After being demoted, my 300,000-strong army trampled the imperial city!

It was too cold, so Chen Futu pulled Liu Longyue behind a large rock to rest by lighting a campfire, and then let the Tiger Guards continue the search.

Liu Longyue squatted by the campfire, stretching out her hands to warm them, her eyes filled with confusion and loneliness.

Chen Futu asked, "If you find the Great Wizard, what will you do?"

"I do not know."

"She has a good relationship with you?"

"She can be considered my guardian. After my mother was murdered, she stayed by my side. Otherwise, I would have been killed by that old hag Dugu." Liu Longyue muttered to herself, recalling the past as if in a dream.

Chen Futu poked at the campfire and pressed on, "What is Emperor Beiwu doing? Doesn't he know the harem is on fire?"

“The Northern Wu is different from the Central Plains. They are more fierce and often have the power of life and death. In addition, given the influence of the Dugu family in the Northern Wu, how could my father break with her for my mother’s sake?” Liu Longyue smiled self-deprecatingly.

"No wonder you've become a woman who'll stop at nothing to achieve her goals."

Chen Futu admired Liu Longyue somewhat. As a victim of palace intrigue, it was truly remarkable that she was able to gain a foothold in the Northern Frontier. Unfortunately, no matter how stubborn she was, she could not change the overwhelming trend of events.

"Your Majesty, I have a question." Suddenly, Liu Longyue raised her dark eyes and asked, "Will you really open the pass and let the Northern Wu enter?"

Chen Futu met her burning gaze and grinned coldly, "Princess, are you planning to have a heart-to-heart talk with me?"

"Please answer my question, Your Majesty."

"will not."

This time, Chen Futu did not hide anything and gave the answer without hesitation.

Upon hearing this, Liu Longyue smiled in relief and was about to speak when suddenly a dark shadow flashed from the side, and a sharp dagger pressed against Chen Futu's neck without warning.

She was a great wizard, with disheveled hair, a ghost mask, and a mottled wizard's robe. She looked extremely frightening, truly like a vengeful ghost from the desolate mountains.

"Great Wizard, what are you doing!" Liu Longyue hurriedly stood up and scolded.

Chen Futu stood with his hands behind his back, not shouting. He looked down at the dagger at his neck and smiled at the high shaman, saying, "Why are you shouting for a fight? I saved your life before. Is this how you Northern Martial people repay your benefactors?"

The high priest spoke in a hoarse voice, "Your Majesty, I did not want to resort to such a desperate measure, but you have caught up with me and left me no way out. I have no choice but to ask you to be a hostage and send me out of the pass."

"Great Wizard, don't rush, the princess has something to ask you."

Even with knives and axes at his side, Chen Futu remained completely calm and cheerfully let the two talk first.

Liu Longyue had been waiting impatiently for a long time. She ripped off her veil and glared at the Grand Wizard, "Where's the key?!"

The great wizard immediately fell silent, and his heterochromatic eyes beneath the mask began to flicker.

"Answer me!" Liu Longyue practically shouted.

The high wizard was silent for a few seconds, then said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, Your Highness, I must obtain the key."

"Why!"

"Dugu captured all the clansmen who were scattered outside and forced me to submit. This was a deal."

"How could you do this? You know what the ancestral temple means to me, yet you still took the key. You want her to be the empress!"

Liu Longyue became more and more excited as she spoke, her snow-white fists clenched so tightly they made a cracking sound, as if she wanted to fight.

The high priest shook his head. "Your mother is dead. That's the consequence of defying the imperial power. I can't let my people follow in her footsteps. Besides, you can live well in the Northern Frontier. There's no need for you to go back to Beiwu and get involved in this mess. From now on, it's none of your business. This was your mother's dying wish. Can't you just live a good life?"

"Give me back the key!" Liu Longyue angrily stretched out her hand, her eyes almost spitting fire.

At this moment, she seemed to be possessed, or as if she had lost her mind; her white fox face was twisted beyond recognition.

Chen Futu looked at her in surprise. This was the first time he had seen her lose her composure. He had never realized that she could be anxious.

“Not now. We’ll go back to Dragon City and wait a few days. I’ll give you the key in a few days.” The Grand Wizard made a condition, leaving Liu Longyue bewildered and unsure of what it meant.

Chen Futu explained, "The Great Wizard means that she gave the key to someone else, and she's going to stall you for a few days. By then, you won't get a single hair out of the bag."

"Chen Futu, shut up! Do you want to die?!" The high priest roared in anger and suddenly slammed down his blade.

Liu Longyue exclaimed in surprise, "Great Wizard, is what he said true?!"

"So what if it is? In any case, you stay in the northern frontier and don't go back. Three days later, my life is in your hands."

"you!"

Liu Longyue was completely speechless; it turned out the key had already been transferred.

Chen Futu pointed to the blade and said to the Grand Wizard, "I advise you to put down the knife. If I were to harm even a hair on my head, the entire Northern Martial City would be massacred."

The great wizard's hand, which was gripping the dagger, stiffened. After a moment's thought, he released the person.

Yes, she dared not kill Chen Futu, not even a hair on his head. When Chen Futu was chasing Guan Xing, he said that if he died, Qin Liangyu would succeed him as the King of the Northern Frontier. At that time, Qin Liangyu would definitely send troops to the Northern Wu at all costs. She didn't know what would happen to the Northern Frontier then, but the Northern Wu would definitely be finished. With so many peerless generals and terrifying strategists under Chen Futu's command, and even a Grandmaster, the Northern Wu simply could not withstand the Northern Frontier's military might, at least not now.

Chen Futu glared at the Grand Wizard, then touched his cold neck.

Just then, a sword was quietly placed across the Great Wizard's shoulder; it was Qiwen Guanxing and the others who had returned.

The high priest dropped the dagger. "Kill me or torture me, it's all up to you, but you'll never find out where that thing is."

Upon hearing this, Liu Longyue knelt by the campfire, bowing her head and sobbing uncontrollably.

She was wrong. She should have listened to Chen Futu and asked the Grand Wizard to retrieve the key last night. Now it's too late.

Looking at her like this, Chen Futu suddenly felt a pang of pity.

It's like years of planning going to waste in an instant; even he couldn't bear such a blow.

"System, can you locate me?" Chen Futu asked in a low voice.

The system took a while to respond.

[Given the special circumstances encountered by the host, please make the following choice]

[1. Choose to spend 5 million taels of silver to locate the key in real time, and you will be rewarded with a random mineral deposit.]

[2. Choose to ignore it, lead your men back to Dragon City, reward: ten hollow cannons]

[3. Choose the blind men and the elephant option, and lead your team to continue the search. The probability of obtaining the key is less than 1%, but you will be rewarded with the Mind's Eye skill.]

[Mind's Eye: Sensing the fluctuations of an enemy's attacks without using your eyes]

"Why would I not use my perfectly good eyes to fight with them closed? How stupid would I be? And, Uncle Li, can we please stop talking about millions of taels of silver all the time? Do you know how many people a million taels of silver can support?"

The system did not respond, clearly indicating that it does not accept price negotiations.