The Second Beast Young Master’s heart, which had only just settled, immediately leapt straight back into his throat. Following the direction Situ Haonan pointed, he saw it at once—a clear footprint stamped onto the merfolk clan leader’s robes.

The Second Beast Young Master’s face immediately turned pale. He’d never imagined leaving behind such damning evidence—in the darkness, his kick had been swift and forceful, leaving him no room to consider such details, and he’d had no idea that Situ Haonan, born into the martial world’s leading family, could effortlessly control the force of his own strike to leave a trace like this without anyone noticing.

Naturally, this evidence wouldn’t be found solely on the robe. Jun Beiyue said nothing, watching coldly.

The merfolk clan leader immediately sensed something was off, not even daring to touch his own robe, letting Situ Haonan hold it up as he said seriously, “Your Majesty, since there’s evidence here, why not verify it clearly right now, to avoid wronging an innocent person later!”

No one present was a fool—in fact, everyone here was exceedingly clever.

Situ Haonan had discovered the footprint himself, and since he’d chosen to point it out, that meant he wasn’t afraid of this evidence at all. Given the relationship between Situ Haonan and Jun Beiyue, this was clearly Situ Haonan’s attempt to clear Jun Beiyue’s name.

“This footprint, though not entirely clear, is still fairly large—surely we can at least compare it against everyone’s feet!” the Medicine Clan leader added. With nothing to hide, he naturally had no fear in speaking up.

The beastfolk clan leader, however, said nothing, glancing instinctively at the Second Beast Young Master beside him. He, too, had nothing to hide personally—had his son not been present, he could have spoken just as freely as the Medicine Clan leader. But he couldn’t be certain whether his son shared that same clear conscience.

With so many people present in this matter, only a handful were truly beyond suspicion. Even though he firmly believed his own son would never do such a thing, he couldn’t entirely shake off the doubt.

Jun Beiyue said nothing, his face darkening, and was the very first to extend his own foot. Everyone could see clearly at once that Jun Beiyue wore short boots—everyone else had changed into Nanzhao-style clothing, paired with Nanzhao-style sandals, except for Jun Beiyue, who remained in his black combat attire, never having changed at all.

The footprints left by short boots and sandals were entirely different in shape. Though the mark on the robe was faint, one could still make out a general impression.

This footprint looked far more like the mark of a sandal—and everyone quickly recognized this fact.

Jun Beiyue’s composed, unspoken authority made the Prince of Nanzhao feel an involuntary sense of unease—for a sovereign ruler to feel such deference toward a mere prince was something even the Prince of Nanzhao himself could hardly believe, yet at this moment, he genuinely felt guilty about it.

His earlier request for Jun Beiyue to stay behind had, after all, clearly implied suspicion toward him.

Soon, Jun Beiyue lowered his foot, crossed his arms, and sat back down, still saying nothing, his cold, striking face darkened in a way no one dared meet directly.

Who could have known—this man was actually furious.

And the Prince of Nanzhao understood: if he didn’t find the true culprit right now and give him a clear, satisfactory explanation, this man wouldn’t leave.

“Medicine Clan leader.” At the Prince of Nanzhao’s command, the Medicine Clan leader immediately, quite naturally, extended his own foot—his large sandal was fairly close in size to the footprint.

The Medicine Clan leader didn’t dare speak carelessly, but his heart was pounding regardless. Though he had no idea what the culprit’s true motive was, he understood clearly enough that this had been a frame job—and now that Jun Beiyue had seen through it, who would the culprit try to frame next?

The Prince of Nanzhao glanced at the Medicine Clan leader’s foot and said nothing. The beastfolk clan leader then extended his own foot as well, his feet even larger than the Medicine Clan leader’s—people of the beastfolk clan generally had large feet, giving them remarkable stability whether walking or running.

The beastfolk clan leader was every bit as anxious inside. He understood clearly enough that the culprit had to be among these three: Jun Beiyue, Situ Haonan, or the Second Beast Young Master.

Jun Beiyue was now the least suspicious of the three, leaving only Situ Haonan and the Second Beast Young Master. He, of course, trusted his own son—but he couldn’t quite find the reasoning to fully clear Jun Beiyue either, since Jun Beiyue, though suspicious, had no real need to do such a thing.

Reasoning it through logically, everyone else could be ruled out, leaving only his own son. The beastfolk clan leader had initially been quick to rule his son out too, but the size of this footprint… he hesitated.

The Prince of Nanzhao still said nothing. The Second Beast Young Master extended his foot as well, and at the same moment, Situ Haonan extended his too. Just going by size alone, there were still quite a few plausible suspects.

The Prince of Nanzhao appeared stern, but inside he was already anxious as an ant on a hot skillet, glancing instinctively at Jun Beiyue, whose face remained just as dark—for a moment, he had no idea what to do.

Everyone present was under suspicion. That left only the merfolk clan leader with whom he could consult.

The Prince of Nanzhao cleared his throat a few times. “Merfolk clan leader, do you have any thoughts on this?”

“Your Majesty, whoever kicked me must have been seated directly across from me. Prince Yao and Master Situ were both beside him—that seems unlikely.”

This remark from the merfolk clan leader was rather pointed, and even Jun Beiyue couldn’t help a flicker of amusement in his eyes.

“Merfolk clan leader, you’d best choose your words carefully,” the Medicine Clan leader couldn’t help but interject. These words clearly implied the culprit had to be among the three people remaining.

The Medicine Clan leader appeared indignant, but in truth, given the current circumstances, he’d already roughly figured out who the culprit likely was—these words were merely meant to provoke the merfolk clan leader.

On the surface, the Three Clans maintained cordial relations, but behind closed doors, they’d always fought tooth and nail for the king’s favor. With such a golden opportunity presenting itself, how could anyone resist kicking a man while he was down?

Sure enough, the merfolk clan leader couldn’t hold his temper, snapping coldly at once, “Medicine Clan leader, what do you mean I haven’t chosen my words carefully? I’ve spoken with the utmost care—the person who kicked me clearly struck from directly in front of me. Aside from you three, who else could it possibly be—the King himself?”

At these words, the beastfolk clan leader immediately grew angry. “Merfolk clan leader, aren’t you being a bit too presumptuous?”

Soon, the three clan leaders fell into a heated argument, leaving the Prince of Nanzhao with a splitting headache. The Second Beast Young Master eyed the merfolk clan leader’s midsection coldly—if his robe already bore a footprint, what about the skin beneath?

Whether it had been Situ Haonan or Jun Beiyue who’d pulled this trick, this move had left him utterly unable to cope.

He pondered how exactly to destroy the evidence, while Jun Beiyue watched every bit of the Second Beast Young Master’s behavior, letting the three clan leaders argue away. He had no intention of giving the Second Beast Young Master any opening here—all he was waiting for was Ziqing. He needed some way to get her over here, to let her see this true Ancient Music Cavern that had just been kicked open, and the musical notation covering its three walls.

The Prince of Nanzhao, after all, was now thoroughly spooked. Once they left this place, no one would ever be allowed back in—and they likely wouldn’t be able to find anything more here in Nanzhao ever again.

Jun Beiyue glanced around the dim cavern, then at the walls surrounding them, seemingly struck by an idea, his long, elegant hand slowly closing around the hilt of his sword…

He thought to himself: it had been a while since he’d given Ziqing a surprise. He wondered whether she’d like these two surprises waiting here.

His sword slid silently from its sheath, though only a few inches of the blade emerged, nothing overtly forceful about it. He shot Situ Haonan a look, and Situ Haonan immediately understood, narrowing his eyes with a grin, thoroughly delighted.