“Excellent!”
Yuan Bai was overjoyed. He immediately turned to look at Lingxu, who had already hurried forward to the entrance of the underground palace, his eyes fixed on the crack in the barrier.
As the gap grew larger, Lingxu’s pupils dilated, and his expression grew almost ferocious.
“It’s open!”
The moment the barrier shattered, a cry of surprise rose from the surrounding disciples.
Lingxu shoved aside the disciple blocking his way and strode quickly to the entrance.
Seeing the now-lit passage, Lingxu’s face darkened.
“Everyone, follow me inside!”
With that, Lingxu entered the palace first. The others quickly followed.
Soon, Lingxu and Yuan Bai had reached the center of the palace.
Staring at the destroyed fire pit and the empty shackles around it, Lingxu’s face turned as black as a pot.
“It seems we were too late.”
Yuan Bai spoke with a heavy expression.
Lingxu punched the stone pillar beside him, shattering it into rubble.
“Search! Search everywhere! There’s only one entrance. The demon lord must still be inside!”
The disciples scattered to obey. But the next moment, the ground began to shake violently. Debris rained down from above.
“This place is collapsing! We need to retreat!”
Yuan Bai looked up at the ceiling and urged Lingxu to evacuate.
Though clearly unwilling, Lingxu had no choice as the collapse worsened. His beard quivered with rage, but he could do nothing.
He glared at the ruined palace until a falling rock nearly struck him. Only then did he reluctantly say:
“Retreat!”
By the time the group scrambled out, the entire underground palace had collapsed, leaving a massive crater in its place.
Lingxu stood before the crater, covered in dust. Seeing centuries of his work destroyed, his beard practically twisted with fury.
“The demon lord couldn’t have gone far! Quickly—”
But before he could finish, he turned to find himself facing dozens of eyes.
These were the disciples who had been searching the area. Now, they stood in neat rows before Lingxu, having witnessed his disheveled state and the enormous crater behind him.
Clearly, Lingxu hadn’t expected the search parties to arrive. For a moment, he stood frozen, unsure of what to say.
“Master, what happened? I was searching nearby with the disciples when we heard a commotion and rushed over.”
Lu Li spoke first.
The moment the passage opened, he had left the palace with Ye Ran. Hearing the noise, he had quickly gathered the nearby disciples to arrive before Lingxu could cover up the scene.
“Well…”
For an instant, a flicker of ferocity crossed Lingxu’s usually kind face.
But just as he was searching for an excuse, even more disciples arrived, including several elders who had always been at odds with Lingxu.
Now, if he couldn’t provide a reasonable explanation, there would be no salvaging the situation.
“This is all the work of the demon lord.”
Lingxu’s eyes darted about. He quickly found a convenient excuse.
“A disciple noticed something unusual here. Elder Yuan and I came to investigate. We discovered a hidden underground palace containing many corpses. We suspect the demon lord is responsible. We were about to seal off the area for a thorough search.”
The excuse was perfect.
He pushed all his misdeeds onto the demon lord, ensuring no one would learn of his crimes.
Seeing Lingxu’s hypocritical expression, Ye Ran felt a surge of anger.
Lu Li, sensing her mood, quietly took her hand and signaled her to stay calm.
“In that case, Master, should I send disciples to track the demon lord?”
“Of course. Seal off the entire Lu estate at once, before the demon lord escapes.”
Lingxu had originally wanted to investigate quietly with Yuan Bai and find a way to restore the palace.
But now that the matter had been exposed, refusing the sect’s involvement would only raise suspicion.
Reluctantly, he gave the order: Lu Li was to seal off the entire Lu estate.
Only after Lu Li had led the disciples away did the fury on Lingxu’s face finally break through his composure. He trembled with rage.
“You incompetent fools! Why didn’t you hide the entrance? Now everyone knows about this place. If our secrets are exposed, you’ll pay dearly!”
Lingxu had nearly lost his mind.
Just as he was about to draw his sword to vent his anger, Yuan Bai stepped in and stopped him.
“Now is not the time for anger. We need to quickly remove any evidence in the palace that could incriminate us.”
“That demon lord destroyed everything. What’s left to remove? I say we burn it all and be done with it.”
Lingxu was an extremely arrogant man who could not tolerate failure.
Staring at the massive crater before him, he felt this was the greatest humiliation of his life—and he was desperate to erase it.
Seeing him on the verge of losing all reason, Yuan Bai frowned deeply. He quickly signaled the disciples to start cleaning up, while he continued to console Lingxu.
“Get a hold of yourself. This is no time for rash decisions. We need to search the palace for anything useful and preserve it. Once we capture the demon lord, we can slowly experiment with ways to refine the Blazing Spirit.”
This finally brought Lingxu back to his senses.
His anger subsided, and he resumed the dignified posture of a sect leader.
“Fine. We’ll do as you say.”
…
The news that the demon lord was hiding in the Lu estate threw all Wanxian Sect disciples into a frenzy.
But because the estate was so vast, a thorough search was impossible. The best they could do was seal off the entire area.
After nearly an entire day’s work, all exits were finally sealed, and guards were assigned.
Ye Ran was placed on the second shift, so she could go back and rest in the meantime.
But Lu Li had no rest at all. He brought her back, then hurried off to attend to other matters.
This time, Ye Ran didn’t worry about his safety.
Since the person everyone was hunting was Lu Li himself, as long as he didn’t expose himself, there was no danger. Besides, Lingxu had shown no suspicion of Lu Li earlier that day. No one else would suspect him either.
After a full day of exhaustion and anxiety, Ye Ran was beyond tired.
The moment Lu Li left, she lay down to rest.
But no sooner had she done so than a furry body appeared beside her. It snuggled close and began kneading her arm with its paws, purring contentedly.
The system hadn’t been out for days.
With Lu Li around, it never dared show its face. And whenever Lu Li and Ye Ran were intimate, the system’s shielding mechanism was triggered.
Being locked in the dark so frequently had made it irritable.
So now that Lu Li had just left, it couldn’t wait to pop out of the system space for some air.
But as it kneaded with delight, a hand grabbed the scruff of its neck and lifted its chubby body into the air.
Then it found itself staring into Ye Ran’s suspicious eyes.
“System, did you already know Lu Li’s identity?”
At these words, the system’s eyes immediately darted away. Just as it was about to shake its head, the grip on its neck tightened again.
“Think carefully before you answer.”
“I… I did know the big villain’s identity. But I was afraid it would scare you, host.”
Seeing that it could no longer hide the truth, the system confessed.
Only then did Ye Ran finally set it down. The system breathed a sigh of relief and went to nuzzle her arm. But when it looked up, it once again met Ye Ran’s scrutinizing gaze.
“I remember the book only said Lu Li was the villain, not that he was the demon lord. How did you know?”
“I… I guessed.”
The system visibly grew nervous.
Having spent so much time with it, Ye Ran could tell at once that it was lying.
Her expression grew more threatening. The system’s head shrank back.
“Actually, I saw it in some hidden files. I didn’t tell you because I was afraid it would scare you.”
Finally, unable to withstand the pressure, the system confessed.
“Hidden files?”
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