Evan Yang kept a close watch on Melody Wood and the others from a short distance away, smiling to himself: "Not bad. As long as no God shows up, there shouldn't be any real danger."
Wanting to see how Melody and her group were doing, Evan continued to observe them in secret. Meanwhile, the vice commander contacted the commander.
At this moment, the commander of the White Tiger Dynasty was inside the royal palace. He and his subordinates were responsible for all palace security. When he received word that a powerful enemy outside was trying to kill the prince, he frowned and said, "Strange, who would want to kill the prince? I’d better report to the king first."
After thinking it over, the commander went to a pavilion beside a rockery. Standing outside the door, he respectfully said, "Your Majesty, someone wants to kill the prince. I need to go handle it."
"Someone wants to kill my son? Is this true or false?" the king asked curiously.
"It's true. I just received a distress message from the vice commander. It seems those who want to harm the prince aren’t ordinary people," the commander replied.
"Oh? A distress message? Are these people getting more useless?" The voice inside sounded a bit displeased.
"We’ll need to reorganize them later," the commander said.
"Alright, understood. Go ahead. I want to see who’s bold enough to try this. But after you catch them, don’t come to me right away—I plan to spend a few days with the White Tiger Divine Beast," the voice inside said.
"Understood. I’ll handle it properly," the commander replied.
Once things inside calmed down, the commander flashed away, heading toward the vice commander's location.
Meanwhile, Melody Wood, Lynn Lin, and Ember Yang were resting by a quiet lakeside with few people around.
"You really have skills—handled them all in one move," Lynn Lin said to Melody Wood with a smile.
"My zither music can change people's emotions. If their cultivation is weak, they'll be affected, but those with stronger power might not be influenced much," Melody Wood explained.
"I think as long as it’s not a God, nobody can deal with us," Lynn Lin said with a laugh.
Ember Yang chimed in, "Exactly! Melody, you're amazing. Once I get a bit older, I'll burn them all to ashes!"
"Alright, we need to stay hidden for now. If a God really shows up, we’re doomed—especially since the city is sealed," Melody Wood warned Lynn Lin and Ember Yang, not letting her guard down.
Lynn Lin and Ember Yang nodded, but as soon as they finished speaking, some scouts searching for the three spotted them and immediately contacted the vice commander.
The vice commander was overjoyed to get the news and told the commander, "Commander, we’ve found their whereabouts!"
"Oh? Where?" the commander asked.
"By the ruined temple on the west side of the lake," the vice commander replied.
"Let’s go." With that, the commander flashed across and, in the blink of an eye, arrived at the opposite shore, watching the three.
"That’s them," the vice commander confirmed.
"Three girls, and you let them get away? Useless. The king said you all need to be reorganized," the commander said.
The vice commander was alarmed and pleaded, "Commander, please put in a good word for me."
"That depends on your performance," the commander replied.
The vice commander quickly took out some of his best treasures as an offering to the commander. When the commander saw them, he smiled, "Now that's more like it. Watch how I deal with them."
Melody Wood, Lynn Lin, and the others soon noticed the people across the lake.
"They’ve caught up. Be careful," Melody Wood said. She knew running wasn’t a solution—they needed to hide, so she planned to deal with this group and then disappear.
"Why worry about them? I’ll burn them to death," Ember Yang said angrily.
"Don’t be impulsive," Lynn Lin cautioned.
"Yes, don’t rush in—let’s see what they want," Melody Wood also stopped Ember Yang.
Ember Yang quieted down after hearing this. Soon, more and more guards surrounded the three.
"I’ve heard your zither music is impressive. I’d like to see for myself," the commander said, floating above the water and looking at Melody Wood.
"Is that so? Alright, I’ll play a piece for you," Melody Wood replied with a smile.
She took out her zither and began to play, little by little. The weaker cultivators gradually became intoxicated by the music, forgetting what they were supposed to do. Only the commander remained clear-headed, staring at Melody Wood in shock: "That sound is terrifying."
Realizing how dangerous the music was, the commander shouted, "Everyone, silence your voices! Use sound transmission only!"
With that shout, many people snapped out of it. Realizing they had almost fallen for it again, they quickly silenced all sounds and kept their attention on Melody Wood and the others.
Seeing that they had blocked all sound, Melody Wood knew it would be hard to confuse them again. This was the downside of her technique. She frowned and said, "Looks like trouble—this guy isn’t affected by my zither. With him here, he’ll wake up everyone around."
"It’s fine. If it comes to it, we’ll just fight," Lynn Lin said.
"Exactly, let's fight," Ember Yang said angrily.
"You must leave, absolutely. This person is very strong; I'll handle him," Melody Wood told Ember Yang and Lynn Lin.
Hearing this, Ember Yang was reluctant to leave, but Lynn Lin knew staying would hinder Melody, so she frowned and said, "Girl, let's go. With so many people, we need to draw them away."
Ember Yang thought it over and said, "Fine. Whoever comes, I'll kill them."
Ember Yang and Lynn Lin rushed out of the crowd, while Melody Wood locked onto the strong enemy. The vice commander led the rest to chase Ember and Lynn.
On the way, Ember Yang and Lynn Lin went on a killing spree, slaughtering and burning many. The riot in the royal city quickly spread.
Meanwhile, Melody Wood and the strong enemy fought fiercely on the lake. Their strength was equal, but Melody’s endurance was much better, having absorbed divine power. She focused on escaping to help Lynn and Ember.
When she finally broke free, she found Lynn and Ember had disappeared, so she had to hide herself.
The commander, furious that Melody Wood had vanished, found the vice commander and learned that Ember and Lynn had been captured and locked in the deepest prison of the royal city, a place not easily escaped.
"One escaped, and she's the strongest. Set up formations around the prison—I don't believe she won't come to rescue them," the commander shouted.
The vice commander frowned, "Commander, we've captured two, but our casualties are over half. There aren't many experts left."
"Useless! I'll go get more people," the commander said unhappily.
The vice commander was frustrated—his available men were either burned, killed, or mentally affected by the zither music.
Inside the prison, Ember Yang and Lynn Lin tried various ways to escape but failed. They finally stopped and sat quietly.
"Lynn, do you think Melody and Dad will come for us?" Ember Yang asked curiously.
"Melody might, but your heartless dad definitely won't," Lynn Lin said.
"Dad isn't heartless. He just wants to temper me, but I've let him down," Ember Yang said, feeling frustrated.
"You're overthinking it—it's not your fault. The power gap is huge, and the White Tiger Royal City has a divine beast, but compared to you, it's far inferior. You have great potential, so don't worry," Lynn Lin comforted.
"White Tiger Divine Beast? I'd like to fight it someday, but right now I'm too weak. Dad must be mad that I'm not working hard enough," Ember Yang sighed.
"I told you, it's not your fault. Relax," Lynn Lin said.
"Sigh. I can't even see Dad now, let alone get out of here," Ember Yang sighed.
"Let's think of another way. Maybe there's still a chance," Lynn Lin said.
Ember Yang nodded. Meanwhile, the prince and Easton Dawn arrived outside the prison and saw the vice commander guarding it. He asked, "Vice commander, I hear you caught them?"
"Yes, three, but we only captured two," the vice commander replied.
"Did you catch the young girl?" the prince asked curiously.
"Yes, that's right. It's her and another one without a mask," the vice commander replied.
The prince nodded. "I want to see the young girl."
"Young girl? Prince, she's not easy to handle. Her flames are extremely toxic—I'm afraid." The vice commander didn't dare take the risk; if something happened to the prince, it would be disastrous.
"Don't worry. Look, Spirit-Source Pill—she won't be able to use her power for a day. This is a powerful suppressant," the prince said, showing the pill.
Seeing the prince had this, the vice commander smiled. "Since you have this, I'll lead the young girl to a separate room. The rest is up to you."
"Good, that's more like it. Go ahead, I'll wait," the prince said.
The vice commander nodded and went to the prison. Seeing the two inside, he thought for a moment and said, "You two will be separated."
"Separate us? Dream on." Lynn Lin sneered, not knowing what he meant.
"You have no say. This is a special prison—I can lock you wherever I want," the vice commander said with a smile. He pressed a machine, and Ember Yang suddenly vanished.
Lynn Lin was shocked. "What did you do to her?"
"Nothing, just arranged a comfortable room for her. Our prince is very interested in her," the vice commander said with a smile.
"Shameless! Be careful, I'll break out and kill you," Lynn Lin shouted angrily.
"Call all you want, she won't be alone for long," the vice commander said, leaving as Lynn Lin's angry shouts went unanswered.
"Damn it, girl, you better not get into trouble," Lynn Lin said anxiously. If anything happened to Ember Yang, it would be disastrous.
As for Ember Yang, she was in another luxurious room, like a princess’s chamber. But it didn’t change her anger. She shouted, "Let me out! If you dare, I'll burn you all!"