Inside the fifth-floor conference room of the River City Investigation Bureau building.
Ten gray-haired elders sat in the room.
Yet every one of them radiated a powerful presence, commanding respect without a hint of anger!
They were the Ten Elders, the men who wielded the highest authority in Dragon Country!
They were also the supreme leaders of the Evil Spirit Investigation Bureau!
Yet all ten of these powerful men had arrived in River City within the space of a single hour.
"Jiang, what on earth happened that you had to summon all of us to River City?"
An elder in a black suit asked, sounding rather displeased.
He had been sleeping peacefully at home that night when a sudden call from Jiang Daoguo woke him.
Right off the bat, Jiang had said he needed to convene a Ten Elders' Meeting, and that the matter under discussion could determine Dragon Country's rise or fall!
Hearing how grave he sounded, the elder had naturally dared not delay and immediately set off for the Capital Investigation Bureau Headquarters.
But just as he reached the entrance, Jiang informed him that the meeting would be held here in River City instead!
If the call hadn't come from Jiang Daoguo himself, he would have thought someone was deliberately messing with him!
Even if Jiang Daoguo was a fellow member of the Ten Elders, he owed them an explanation for making such a fuss.
Otherwise, they really would turn on him!
Jiang Daoguo could see their displeasure, but he offered no explanation.
He simply picked up the remote and switched on the projector.
Everyone exchanged puzzled looks at his actions.
Just as they were about to ask him about it, a video began playing on the projection screen.
Judging by the setting, it seemed to be an evil spirit instance.
But the participant inside puzzled them. Why was it a four-year-old little girl?
Soon, however, a shocking scene appeared.
A Ghost Monarch-class evil spirit bowed respectfully to the little girl and even addressed her as "little princess"!
At the sight, everyone in the room except Jiang Daoguo-all nine of them-stared wide-eyed in disbelief!
The elder who had spoken earlier was particularly shaken. Pointing at the video with a trembling hand, he asked incredulously:
"Jiang, are you sure this video hasn't been doctored?"
"Of course it hasn't," Jiang Daoguo replied calmly before continuing:
"I witnessed everything shown in this video myself tonight."
"The little girl in the video is named Tang Xiaoling. She's four years old, and her home is here in River City."
"She's currently inside the beginner instance, the Evil Spirit Amusement Park."
"The evil spirit bowing to her is the master of the instance, Ghost King Zhong!"
"The one beside her is the Ghost Monarch's wife, Rakshasa Lady Ten!"
"You should be familiar with this evil spirit, right? She appeared once five years ago, and we conducted research on her."
"Although we don't know her exact strength, we suspect she's Ghost General-class!"
At that point, Jiang Daoguo paused and took a sip from his teacup.
He was also giving his colleagues time to process what they had seen.
But clearly, even the high-ranking Ten Elders found their minds grinding to a halt when confronted with something like this.
The nine men stared at the video for a full minute before finally snapping out of it!
"Jiang! Why didn't you tell us about this sooner? What's Tang Xiaoling's exact home address? Give it to me, now!"
"Chen is right! This is outrageous! Someone this important must be placed under protection immediately!"
"How many days are left before the instance ends? Evacuate all the surrounding residents at once, so no criminals can slip in among them!"
"Jiang! You deserve a thrashing! If anything happens to my little granddaughter, I'll hold you personally responsible!"
"Li, have you no shame? That little girl is so adorable. Since when did she become your granddaughter?"
Li said, "I just claimed her as my own granddaughter. Got a problem with that?"
For a while, voices rose over one another, filling the conference room with a deafening clamor.
Jiang Daoguo seemed to have expected this. He continued sipping his tea at a leisurely pace, showing no intention of stopping them.
He had become a mere spectator, watching these colleagues-usually so composed and unflappable-make fools of themselves.
Still, he understood that he couldn't blame these old men for getting so worked up.
Tang Xiaoling's appearance had not only overturned everything they thought they knew.
It also held extraordinary significance for Dragon Country!
Their seemingly excessive insistence on protecting Tang Xiaoling, in particular, was anything but groundless!
Just think: a princess of the evil spirit realm had appeared within Dragon Country's borders as a human.
Once that news got out, countless countries would surely come flocking!
Eagle Sauce Country in particular, with its shameless way of doing things, would likely use every means at its disposal to snatch her away!
Unfortunately, this had all been broadcast to the public through a livestream.
No matter how much influence the Ten Elders wielded, there was no way they could control it.
After all, who knew how many users from other countries were lurking on the Evil Spirit Website?
Perhaps the leaders of those countries had already learned of Tang Xiaoling's existence while they were still discussing her!
They therefore had to protect Tang Xiaoling before any countries with sinister intentions could make their move!
That was why Jiang Daoguo had decided to hold the Ten Elders' Meeting in River City.
They needed to eliminate every potential threat before Tang Xiaoling left the instance!
Seeing that his colleagues had argued enough, Jiang Daoguo cleared his throat twice.
Only after drawing everyone's attention did he slowly speak:
"Gentlemen, I know you're anxious, but hear me out. Don't be anxious just yet."
Everyone: ...
You'd better start making some damn sense!
Seeing the daggers in all nine men's eyes, Jiang Daoguo hurriedly continued:
"You're so worked up right now that you've overlooked something."
"Tang Xiaoling's background is far from simple."
"Her father, in particular, is a major power in the evil spirit realm."
"If we approach her without permission, we could very well repeat the disaster of ten years ago!"
At those words, the other nine men instantly calmed down.
Their minds returned to the tragedy of ten years earlier.
Back then, Dragon Country had finally managed to obtain a key that led to the evil spirit realm.
They had believed that opening the way would make them the first country in the world to truly understand evil spirits.
Instead, they had opened Pandora's box!
Overnight, a city of five million had become a ghost city, its inhabitants slaughtered!
Had the gateway to the evil spirit realm not been forcibly closed, the disaster would likely have continued spreading!
Even so, Dragon Country had paid an exceedingly heavy price!
From then on, the evil spirit realm had become strictly off-limits.
Even when further opportunities to enter arose, not a single one of them agreed to it!
Although the situation was different now, with the princess of the evil spirit realm coming here.
As Jiang Daoguo feared, if they approached her without permission, would the Fengdu Forces retaliate?
If things truly reached that point, five million lives might not be enough to pay the price!
Before you continue