"His Majesty has arrived!" The Emperor walked towards the General's Mansion, looking travel-worn.

The Yan family was praising the delicious food Yan An had prepared when they were surprised to see the Emperor rushing in.

"This old minister pays his respects to Your Majesty..."

"No need for formalities," the Emperor said anxiously.

Yan An saw An Si standing behind the Emperor and felt uneasy. His heart felt as if it were bound by something, and he had difficulty breathing. His voice trembled slightly as he spoke, "Something happened to Yue Xiyuan?"

"An Si, you explain." The Emperor asked An Si, who had just returned from the southern border, to explain.

"Your Highness, there has been unrest on the southern border. His Highness led us to investigate, but we were ambushed in Huaxi Village. Those people were incredibly agile, seemingly impervious to pain, like the living dead. Even after being slashed several times, they continued to move freely. At that time, His Highness discovered someone manipulating things from the shadows. We tried to capture him alive, but after a fight, that person was seriously injured and rescued. We also sustained some minor injuries. After returning to the camp, His Highness developed a high fever that night. There was also a worm constantly wriggling on His Highness's arm. Mr. Su said it was a Gu worm. We tried many methods but couldn't draw it out. Giving His Highness an antidote pill didn't work either. Mr. Su could only use water from Tianshan Mountain to make medicine to keep His Highness alive. Mr. Su said that in seven days His Highness would become like those living dead, which is why he told me to come find Your Highness immediately."

"How many days has it been?" Seven days must have passed since Dark Four set off.

"Today is the fourth day, and I have changed horses at every post station." An Si couldn't even remember how many horses he had exhausted to death.

"There are only three and a half days left. An Si, draw the map for me." An Si drew the nearest official road on the map.

"I need the shortest route, not the official road." Yan An frowned as he looked at the route drawn by An Si. How could this route take three days to reach?

An Si marked a secluded path and handed the map to Yan An.

"Go back to the Prince's residence and rest. Wait for our news. I will definitely bring your Prince back safe and sound." Yan An's words were firm and resolute, which made everyone present breathe a sigh of relief.

"Your Highness, but... I..." If something happens to Your Highness, he won't be able to explain it to the Prince.

“You can’t keep up with me, and carrying you around would be too much of a burden.” Yan An didn’t give An Si any face at all.

An Si thought about it and realized that he was indeed not keeping up with the princess and might even delay her journey.

"Sister-in-law, be careful on your journey. With this imperial edict, your trip will be smoother." The Emperor instructed the eunuch Wang beside him to hand the imperial edict to Yan An.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." "Father, Mother, Brother Zichen, Elder Brother, I will be back soon." Yan An bid farewell to his family again, got up and flew away, disappearing from the Yan residence in an instant.

Apart from the Yan family, everyone else present was quite surprised. It seemed that Yan An's disdain for An Si was genuine.

The Emperor prayed silently that Yan An might be able to bring the fourth prince back safely in three days.

When the Emperor arrived, he had already seen Mo Zichen, the owner of Beiming Manor, standing next to Yan Yi. Before leaving, Yue Xiyuan had told him about what had happened in the past few days. However, Yue Xiyuan had omitted some details about Yan An, so the Emperor was not surprised to see Mo Zichen at the Yan residence.

"Return to the palace." The Emperor left the palace this time because An Si said that only Yan An could save Yue Xiyuan. He was also very anxious to come to the General's Mansion and only brought a few guards with him. He could not stay outside the palace for long.

"This old minister will escort His Majesty back to the palace." General Yan also noticed the guards in front of him, presumably worried that the Regent had come in a hurry.

In the palace, General Yan and Jiang Luo gave the Emperor and Empress Dowager a brief account of Yan An's experiences over the past ten years, hoping to offer them some comfort.

"With An'an here, Your Majesty and Sister Ran, please don't worry too much. Please take good care of yourselves." Jiang Luo tried to comfort them. In fact, Jiang Luo and General Yan were also worried, after all, the journey to the Southern Border was long.

"May Buddha bless the fourth prince and An'an so they can return safely," the Empress Dowager murmured, turning the prayer beads in her hand.

As dusk fell, General Yan and his wife returned to their residence, and the Empress Dowager also returned to Shou Kang Palace.

"Granny Rong, I will be observing a vegetarian diet and chanting Buddhist prayers in the Buddhist hall these next few days, asking Buddha to bless the fourth prince and An'an until they return safely. Please excuse me from paying my respects these next few days."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Granny Rong curtsied and left.

Yan An sped along the route of the Dark Four Strokes. When he was hungry, he ate some snacks from his space. When he was tired, he drank some water from the Heavenly Mountain. When he couldn't hold on any longer, he would slip into his space and sleep for half an hour. Now, Yan An's eyes were covered in bruises, his clothes were a bit tattered, and he had some scratches on his body.

Finally, on the sixth night after Yue Xiyuan was injured, two guards on night watch outside the camp warned, "Who dares to trespass into the military camp?"

Yan An took out the black iron token that Yue Xiyuan had given her, wondering if the Linglong Pavilion token would work here. "Yan An, the Regent's fiancée."

"Your subordinate greets Your Highness." Upon seeing that she was the prince's fiancée, the guard immediately knelt down to pay his respects.

Inside the tent, Su Jingzhan also heard that Yan An had arrived. Because Yue Xiyuan's body could not withstand the journey back to the capital after his injury, he could only send An Si, who had the best lightness skill, to deliver the message to the Emperor and Yan An, asking Yan An to come to the Southern Border, hoping that Yue Xiyuan could still be saved.

Su Jingzhan was taking a gamble, after all, the journey was long and would normally take at least six or seven days, but he didn't expect Yan An to arrive so quickly.

Su Jingzhan looked at Yan An, who was covered in dust and blood, her eyes cloudy and filled with exhaustion. She must have been traveling day and night for the past few days. "Junior Sister An, you..."

"Su Jingzhan, take me to see him quickly." Yan An saw Su Jingzhan as if he had seen a lifeline; Yue Xiyuan couldn't be allowed to get hurt.

"I'll take you to see him."

Inside the tent, Yue Xiyuan lay pale on the bed, as if he were having a nightmare, with fine beads of sweat on his forehead. Yan An held Yue Xiyuan's hand and said, "Yue Xiyuan, don't be afraid, I'm here."

Yue Xiyuan seemed to hear Yan An's voice and gradually quieted down.

Su Jingzhan removed Yue Xiyuan's upper body clothes. "It's probably because Xiyuan's hand was cut during the fight, and the Gu worm entered his body through the wound. I made some medicine to make the Gu worm sleep with the water from Tianshan that you gave me and fed it to Xiyuan. In the past two days, the Gu worm's sleep time has been getting shorter and shorter. Now it has reached his left shoulder. If it reaches his heart, he will become a living dead."

Before Yue Xiyuan left, Yan An had prepared some insect-repelling powder for him, so he shouldn't have been poisoned by Gu.

Yan An untied the sachet from Yue Xiyuan's waist. It should have contained the insect repellent powder she had given him. After opening it, Yan An narrowed his eyes. "No, this isn't the insect repellent powder I gave him."