Isolated town in northern border region

When Xiao Lie kicked Luo Daniu off the bed, Luo Daniu was still snoring.

He rolled onto the ground, turned over, and muttered something under his breath.

"Another bowl, please..."

Xiao Lie squatted down and slapped him across the face.

"Luo Daniu, grab your weapon and start stabbing someone!"

Luo Daniu suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils instantly focusing, like a ferocious beast that had been startled awake.

As he sat up, his left hand reached for the hilt of the Taiping sword on the edge of the table.

"Your Highness? Where are you attacking? Who are you going to kill?"

Xiao Lie had already stood up straight.

"Someone came to the door, claiming to be Xu De's friend."

"Go and gather the brothers of the Trapped Camp, provide covert support, and wait for my command before taking action."

Without asking any further questions, Luo Daniu tucked the Taiping sword behind his waist, jumped out of the window, and landed silently.

Xiao Lie pushed the thin razor blade in his sleeve further in, then walked to the door, pulled the latch, and opened the door.

A burly man stood outside the door, his face weathered and worn, with a short knife at his waist. He looked like someone who had been living a life of hardship and sleeping outdoors for a living for many years.

He saw Xiao Lie open the door and cupped his hands in greeting.

"But was it His Highness the King of the Northern Frontier in person?"

"My name is Qi Sheng, and I run a security escort agency. Doctor Xu entrusted me with a shipment."

He pulled a small apricot-yellow flag from his pocket.

"This is Doctor Xu's token. He said that if anything happens to him, he can use this to come here and find Your Highness."

Xiao Lie took the small flag and looked at it; it was indeed Xu De's apricot-yellow flag.

He nodded.

"What happened to Xu De?"

Qi Sheng sighed.

"After delivering the medicine to His Majesty in Wenshu City, Doctor Xu entrusted me with escorting it, but when the appointed time arrived, Doctor Xu was nowhere to be seen."

"I went to check on Doctor Xu's lodgings, but found nothing. I remembered that Doctor Xu mentioned that Your Highness had a lodgings here, so I came here."

Xiao Lie's eyelids twitched as he listened.

You're kidding me! I never mentioned this courtyard to Xu De.

Only Jiang Jun knows about this courtyard!

However... Xu De is really... something else.

How come a renowned and famous doctor always gets kidnapped every time he goes out?

Last time I was kidnapped in Bingzhou, and this time I've been kidnapped again in Jingguo!

She's not some stunning beauty, why would I have to go and save her before I've even eaten!

We must never let him leave the northern border region again!

After cursing in his heart, his face changed to an anxious expression.

"Xu De has been kidnapped? Where? Take me to see him!"

Qi Sheng turned and left.

"Your Highness, please come with me."

"Dr. Xu's lodging is outside the city."

Xiao Lie followed Qi Sheng out of Yinzhou City and traveled southwest for more than ten miles. The fields along the way were gradually replaced by weeds, and the population became increasingly sparse.

Xiao Lie squinted and glanced around as he walked. There were scraps of cloth hanging on the fence and broken grass.

Qi Sheng pointed at the traces as if he had discovered a new continent.

"Your Highness, look! It must be a mark left by Doctor Xu!"

Xiao Lie nodded.

"Hurry up and go look for it!"

But what he was really thinking was: Could this method be any rougher?

Will the kidnappers leave Xu Deli's clothes and tie them to the fence?

Why is it still so neatly arranged?

Qi Sheng said he gained nothing on his first visit. Are you afraid I won't see that?

Xiao Lie didn't point it out, but followed Qi Sheng along those "marks" deeper into the mountains and forests, finally stopping in front of a dilapidated wooden house halfway up the mountain.

The cabin looked like a hunter's temporary resting place; half of the thatched roof had collapsed, and the door was hanging crookedly on the frame.

Qi Sheng rushed in first, then let out a scream.

Xiao Lie stood outside the door with his arms crossed, not moving.

He even yawned and then called out into the cabin.

"Mo Shu, old friends meeting again, there's no need to hide anymore, is there?"

There was a moment of silence in the cabin, then footsteps came from inside.

Mo Shu came out, still dressed in a clean and neat white robe, holding a folding fan in his hand, like a schoolteacher who had just strolled out of the study.

Behind him followed a general clad in armor—Xiao Lie recognized the face; it was the Imperial Guard commander whom he had dragged into the Imperial Study by the neck that day.

The man had a burlap sack on his shoulder, and the sack was slightly open, revealing Xu De's head, which looked like a giant caterpillar.

When Xu De saw Xiao Lie, he shook his head frantically and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Your Highness! Run!"

Xiao Lie picked at his ear with an impatient look on his face.

"Didn't you claim to have friends all over the underworld? How come you got caught just trying to escape?"

Xu Desheng closed his eyes in despair.

"I'm just a doctor, what can I do?"

"Can't you see I'm tied up tightly right now?"

Mo Shu closed her folding fan and smiled at Xiao Lie.

"King of the Northern Frontier, it's been a long time."

"You think your scheme is flawless, but have you ever considered... that while you were setting up your trap to deal with Jiang Tai, a net was also waiting for you?"

He clapped his hands, and hundreds of Panlong Guard soldiers surged out from all around the mountains and forests.

Their eyes were vacant, their faces expressionless, and their movements were perfectly synchronized.

At the very front of the group, Tie Gong, clad in old armor and holding a broken sword, stood with his head bowed, like a puppet on strings.

Xiao Lie glanced at the iron bow, then looked away.

Mo Shu looked at Xiao Lie.

"Your Highness, you have foreseen everything, but don't forget, the iron bow is still in my hands."

"No matter how brave Your Highness is, there is absolutely no way you can escape today."

"Oh, right, there's also my junior disciple. Your Highness can't just abandon him, can you?"

Xiao Lie didn't look at him. Xiao Lie looked at the Imperial Guard commander carrying a sack behind Mo Shu.

"Brother, what's your name?"

The commander bowed slightly.

"This humble general Yan Feng greets the King of the Northern Frontier."

Xiao Lie smiled.

"Commander Yan, Xu De looks thin, but carrying him isn't easy."

"Why don't we put it down and let it rest for a bit?"

Yan Feng glanced at Mo Shu, then at Xiao Lie, and then did something that Mo Shu had never expected.

He carried the sack into the wooden house and closed the door behind him.

Mo Shu's smile froze on her face.

Xiao Lie gestured with his chin toward him.

"Vice Commander Mo, look, this net... doesn't seem to belong to the Net King."

He had barely finished speaking when his voice suddenly rose.

"Let's do it!"

At a single command!

Soldiers who had been lying in ambush leaped out simultaneously from the bushes, tree canopies, and grass around the mountains and forests.

Five hundred soldiers, clad in dark cloth armor, silently converged from all directions.

Luo Daniu led the charge out.

"Release the arrows!"

Each soldier in the vanguard held a crossbow, and arrows were fired in unison!

But the arrows weren't shot at people, they were aimed at the top of the Panlong Guards' heads!

The arrows trailed net ropes, and hundreds of nets opened simultaneously, precisely covering the Panlong Guards.

Before Tie Gong could even raise his sword, a net descended from the sky and completely enveloped him.

Once the net was tightened, the soldiers rushed forward and beat each of the Panlong Guards with clubs, tying them up cleanly and efficiently.