and deeply affectionate. Never before had he called her like this.

"Tsk tsk tsk, tea appreciation is all about three sips per cup! Drinking it all down in one gulp like you is called 'drinking like a cow'!" Gong Jiaxi teased Song Daowu with a bizarre expression, while Li Xiang sat at the head of the tea ceremony setup, personally managing it for these two untouchable bigwigs.

"Forget it, forget it! You good-for-nothing mud that can't be plastered onto a wall!" The clan leader looked at Wu Ling kneeling before him, a pain piercing his chest with anger.