"I don't need food!!!" Zhiqing let out loudly but her voice was only heard inside the carriage and not outside, as the maid extended the plate towards her.

The maid continued moving her hand forward until she was unable to. Her expressions grew strange as she realized that her hands were unable to move further. It was as if they were trapped in their place. 

She felt like there was an invisible force, which was stopping her hands from moving ahead. Maria looked upwards and saw a wry smile on Princess Zhiqing's face who was shaking her head.

She hurriedly retracted her hand as she stepped back.

"What happened? Why are you not giving Princess her food?" Another maid stepped forward as she inquired.

"There... there's an invisible force blocking my hands...I can't move forward..." Maria let out in a serious tone.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" The maid said as she looked at Maria with disbelief. She moved as she walked towards the carriage. Her hands advanced just like  Maria, but her expressions grew strange as well. Her hands were stuck in the same place, unable to move forward in the slightest.

"What the heck is happening here?" She stepped back as she muttered.

"I... I have a feeling that Princess Zhiqing... What if she is trapped by that boy, unable to leave or talk to anyone? " Maria let out with a horrified look on her face as she looked towards Zhiqing.

"This... " The other maids stepped farther from the carriage as they looked at it with wariness.

"Princess!!! Are you imprisoned by that boy???" Maria let out loudly as she asked Zhiqing. Her loud voice attracted the attention of quite a few guards nearby.

Princess Zhiqing couldn't understand a word Maria was saying, thus she could only guess what she wanted to say.

"Yes!!! I am perfectly fine here!!! Don't worry about me!" Zhiqing let out in a loud tone as she nodded her head. She misunderstood that Maria was asking if she was alright or not.

"This!!! I must tell the Master about this!! " Maria let out as she hurriedly ran towards the tent of General Yao.

"Looks like things aren't going well... it's about to get noisy..." Mingyu muttered as she saw the whole commotion from the sidelines.

"Ummm hmmm.. looks like it," Zhiqing let out with a wry smile on her face.

______________________________

"Master!!! Master!!!" General Yao was meditating in his tent when Maria came barging in.

"What the heck is going on??? Is the sky falling down???" General Yao roared in anger as his meditation was disturbed.

"I..I apologize for disturbing you but... it's really important!! Princess... Princess Zhiqing is trapped by that boy inside a strange barrier!!!" Maria told General Yao in between her heavy breathing as she bent slightly and rested her hands on her knees.

"What!!!" General Yao stood up shocked as he heard her words. Without asking anything else, he hurriedly left his tent and ran towards Zhiqing's carriage.

"What's this whole commotion about?" Prince Estelin and Princess Maia came out of their respective tents.

They saw all the guards running towards Zhiqing's carriage. With a curious look on their faces, they ran in a similar direction.

"You bastard!!! We trusted you and you dare imprison the princess!!!" General Yao roared loudly as he stood in front of the carriage.

Zhiqing saw everything with a frown on her face. She opened the doors of the carriage and looked at General Yao.

"Princess!!! Don't worry! I will save you from that demon! " General Yao said with full confidence as he looked at Zhiqing.

"General Yao! I am safe and in no danger! Please don't do anything stupid!" Zhiqing said loudly but it was all in vain as her voice couldn't be heard. Instead of calming General Yao's anger, it further increased it.

"That demon!! He even took away your voice... so that morning when you didn't say anything? Was it because that demon had taken your voice?" General Yao let out as if he was suddenly struck with a realization.

It was at that time, Princess Maia and Prince Estelin reached there. They managed to hear General Yao's words.

"See!! I knew he was evil!!! So there was a reason aunt didn't come for dinner!! This guy has imprisoned her. Such a demon!!!" Prince Estelin let out as if he was disgusted by Long Chen.

"This... this..."Princess Maia stuttered as she found it hard to believe. She felt like she was dreaming right now.

"Princess, you don't need to worry! Even if they are stronger than me, I will put my life on the line to protect you!" General Yao let out as he looked at the Princess.

"I will break the barrier trapping you!!" He brought out his sword as he pointed it towards the carriage.

"Don't!!!" Zhiqing screamed as she saw General Yao attacking the empty spot of the carriage in hopes of breaking the barrier. He used his full Earth Realm cultivation and his famous sword art as he stabbed at the barrier.

Mingyu got ready to fight General Yao in case the barrier was broken. She couldn't let anyone reach Long Chen and disturb his comprehension.

The sword struck the barrier, but opposite to everyone's expectations, no sound came. It was completely silent as the sword struck the barrier. Even General Yao was stunned as he saw that his sword was unable to move forward in the slightest. The powerful force of the sword was turned into nothingness against the emptiness of the barrier.

He used his full strength as his muscles bulged. His nerves became visible under his skin, but the sword didn't move.

"I never expected this barrier to be this strong... just who are you.." Mingyu muttered as she glanced at Long Chen's face carefully.

"Oh right!" Zhiqing suddenly thought of something as she brought out a paper. There were some papers inside the carriage and a pen as well.

She decided to convey her words through writing.

General Yao retracted his hand and again attacked the barrier. He kept attacking the same spot in hopes of weakening the barrier but nothing worked.

He breathed heavily as he looked towards Princess Zhiqing with a defeated look on his face.

"hmm?" He noticed that Princess Zhiqing was holding a paper in her hand and showing it to him.

General Yao got closer to the paper and began reading it.

"General Yao,

You are misunderstanding this whole situation. I am not trapped by Master Chen. He is going through an important comprehension and this barrier is Master Chen's protection mechanism. As long as he doesn't wake up from his comprehension, this barrier won't disappear! So don't do anything stupid, I will come out and talk to you properly when Master Chen wakes up" General Yao read the letter in a low voice.

"Oh, so that was it...I completely misunderstood this whole situation!" General Yao let out with a wry smile on his face.

"What is happening here? Is there a problem?" Prince Lan and Royal Tutor came to the situation as they heard the loud commotion in Huanji Camp.

"Nothing happened, you both can go back" General Yao let out with a light smile on his face.

"Really? It looked like you were attacking the carriage?" Prince Lan asked with a serious look on his face.

"Attacking? Nope, I was testing the new defensive skill that Princess Zhiqing has learned. It wasn't serious… Do you see any damage to the carriage?" General Yao said as he shook his head lightly.

"Really?" Prince Lan let out with a suspicious look on his face.

"Well, If you say so. I thought there was a problem, so I came to help you guys. I should go back now" Prince Lan further continued as he glanced at General Yao with an amused smile on his face and turned back to leave.

He took a step forward before stopping his second step mid-air as he suddenly turned back.

"I believe this is our service meeting... the next time we meet, you can't call me a stranger. I'm looking forward to getting to know you" Prince Lan glanced back at Maia before he turned back and left.

"Some people don't get the hint." Princess Maia shook her head as she walked towards General Yao.

"Is aunt alright?" Princess Maia asked as she looked at General Yao.

"She said she is fine. It's just that she will take some time to leave the carriage as master Chen is going through comprehension. Thus there's a barrier around him, so she can't come out" General Yao said in a serious tone as he looked at Maia.

"Such a strong barrier that even you can't break it? Those two are so strong!" Princess Maia exclaimed with an amazed look on her face.

"They must be using an artifact. It's not like they will lack the resources. I'm going back."Prince Estelin let out with an unimpressed look on his face as he turned back and started walking back.

"Will aunt Zhiqing be alright? She can't eat anything now..." Princess Maia asked with a concerned look on her face.

"She is a Gold Core Realm cultivator... She can go for a long time without food, without affecting her body. We can't do anything but wait in either case, as it seems impossible to break the barrier"  General Yao shook his head as he looked down.

"There's nothing to see here! Go back to what you were doing..." General Yao turned back as he looked back towards the guards who were watching them like there was a spectacle going on.

The guards hurriedly left as soon as they heard the command of General Yao.

"Let's go back..." General Yao said as he glanced at Princess Maia.

Maia nodded her head as she glanced at the carriage one last time before she left with General Yao.

_______________________________

It was late at night as the moon hung high in the sky. Most of the people were deep asleep and only a few guards were staying up to guard the camps.

Each guard was assigned a separate place to guard.

"Hmm?" The guard at the outer edge of the camp was roaming around when he suddenly heard a strange noise. He looked back but there was no one.

He began walking towards the area where the sound came from but before he could even take a step forward, his vision turned dark.

His headless body fell on the ground...

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