Xuanyuan Lige and the Second Young Beast Master had arrived in the capital!

Sha Qiuzi looked up and smiled. “That young man is no ordinary one — still hanging on even now, not dead yet?”

“Is he going to… come here?” Situ Haonan seemed a bit torn. Making contact with Xuanyuan Lige at a time like this, especially here in the Great Zhou capital, made him feel as though he were somehow betraying Jun Beiyue.

Although he and Xuanyuan Lige were both eager to hand over the territorial maps to the two Meng elders, both eager to find the dead barrier, saving Jun Beiyue mattered just as much!

No matter what, they had to make sure the two Meng elders saved Jun Beiyue first before anything else!

“He didn’t say anything — he’s rented out an inn near Prince Yao’s residence. Looks like he’s just waiting,” Yingzi answered.

Situ Haonan immediately understood, and had nothing further to say. But at this point, Yelu Qianqian couldn’t help but speak up. “Sha Qiuzi, can you really not save Young Master Xuanyuan? He’s… actually quite a good person!”

The moment Yelu Qianqian said this, both Yingzi and Sha Qiuzi looked over at Situ Haonan almost simultaneously. Situ Haonan shot them both a glare, telling them they were overthinking things.

Yelu Qianqian’s concern was perhaps a bit excessive, but he understood her nature well enough — and besides, while he’d been unconscious, Xuanyuan Lige had helped them quite a bit!

Though it hadn’t been out of any wish to help Ziqing specifically, Situ Haonan still remembered that debt of gratitude.

“Old Sha, is there truly no way at all?” Situ Haonan also asked earnestly.

Helplessly, Sha Qiuzi only shook his head. If there had been any way, he would have already treated him back when Prince Yao and the Princess Consort first gave the order.

And besides, having gone untreated for so long already, it was now beyond the reach of even heaven’s power. Sha Qiuzi secretly admired Xuanyuan Lige’s sheer willpower — yet as a physician, he understood clearly that it was precisely his obsessive determination to find Ziqing that had sustained him this long. The moment that obsession faded, he would likely…

Though Xuanyuan Lige hadn’t accomplished much of note in his life, his passing would still be a genuine loss to the Longyuan mainland.

Even Sha Qiuzi had no solution, and for a moment the whole room fell silent. Everyone kept watch quietly, from the dead of night until dawn broke.

The next morning, the moment court ended, Prince Baxian hurried straight to Xuanlong Palace, bringing Physician Gu along with him — naturally heading to find the two Meng elders.

Only Sha Qiuzi remained at Xuanlong Palace; Situ Haonan and the others all followed along as well.

Arriving at the courtyard, the two Meng elders happened to be having tea in the hall. Seeing Prince Baxian arrive leading a large group, they already had some idea of what was coming.

“Esteemed Elders, might the two of you have worked out a treatment method after your discussion last night?”

This time, Prince Baxian chose to get straight to the point.

Meng the Second and Meng the Third exchanged a glance, and Meng the Third spoke up. “To be honest with you all, the seal on Prince Yao’s chest was set by his birth mother — it’s genuinely difficult for outsiders to resolve. This seal is quite special, and as for how to undo it… my brother and I still need some time to think it through carefully.”

“And how long might that take?” Physician Gu couldn’t help but ask. If it were to take a year or two, even three, like the nurturing process, then what would be the point of going to such lengths to please the Meng clan people and ask for their help?

“Could it take up to a year?” Prince Baxian asked anxiously as well.

“That’s… hard to say. We can’t give you a specific timeframe right now — it might be worked out within just a few days, or it might take a year and still yield no solution!” Meng the Second said, his expression apologetic and helpless.

Seeing this, just as Physician Gu was about to pull out the item from his sleeve, Prince Baxian hastily stopped him. He let out a sigh and probed carefully, “If it takes a year, wouldn’t that delay your important business? Prince Nanzhao mentioned that the two of you came this time to search for something.”

A flicker of smugness crossed Meng the Second’s eyes as he replied, “To be honest with you, Prince Baxian, this time the two of us have come in search of a barrier, and that’s why we wished to borrow Great Zhou’s territorial maps.”

Meng the Second had originally assumed Prince Baxian would offer the maps on his own initiative — this had, after all, been arranged in advance with Prince Nanzhao — yet Prince Baxian hadn’t so much as mentioned it the day before.

Now, finally, there was a chance to bring up the matter of the maps.

“Searching for a barrier?” Prince Baxian looked quite puzzled, while off to the side, Situ Haonan and the others kept their eyes lowered, feigning indifference, hearts full of guilty secrets, quietly observing without a word.

“Yes, we brought along a group of new disciples for training, to search for barriers hidden across the Longyuan mainland,” Meng the Second said with a smile. He had no qualms telling Prince Baxian this much, since it was all secret anyway — even if he explained it, Prince Baxian wouldn’t understand.

“I see!”

Prince Baxian stroked his beard and had Physician Gu bring the item forward. “This is the territorial map of Great Zhou — please take good care of it.”

Meng the Third’s face lit up with joy, and he hurriedly accepted it with both hands, saying gratefully, “Thank you, Prince Baxian. We understand full well the importance of this map.”

Prince Baxian nodded, his expression earnest and sincere. “The two of you have important matters at hand — I hope Prince Yao’s situation won’t delay you too long.”

These words left the two Meng elders somewhat embarrassed. Meng the Second hurried to say, “Rest assured, Prince Baxian, we will do everything in our power for Prince Yao’s injury, and strive to break the seal as quickly as possible!”

Hearing this assurance, Prince Baxian finally felt satisfied and at ease!

As the saying goes, once you’ve taken someone’s hand, you can’t speak too harshly to them — the difference between offering the map right from the start versus offering it only now was precisely meant to instill a sense of urgency in these two Meng elders.

Little did Prince Baxian realize, the two Meng elders already had their own private scheme in mind!

Baili Weisheng had sat on the rooftop the whole night, and now, yawning, watched Prince Baxian and his group filing out, thinking to himself that this whole group must have been driven half-mad by Jun Beiyue’s injury.

Characters like Meng the Second and Meng the Third couldn’t possibly escape his notice.

Yet, thinking it over again, Baili Weisheng realized Jun Beiyue didn’t seem to have anyone particularly useful by his side, either. Unbidden, he found himself thinking of that fellow Xuanyuan Lige, whom he’d once fished up from the bottom of the sea.

He wondered whether that fellow was still in seclusion in the northern wastes. In this whole world, he was the only one who could play the sorrow of “Parting Grief” on the demon zither. He wondered how his illness was progressing — he really ought to take good care of himself.

Just as Baili Weisheng was mulling this over, he suddenly felt a rustling stir within his sleeve. His brows lifted, delighted — the little thing in his sleeve had woken up again!

Baili Weisheng stayed still, and soon, the little flying insect darted out from his sleeve.

He extended his hand, and it slowly landed on his fingertip, wings fluttering excitedly — its mood seemed rather good.

“Little thing, you’ve slept so long — ready to lead the way now?” Baili Weisheng asked cheerfully. The little insect seemed to understand him, circling his finger a few times before immediately flying off ahead.

However, Baili Weisheng didn’t follow right away, instead watching from a distance. He figured that following it would likely just mean circling around the palaces near Xuanlong Palace again — it was still early morning, so he’d best not take that risk.

But soon, he noticed something was off — the little insect had been gone for a long while, yet still hadn’t flown back!

Had it found something?

Baili Weisheng suddenly leapt up from the rooftop, his heart pounding with fear.