Time flew by, and it was evening again in the blink of an eye. The crowd was still quietly waiting at the foot of Ancient Phoenix Mountain.
What made Chu Liuyue feel slightly at ease was that Wu Ming was the only person who had crushed his bell—it meant that the same thing didn’t happen to the others.
“We’ve been guarding here for an entire day. Why don’t we go back and get some rest before we come back again tomorrow?” Jun Qizhi suggested.
Although pulling several all-nighters in a row wasn’t too big a problem for cultivators, there were 14 more days to go. Moreover, the various rulers waiting here were all busy people—even Jun QIzhi himself had to go back and settle some matters.
Gongsun Xiao and the others were surprised to hear that. Isn’t it… a tad too early to leave now? Besides, it’s worrying since our people are still inside.
“Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty. In that case, I’ll head back first.” Chu Liuyue was the first person to stand up amidst the silence.
Everyone was taken aback by her response. Is Shangguan Yue serious? She wants to leave first? Isn’t she worried about her people? Being the weakest among the lot, they must be having a hard time in there…
Jun Qizhi was equally surprised, but there was nothing he could say since Chu Liuyue had already expressed her intention. Hence, he nodded. “I’ll get someone to take you back.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!” Chu Liuyue flashed him a smile before turning to speak to Elder Chen Ke and the others. “I’m going back to rest for a while. I’ll have to trouble you all to guard here while I’m away.”
Following that, she moved to leave without the slightest hesitation.
“She’s ultimately still too young. Her patience ran out so fast!” Gongsun Xiao laughed it off.
“There’s nothing to worry about since we have elders watching over the place,” said Jun Qizhi as he stood up. “I have some matters to attend to, so I won’t stay any longer. Feel free to make yourselves comfortable. If there are any problems, General Qi and the elders here will naturally help to resolve them.”
As this was his own territory to begin with, he had nothing to worry about. They also weren’t able to see what was going on inside, so it was pointless to keep waiting outside.
Seeing that Jun Qizhi and Chu Liuyue had left one after another, Gongsun Xiao began to waver. He took a look at Ning Yuan. “Brother Ning, what’s your plan? Are you going to continue waiting here?”
“It makes no difference to me since I can cultivate here as well,” answered Ning Yuan calmly.
So he’s going to camp out here until the end? Gongsun Xiao was appalled to hear that. “That makes sense.”
He thus dismissed the idea of leaving and chose to stay as well. He initially wanted to cultivate while waiting too, but he unfortunately just couldn’t concentrate and hence simply gave up on the idea. Fine, it’s just waiting! Since Ning Yuan wants to wait here, I naturally have to follow suit. I can’t admit defeat! The Tianling Dynasty people are probably just here for fun, while the Taiyu Dynasty people aren’t capable enough to pose a threat. The ones that truly pose a threat to us are the people from the Beiming Dynasty and the Dongning Dynasty! But then again, it’s normal for the Beiming Dynasty to have an advantage since this is their territory and all. We weren’t planning to fight with them anyway. I just hope that we can win against the Dongning Dynasty!
Upon seeing that the other two had no intention of leaving, Dantai Chen could only stay and continue to wait in silence.
…
Meanwhile, Chu Liuyue soon arrived back at her villa in Lin Zhou City.
Almost everyone had remained at Ancient Phoenix Mountain, so the villa seemed particularly cold and empty at the moment. The only people present were the servants who were sent to wait on Chu Liuyue and the others.
They were all astonished to see her return, but none of them dared to ask her about it. Having heard the rumors that Chu Liuyue might be on good terms with Jun Jiuqing, they were all eager to fawn over her, so who would dare to offend her?
After telling the servants that she didn’t want to be disturbed during her rest, Chu Liuyue dismissed them and entered her room. She then locked her room as if she really had the intention of getting some rest.
However, she went around the folding screen instead of heading toward the bed.
A young man—who had been waiting there at some point in time—stood up unhurriedly and paid a bow in her direction when he heard her footsteps. “Greetings, Your Majesty!”
Chu Liuyue looked at the man in front of her.
He appeared to be in his mid-twenties. On top of having a tall and slender frame, he also had a delicate and pretty face. However, a crafty glint could occasionally be seen in his brown eyes, which suggested that he wasn’t as harmless as he appeared.
The tip of Chu Liuyue’s nose twitched. “Have you been drinking again?”
The man’s expression crumbled. “Your Majesty, we haven’t seen each other for two years. Why are you talking about this as soon as we meet?”
Chu Liuyue walked to the side and sat down with a smile. “Wu Yao, it’s been two years, yet you haven’t kicked your drinking habit?”
Wu Yao rubbed his nose and flashed a smug smile at her. “Heh, you got it wrong, Your Majesty. I haven’t touched a single drop of alcohol in two years!”
“For real? Then, where is this alcohol scent coming from?” asked Chu Liuyue with raised eyebrows.
As Wu Yao leaned in closer toward her, the smile on his face became more and more wicked. “I might’ve quit drinking, but my wine-making skills haven’t gone to waste! I managed to enter Jun Jiuqing’s study with just a flask of wine!”
Chu Liuyue sat up straighter in her seat. “Did you find out anything?”
Wu Yao narrowed his eyes. “There’s a secret passage underneath Jun Jiuqing’s study. Most importantly, there’s a transportation formation hidden inside the tunnel!”
“Did you manage to find out where it leads to?”
“Unfortunately not. However… I did find out that the person you wanted me to look for has seemingly appeared in the study before!”
