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Who knows which sea merchants had the misfortune of encountering these bandit monsters?

Seeing her anxious expression, the stall owner paused and sneered: “Make up those few dozen spirit stones, and I’ll let you live.” Noticing Peng Bai’s wandering gaze, he added, “No one here can save you. Don’t believe me? Try it.”

Even a mighty dragon cannot suppress a local snake. The surrounding business was quiet, passersby hurried by without interfering, and there were one or two stalls nearby, but their owners treated them as air, clearly not wanting to get involved.

How many people would step forward to help strangers?

However, just as he finished speaking, a large hand suddenly reached from behind and grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around!

The stall owner was caught off guard and stumbled, growing furious: “Who dares to manhandle me!” But when he looked up, he saw a row of large men standing behind him, each with an imposing physique and stern countenance.

Having been in the business of robbery for so long, they were accustomed to sizing people up. These strong men were hardened fighters who had tasted blood, nothing like the innocent family of three before them.

The lead man spoke coldly: “State your affiliations, or I’ll make you wish you were dead!” He applied pressure, and the stall owner felt his shoulder bones about to break.

Being a fierce bandit himself, the opponent’s aggression sparked his fighting spirit. Enraged, he shouted: “Brothers, attack! Beat these scoundrels!” They had seven people as well—if they couldn’t win the fight, couldn’t they at least escape? This was Luo Fu City after all, with marketplace patrols; it wasn’t lawless territory!

As the two sides clashed in a chaotic brawl, Peng Bai and Feng Miao Jun exchanged glances before quickly slipping away with Madam Xu.

Half an incense stick’s time later, the stall owner, beaten black and blue, wanted to report them, but where were they now?

After the three had slipped away several li, Madam Xu finally patted her chest and said: “That was close. I didn’t expect someone would come to our aid.”

Feng Miao Jun smiled without speaking. Peng Bai glanced at her, instinctively feeling that she was likely involved, but he didn’t expose her. The princess had grown up and had her judgment in all matters.

Upon returning to the inn, Peng Bai found himself alone in his room. Feng Miao Jun saw this as a good opportunity and quickly made up an excuse to send Madam Xu over to him. Madam Xu, half embarrassed and half annoyed, said: “You child!” but went along half-reluctantly.

Feng Miao Jun returned to her room, closed the door, and took off her earring, tossing it onto the table: “You heard it all, right?”

“I heard it,” the earring transformed into a small white weasel before hitting the ground, its button-like black eyes looking at her. “The King of Wei was assassinated, and among those who competed with him for the Dragon-Piercing Chart back then, the true culprit might be found!”

The ghost-faced spider mother had broadcast the conversation from Shadow Palace. It had been right by Feng Miao Jun’s ear, so of course it heard everything.

Feng Miao Jun sighed: “What a pity about my spider mother.”

She had kept the spider mother in a tiny bottle. Yun Ya had five nests in total, all usually cared for by her. These creatures were particularly discreet for espionage. She had kept one nest for herself. This time, when leaving the State Preceptor, she had acted on an opportunity and hadn’t had time to return it, so she had been keeping it until now.

This spider mother was especially obedient. Earlier, it had taken advantage of the darkness to drop from the tree onto the stall owner’s back, hiding in the hem of his clothes.

She had heard the last few sentences transmitted from the baby spider and knew that Jing Shun and others had inadvertently discovered they were being monitored and would follow the trail back. She had intended to place the spider mother randomly on the osmanthus tree, considering it returned to Yun Ya via Jing Shun. Unexpectedly, the unscrupulous stall owner had confronted them, so she couldn’t blame herself for using the tiger to devour the wolf.

Another useful tool is gone.

Thanks to the ghost-faced spider’s sound transmission function, she had heard everything Jing Shun and the Jiao People’s King discussed in Shadow Palace, including the suspect information reported by the fat-headed fish. Having learned this great secret, she immediately realized:

The murderer who killed the King of Wei wasn’t Crown Prince Xiao Jing at all!

Since Jing Shun and the others were sent by Xiao Yan, it showed that the Second Prince of Wei also had doubts about this. But outside, the news of the Crown Prince killing his father had spread like wildfire, undoubtedly rumors he had released.

Feng Miao Jun could understand the reason behind this without much thought. Now what she wanted to know was, had Yun Ya been involved as well?

He was close to Xiao Yan, and framing the Crown Prince of Wei was very much in line with his usual approach. Both Mo Tizhun and Lu Ming had intentionally or unintentionally mentioned to her that Yun Ya was on bad terms with the Crown Prince of Wei. So this time, was the State Preceptor also participating in the court’s political chaos?

Why would Yun Ya involve himself in this murky situation? Was it for self-preservation?

That might be one reason, but Feng Miao Jun always felt he had other motives.

Regardless, she now knew another big secret of Xiao Yan and Yun Ya, which made her feel that her head wasn’t very secure.

Fortunately, after leaving Spiral Float Island, no one would be able to track her whereabouts.

Thinking of this, she placed the plant she had bought in the afternoon on the table: “Why did you want me to buy this?”

“It’s this,” the small weasel extended its paw and tapped the pot holding the water plant, producing two dull sounds. “The valuable thing is this.”

The sound was like knocking on a broken pot, without any of the clear, pleasant ring of metal. Feng Miao Jun found another container for the water plant and carefully examined the pot.

The small pot was only as large as a palm, with thick edges. At first glance, it looked like a wide-mouthed wine cup, but with three feet at the bottom. Probably from being submerged in the seabed for a long time, its surface had turned a dark black color, and there were two oyster shells stuck to the feet.

In short, it was too inconspicuous, no wonder the stall owner had used it merely as a water container. “What kind of treasure is this?” She had only later discovered that catching White Board had been like finding a treasure. Being a liquid metal monster, it was particularly sensitive to metals, especially unusual ones. After all, these were all part of its diet.

When a liquid metal monster consumed certain metal artifacts, there was a certain probability it would inherit their characteristics. Now, did it want to gnaw on this pot again?

“Let me investigate it first,” White Board said, then transformed back into liquid metal and covered the pot’s surface.

When Feng Miao Jun didn’t want it to eat certain magical artifacts, she could only let it explore their properties this way.

However, this time it withdrew in less than two breaths, jumping back onto the table while loudly cursing: “What a treacherous ghostly thing! I couldn’t penetrate it, and instead, it absorbed my spiritual energy!”

Oh? This pot could actively devour spiritual energy. Feng Miao Jun’s interest was finally piqued.

At least after White Board’s polishing, the pot’s surface had been cleaned, revealing its original color. She saw two small characters on the pot wall:

Hong Lu.

Who would give such a grandiose name to a pot?

Feng Miao Jun didn’t laugh, because these two characters weren’t the commonly used script of the time, but the language of the Celestial Demons!

Had this object once been a magical artifact of the Celestial Demons?

“What’s its special function?”

White Board huffed angrily: “It eats everything.”

Feng Miao Jun gave it a flick on the forehead: “Explain in detail.”

“Whatever you feed it, it eats,” White Board scratched its head. “Anything placed in the pot is considered its food. It will devour and digest it, then transform it into spiritual energy… in liquid form.”