The Devil's Tribulation

At the Fancheng prefectural government office, Sun Erleng, who was confused, bowed and said, "Your Highness, I am a little confused. I have never met the Fifteenth Prince." The Third Prince saw that Sun Erleng did not seem to be lying, so he looked at County Magistrate Wu in confusion. County Magistrate Wu immediately broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly said, "It was the man you brought to the yamen that day!" Sun Erleng was stunned again and asked back, "Is that man the Fifteenth Prince?" County Magistrate Wu could not hold it anymore. This Sun Erleng actually wanted to pass the buck! He said anxiously, "Sun Erleng, don't play dumb! If you didn't know that he was the Prince, how could you be respectful to him! You..." The Third Prince raised his hand to stop County Magistrate Wu from saying the following words, took out his dagger, and asked, "General Sun, do you recognize this dagger?" Sun Erleng looked at the dagger and shook his head. After knowing that Pan Chengfeng was an immortal, he didn't dare to glance at Pan Chengfeng casually, so he naturally had no impression of the dagger.

The Third Prince looked at Sun Erleng, then at Magistrate Wu, and chose to believe Sun Erleng directly. After all, people who are pleasing to the eye are more likely to win his trust. However, the Third Prince still needed to ask, so he asked: "General Sun doesn't recognize this dagger, so why is his attitude towards that man inconsistent?" Sun Erleng was a little embarrassed to speak, but finally said: "I'm not afraid of being laughed at by the prince. That day, there was a wedding in my house, and someone stole some gold and silver from my house. In anger, I took people to catch the thief, and had a conflict with that adult in the inn. I brought twenty personal soldiers with me, all of whom had seen blood on the battlefield, but they were dealt with by that adult in a few strokes."

Sun Erleng looked at Magistrate Wu, who suddenly had a bad feeling. Sun Erleng continued, "That lord originally wanted to punish me, but when he heard that I was a county lieutenant and was here to catch a thief, he gave me a lighter sentence. Later, in order to make amends, I thought of Magistrate Wu's good medicinal herbs, and wanted to trade with him and give it to that lord as an apology. Magistrate Wu refused, and I had no choice but to follow that lord and obey his orders. Magistrate Wu finally went to that lord for a medicinal herb, but after seeing that lord, Magistrate Wu shouted "Your Highness". I don't know why Magistrate Wu had that reaction, but I knew that person must be someone special. I didn't expect that he was the fifteenth prince." Sun Erleng was a little scared now. He didn't expect that immortal to be a prince? But he promised not to reveal his identity, so now he could only try his best to cover it up.

The third prince turned to look at Magistrate Wu, and he was hiding something from him, so he asked, "Magistrate Wu, what medicinal herbs are you asking for? Why didn't you report it before?" Magistrate Wu's legs softened, and he knelt down and trembled as he replied, "Your Highness, these are the herbs that Master Lu needs to make elixirs. I was just lucky and got them by chance. I thought it had nothing to do with the fifteenth prince, so I thought about reporting it later." The third prince slammed the table and said, "You are an official appointed by the court! Not a pharmacy that collects medicinal herbs! I think you are out of your mind!" Magistrate Wu knelt down and trembled, but Sun Erleng didn't even look at him. He knew that Magistrate Wu should be finished, because he had displeased the third prince. When he returned to Beijing to report on his work, with just a few words, Magistrate Wu could go home to grow sweet potatoes, or even go to jail.

After listening to Sun Erleng's words, the Third Prince thought for a while and asked, "According to General Sun, the Fifteenth Brother left from the West Gate and headed towards Fancheng?" Sun Erleng replied, "Yes, Your Highness. At midnight that night, I sent the Fifteenth Prince to the West Gate and saw him heading towards Fancheng with my own eyes." The Third Prince turned to look at Prefect Lu. Prefect Lu knew that his matter was coming and hurriedly said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. Although Fancheng is big, I have been in Fancheng for some time. I should have news soon if I ask about someone." The Third Prince asked directly, "How long?" Lu The prefect thought for a moment and said, "One month will do!" The third prince waved his hand and said, "Too long, I'll only give you ten days! If you can't find it in ten days, just wait for the emperor's order!" Prefect Lu knelt down and shouted, "Your Highness, Fancheng has a population of more than 10 million, and I only have more than 1,000 people under my command. How can I make it in time?" The third prince said directly, "The 3,000 people I brought are also at your disposal. You must give me news in ten days!" After that, he turned to Sun Erleng and said gently, "General Sun, please have dinner with me. It's time for dinner. Let's go."

The prefect and the county magistrate knelt down and watched the prince and Sun Erleng leave, feeling unhappy. After the people left, the two of them dared to stand up. County Magistrate Wu said helplessly: "It seems that Sun Erleng has caught the prince's eye. The two of us are doing hard work, but he can actually accompany the prince for dinner!" Prefect Lu also had a dead look on his face and sighed: "I'm going to see my uncle, you wait here." When County Magistrate Wu heard that they were going to see the immortal, he quickly said: "Please say a few good words to the immortal, I'm afraid I won't be able to get through this this time." Prefect Lu nodded. The two of them were now on the same boat. If they found the fifteenth prince, they would be credited, and if they didn't, they would be blamed. Only Sun Erleng was picked out.

In the secret room, Prefect Lu finished narrating the matter to Master Lu, his uncle. Master Lu had a blank expression on his face, stroking his short beard and said, "It seems that the Third Prince is eager to make achievements, so we have to help him find the Fifteenth Prince first." After speaking, he looked at Prefect Lu, saw his worried expression, and smiled, "You don't have to worry. Although Fancheng is big, ten days is enough for us cultivators." Prefect Lu turned his worry into joy: "Can my uncle really do it?" As soon as Prefect Lu finished asking, Master Lu instructed the four people behind him, "You four have already established your foundation, and your spiritual consciousness can be sent out. Help him find someone these days, and don't attract the attention of mortals." The four foundation-building cultivators bowed and praised, "Disciples obey your orders." Prefect Lu was so excited to see that his uncle sent four cultivators to help him find someone, and he quickly saluted, "Thank you, Masters."

After leaving the secret room, there were four more people behind Prefect Lu, three men and one woman, all of them were in their twenties. The man was handsome and the woman was pretty, worthy of being a cultivator, and there was nothing wrong with their appearance. Prefect Lu bowed to the four people and said, "Thank you for your hard work, the four immortal masters. If the matter is done, this prefecture will definitely reward you generously." One of the four men, who was also the eldest brother among the four, waved his hand and said, "We are also following the master's order, Prefect Lu, you don't have to be polite." After that, the four of them flew off on their swords at the same time to do their work. In the sky of Fancheng, the four people stopped and gathered. The little sister spoke first: "Master is really something. He actually asked us to run errands for a mortal. It's such a waste of time!" The eldest brother frowned and scolded: "Shut up! How can you talk about Master behind his back!" The second brother laughed and said: "Don't blame the little sister. She entered the sect late and doesn't understand some things." The third brother also echoed: "Yes, yes, don't blame the little sister." The eldest brother glared: "Just protect her! Sooner or later, disaster will come from your mouth!"

The little sister stuck out her tongue and didn't dare to continue talking nonsense. Seeing this, the second brother quickly changed the subject and asked, "Big Brother, Fancheng is not small, how can we find it?" Hearing that he was asking about serious matters, the eldest brother also put away his tone of teaching and said, "Fancheng is not small, and it is difficult for the four of us to not make mistakes. We can only try our best to search Fancheng. There are only ten days, it seems that we will have to work harder this time." The eldest brother was silent for a while and said, "How about this, the four of us will search from four directions and finally gather here. If anyone has a clue during this period, please inform everyone." The other three nodded. Searching separately is the fastest way now, otherwise there may not be enough time.

There were monks searching in the sky, and Prefect Lu on earth did not dare to sit idle. He and Magistrate Wu each led a team of people to search from two directions of Fancheng. They dared not not do it themselves, because the Third Prince was watching. If they dared to drink tea at home and wait for news, it would be fine if there was good news, but if there was no news, they would be finished. Now they did this in front of the prince, and they would get something for their hard work. In this way, the city-wide search began. Although it did not cause chaos in the city, it still disturbed the quiet life of the people. Imagine that officers and soldiers were running around on the street all day, holding portraits and asking questions. Who could still do business with peace of mind?

A few days later, in the morning, County Magistrate Wu met Sun Erleng, but the two did not say hello, and Sun Erleng ignored him. When County Magistrate Wu saw Sun Erleng riding the dragon horse beast towards Li County, he wanted to die. He originally wanted to catch more people to take the blame, but he didn't expect that Sun Erleng had some bad luck and was actually won over by the Third Prince. Now he is a hot commodity in the eyes of the Third Prince, and he is invited to banquets three times every three days. During these three days, County Magistrate Wu felt that he had lost ten pounds. It can only be said that the country's demand for military generals is temporarily higher than that for civil officials, especially for those princes who want to ascend to the throne, military power is indispensable. Sun Erleng accompanied the Third Prince for a few days, and finally couldn't stand the Third Prince's "enthusiasm", so he could only promise the Third Prince that if there was a war, he would definitely follow the Third Prince to go to war. Sun Erleng was labeled as the Third Prince and became the Third Prince's "own man". Today, Sun Erleng finally found an excuse to return to Li County, and County Magistrate Wu's hard days have just begun.

The Third Prince was in his temporary residence, and he asked for news every few days. Unfortunately, they had been looking in the wrong direction from the beginning, so how could they find anyone? Prefect Lu and Magistrate Wu did not dare to delay at all, and they left early and returned late every day. They were both afraid that they would return first and offend the Third Prince.