The girl in front of me, wearing a red cloak, looked gloomy and very suspicious.

But when the hood of the cloak was lifted, a fair face was revealed.

The girl looked pale and a little sick, but her eyes were very bright and she was in high spirits.

The soldier opposite her stuttered when she looked at him: "S-sorry--" He spoke in a stiff tone and moved away stiffly.

Lu Cai put on his cloak again and stood aside, watching the soldiers finish their inspection and then climb back onto the carriage one after another.

"Be careful!" Yue Xiaoyan waved towards Lu Cai, while Shi Rukui on the side just nodded at her.

Lu Cai waved his hand, and everyone got on the carriages. The convoy headed towards the city gate in a mighty manner.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the last carriage leave the city gates. A tall horse galloped down the street. The officer on the horse held an imperial decree: "The emperor has issued an order; the city is sealed immediately!"

The general guarding the city received the imperial edict and immediately stood up and ordered his soldiers to close the city gates. The people nearby also heard the order and began to discuss it.

Lu Cai disappeared into the crowd, walked along the roadside stalls, and entered the alleys. When he left the main street, he stepped on the debris on the side, jumped onto the eaves, stepped on the eaves, and headed towards the princess's mansion.

As usual, she jumped down from the top of the wall surrounding the princess's mansion, but the guards came a little slower than she expected.

"I want to see the princess and her husband." Lu Cai stood where he was, not planning to take action.

But the other party was very loyal to his duty: "Get it!"

Lu Cai sighed, holding a ball of light red light in his palm. He spread his hands and the ball of light turned into more than a dozen slender red lights, flying towards the palace guards rushing towards him from all directions.

Watching the red light entangling the palace guards, she couldn't help but sigh that she was becoming more and more adept at using her supernatural energy.

If this continues, she will forget how to punch someone.

"I want to see the princess and her husband." Lu Cai repeated.

"Lu Cai?" Zhao Yan heard the noise and came over to check, worried it was the scorpion monster. "You haven't left yet?"

When Lu Cai saw Zhao Yan, he flicked his hand and the guards surrounding her fell down in all directions.

"The news can't reach the palace. I would like to ask the princess to help pass the message to Qin Yu."

Zhao Yan invited her to go into the house, completely ignoring the reactions of the guards around him. Anyway, these guards didn't take him seriously.

"The little princess went to the palace this morning, but was stopped and told that she didn't need to pay her respects these days." Zhao Yan explained to her.

Lu Cai frowned. The outer city was sealed, and the inner city was also sealed. What did the emperor want to do?

After inviting her into the main hall, Zhao Yan asked someone to make tea.

"But don't worry too much. I guess Gu Xici can't bear it anymore--" After saying that, he lowered his head and smiled.

Lu Cai recalled that in the previous side story, Gu Xici said that he wanted to challenge her to a competition, and she vaguely felt that this person was very unreliable.

"Does he like fighting?" Cai Lu asked.

Zhao Yan shook his head helplessly. "It's more than just love, it's downright crazy. In his eyes, a fighting opponent is sometimes more important than a dungeon mission."

"If he says he wants to fight, is it inevitable?" Lu Cai didn't want to fight with him. He had lightning abilities, and if they really fought, she probably wouldn't gain any advantage.

Zhao Yan finally stopped chatting and asked, "Lu Cai, did he challenge you?"

Lu Cai shut up, and after a while he nodded: "I entered a branch before, and met him. He said that next time he would have a serious match..."

"Gu Xici is a little crazy, but he is normal most of the time..." Zhao Yan looked embarrassed, and finally comforted her with some difficulty.

As long as he doesn't suddenly go crazy, everything will be fine.

Before Lu Cai could open his mouth to say something else, a young girl in brocade clothes entered the main hall.

"What are you doing in my princess's mansion?" When Zhaohe saw Lu Cai, she recalled the scene on the street where she had killed the scorpion monster. Strangely, Zhaohe was not afraid at all, but rather felt a little envious.

Lu Cai stood up and bowed to the little princess. "The city is unstable now. Please make plans as soon as possible..."

As soon as she finished speaking, as if to prove her words, screams were heard from the backyard.

Lu Cai ran out of the main hall quickly and followed the sound to the kitchen in the backyard. He stopped and saw three humanoid scorpion monsters lying on the ground, making a mess of the kitchen.

They felt someone approaching, and they hissed, moved their hands and feet and furry spider legs, and turned their heads towards Lu Cai.

Zhao Yan also rushed over and stopped in his tracks when he saw the three scorpion monsters.

"This is the cook from the princess's mansion," he said to Lu Cai. "Yesterday, the housekeeper said the cook looked a little sick. I didn't expect he was possessed by a scorpion monster."

Just as Zhao Yan finished speaking, three thin red threads flew out from Lu Cai's hand and entangled the scorpion monster's tail stinger.

The scorpion monsters felt dizzy and confused when they saw the man in red cloak running in.

She leaped onto the scorpion monster on the left, slashed the lower edge of its tail sting with her dagger, and then cut off the scorpion's head. The scorpion monster beside her was dazed, but the death of its companion stimulated its survival instinct. It turned its head to look at the red shadow and stabbed it with its tail sting.

Lu Cai chopped off the scorpion monster's head. Sensing something strange beside her, she erected a small red barrier to block the tail stinger, then wrapped the barrier around it like a handkerchief. She raised her hand and chopped off the stinger, and the dull-eyed head rushed before her.

The withered arms suddenly wrapped around her waist, and a bloody mouth pounced on Lu Cai's face.

The gaping maw emanated the stench of decay, like that of an old mud cave. At its throat, instead of scarlet flesh, it was three tightly packed black triangular slices. As the slices opened and closed, the stench mingled with the faint scent of blood.

Lu Cai was thrown to the ground, and the other party raised his head and bit her neck!

She raised her left hand and supported the scorpion monster's chin! It was difficult to exert force in this direction, so she pushed with the strength of her wrist and heard a "crack" sound as it broke.

Feeling the scorpion monster's arms stiffen, Lu Cai swung the dagger sideways and stabbed it into its neck. Then he gripped the dagger handle tightly and pushed hard to cut it. The palm of his hand that was supporting its chin continued to exert force, and with a hiss, he broke the scorpion monster's head off.

The smelly insect body fluids splashed onto her face. Lu Cai held her breath and bent his knees to push the insect body off his body.

Over there, Zhao Yan had just finished off the last scorpion monster and was about to come over to help when he saw Lu Cai kicking it over. Her face was covered in a bluish-white sticky liquid, her eyes tightly closed. She climbed to her feet, wiped the mucus from her mouth with the back of her hand, and then retched.

Zhao Yan wanted to laugh, but felt it was not nice, so he quickly went over to help her.

Lu Cai wiped his face with his hands, finally getting over the nausea. "What are you going to do?"

"I'll go with you." Zhao Yan said straightforwardly without any hesitation.

"Just abandon the little princess like that?" Lu Cai raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

Zhao Yan smiled and said, "If she wants to leave, I will certainly find a way to accommodate her, but if she doesn't want to leave, I can't force her..."

We met by chance, and taking care of each other is the most we can do.

Lu Cai just smiled and said that they were all indifferent players who couldn't get into the game.

"Where are you going?" Zhao Yan followed Lu Cai out of the kitchen.

"Leave the capital and find a way to build a base." Lu Cai patted his cloak weakly.

There was no point for her to stay there since the message could not be delivered. It would be better for her to build a shelter first. As the saying goes, a tall tree attracts attention. With a base as a landmark, she would not have to worry about her companions getting lost.

The two walked back to the main hall, where the little princess was sitting uneasily on the main seat. She was stopped by the maids and servants and was unable to follow.

"Is it that big monster again?" Showa frowned, and a trace of concern for the country and the people finally appeared on his young face.

Lu Cai spoke frankly, "The capital is now invaded by scorpion monsters everywhere, and the princess's mansion is no longer safe. Zhao Yan and I will leave. Will the princess come with us?"

"I'm a princess. Even if I need refuge, my father will protect me. Why should I follow you?" Zhaohe hesitated. "Prince consort, are you going to leave with this woman of unknown origin?"

Lu Cai raised his eyebrows. The little princess' words were really unpleasant to the ear.

"She's my friend, and I know her background best." Zhao Yan showed displeasure, "I feel at ease with her."

Lu Cai looked at the little princess's slightly annoyed face and sighed, "I heard the palace gates have been closed. Princess, how much do you think the emperor knows about the scorpion monster?"

Showa was slightly shocked. The housekeeper had just reported that scorpion monsters had appeared in various places in the city. Although the imperial guards were patrolling the entire city, she was still uneasy.

When she heard that her father was protecting her, she felt a little nervous.

Now the city gates and palace gates are closed. Among the many princes, only Prince Jin is left in the palace. The meaning is obvious.

The others are just discarded pawns.

When Lu Cai saw the ripples in the little princess's eyes, he knew that she was not a naive person who only cared about having fun.

Wang Shu and Zhao He, both fifteen or sixteen-year-old girls, actually had so many thoughts in their minds.

"We are ready to leave. If the princess has made up her mind, we are willing to wait for a quarter of an hour so that she can make preparations," Lu Cai reminded her. "However, if you leave with us, the princess will no longer be a little princess with luxurious clothes and delicious food..."

Bang--

The thick door was kicked open, and screams from far and near on the street came into the mansion.

"I'll leave with you!" Zhaohe was afraid that they would abandon him, so he stepped forward and grabbed Lu Cai's arm.

"It looks like it has already broken out—" Zhao Yan frowned and rushed out of the main hall first.

Lu Cai let the little princess pull him, and the two of them followed Zhao Yan to the yard.

Rushing to the door, they saw two "people" dressed as vendors lying on the ground, with small scorpions constantly falling from their abdomens. When they saw the three people rushing up, they turned their scorpion tails and were about to attack.

Zhao Yan and Lu Cai worked one after the other and quickly dealt with the scorpion monster. At this time, the little princess was sensible and hid in the distance, waiting for them to deal with the monster.

Lu Cai shook off the liquid on the dagger, walked forward, grabbed the little princess, and dragged her out.

Screams and screams echoed in the streets, vegetable baskets and handkerchiefs scattered on the ground. A gray-haired old woman was cornered, and a scorpion monster raised its stinger.

Lu Cai recognized the old woman; she was the one who had set up shop outside the Princess's Mansion. She often gave him handfuls of sugar-roasted chestnuts, which she had picked in the mountains and roasted herself. They were sweet and delicate.

Zhao Yan, who was standing next to the little princess, hurriedly supported her while pulling and pushing her. Before he could say anything, he saw Lu Cai running towards the scorpion monster that was about to hurt people as fast as a gust of wind.

Maybe she herself didn't realize that her desperate posture was more terrifying than that of a scorpion monster.