Song Zining didn’t dare blindly agree to Princess Gaoyi’s logic, but he wasn’t dumb enough to speak his thoughts out loud. Women had their own reasoning regarding such matters, and no amount of argument would change that.

Song Zining replied, “Even if he’s responsible, we should pay attention to the important matters first. Finding the young miss is the most important right now, and everything else comes second. I do wonder why she came here, though?”

Gaoyi sighed. “I realized instantly when she escaped. Back then, I thought she was just going out for a stroll. Who would’ve thought she’d lose all her guards after leaving West Pole City? Only at that point did I notice that things weren’t looking good—I chased her all the way here, but I was still no match compared to her and the Red Spider Lily.”

“Does Duke Chengen know about this matter?”

“All he knows is his Fire Beacon Corps and nothing else!” Gaoyi’s words contained a hint of complaint.

Song Zining thought seriously for a while before saying, “As I see it, we should tell Duke Chengen of this matter and have him talk to Marshal Lin. Since you want Lin Xitang to take action, it’s not wise to force him into a corner. Your ident.i.ty is also quite special, and many people have their eyes on you. This matter can’t be hidden for long, so we should get things done as quickly as possible. I think we should temporarily ignore that minor misunderstanding between the Zhao clan and the marshal.”

Princess Gaoyi frowned. “Why can’t I go to Lin Xitang directly?”

“That… Marshal Lin isn’t that easy to talk to.”

Princess Gaoyi said with a cold smile, “I don’t care about that. If I can’t solve this problem from the outside, I will go into the Great Maelstrom.”

Song Zining was shocked out of his wits. “You absolutely must not!”

The princess replied calmly, “It’s fine if I don’t return, but if I do, certain people can forget about living a peaceful life.”

Song Zining noticed the hidden implications. “Your Majesty, you mean…”

“How do you think Ruoxi found out about these things in the first place?”

Song Zining immediately realized that someone was targeting the Zhao clan in secret.

Gaoyi said, “I’ve already killed thirty subordinates on the spot, and I don’t mind killing three hundred or three thousand.”

There were bound to be innocent people among the thirty victims, but Princess Gaoyi was telling the people behind the scenes that she would not hold back anymore.

Song Zining felt greatly distressed. “In that case, you had better visit the marshal first. He knows so much more about the Great Maelstrom than I do. I’ll think of a way to head inside and do my best to search for Ruoxi.”

Nodding, Princess Gaoyi removed two bracelets from her wrist and placed them on the table. “The previous emperor bestowed me these two treasures. One is for defense, enough to bring you safely through the pa.s.sage. The other is a spatial gear, in which I have placed some emergency supplies. Since you have to go in either way, better not delay things.”

Song Zining didn’t decline the gifts. He put the bracelets on and proceeded to ask how to use them.

Gaoyi watched him put away the items before speaking, “I’ve heard bits and pieces about the situation on the other side. Ruoxi’s character is fierce, much like me back in the year. If she’s unwilling, she’d rather die in order to retain her innocence. Remember that.”

Song Zining said seriously, “Rest a.s.sured. I’m a romantic, but I’m not a lowlife. I definitely won’t take advantage of other people’s plight.”

“I still don’t feel too a.s.sured.”

Song Zining’s expression froze upon hearing those words.

The girl who had led him in said, “Your Majesty, maybe we should castrate him first before sending him in? That’s the most certain course of action.”

Song Zining gasped. Who would’ve thought that sweet-looking girl was actually so merciless? He then glanced at the contemplating Princess Gaoyi and felt his heart freeze up. There was no way he could escape the princess’ grasp no matter how capable he was.

Fortunately, Gaoyi shook her head after some thought. Song Zining felt some relief, but the words that followed stopped him from laughing. “I need him to run errands for me. His strength will be affected if we cut it off now. It’s not too late if he comes out after doing something wrong.”

Song Zining trembled in the chilly wind as he walked out of the airs.h.i.+p. That young lady, who was still beside him, couldn’t help but chuckle. Song Zining said frostily, “What are you laughing at? You look good but your mind is so malicious.”

The girl smiled. “Men like you will harm countless women if allowed to roam free. It’s best to castrate you.”

Song Zining clenched his teeth. “I’ve never done you any harm!”

The girl covered her mouth. “I wouldn’t have the heart to castrate you if I was the one harmed.”

Song Zining was livid, and he simply rushed away without saying anything.

The girl returned to the airs.h.i.+p after the seventh young n.o.ble’s departure and closed the cabin doors. She then arrived near Princess Gaoyi, saying, “You’re letting him go just like that?”

Princess Gaoyi said, “There’s no better candidate right now. Let us go. Remember, you must not let Jundu and the others know about this matter.”

“Rest a.s.sured, Your Majesty.”

...

Within the Great Maelstrom, Qianye was completely oblivious to the matters happening outside. He was hidden within the gra.s.s, gazing at the distant stone castle with a serious expression.

This keep was even bigger than the first one—just the right side wall alone had four sentry towers, each manned by two four-armed natives. The structure was st.u.r.dy and well-maintained. At least the walls were intact, without any collapsed parts.

The stone wall was over thirty meters high. This wasn’t anything too impressive normally, but the extreme gravity inside the Great Maelstrom made it difficult to fly. That made the wall a true obstacle.

Ji Tianqing also looked solemn and doubtful. “Is this where you got the fruits from?”

Qianye nodded.

“How did you get in?”

“Over the wall.”

Ji Tianqing couldn’t help but shake her head. “It’s impossible to talk with a monster like you.”

She looked toward Li Kuanglan. “Do you have any ideas?”

“Rope, grappling hook, nails,” Li Kuanglan replied concisely.

"That’s not hard.” Ji Tianqing dragged the other two back into the woods, where they felled a tree. They skinned the bark to make rope and carved the wood into hooks. Moments later, they had a batch of tools.

Ji Tianqing checked the time. “Let’s move out, there’s no more time.”

Nodding, Qianye retracted his aura and sneaked to the other side of the castle. Ji Tianqing and Li Kuanglan sneaked over to the wall in front of them.

Qianye arrived under the stone wall, where he grabbed onto a protruding part and flung himself upward. As he arrived at the top, he saw a hook fly up from the opposite wall and latch firmly onto the edges. Then, Ji Tianqing and Li Kuanglan appeared as well. The latter aimed a wooden stake into a gap between the stone and hammered it halfway in with a swing of her fist.

The impact from this movement was quite soft, but the four-armed sentry from the nearby tower glanced over immediately. He had just turned around when Li Kuanglan grabbed his neck from behind, quickly blocking his nose and throat with frost energy. Then, with a crack, she simply broke the four-armed man’s neck.

Li Kuanglan turned about rapidly and darted toward the other warrior in the tower. This four-armed woman took a deep breath and sprayed out a cloud of white mist. Li Kuanglan was prepared—her arms moved in a circular pattern, emitting frost energy from her palm. The white mist was immediately frozen and pushed back into the woman’s mouth. The energy around Li Kuanglan’s left-hand condensed into a blade as it tore into the enemy’s chest.

However, the frosty edge was caught on the four-armed woman’s ribs and actually broke into two.

Li Kuanglan was astonished. Her ice blade was condensed from origin power and was definitely not inferior to an ordinary origin weapon. Yet, it was actually unable to cut through the four-armed woman’s ribs?

Feeling great pain, the woman started to flail about. Li Kuanglan pounced over immediately and, with a twist of her legs, pinned the enemy to the ground. Then, she grabbed the four-armed woman’s neck and broke it.

The battle was completed in an instant, but Li Kuanglan was drenched in cold sweat, almost as though she had just gone through a big battle. These four-armed natives were extremely strong, and their bodies were as hard as steel. Their exuberant vitality meant that they could keep on fighting unless they were struck in the vitals. Additionally, that white mist was so disgusting that she wasn’t willing to touch it at all.

Li Kuanglan felt that it was so much easier to fight against the experts from Evernight. What’s more, they still hadn’t learned what kind of strange ability the four-armed males possessed. Ignoring that for now, they were much stronger and bigger than the females, and that alone was enough of a headache.

Li Kuanglan was alarmed after doing the two sentries in. She had caused a fair bit of ruckus just now—could she have alerted the other guards?

She quickly looked around, just in time to see the nearby sentries collapse one after the other. Ji Tianqing and Qianye soon appeared and signaled to her that the coast was clear.

Li Kaunglan silently searched through the guards’ possessions. After which, she jumped down the tower and followed the other two into the castle.

At first, she had believed that she was on equal footing with Qianye and Ji Tianqing. At one point, she could force Qianye to go all out just to barely stay alive. She had never expected that she would become nearly useless inside the Great Maelstrom and require his protection all the time. This kind of contrast was difficult to bear for a top young expert like her.

Qianye moved slowly and calmly, seemingly oblivious of her abnormal mood. His concealment ability never involved fancy powers, but it was extremely practical. Every step he took was so precise that it could pa.s.s as a textbook example. He quietly traversed the two-armed people’s residential area and started sneaking toward the houses at the center of the keep. According to the layout of the previous stone keep, those stone houses were like military barracks protecting a central opening, where the most valuable white-fruit tree was located.

Qianye’s silhouette flickered as he sped up and darted into a stone house. A barely noticeable thud echoed inside the chambers, followed by utter silence.

However, these natives were apparently quite sensitive to vibrations. A four-armed warrior from the neighboring tent walked out to check on the situation.