Chapter 93: Heavenly Star Palace

“I cannot afford to provoke him, so I can at least avoid him.”

After walking a while ahead, Nalan Fangya’s anger had mostly faded.

Yet she also realized something.

In front of that man, she simply could not remain aloof and icy. Every time they met, she was the one who suffered, and every single time he ended up making her furious.

Then, all at once, a dreadful thought surfaced.

“Could it be that I really...”

“No, impossible. Absolutely impossible.”

The instant the idea began to take shape, Nalan Fangya strangled it before it could grow.

“A woman as outstanding as I am could never possibly fall for such a shameless man.”

She kept comforting herself.

Besides, the man she would choose had to be a true powerhouse.

Yet as soon as she thought of that, Nalan Fangya paused faintly.

A powerhouse?

Did a martial divine statue towering a hundred zhang into the sky count as powerful?

Her answer was yes. Definitely yes.

There was no second one like him in all the Northern Dipper Kingdom, and not just in the Northern Dipper Kingdom. Even across the Ten Kingdoms, there would be no other man quite like that.

Unconsciously, she turned to look back.

And there he was: Xiao Yang carrying Zhou Yan on his back, heading off to the side.

Even the way he moved was as gentle as could be, as if afraid he might wake the girl sleeping against him.

Nalan Fangya bit her lip lightly, staring fixedly at the scene.

Yet for some reason, she felt a little sour inside.

“That bastard! He treats me like that, but he is so gentle with this girl.”

She quickly caught the point.

The next moment, she was huffing again with fresh anger.

Her pace also quickened considerably because of it.

Before long, she was even using inner energy to hurry along.

“You little girl, honestly...”

Seeing Zhou Yan sleeping so soundly, Xiao Yang did not know whether to laugh or cry.

He had been carrying her with utmost care, and yet she was sleeping so deeply and peacefully.

Watching her, even he felt as though he might fall asleep too.

Just then he also noticed Nalan Fangya speeding away, and decided to quicken his own pace as well.

“Let’s go!”

He mobilized the inner energy within his body to shield Zhou Yan, and then Xiao Yang burst forward at full speed.

A wave of sonic thunder roared past his ears.

But because Zhou Yan was protected by his inner energy, she was not affected in the slightest and continued sleeping soundly.

He carried Zhou Yan all the way back.

When they arrived at Wealth Gathering Tower, he discovered that the door to the room was wide open.

“Damn it, thieves?”

Alarm flashed through him, and he hurried a few steps forward, ready to see what had been stolen.

But before he even entered, several figures emerged from inside.

“Big brother, you’re back!”

The Northern Desert’s Four Young Masters said with delight.

It was clear that all four were genuinely happy.

After all, their father had specifically told them that this was someone they absolutely had to build a good relationship with.

Ever since they were children, whenever they made a friend, they would be met with a head-on scolding from their father.

But this one was different.

Not only would he not be scolded, he would even be praised.

“Young Master!”

The Hao brothers were here as well, and had not returned to the city lord’s residence.

“This has nothing to do with you. Stay here.”

Xiao Yang said calmly.

He knew perfectly well that neither of them wanted to leave.

And back then, the situation had been too urgent. If he had brought them along, they might have angered Guan Xiu, which was why his tone had been harsher than usual.

Now that the crisis had passed, and since he had grown used to having them around, there was no need to change things.

At the very least, one thing was certain: both of them had excellent character.

They were indeed capable men.

Their cultivation was a little weak, but that was not a problem for Xiao Yang.

“Thank you, Young Master!”

The Hao brothers bowed deeply, moved.

Over these past few days, they had already adjusted to things, and they also knew just how formidable Xiao Yang’s methods were.

Especially Hao Wenlong.

He knew that Ghost Mastiff had originally been nothing more than an ordinary fighting dog, yet Xiao Yang had transformed it into a demon beast at the Demon Master realm in just a quarter of an hour.

Such a feat was beyond even the city lord, let alone the ruler of the Northern Dipper Kingdom.

“I’ll put Yan’er upstairs first.”

Xiao Yang felt that carrying Zhou Yan on his back was not a long-term solution.

He wanted to lay her down on the bed first.

Thud, thud, thud.

He ran upstairs in a few quick strides.

After placing Zhou Yan on the bed, he was about to leave.

But a small hand caught hold of him.

“Don’t go!”

A soft murmur sounded by his ear as well.

Looking down, he saw Zhou Yan wearing a pained expression, her brows tightly furrowed.

She was clearly having a nightmare.

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Yang was about to wake her.

“Mother! Don’t leave.”

Tears streamed down Zhou Yan’s face.

Xiao Yang froze in place.

“Master’s wife?”

At the same time, he felt puzzled. Ever since he had followed Zhou Jingpeng in cultivation, he had never once heard him speak of his wife.

He had assumed something unfortunate had happened to her.

But now it seemed there might be some hidden story behind it.

“Mother!”

Seeing the little girl cry so heartbreakingly, Xiao Yang could not bear it.

He reached out and gently embraced her, stroking her hair as he whispered comfortingly, “Don’t be afraid. I am here.”

As soon as those words fell, Zhou Yan’s body stopped trembling, and she once again sank into deep sleep.

“Sleep well.”

He set Zhou Yan down and turned toward the door.

Just as he opened it, another voice drifted from inside.

“The Celestial Star Palace are all villains!”

The voice was very soft, but Xiao Yang still heard it.

“The Celestial Star Palace.”

He murmured the words under his breath.

He felt that this power was probably connected to the master’s wife he had never met.

“When I have time, I should investigate it.”

Thinking of the pain on Zhou Yan’s face, he felt a little uneasy himself.

He knew that the girl had always been optimistic; he had scarcely ever seen her cry.

Even when she was bullied, she would only silently remember it and wait until she had enough strength to take revenge.

In the past, he had even wondered whether this girl had crossed over like he had.

She was far too mature.

But now it seemed the little girl must have gone through some unknown hardship.

And now that he thought about his master again, he found him somewhat strange as well.

Still in his prime, yet he never went out, and seemed almost to have withdrawn from the world.

If Xiao Yang had not wanted to become the sect master of the Giant Spirit Sect, he would have suspected his master was simply a carefree old man with no desires at all.

He slowly made his way back downstairs.

“City Lord, what brings you here?”

Only then did he notice that while he had been upstairs, two more people had arrived at Wealth Gathering Tower.

One was none other than the city lord of Northern Desolation, Jin Buhuan.

The other was Zhao Wude, head of the Zhao family, who had wished to follow him.

“I heard Brother Xiao had run into some trouble, so I came to see whether I could help.”

Jin Buhuan said with a smile.

There were visible palm prints on the faces of the Northern Desert’s Four Young Masters.

They had clearly just been slapped.

And the one who had struck them could only have been their fathers; no one else would have dared.

“I’ve troubled the city lord. The matter has already been resolved on my side.”

Xiao Yang answered with a smile as well.

He also happened to want to take this opportunity to ask what exactly this Celestial Star Palace was.

He had never even heard of this power before.

“Good, good. As long as Brother Xiao is all right, that is good.”

In Jin Buhuan’s eyes, Xiao Yang’s strength was fully enough to stand toe-to-toe with him.

His visit today was merely to show his face and deepen their relationship a little.

“By the way, City Lord, I would like to ask you something.”

Xiao Yang suddenly asked.

“Brother Xiao, please speak freely.”

“Have you ever heard of a power called the Celestial Star Palace?”