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Chapter 56: Mu Changtian’s Speculation !

Translator: 549690339

At dawn, a caravan made its way along the pitted road.

It was remarkably quiet, with almost only the sounds of horse hooves and wheels to be heard.

After a night of continuous travel, the people from the Mu Mansion were all exhausted. At this moment, most of the female members of the Mu household had closed their eyes and entered the realm of dreams.

But at this time, the men from the Mu Mansion were still unable to fall asleep.

Especially Mu Changtian and his two sons.

They sat in the carriage, looking at the distant mountains, their minds preoccupied with who knows what.

It was then that Mu Changtian suddenly spoke up, “This is the road to North City.”

Upon hearing this, Mu Jingwu and Mu Xingping, who had been somewhat weary, instantly perked up.

Mu Xingping immediately asked, “Father, are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

Mu Changtian, gazing at the distant green mountains, replied, “Having headed to North City several times to fend off the invasions of the Barbarian Tribe, how could I possibly mistake it? This is indeed the road to North City.”

Upon saying this, Mu Changtian furrowed his brows.

Last night, Liang Zong did not reveal their destination to them. Once they boarded the carriage, Liang Zong’s men immediately led the way.

Due to the darkness at the time, Mu Changtian had not clearly seen which direction they had taken.

Only when daylight broke did Mu Changtian finally see clearly. He recognized many landmark mountains, peaks he had seen before while leading his troops to North City to repel the Barbarian Tribe.

He was very familiar with North City, some of its roads firmly ingrained in his memory.

After hearing what Mu Changtian said, Mu Xingping guessed, “Father, could it be that Prince they’re talking about is Prince Lu Chen?”

Mu Jingwu spoke with a trembling voice, clearly unable to believe his own words.

Who Prince Lu Chen was—they were all too aware.

Even though Prince Lu Chen was already Mu Zixuan’s darling, everyone in Duke Mu Residence still considered Prince Lu Chen to be nothing more than a nepotic prince, indolent and fond of luxury.

Just as Mu Xingping finished speaking, Mu Jingwu piped up, “Xingping, what are you thinking? How could it possibly be Prince Lu Chen? Surely you know what kind of person he is?”

“This…” After a brief silence, Mu Xingping said, “That’s true, but then why would they take us to North City?”

“North City is Prince Lu Chen’s fief. That means the Prince of North City can only be Prince Lu Chen, right?”

Hearing Mu Xingping’s words, Mu Jingwu did not respond and only turned his head to look at his father, hoping he might know something.

At this moment, Mu Changtian’s brows were tightly knit, and his expression became more solemn. He pondered at length before speaking again, “It certainly can’t be Prince Lu Chen, but 1 suspect that Prince has gone to North City, likely wishing to discuss some matters with me there.”

“Of course, there is another possibility…”

Stopping there, Mu Changtian paused in his speech, not continuing. His expression turned even more grave.

Seeing such a somber look on his face, Mu Jingwu immediately asked, “Father, what other possibility could there be?”

Mu Changtian pondered for a moment before speaking, “It’s possible that our rescuers are not a prince of the Great Sum, but the Barbarian Tribe!”

At those words from Mu Changtian, Mu Jingwu and Mu Xingping were both momentarily stunned.

Mu Changtian continued, “The Barbarian Tribe is to the north, and to reach their territory, they naturally have to pass through North City.”

“And they have reasons to do this. I am well aware of the Great Sum. Befriending me would make it more convenient for them to attack the Great Sum in the future.”

After hearing Mu Changtian’s words, Mu Jingwu hurriedly said, “Father, if it really is the Barbarian Tribe, then if we align ourselves with them, won’t we truly become traitors to the nation?”

Mu Jingwu had a clear sense of right and wrong. Betraying the Sum Emperor was no issue for him, after all, the emperor had abandoned them and even sought their lives.

But if they were to betray the entire Great Sum, betray the people of the Great Sum, and then become a slaughtering tool in the hands of the Barbarian Tribe, turning against and killing the people of the Great Sum—that, Mu Jingwu could not do.

He certainly did not want to become the sinner of his people.

After hearing his son’s words, Mu Changtian fell into silence and did not speak for a long time.

In his heart, he actually shared the same thoughts as Mu Jingwu. If he were only to pledge allegiance to a certain Prince of Great Sum, he would do so without hesitation.

But if he were to pledge allegiance to the Barbarian Tribe, his heart was utterly unwilling.

Years ago, when the Barbarian Tribe invaded Great Sum, they killed so many of the common people, and many of his soldiers died at their hands. To pledge allegiance to the Barbarian Tribe at this time, becoming a lackey of theirs, would be worse than death for him.

After pondering for a while, Mu Changtian said, “All right, there’s no use thinking about it now. Once we reach North City, we will find out who this Mysterious Prince they speak of is.”

“You haven’t slept all night. Close your eyes and sleep for a while; we still have many days until we reach North City.”

In the Capital City of Great Sum,

within the Royal Garden of the Imperial Palace.

Hearing the report from the leader of the Shadow Guard, the Sum Emperor always felt his intelligence reports were filled with oddities.

His complexion was very unsightly, and at this moment the Royal Garden was incredibly silent, one could only hear the sound of carp flipping out of the water in the lotus pond.

After a while, the Sum Emperor finally spoke, “Three Grandmasters facing a man whose skill had dissipated, only to be dragged down to mutual destruction in the end, heh.”

The voice of the Sum Emperor was cold, silently exerting a tremendous pressure on the people in the Royal Garden.

Clearly, the Sum Emperor was in a very bad mood.

Although Great Sum had many Grandmasters, they were not so easily developed. Losing three Grandmasters to take down a man on the brink of death, how could the Sum Emperor be pleased?

At that moment, the Sum Emperor asked, “I am curious, why was Mu Changtian still able to use the Blood Ignition Skill at the end? Wasn’t his skill supposed to have dissipated?”

As he spoke, the Sum Emperor turned his head to look at Situ Ce, the State Preceptor, inside the pavilion.

“State Preceptor, are you certain that you sensed Mu Changtian’s skill had dissipated within him?”

Hearing the Sum Emperor’s words, Situ Ce knew that the Emperor was doubting him, and he asked, “Your Majesty, do you suspect that your servant did not administer the Dissipate Power Pill to him?”

The Sum Emperor said indifferently, “I just want to know why the Dissipate Power Pill had no effect on him.”

The Sum Emperor was quite paranoid, and since he knew that Situ Ce himself wanted to protect Mu Changtian, he could not help but suspect that Situ Ce had played some tricks.

Situ Ce then said, “I did indeed sense that all of Mu Changtian’s skill had dissipated. As for why he could still use the Blood Ignition Skill, perhaps someone in the prison gave him Small Replenishing Pills, allowing him to recover part of his skill.”

Hearing this from Situ Ce, the Sum Emperor started to remember. In this world, although there were not many pills capable of restoring skill, they did exist.

Especially within those Sects, which had considerable research on pills that could restore skill.

At that moment, the Sum Emperor immediately said to the leader of the Shadow Guard, “Investigate! Do it now. 1 want to see who has the gall to go against me!”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“This servant takes his leave.”

The leader of the Shadow Guard then turned and left.

Watching the back of the departing Shadow Guard, the Sum Emperor said to himself, “Mu Changtian has indeed been a good servant to me, solving a problem for me before his death.”

The trouble referred to by the Sum Emperor was clearly Chen Pengyi, Mu Changtian’s student.

Initially, the Sum Emperor had placed great trust in Chen Pengyi, mainly to deal with Mu Changtian. Now that Mu Changtian had been dealt with, Chen Pengyi had also become useless. The Emperor had planned to find an excuse to get rid of him once he returned.

But now, Mu Changtian and Chen Pengyi had perished together.

This meant that the military power of Great Sum was firmly in his hands. With the military power secured, it was time for him to do what he wanted..