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“When I think about it now, everything started changing after Mother fell ill. Mother got sick, Father suddenly became terrifying, and I somehow turned into a useless cripple with no spirit power. Everyone began mocking me, and nobody believed I could ever cure Mother. So I thought… if Mother’s illness could be healed, then maybe everything would return to how it used to be.”

Liana swung her little legs back and forth, her eyes overflowing with boundless hope for the future.

“But thankfully, I met Mountain Ghost. With Mountain Ghost around, I’m sure Mother’s illness will get better very soon.” She looked at Lilith with earnest anticipation, her shining eyes sparkling like stars. “Don’t you think so too, Mountain Ghost?”

“……” Lilith didn’t know how to answer. Because there was no way she could tell Liana the truth at a moment like this. She couldn’t possibly say: your mother was already dead, and the one you’d been desperately trying to save this whole time was nothing more than a puppet.

“…Mm.” In the end, Lilith could only nod.

“You’re so kind, Mountain Ghost.” Liana leaned over and hugged her. “I’m really lucky to have met you.”

“…Maybe.”

“But…” Liana suddenly tilted her head and began thinking seriously. “You’ve helped me so much, Mountain Ghost, but I don’t think I have anything I can repay you with.” She puffed out her cheeks unhappily. “I don’t have any money either, and as for everything else… it feels like you don’t need any of it.”

“Alright, alright. We can talk about rewards after I’ve truly cured your mother.” Lilith pinched Liana’s delicate nose lightly. “So stop overthinking it for now.”

“Then how about…” Liana blinked, her face suddenly turning bashful as she spoke shyly, “When the time comes… I’ll give myself to Mountain Ghost instead.”

“In your dreams.” Lilith narrowed her eyes and flicked her forehead. “I can’t afford to raise a chubby little pig like you.”

“I’m not a chubby pig! I’m not fat!”
“You totally are. Look, your little tummy’s already sticking out.”
“Wuuuhhh, stop it! That’s just Mountain Ghost imagining things!”
“It absolutely isn’t. Want me to check for myself?”
“Mmnh… that tickles… Mountain Ghost, let go already…”

……

After exhausting themselves from fooling around, the two leaned shoulder to shoulder and gazed out the window together. A gentle breeze drifted in from outside, while the sunlight shone warm and bright.

“I kinda want to go outside and play.” Liana suddenly spoke up. “Even though the prison has food and drinks, it’s still really boring.”

Lilith glanced at her before standing up. “Then let’s go out and play.”

“Hm? We can do that?” Was the Inspection Bureau’s prison really the kind of place people could enter and leave whenever they pleased?

“What’s so hard about that?” Lilith stretched lazily and let out a faint, amused scoff. “There’s never been a place in this world capable of imprisoning me.”

Then she snapped her fingers. Black flames spread outward, forming a circular passageway before Lilith. The interior was dark and unfathomable, leading to an unknown destination.

“Come on.” Lilith grabbed Liana’s hand. “Let’s go have some fun.”

***

After the meeting ended, Lauren rubbed her brow tiredly.

Even though the Inspection Bureau could finally deploy its full strength against the Moon Demon this time, the speculated power the Moon Demon might possess during the Three Moons Festival still left everyone deeply uneasy.

What’s more, Maplefall Town was simply too massive, and the Moon Demon’s attacks showed little consistent pattern. It was practically impossible to prepare for every possibility.

As a result, every step the Inspection Bureau took had to be examined over and over again with extreme caution.

“Even if the Moon Demon attacks the Inspection Bureau headquarters next time, I still wouldn’t be surprised.” Lauren let out a helpless bitter laugh. As the deputy chief inspector, the pressure weighing on her lately had truly become overwhelming.

At that moment, one of her subordinates knocked on the door and entered the office. “Deputy Chief Lauren, the head of the Ye family has arrived.”

Lauren froze for a moment before rubbing her temples even harder with a weary sigh. “I almost forgot. There are still two little ancestors sitting in the cells.”

……

“Lord Ye…”
“Deputy Chief Lauren…”

Landon and Lauren greeted one another warmly upon meeting. Though naturally, it was mostly just polite formalities.

“Deputy Chief Lauren, that girl Liana… she’s really here?” Even now, Landon still found the whole matter difficult to fully believe.

Based on Old Huang’s intelligence, he had practically concluded that the Wang family had abducted Liana. He had already begun preparing for a full confrontation when suddenly the Inspection Bureau popped out of nowhere saying, Your daughter’s with us. Please come pick her up immediately.

Frankly speaking, his brain still hadn’t quite processed the turn of events.

“Haha, to be honest, I still can’t figure out why your daughter did this either.” Lauren fully understood Landon’s confusion, because she herself had absolutely no idea why those two little girls had done such a thing. If she really had to guess… Maybe they came for free meals?

Lauren suddenly recalled how Lilith had repeatedly emphasized lunch earlier. But she quickly dismissed the thought. After all, that was the Ye family’s Third Young Miss! If it were someone else living in poverty, Lauren might’ve believed they intentionally got themselves thrown into prison just for a meal. But Liana? Why would she need to do that? Could the enormous Ye family really not afford to feed her?

Lauren shook her head and stopped dwelling on it. In any case, now that Landon had arrived and was taking those two little ancestors away, she could finally have some peace and quiet.

“Alright, it’s here.” Lauren led Landon into the prison. “Third Young Miss is inside.”

“The prison?”
“Mm. But let me clarify something first. They were only locked up because they insisted on it themselves.”
“That part I can understand. Liana’s mind really does act a little strange sometimes, but…” Landon turned his head and looked at Lauren in confusion. “Where exactly… is Liana?”

“Hm? Isn’t she right there?” Lauren frowned and pointed toward the cell in the center. “There, the cleanest cell. I even specifically… hm?” Lauren suddenly froze. Because inside the cell she had pointed at, there was no trace whatsoever of the two little girls. “Wait… where are they?”

‘Where did my two giant little ancestors go?!’

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that question, Deputy Chief Lauren?” Landon’s expression gradually darkened. He was beginning to feel like Lauren was making a fool out of him.

“No, I’m not lying to you. I really did lock those two little ances— those two little girls in there.” Lauren hurriedly explained herself.

“Yes, I believe you locked them up. But the problem is… where are they?”

‘Exactly. Where are they?’ Lauren walked over to the cell. The bars were completely intact, and the lock showed no signs of being tampered with. She raised her head. Even the tiny iron window above, small enough that probably only a cat could squeeze through, remained tightly shut without any signs of being opened.

The formation covering the prison cell was still operating normally as well. The moment anyone used spirit power, it would immediately trigger an alarm. After a brief inspection, Lauren arrived at one conclusion. There was absolutely no way anyone could have escaped from this prison cell.

And yet somehow, the two girls had mysteriously vanished. Lauren was dumbfounded. ‘What the hell is going on? What am I supposed to do now? This made no sense at all.’