"Indeed, this is a suitable place for an ambush."
Duke of Qin looked at the surrounding mist and nodded to himself. This location, near the South Mountain, naturally has its own miasma and mist. When it mixes with the mist coming from the sea, you often don't know whether you are in that ancient world or outside if you are not careful!
The imperial court chose this place to hide; the location is very secure. Even if we wanted to target them, it would be difficult to find their troop deployment. Their strategy was quite ingenious; it's something those two blockheaded old men from the Hong Household and Yuchi Household couldn't have come up with.
Who is leading the charge?
Just then, a blurry figure appeared in the mist. It was about a hundred meters away. Although the fog was thick, Lu Ming could still sense it with his weak bloodline senses. It was His Highness the Crown Prince.
"Your Highness, this location is not safe. How did you manage to escape surveillance and run so far all by yourself?"
Just as Lu Ming was about to step forward, the other party called out to him.
"Uncle Lu, please stop!"
"Hmm?" Lu Ming stopped in his tracks, puzzled. "What does Your Highness mean?"
"I have a question for Uncle Lu."
Lu Ming frowned, but his personality was always calm, and he said calmly, "Your Highness, please ask."
"Why did Uncle Lu take on this task? Why come to Jiangnan to face this terrifying monster?"
"Because I had to come!" Lu Ming said solemnly, "Not only because my son is here, but also because I know how terrifying the descent of the ancients is. This demonic incident is very likely the descent of the ancients. If I don't rush to the front line, His Majesty won't send troops, and it will only leave Jiangnan and other places completely hopeless!"
"So Uncle Lu did it for the sake of the common people?"
Lu Ming frowned even more deeply. Who had bewitched the Crown Prince? The Crown Prince's tone clearly carried a hint of distrust.
"Not really," Lu Ming said, knowing that this was the crucial moment to obtain intelligence, and he spoke with extra caution.
"But when the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact. The West Sea is a stronghold of our troops, and we cannot sit idly by. Your father may be able to wait, but I cannot!"
"Is that so?" The Crown Prince's tone softened. "Someone told me that Uncle Lu, you have a terminal illness. Uncle Lu, do you want to be cured?"
Lu Ming's pupils contracted. "What does Your Highness mean?"
"Uncle Lu is right. This fog is indeed ancient. The source of this fog that covers the West Sea is a huge magic array called Nine Heavens Mirror Valley, which is the protective magic array outside the Dragon Palace!"
" Dragon Palace?"
Lu Ming's heart skipped a beat. It matched!
The Great Jin possesses wealth across the four seas, so why did the Lu Household choose the West Sea instead of the more prosperous South Sea region when selecting their territory?
The reason was that they wanted to continue observing and exploring the secrets of the Shen Family.
For thousands of years, the Lu Household has never given up on pursuing the ancient past. The Shen Family has long been labeled by the Lu Household. Over the years, through careful probing and intelligence gathering, coupled with a certain transaction with the Shen Family family patriarch, Lu Ming has learned some secrets.
The term " Dragon Palace " was first heard from the Shen Family patriarch, but this time it appeared from the Crown Prince.
It seems my efforts haven't been in vain, Crown Prince. He really does know information from the ancient times!
Suppressing his excitement, Lu Ming said seriously, "Your Highness knew the origin of this calamity in Jiangnan, so why didn't you say so sooner? With more information, how many fewer soldiers could we have lost?"
The words implied a sense of accountability, but the stance taken was absolutely justifiable.
"Because I don't know if, after I say some things, Uncle Lu, you'll still be the same Uncle Lu you used to be!"
"Your Highness, what makes you say that? Cough cough." Lu Ming coughed twice, and when he touched his hand, it was already thick and black blood.
It seems Hei Yun was right. Even if he uses the secret medicine to prolong his life, he only has five years left at most!
"Uncle Lu is very ill," the Crown Prince said softly. "If Uncle Lu knew what was in the Dragon Palace, would you still maintain your original intentions? Or perhaps, Uncle Lu has been lying to me all along, trying to extract information from me from the very beginning?"
Lu Ming: "."
This kid's gotten clever!
It's not that they've become more clever; they've just always been wary of me.
But that's fine too. Since they're willing to lay it all out today, even though their tone is distant, Lu Ming knows that as long as he answers well, things will fall into place, and he'll get what he wants most!
"Intelligence?" Lu Ming took a breath and smiled wryly. "His Highness Prince King of Qin said the same thing back then."
" King of Qin?" The crown prince's tone became doubtful and confused.
"Yes," Lu Ming said with a hint of reminiscence, "Back then, the King of Qin asked us if we wanted to take the risk and gamble on exploring the legacy inside the Outer Heaven Demon Statue!"
" The Outer Heaven Demon Statue."
"Those were monsters ten or even a hundred times more terrifying than the ones we have now!" Duke of Qin said solemnly. "If we had been careless and released them back then, our human race might have been wiped out!"
"Back then, you guys..."
"We can't afford such a risk." Lu Ming smiled and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "I've had this illness for a long time. To be honest, the King of Qin of Qin's offer was really tempting back then."
"I didn't choose to take that risk back then," Lu Ming looked at the Crown Prince with utmost sincerity, "And I won't now!"
"Uncle Lu." The Crown Prince's tone clearly showed a hint of emotion.
"Your Highness, come here first." Lu Ming smiled. "There's no point in you keeping your distance from me like this. If I really had malicious intentions, you wouldn't be able to resist. Let's find a safe place. Something feels off here."
"Good!" The crown prince's voice was filled with excitement, his tone clearly returning to what it once was.
This made Lu Ming's eyes crinkle with amusement.
Okay, now what's next?
Suddenly, he saw a huge shadow appear behind the crown prince, without warning, carrying an extremely dangerous chill!
"Your Highness, be careful!" Lu Ming rushed towards the Crown Prince without hesitation. He was so fast that he had already covered a hundred meters before his voice even reached him. But when he crossed the distance, he saw an extremely horrifying scene!
In the impenetrable mist, the prince was being held on the back by a cricket-like insect with legs all over its body. The skin and flesh on the prince's back were torn open, and the cricket-like insect was firmly locked onto the prince's spine. Those dense, thin legs corresponded exactly to all the prince's spinal nerves!
At this moment, the prince's face was blank, and his limbs were obviously sewn on; he was now completely a puppet!
"You"
Before Lu Ming could even be shocked, an incredibly fast figure had already attacked from behind!
As a top expert, Lu Ming could sense any intention to harm him at any time. Even the slightest malice from afar could be clearly detected by him. There were no more than five people in the world who could conceal their malice to attack him, and the person behind him was clearly among those five!
Moreover, the timing of the attack was extremely precise!
As the most esteemed Duke of the Great Jin Dynasty, Lu Ming's family was incredibly wealthy, and few things in the world could capture his full attention. However, the situation before him was the source of his inner turmoil, and the timing of the situation was incredibly clever. Even someone as strong as Lu Ming couldn't react in time to such a perfect opportunity with such a top-tier expert!
Bang!
Golden flames, the most authentic flame blade of the Xiao Household —in the heat of the moment, Lu Ming was sent flying hundreds of meters!
It's you.
Lu Ming never expected that she would be the one to make the move!
"Still as shameless as ever," the princess sneered at the heavily injured Lu Ming. "To say you'd give up the King of Qin's temptation for the sake of the common people—how could you even say that!"
"You—" Lu Ming clutched his chest. The self-healing ability of his family bloodline allowed his terrifying wound to heal rapidly, but the inextinguishable flames of the Golden Crow kept burning the wound repeatedly. The fire poison entering his body and entangled with the old wound made Lu Ming feel as if he could barely catch his breath!
"It's you. You actually... do you even know what the Crown Prince represents?"
" Reincarnator, huh?" The princess burst into laughter, the laughter growing louder and louder until she was almost breathless. "Oh dear, these past few decades have been so stifling for me, especially seeing how cautiously you treat him!"
Lu Ming was taken aback. He wasn't stupid; he understood almost instantly!
The crown prince's identity was fake; it was a scheme orchestrated by this woman from the beginning. But the crown prince's precocious intelligence couldn't be faked; he clearly was. Ah, I see!
Lu Ming looked at the other party with an extremely ugly expression. "You're the one who brought the Thousand-Faced Fox into the capital!!"
"Still as clever as before," the princess said wistfully. " The King of Qin is right, you are one of the most intelligent people in the world, but the more intelligent and confident you are, the easier it is for you to stumble!"
"What is the purpose of Your Highness's scheme?" Lu Ming asked grimly, "Just to kill me? It's not that I underestimate Your Highness, but even now, with my health so poor due to the princess's machinations, you're still no match for me!"
"Of course I know that," the princess laughed. "I don't need to kill you. You're already a dying man anyway. I lured you here just to prevent you from going back. You're too strong. Even though I've injured you like this, I'm still not confident I can defeat you, so I can't let you go back!"
"Huh?" Lu Ming was taken aback. Suddenly, he thought of something and rushed forward. But for some reason, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get close to the princess in the distance!
This is
In an instant, Lu Ming realized that the other party did not want to kill him, but to trap him. The location here was shrouded in thick fog, which could easily confuse the location of the magic array with reality. Therefore, when he was knocked away just now, although it was out of necessity, he was completely unaware that he would be directly knocked into the magic array!
I see
"Intricately linked, truly worthy of being the Xiao Household's originally designated patriarch!" Lu Ming's face was ashen. "No wonder the King of Qin valued you so highly back then!"
Upon hearing this, the princess showed no sign of smugness. Instead, her smile vanished, replaced by an icy demeanor. "You are not worthy to mention his name!"
"Are you worthy?" Lu Ming sneered. "Trapping me here is your way of eyeing my 300,000 followers, isn't it? They are the descendants of the Black Dragon Guard who followed His Majesty the King of Qin back in the day!"
"So they deserve to die!" The princess's eyes were filled with madness. "How did the King of Qin treat them back then? How did they treat King of Qin after they learned King of Qin was a demon? You deserve to die, and all those people from back then deserve to die!!"