Having obtained the treasure map, Lin Guiming rested briefly before mounting the Spirit Crane once more and returning to the forest.
“Have you found it?” At this moment, the Third Prince anxiously asked his subordinate standing before him.
“R-reporting to the Third Prince, we haven’t found it…”
The Third Prince furrowed his brows.
Everything had seemed fine just moments ago, so how could the person suddenly have disappeared?
Earlier, Luo Haozong was unexpectedly informed that the treasure map had already been found, and that their involvement was no longer needed—they were told to leave immediately.
Naturally, the Third Prince was extremely frustrated.
He had come all the way from the imperial capital, and it was bad enough that he hadn’t gotten a bite to eat—he hadn’t even tasted the broth.
It was just too disappointing…
But there was nothing he could do.
They had already been told to scram, so staying here served no purpose.
Just as the Third Prince was preparing to count his men and leave, he suddenly realized that Lin Guiming was missing.
A perfectly fine, living person—just vanished!
Although that bastard was irritating and had even hit him before, he had been the one to bring Lin Guiming along.
If he went missing or something happened, it would be hard to explain to the He family.
More importantly, if the sect behind him came looking…
Thinking of this gave the Third Prince a pounding headache.
“I swear, you immortals’ kids really can’t help but run wild.
You mess around and die on your own, that’s one thing, but dragging others down with you is just…”
“You imperial princes’ kids, can you stop wandering off without reason? You cause trouble for yourselves, but you also make others worry…”
At that moment, in the City Lord’s Mansion, a middle-aged man clad in armor paced back and forth anxiously, his face filled with urgency.
“Didn’t you say the Third Prince and our City Lord went out on some matter? Why haven’t they returned yet? What exactly did they go to do?”
He grabbed a nearby attendant roughly and demanded fiercely.
“I-I…” The attendant stammered for a long moment before finally managing to say, “Sir, I’m not entirely sure… I only heard from the City Lord that they seemed to have gone into the forest to look for something…”
“The forest?” The middle-aged man frowned.
Could the Third Prince have gone after that so-called treasure map?
How foolish!
How could those sects possibly allow him to interfere with the treasure map?
If he hadn’t found it, that would be one thing.
But if he had, they’d have killed him outright, buried the body in the wilderness, and no one would ever find it.
Even if someone went through great lengths to find him, what could they do?
Could the Great Qian Empire really send troops to take revenge on a sect?
Ridiculous.
Those sects were full of experts; the Great Qian Empire simply had no means to handle them.
If the army marched to the border, not only might enemy states seize the chance to attack, but the other sects wouldn’t stand idly by if a minor empire dared invade a sect.
If things escalated and they provoked a real immortal, the Great Qian Empire would face utter destruction!
Therefore, if something happened to the Third Prince, the Emperor of the Great Qian Empire could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger because he was powerless against those sects.
But he—he was different…
The Emperor had sent him here to find the Third Prince.
If he failed, or if something happened to the prince, he would be held responsible without question!
Even if the Emperor spared him for the sake of the Imperial Consort, he would surely lose his official position.
“No, I have to find the Third Prince!”
After much thought, he couldn’t help but grasp his weapon, mount his horse, and head toward the forest outside Yuzhou City.
“Third Prince, please, you mustn’t get into any trouble…”
Rushing swiftly toward the forest, the middle-aged man’s heart was filled with anxious hopes.