Unlike the commoner cultivators, the royals and their people did not stop in Riverside. After all, they were travelling in a caravan of carriages pulled by spiritual beasts. Their speed could not be compared to the peasants who had to rush through a forest on foot.
The team with the royals were not going to travel to Obsidian City in the ship because the water ship was always too crowded and took too long to get to the capital. As a result, the important people used alternative means of transport.
For this case of picking the princes and the elders, the royal family organised for an airship to pick them up at the Five Villages Square. Airships were suitable for fast and convenient travel, but the former emperor also imposed rules on their use, just like he did the flying swords.
Airships could not be used without the right permissions, and they could not be flown over vulnerable areas where the users could harm commoners. The airships could also only land in specific areas to avoid causing disruptions.
The former emperor was a just man and a powerful cultivator, and his most important accomplishment was to minimise the gap between the cultivators and other less powerful people, including non-cultivators.
He wanted those who chose to have an ordinary life to live it without fearing that they would become cannon fodder among cultivators. After all, an accidental move by a high-level cultivator would mean the eradication of a village.
The Five Villages Square was the closest point at which the airship could land. It was an open land with five distinct villages organised in a pentagram shape. The centre had once been a battlefield among the five clans who wanted to possess it, but in the end, the area became barren and useless.
According to the lore, a passing cultivator saw the devastation that the five-way war was causing and used a chemical that caused the land to sustain permanent damage. Everything at the centre died from the 'salting' of the earth, causing the five villages to retreat.
The land never recovered and became a barren plateau.
Fortunately, it was a suitable place for landing a large airship.
When the royal caravan arrived, they found a strange situation they never thought they would encounter.
Some villagers had surrounded their airship like a mob, waiting to take it over. The airship remained closed, but it was clear that something strange was going on.
The front and back carriages were in place for security to ensure the safety of the royal family. Therefore, once the soldiers saw the situation, they got into formation, ready to handle the situation and prevent mishaps.
Naturally, they rushed to inform the elders and the royal family that something was going on. It was already late in the evening, so the soldiers cautioned everybody to stay inside their carriages until they confirmed the situation.
While the villagers were not armed or attacking them, the situation was unpredictable. If they were careless, something dangerous could happen to the precious royal family members, leading to a perilous situation that could anger the emperor.
The Eldest Princess frowned as soon as she heard that villagers had surrounded the airship. When the elders left in the morning, everything was fine, so she could not imagine what would cause the villagers to take such an action.
She wanted to go out and see for herself.
"Please stay in the carriage, Princess. We will let you know when it is safe." The lead royal guard for the caravan assured her.
"Do you think you are stronger than me? If I want to go out, I will go out." The Princess retorted loudly.
The old princess was usually a reasonable person, but she would flare up when someone treated her as a damsel in distress. She especially hated the fact that her brother, the Emperor, assigned her bodyguards who were weaker than she was.
"Imperial Aunt, it is better to be safe than sorry." Bai Zhen said.
The princess was even more annoyed at these words because Bai Zhen always acted like a damsel in distress even though she was probably more vicious than most men. It disgusted her to have to ride the carriage with such a woman.
She was going to retort at her future niece-in-law when a coughing sound filled the carriage.
"Princess, Miss Feng Yie is awake!" One of the servants in the carriage spoke up.
Feng Yie was travelling with the other women in the royal caravan because her father refused to leave her in the care of his students again. Unfortunately, there were limited carriages, so all the females were squeezed into one.
The whole thing made the Eldest Princess unhappy because she liked to travel in comfort with just her trusted servants. She did not want to look at Bai Zhen's hypocritical face or look at the delicate Feng Yie, but she had to act magnanimous.
"Give her some water." The princess ordered.
The servants hurried to help Feng Yie to drink some water. Her coughing stopped as she opened her eyes to look at her surroundings. It took a moment for her to realise where she was. When she saw the princess, she quickly acknowledged her with a bow.
"No need for formalities." The princess replied. "You are still a patient."
Feng Yie was not used to the strict nature of the royal practices, so she was relieved. Her mind immediately went to the thing that haunted her through her coma-like sleep. The thought that she had drank a solution made of bird excrement was the greatest shame of her life.
She wished that those hypocritical schoolmates had let her die instead of letting her survive through such means.
When she was bitten by the snake, she fell into a coma, but she could still hear everything around her before the detoxification. Therefore, she was somewhat awake during the entire treatment and knew what the process entailed.
She tried her best to wake up when that unknown cold voice ordered Long Jingyi to collect poop and the junior sisters to feed her the ungodly mixture. She was glad she lost consciousness completely after vomiting.
As an apothecary, she knew that a lot of potions, pills and other medicines used strange materials, but she was unwilling to have those things used on her. Worst of all, every promising young man in the cultivation world knew about it, including Long Jingyi.
She could not take it lying down.
She needed to get revenge.
Even if she had the stain on her life forever, that man had to pay for what he did.
"Miss Feng, you were in a precarious situation for a while. You should thank your saviour properly." Bai Zhen spoke up. "Even if he used some unconventional methods, you owe him your life and should be grateful."
The hypocritical Bai Zhen was a little displeased because she could not get rid of her troublesome waste of fiancé. She did not doubt that the man in the cloak had used another unconventional technique to revive Huo Delan after they fed him the Forlorn Water.
However, she felt like she was in a better position than Feng Yie because no one knew about their treachery. As for Feng Yie, the entire thing was broadcast and would probably reach all the cultivators on Obsidian Continent.
It felt good to have someone beneath her.
"I am thankful to be alive." Feng Yie knew the real meaning behind the words and could not let it go. "There is nothing more important than the freedom to do whatever one wishes. But I envy that Miss Bai has someone to rely on since childhood to the end."
Bai Zhen was beyond angry because of Feng Yie's words.
People always made fun of her for having a useless fiancé since every parent in the aristocratic clans competed for him before he lost his cultivation. Now, they would say she thought she picked a pearl and ended up with a fisheye.
The Eldest Princess was about to rebuke the feuding girls when the royal guard knocked lightly on the carriage.
"Princess, the villagers claim they have come in peace and would like to speak with someone from the royal family as is their right."