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Lauren was somewhat bewildered. She called over the bailiff guarding the cell. “Where are they?”

“Huh? Where are they?” The bailiff looked just as confused, staring blankly back at her.

“That’s exactly why I’m asking you!” Lauren snapped angrily. “How were you keeping watch?”

“I-I don’t know either! I was guarding the place the same way as always… I even came in once midway to check on them. At that time, both of them were still here.” The bailiff looked utterly wronged.

Those two little ancestors from the Ye Family were people he didn’t dare relax around for even a second. He had even given up his usual midday nap just to stay alert. Yet in the blink of an eye, the two of them had somehow vanished? Where could they possibly have escaped from? The main entrance had been guarded the entire time.

“That’s enough!” Landon’s expression had darkened to the point it looked ready to drip water. Finally unable to endure any more, he swept his sleeve and shouted furiously, “My Ye Family has neither grievance nor enmity with your Inspection Bureau, so why must you toy with me like this?!”

“N-No, Lord Ye, we—”

“There’s no need to say anything further. I’ll find Liana myself, so there’s no need to trouble your Inspection Bureau any longer.” With that, Landon turned and strode away directly. Without even looking back.

Watching his departing figure, Lauren rubbed her temples with a headache coming on. “This time… things are really going to get troublesome.”

***

Outside the Inspection Bureau, inside a carriage. Landon climbed in with visible fury. Yet the moment the carriage curtain fell shut, the anger on his face vanished instantly. His expression became calm as still water, as though the rage from moments ago had merely been an illusion.

“So? Did you find Liana?” A thin figure cloaked entirely in black robes spoke from across from him. The voice was hoarse, impossible to tell whether it belonged to a man or woman.

“No.”
“The Inspection Bureau lied to you?”
“No. They shouldn’t be bored enough to pull something like this.” Landon’s gaze swept past the scenery outside the window as he recalled Lauren’s reaction earlier. His fingers tapped lightly against the table. “No matter how you look at it, the Inspection Bureau wouldn’t make this kind of joke.”

“Then… what are you implying?”
“That little girl called Jasmine is fishy.”
“But there wasn’t any spirit power fluctuation from her.”

The black-robed figure spoke with certainty, as though they had once observed Lilith up close and understood her thoroughly.

“There are far more mysterious things in this world than just spirit power.”
“…A magical artifact?”
“That’s possible. Or perhaps some other method we don’t know about.”
“Are you certain?”
“No. But that little girl’s origins are far too strange.” A strange glint flickered through Landon’s eyes. “According to the information I just received, that little girl appeared as if out of thin air.”
“She came from outside?”

“And that’s exactly what makes her frightening.” Landon raised his head and stared directly into the black-robed figure’s eyes. His voice was as cold as water drawn from a well in the dead of winter. “That little girl was picked up by Liana in the Blackwater Forest.”

“Blackwater Forest?!” The black-robed figure gasped. There was nothing inherently special about Blackwater Forest itself, but it served as a passageway. A route connected directly to the Aurelion Empire’s greatest sect, the Immortal Cloud Pavilion.

“I’ve heard the exalted immortal from Immortal Cloud Pavilion has already arrived.” Landon frowned deeply. “But whether it’s the City Lord’s Manor or our three great families, none of us have obtained the slightest news of that exalted immortal.”

“You mean… that little girl is actually…”

“Nine times out of ten, she’s probably the exalted immortal from Immortal Cloud Pavilion.” At this point, Landon closed his eyes wearily. “As expected of an exalted immortal from the Immortal Cloud Pavilion. Methods like these are enough to make one shudder in fear.”

“If she hadn’t carelessly exposed that tiny trace of evidence, I never would have connected the words ‘exalted immortal’ with that little girl. I’m afraid the one who arrived this time is no simple figure.”

To completely conceal one’s spiritual power aura. To toy with Old Huang, a ninth-stage expert, and the Wang Family elder as though they were puppets in the palm of her hand. To escape so effortlessly from the Inspection Bureau’s prison without leaving behind the slightest trace. When all those clues were pieced together, they pointed toward the two words Landon least wished to see.

—Saint Realm.

Everything he had done had been for those two elusive words. Yet now, the destination he had pursued for so long had appeared before him in another form entirely.

“Then the plan…”

“We’ll move the plan forward.” Landon opened his eyes, endless gravity filling them. “I’m afraid we can no longer wait until the Three Moons Festival. That exalted immortal likely noticed something unusual about Liana already, which is why she’s been staying by her side this whole time. If our secret is discovered ahead of schedule, both you and my Ye Family will be utterly finished.”

“But without the empowerment of the three moons aligning, my power will be weakened significantly,” the black-robed figure said coldly.

“It doesn’t matter. The City Lord’s government is nothing more than a paper tiger now, hardly worth fearing. Besides, to prepare for every possibility, I already planted a spy beside that old fool Victor.”

Landon clenched his fist, a vicious aura completely at odds with his usual demeanor gradually spreading from his body. “As for the Wang Family… I’ll personally make my move. Tonight.”

“And what about Liana? Don’t forget, in our plan, she’s the most important chess piece of all.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Landon looked at the black-robed figure with amusement curling at the corner of his lips, though it was impossible to tell what exactly he was mocking. “You haven’t forgotten, have you? Her ‘mother’ is still in our hands. When the time comes, she’ll return on her own.”

***

“Waaah, this feels so nice.” Basking beneath the warm sunlight, Liana happily lay sprawled across the grass, enjoying the gentle breeze brushing against her. It was a rare warm day in autumn, the kind that naturally lifted one’s mood.

No wonder Mountain Ghost hadn’t brought her to the bustling streets, but instead to these empty wilderness hills. As for Lilith, however, the reason she chose this place was much simpler. At her current state, she simply disliked noisy crowds.

Watching the scenery alone in the mountains was a kind of solitude reserved for oneself. Wandering through lively crowds, meanwhile, was the loneliness of feeling like the only person in the entire world who didn’t belong. Compared to the latter, she preferred the former.

Besides… With Liana around, at least for now, she wasn’t truly alone.

“Mom… I’m doing well in this new place. What about you?” Lilith gazed at the sky and murmured softly. Unfortunately, no one could answer her.

Time passed quickly until dusk arrived and the setting sun dyed the horizon orange. Liana suddenly burst out from a patch of bushes. “Mountain Ghost, look! I caught a rabbit!” She proudly showed off the plump wild rabbit in her hands.

“Rabbits can still get this fat in autumn?” Lilith rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Let’s find a place and roast it.”

“But rabbits are so cute! How could you eat something so cute?” Liana puffed out her cheeks.

“So you’re really not eating it?”

“Uuuu…” Liana stared at the pitifully adorable rabbit looking back at her, then instinctively swallowed. “…Make sure to add extra cumin!”

“There we go.” Lilith took the rabbit from her hands exactly as expected and started walking off to the side. “I spotted a ruined temple over there earlier. Let’s roast it inside.”

“Ehh? A ruined temple out here in the middle of nowhere? What if there are monsters inside?” Liana shrank her neck nervously.
“Wouldn’t that be perfect? We could borrow some cumin from them.”
“Why would monsters have cumin?!”
“Heh. That sounds like a problem the monsters will need to worry about.”