The Devil's Tribulation

Three days later, in Fancheng, the temporary residence of the Third Prince. With a 'crack' sound, a precious porcelain cup was smashed to pieces. The Third Prince shouted angrily: "Waste! Two pieces of waste! We have been searching for a month, searching for a month! Do you know how much time this month has delayed me? Four or five thousand people have been searching in Fancheng for a month, but there is no news at all! You can just wait for me to impeach you! I will punish you for multiple crimes! I think both of your heads will have to move!"

The kneeling Lu Zhifu and Wu Xianling had their hands cut by the debris and were bleeding. They dared not move, but just put their heads on the ground and trembled. The more the third prince looked at them, the angrier he became. None of them could do anything. He was just about to have them take off their official uniforms and put them in jail to wait for the emperor's decree. Suddenly, a Taoist priest with a fairy-like appearance appeared in the living room and said to the third prince, "Your Highness, I am here to pay my respects." After that, he bowed. The guards around the third prince were as if they were facing a great enemy, and they all drew their swords to protect the third prince.

The third prince frowned and thought to himself, "Golden Core Cultivator? I didn't expect that Lu Wuyan actually worshipped a Golden Core Cultivator." The third prince himself was at the first level of foundation building. Due to the special status of the royal family, the highest level of the emperors of all dynasties was the ninth level of foundation building, and they only practiced and did not study the law. If he breaks through to the Golden Core, he can only abdicate and let the wise man take over. Secular power and a long life cannot be obtained at the same time. The royal family not only has to provide resources for the sects behind them, but also has to send the most qualified royal heirs to the sects for training every few years. This is one of the means by which those sects and schools control the mortal kingdom. The disobedient royal family can be replaced at any time, because there are so many families who want to be emperors.

The Third Prince waved his hand, and the guards withdrew. Facing the Jindan cultivator, the Third Prince did not dare to be too presumptuous, and bowed and said, "What is your name, Immortal Master? What do you want from me?" Immortal Master Lu smiled and said, "I won't mention my name. My surname is Lu, and I am somewhat related to this Prefect Lu. I originally thought that I would not interfere in worldly affairs, but when I encountered this, I really couldn't just stand by and watch the younger generation die. That's why I rashly showed up to see His Royal Highness the Third Prince. I hope you will forgive me."

The Third Prince extended his hand to invite Master Lu to sit down, and said with a smile: "Of course not, Master is willing to show up to see me, this prince is also honored, come on, serve tea!" After Master Lu sat down, he looked at the Prefect Lu who was kneeling and didn't dare to raise his head, shook his head, sighed, and said: "I am not good enough, and I have delayed your highness's imperial mission. I will apologize to your highness first." After that, he bowed again. The Third Prince also glanced at the two people below and waved his hand: "You two go down first." The two of them retreated as if they had been pardoned, wiping their sweat as they retreated, and they were almost finished just now.

After seeing the two of them leave, Master Lu said directly: "I also know that Your Highness is looking for the Fifteenth Prince this time, and I also asked a few disciples to help look for him." Hearing that the Jindan cultivators actually helped to find someone, the Third Prince thanked him: "It's just some mundane matters. Thank you for troubling you senior disciples." Master Lu continued: "Although Fancheng has a large population, with thousands of people from Your Highness and my disciples looking for it, it is impossible that there is no news for a month. So I think, did we fall into the Fifteenth Prince's trap from the beginning?"

The Third Prince narrowed his eyes, but did not interrupt, but waited for Master Lu to continue. Master Lu took a sip of tea and continued, "The Fifteenth Prince has been able to stay out for so many years without being discovered, he must have some means. Since he suspected that his identity was discovered in Li County, he must be more careful about his whereabouts. On the surface, people think he is going west, but in fact, could he be going in another direction?" The Third Prince stood up, but seemed to have thought of something, so he asked, "To the north is the border between Zhou and Chu, he should not go to Chu. But to the east is the Red Mountains, is the Fifteenth Brother living a life of eating raw meat and drinking blood in the mountains?"

He couldn't imagine that a prince would live that kind of life. Master Lu smiled and said, "In fact, there are some small villages around the mountains. A few days ago, I asked my apprentice to go and investigate. There are two small mountain villages in the east, each with only a few hundred people. If there is no clue in Fancheng, I believe the clue will be there."

After listening to Master Lu's analysis, the Third Prince also felt that this possibility was particularly high, so he shouted, "Someone come!" Several guards, Prefect Lu and Magistrate Wu all came in. They didn't dare to leave because they were unsure of what was going on. The Third Prince frowned when he saw the two, but he still gave Master Lu face and ordered, "This time, I will personally go out! You two can follow me." The two were secretly happy. It seemed that Master Lu's face was really useful, and the previous filial piety was not in vain.

The team quickly assembled, and several thousand people rushed towards the direction of Lixian. County Magistrate Wu was happy and worried when he saw that he could finally return to his own territory. He had been out for more than a month and had not slept well. Not only did he lose more than 20 pounds, but he also failed to complete his duties. He originally wanted to make meritorious deeds, but now he would be thankful if he could be safe and sound.

In Li County, Sun Erleng started to train his brothers after he came back from Fancheng. After all, he promised the Third Prince that if he really had to go to war, it would be irresponsible to take his brothers to the battlefield. He also wanted to make achievements. Therefore, Sun Erleng sold everything he had this time. As long as the soldiers were willing to participate in the training, they would be paid enough and could even have meat for three days! For this matter, Sun Erleng went to the families of several concubines and used both soft and hard tactics to get tens of thousands of taels of silver to maintain such expenses. Just when he was having a headache about where to get the silver, he heard the soldiers come to report that the Third Prince had brought a large group of people to Li County.

Sun Erleng did not dare to neglect him and hurried out of the city to welcome him. Outside the city gate, all the important people in Li County arrived and knelt to welcome the Third Prince. The Third Prince ignored everyone and walked directly to Sun Erleng, lifted him up with both hands, patted the back of Sun Erleng's hand, and said with a smile: "I haven't seen you for a month, I miss you so much." After that, he didn't care about other people and directly pulled Sun Erleng into the city gate.

The Third Prince was really anxious this time, and he did not invite Sun Erleng to a banquet. He simply chatted with him for a few words and immediately ordered people to check the two villages. There were dragon horse beasts, and the two small villages were soon surrounded by thousands of people.

In Panjia Village, the village chief heard that a group of soldiers had arrived, so he hurried out to see what was going on. A guard of the Third Prince shouted, "Who is the village chief? Come out and answer." The village chief hurriedly stepped forward and replied, "Sir, I am the village chief of this village. What do you want me to do?" As the village chief of Panjia Village, Pan Dabiao had seen a bit of the world. During the war, he had also encountered soldiers coming to the village to collect grain. Most of them collected some grain and left, and returned silver. It can only be said that the military atmosphere of the Great Zhou was still very good. So Pan Dabiao was not very scared, and answered fluently.

Who knew that these people were not here to collect grain this time, and they were all riding dragon horses, looking very majestic, and they didn't even look at him. The leading guard took out a portrait of Pan Chengfeng wearing a veil and asked, "Is there anyone like this in the village? Or someone with a similar figure?" The village chief looked at him for a while, shook his head and said, "I know everyone in the village, but I've never seen anyone like this." The guard shouted, "Look carefully! Is there really no one?!" The village chief was startled, and hurriedly looked at the portrait again, still shaking his head, "There really isn't any."

The guard didn't waste any words and ordered directly: "Gather all the people in your village. I will investigate one by one! If anyone conceals something, he will be executed without mercy!" This time the village chief realized the seriousness of the matter and immediately beat drums and gongs to gather the villagers.

Uncle Niu found out when the soldiers entered the village, but he couldn't just run away with his wife and daughter. So he had to gather with the villagers in an open space and wait for the soldiers to check. Fortunately, he just looked at the portrait and it didn't look like him at all, but he still felt familiar! He knew it right away: "It turned out that the bad boy was the cause of the trouble! I'll break his legs this time!"

The soldiers checked one by one, and when they passed Uncle Niu, they unexpectedly looked at him a few more times. After all, in this era, people with a height of 1.9 meters were rare. But they just looked at him a few more times and walked away. Uncle Niu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, the guard who walked away turned around, looked at the girl Uncle Niu was holding, and asked, "Your daughter?" Uncle Niu nodded and said "hmm" in a muffled voice. Seeing this, the guard did not continue to ask more questions, but returned to the front and said to the village chief, "Go and comfort the villagers. We are just looking for someone. We will leave when we find them. Don't let them be afraid." After that, he arranged for the guards to be on duty at the entrance and end of the village, and he rode the dragon horse beast back to report.

The third prince was waiting for news in the Lixian County government office, and he was getting a little restless. If there was no news here, he would not know where to start. Just as he was worrying, the guards outside came to report that the people who went out to investigate the two villages had returned to report. The third prince immediately summoned them, and before the two guards had even stood up, the third prince asked, "How is it, is there any news?" The two guards shook their heads at the same time. The third prince was just getting disappointed, and the guard from Panjia Village bowed and said, "Your Highness, I found something. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fifteenth prince?" The third prince immediately asked, "What is it?" The guard replied, "When I was investigating in Panjia Village, I found a little girl who seemed to be carrying a monster's tooth, and..."

The third prince was anxious and said angrily: "Speak! You are so hesitant!" The guard said hurriedly: "There is also a big man with a height different from that of ordinary people. The key is the appearance of this big man..." At this point, he looked up at the third prince, and then continued: "He seems to be a little similar to the third prince, but he is completely different from the portrait." The royal gene is strong. Zhou Zhixiong's more than 20 children all look like him. Although Uncle Niu practiced the body refining technique and his body was taller than normal people, his facial features did not change much.

The Third Prince was so excited that he stood up immediately, walked to the guard and asked, "Did you see it wrong?!" The guard nodded firmly, "Yes, I didn't want to alert the enemy, so I didn't make any unnecessary moves. I just ordered people to surround the village and only allow people to enter but not leave."