Volume 1, Chapter 32: A Sense of Loss

Cui Cangzhuo had originally hoped that the other party would decline, so that even if Xianzhi and the Princess felt slighted, they would not blame him.

After their last encounter, he had yet to figure out how to please the Princess next time, nor did he know how to leverage this connection to help his father and brother regain their official positions. Rather than clumsily making a fool of himself, it was better to wait until he was properly prepared.

He deliberately wandered around for a long time before finally finding Yang Shiwen, the third young master of the Yang family, under the watchful eyes of everyone in the Imperial Academy classroom.

Hearing rumors that Princess Zhaoyang intended to join the game, the room full of young men stared at him with predatory eyes; Yang Shiwen dared not refuse.

"Very well, since you are already acquainted, you shall lead the Princess there when the time comes..."

"Start building an underground base?" The fat man chuckled upon hearing this; it was truly the style of Umbrella.

Young Master Bai could not fathom it—were these people fools? With only a few dozen men, and only a handful at the Earth Monarch level, were they playing a game?

The fat man rose, but feeling uneasy, he reached out and stabbed the neck of the bodyguard who had already breathed his last.

Her bloodline was formidable; Tian Mo and the others had known this for some time, but they had no way of knowing just how powerful it truly was.

Since this warship was not carrying a large number of powerful individuals from the Western Prefecture, and was not another detachment from their forces, they no longer had any reason to be cautious.

The third elder in green robes sighed, flicked his right hand, and the disguise formed by his servant's attire vanished instantly, revealing his true appearance. He was so gaunt and skeletal that a gust of wind seemed capable of blowing him over, yet his eyes, deep as pools of water, shone with a brilliance that betrayed his extraordinary nature.

He longed to resist Li Changlin’s orders, but at the thought of the excruciating itching and pain he had suffered before, he could no longer bring himself to defy him.

"That is correct. Very well, everyone, go back to what you were doing, or return to rest," Tang Yi said.

Turning my head to look, I saw Sun Haozi and Fatty Long returning with torches, followed by Liang Dabao. Curiously, however, Liang Dabao was cowering behind them, holding no torch himself, looking timid and hesitant.

***

Indeed, Li Qingyu and the other three in the company, hearing Shao Yitian’s words, immediately grew alert and drew their respective immortal artifacts.

Shen Qiansan was shocked and terrified. He leaped up, channeled his Cold Jade Technique, focused his spiritual energy into his fingertips, and drew a circle on the ground, trapping all the ants within it.

Recalling how Shen Qiansan had simply chewed up the Dragon Emperor Ginseng last time, Shui Huainan was left speechless.

"No need to thank me. I only ask that you treat Qingyu well in the future. If you ever dare to bully her, I will be the first to not let you off!" said Taibai Jinxing.

Otherwise, he would have suffocated during the past three months, confined to the various wilderness training grounds specifically chosen for him by Long Enqing.

The two were talking as they walked over, but before they arrived, Shen Qiansan’s eyes twitched. He saw a short spear plunge down like lightning from the highest point outside the venue, grazing the steps behind the two people from the Hongyun Pawnshop, who were standing in the empty space.

"Heavenly Secret Fury!" Huang Ding’s hands halted, and a voice filled with rage erupted from him. A tribulation cloud appeared in the sky, with fierce green lightning rolling within it; the heavy pressure made the players of the Eternal Dynasty unable to breathe.

Fortunately, it seemed that more than one person had walked these stairs, as clear footprints were visible everywhere in the dust.

The larvae, unable to mature, lacked color and sharp scales, so they could not penetrate deep into the enemy's internal organs. However, gnawing on blood vessels and subcutaneous tissue was enough. These blood-leech parasites would spray their saliva onto the bitten areas, preventing the enemy's wounds from healing and causing them to die in agony.

"What about those major gaps? Aren't those the fault lines of the Death Forest?" Shen Qiansan asked, truly curious.

This QQ account had always been offline and had never sent her a message, so Ling Baolu had never asked about the person's identity. She had not expected to receive a message from her today.

Liao Jinghong sat in the back, growing angrier the more she thought about it. Watching the police officers in the car, she was no fool; she knew exactly why the police had come.

Perhaps she was born without the ability to consider others; even now, she seemed to prioritize her own feelings above all else.

Unable to cry or laugh, Du Zhengqing could only look at Ming Nan with a pathetic expression before starting the car and heading toward the company. At a time like this, it was best to speak little and do much; otherwise, he wouldn't even know how he died. He had encountered such situations before.

***

The crisis was averted, but the remaining tasks were troublesome. The floor was covered in bloodstains, and it would take Joey a great deal of effort to clean them up.

She had thought that most love in this world was like what she and Yin Shixiu had—sparks created by a twist of fate, a bucket of melodramatic chaos splashed on them when they were least prepared.

"Damn, this is spectacular!!!" Captain Song thought to himself. He quickly gestured to the others, clearly signaling them not to speak and to climb up first.

Meanwhile, they could not help but recall the scene of the Ghost Infant Mother chasing them to the suspension bridge. Could all of this have been orchestrated by someone?

However, at the time, he had been too impulsive due to her death to think carefully about his words, leading him to mistakenly believe that Shen Weilai wanted him to take revenge on Qi Yu and Ling Baolu by harming Qi Yue.

Zhang Yinuo’s gaze drifted past the fence, fixed on the circus performance inside. Her eyes were full of wonder, completely forgetting what her father had just said.

He said this and quickly left from the other side. If he could truly understand all these matters, that would be for the best, but it seemed likely that everything would only turn for the worse. Even if things continued this way, he had known it for a long time.

As for the far-reaching consequences, other than the involvement of Qiao Jin, there was nothing of great import to trouble Gu Lingge. As for the grievances between her and Chu Zhaonan, she truly did not know their origin. But that did not change anything. If Chu Zhaonan did not speak of them, she would pretend not to know.

"What?" the others asked curiously. Their perception was insufficient, and they had not yet sensed the source of the incoming energy pressure.

Lin Bixiao, like Du Caiwei, valued the other person more than herself. That was why, upon noticing the strange look in Lin Bichi’s eyes as she watched Zuo An, she had spoken up to warn her.

He said this only to reassure Lu Yan and to give himself more motivation. He had encountered a bottleneck, and he had to break through it. Although he did not know how long it would take, he had to keep going.