Chapter 722: 469. The sky falls, and the minister holds it (5k)_2
"Sure."
"If the sky falls, I will hold it up."
...
...
Just after Zhao Douan left this bamboo forest that afternoon.
A team of dozens arrived at the mountain’s range.
This elite team of spies from the Prince Jing Mansion was tasked with tracking the Empress as well as Zhao Douan’s whereabouts.
The leader of the team wore a hood, covering half his face, known as the "spy leader."
The one who held control and power over the entire espionage intelligence system.
He seemed deliberately to hide his face, but his exposed hands were slender and pale, and a narrow Miao Blade hung at his waist.
In the whole domain of Prince Jing’s influence, the spy leader was a mysterious figure, residing in shadows for years.
Very few people knew he was the "criminal soldier" whom Prince Jing had saved from being exiled to Lingnan years ago by using his power.
Faked to have died during the exile journey, the real person was cunningly replaced and brought back to serve in the mansion.
"Are you both sure the direction the Fake Emperor fled yesterday is correct?"
At this moment, the spy leader stopped in the forest, fixing his malicious gaze on the two beside him:
"Don’t say I didn’t warn you. The pursuit of the Fake Emperor is personally commanded by the Prince and must be completed. If due to your misjudgment, the wrong direction is followed, and the person escapes instead, and the Prince blames us, I won’t mind pulling you down with me."
The two before him, a man and a woman, were not spies from the mansion but magicians from the Magic God Sect.
Yesterday, the sudden disappearance of the Empress from the clouds made capturing her the top priority, but the mansion’s army excelled at frontal combat, not pursuit.
Thus, they enlisted two magicians specialized in tracking for assistance.
The male magician seemed to be about forty years old, his messy hair all white, wearing an indigo magic robe, with whistles and a bone flute made from some animal’s teeth hanging at his waist, having a somewhat ferocious smile.
The female magician appeared in her early thirties, with a curvy figure, quite alluring. Her sorcerer’s robe was tailored, covered in thick makeup, with lips as red as blood, fingernails in various colors, her eyes enchanting and captivating.
Now she laughed foolishly: "Lord Ouyang should not scare a slave like this; the Prince plans to conquer the world, how could he trivialize with us? Wouldn’t that ruin his dignity?"
Ouyang Ye coldly stared at her, devoid of any charm or affection: "The Prince may not blame you, but I will."
Feeling the killing intent emanating from the spy leader’s hooded eyes, the female magician felt a sudden chill, her seductive smile frozen on her face.
The white-haired male magician ignored Ouyang Ye’s threat, looked at the forest ahead, and said: "Yao Shiniang’s intuition is divine; if she says this is the direction, it can’t be wrong."
While speaking, he took down a bone whistle from his waist and said, "As for the exact location, the creatures will give us the answers."
He blew the bone whistle, emitting strange sound waves that humans can hardly hear, and shortly after, the spies were astonished to see a large group of birds and beasts rushing from the forest.
As if summoned by the magician.
The enchanting Yao Shiniang explained with a smile: "White-headed Eagle excels at close tracking; he can command the birds and beasts, once the Fake Emperor appears, he will be seen. If humans cannot see, the birds and beasts will, not to mention, there’s the Empress’s blood as a guide."
The magician known as "White-headed Eagle" threw a cloth stained with the Empress’s blood to several wolves in the forest, and seemingly "asked" something to the birds above, moments later, a group of crows reacted, "cawing," flying into the distance, and the wolves turned and ran.
"Follow them," White-headed Eagle said, his warlock robe billowing in the breeze as he followed.
Yao Shiniang also smiled, swaying her figure, following like willow in the wind.
"Follow!" The spy leader waved his hand, leading dozens of spies forward.
Soon, the group heard several wolves growling around an Earth God Temple ahead.
The spies were exhilarated and rushed forward, soon returning, saying: "Lord Ouyang, there are indeed traces of people in the temple; someone should have stayed here last night but seems to have left early."
The white-haired, ferocious-smiling White-headed Eagle sensed the faint blood scent inside and was enthralled: "It’s the smell of the Fake Emperor’s blood, unfortunately, yesterday’s heavy rain washed away the blood traces in the forest, otherwise I could have found it sooner."
"Lord, this was found in the fire pit." One spy offered a piece of burned, unrecognizable cloth as if presenting a treasure.
Ouyang Ye took it for thorough examination, and from one corner of the burnt fabric, he saw the trace of a small partial Jade Seal impression.
"They didn’t escape far and will surely find a way to return to the Capital soon, so there’s a great possibility they will flee toward some inhabited area in the northwest. Pursue them!"
In his excitement, Ouyang Ye commanded: "Release carrier pigeons, order the Prince to deploy soldiers along the route from here to the Capital, setting checkpoints and conducting thorough inspections. Humph, a merely deposed emperor, once captured, we will all receive rewards and be credited with military achievements!"
"Yes!" A large group of spies answered enthusiastically.
Yao Shiniang folded her arms, her lips fiery red, eyes like snakes and scorpions: "I am more interested in Zhao Douan, curious about what kind of man the Empress has chosen."
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Zhao Douan carried Xu Zhenguan on his back, quietly reaching a nearby town after leaving the forest.
Finally learned their location.
As expected, still within Jianning Prefecture, the good news was they hadn’t been transported further south, but rather in a northwestern direction.