Chapter 40: Imperial City

The next day, the group decided to sneak inside and investigate for themselves.

Whether it was true or not would become clear soon enough. If they could indeed find traces of the array’s activation here, the finger of suspicion would point in a much clearer direction. At that point, Shang Si might even need to pay Qin Lan another visit.

Qingzhi had developed an interest in ancient arrays years ago and pored over some ancient texts, qualifying her as an entry-level array master. She had a basic understanding of the site requirements for different formations. Little had she imagined that these armchair theories would one day serve as vital signposts, guiding them toward the truth.

It was likely an oversight on the array master’s part. Right there in the Plum Garden, deep within the imperial palace, they found fresh traces of the array’s activation—completely uncovered.

“It’s an ancient array again.” Shang Si brushed the dust from her fingertips and rose from the ground. Her red skirt blended seamlessly into the crimson plum grove. “By my calculations, the timing lines up perfectly with when your Soul-Inspecting Device went haywire. And during that same period, Shiyuan and I traveled to the Fire Phoenix Clan for medicine. That’s when I ran into Qin Hongchou, fresh from an injury sustained outside the clan.”

First the major cultivation sects, then this deliberate array activation to throw off false leads.

What were they really trying to delay? What couldn’t they let Qingzhi and Yun Qu discover?

“A Si, this goes beyond just Qin Hongchou now.” Yun Qu’s face hardened as she spoke up.

Shang Si nodded, a flicker of rare guilt in her eyes. “Back then, with me right there, Qin Lan went all out to defend Qin Hongchou. I’ll admit, I had my own selfish motives—I’d just accepted an enormous favor from them. But looking at it now, these repeated incidents might not involve her alone.” The entire Fire Phoenix Clan could be implicated. The web was too vast for it to be just one person’s doing—what could Qin Hongchou possibly gain from it all on her own?

This discovery forced them all to brace for the worst.

Lu Shiyuan, with her keen intuition, picked up on how Shang Si had swiftly painted the entire Fire Phoenix Clan as probable adversaries. She stole a discreet glance toward Qingzhi.

Qingzhi stood with her eyes downcast, her expression serene, deep in thought.

Sensing the look, Qingzhi suddenly raised her gaze, locking eyes with Lu Shiyuan.

Caught red-handed, Lu Shiyuan’s lips parted in surprise. She was about to stammer some excuse when Qingzhi looked away.

Unfazed, Qingzhi opened her palm and retrieved the compact Soul-Inspecting Device from her Spirit Ring, cutting straight to the chase. “Now that we’ve confirmed someone triggered this array on purpose to mislead the Soul-Inspecting Device, pinpointing the real anomaly is straightforward. The true destination is…”

“Southeast—a small border city. The very one we passed right by on our way here.” Shang Si cut in, supplying the exact coordinates.

But they had realized it too late.

The enemy had set off the array here precisely to draw them in and stall for time. Mission accomplished. By the time they doubled back, any useful clues would likely be gone.

Still, they had to go and see for themselves.

No sooner had the words left her mouth than Shang Si’s eyes narrowed. She wasn’t alone—all of them whipped around toward the Plum Garden entrance at the same instant.

For ease of movement, Yun Qu had thrown up a casual barrier upon entering, to keep any wandering palace maids or eunuchs from blundering in.

Yet in the previous second, that barrier had been breached.

“Someone’s coming,” Qingzhi warned softly.

Moments later, their divine senses picked up over a dozen unfamiliar presences within range. The auras were evenly matched—laughably weak to Shang Si and her companions, but to a cultivator like Lu Shiyuan, they formed a veritable wall of iron and bronze.

Put another way, had today’s intruders been anyone else, they wouldn’t have stood a chance.

To their surprise, the figure who emerged from the plum grove was a familiar face.

“Ladies, we meet again. Care to explain this sudden visit without so much as a heads-up?” Li Xian smiled warmly, every inch the refined noble. “I could have made proper preparations to host you all.”

They had only seen him the night before, in the backyard of Prince Pingnan’s Mansion. Yesterday’s attire had been far more subdued than today’s. Lu Shiyuan had spotted the bold dragon embroidery on his robe at once.

Four claws marked a python; five claws denoted a true dragon. She had seen it plainly: Li Xian’s robe bore a dragon, not a python.

He had dealt with them under Prince Jin’s banner, but in truth, he was the mansion’s true master.

“It’s not exactly sudden, Young Master. Haven’t you already sent people to keep tabs on our movements?” Lu Shiyuan curved her lips slightly, a faint smile in her eyes that held no warmth. “Sneaking in was rude, I’ll admit, but we meant no harm. We’re leaving now anyway. So if you have something to say, Young Master, just say it outright. You didn’t bring all these people just to look us over.”

Of the four women, she was the one who took on the task of handling people.

Qingzhi and Yun Qu weren’t the talkative type—they dealt mostly with ghosts and demons, and preferred action over words. Shang Si needed no mention; another sovereign in her own right, she had little patience for Li Xian.

From the moment they’d met until now, what scant patience the woman possessed seemed reserved entirely for Lu Shiyuan.

Lu Shiyuan hoped they could resolve this peacefully, without resorting to force. Otherwise, once the major sects caught wind of the disturbance, they’d bombard them with questions and reprimands.

“Oh? You know how many people I have hidden in this Plum Grove?” Her direct words caught Li Xian off guard, surprise flickering across his face.

He had no idea who these women truly were, and that was precisely why he was surprised.

In his eyes, the elite hidden guard force—built over generations of emperors at tremendous cost and loyal solely to the imperial clan—was a power not to be trifled with, even by the great immortal sects.

Shang Si finally couldn’t hold back any longer. She shot the young emperor a sidelong glance. “Fifteen cultivators of roughly equal strength. The mortal realm’s imperial clan has stretched its reach quite far these past years, training so many in secret.”

“Not far—just enough for self-preservation in a crisis.” Shang Si’s tone wasn’t polite, but Li Xian didn’t take offense.

He’d gotten a taste of her temperament the night before, so he swiftly turned his attention back to Lu Shiyuan.

To him, she was clearly the one in charge among them.

Li Xian clasped one hand behind his back, tempering the amusement in his eyes as he spoke gravely. “Very well, then I’ll be direct. Why have the four of you come here?

“Last night at the prince’s mansion, you probed for city news, intentionally or otherwise. I want to know your purpose in Chang’an—why you sneaked in, and whether it threatens the safety of the city’s people.”

In a few short sentences, his imperial bearing emerged, lending him the air of a ruler who exhausted himself for the sake of his subjects.

The four exchanged glances. As Lu Shiyuan hesitated on how to proceed, Shang Si’s voice transmission rang in her ear: 【You can share some information with him. Use it to trade for what he knows about the array master.】

If Li Xian had detected their arrival so swiftly, he must have noticed others as well.

Shang Si doubted the array master’s cultivation surpassed that of the women present today. Li Xian surely knew something; prying key details from him would save them a great deal of effort.

Such sensitive matters weren’t for the Plum Grove. They would need to relocate somewhere they could speak freely.

Following Shang Si’s lead, Lu Shiyuan revealed just enough—without spelling it out, she vaguely directed suspicion toward several major clans in the Demon Realm, stirring a sense of crisis and wariness.

She followed up with subtle probes, invoking their shared human heritage and flashing their Sword Spirit Sect disciple identities. Li Xian had no choice but to believe.

“You and I are both human; I’ve no reason to deceive you.” Lu Shiyuan tapped the table lightly with her knuckle, her voice dropping as her expression turned deadly serious. “We cultivators may bow to no imperial authority, but for a thousand years, we’ve shared one truth with you: we slay demons and devils to safeguard peace and protect the common folk.”

Outsiders’ hearts were never to be trusted—a consensus nearly universal.

With matters laid out this far, the two sides stood on common ground.

In the end, he was a young emperor. Lu Shiyuan’s words left Li Xian in brief turmoil, as if wrestling with whether to divulge what he knew.

A moment later, he sighed heavily. “It was a woman, cultivation sky-high. She appeared out of nowhere, in utmost secrecy. Only the abnormal spiritual energy from her array alerted the palace hidden guards.”

“I don’t know her identity, but she injured three of my guards on her way out.”

That prior incident was exactly why Li Xian had mobilized such a force against Shang Si and the others’ sudden arrival.

“I recall a great immortal sect once gifted the mortal imperial clan a supreme treasure. It protects them—no one can enter its range without revealing their aura.” Yun Qu spoke up suddenly at this point.

The gift ensured that even non-cultivators among the imperial clan could detect hidden assailants and call for help. It was also why Li Xian had spotted them so quickly.

Yun Qu regarded the young emperor, her voice clear and chill. “Did you see that woman’s face?”

“No, but one of my hidden guards has seen her.” With that, Li Xian raised his hand and clapped lightly twice. Soon, a figure emerged from the shadows.

Trying to visualize from memory what one had once seen was an incredibly demanding task. Even someone like Ru Huaqiu could only capture landscapes in her paintings, let alone the cultivator standing before them now.

He had indeed seen that array master, but he was no good with words. His muddled description left everyone with throbbing headaches.

Shang Si was already growing faintly impatient. She pursed her lips and waved her hand casually. In an instant, a lifelike human face materialized in midair.

“Is this her?” Shang Si asked. Qingzhi and Lu Shiyuan both recognized the face immediately—it was Qin Hongchou’s.

The cultivator stared in stunned silence for a long moment before shouting, “Yes! That’s her!”

But his attention wasn’t on the face itself. Instead, Shang Si’s effortless display sparked a bold guess in his mind. “But how can you…”

“Since we’ve confirmed it’s her, that simplifies things,” Shang Si cut him off. She turned to Qingzhi, her gaze laden with meaning. “You’ll need to pay another visit to the Fire Phoenix Clan—on your own behalf this time. Find Qin Xinying.”

Beat the grass, but don’t startle the snake.