Listening to his account, everyone only felt it was utterly beyond belief.

Even in those collections of strange tales and legends, such a thing is rarely heard of.

Wang Daoxuan stroked his beard thoughtfully and said, "How did you persuade Zhou Yinyao?"

"Who is Zhou Yinyao?" The man looked completely dumbfounded.

Wang Daoxuan said, "He has a nickname, 'Green Frost Stone Boiling Old Man'!"

"Zhou Yinyao" was the first piece of intelligence they had obtained, a legendary immortal recorded in the Taiping Guangji and Immortal Legends and Miscellaneous, adept at the Taiyin Refining Technique, who had faked death and been reborn several times; Li Yan suspected he was an Earth Immortal yin criminal.

"Oh, that old guy…"

The man hurriedly nodded. "That old man ignored us at first, but before we set out, Her Ladyship bestowed a letter. After he read it, his face changed on the spot. He told us the location and then left in a hurry."

"What was written in the letter?"

"Her Ladyship said she put a Spell on it. No one dared to look."

"Did she ever say what she wanted the Yangzhou Tripod for?"

"Her Ladyship said that with this tripod, the court wouldn't dare make any rash moves. Otherwise it would trigger Jinling and even the entire lower reaches of the Yangtze River's Earth Veins to quake. Then the river would flow backward, and countless people would die or be injured…"

"That son of a bitch!"

"Wanton madness!"

Everyone's face changed abruptly when they heard this.

They had long known the Jianmu Demon were all vicious, but they had not imagined that this Lai Yin was so utterly deranged as to take the lives of several million people as leverage.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the cabin was stifling and deathly still.

"Knock them out first!"

With a cold snort, Li Yan turned and went up onto the deck.

"Sigh, this is going to be hard to handle."

Sha Lifei followed him out, scratching his bald head, his face full of worry.

"We'll talk about it once we reach Jinling."

Li Yan's expression was solemn as he looked into the distance.

On the surface of the Canal, a Navy warship could be seen slowly sailing past…

...

Amid this oppressive mood, the treasure ship picked up speed.

The closer they drew to Jinling City, the more grim and martial the Canal's scene became.

Along the way they saw more and more Navy warships urgently transferred by the court; warning flags fluttered all over the Canal, muzzles of cannons bristling. At every crucial stretch of water, posts were set up to block and inspect passing vessels.

All merchant and passenger ships, without exception, were subjected to strict searches.

They had a Token from Qiankun Academy, so naturally they passed unhindered all the way.

The treasure ship sailed past Longjiang Pass, and the river suddenly narrowed.

In the distance, the shadow of an ancient city stretched across the water. Standing at the bow, Li Yan and the others could already feel the killing aura permeating this Six Dynasties Ancient City.

The boatman hurried forward, pointed far to the west at the stone city, and said, "Honored sirs, that is the outer rampart of Jinling, Guanyin Gate."

As he spoke, he muttered worriedly, "Don't know how the young master is doing…"

Everyone looked up. On the hills of Jiang Zuo, the rammed-earth walls wound like a dragon, beacon turrets facing one another; brocade flags fluttered atop, and quite a few cannons had already been emplaced.

There were still two li to the Water Gate, and sentry ships had already cordoned off the river.

Two Chief Flag Officers came up in an eight-oared fast boat; even on their bow a firearm had been mounted, the dark muzzle pointing straight at the treasure ship as they forced it to stop and boarded to inspect.

After checking their travel papers, the young Chief Flag Officer in the lead, his eyes as sharp as a hawk's, said in a deep voice, "Since you are Magicians, once you enter the city you are to go at once to the City God Temple to register. Any concealment will be dealt with under military law!"

With that, he ordered his men to write down their names.

Li Yan and the others looked at each other without speaking.

It seemed the rules inside Jinling City were already extremely strict.

After passing through Guanyin Gate, the Cao Boat turned into the moat. Between the outer rampart and the Capital's inner wall, a completely different world opened up.

Temporary barracks crowded the riverbanks; uniforms hung out to dry like scattered clouds, and the air was heavy with the mingled smells of sweat, rust, and tung oil.

Dozens of Craftsmen were brushing tung oil onto newly built warships, the sickly-sweet odor wafting over.

Li Yan, sharp of ear, heard an old Craftsman on break quietly sigh to his companion, "Last month the pirates suddenly raided Zhenjiang; the blaze lit up the sky all the way over here! It's only a hundred li by water from us—who knows if those butchers will creep downriver this way?"

"Yeah, damn those pirates, and those rebel bandits too…"

"With so many troops, why hasn't the court taken action yet?"

"Matters of military secrets—how could the likes of us hope to know…"

Li Yan and Wang Daoxuan exchanged a glance; both had their guesses by now. Most likely, the court had already learned that Lai Yin possessed the Yangzhou Tripod.

When they reached Sanshan Gate, the river defenses were even tighter.

Of Jinling City's thirteen gates, this was the only one that connected water and land.

The boatman went to sound out some nearby Cao Gang boats for information, then came back and quietly warned Li Yan and the others, "Gentlemen, the wind in the city is tight these days. Once inside, remember the three don'ts—don't ask about camp locations, don't discuss troop numbers, don't look at documents in official yamen. Just last month they chopped off a few pirate spies' heads and hung them at Yifeng Gate…"

He knew who Li Yan and the others were, but was still somewhat worried.

As soon as they entered Sanshan Gate, a scent mixed of sweat, metal, and tung oil, wrapped in a grim, murderous military aura, rushed straight at their faces.

The gate tunnel was five zhang deep; footsteps crashed against the arched roof and echoed back, adding to the oppression.

Accompanied by a harsh creaking, the thousand-pound gate's iron chains churned; the massive portcullis actually began to descend slowly, stirring up a commotion among those waiting outside.

A soldier to the side barked, "It's not yet 3 p.m.—why are you lowering the gate?"

A Colonel running over snapped back, "Urgent order from the Secretariat! From today on, the city closes one hour earlier! In extraordinary times, we use extraordinary measures!"

Everyone's hearts sank; they hurried into the city before the gate fell.

Turning onto Sanshan Street, the scene before them was astonishing.

The once-prosperous silk shops and mounting studios were mostly shuttered; instead, quite a few smithies had been requisitioned. Bowyers were straightening arrow shafts right on the street, wood shavings flying; the forges in the ironworks roared, hammers ringing without pause.

"The killing aura pierces the sky, a baleful cloud presses down on the city…"

Wang Daoxuan twirled his beard and sighed. "The calamity Jinling faces this time is likely no small one."

Rumble—rumble—rumble!

Suddenly, from the east came the thunder of hooves.

In a billow of dust, over two hundred elite cavalry came galloping from the direction of Dagong Square.

The leading Flag Officer held aloft a dark-black Order Flag, on which four glaring characters were written—"Southern Secretariat"!

Iron hooves struck the damp bluestone street, splashing up the rainwater left from the other day; in the water were reflected the icy armor of the riders. Commoners and merchants scattered in panic like tidewater.

"Come, let's go to the City God Temple first."

Li Yan didn't want trouble, so he led the group toward the Jinling City God Temple.

The City God Temple wasn't far. They passed through streets rank upon rank with soldiers and armor, and soon saw the blue-brick, dark-tiled gate of the City God Temple.

Jinling, Ancient City of the Six Dynasties—its City God Temple was naturally no ordinary place.

The stone arch's plaque before the temple had recently been gilded, bearing the words "Overseeing the Seen and Unseen," rumored to be in the hand of the founding Emperor of Great Xuan.

Beneath the arch squatted two stone suanni, eyes like copper bells, actually draped with dozens of new and old brocade robes.

This was a local custom of Jinling. The common folk would place the clothes of sick children over the Divine Beast, said to be able to dispel illness and exorcise evil.

On the main gate's plaque were the characters "Majestic and Luminous," and the couplet on the pillars was even more imposing:

"As warden of the southern realm, you command Yangtze and Qinhuai to bless the people.

Overseeing all under heaven, through Spring and Autumn, Winter and Summer you manifest justice."

What puzzled them, however, was that the City God Temple was rather deserted at the moment.

After the Daoist boy at the gate had passed in their visiting card, it wasn't long before an old Daoist in a crane cloak and Jade Crown came hurrying out, smiling as he walked. "This poor Daoist is Zhang Jingqing, unworthily serving as the Jinling City God Temple Priest. I have long heard of the Twelve Primordial Spirits' renown—my humble temple is honored indeed."

This old Daoist was unusually courteous. Though Li Yan and the others found it strange, they didn't ask much. After following him into the temple to register their names, Li Yan spoke up, "We have companions who came ahead of us. They arrived in Jinling with Thousand Households of Cao Yun, Tian Anbang, to stand trial. Does Master know where they are?"

He only asked in passing, but the priest's smile suddenly froze.

He knit his brows and said quietly, "This poor Daoist has heard of that matter, but did not know they were of the Twelve Primordial Spirits. Three days ago, the Lin's Trading House master and servants—twenty-seven people in all—were thrown into prison!"

Seeing Li Yan's pupils abruptly contract, he sighed and shook his head. "Tian Qianhu died suddenly on the road while escorting them. On the very day Mr. Lin reached Jinling City, he barged straight into the Southern Secretariat to cry his grievance, fiercely accusing Vice Minister Zhou of colluding with the Maitreya Sect to ambush the official army—after that, he was thrown into the dungeon."

"Outrageous!"

Sha Lifei's eyes bulged. "Fatty Lin was cooperating with the Military Department to investigate the case. On what grounds did they throw him into a dungeon?"

Li Yan's face was equally overcast; he hadn't expected that Tian Qianhu was actually dead.

Before, he had gone head-to-head with Jianmu in Jiangnan on his own and survived, yet now, carrying out an order from Fengjing City, he had died halfway here.

With a great catastrophe bearing down, what in the world was happening in this Jinling City…