The sudden change caught Ying Wuji off guard, causing his heart to skip a beat.

He glanced around and realized that the carriage had stopped in an abandoned district. It used to be bustling with activity, but due to contaminated wells, the people within a two-mile radius had moved away. It was a desolate place, a good spot for Zhang San's work.

These people must have come prepared. Could it be that they were worried about Ying Yue not taking strong measures against him and came here to eliminate the obstacles for Ying Wuque?

This was not good. Being surrounded by so many people, he was afraid that he would suffer greatly!

Wait!

Ying Wuji felt that something was off, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was.

However, he quickly discovered the problem.

These people didn't have emotional bars on their heads!

Illusion!

It was definitely an illusion!

How could there be people in this world without emotional bars on their heads? The little son of General Li next door already had an emotional bar at the age of five!

In just a moment, many questions popped into Ying Wuji's mind. When did he fall into the illusion? Who was the one who set up the illusion? How could he break free from it?

Illusions were definitely a form of magic, but they were considered rare skills in orthodox cultivation. Only the Daoist, Yin-Yang, and Family magic systems had illusions. There were also minor schools like painters and musicians who had them.

As for the time he fell into the illusion and the person who set it up...

He never wandered around aimlessly, but today he went to the Li family's courtyard. This was obviously a bit excessive, making him somewhat disbelief.

He should think about how to break free from the illusion. Ying Wuji had never encountered this kind of thing before, so it was indeed quite tricky.

But then he thought, why should he break free from the illusion?

Although he had never seen the expert who secretly protected him, he was one hundred percent sure that such an expert existed, especially after the imperial examination topic.

If he encountered a life-threatening situation, this expert would definitely take action. In that case, he might as well see what this person behind the scenes wanted to do.

Ying Wuji made up his mind, and the panic in his heart dissipated a lot. He jumped off the carriage and angrily shouted at the black-clothed men, "What do you want? A group of traitors and thieves trying to harm their young master?"

His voice was loud, with a hint of intimidation.

Gongsun Di stepped forward, his voice icy cold. "By the order of our king, we will kill the young master of the Lawless Faction!"

Ying Wuji frowned. "What nonsense are you talking about? If my father wanted to punish me, he would have done it at the embassy. Why would he resort to these despicable means? You bunch of scoundrels, did Ying Wuque send you? Do you know the consequences of this?"

"Ah!"

Xun Zhiyin sighed mockingly. "Young master, why are you still deluding yourself? If we really wanted to kill you on the spot, how would you explain it to your mother's family? His Majesty is a wise and resourceful ruler. How could he allow trouble in his own backyard? Just like you, your stubborn resistance is really giving His Majesty a headache!"

Ying Wuji became furious. "I'm giving him a headache? I've earned so much money for Daqian, why should he have a headache because of me?"

He was so angry that his spit flew everywhere, and his eyes were bloodshot, as if his emotions had been stirred up by the words of these two men.

Xun Zhiyin smiled. "Young master, why don't you understand until now? For Daqian, a young master who can make money is not a good young master!"

"What is a good young master then?"

"Of course, it's someone who can unite the entire Daqian! "

Xun Zhiyin's voice became more triumphant. "If you can accept your fate and work diligently for Daqian, His Majesty would be happy to welcome you back to the imperial palace to enjoy the happiness of family. Unfortunately, you are ambitious and want to compete with Young Master Wuque for the position of the crown prince. Once there is internal strife, it will be a disaster for Daqian. In that case, I'm afraid you can only die quietly without causing any trouble for your motherland!"

"Nonsense!"

Ying Wuji felt as if a fire was raging in his heart. He knew very well that this surge of emotions did not come from himself, but was probably caused by the person controlling the illusion.

But this also made him more immersed in the situation. He pointed at the two men and cursed loudly, "Nonsense! You're talking nonsense! My father would never kill me! It's you traitors who made up these lies to ruin my Dao heart... Damn it!"

He suddenly felt a pain in his shoulder, as if an arrow had pierced through it.

The pain felt so real that he could even touch the sticky blood on his shoulder.

Gongsun Di took out a book called "Daqian Laws" from his pocket, and the three characters on the cover were shining with golden light. "Please die, young master. Imprisonment, punishment, thunder penalty!"

A golden prison quickly formed, and a dark cloud appeared in the clear night sky, brewing terrifying thunder.

Ying Wuji's face turned pale, and he quickly drew his short sword and slashed at the prison.

But his "Beng Zhi Zhen Jie" failed to break it.

Gongsun Di's voice was cold and murderous. "Young master, this is a prohibition of the Legalist school. You can't break it!"

Ying Wuji: "..."

At first, he thought that the person who cast the illusion had already infiltrated the embassy. Now it seemed that they had probably deduced some of the things happening in the embassy from the surface. Otherwise, they wouldn't know that he could break free from the imprisonment.

And at this moment, the thunder penalty was about to strike Ying Wuji when a figure suddenly rushed out and stood in front of him.The man in the Flying Fish Robe took a hit from a thunder spell, but remained unscathed. He turned and said, "Master Wuji, I am a royal guard of King Li. I will hold these men off for you. You must... Huh? How did you run away so quickly?"

Ying Wuji was seen sprinting away without any hesitation.

The men in black from the Kingdom Qian became anxious, "Chase him! Chase him!"

The royal guard of King Li roared, "Stop! You villains, don't even think about framing the Great Li!"

He stood his ground, vowing to protect Ying Wuji's escape. However, the men from the Kingdom Qian sent several experts to entangle him, and the rest all went to chase Ying Wuji.

Ying Wuji was quickly caught up and entangled in a fight. Fortunately, these men were not very powerful and did not pose a lethal threat.

Even so, Ying Wuji was hit by numerous swords and was covered in blood.

"Master, prepare to die!"

The chilling killing intent made Ying Wuji break out in a cold sweat. He turned around to see a long knife slashing towards his forehead, and it was too late to dodge.

In the moment between life and death, a familiar voice rang out.

"Master!"

The young girl Bai Zhi appeared out of nowhere, bravely blocking the knife for him and shielding him behind her.

Ying Wuji was shocked, "Weren't you in seclusion? How did you..."

Bai Zhi pursed her lips, "I don't know why, but I suddenly felt that you were in danger, so I came to save you. Master, I'll hold them off, you run!"

"Okay!"

Ying Wuji ran away again. This time, most of the men in black were held back by Bai Zhi, and only a few could continue the chase.

This time, Ying Wuji fought back and killed all the pursuers, but he was completely drained of energy. He could only drag his body to hide under a bridge and fell into a deep sleep.

When you're just trying to make great content at pawread.com .

After an unknown amount of time, he opened his eyes to find Bai Zhi leaning against his shoulder, covered in wounds.

Seeing him awake, the young girl's pale face showed a hint of joy, "Master, you're finally awake, cough, cough, cough..."

She covered her mouth, coughing up a mouthful of black blood.

Ying Wuji was shocked, "Are you poisoned?"

Bai Zhi gave a bitter smile, "I'm afraid it's too late. I really, really don't want to leave you, Master."

"Don't move, let me..."

"Master, listen to me!"

Bai Zhi interrupted him, speaking weakly, "I'm afraid I can't be saved this time. Before I die, can you fulfill one wish for me?"

Ying Wuji anxiously asked, "What wish?"

Bai Zhi's eyes dodged a little, "I've served you for many years, Master, but you've never wanted me. Can you, can you..."

Ying Wuji looked at the Emotional Bar on her forehead, "So, Li Caitan, you staged this whole drama just to trick me?"

The woman in front of him choked, her appearance undergoing a drastic change.

Li Caitan looked both shocked and confused, "How did you see through my illusion?"

~~~~~~

Ten updates, twenty-four thousand words.

I hope everyone will support the official subscription. The more feedback, the more motivated I am to update.

Thank you!