FRGNM -Chapter 223 An Accidental Discovery

At the same time, within the imperial palace, the man standing there gazed at the woman lying inside the coffin. He gently raised a hand and caressed her cheek. “Píngtíng, do you really think that once you’re gone, I’ll feel any better? You’re wrong…”

“At most one month. When everything is finally settled, I will…” With a faint smile, Murong Hua bent down and softly kissed her forehead, then turned and left the grand hall.

The forest outside the city was indeed refreshing. Free from the oppressive atmosphere of the imperial capital, even the rarely seen magical beasts had ventured out. For some reason, there seemed to be more magical beasts in this forest than before. In just one hour, Ling Ruoxi had already hunted more than ten of them.

“Hey, watch me!” A white figure suddenly shot forward like lightning. With a flick of his right hand, he snapped his finger fiercely toward the front. The running leopard was sent flying by that single strike.

He leapt back gracefully, arriving before the leopard and slamming a hard kick into its spine. The sound of bones breaking rang out, and the unfortunate beast was kicked straight to Ling Ruoxi’s feet.

“See that, Ruoxi? I caught this one!” Patting his chest confidently, the silver wolf Xiao Bai raised his sharp brows and shot a provocative look at Luo Mingyu.

When Qian Yi learned that this silver wolf was Ling Ruoxi’s natal magical beast, even she was startled and almost drew her spear on the spot, eager to fight him. Such a rare opponent—how could she let the chance slip?

“I say, Ruoxi, is that woman sick or something? She keeps staring at me. I know I’m handsome and cool, but she doesn’t have to look at me like that—I’ll get shy!” The mischievous fellow covered his face with his hands, though there wasn’t a trace of embarrassment to be seen.

Nangong Mo roasted a wild rabbit, inhaled the aroma, and smiled. “It’s about ready. We’ve been busy for a while—sit down and eat. The road through this forest is still long. We’ll take it slowly. That wild fox is hard to catch. If we get the chance, we’ll wipe out its entire den.”

“Easy for you to say. Why don’t you try it?” Qian Yi snorted coldly, tossing the wild chicken in her hand to the ground and kicking a large tree.

Bang, bang, bang!

Red fruits fell from the branches. Fortunately, Nangong Mo reacted quickly, moving his hands like four palms as he caught them all. His face turned a bluish-purple. “Crazy woman! What are you doing—trying to start a fight again?”

“Bring it on! You think I’m afraid of you?” With a low shout, Qian Yi summoned her red-tasseled spear and thrust it straight toward Nangong Mo’s lower body.

Damn it!

The move left the silver wolf dumbfounded—he nearly dropped the fruit in his mouth. Swallowing hard, he muttered, “I say, Luo Mingyu, is Qian Yi sexually frustrated or something? That’s vicious. Looks like Nangong Mo’s not up to the task, otherwise she wouldn’t always aim for our most fragile spots!”

“You bastard, take this!” Qian Yi’s ears twitched. Her expression changed instantly, a blush rising to her cheeks. She flicked her wrist, the spear pointing straight at the silver wolf.

Barely avoiding the spear, the silver wolf turned and bolted. “Nangong Mo, keep your crazy woman under control! If you can’t, get more medicine from Ruoxi—I guarantee the cure will work instantly. She won’t dare provoke you again!”

“Get lost!” Nangong Mo’s face darkened further as he picked up a stone and hurled it at the fleeing silver wolf.

Still fooling around, the silver wolf dodged and made a face. Just as he stomped his foot, his expression changed drastically.

Boom!

His reaction was swift—his lightning-fast figure sprang into the air and landed on the ground as Qian Yi’s spear arrived. He calmly reached out and grabbed it with one hand, saying coolly, “Enough messing around. Look at this…”

“Hm?”

Ling Ruoxi strode over and froze when she saw the ground.

It looked like part of the earth had suddenly collapsed beneath them. They were standing directly above a cavern, but it was far too dark below to make out anything clearly.

Still, the fact that the silver wolf had caught Qian Yi’s spear with one hand surprised her. Qian Yi quickly withdrew her weapon, secretly resolving to spar with him next time. Lowering her head to peer into the cavern, she paused. “Look over there.”

“Where?”

The silver wolf leaned forward, following her gaze.

At the same time, everyone sucked in a sharp breath. Inside the cavern, a flame-shaped mark was etched with a bolt of lightning, and the cloud in the center was split in two. That symbol—wasn’t it Lieyun’s emblem?

“Is this Lieyun’s place? But why would he dig a cavern here?” Qian Yi frowned and rolled up her sleeves, preparing to jump down.

Nangong Mo grabbed her wrist and shook his head. “Careful—this could be a trap. This was dug out artificially, yet there’s no trace of mold, which means someone cleans it regularly. Silver Wolf, you go down and investigate. Come back and report to us.”

“Why me?” Rolling his eyes, the silver wolf looked at Nangong Mo unhappily.

Luo Mingyu smiled faintly. “Go, Silver Wolf. You’re the only one who can transform into a small animal and slip inside without drawing attention. If anything feels off, come back immediately—don’t force it.”

“Fine.” Nodding, the silver-white figure transformed into a small white dog. Rolling on the ground, his fur became dirty and dark, almost like a black puppy, before he lightly jumped into the cavern.

Seeing this, Ling Ruoxi stepped back. The four of them sat where they were, and to be safe, Luo Mingyu set up a barrier around them to prevent detection and to isolate their conversation.

Nangong Mo looked grim, staring at the wild rabbit without any appetite. His mood was still affected by Consort Li, Ye Píngtíng, and now this discovery. Lieyun’s forces were ultimately too strong. Even with a list of names in hand, what could he really do?

“Don’t worry too much. Silver Wolf will be fine. Even if he’s in danger, he can escape back into your beast space,” Luo Mingyu said gently.

Ling Ruoxi wasn’t worried about that. With Silver Wolf’s intelligence, he wouldn’t be discovered easily. Still… her gaze fell on Nangong Mo, her brows knitting tightly. She couldn’t think of any way to save him from what lay ahead.

Silence fell. The four of them sat together, staring ahead without a word. Rather than a relaxing outing, it felt more like they had come to find a quiet place to think. One month—time was running out.

Whoosh!

A darkened figure suddenly burst out of the cavern like lightning.

“Move! This place is dangerous!” The silver wolf roared hoarsely and took off at once. The other four followed immediately, dismantling the barrier and fleeing at full speed.

Almost at the same moment, black energy spread from the cavern. Dozens of figures appeared on the empty ground, staring in the direction the group had fled.

“Who were they?” With a single strike, the standing man pierced one person’s head and asked coldly.

The guard shuddered violently. “This… this subordinate doesn’t know. I didn’t see them…”

Blood splattered everywhere. The man’s face darkened. “Chase them. No matter who they are, eliminate them!”

“Master, their strength is all above Blue Venerable. Should we really pursue? The imperial city is ahead—if we alert them—”

“Hmph. They’re lucky. Blue Venerable? Heh. Another batch of that bastard’s lackeys?” He sneered. “Forget it. Go back and continue researching the magical beasts. When magical beasts and armies are combined, I refuse to believe this dead city won’t fall!”

They fled back to the imperial capital almost in panic. Only after reaching Hanyu Pavilion did they finally relax.

The silver wolf reverted to human form, his face pale. There was a fresh sword wound on his arm. Slumped over the table, he said weakly, “That was close. The people inside are no pushovers.”

“Xiao Bai, what did you see?” Ling Ruoxi asked softly as she bandaged his arm.

He opened his eyes and looked at them, inhaling sharply before speaking in a low voice: “A magical beast army.”

“Magical beasts?” Qian Yi froze. “You mean the cavern was full of them?”

“Yes. Lieyun lured all the magical beasts nearby, captured them, and brought them into the cavern for experiments. I overheard them—they plan to use these beasts to breach the imperial city,” the silver wolf said gravely. “The city has a barrier, but it’s over a thousand years old and weakening. With inside help and an attack combining armies and beasts, even the powerful Duanyun Kingdom would be destroyed. Nangong Mo, you’re the crown prince—do you have a solution? From what I saw, there are at least ten thousand magical beasts.”

“Ten thousand…” Nangong Mo’s expression darkened. The four city gates together held only about a hundred thousand soldiers. Lieyun had a million troops—and now ten thousand magical beasts. Once the barrier shattered…

Even Qian Yi looked shaken. “Ten thousand magical beasts attacking a city—what a bold move. Unless we have divine or sacred beasts stronger than them, we won’t be able to stop this before it begins.”

Only high-level beasts could suppress them. A head-on clash with soldiers would mean catastrophic losses.

The silver wolf sighed helplessly. “You’re dreaming. If intimidation worked, I wouldn’t be injured.”

“Oh?” Qian Yi blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Lieyun drugs the beasts after capturing them,” the silver wolf explained.

“They’re no longer conscious—no pain, no fear. Even if you kill them, they don’t realize they’re dead. They’re berserk beasts. We have no choice but to face them head-on… or set up an even stronger killing formation and wipe them out one by one.”