Situ Xin’er had meant to follow after him, but with Situ Haonan’s kick and warning, she froze in fright, standing there just as dumbstruck as Prince Baxian beside her, unable to recover for a long moment!

Once Situ Haonan left, a flash of white shadow followed close behind him. No one knew who it was, but whoever could tail a master like Situ Haonan without making a single sound was undoubtedly no ordinary person!

By the time Situ Haonan arrived, he found the shopkeeper sprawled on the ground, Jun Beiyue’s foot pressing down hard on his back, his face cold and vicious. “Still won’t talk, is that it!”

“This lowly one truly doesn’t know anything, Prince Yao, please investigate clearly, Prince Yao, spare this lowly one’s life!”

“I’ve been wronged! This lowly one knows nothing at all, that customer left long ago!”

…

The shopkeeper kept crying out his innocence, tears nearly streaming down his face. But Jun Beiyue paid no heed, and as he pressed down harder, a sickening crack of breaking bone sounded out.

“Ah—!” The shopkeeper’s leg gave out entirely under the pressure, and he collapsed in a heap!

Watching this, Situ Haonan felt uncertain himself—they’d searched the entire city and found no one, which meant this person had to be hidden somewhere, and this shop was one of the few remaining places where they could still be sheltered.

Yet nothing was certain!

Word of tonight’s events had already spread through the entire city since New Year’s Eve. If they wrongly punished an innocent commoner now, all the years of goodwill Jun Beiyue had worked so hard to earn from the people would be utterly destroyed!

Just as Situ Haonan was hesitating, Prince Baxian suddenly came rushing in and immediately shouted for him to stop upon seeing this. “Beiyue, that’s enough! This is torturing a confession out of him!”

Seeing Prince Baxian arrive, the shopkeeper’s pained expression flickered for a moment, then he immediately wailed even louder. “I’ve been wronged, this humble commoner has been wronged! I beg the Prince to see justice done for me!”

Prince Baxian strode forward at once, glaring furiously at the leg Jun Beiyue still had planted on the shopkeeper’s back. “Have you forgotten every word I just said to you? For the sake of one woman, you’ll kill one innocent man today—tomorrow you’ll be killing an entire city of innocents!”

If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it—but when he’d arrived, this shopkeeper had clearly been about to flee!

At this moment, the entire city had soldiers stationed at every corner, and not a single household dared step outside without good reason. Yet this shopkeeper had been trying to leave. If he wasn’t suspicious, who was?

Jun Beiyue had no time to waste on idle chatter with anyone, let alone patience for Prince Baxian’s lecturing!

“Still won’t talk, is that it!” A cold, cruel smile curved at the corner of Jun Beiyue’s lips. “Someone bring me a blade. This prince will personally strip his skin off!”

“You will not!” Prince Baxian barked immediately.

But no matter how great Prince Baxian’s authority or reputation, the true ruler of Da Zhou, the one who actually commanded the armies, was Jun Beiyue. A guard immediately handed over a dagger.

Prince Baxian rushed forward to snatch it away, in the middle of earnestly trying to reason with him, only for Jun Beiyue not even to spare her a glance before knocking her aside with a single elbow strike!

True to his word, with no further exchange, the blade flashed, poised to slice down—and the shopkeeper finally broke. “I’ll talk! I’ll talk! Prince Yao, spare me, I’ll talk!”

At these words, Prince Baxian was utterly stunned—she’d never expected the shopkeeper truly was a conspirator working with the woman in purple!

She felt rather humiliated as well, retreating quietly to the side, thinking to herself that no matter what, Jun Beiyue’s excessive devotion to this one woman was bound to bring disaster to the nation sooner or later—this was something she needed to remain vigilant about.

“Where is she!” Jun Beiyue said coldly, pressing the blade urgently against the shopkeeper’s stomach.

“Prince Yao must first promise to spare this lowly one—only then will this lowly one dare speak!” This shopkeeper truly was no ordinary man—even at death’s door, he still dared to bargain with Jun Beiyue!

“Fine.” Jun Beiyue agreed readily!

“There’s a secret passage beneath the outhouse in the back courtyard—she escaped through there!” Only then did the shopkeeper reveal the truth!

Yet the moment the words left his mouth, a flash of blade light appeared, followed by a shrill, agonized scream. By the time anyone could react, Jun Beiyue had already vanished, leaving the shopkeeper disemboweled, eyes wide with shock, dead in a most gruesome manner.

Situ Haonan hurried after him, descending into the secret passage together with Jun Beiyue, and only then discovered just how vast this hidden tunnel truly was!

Barely a moment later, Situ Haonan cried out in alarm, rushing over with a slip of paper in hand. “Beiyue, look!”

This piece of paper had clearly been torn from another sheet—a clue someone had deliberately left behind! It bore only three characters: “Yaoshun Island.” Judging by the freshness of the ink, it couldn’t have been written more than a day ago!

Jun Beiyue glanced at Situ Haonan, and before he could even speak, Situ Haonan said, “You go after them. I’ll go issue orders to seal off every port!”

The two split up to act separately, and just then, a head poked out from around a corner—none other than that irritating scholar, Baili Weisheng!

His face, rarely seen so troubled, showed genuine concern. He glanced at the paper on the ground, then at the exit nearby, hesitating repeatedly before finally following after Jun Beiyue!

Yet who could have expected—this chase led straight along the secret passage, all the way out beyond the city walls!

This was the northern outskirts of the capital, a stretch of mountain forest, with no trace or clue to be found anywhere.

Jun Beiyue furiously swept his hand and snapped a small tree blocking the exit, but decisively chose not to pursue any further himself.

“Yingzi, comb every corner within a thousand li for this prince! Spread the order—anyone who harbors or shelters them will have their entire clan executed to the ninth degree!”

With that, he immediately turned back toward the capital. By the time he returned, Situ Haonan had already arranged everything, quietly sealing off every port without alerting anyone.

“Beiyue, all the northern ports are frozen solid. This is the only port left, and it’s the closest one to Yaoshun Island!” Situ Haonan said, spreading out a map.

Though the Spring Festival had arrived, the entire Longyuan continent still lay buried in ice and snow. Aside from this one port in Da Zhou, there wasn’t a single port north of Da Zhou capable of putting out to sea!

To reach the ocean, one either had to go through here, or else head all the way to Nanzhao!

Situ Haonan wasn’t normally a cautious, thorough person, but this time, he dared not be careless in the slightest, having already dispatched urgent messengers to alert border commanders in every direction to watch closely for anyone attempting to leave the territory.

Seeing Jun Beiyue return, Situ Haonan hurried over. “I’ve already sent word to the border commanders in all four directions. The search within the capital continues, so as not to spook them into hiding further!”

Situ Haonan’s fervent diligence stemmed from two things—his worry for Ziqing, and his need to atone. If not for Situ Xin’er ruining everything, if not for her stopping Jun Beiyue, how could that woman in purple have escaped so easily!

If anything happened to Ziqing, he would never forgive himself, not even in death!

“Mm.” Jun Beiyue only gave a flat response, his brow furrowed into a deep knot. He pressed his fingers to his temples and said, “Prepare the horses. We’re heading to the port!”

Da Zhou was vast, and even with all four borders sealed, he had no full confidence that he could trap those people completely—and even if he did manage to trap them, in a sea of humanity with no clear trail, how would he even begin to find them?

He’d considered luring them out—at the very least, he still held Ziqing’s Wuzheng and the Lishang score in his possession!

That group had come for Ziqing, which surely meant they were also after the secret of the Solitary Island!

But luring them out required waiting—and there was no time left to wait!

Going quietly to the port to wait was, in fact, the safest course of action.

What could they possibly want at Yaoshun Island? To search for the totem’s secret?

“Beiyue, I’m coming too!” Situ Haonan said timidly. Seeing that Jun Beiyue didn’t refuse, he was overjoyed and immediately mounted his horse to follow!

Yet Baili Weisheng had already set off well before either of them. Clad in robes as white as snow, his hair ribbon streaming like silk, he galloped at breakneck speed, and upon reaching a stretch of riverbank, without even slowing his horse, he leapt into the air and plunged headfirst straight into the water…