“Senior brother? What are you doing here!”
Seeing Lu Li already lying in her bed, Ye Ran was surprised—yet at the same time, she found it oddly fitting.
Given how clingy Lu Li was, it would have been strange if he hadn’t come.
“Does junior sister think I shouldn’t be here?”
Lu Li slowly sat up, curling his lips into a smile at Ye Ran.
Meeting his teasing gaze, Ye Ran quickly shook her head.
“Of course not! I’m just surprised you found me so quickly.”
“That’s naturally because—”
Lu Li paused, then grabbed Ye Ran’s wrist and pulled her into his arms. He leaned close to her neck and breathed in deeply.
“No matter where junior sister is, I can sense your presence.”
Even after living together for so long, Lu Li still couldn’t get enough of Ye Ran’s fragrance. He could even smell the lingering scent on anything she had touched just once.
So finding Ye Ran’s room was effortless for him.
But to Ye Ran, Lu Li’s words and his action of leaning into her neck all signaled one thing—a prelude to intimacy.
Frightened, she quickly pushed him away and stepped back.
“Well… senior brother has been busy all day. You should rest first. I’m not tired yet. I’ll sleep later.”
With that, she turned and walked away from the bed. But she had barely taken a few steps when a tall figure pressed against her, pulling her into an embrace.
“Since junior sister isn’t tired, why don’t we do something else?”
“No!”
Ye Ran refused without a second thought. But Lu Li leaned into her neck again, nibbling at her skin.
“Why not? Aren’t you tired?”
“Now… now I’m tired.”
Ye Ran broke free from Lu Li’s arms and turned toward the bed. But he caught her arm and pulled her back.
“Junior sister is lying.”
Lu Li met her eyes, and all her thoughts were laid bare before him.
“My waist still hurts, senior brother. Can you let me rest a little?”
Knowing she couldn’t fool him, Ye Ran had no choice but to hold his arm and act cute. But the moment she finished speaking, Lu Li suddenly laughed.
Ye Ran felt a twinge of dread. Sure enough, Lu Li leaned close to her.
“I just wanted to take junior sister out for a walk. What did you think I was going to do?”
“I… I obviously meant that too!”
Seeing the smile at the corner of Lu Li’s mouth, Ye Ran realized she had been tricked. But pride kept her from admitting she had misunderstood.
Still, with his clarification, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking at his lingering smile, she added, a bit awkwardly, “But since senior brother sincerely begged me to go, I suppose I’ll grace you with my presence.”
“Thank you for the honor, junior sister.”
Lu Li knew when to quit. He didn’t press further.
He let go of her, took her hand, and led her outside. But before Ye Ran could ask where they were going, he wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted them both into the air.
Lu Li deliberately avoided the patrolling guards and carried Ye Ran out of the City Lord’s Mansion.
The moment they left, Lu Li’s speed suddenly increased—so fast that Ye Ran could barely make out the changing scenery, and she even began to feel dizzy.
Fortunately, after a moment, Lu Li stopped.
They had arrived at an unknown mountaintop. There were no trees around—only a vast expanse of green grass.
During the day, the view from here must have been exceptionally wide. But now, with night fallen, the area below lay in silent darkness, not a single light visible.
Yet, under the faint glow, Ye Ran could make out several ruined palaces scattered down the mountainside.
There was nothing special about this place. Why had Lu Li brought her here?
“This was my favorite place to come.”
Just as Ye Ran’s gaze swept over, Lu Li spoke slowly.
But his words only deepened her confusion.
“Is there something special about it?”
“No.” Lu Li shook his head. “Both then and now, this place is just grass.”
He looked up toward the distance.
“But from here, I used to be able to see all of Lingguang City below. This was the only place where I could glimpse the outside world.”
His tone was very calm as he spoke, but Ye Ran felt a quiet ache in her heart.
She could sense that in the past, Lu Li must have lived in a deeply oppressive environment, which was why he often came here to look at the world beyond.
Unable to hold back, Ye Ran took his hand and gazed into the distance with him.
“Then tell me, senior brother—what did you see?”
The question seemed to surprise Lu Li. He looked back at Ye Ran, then guided her to sit with him on the grass.
With a wave of his hand, an illusion appeared before their eyes.
It showed a city below. Though too far to make out details, the dense clusters of buildings and the scattered lights indicated a place of great prosperity.
Beyond that, there was nothing particularly remarkable.
Ye Ran couldn’t help but feel a pang of surprise.
She had assumed Lu Li liked coming here to watch something interesting. Instead, all he had seen were unreachable buildings in the distance.
Turning to look at him, she spoke.
“Senior brother.”
“What is it?”
“If I ever get the chance, I want to take you to see a different world.”
The words slipped out before she could think. But the moment she realized what she had said, she froze.
She had actually entertained the idea of taking Lu Li back to her own world.
Though Ye Ran knew the thought was absurd, once it took root, the desire to bring him with her only grew stronger.
[System, after I complete my mission, can I pack up the big villain and take him away?]
She couldn’t help but ask the system, not expecting much.
But to her surprise, the system’s excited voice came back immediately:
[Of course! As long as he agrees, host, take him away!]
The system sounded almost eager—like it was finally getting rid of a hot potato.
Ye Ran vaguely noticed something off in its tone, but she was too caught up in the joy of being able to take Lu Li with her to dwell on it. She looked at him with hopeful anticipation.
“Senior brother, will you come with me to see it?”
When Lu Li stared at her for a long time without answering, she couldn’t help but urge him.
“Alright.”
A smile appeared in Lu Li’s eyes—one that shed all pretense, genuine and warm.
Yet Ye Ran sensed a trace of sadness beneath it.
He seemed not to truly believe that promise could be fulfilled.
Just as Ye Ran was about to look more closely, Lu Li suddenly lay down.
“The night sky here is beautiful. Would junior sister like to see?”
The words piqued Ye Ran’s interest. She quickly nodded and lay down beside him.
Tonight, the sky had no moon. The moment Ye Ran lay down, the Milky Way, dotted with countless stars, came into view.
She was instantly captivated by the sea of stars.
She hadn’t expected the night sky here to look exactly like the one she had seen as a child in the countryside.
But ever since her grandmother passed away and she was taken to the city by her parents, she had never seen such a beautiful starry sky again.
If only there could be a meteor shower right now.
As if the heavens had heard her wish, the moment the thought crossed her mind, a meteor streaked across the sky. Then another, and another. Soon, a cascade of meteors filled the heavens.
“A meteor shower! It’s really a meteor shower!”
Ye Ran stared at the sky in disbelief, wondering if she was hallucinating. Only when she was sure it was real did she excitedly turn to Lu Li.
“Senior brother, there’s a meteor shower here!”
“Yes. Junior sister is very lucky.”
A faint white glow flickered in Lu Li’s hand, resting at his side. When the light faded, he reached out and patted Ye Ran’s head.
Back at the City Lord’s Mansion, Lingxu sat at a table, a map in his hand.
With a wave of his hand, certain locations vanished from the map. Only then did Lingxu nod in satisfaction.
Just as he set the map down, a hidden door on one side of the room slowly opened, and a figure wearing a black veiled hat stepped out.
“Now that we’re here, do you still need to dress so cautiously when meeting me?”
Lingxu was in a good mood. Stroking his beard, he looked at the approaching figure.
The man finally lifted his veil, revealing the face of City Lord Yuan Bai.
His expression was anxious, nothing like the composed demeanor he had shown when welcoming the group earlier that morning.
“What are you doing? Why bring your disciples to Lingguang City all of a sudden? If what we’ve been working on is discovered…”
“Calm down.”
Compared to Yuan Bai, Lingxu appeared far more collected. He handed the modified map to Yuan Bai. “I’ve revised the map. Those places won’t be found.”
Yuan Bai took the map and glanced at it. His expression relaxed somewhat, but when he looked up, doubt still lingered on his face.
“What exactly are you trying to do by bringing your disciples here? I’ve guarded this city for centuries. The demon lord can’t possibly be here. Do you not trust me?”
“Don’t be anxious, Brother Yuan. If I didn’t trust you, I would never have asked for your cooperation in the first place.”
Lingxu smiled and patted Yuan Bai on the shoulder.
“The deception in the illusion last time gave me some inspiration. Rather than exhausting ourselves searching for the demon lord, why not lure him out? Now that the entire cultivation world believes the demon lord has returned, there are certainly many who, like us, covet the Blazing Spirit within him. So we must strike first. Once we capture the demon lord and present a satisfactory result to the outside world, how we actually deal with him can be our secret—don’t you agree?”
“That’s not a bad idea.” Yuan Bai gradually calmed down. “But what about your disciple? He knows quite a bit. Now that you’ve expelled him from the sect, if he causes trouble, all our years of work will be wasted.”
“Don’t worry. He’s still in the sect’s dungeon. He can’t get out.”
Speaking of Meng Xuan, Lingxu couldn’t help but snort coldly.
He hadn’t expected to misjudge someone so badly and choose such a fool.
“That’s good. Everything is now in place. We wait for the demon lord to walk into our trap, and the Blazing Spirit will be ours.”
Yuan Bai looked at Lingxu, and the two exchanged a knowing smile.
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