It would be best to go to Ale’s tribe immediately for treatment.

However, with Ale being inexplicably manipulated by someone, Xie Yunhuai worried that Xiao Huayong might abandon the plan to seek treatment at Ale’s tribe.

Looking at Xiao Huayong trembling from the cold, Xie Yunhuai refrained from saying more.

After half an hour, when Ahxi could administer acupuncture again and control the chill, Xiao Huayong managed to sit up with the guards’ support.

“How is my condition?” Xiao Huayong asked.

“Your Highness, plans must change. You should come with me to Ale’s tribe as soon as possible for detoxification treatment. We can’t wait until year’s end,” Xie Yunhuai urged anxiously.

Xiao Huayong had been considering this for the past half hour. He already had his suspicions, which were merely being confirmed: “Can we wait one more month?”

As a physician, Xie Yunhuai wanted to depart immediately, but Xiao Huayong needed to arrange many things. He could only say diplomatically: “Your Highness, the sooner the better…”

Waiting another month wasn’t impossible, but each day’s delay increased the danger.

Understanding Xie Yunhuai’s meaning, Xiao Huayong fell silent before asking: “Will these uncontrollable chills persist as they did earlier?”

After some thought, Xie Yunhuai replied: “If Your Highness has Ahxi perform acupuncture every three days, it can be suppressed.”

Nodding, Xiao Huayong asked: “Will I need to continue suppressing the poison?”

“The poison in Your Highness’s body is like a snake transitioning from winter to summer, from dormancy to wakefulness. The previous methods are no longer effective.” Xie Yunhuai spoke regretfully, as months of hard work had been rendered useless.

“I understand.” Xiao Huayong looked up at Xie Yunhuai. “Please prepare for the journey. Choose Qu’s ships.”

Xie Yunhuai sighed in relief that Xiao Huayong still trusted him and was willing to seek treatment: “Your Highness, rest assured, I will arrange everything properly. There won’t be any more oversights.”

“Ruogu, don’t worry. This incident wasn’t due to your negligence.” Xiao Huayong consoled him instead.

Whenever he came here, guards always accompanied him. Anyone approaching would not escape their notice. He had also posted guards at Xie Yunhuai’s place, confirming that no one had approached either Xie Yunhuai or Ale.

This incident…

Xiao Huayong waited for the guards’ interrogation results.

Soon, a guard’s voice came from outside: “Your Highness, I have something to report.”

“Enter.”

The guard entered, bowed, and said: “Your Highness, we suspect… Ale was subjected to soul-controlling sorcery.”

Xiao Huayong’s gaze sharpened. “Are you certain?”

The guard lowered his head: “We await confirmation from those the Chief Judge brings.”

By “those,” he meant Xiao Changyan’s advisor who had fallen into Shen Yun’an’s hands. This person was still alive because Shen Yun’an hadn’t obtained the method to break the soul-controlling sorcery, so he still had value.

“Let’s wait for confirmation before concluding.” Xiao Huayong pulled his light fur closer. “If…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, his eyes deep in thought. Ale didn’t understand Chinese. To use soul-controlling sorcery on him, the person would need to speak Ale’s tribal language. This suggested the person who cast the spell understood the Black Water tribe’s language.

This reminded Xiao Huayong of the poison he had received, and the poison Cui Jinbai had previously suffered.

Thinking of such a person lurking in the shadows made Xiao Huayong worry endlessly for Shen Xihe.

This person was deeply hidden, making it impossible to draw them out.

Though seemingly harboring deep hostility toward him, they never confronted him directly. They lurked in the darkness, striking when the opportunity arose, never showing themselves in normal times.

Even when they struck opportunistically, they didn’t care about securing their target, immediately retreating, moving so quickly one couldn’t tell if they were human or ghosts.

Xiao Huayong returned earlier than usual, making Shen Xihe suspicious. Seeing his face as pale and bloodless as when he’d left, she immediately went to grasp his hand: “What happened today?”

He’d returned early, and usually, his complexion improved after visiting for two days, but today there seemed to be no improvement.

“Something happened, but conclusions aren’t yet certain. I’ll tell you once things are clear.” Xiao Huayong spoke softly.

He didn’t intend to hide this from Shen Xihe. His plans needed to be moved up, and he couldn’t wait until the last moment to prepare her mentally.

“Alright.” Shen Xihe wasn’t anxious. Since he would tell her clearly, she would wait.

With the person in their custody, the investigation proceeded quickly, but the results were utterly unexpected to Xiao Huayong.

His unreadable gaze fell on the guard: “You’re saying under severe torture, he confessed it was Prince Jing?”

“Yes, Your Highness, it was indeed Prince Jing.” The guard respectfully replied. “In his youth, he had an extraordinary master who traveled with him to Ale’s tribe. He understands their language, and back in Dengzhou, he had checked Your Highness’s pulse, so he knew about this strange poison. He has served Prince Jing for over ten years and taught half his skills to Prince Jing.”

“So Prince Jing also knows soul-controlling sorcery?” Xiao Huayong pondered.

“According to this person’s confession, yes,” the guard replied.

Xiao Huayong stood by the window with his hands behind his back, his gaze directed outside while his thoughts wandered far.

When suspecting Ale had been subjected to soul-controlling sorcery, Xiao Huayong hadn’t considered Xiao Changyan as the perpetrator. Bringing in Xiao Changyan’s advisor was merely to confirm if Ale had been affected by the sorcery; he hadn’t expected such a result.

“You may go,” Xiao Huayong waved his hand.

“Your Highness, how should we handle Ale?” the guard inquired.

Xiao Huayong turned around, his gaze calm: “Keep him under constant watch.”

He couldn’t take Ale’s life. Aside from Ale being a victim, Xiao Huayong still needed to return to Ale’s tribe with Xie Yunhuai for treatment. If he didn’t bring Ale back alive, they might face rejection and suspicion from the tribe.

“Understood.” As the guard exited, he saw Shen Xihe and Ziyu waiting outside with soup and quickly bowed.

Shen Xihe nodded and entered with Ziyu.

She and Ziyu placed the soup on the table, then she dismissed Ziyu: “Have you found out?”

Xiao Huayong, wearing his light fur, strode over, looked down at Shen Xihe, took a bowl of soup from her hands, and stirred it with a spoon for a moment before saying: “Youyou, I’m afraid I can’t go to the Black Water tribe with you…”

Shen Xihe’s hand, about to serve herself soup, paused. She looked up at him: “Why?”

After gazing at Shen Xihe somewhat dazedly for a while, Xiao Huayong blinked and lowered his head to stare at the soup in his hands: “That day when I went to see Ruogu…”

Xiao Huayong recounted everything that had happened. He originally had nearly half a year left, but it had suddenly shortened to just one month.

“Clang!”

The spoon in Shen Xihe’s hand fell, splashing soup everywhere.