Blood and violence, Lan Cai'er didn't know what words to use to describe everything she saw before her eyes.

Every member of the Blood Blade Mercenary Corps was beheaded, their leader Xue Yi's eyes were still wide open as if he had seen something inconceivable.

The Sword Slave was speechless, he knew that "the Prince" was capable, but he didn't expect it to be this brutal.

"Wait, Sword Slave, does your Prince have extremely formidable Hidden Guards concealed by his side?" Lan Cai'er suddenly had a thought.

She had long felt that with the status of Feng Xun, how could it be possible that upon arriving in Daxia, he only brought an old housekeeper and a personal guard.

It is said that Imperial Family members and noble relatives, when going out, always have some Hidden Guards concealed around them. These Hidden Guards only follow their own people's commands, appearing to lend aid at critical moments, and ordinary people would never even detect their existence.

The members of the Blood Blade Mercenary Corps died a horrifying death, and judging from the wounds, they were beheaded with sharp weapons in one stroke. Such methods and skills are definitely the work of well-trained Hidden Guards.

"Indeed, it was the Hidden Guards, I was desperate last night and forgot that the Prince had Hidden Guards by his side," Sword Slave breathed a sigh of relief, internally thanking Buddha for Lan Cai'er coming up with this explanation on her own.

However, in some sense, what Eldest Miss Lan said was not wrong. The Prince indeed possessed a peerless Hidden Guard, only that this Hidden Guard wasn't concealed by the Prince's side, but inside the Prince's body.

He only emerged when the Prince's consciousness was unclear or when the Cold Syndrome was at its most severe, Sword Slave silently thought to himself.

"Wait, did you hear anything?" Lan Cai'er, still wanting to dig deeper into the matter of the Hidden Guards, then heard a series of horse hoof sounds not far away.

Several tall Northern Army horses galloped furiously, coming from the outskirts of Black Valley.

The man leading them had thick eyebrows and handsome features, his black and red cape, billowing in the strong wind like a banner.

Following him was a graceful-looking soldier bearing a longbow on his back, taller than most men.

Hisilililu——

The horse hooves kicked up, splashing wet mud everywhere.

"Who goes there! Who dares to commit murder on the official road?"

The man called out, his voice carrying far, the soldiers behind him all ready for battle.

At this moment, the graceful-looking soldier behind him let out a soft exclamation and dismounted from the horse.

"Cai'er? How come you are here?"

Upon hearing her name called by the newcomer, Lan Cai'er took a closer look at the soldier, and her small mouth instantly gaped wide enough to swallow an egg.

"Ye..."

Lan Cai'er never expected to encounter Ye Huangyu on the Xixia Plain, and Aunt Ye was even in a soldier's attire—what on earth was going on?

"I am your Brother Ye Huang," Ye Huangyu, fearing Lan Cai'er would reveal her identity, stepped forward and took hold of Lan Cai'er.

Seeing Ye Huangyu wink at her, Lan Cai'er instantly caught on and promptly shut her mouth.

Lan Cai'er was also the child of a military family and understood the rules of the army well. Whatever the reason Ye Huangyu had for disguising herself as a man to join the army, if her identity was exposed, she would be committing the crime of deceiving the Emperor, punishable by beheading.

"General Ye, do you know these two?" The majestic-looking man on the horseback was none other than Tiger Wolf General Nie Fengxing.

It was quite a coincidence; after Ye Huangyu and Tiger Wolf General Nie Fengxing left the Tiger Wolf Camp, they were en route to Qi City when they encountered a Northwest Trading Team that had been massacred on the official road.

Under the daylight, someone had actually committed murder within Nie Fengxing's jurisdiction. He immediately halted his journey and followed the tracks to the exterior of Black Valley.

"General, this is General Lan Yingwu's eldest daughter, and this is Prince Beiqing's guard," Ye Huangyu, who had been seriously injured, had once received a Seventh-grade Life Extending Elixir from Feng Xun, which saved his life. "Cai'er, Sword Slave brothers, this is General Nie Fengxing from the Tiger Wolf Camp."

At that time, she had met Sword Slave once and also knew that Feng Xun and her daughter, Ye Lingyue, had a deep connection.

When Ye Huangyu saw Lan Cai'er, he vaguely felt something was amiss. How could Lan Cai'er appear on the desolate Xixia Plain?

The Xixia Plain was far from Xia Capital. The letter Ye Lingyue wrote to Ye Huangyu when she left the capital was still en route, so Ye Huangyu had no idea that her daughter Ye Lingyue was rushing to Dan City.

After a brief introduction, Lan Cai'er hastily recounted the previous night's events.

Upon hearing that his daughter had entered Black Valley alone, Ye Huangyu's face grew increasingly grim.

If not for Nie Fengxing's presence, she would have rushed into Black Valley without hesitation.

"So you're saying the people who killed the trading team were these mercenaries, and they were killed by Prince Feng's Hidden Guard?" General Nie Fengxing's eyes were piercing as he quickly discerned the peculiar manner of the mercenaries' deaths.

And it was likely that they were all killed by the same person.

What kind of Hidden Guard would have such eerie skills?

Such formidable Beiqing Dark Guards lurking in Daxia would surely become a hidden threat.

General Nie Fengxing's reputation was well known in the Xixia Plain area and even in Beiqing.

Sword Slave, seeing Nie Fengxing furrowing his brows and examining the bodies on the ground, felt as if he was like a drum being beaten internally, anxious and unsettled.

"General, my sister is trapped in Black Valley; I implore you to help rescue her," said Lan Cai'er. She had originally planned to seek out Nie Fengxing, but to her surprise, he arrived of his own accord.

With Ye Lingyue's life and death uncertain, the Tiger Wolf General had become her only lifeline.

"General, I am willing to enter Black Valley," Ye Huangyu said in a state of desperate urgency.

According to Lan Cai'er, Ye Lingyue had been in Black Valley for one night already. Though her daughter was clever and resourceful, the thought of her being in Black Valley alone caused Ye Huangyu's heart to clench.

"What is your relationship with Ye Lingyue?" Nie Fengxing had never seen Ye Huangyu so anxious. He remembered Ye Huangyu as a very calm person who would not show panic even if Mount Tai were collapsing before her.

That the daughter of the Lan Residence would cause him to lose his composure was indeed rare.

"She is my foster sister. Before General Lan recognized her and took her back, Princess Ye had always lived with the Ye Family. I grew up with her," Ye Huangyu spun a tale.

"Even so, we cannot rashly enter Black Valley. Do you know that deep within Black Valley is the Ancient Forbidden Land that the Three Sects and Nine Schools have jointly decreed as off-limits for intrusion? Even Emperor Xia must not contravene this; it is said that a terrifying presence from Ancient Times is suppressed within." Nie Fengxing rubbed his temples, evidently troubled.

The Three Sects and Nine Schools?

Lan Cai'er looked bewildered, but for the likes of Ye Huangyu and Sword Slave, their expressions changed in an instant.

This name was something Ye Huangyu had only heard of after studying under the Marquis.

The so-called Three Sects and Nine Schools referred to the mightiest Three Great Super Sects and nine major sects on the mainland.