Yan Qing recalled the things that had happened with Qi Guze, but couldn't find anything special that Qi Guze had mentioned. Apart from the fierce battle with the monster from another world, Qi Guze often fell into deep thought, but he didn't show any extreme desire for anything.
"No, His Highness didn't mention anything special," Yan Qing replied truthfully.
The Ghost Doctor paced back and forth. "That's strange. Since we can't find any clues on the Prince, we'll have to face this alone. We need to be careful not to agitate him, lest the situation worsen."
As the night grew deeper, a soldier rushed into the house in a panic, panting, and reported, "Your Highness, General Liu, something terrible has happened! Someone has gone missing from the camp!"
Xu Yuehuai immediately asked, "How many people are missing? When were they discovered?"
"Five people have gone missing. They all disappeared suddenly while on patrol, about half an hour ago." The soldier's answer made everyone's hearts skip a beat.
Without much thought, Xu Yuehuai quickly ordered, "Yan Qing, you stay here to look after the Prince. Ghost Doctor, you come with me and General Liu to search for the missing soldiers."
The Ghost Doctor quickly packed his medicine box, went with Xu Yuehuai to meet up with General Liu, and then sped off towards the patrol area.
A biting wind howled, and the surroundings were eerily quiet. Xu Yuehuai and the others searched carefully along the route where the soldiers had last appeared, but found nothing.
Just as they were preparing to expand their search area, some faint groans came from the edge of the woods not far away.
The three followed the sound and saw several corpses lying haphazardly at the edge of the woods, their faces contorted and their eyes wide open, clearly having experienced great fear and struggle before their deaths.
Xu Yuehuai and the Ghost Doctor conducted a simple autopsy and found that their deaths were exactly the same as those of the soldiers who had died suddenly before, all caused by cardiac arrest.
"This force has already spread throughout the military camp, and the situation is becoming increasingly serious." The Ghost Doctor's tone revealed an unprecedented solemnity.
General Liu's eyes were bloodshot, and veins bulged on his forehead. "Your Highness, if the perpetrator is not caught soon, the entire military camp will be plunged into panic!"
“Then let’s take the initiative to avoid being outmaneuvered by those people again. Ghost Doctor, see if you can find any more clues from these corpses. General Liu, send people to the nearby military camps to investigate whether anything strange has happened there as well. I’ll go find Yan Qing and see if the Prince has been affected by this incident.”
The three discussed it briefly and then parted ways.
Xu Yuehuai hurriedly returned to the house, only to find Yan Qing standing guard beside Qi Guze, looking tense. She briefly explained the situation, and Yan Qing's face darkened upon hearing it. "This matter must be closely related to the Prince. No matter what, I will always protect the Prince and will never let him suffer from those people again."
Xu Yuehuai offered Yan Qing a few words of comfort, but Yan Qing herself felt completely lost.
She walked to Qi Guze's bedside, sat down, and looked at his quiet and pale face. She felt so heartbroken that she could hardly breathe. "Aze, you will definitely support me, right? I hope you can give me some guidance so that I know how to help you."
Suddenly, Qi Guze's eyelids twitched violently, as if he was about to wake up, but then quickly returned to calm.
Xu Yuehuai originally wanted to find a military doctor, but the Ghost Doctor happened to return, so she asked him to examine Qi Guze again.
"The prince shows no signs of waking up; that force continues to restrain and affect him. If the root cause is not eliminated, he may never recover or wake up."
Xu Yuehuai staggered, but thanks to Bei Ye who came over and helped her, she was able to stand up.
Before Xu Yuehuai could even calm herself down, Lu Li hurriedly returned, bringing them astonishing news.
"My lord, I saw some strange traces near the woods where the prince was searching. I followed them and found a man in a gray robe muttering something, as if he were chanting some kind of spell. But when I tried to approach him secretly, he suddenly disappeared into a black mist."
This news made everyone's hearts jump to their throats, and they instantly sensed the crisis.
Xu Yuehuai quickly calmed down. "Let's go see what kind of demons and monsters are causing trouble."
Under the dim moonlight, the group once again stepped into the deep forest.
Where Lu Li pointed, a series of complex and eerie patterns were carved on the ground, emitting a faint blue light that looked particularly sinister in the night.
The Ghost Doctor crouched down, carefully studying the symbols. His brows furrowed, and he muttered to himself, "This is... an ancient forbidden spell, used to bind or summon some powerful force. If that's the case, then the ruthlessness of the person behind it far exceeds our imagination."
Just as everyone was observing intently, the ground suddenly trembled, and the symbols seemed to come alive, shining brightly, and an indescribable evil aura spread out.
Alarm bells rang in Xu Yuehuai's mind, and she shouted, "Retreat quickly!"
Unfortunately, transparent walls had already risen up all around them, surrounding them and forming a huge cage.
"This is a trap!" General Liu swung his sword fiercely, but could only leave powerless sword shadows in the air.
The Ghost Doctor saw through the true nature of this thing: "This cage seems to be protected by a barrier, and there is no way to break it using ordinary methods."
Suddenly, a hoarse laugh echoed from all directions, "Haha, you mere mortals dare to pry into the secrets of heaven? Today, I will make you all perish here!"
As the words fell, the air inside the cage began to thin, and everyone felt difficulty breathing and their strength rapidly depleted.
"Release!" The Ghost Doctor formed a hand seal, and a powerful force erupted from his palms, striking the barrier of the cage. The barrier flickered and trembled violently before finally shattering with a "crack," turning into specks of light that dissipated into the night sky.
The group escaped, but did not immediately lower their guard. The enemies around them, seemingly anticipating their escape, appeared and surrounded them. These humanoid monsters, with ferocious faces and wielding sharp blades, were clearly puppets controlled by humans.
"Protect the Princess!" General Liu roared, charging into the enemy ranks and engaging the puppets in fierce combat.
Yan Qing and the Ghost Doctor each displayed their unique skills, engaging the enemy in combat. Xu Yuehuai, meanwhile, vigilantly searched for the remaining enemies in the surrounding area, preventing any covert attacks.
However, those enemies seemed to possess immortal bodies, quickly getting up and continuing their attack even after being cut down.
However, Yan Qing and the others had several wounds on their bodies and were completely exhausted.
“We can’t compete with them in terms of physical strength,” Xu Yuehuai approached the Ghost Doctor and asked, “Is there any way to break through?”
The Ghost Doctor closed his eyes and sensed for a moment, then pointed in a direction: "Over there, in a very, very deep place, there is an extremely powerful evil force surging."
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