Locking Onto Prey, The Flower Deity Festival Begins

Seeing her father adopt Lin Changqing's plan so decisively, a surge of inexplicable pride welled up in Su Wanqing's heart.

"Then, Father, your daughter will go and prepare for the Flower Deity Lantern Festival."

She performed a bow and turned to leave.

"Wait."

Su Gan called out to her, his gaze falling upon the Golden Qilin lazily sprawled at the entrance of the hall.

Golden Radiance was squinting its eyes in the sun, its tail swaying back and forth with an air of leisure, as if it had returned to its own home.

"Your safety..."

"Rest assured, Father."

Su Wanqing smiled and interrupted Su Gan.

"The Saint Venerable left a Saintly Protective Aura on me, which he said can withstand a full-force strike from a peak Martial Saint. Plus, with Golden Radiance following me, those demon cultists won't dare to act rashly."

She touched the center of her brow, where the warmth of that power still lingered.

Hearing this, the worry on Su Gan's face dissipated for the most part.

A Saintly Protective Aura personally left by Prince Wu'an, combined with a pure-blooded Qilin at the early Martial Saint stage acting as a personal bodyguard.

This configuration was stronger than the defensive power of the entire Royal Forest Guard combined.

"Good, go then."

Su Gan nodded.

"Remember, be careful. If anything happens, seek out Prince Wu'an immediately."

Su Wanqing bowed and walked out of the Imperial Study, with Golden Radiance lazily rising to follow behind her.

The girl and the Qilin headed toward the Flower Deity Lantern Festival.

Su Gan watched his daughter walk away, then issued an order to another eunuch beside him.

"Go, inform the Sixth Ancestor of this matter. Ask the Sixth Ancestor to secretly oversee and coordinate with Prince Wu'an's plan tonight, just in case."

Although the Sixth Ancestor rarely involved himself in affairs, tonight's matter was of great importance.

Having one more mid-stage Martial Saint sitting in reserve provided that much more confidence.

The eunuch acknowledged the order and left.

Su Gan sat back down on the dragon throne and picked up his vermilion brush to continue reviewing the memorials.

However, his grip on the brush was noticeably tighter than usual, and the tip dragged across the paper, leaving several deep ink marks.

His eyes revealed a cold, sharp killing intent.

The Holy Demon God Sect, time and time again—did they really think his Great Yu Dynasty was a soft persimmon?!

At this moment, in the backyard of the Prince Wu'an Mansion.

Lin Changqing sat cross-legged on a bluestone by the hot spring, his eyes closed.

His perception spread out silently, like an invisible tide, enveloping the entire Capital City.

Viewed from the night sky above, the entire Capital City was a massive chessboard.

Every street, every residence, and every person was a piece on that board.

And what he had to do now was to pluck out those problematic pieces hidden among the normal ones, one by one!

On Vermilion Bird Street, the crowds were bustling.

An old man selling candied haws wove through the crowd with his rack, a kind smile on his face.

Lin Changqing's perception swept over him, paused for half a breath, and then moved on.

At Caishikou, a woman selling vegetables was haggling with a customer.

Her stall was piled high with fresh produce, and she looked like an ordinary vegetable vendor.

Lin Changqing's perception swept over her, paused for a moment, and then continued to the next target.

His brows furrowed slightly.

The concealment methods of these people were much more sophisticated than the ordinary members of the Branch Sect from last night.

If he hadn't cultivated the Heavenly Saint Profound Art, making his perception several times sharper than a Martial Saint of the same rank, he might not have been able to detect those subtle anomalies.

But they were only "subtle."

In the face of a peak Martial Saint's perception, these disguises were ultimately nothing more than paper lanterns.

He screened them one by one, counting silently in his heart.

One, two, three.

Every time he locked onto a target, he used a wisp of his perception to place a mark upon them.

These markings were extremely concealed; the other party would never be able to detect them.

But as long as the markings remained, even if the targets hid deep underground, he would be able to locate them instantly.

As one target after another was locked onto, the curve of Lin Changqing's lips became increasingly pronounced.

The Four Symbols Holy Guards—four personal bodyguards at the early stage of the Martial Saint realm who could also form the Four Symbols Killing Array.

Golden Radiance had already satisfied him enough, and if he added four more, the number of Martial Saints under his command would soon rival the number officially acknowledged by the Great Yu Dynasty.

However, he could not close the net just yet.

The system's mission was to thwart the conspiracy; killing a few small fries was not enough.

He had to wait for them to jump out themselves and expose their plan in the light of day.

He would then round them all up at once to minimize the losses.

His perception continued to spread, penetrating every inch of the land, searching for any suspicious fluctuations of Spiritual Power.

Time slipped away bit by bit.

The last glimmer of sunset sank below the horizon.

The sky turned completely dark.

In the streets and alleys of the Capital City, tens of thousands of lanterns were lit at almost the same moment.

Red lanterns, yellow palace lanterns, purple gauze lanterns, blue crystal lanterns, and lanterns of every imaginable shape.

Rabbit lanterns, butterfly lanterns, lotus lanterns, koi lanterns—they were all in various forms, vying for beauty.

The Flower Deity Festival's lantern show had officially begun.

Inside the Imperial Garden.

A massive lantern stage stood in the center, surrounded by flowers of every color.

Peonies, peonies, Chinese roses, azaleas, and camellias were all in full bloom, filling the air with fragrance.

Colorful ribbons hung down from the lantern stage, swaying gently in the night breeze.

The plaza in front of the lantern stage was already packed with people.

There were ordinary citizens of the Capital City, wealthy merchants from all over, and quite a few court officials.

Everyone craned their necks, gazing toward the direction of the lantern stage.

But the security this year was clearly much tighter than in previous years.

The number of guards around the plaza had doubled; although they were dressed in plain clothes, their iron-blooded aura could not be hidden.

Among the crowd were many sturdy men, their eyes scanning the surroundings with vigilance.

Though they wore the clothes of ordinary citizens, the bulges at their waists clearly indicated they were concealing weapons.

In corners hidden from the crowd, the most elite Demon Hunter Guards of the Demon Suppressing Division had already set up layers of secret sentries.

Xiao Qianjun was personally overseeing the operation, hiding behind a rockery near the lantern stage.

He had changed into a plain grey robe tonight, looking at first glance like an ordinary citizen watching the festivities.

But the blade at his waist had already been drawn half an inch from its scabbard.

Just then, a low rumble of thunder echoed from afar.

Everyone looked up.

They saw a golden figure flying through the night sky, treading upon thunder.

It was a Qilin with a body of golden scales, golden lightning flickering beneath its four hooves, illuminating half of the Imperial Garden.

Sitting on the Qilin's back was a young girl dressed in a bright red palace gown.

The hem of her skirt was embroidered with a golden phoenix spreading its wings, shining brilliantly under the golden light.

Her long hair was styled into a flying immortal bun, adorned with a Nine-Tailed Phoenix Hairpin.

The night-luminescent pearl embedded in the hairpin emitted a soft glow, making her look like a fairy descended from the heavens.

It was Princess Yunshu, Su Wanqing.

Bursts of exclamation erupted from the crowd.

"It's Princess Yunshu!"

"The Princess is riding Prince Wu'an's Qilin!"

"Good heavens, this Qilin is even more majestic than it looked from afar last night! Look at those scales; they look like they were cast from pure gold!"

"The Princess making her entrance on a Qilin—what a display!"

The citizens knelt one after another to pay their respects, their voices rising in waves.

"Greetings, Princess Yunshu!"

Su Wanqing sat on the Qilin's back, wearing a smile, dignified and elegant.

She raised her hand and pressed it down slightly.

"Everyone, rise."

"Today is the Flower Goddess Festival. By the order of the Emperor, I am here to celebrate with the people. There is no need for formalities; please enjoy the flowers and lanterns to your heart's content and spend a wonderful evening together."

Her voice was crisp and melodious, carrying a touch of composure.

The commoners bowed in thanks once more before rising to their feet.

The atmosphere in the Imperial Garden grew even more lively.

Within the crowd.

The old man selling candied haws stood in a corner, carrying his rack, and looked up at the figure on the back of the Qilin.

The killing intent in his eyes flashed and vanished, immediately replaced by his previous kindly smile.

Only the veins on the back of the hand gripping the candied haw rack bulged slightly.

Not far from him, the vendor selling handmade wood carvings was also looking up.

His face wore the same excited smile as the other commoners, but the depths of his eyes were ice-cold.

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the same meaning in each other's eyes.

Why was this damned pure-blooded Qilin also by Princess Yunshu's side?

The guards hidden among the crowd were already numerous enough, and now there was this Martial Saint-level Qilin beast as well.

The difficulty of kidnapping the Princess at the lantern festival had just multiplied several times over.

Could it be that Heaven truly favored Great Yu?