"Sister, let me go in and take a look," Zhengzheng volunteered.

"Mm." Ye Xianya nodded gently.

If demons have truly infiltrated the capital, then things are not looking good.

The capital city is crowded, so it's easy for monsters to find targets, especially homeless people, like beggars on the streets. No one would care if a few of them died.

What puzzled Ye Xianya was that there were ten major Taoist sects outside the capital. Could it be that... the ten major Taoist sects no longer took turns sending people to guard the capital as they used to?

She remembered that in her previous life, she had come to the capital with her sect and had seen people from the ten major Taoist sects patrolling the capital at night to prevent demons and monsters from causing trouble.

I haven't seen him even once now.

Furthermore, the Imperial Observatory used to select disciples from the ten major Taoist sects to serve as officials, and they would be replaced every ten or eight years, which would not interfere with the Taoists' cultivation. But now, not a single one of them has been seen.

Just as Ye Xianya was feeling a bit strange, Qi Chengshuo's voice suddenly came from behind her.

"A fairy bud!"

"What are you doing here?" Ye Xianya turned to look at him, her face full of surprise.

This man isn't like her; he's not good at predicting things, yet he always manages to find her. It's really strange.

"I went to Taoyuanju to deliver the silver notes to you. Your mother told me that you took Zhengzheng out to eat, so I thought I'd try my luck and give you the silver notes if I could find you. I didn't expect to actually run into you. Are you going to Aunt Hong's place for some duck vermicelli soup?" Qi Chengshuo asked with a smile.

"Yes!" Ye Xianya nodded: "Zhengzheng has never eaten this before, I want to take him to try it."

"Then let's go together," Qi Chengshuo said quickly.

Is this a preordained destiny?

He discovered that ever since returning to the capital, he could always find Ye Xianya whenever he wanted to.

"We can't go in yet. There's a demonic aura in this courtyard. Zhengzheng has already flown in to check. Let's wait for it to come out first," Ye Xianya said in a low voice.

"There's a demonic aura!" Qi Chengshuo exclaimed in surprise.

How could there be monsters in the capital?

This is unprecedented!

“According to the records of the Taiyi Sect, in the past, the capital of the Great Yan Dynasty was guarded by people from ten major Taoist sects in rotation. The officials in the Imperial Observatory were also very powerful Taoists, but I haven’t seen them now,” Ye Xianya said, shaking her head.

After hearing her words, Qi Chengshuo quickly explained to her: "The Imperial Observatory is full of learned people who know everything from astronomy to geography, and they also know some physiognomy. But it's impossible for them to catch demons or ghosts."

"The officials of the Imperial Observatory today were all selected through the imperial examination system, not from the ten major Taoist sects."

Ye Xianya was somewhat surprised upon hearing this.

"Since the current emperor ascended the throne, many things have changed. My grandfather, Prince Duan, once told me that the emperor felt that people from the Ten Great Taoist Sects had interfered in many affairs in the capital, and even the imperial power had been somewhat restricted, which is why these changes have occurred."

"For the past thirty or forty years, His Majesty has been weakening the power of the Ten Great Taoist Sects, especially their power in the capital. The Ten Great Taoist Sects have long been marginalized by the court. In the Emperor's words, the world is at peace, so where do all these demons and monsters come from?"

Qi Chengshuo sighed as he spoke: "His Majesty said that the people of the Ten Great Daoist Sects should stay outside the capital and guard it. There is no need to let them have such a strong power in the city and interfere in the affairs of the court all day long."

Ye Xianya was speechless upon hearing this. She didn't know if those Taoist priests had really been fighting for power with the imperial court. The only thing she was certain of was that there was a demon in this courtyard.

If the people of the ten major Taoist sects were still guarding the capital as before, the demons would not dare to appear here at all.

The emperor only saw his own imperial power. He knew that there were many demons and monsters in the world, but he still turned a blind eye. Sooner or later, he would suffer the consequences.

Zhengzheng flew out not long after it went in.

“Sister, there are two people living in this courtyard, a man and a woman, both young. I can smell that the man has a human scent, but as for the woman…” Zhengzheng paused slightly as she spoke, “Although she has transformed into a human, I can guarantee that she is the demon you mentioned. I was observing her from a distance, and I saw a phantom behind her, which was a bird.”

Ye Xianya was very surprised to hear this. She held Zhengzheng in her arms and looked closely at her golden eyes. After a while, she said, "Little one, your eagle eyes are quite different. They can actually see the true forms of those transformed demons directly. Even I have to use mystical arts or divination techniques to see them."

"Of course! I've been amazing since I was little!" Zhengzheng said proudly. "From the moment I hatched, I felt that I was very smart and knew everything. My eagle eyes can see much farther than those of ordinary golden eagles."

"Zhengzheng, when you hatched, was it under that Zhuguo tree?" Ye Xianya suddenly asked.

“Yes!” Zhengzheng nodded quickly: “I was born under that Vermilion Fruit Tree. The spiritual energy there is abundant. In addition, I am smart and quickly embarked on the path of cultivation. Moreover, those Vermilion Fruits helped me improve my strength, so I cultivated very quickly.”

Ye Xianya: "..."

If Zhengzheng discovered the Zhuguo Tree by chance while living in Zizhu Mountain, that would be more understandable; it would only prove that this little guy has incredible luck.

Luck is also very important on the path of spiritual practice.

For example, in her previous life, she was like someone who had a cheat code, making rapid progress all the way. Although she was a woman, she was more powerful than the men in the sect. In just a few decades, she reached a height that no one before her could match, which attracted a tribulation of lightning.

This little guy, Zhengzheng, was born under that Zhuguo tree, and he even crawled out of his eggshell on his own, rather than being hatched in a nest. That means that this was definitely not a coincidence.

"Perhaps your parents are both spirit beasts, so they chose such a good place for you, giving you an advantage from birth, or... it's for some other reason. In any case, little guy, your luck is incredible," Ye Xianya said with a smile.

Of course, she was also very lucky to meet Zhengzheng.

"Of course! I'm incredibly lucky. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to cultivate under the Vermilion Fruit Tree all this time, and I wouldn't have stumbled upon this treasure just by digging around." Zhengzheng was extremely proud of herself.

Ye Xianya reached out and gently rubbed its head: "Let's go, little guy, let's go and meet that bird spirit inside!"

"Great!" Zhengzheng was extremely excited: "Don't let my sister make a move later, let me test my strength."

Upon hearing this, Ye Xianya looked around at the interconnected houses and took out several wooden plaques that she had crafted from the cloth bag she carried with her.

“Making a move in the capital would easily hurt ordinary people. Not to mention, there are quite a few people living in the houses connected to this one. Wait for me to set up a barrier first. Once we're inside, we'll work together to take him down quickly, so as not to harm any innocent people,” Ye Xianya said in a low voice.