The announcement of this news brought about all kinds of speculation and suspicion, especially among the royals.
The incident of Rocky wreaking havoc at the Witch Palace had been kept a secret from dissemination under the order of the emperor. Anyone who disobeyed him would have his or her entire family executed. So, the commoners would never find out anything in spite of speculation.
However, Ximen Clan could not stay calm anymore. The wedding was just around the corner when the royals suddenly announced its postponement. They were worried about what the commoners would make of this.
Xiamen Clan soon had everyone's attention in the country and became a hot topic for gossip.
Even Bryant could not figure out the emperor's true intentions behind this. However, he did know that the wedding being postponed was not beneficial for his clan. Instead, it put his clan under scrutiny.
Keeping everything in mind, he decided to march to the Palace City himself to gain a better understanding of the situation. Excusing himself with health issues, the emperor sent Bryant home without seeing him.
At the dawn of the following day, the emperor dispatched the Azure Dragon Group to the most important stronghold at the Holy Dragon Empire. This also included the Sky Army which was incidentally led by Bryant.
The moment he received this order, he instantly knew something was wrong. Otherwise, the emperor would not have transferred him away from the Imperial City. Irrespective of his personal ideas and opinions, an order was an order that must be obeyed.
Shirley never really wanted to marry Rocky and felt an enormous relief when she heard that the wedding had been postponed indefinitely. She knew in her heart that she would never forgive him for forcing himself on her. Later when she learnt that Rocky was fatally wounded during the practice of martial arts, Shirley felt avenged. It gave her that pleasure and satisfaction she was seeking. She honestly believed that Rocky got what he deserved for his ungentlemanly and disrespectful behavior. With the wedding out of the picture, she volunteered to tag along with his grandfather when she knew about his transfer. She wanted to spend more time with him and gather some life experience on the way.
With Bryant gone for his new post, the emperor cleverly relieved himself from worrying about Ximen Clan finding the truth. Also, by the time all of this g
ee squads.
There was a trade route at the end of this forest where the attack on merchantmen took place two days ago. This led them to believe that the spirit-manipulated beast most likely took refuge in this forest.
With their respective plans of action in place, the other two squads took off in different directions as soon as they entered the forest.
"Sir, what direction do we take?" Thor turned to Zander hastily.
"Nonsense. We will naturally take..... ...follow one of the two squads. We will stay close behind and wait for the right moment to act." Zander rolled his eyes, hoping to sound smart and cunning. The truth was that he was not familiar with the route of the Maze Forest at all. It would be truly embarrassing if they got lost without any sign of the beast under his leadership.
Thor and others exchanged a knowing look. The crew could see through Zander's tactics now. He was famous in the northeast military camp for his cowardice. He got his position as squad leader purely by being the superiors' pet.
Rocky, who had been silent all this while walking at the end of line, suddenly sensed something. He immediately turned around to see what was behind him.
"Rocky! Hurry up!" Seeing that other spirit manipulators led by Zander already followed the fifth squad with their spirit-manipulated beasts, Thor and Joss both shouted at Rocky, telling him to pick up his pace.
Hearing his crew, Rocky then turned back and caught up with them.
Just at this moment, a cool breeze passed by behind Rocky and a pair of giant red eyes appeared from amidst the haze, glowing in the dark.