Report to the Empress and the Eldest Princess: They're using the system to poach your men.

"hold me."

The carriage was shaking so badly that Ruoying couldn't see what was happening outside. If she stayed inside the carriage, she would be riddled with bullets sooner or later.

Cen Yan's mind went blank. Upon hearing Ruoying's words, she instinctively and mechanically hugged the other person's waist.

Just as the two were about to jump out of the carriage door, Ruoying heard the sound of grappling hooks. Without having time to observe the surrounding situation, she quickly rolled away.

"bump--"

The moment the two jumped, the carriage was torn to pieces, and a hail of arrows rained down on it.

If we had been any later, we might have turned into a hedgehog.

After rolling around on the ground twice while holding her, Ruoying spotted something providing cover in the distance. She quickly got up, picked up the unconscious Cen Yan, and placed her behind a rock.

"Who are you, daring to assassinate the princess?"

Many men in black emerged from all directions in the forest, and simultaneously pulled out porcelain bottles from their robes and splashed them at Ruoying.

Ruoying quickly covered her mouth and nose, sent a signal, and then drew her sword to fight.

However, the powder had no effect on people after it was sprayed; instead, it attracted countless snakes, rats, insects, and ants.

He hugged Ruoying tightly.

Seeing that Ruoying was trapped, the man in black quickly used a sack to tie up Cen Yan, who was standing nearby, and took her away.

Ruoying, still struggling with insects and rats, could only watch helplessly as the man in black abducted Cen Yan.

In another carriage, Shuyi and Qingque were thrown out after the horses went mad and the wheels hit a stone.

Looking at the insects crawling all over the ground made me feel nauseous.

I covered my mouth and nose, feeling waves of nausea.

By the time the Kyoto guards arrived, the man in black had vanished without a trace. Only Ruoying, exhausted and still fighting the rats and insects, and Shuyi and Qingque, barely alive, remained.

"A message has been sent to Your Highness: the Princess has been kidnapped, suspected to be the work of the Northern Witch. Your Highness must be extremely careful..."

"Ruoying, Ruoying—!"

Ruoying felt extremely tired and fainted as soon as she finished speaking. The man called out to her several times, but she did not respond.

"Brother Qi, what should we do?"

The man glanced around and pointed to Shuyi and Qingque in the distance, "Take them back first, then send people to search and find the princess's whereabouts as soon as possible."

"Yes."

"His Highness—"

"Do not send a message for now. Your Highness is currently at war with the Northern Witches. The matter of the Princess was our oversight. We should do everything we can to find her. We must not inform Your Highness now, lest we distract him."

"Yes, I'll send more people to search right away."

The man looked up at the sky and sighed softly, hoping to find Cen Yan as soon as possible.

When Shen Sangwan arrived in Huzhou, the city was on the verge of falling. She thought she could rest for two days, so she had to force herself to work and quickly formulate a battle plan.

Winter had already arrived, and the weather was cold. Huzhou was located near the north, and the wind was biting cold.

Shen Sangwan watched as the enemy troops outside the city attacked the city with unstoppable ferocity, making her feel as if she were in a zombie siege.

"Xiaotong, why do I feel like they...aren't quite normal people?"

【master...】

Xiaotong's voice trembled as she pointed at the people below the city, her hand waving incessantly.

They...don't seem to have any vital signs.

Shen Sangwan felt the wind was strong and that something was wrong with her ears, so she couldn't quite believe what she was hearing.

〖What did you say!〗

[Master, I can't detect their health points; all data points are zero...]

Looking at the massive army, Shen Sangwan felt a chill run down her spine.

"You mean they're puppets? Or the living dead? But this isn't just one or two, it's tens of thousands. How could the Northern Witches—"

At this moment, she suddenly understood why the Northern Witches chose to launch their attack in the freezing cold. If their attacking troops were not living people, they would not be able to feel the cold or warmth. But the people defending the city in Nanjing were living, breathing people.

No wonder, no wonder!

If that's the case, even if Qinzhou is garrisoned by 200,000 Yanmo troops, and even if the city's defenses are changed, it will probably still suffer heavy losses.

"Xiaotong, how is this any different from a zombie apocalypse?"

[Master, the zombies still retain some human consciousness in their early stages, but these people below the city were likely brought from the mass grave. It seems someone is controlling them with witchcraft and poison. If you deal with the person behind them, you should be able to break the spell. However, this is just my guess; we need to investigate further.]

What should we do now? Our soldiers have been traveling for days, and it's the dead of winter. We can't afford to waste time fighting these undead.

My lord, our only option is to hold out to the death.

However, I can discuss with the main system whether I can use the system's items extensively.

Wen Yuening was helping to treat the soldiers in the rear when she overheard their conversation and realized something was wrong, so she rushed over.

His palms sweated when he saw the tireless enemy troops attacking the city below.

"Your Highness, this—"

"Ah Ning, why are you out here? Go back quickly."

Shen Sangwan was still pondering a solution when Wen Yuening suddenly appeared beside her, and she quickly pushed her back.

“Your Highness, just now Yue Ning overheard the conversation between the wounded soldiers and has now seen the actual scene. This enemy army looks very much like a war that my master once described, except it was the war between the Northern Witches and the Eastern Rui many years ago.”

Shen Sangwan had originally intended to send the person back, but upon hearing this, she grabbed the other person's arm and asked, "Really?"

"There are very few records of that war in later generations, and they are not very detailed. Yue Ning only heard a few words about it from her master."

The ignited hope was extinguished in an instant.

I was hoping to find some clues that could directly break the witchcraft.

After all, as Xiaotong said, finding the person behind the manipulation is not an easy task.

Since the other side was able to start a war, they must have made thorough preparations, so how could they let her find them so easily?

Master! I've found it—

Xiao Tong, engrossed in researching information, didn't notice Wen Yuening's arrival. She was about to excitedly tell Wen Yuening how to deal with the undead when she realized there was another person there, and she immediately shut her mouth.

"Um... Ah Ning, you go back first, I'll think of something else for myself."

Wen Yuening stared at Shen Sangwan with some confusion, as if trying to find something through the other's dark eyes.

"okay."

Without asking any further questions or saying much, she obediently walked down the city wall and, under Shen Sangwan's watchful gaze, returned to the place where her injuries were being treated.

After the person left, Shen Sangwan immediately asked Xiaotong.

[Master, this method is risky; it could potentially result in mutual destruction.]

Although Xiaotong was excited, she did not forget the consequences of failure.

Just tell me what method you want.

[I've consulted a lot of information. In the dead of winter, the Gu worms shouldn't be very active. Since they've been activated, they must have been provoked by some other method. If we add fuel to the fire and directly bring the Gu worms' activity to its peak, causing the Gu worms on the living dead to self-destruct, wouldn't that break the curse?]