Meng the Second and Meng the Third had each returned to their own rooms. Baili Weisheng still lingered on the rooftop, rubbing his smooth chin, deep in thought.

Jun Beiyue had Meng clan blood in him — which meant Jun Beiyue was practically a fellow countryman of his, since, after all, they were both from Nanzhao!

Baili Weisheng mulled this over, but he wasn’t actually still dwelling on what Meng the Second and his brother had said — he’d already decided to act as if he’d heard nothing at all.

Where Jun Beiyue was concerned, he had always held to one principle: not kicking a man while he was down was already the greatest kindness he could offer!

As for asking him to save Jun Beiyue — that would only happen if it rained money from the sky!

The reason he’d stayed here without leaving was all for the sake of the seal in the world of poison beasts. Just yesterday, the little flying insect had darted out of his sleeve again, leading him all the way to the vicinity of Xuanlong Palace — he’d originally been startled, wondering if the seal was located right there in Xuanlong Palace!

But the wretched little insect had simply kept circling round and round, clearly unable to pinpoint the exact location. Although the search range had narrowed, just within the vicinity of Xuanlong Palace alone, there were no fewer than fifty large and small palace halls and pavilions.

Where on earth was he supposed to go looking!

To make matters worse, after circling around several times, the little insect had grown tired and retreated back into his sleeve to sleep.

Baili Weisheng had no choice but to wander the area nearby, occasionally observing the state of that sleeping deity in Xuanlong Palace from a distance.

And what he was pondering now was precisely the location of the seal to the world of poison beasts.

Somewhere within this general area — but exactly where?

Before coming to the capital, Xuanyuan Lige had never imagined it would turn out to be inside the imperial palace, because those three scrolls of ancient scripture had, to some extent, recorded certain knowledge about the dead barrier!

By all reasoning, the location of the dead barrier’s seal should always appear in some uniquely distinctive terrain — like the strange, magical place that was Mingsha Mountain in Xi Jing.

Yet the Great Zhou capital, aside from a few oddly auspicious feng shui sites in the outer city, had nothing distinctive at all within the inner city walls — just houses and roads. Let alone the imperial palace itself — even if there were scenic spots within it, they were all man-made, not natural terrain at all!

Baili Weisheng simply couldn’t make sense of it. These past days, he’d searched the surrounding area thoroughly and found nothing special at all, which made him start to wonder if the little insect had made some mistake!

But the little insect had been cultivated strictly according to the scriptures — it couldn’t possibly be wrong!

Baili Weisheng could only wait, wait for the tiny insect to wake up again, and continue the search, hoping for some new lead.

Deep in the night, silence had fallen — not only had the palace itself fallen still, but even the city beyond the palace walls, within the outer city, lay in complete quiet!

And it was at just such an hour that Meng the Fifth would take his daughter Meng Duo’er wandering through the streets and alleys. This night, Meng the Fifth finally made a discovery.

He stopped at the head of Xuanwu Avenue, his expression grave, raising a hand to signal Meng Duo’er to halt.

Meng Duo’er leaned idly against the wall nearby. Such a long, fruitless search had left her not only exhausted, but her once-enthusiastic spirit had also grown weary along with it.

“Daddy, what is it this time?” Meng Duo’er asked impatiently. Deep down, she no longer believed Fourth Aunt was even in the capital at all, and had already suggested several times that they change locations — but her father simply wouldn’t stop.

Meng the Fifth didn’t answer her, but instead closed his eyes, tilted his head back, as if sensing something.

Seeing this, Meng Duo’er immediately sprang up from against the wall. “Daddy, what’s happening?”

Only then did Meng the Fifth turn back, glaring fiercely at her, warning her to stay quiet.

Meng Duo’er understood — her father was serious. This time, there must be something. She immediately fell silent, waiting obediently beside him.

Sure enough, before long, Meng the Fifth exclaimed in alarm, “It’s right ahead!”

“Really?!” Meng Duo’er cried out.

Yet Meng the Fifth muttered to himself, puzzled, “Something’s not quite right, though!”

Hearing this, Meng Duo’er nearly toppled over. “Daddy, please don’t joke around like this!”

“I’m not joking — something’s genuinely off!” Meng the Fifth remained serious. “I can sense a barrier master’s aura, but that power is much weaker than mine — it’s unlikely to be your fourth aunt’s.”

“Could it be Uncle’s or the others’ people — have they made it to the capital too?” Meng Duo’er exclaimed.

“I can sense them, but they haven’t sensed my presence at all — they’re probably Second Uncle’s or Third Uncle’s disciples, otherwise they wouldn’t be this weak,” Meng the Fifth said seriously.

The moment she heard it was Second Uncle’s and Third Uncle’s disciples, Meng Duo’er’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Daddy, let’s go teach them a lesson!”

Second Uncle’s and Third Uncle’s disciples were the most incompetent of the lot, yet ordinarily the most fond of throwing their weight around — Meng Duo’er had put up with them for a long, long time!

Now that they weren’t in the Meng clan’s territory, but on the Longyuan mainland, and with her father backing her up, how could Meng Duo’er possibly pass up such a perfect chance for revenge?

Yet Meng the Fifth only rolled his eyes repeatedly. “Before we left, what two words did I give you?”

Seeing her father’s serious expression, Meng Duo’er pouted sullenly. “Low profile.”

“We snuck out in secret — they came here under the pretext of training. We can barely avoid them as it is, and here you want to go looking for them!” Meng the Fifth scolded, displeased, genuinely at a loss for what was going on inside his daughter’s head.

Meng Duo’er stuck out her tongue and shut her mouth sullenly. But then Meng the Fifth lowered his voice. “Let’s keep a low profile — sneak over quietly and see what exactly they’re up to in the capital, how about that?”

Meng Duo’er’s once-dull eyes immediately lit up, and without hesitation, “Okay!”

So father and daughter made their way together along Xuanwu Avenue. For a pair who slept by day and went out by night, even after being in the capital for quite some days, they truly weren’t familiar with it at all — how would they know that Xuanwu Avenue was the most famous street in the entire Great Zhou capital?

All the capital’s inner and outer city gates opened onto Xuanwu Avenue, and the palace’s three layers of gates were all along Xuanwu Avenue as well.

Indeed, at this very moment, they were heading straight toward the palace gates!

Within the palace, the lights of Xuanlong Palace blazed bright.

If not for Meng the Second and Meng the Third, Xuanlong Palace would surely have been in complete chaos by now.

In the medicinal pool, the pulsing of Jun Beiyue’s heart grew ever more violent, as if the entire heart might leap out of his chest at any moment.

Physician Gu, having kept watch all day, was resting to the side, while Sha Qiuzi and Situ Haonan and the others kept the night watch.

They ought to have felt reassured by now, yet Sha Qiuzi still felt something was off, uneasy, and insisted on keeping watch himself.

“Who knows how long they’ll need to discuss this! Has Prince Baxian even given them the territorial maps yet?” Situ Haonan said, displeased. He didn’t agree at all with Prince Baxian’s so-called proper etiquette — if it were up to him, he’d have simply brought out the maps directly and traded them with the two Meng elders for conditions!

“This matter requires caution. After all, His Highness isn’t of pure Meng clan bloodline — Consort Meng was merely an ordinary clan member. They’re under no obligation to save him,” Sha Qiuzi said flatly.

Just then, Yingzi suddenly rushed back in from outside, saying in a low voice, “Xuanyuan Lige has arrived in the capital!”