"Your Highness, the Ninth Prince is currently highly favored by the Emperor. If you act rashly, it will likely incur His Majesty’s displeasure and may even bring disaster upon yourself!"

Ninth Prince!

That is none other than Ye Luo, who has recently become incredibly prominent in the Emperor’s court!

"It’s that illegitimate child! Hmph, does he truly think he’s a prince now? Nobody even knows who his mother is. Even if he is His Majesty’s son, I will make him pay the price!"

"Come here!"

The King of Zhongzheng bellowed loudly!

Immediately, a servant entered the room.

"Your Highness!"

The person who entered was an old attendant of the King of Zhongzheng. Having followed him for many years, the attendant was deeply familiar with all the king’s thoughts and the breadth of his power.

At this moment, he didn’t even wait for the king to speak before already understanding his intentions.

So he directly said, "Your Highness, the Hidden Division is ready to move at any time. As long as you issue the order, this old servant will bring you his head!"

"No, I want him alive! I want to kill him with my own hands. I want to use his blood to pay tribute to my son!"

The King of Zhongzheng was utterly agitated, his demeanor ferocious, almost as if he were ready to devour someone whole!

The old servant, hearing the order, did not hesitate or utter even half a word of dissent, but instead immediately retreated from the room, clearly understanding what needed to be done!

Ye Luo at this moment was entirely unaware of all this. Within the estate, he originally thought there would be no pressing matters. However, what he didn’t expect was that things were growing increasingly complicated.

At first, when Ye Luo and Princess Ling Xue returned to the estate, Ling Xue, embarrassed, hurried back to her own room. Ye Luo didn’t mind it and also returned to his own chamber. Yet, after just over an hour, Princess Ling Xue came to find Ye Luo, her expression visibly perturbed.

Ye Luo looked at Princess Ling Xue with confusion and asked directly, "What’s the matter? What happened?"

Princess Ling Xue’s troubled expression indicated to Ye Luo that something serious had occurred. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Ye Luo, it’s terrible. Two academy students were killed while outside!"

What!

Ye Luo’s head shot up, his eyes filled with disbelief.

This is happening before the exploration of the Sacred Temple has even begun, and now two students are already dead.

What on earth is going on? Why would this happen?

"What happened? Can you explain in more detail?"

As the appointed leader of the Royal Academy for this expedition, Ye Luo had a duty to investigate. Moreover, with his comrades being killed, Ye Luo naturally felt angry and compelled to intervene.

"Here’s the situation. After I returned to my room, everything seemed fine at first. However, not long afterward, a bloodied student staggered back. He possesses a unique treasure that allows him to set up teleportation points anywhere. In desperate situations, he can use them to save himself."

"Thanks to this treasure, he barely escaped with his life. According to his account, they were planning to buy some items during their outing. Unexpectedly, shortly after they left, they realized they had been targeted. They didn’t know who their enemies were and initially ignored it, but when they arrived at a more secluded area, their attackers struck! Aside from him and his special treasure, the other two students were killed in the attack!"

Princess Ling Xue recounted the incident to Ye Luo.

However, Ye Luo furrowed his brow tightly. Although the circumstances of their deaths were now clear, the information provided was of little help to him.

Why were these students targeted? Who were the people targeting them?

What was the motive for their killings? Was it personal vengeance, or was it directed at the Royal Academy?

Ye Luo had no answers to any of these questions!

But Ye Luo knew one thing—this was undoubtedly not good news.

"Alright, I understand. Where is that person now? Take me to meet him!"

Ye Luo needed more detailed information, so he decided to personally talk to the survivor to see if he could learn anything more useful.

"He’s currently in his room, trembling with fear. You should—"

"Your Highness, Your Highness, something terrible has happened!"

Suddenly, before Princess Ling Xue could finish her sentence, a group of individuals hurriedly ran over.

There’s more trouble now!

Ye Luo’s confusion deepened.

"What’s going on? Speak more calmly!"

"Your Highness, it’s awful. Our group was attacked—some of our comrades have been ambushed and abducted. Because we were farther away, we only saw the distress signals and immediately rushed to support them. But when we reached the scene, all we found were the distress messages they left behind!"

While explaining, one of them handed Ye Luo a small orb.

These small orbs could record one or two sentences and were particularly easy to hide. Strictly speaking, they weren’t considered magical treasures—more often treated as mere toys. Yet, now, such a toy had become a tool for conveying vital messages.

Evidently, the abducted students had been pushed to desperation, leaving them no choice but to resort to this method!

Inside the orb was just one sentence: "Someone is targeting the Royal Academy. Save me. Be careful!"

Evidently, because of the orb’s recording limit, they couldn’t say much. However, the phrase "Save me. Be careful" conveyed everything.

The student was both seeking help and warning Ye Luo and his group to stay vigilant!

Damn it!

Not much time has passed, yet already two separate waves of bad news have come simultaneously.

Yun Liancheng had also arrived by now. Upon hearing the details of the incident, he said to Ye Luo, "Your Highness, why don’t I go investigate this myself?"

Yun Liancheng, as Ye Luo’s Guard Captain and also a student of the Royal Academy, felt it was his duty to look into the matter.

However, Ye Luo didn’t see it that way. The two attacks involved entirely different groups—one aimed at abductions, the other at killings!

Was this the result of personal grudges, or was someone targeting the Royal Academy as a whole? Nobody knew the answer—not even Ye Luo.

But Ye Luo knew one thing—he couldn’t act on impulse.

If he recklessly sent people out without proper precautions, and the attackers were indeed targeting the Royal Academy, it could lead to more trouble!

"No, Yun, you can’t leave. Instead, send word to all the students to return to the estate immediately. Also, dispatch someone to notify the stationed military commander here and have them investigate this matter. This situation might be far more complicated than it seems."

Ye Luo didn’t explain his rationale for these orders, but Yun Liancheng didn’t question it either. As long as Ye Luo issued the command, he would comply without hesitation!

Very soon, Yun Liancheng sent out personnel to fulfill Ye Luo’s orders.