Qi Zhong ran wildly over the vast expanse of the rooftop, his black outfit flying like a night owl.

Each step took him several yards, from Fuyou Street to Blacksmith Alley, a hundred yards covered in an instant. The ridges of each tiled house beneath his feet echoed with creaks under his weight, shaking loose the accumulated snow to reveal the gray tiles beneath.

As Qi Zhong leapt into Blacksmith Alley, he suddenly paused on a rooftop ridge and looked back.

A wolf's gaze and an eagle's gaze.

Qi Zhong's eyes swept across the rooftop behind him, not missing a single inch.

Suspicion flashed in his eyes. His plan to abduct Brother Pao and Er Dao was flawless; Jiao Tu and Yun Yang Suo had scoured the entire city but found no traces. How could it be so coincidental that they were rescued just at the crucial moment of welcoming the bride?

Was it a trap?

Or was it real?

If it was a trap, the opponent wanted to use him to locate Brother Pao and Er Dao, and there must be someone following behind.

Yet in this vast white snow, no one could hide, and apart from a few stray cats' footprints, there were no clues on the rooftops.

After much deliberation, Qi Zhong continued southward at high speed. Upon reaching Zao Tree Alley, he again checked his rear warily, confirmed no one was following, then leaped into a courtyard and slipped into the residence.

He entered through the main door, where a couple, seeing the strange face, immediately asked in confusion, "Who are you..."

Before the words were finished, Qi Zhong had already twisted their necks.

He discarded the two corpses, hiding by the window, holding his breath and listening to the sounds outside.

Thirty minutes later, Qi Zhong walked out of the courtyard and leaped back onto the roof, glancing around. Still no trace.

Still unconvinced, he patrolled the vicinity once more, checking alleys and rooftops, and found only his own footprints in the snow.

Truly, no one was following.

Qi Zhong stood on the rooftop thinking for a moment, then finally moved westward.

Thirty minutes later, Qi Zhong leapt into Spring Temple Hall, where several Jiazi Assassins from the Qi family came out to greet him, clasping their hands, "My lord."

Qi Zhong frowned, "Where are those two?"

The Jiazi Assassin bowed his head in reply, "Reporting to my lord, they are held inside, never leaving the hall."

Qi Zhong pushed aside the assassin and stepped into the main hall.

This small temple was originally a place sponsored by the Eight Great Merchants' Liu Family for the mothers. Inside was a clay statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva, flanked by Sudhana and Dragon Girl.

One assassin opened a secret door behind the Bodhisattva for Qi Zhong, leading to a narrow, dim stairway descending underground.

Qi Zhong bent down and entered the passage. After three yards, it opened into a room complete with tables, chairs, bed, and bathtub, rivaling any mansion's furnishings.

In the center, Brother Pao and Er Dao were tied back-to-back on the ground, blindfolded and gagged.

Just as the assassin had said, Brother Pao and Er Dao had never left.

Qi Zhong frowned and returned to the main hall. He drew a sword from the assassin's waist and quietly approached the front door, opening a crack to look out. But outside remained silent.

Strange.

If Jiao Tu wanted to provoke him into leading them, why was no one following?

He closed the door and sternly instructed the Jiazi Assassin, "Don't let those two die; they are the biggest bargaining chips San Miss has to force Chen Ji to comply... But if anyone breaks in, kill them both without leaving a witness."

The Jiazi Assassin bowed further, "Yes."

After contemplating for a moment, Qi Zhong opened the door to leave. But just as the door cracked open, a slender hand shot in from outside, swift as lightning.

On that hand, the Eight Diagrams appeared fleetingly, each trigram from Heaven, Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, Mountain, Lake, Thunder emerging and vanishing in sequence, finally settling on Thunder as the palm struck Qi Zhong's chest.

In an instant, a black remnant soul flew backward from Qi Zhong's body.

Qi Zhong vomited blood and retreated as he peered through the crack at the woman outside.

The opponent was clad in black, wearing a black veil hat, her face hidden behind the hat's black gauze. Suddenly, a gust lifted half the veil, revealing half her face beneath, and a scar crossed her nose from cheek to cheek, faintly visible.

Qi Zhong couldn't see Mrs. Lu's eyes, but the killing intent in her eyes felt tangible, stabbing sharply at his brow.

With a thud, Qi Zhong's back slammed against the courtyard's large bronze incense burner, halting his retreat.

He slowly straightened, patting the jacket over his chest, "Eight Trigrams Dragon, what's your connection with Qing Wentao?"

Mrs. Lu stepped over the threshold, strolling leisurely towards Qi Zhong, "Few in the Seeking Dao Realm could withstand my palm unscathed; those belong to the Buddhist Sect. Let me guess what you've mastered... Vajra Guardian Seal? No, that path lies in Jing Dynasty's Kujue Temple. Not the Vajra Guardian Seal, then it must be the Bodhisattva's Original Vow Seal, but with your wanton killing and lack of vows, you'll never unite with Dao in this life."

Qi Zhong sneered coldly, "Such nonsense..."

But at that moment, a small figure flipped over the wall from the other side — Treasure Monkey ignored Qi Zhong, rushing straight toward the main hall of Spring Temple Hall.

Rescue!

Qi Zhong sneered, tapped the ground with the tip of his foot, and saw the green bricks on the ground flip up one by one, two of which flew towards Treasure Monkey like cannonballs.

The green bricks came with great force, one of them smashing into Treasure Monkey's face, shattering the wooden monkey mask, revealing the face of the Six-Eared Macaque beneath.

Another brick slammed into Treasure Monkey's chest, causing him to suddenly turn his face sideways. When he turned back, the Six-Eared Macaque face had transformed into a brown-patterned black-faced Bull Demon King.

With a thunderous crash, the green brick shattered against his chest. Treasure Monkey let out a hoarse yell, "Damn it!" and flew backward, crashing heavily against the courtyard wall of the Spring Temple Hall.

Treasure Monkey spat out a mouthful of blood on the ground. A woman's voice, filled with surprise, came from his throat: "He got hit by an ambush of the Eight Diagram Palm and can still be this fierce?"

A sharp voice shouted, "Can your damn Bull Demon King do it or not? Don't get us all killed!"

The hoarse voice retorted angrily, "Without me, who among you could have taken that hit?"

Qi Zhong stood in the courtyard, his gaze coldly fixed on Treasure Monkey, then turned to look at Mrs. Lu, who had just stepped over the threshold: "I've never heard of someone like you in the Spy Department."

Mrs. Lu continued to walk towards Qi Zhong, unhurried: "I'll handle him, you go rescue the others."

Treasure Monkey made an 'eh' sound, got up, and charged towards the Spring Temple Hall again. Qi Zhong turned and ordered the Jiazi Assassins, "Go and kill those two!"

As he spoke, he flicked two more green bricks with his foot straight at Treasure Monkey, much faster than him.

This time, Treasure Monkey shook his head, changing his face to a black-patterned blue one with a yellow egg-shaped eye in the middle of his forehead, clearly the face of Lei Zhenzi from the storybooks.

Unexpectedly, Treasure Monkey twisted his body and narrowly dodged the two green bricks.

At this time, Mrs. Lu came up, attacking him.

Qi Zhong's eyes showed a hint of sarcasm. He sent a kick towards Mrs. Lu's chest, who crossed her arms in front of her chest to block, was caught off guard, and was sent flying backward.

Ignoring Mrs. Lu, a golden swastika appeared on Qi Zhong's forehead. He slammed both hands onto the bronze incense burner beside him and shouted, "The Eunuch Party has brought disaster to the nation!"

In an instant, the bronze incense burner shattered into hundreds of pieces, which enveloped Treasure Monkey, leaving him no escape.

But at this moment, a tired, old voice came from Treasure Monkey's throat: "Let me handle this."

Treasure Monkey's face twitched for a moment, and the black-patterned blue face mask on his face suddenly turned into Little Wuxiang's black-patterned white mask.

As the bronze fragments were about to hit him, Treasure Monkey transformed into a mass of black fog and surged inward to the Spring Temple Hall. The fragments passed straight through the black fog, leaving it unscathed.

Qi Zhong frowned and was about to step forward to stop him when Mrs. Lu's voice sounded in his ear: "Look over here."

A powerful palm wind roared in, blocking him outside the main hall of the Spring Temple Hall.

Inside the main hall, the black fog swirled around the dome before pouncing on each Jiazi Assassin.

As it passed each one, the black fog wrapped tightly around them. When the fog left, the faces of the Jiazi Assassins had only smooth skin left, devoid of facial features, and they collapsed to the ground.

Within just a few breaths, only one Jiazi Assassin remained alive in the main hall.

The Jiazi Assassin had reached the back of the Bodhisattva, opened a secret door, snuck into the secret passage, and shut the door behind him, running down the stone steps.

But the secret door couldn't stop the black fog that Treasure Monkey had become, as the dense smoke split and seeped through the cracks, reforming into a cloud in the secret passage.

The Jiazi Assassin reached the secret chamber and drew his blade towards Brother Pao.

Just as the blade was about to slice Brother Pao's neck, the black fog encapsulated the Jiazi Assassin, halting the blade at Brother Pao's throat.

Two breaths later, the Jiazi Assassin fell out of the black fog like a disassembled shadow puppet, collapsing on the ground, his face now featureless.

The black fog settled on the ground and formed back into Treasure Monkey's thin, small figure.

Treasure Monkey glanced at Brother Pao and Er Dao, then at the dropped blade on the ground, feeling restless.

The next moment, Treasure Monkey's head trembled uncontrollably, and his mask returned to that of the Six-Eared Macaque.

Though his mouth didn't move, Treasure Monkey's original voice spoke: "Liao Zhong, it's not your place to make decisions. These two are protected by Lord Bai Long, and you can't act recklessly."

The tired, old voice in Treasure Monkey's throat said, "Fine then, they're just insignificant people. Killing them won't make Chen Ji grieve for more than a few days. Remember, I'm after the Crown Prince's life, or I won't let you integrate with the Dao."

Treasure Monkey replied calmly, "Understood."

A hoarse voice said, "I'm going to take Xu Xi's life!"

A sharp voice added, "I want the Liu Family completely wiped out!"

A heavy voice rumbled thickly, "Mine's easy. I just want Qi Xun dead; he doesn't have long to live anyway."

A woman's voice chimed in, "I'll only feel at ease after watching you all fall apart... But once we're gone, what about Nannan?"

"Bai Long is there; let him take care of her, he's a friend!"

At this moment, Treasure Monkey's original voice commanded sternly, "Shut up, these two can hear us."

The lively chatter in the secret chamber ceased abruptly. Treasure Monkey untied Brother Pao and Er Dao: "Stay here and don't go out. Once we kill Qi Zhong, we'll act, as Lord Bai Long instructed, this person must die."