Although they knew the general steps of the scorpion monster's transformation, they did not know the scorpion monster's incubation period. After invading the human body, how long would it remain dormant before completely occupying the human body.

Relying on a few palace guards to search the entire capital is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

These days, Lu Cai put on a red cloak and wandered around the streets every day, taking the opportunity to learn about the street layout and military deployment of the capital.

Anyway, after looking around, I feel that if there is an insect plague, the entire capital will surely be destroyed.

It's just... miserable.

As for the Prince of Jin, he had been summoned to the palace by the old emperor and was under house arrest. He couldn't leave for a while, and even passing on news was difficult. Zhao Yan, on the other hand, had plenty of free time and could leave the palace and go to Wangxiang Tower at any time.

According to Qin Yu, Zhao Yan's status as a son-in-law was obtained through a forced marriage by His Majesty. His personality was that of a weak and cowardly rich kid. The princess did not like him and even locked him out on the wedding day.

When Zhao Yan entered the game, the prince consort had just been locked outside for a night and had caught a cold.

For Zhao Yan, this arrangement was just right, as he didn't want to coax any little girl.

Lu Cai followed Qin Yu and waited for Zhao Yan at Wangxiang Tower. He arrived soon.

As soon as he saw Lu Cai, he said, "We've already left the community, and you're still so weird..."

Lu Cai lifted his cloak and said, "Everything is different after I get married. I've become smarter."

"Don't, don't say that—" Zhao Yan felt goosebumps all over his body. "That little girl is only sixteen, and I'm acting like I've got a daughter. I feel sick when you say that..."

"Don't underestimate yourself. You are only ten years older than the little princess. Older men and young wives are very popular—" Lu Cai continued to tease him.

Zhao Yan looked at her and said, "You'd better put on your cloak. It's infuriating to look at your face."

The few of them didn't waste any more words. Qin Yu directly told Zhao Yan about the scorpion monster and asked him to pay attention.

Lu Cai finished his meal and was about to set a time to go to the Marquis's mansion to check it out. Since she left the mansion, she hadn't heard any more noise. It seemed that Wang Shu was indeed quite capable and had calmed the scumbag down.

This wing faces the street, and one can clearly hear the sounds of carriages and people outside.

They were about to get up and leave when they heard screams from the street. Lu Cai was the quickest, running to the windowsill and opening them, and saw a crowd of people running wildly downstairs.

Following the direction they were avoiding, I saw four scorpion monsters as tall as a person attacking people on the roadside.

Cai Lu put on his cloak and jumped down from the window sill.

He fell to the ground and rolled around. Then Lu Cai rushed towards the largest scorpion monster with a dagger in his backhand.

The big scorpion also noticed the bright red color, and it stung the vendor with its tail, then pulled it out suddenly. Five or six small scorpions fell off its body and rushed towards the poisoned vendor who had fallen.

Lu Cai ran closer and saw that the big scorpion was wearing the skin of a beggar. The beggar looked young, with black bruises all over his skinny face and dull eyes. He stared at Lu Cai with a lifeless expression that made people feel creepy.

The scorpion's stinger aimed at Lu Cai and lashed out, only to be entangled by a faint red light. The red cape leaped up, raised the blade, and turned the direction. With a few movements, the scorpion's stinger fell to the side.

She stepped on the scorpion monster and turned, her red cape flashing brightly. The blade reflected the sunlight, and with a puff, it cut off the scorpion monster's head.

Qin Yu and Zhao Yan jumped down next, but their movements were far less agile than Lu Cai's. After all, it was their first time fighting this insect monster in human skin, and without Lu Cai's experienced guidance, they would inevitably suffer losses.

The two men chopped off two scorpion heads in succession. Before they had time to catch their breath, they heard a girl's scream in the distance.

The smallest scorpion monster took advantage of the chaos and ran away, just about to attack a girl in brocade clothes on the street.

The three of them ran away quickly, each activating their special abilities.

Lu Cai's outward energy collided with Qin Yu's mental power. The two collided and were both affected, and their steps paused.

In the end, only Zhao Yan rushed over quickly.

The scorpion monster stabbed the little girl with its tail, but suddenly the stone slab under its feet arched up, and it withdrew its attack with a shake of its body.

A thick, green vine, with sharp stings, rose from the ground and instantly wrapped around the black, armored scorpion monster. The vine crushed it hard, causing the scorpion monster to hiss and stab it with its stinger, which stabbed into the vine.

The vines that were pierced by the poisonous stings immediately broke off automatically, and more branches quickly replaced them.

The broken branch that fell to the ground rotted instantly and turned into ashes. Where the broken end of the branch fell to the ground, a thin little vine grew out, and a double-petaled rose with a white center and red edges bloomed on it.

The scorpion monster was ultimately no match for the vines and was crushed into pieces. The vines released the dead scorpion monster, rustling back and finally disappearing into the pit, leaving behind only the mess on the ground and the double-petaled roses swaying in the wind.

The attacked girl stared blankly at the sudden change in front of her eyes until someone grabbed her by the collar and carried her away from the scorpion's corpse.

The girl was so frightened that she completely lost her usual arrogance. It was not until she was thrown aside that she realized who was holding her.

"How dare you!" The person Showa hated the most was her weak and cowardly husband. They had lived in the same house for more than ten days, but they had only met a few times. Because every time they met, she would get angry, and the husband would not even refute her.

Now he dared to be so rude and grab her collar!

Zhao Yan knew that the little princess was spoiled and had a bad temper, so he didn't bother to pay attention to her.

"I've seen these beggars before." Lu Cai approached and looked at the crushed bodies on the ground. "About a week ago, they were still alive."

"In other words, the process from invasion to complete transformation into a skin bag took less than seven days." Qin Yu tidied up her skirt and sleeves before walking closer.

The guards from the Princess's Mansion rushed over and bumped into the patrol officers and soldiers. The officers and soldiers simply exchanged greetings with the guards before neatly and orderly cleaning up the mess.

"This matter has become quite serious. There are so many infected people. It is impossible to conduct research privately." Zhao Yan watched the soldiers surrounding the poisoned people.

Lu Cai also turned slowly: "What we need to do now is to isolate these infected people."

"Leave it to me, you and Zhao Yan go back first." Qin Yu stroked the hairpin on her hair and walked towards the soldiers like a princess.

After she walked away, Zhaohe, who was covered in dust, dared to speak: "Why are you with An Ning?"

Princess An Ning is Zhaohe's cousin and the only child of the emperor's younger brother. An Ning's parents are both deceased, and the emperor dotes on her even more than on his own children.

So Showa was very reluctant to see this cousin. Everyone said Showa was the emperor's favorite little princess, but she couldn't even choose her own husband. And what about An Ning? The divorce incident had caused such a big stir, but the emperor didn't seem angry.

Only then did Lu Cai notice the little girl on the side. She tilted her head to look. The girl was about fifteen or sixteen years old, with a tender round face, some baby fat, and her eyes were wide open, like a little kitten with its fur standing on end.

The little girl noticed Lu Cai's gaze and turned around to glare at her with her eyes wide open. Unfortunately, she was covered in dust, which made her look even more fragile.

"Your humble servant greets Princess Showa." Lu Cai, half of his face hidden under the cloak, bowed to the little girl.

Zhaohe had just seen Lu Cai and Qin Yu talking, and knowing that they knew each other, he just turned around and snorted, then ignored everyone and walked towards the princess's mansion.

A rose trembling in the wind blocked her way. The little princess wanted to kick it angrily, and even raised her foot, but then she put it down in frustration and walked around it from the side.

"There's no carriage attendant around. This little princess must have sneaked out to play!" Zhao Yan looked at the little girl's back and couldn't help muttering, "Whose wicked child is like this? It's only because her father is the emperor that no one dares to teach her a lesson..."

Lu Cai was laughing beside him.

After Zhao Yan finished his nagging, he added: "Be careful, I'll send the little princess back first——"

Watching the crowd disperse, Lu Cai stood beside a pile of rocks on the street.

The two palace guards Qin Yu had left behind to assist Lu Cai were named Dacheng and Ercheng. Seeing that everyone had left, they came forward and saluted: "Miss Lu, should we go back to the palace or..."

"Let's go to the clinic." Lu Cai thought about the poisoned and infected people just now. Judging from the symptoms, they seemed to have contracted a strange disease. As long as they were not beggars or widows with no one to care about their lives, they would generally be sent to the clinic.

The two palace guards agreed. Although they did not see Lu Cai fighting the scorpion monster, when they arrived and saw the corpses of the monsters, they knew that what Lu Cai said was true.

Moreover, the four large monsters were killed in time to prevent a large-scale disaster. As far as this matter was concerned, they had some admiration and gratitude for Lu Cai.

......

Compared to wandering around the city, going to the clinic was easier. Lu Cai asked two guards to lead the way, from the south to the north of the city, visiting each house one by one, and also asked the two guards to take paper and pen to record the information they asked.

I went to four medical clinics but couldn't find any patients with similar symptoms.

When Lu Cai entered the fifth house, she heard the voice of "Supreme Heavenly Venerable." She paused and looked in the direction of the voice. What she saw was a Taoist nun with thin shoulders and back.

The Taoist nun sounded young, wearing a dark blue Taoist robe, with her hair tied up with a wooden hairpin, and holding a white whisk in her hand.

"I gave him the elixir, not to kill him." The Taoist nun must have been a delicate woman, her voice a little soft, but she spoke calmly, "He is possessed by evil spirits, this elixir can help him exorcise the evil and avoid disaster..."

The tall doctor wearing a tattered gown was shaking his shoulders, as if he was having a hard time holding back his laughter.

The nun called out "Supreme Lord" again, and with a swipe of her whisk, she struck the doctor squarely on the back. The doctor immediately straightened his back and suppressed a tremor.

Seeing the appearance of the tall doctor, Lu Cai raised his eyebrows and his eyes lit up.

What a coincidence, what a coincidence.

Shi Rukui also saw her, but because of her sexy red cloak, he did not recognize her as Lu Cai.

Noticing Shi Rukui's strange behavior, the nun followed his gaze and turned around. Seeing the eye-catching red cloak, her eyes widened and her face, which had been pretending to be calm, suddenly became lively.

"Lu Cai!" Yue Xiaoyan screamed in a low voice, jumped on the spot, and ran towards Lu Cai with her whisk swinging.

When the guards on both sides saw the little Taoist nun rushing towards them, they immediately drew their swords and pointed the tips of their swords at the little Taoist nun, one on the left and one on the right.

Lu Cai quickly raised his hand to stop him: "Wait!"

The commoner doctor over there was even faster, becoming a very faint shadow, and in the blink of an eye he stood in front of Yue Xiaoyan.

Bang——

The doctor held a long stick and knocked the two swords to the ground.

The little nun didn't stop and bumped into the doctor's back.