Those Guardians had been controlled by an Imperial Decree, which was why they had foolishly protected that Ancient Tomb.
Through the experiences of those Guardians, Fan Lang thought of Mandala's abnormal behavior.
Mandala had voluntarily sought refuge with him, even willing to be killed or mentally controlled. Such behavior was highly unreasonable.
No matter how unreasonable something was, there was always a reasonable explanation to be found. If Mandala's situation was similar to those Guardians', and she had been controlled by an Imperial Decree that twisted her own will, then it all made sense.
Once this thought surfaced, it became impossible to suppress, stirring Fan Lang's mind.
"Mandala, come see me immediately."
Fan Lang gave Mandala an order.
Before long, Mandala arrived before Fan Lang. She still carried the innocent liveliness of a young girl, though it was merely superficial.
Fan Lang had Mandala step closer, then without another word, reached out and pressed a hand against her fair, tender forehead, probing deep into her sea of consciousness.
Mandala had long since been mentally controlled by Fan Lang, so she naturally did not resist.
Fan Lang had actually inspected Mandala's sea of consciousness many times before. This time, however, he searched with a specific purpose, looking for traces of the Imperial Decree.
After searching for some time, he found no Imperial Decree itself, but he did discover several chaotic thoughts that seemed to have been tampered with.
An Imperial Decree was like a single-use consumable. If its command had already been fulfilled, it would naturally disappear, so it was normal that he could not find it.
Although Fan Lang had found no direct evidence, he still became convinced of his guess.
If this guess was true, then it was worth pondering.
"Who gave Mandala the Imperial Decree? Why did he