Zu An said, “I don’t know what happened afterward.”

The emperor was perplexed. Zu An quickly explained, “When I saw how strong that octopus monster was, I knew I was no match and quickly left while protecting the crown prince and princess. I didn’t expect that octopus monster to chase after us. I did everything I could, but I was still knocked out by a strike from its tentacle. When I woke up, only the crown prince and princess were left, while that octopus monster was nowhere to be seen.”

The emperor fell silent. There were many parts where their stories didn’t line up. However, most of it made sense. He would have actually suspected the two of them of colluding instead if they’d said the exact same thing.

Bi Linglong had said that after Zu An was knocked out, the octopus monster sent out endless tentacles. As she despaired, she suddenly saw golden light cover Zhao Ruizhi’s entire body. Then, she was knocked out by a powerful shockwave and didn’t...