After seeing the contents on the Mother-child Talisman, Bai Qiru was shocked. He quickly pulled out the cigarette from his mouth, stepped forward briskly, and handed the contents of the Mother-child Talisman to Li Xianghong, asking urgently, "Where is Mei You now?"

Li Xianghong showed a look of suspicion and doubt, "This person clearly harbors ill intentions, and what they say may not be credible."

She didn't need to ask where the message came from; she already knew who sent it. Of course, she knew that the other person picked up the Mother-child Talisman she had discarded.

Bai Qiru's voice suddenly grew louder, "I can't afford to gamble! Where is Mei You? Ahong, help me!"

Li Xianghong, who was seated, tilted her head to look at him, feeling speechless...

Lou Xiu, inside the watchtower, felt very uneasy about the paused light spot in the mirrored surface, wanting to send someone to check it out, but was worried that it really had been intercepted by the City Lord's people, and whoever he sent would be walking right into a trap.

Did that puppet master behind the scenes really have such prowess, capable of tracking the City Lord's movements?

He turned to look at Mei You, who was observing the outside world through the window's lattice, pursed his lips, and finally walked to the edge of the tea table. He took out a small red pill, gently crushed it into powder, and scattered it into an empty water cup, then poured two cups of tea.

Not forgetting to call out, "It's no use just staring and waiting. Relax with a cup of tea and take it one step at a time."

Having said that, he put down the teapot, and leisurely sipped on a cup.

Mei You strode over, picked up the prepared tea, and courteously flattered, "Luo Ti really has a good attitude; I'm ashamed to say I'm no match to it."

He then tilted his head back and drank it all in one go.

It was clear that he had no mind to savor it; after setting the teacup down, he returned to the window to gaze into the distance, muttering, "We should be nearing the cover hill soon, some news will come shortly..."

Meanwhile, Lou Xiu continued to sip leisurely at the tea table. He seized the moment when Mei You was not paying attention, taking Mei You's used cup and quietly crushed it into fine powder in his palm.

As he walked to an open window, he extended his hand and spread his palm, letting the wind blow away the dust.

One could say he was destroying the evidence.

He had poisoned Mei You's tea.

If the puppet master behind the transmission was lying, he would provide the antidote before the poison affected Mei You; if Mei You were truly captured, there would naturally be no antidote given.

The wind dispersed the evidence, and he returned to the tea table, put down his cup, and then retrieved a piece of the Mother-child Talisman, sending out a rescue message: "Lord, Li Xianghong is targeting me, please assist!"

No matter the truth or falsehood of the puppet master's words, the halting of the light spot in the mirror made him realize that the situation seemed to be spiraling out of control, and he feared he wouldn't be able to sustain it alone.

Just as he sent the message, he suddenly turned around and saw a group of people landing on the city wall, directly barging into this acoustic tower, among them was Bai Qiru, wife of Huang Yingying.

Lou Xiu hadn't had time to put away the 'Mother and Child Magic Plate' before the leading female attendant of the City Lord kicked open the door, making him unable to act rashly any longer.

Mei You hadn't even reacted to what was happening when he saw a group charging toward him, "You guys..."

Before he could finish speaking, the City Lord's maidservant had already acted, and it would not be an exaggeration to call it a sneak attack, directly subduing him. Two others quickly moved to restrain him.

"What are you doing?" Mei You shouted, shocked and furious.

The City Lord's maid slapped his bamboo hat aside, lifted his chin, and demanded, "Where is Huang Yingying?"

What's going on? Mei You didn't know why these people were demanding Huang Yingying from him, and his gaze flicked towards Lou Xiu.

Lou Xiu gestured with a calming down motion, indicating that it was not a big issue, reassuring him to stay put.

Mei You immediately shouted, "I don't understand what you're talking about?"

Bai Qiru couldn't take it anymore and suddenly intervened, thrusting in and clutching Mei You by the throat, shouting sharply, "Speak, where is the person?"

Lou Xiu immediately warned, "Bai Qiru, what authority do you have to lay hands on the Junior Tax Supervisor of Dazhi City? Who gave you the guts, was it the City Lord?"

Bai Qiru turned to glare at him, her eyes as cold as knives.

The maidservant patted her hand, indicating her to release him, then signaled with a head nod to one of the accompanying people, "Take him away!"

Thus, Mei You was taken away on the spot. As he was being led out, Lou Xiu gave him a reassuring look.

Yet the women servants inside the house didn't leave, Lou Xiu questioned, "What, after taking Mei Shaojian without cause, now you're going to take me as well without reason?"

The maidservant had already walked to the 'Mother and Child Magic Plate', pointing at the light spot, she asked, "Who is this?"

Lou Xiu indifferently ignored her, turned with his hands behind his back, gazing leisurely out the window.

Not receiving a prompt reply, the maidservant turned her gaze to him, "I'm here on behalf of the City Lord to inquire for the investigation, is Luo Ti deliberately not cooperating?"

Seeing her bringing up the formal rules, Lou Xiu at the window no longer put on airs. He tilted his head and glanced, saying indifferently, "I don't know. Mei You asked me to borrow the 'Mother and Child Magic Plate' and said he wanted to show me a good show. I don't even know what kind of show it is. I was waiting here, and then you all came to disrupt it."

The maid asked again, "You won't say it wasn't you who took Lord A Xun's relics, will you?"

At these words, Lou Xiu was secretly startled, wondering how they knew, but on the surface, he calmly replied, "I already said, it was Mei You who asked me to watch a good show, to bring Lord A Xun's relics. He said he had a way to draw out the murderer. If he can catch the murderer, what's wrong with cooperating with him?"

Alright, seeing him pushing all the blame onto Mei You, the maid knew that asking anything more would be futile. The personnel transferred from outside the city could also use the same reason to pin it on Mei You. She warned, "Luo Ti's words, everyone present heard them. When you confront Mei You later, don't backtrack. Let's hope he's brave enough to take responsibility for everything."

Lou Xiu calmly replied, "Is it not acceptable for me to answer truthfully? If you want to plant false charges, go ahead, I'll take it. However, let me remind you, my position in Dazhi City is second only to the City Lord, as appointed by the Divine Mountain, and it's not for you to sneer at. If there's truly no justice in Dazhi City, where people can act on their whims, it's fine, the Divine Mountain has its holy adjudication. I hope you'll be able to withstand it then!"

The maid didn't argue with him but first transmitted a message to the City Lord, reporting the situation.

Li Xianghong ordered, first keep an eye on Lou Xiu, and after Mei You speaks, deal with it then.

Also, contact Lord Po Yuan stationed outside the city to hand over the 'Mother and Child Magic Plate' to the Divine Mountain's personnel for verification...

At the city gate area, Chu Jingtang witnessed the arrival of Bai Qiru and his group and also saw the scene of Mei You being captured. He quickly informed Shi Chun of the situation.

Inside the library, after reading the message, Shi Chun knew that things had progressed as expected, so he felt reassured and immediately replied to notify Chu Jingtang to withdraw.

It was no longer necessary to keep watch at the city gate since an accident might happen, and staying there too long could easily arouse suspicion.

Continuing his busy work inside the library, the only thing he now needed to wait for was the safety news of Wu Jinliang.

He estimated that Wu Jinliang's safety should not be of any concern.

He went to such great lengths because he anticipated that Lou Xiu wouldn't cooperate obediently. He expected that someone would arrange for personnel ahead of time and publicly clarify the transaction outside the city to give them an opportunity. It's because they had the chance for a counter-move that they'd bring out the item for the transaction.

Even though Fan Wuzhe's delivery method was relatively reliable, using Fan Wuzhe as a means of delivery was, in some sense, preparation to lure away Lou Xiu's personnel, hoping to increase the safety of the transaction.

Lou Xiu's personnel were lured away, and the people watching Lou Xiu, those under Li Xianghong, would naturally also be lured away.

The personnel under Li Xianghong were meant to be used to suppress Lou Xiu's forces in case of unexpected situations.

Even if they couldn't successfully lure people away, even if Lou Xiu had the means to place a tracker in the transaction item, and could see through the ruse to lure them away, his immediate response to pass the information could still suppress Lou Xiu's forces from acting rashly in the area where Fan Wuzhe was to throw away the items.

With all these precautions in place, and with Wu Jinliang stating he had the Earth Escape Technique to rely on, he should be able to leave safely and comfortably.

However, in reality, many things often happen unexpectedly, despite careful planning.

Under the bright sun, just as Lao Changtai was riding into the city on a fine scaly steed, Wu Jinliang also emerged from the underground with Huang Yingying, gasping for breath, drawing in fresh air, and feeling exceedingly refreshed as he looked at the blue skies and white clouds amidst the grass.

The speed of traveling through the ground wasn't fast enough; it was definitely not as quick as traveling freely on the surface. Continuously casting spells to traverse underground was quite tiring and related to cultivation as well.

In short, it was stuffy and exhausting, necessitating a break for a breath of fresh air.

Pulled down the mask, fanning for air, Wu Jinliang felt okay. He could conserve energy by letting Huang Yingying lead the way. However, Huang Yingying, breathing like an old dog, still hadn't recovered from the beating received earlier.

Neither of the two on the ground recovering their breath had fully regained their senses when, suddenly, a figure swiftly descended from the sky, landing right nearby.

It was none other than personnel dispatched from the Divine Mountain.

Due to Bai Qiru's plea, after Li Xianghong directly took measures against Lou Xiu, there was no need for any cover, and the Divine Mountain's personnel immediately took action.

Before reaching the obstructing slope, Fan Wuzhe had already been captured.

Based on the 'Mother and Child Magic Plate's' display, the location where Fan Wuzhe had tossed the items was also found. The Mother and Child Talisman discarded by Wu Jinliang was also retrieved. Since neither other items nor the receiver could be seen, leaving no possibility of overlooking anything.

People were deployed everywhere, watching, and with the perfect vantage point from the sky, it was impossible to escape. A large-scale, grid-style search of the surface was launched.

Coincidentally, a member of the search team vaguely heard some commotion nearby, leaped over to inspect, and truly stumbled onto Wu Jinliang and Huang Yingying right away.

Both parties stared at each other in wide-eyed surprise.

The newcomer suddenly opened his mouth and shouted loudly, "Over here!"

Wu Jinliang was so startled by the shout that his hair stood on end, and his scalp prickled as if electrically shocked. In a flash, he darted toward the person, not forgetting to tug on the iron chain in his hand.

There was no time to place a restriction on Huang Yingying, afraid she might escape.

The reason for not fleeing but instead charging up was because his true face was seen by the other, necessitating the silencing of witnesses.

Meeting face to face and shouting for help suggested the newcomer's strength might not be very high, right?

Under the blue sky and white clouds, in the green grass's shade, one person hesitantly held a knife, another charged with a chain. Huang Yingying, completely pulled off her feet, eyes bulging, tongue sticking out long in an expression of utter soul-destroying ecstasy, nearly had her head yanked off by the suddenly tightened chain around her neck.

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