After several hours of travel, Ye Liangchen and his group finally left the Tiandou Imperial City, arriving at the Heaven Dou Plain, a hundred kilometers away from Heaven Dou City.
At this moment, in a princely manor in Tiandou Imperial City, Prince Xue Xing was extremely anxious; the eight strong individuals he had sent out late last night had mysteriously disappeared, and his subordinates were currently searching everywhere, with no news yet.
"Report!"
Just then, one of Xue Xing's subordinates rushed in to report.
"What's the situation?" Prince Xue Xing asked coldly.
"Your Highness, the manor guards found the bodies of Commander Outon and those core members in the moat east of the city."
"Furthermore, the Nine Star Begonia Family and the Du Gu Family have long since vanished, as if they disappeared overnight. Our people haven't found any clues."
At this moment, the subordinate reported to Prince Xue Xing, trembling, not daring to even breathe loudly.
"Clatter…"
The teacup in Xue Xing's hand fell directly to the ground, shattering into several pieces.
The commander of the Shadow Squad and several core members were super elites he had secretly cultivated; their lowest cultivation was that of a Spirit King. To capture a mysterious young man, Lan Chen, he had lost eight of them in one fell swoop, and even the leader, Commander Outon, had died—he was a Level 72 Spirit Saint!
At this moment, Xue Xing felt a headache and a tightness in his chest; it was too stifling.
"How did the Shadow Squad members die? Are there any signs of poisoning on the bodies?" Xue Xing asked, thinking that if Dugu Bo had killed them, there would more or less be some poison.
"Reporting to Your Highness, Commander Outon and their bodies have been brought back to the secret base, and we are currently investigating the cause of death."
"This King will go and see for himself."
Hearing that the manor guards had brought back the bodies of the Shadow Squad, Xue Xing immediately went to investigate personally to see how they had died.
When Xue Xing arrived at the manor's secret base, several family retainers were performing autopsies. Seeing their master arrive, they immediately bowed respectfully.
"Your Highness!"
Xue Xing waved his hand and questioned his subordinates: "How did Commander Outon die? Was he poisoned?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, Commander Outon was not poisoned. All eight of them seemed to have been killed by some sharp claws."
A Spirit King-level commander reported the autopsy findings to Prince Xue Xing.
"Not poisoned? Killed by some sharp claws?"
Hearing his subordinate's words, Prince Xue Xing was momentarily stunned. If Dugu Bo hadn't killed them, then another powerful individual must have acted.
Xue Xing still didn't know that Dugu Bo's Spirit had evolved into a Flood Dragon, and his toxins were gone. He still believed his Shadow Squad had been killed by another powerful individual.
When Dugu Bo had killed those Shadow Squad members before, he had used the Spirit Ability, Flood Dragon Demonic Claws, to tear those assassins to death, leaving terrifying claw marks.
Prince Xue Xing was now utterly confused. In his knowledge, there were many types of Spirits that produced sharp claws after Spirit possession, such as dragons, tigers, cats, leopards, and eagles. This made it impossible to find out who had killed his subordinates.
"Organize Outon and the others, and bury them! Also, take some money to their families."
Xue Xing shook his head helplessly, instructing his subordinates to handle the aftermath, then returned to the manor hall in a dejected state.
"Xue Beng, you foolish good-for-nothing who harms your uncle."
"Just to investigate that kid's background, this King has lost so many strong individuals in one go."
"Smash!… Crash, crash…"
Thinking of this, Xue Xing felt incredibly stifled and shattered the tea table with a slap.
Just then, Xue Beng rushed into the manor from outside, asking his uncle for information. He constantly wanted to get rid of Lan Chen.
"Uncle, how is that Lan Chen? Have you caught him?"
Seeing Xue Beng, this nephew who was a bane to his uncle, Xue Xing was furious and slapped him across the face.
"Slap…"
Xue Beng took a slap from his uncle, and a five-finger handprint immediately appeared on his face, bright red and looking very painful.
"Uncle, did something happen?"
Although Xue Beng had been slapped, he dared not complain, as he could only rely on his uncle for protection now, otherwise, who knew when his Elder brother might kill him.
"That kid Lan Chen is very strange. This time I dispatched eight members of the Shadow Squad, but didn't even see a hair of him."
"Commander Outon and his seven subordinates are all dead, thrown into the moat, and they weren't even killed by Dugu Bo."
"It seems Dugu Bo wasn't lying to me before; there's a mysterious powerful individual protecting Lan Chen. That kid doesn't put our Royal Family in his eyes at all. You should cause less trouble in the future. If you keep this up, who knows when someone might kill you."
Xue Xing warned his nephew that it was fine to pretend to be a profligate, but not to court death. Against someone like Lan Chen, who feared nothing, royal prestige was useless.
"I understand, Uncle."
Xue Beng calmly exited the hall and walked outside, but in his heart, he fiercely vowed: Lan Chen, if I don't avenge this, I, Xue Beng, swear not to be a man. When I seize the throne someday, I refuse to believe I won't find you.
Meanwhile, in another mysterious manor in Heaven Dou City, Qian Renxue, disguised as Xue Qinghe, was also examining the news sent by her subordinates.
"Haha, Xue Xing, Xue Xing, you've lost eight members of your Shadow Squad in one go, and even your Shadow Squad leader, Commander Outon, is dead. How surprising!"
Qian Renxue was very pleased that Xue Xing had lost strength. After all, she was the young master of Spirit Hall, and the dead were not her subordinates. The more the Tiandou Royal Family lost strength, the more it benefited her.
"Young Master, we still shouldn't investigate that young man named Lan Chen."
"This child is definitely a monster. It's as if he had already anticipated that we would go to the Du Gu Manor; he had already made the Ye Family and the Du Gu Family leave a step earlier, disappearing without a trace from Heaven Dou City overnight. Such methods are truly terrifying."
"Xue Xing's eight Shadow Squad members were quietly eliminated, and according to intelligence from our spies in Xue Xing's manor, they were not killed by Dugu Bo."
"Young Master, Old Dragon and I suspect that Lan Chen might be the young man we encountered in Sunset Forest before. If that's the case, Young Master, if you confront him, you will surely die."
Snake Lance and Porcupinefish walked out of a room, telling Qian Renxue their suspicions and advising their Young Master not to court death.
"What the two Elders say is true; I will be careful."
Qian Renxue still couldn't ascertain Lan Chen's true identity, but she believed she would figure it out eventually, as she had Spirit Hall backing her.
Dugu Bo and the Nine Star Begonia Family's disappearance from Heaven Dou City was soon known to Emperor Xue Ye's people, who immediately reported it.
"Your Majesty! This old servant has an urgent matter to report."
An old eunuch rushed to the outside of Emperor Xue Ye's bedchamber, reporting to his master in a panic.
Emperor Xue Ye, who was discussing Life's movements with several concubines in his bedchamber, was startled into impotence by the old eunuch's shrill voice.
"Ah Gui! What is it?"
Emperor Xue Ye got up, let the concubines help him dress, and came out of the bedchamber, staring coldly at his servant.
"Your Majesty, yesterday Dugu Bo resigned as a Royal Enshrinement, and also had his granddaughter and the Ye Family's Little girl withdraw from Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Overnight, the Du Gu Family and the Ye Family disappeared from Heaven Dou City."
"What? Such a major matter, why is it only being reported now?"
"Your Majesty! This matter was handled by Prince Xue Xing and the Crown Prince. This old servant only just found out."
"Hmph! What is Xue Xing playing at? He couldn't even keep Dugu Bo? The Nine Star Begonia Spirit Master is very important to our Empire. How could they just disappear like that?"
Emperor Xue Ye had been having a good time with his concubines, but was interrupted by the old eunuch, and was still fuming. However, upon hearing the old eunuch report the matter, his anger immediately vanished, and he strode out of the bedchamber.
"Alas! His Majesty's habit of failing at crucial moments is becoming more and more frequent. He can't even play a game properly, and we sisters can't have fun."
After Emperor Xue Ye left, the concubines all showed resentful expressions.
"Isn't that right? Sisters, never mind His Majesty, let's play games ourselves."
The next moment, the concubines smiled brightly, then took out various items and began to play various games, thinking, 'Without you, Butcher Zhang, can't this old lady still eat pork?'
Emperor Xue Ye returned to the Imperial Palace and immediately sent for Prince Xue Xing, wanting to understand how his imperial brother had lost such talent, especially Dugu Bo, who was the Tiandou Royal Family's only Titled Douluo. The Royal Family had revered him like an ancestor, but now he had quit.
"Imperial Brother, why have you summoned me?"
Although Prince Xue Xing knew his imperial brother would ask about yesterday's events, he still feigned a question upon arriving at his brother's presence.
"Imperial Brother, why did Dugu Bo leave?"
Emperor Xue Ye had not yet been poisoned by Qian Renxue, so his mind was still normal, and he possessed great imperial majesty, perfectly embodying the temperament of the Heaven Dou Emperor.
"Imperial Brother, the situation is like this…"
Xue Xing had no choice but to use Dugu Bo's previous excuse to deal with his imperial brother.
"Hmph! This Dugu Bo, our Royal Family treated him well, yet he just walked away, even taking the Nine Star Begonia Family with him."
"Imperial Brother, he is a Titled Douluo; he comes and goes as he pleases, and we can't stop him! However, this matter is related to a young man named Lan Chen. That kid is simply a monster. I estimate he's no more than 15 years old, yet he's already a Level 49 Spirit Master. As soon as he arrived at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, he beat Xue Beng, showing no regard for our Empire's Royal Family at all."
"How outrageous! Daring to hit my son, what is that kid's background? How could he be so bold?"
"I don't know. That kid just appeared out of nowhere. Last night, I sent people to investigate him secretly, but didn't find a single trace. Instead, I lost eight experts: one Spirit Saint, three Spirit Emperors, and four Spirit Kings. My heart is still bleeding even now."
"What? Our Empire lost so many experts in one go? How outrageous!"
"Imperial Brother, calm down. Dugu Bo once warned me that this child has a powerful mysterious Titled Douluo behind him. If we make a move against him, the Tiandou Empire Royal Family might cease to exist. At first, I thought Dugu Bo was bragging, but I sent people to test him last night, and this was the result. My subordinates were killed by the person behind this child, not by Dugu Bo. We must be careful."
"Alas! To think that our mighty Tiandou Empire is being openly slapped in the face, and we can do nothing about it."
After Xue Ye heard his brother recount the entire matter, he immediately felt as if he had been slapped in the face, a stinging pain.
As it concerned a major matter of the Tiandou Empire, Xue Xing did not conceal anything. Internally, they could squabble, but externally, they would all unite.
After the two brothers analyzed the situation, they decided to observe for the time being and not pursue a large-scale investigation. They needed to be cautious in the face of an unknown powerful force.