Extremely urgent

He had previously been nailed to a tree by Long Chen's arrow, and the terrifying force had shattered his internal organs. However, as an Acquired realm expert, his blood contained a vast amount of vitality, so he would not die immediately.

"Zhou Weiqing, how should I kill you?"

Long Chen looked at this Marquis, who he had once considered an expert, his voice filled with coldness.

If this were merely a private grudge between them, Long Chen wouldn't mind giving him a quick death. But things were different now. Thinking of the corpses of those villagers and the sorrow on the faces of the hunters made him hate the bastard before him to the core.

He didn't know how to kill Zhou Weiqing to soothe the anger in his heart, so he just coldly watched the Wild Lord, needing to think of a suitable method.

"Long… Long Chen, don't kill me. I'll tell you all the secrets I know. Please spare me, I was forced into this."

The Wild Lord's face was like gold paper; he could feel his life rapidly slipping away. Now, the only one who could save him was Long Chen, an expert in Alchemy.

In order to survive, this Marquis, who was used to being pampered, threw everything aside and began to beg Long Chen.

"Is there any point in saying this now? I already know that everything was a trap set by the Fourth Prince. As long as I return to the Empire's capital, everything will come to light. Why should I listen to your nonsense?" Long Chen scoffed.

"No, no, Long Chen, things are absolutely not as simple as you imagine. As long as you agree to spare me, I will tell you an extremely urgent matter right now. I guarantee you won't be disappointed," the Wild Lord said urgently.

Long Chen's heart stirred, and he said coldly, "Speak. As long as it is truly helpful to me, I don't mind sparing your life."

The Wild Lord was overjoyed upon hearing this and hurriedly said, "Your family has already been thrown into the celestial prison and is waiting for execution."

"What?"

Long Chen's expression changed drastically, and he shouted sharply, "Bullshit! How dare you lie to me?"

"No… I would never dare to deceive you," the Wild Lord said hurriedly.

"Aman returned to the capital and would have protected my family immediately. How could they have been thrown into the celestial prison? Furthermore, even if Aman hadn't notified them, how could Great Master Yun Qi stand idly by? Do you think I'm an idiot?" Long Chen said angrily.

"Young Master, you do not know. The Aman you speak of did indeed rush to your home, but he was unable to protect your family."

"Why is that?" Even with Long Chen's composure, he couldn't help but feel a wave of panic.

"Cough, cough… I…" The Wild Lord wanted to speak, but suddenly went into a fit of violent coughing and couldn't continue.

Long Chen scoffed internally. The Wild Lord was trying to be clever. He produced a Medicinal Pill from his hand and threw it to him, saying, "Take this, it will heal your internal injuries."

"Many thanks, Young Master."

The Wild Lord was overjoyed and hurriedly swallowed the Medicinal Pill. He had kept a guard up, knowing that Long Chen, like his father, was a man who valued his word.

However, he had only promised to spare his life, not to heal his injuries. If Long Chen left, he wouldn't last more than two or three hours before his Spiritual Qi was exhausted and he died.

And within those two or three hours, he could neither leave the forest nor find help, meaning certain death. One had to admit, the Wild Lord still had a clever side.

"If I tell you the whole process, Young Master must keep your promise and not make things difficult for me."

After swallowing the Medicinal Pill, the Wild Lord was pleasantly surprised to find that his ruptured internal organs were slowly knitting back together, showing that the Medicinal Pill Long Chen gave him was very effective.

However, to be cautious, he repeated his request to ensure that if he spoke, Long Chen wouldn't go back on his word and leave him dead anyway.

"Rest assured, I give you my word as a member of the Long family," Long Chen scoffed.

Hearing Long Chen say this, the Wild Lord finally relaxed. With Long Chen's arrogance, the chance of him going back on his word was slim.

"After the Aman you mentioned returned to your home, he notified your mother immediately, but they did not leave the Long family."

"Why?"

"Because they were all poisoned," the Wild Lord replied.

Long Chen's expression turned ugly, and he gritted his teeth, asking, "Who did it?"

"Your mother's family did it. They are actually the Fourth Prince's eyes and ears, and have been secretly monitoring the Long family.

When Aman returned to the Long family, he was very weak and starved to the point of exhaustion. Just when he notified everyone to leave, your whole family was poisoned.

That was a type of invisible poison. It usually lies dormant in a person's body. I believe with Young Master's knowledge, you must have heard of 'Soul-Severing Powder'," the Wild Lord said cautiously.

At this moment, Long Chen's expression became extremely dark. The fact that the Wild Lord could name Soul-Severing Powder meant he was telling the truth.

Soul-Severing Powder was a rare type of drug. Its toxicity itself wasn't strong, but it could confuse a person's Soul, causing them to enter a dream-like state of suspended animation. Except for those with powerful Soul strength, it was basically impossible to resist.

Furthermore, this drug was colorless and odorless, and ordinary people could not distinguish it. Once the poisoned person smelled a scent called Soul-Attracting Incense, they would immediately enter a comatose state.

Long Chen never imagined that the Fourth Prince would lay out such a deep scheme. He hated his mother's family even more. Thinking of those hypocritical faces, he couldn't believe they had stabbed the Long family in the back at such a time.

Thinking of his mother being captured, Long Chen felt anxious and impatient, wishing he could return to the capital immediately to save her.

"Great Master Yun Qi, what happened on his end?" Long Chen suddenly felt something was strange. How could Great Master Yun Qi not have intervened?

"At that time, Great Master Yun Qi was in seclusion for Alchemy. Furthermore, this matter was done extremely covertly, so Great Master Yun Qi didn't know. By the time he found out, your family had already been thrown into the celestial prison.

Great Master Yun Qi once personally entered the palace to demand the Empress Dowager release them, but the Empress Dowager produced the image-recording jade of you killing the Great Xia Prince, so Great Master Yun Qi was helpless," the Wild Lord said.

He had been too careless. Long Chen couldn't help but hate his own stupidity. Clearly, that image-recording jade had been brought back by the Ying Marquis.

His killing of Xia Changfeng was merely one link in the Fourth Prince's plan. Although Great Master Yun Qi had a prominent status, his special identity prevented him from directly participating in the Empire's affairs, so he could only stare helplessly.

"Chu Xia!"

Long Chen couldn't help but grit his teeth. He could even see the Fourth Prince's face filled with mockery, and for a moment, killing intent filled his heart.

"What else?" Long Chen took a deep breath, suppressing the anger in his heart, and asked.

"And there is the matter of the execution of the murderers," the Wild Lord's expression changed slightly, and he said cautiously.

Seeing Long Chen's face dark and frightening, he was afraid that in his rage, Long Chen would slap him to death.

"They couldn't catch me, so they are using my family as substitutes?" Long Chen clenched his fists tightly, and the rage in his eyes almost solidified.

"I am afraid that is the case," the Wild Lord said.

"Hmph, I am afraid the purpose of doing this is to lure my father out," Long Chen scoffed. Although he was extremely angry, he could still analyze the Fourth Prince's goal.

In the Fourth Prince's eyes, Long Chen was just a chess piece. Using him to create the current situation was just to lure out Long Tianxiao.

There was no need to think; the current capital was a den of tigers and wolves, just waiting for Long Tianxiao to take the bait.

Being used as a chess piece felt terrible, but for Chu Yao, Long Chen was willing to be a chess piece once.

He hadn't expected the Fourth Prince to be so overbearing, not only plotting against Long Chen but also his entire family, and even wanting their lives. This was something no one could endure.

"Chu Xia, you just wait. If I don't cut your head off this time, my name isn't Long Chen."

Long Chen suddenly thought of something, his expression changed drastically, and he asked, "When is the execution date?"

The Wild Lord was also startled: "Counting the days, it is the day after tomorrow."

Hearing this, Long Chen stopped wasting words with the Wild Lord. He summoned Little Snow and ran straight toward the outside of the mountain.

"Awoo!"

As they were running, Little Snow let out a howl.

Long Chen was slightly stunned: "You want me to ride on your back?"

Little Snow let out a low growl. Regardless of whether Long Chen was willing, it nudged its large head against him. Long Chen immediately felt his body lighten, and his whole person floated up, landing directly on Little Snow's back.

Now that Little Snow had been enlightened by the Forest God, its height was a head taller than a steed, and its body length exceeded a zhang. It was no longer the little thing by Long Chen's side.

"Roar!"

Little Snow let out another low growl.

Long Chen smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, I'm holding on tight, I won't fall off… Ouch!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Little Snow kicked off with its feet and dashed out like a stream of light. Because Long Chen wasn't paying attention, he was almost thrown off and hurriedly grabbed the fur on Little Snow's back.

Only then did Long Chen realize the terrifying speed of a Second Rank Demonic Beast. The trees on both sides retreated crazily, dazzling Long Chen, and the whistling gale made it difficult for him to even open his eyes.

"Well done, Little Snow!"

Long Chen praised loudly. Originally, he had been worried that he wouldn't be able to return to the capital in time, but now with Little Snow's speed, there was basically no problem.

His original worries dissipated quite a bit. Looking at the rapidly retreating trees, Long Chen's eyes were full of sharpness: Imperial Capital, Long Chen is coming.

Seeing Long Chen leave, the Wild Lord finally put his heart at ease. His life had been saved, but his heart was filled with resentment.

When he was young, he had fallen into Long Tianxiao's hands, his Dantian shaken, and his cultivation stopped at the Early Stage of the Blood Condensation realm.

Now, over a decade later, he had fallen into his son's hands, and even more miserably. If he hadn't fawned over him, he probably would have lost his life.

Thinking of this, the Wild Lord couldn't help but grit his teeth, but a gloomy smile immediately appeared on the corner of his mouth. Once Long Chen went to the capital, he would never be able to come out alive.

However, before that, he needed to do one thing: go and kill all those villagers. Long Chen must have left them quite a few Medicinal Pills.

"Ah!"

Suddenly, the Wild Lord let out a scream. A sharp pain shot through his arm. He hurriedly looked over and discovered that, he didn't know when, a dark red ant had crawled onto his arm and bitten him.

"Heart-Devouring Ant?"

The Wild Lord's face was full of horror, as if he had seen a ghost. He recognized that little ant; it was a very terrifying poisonous insect.

It was said that these ants were not strong and only carried a trace of poison, which was not fatal, but their bites were excruciatingly painful, as if the heart was being gnawed upon.

The Wild Lord slapped that Heart-Devouring Ant to death. Just as he was about to move, his eyes were suddenly filled with fear. He didn't know when, but the surrounding trees were covered with Heart-Devouring Ants, simply overwhelming.

The Wild Lord suddenly remembered the Medicinal Pill Long Chen had given him. He recalled the mockery that flashed in Long Chen's eyes when he gave him the pill.

"Ah…"

Just then, thousands of Heart-Devouring Ants smelled the unique scent on the Wild Lord's body and pounced on him, biting frantically. In their eyes, the Wild Lord was a huge delicacy.

The screams were endless. The Heart-Devouring Ant's poison was not strong, so it wouldn't kill him for a while, but the excruciating pain could make a person convulse all over, too painful to move.

The most painful way to die in the world was to clearly feel the endless pain, and even wanting to faint became a luxury, until he became a pile of white bones.