Chapter 48

After hearing the intelligence gathered by the elders about the demon realm, Sun Zhuo Er almost immediately had a guess about the identity of the mysterious man by the enchantress’s side.

It was most likely Li Qing, who had somehow been subdued by the enchantress!

Sun Zhuo Er was so anxious that blisters were about to form on his lips, but he dared not rashly speak out his guess in front of so many people – there was too much involved, and he, being cunning and calculating, still needed to think carefully.

The fact that Sun Zhuo Er could sit in his current position was enough to prove that he was a cautious person.

He had placed restrictions on everyone who knew his secret. If they were to reveal his name, they would die on the spot.

As for Sun Zhuo Er himself, he would receive a sensation when the other person triggered the restriction and died, allowing him to be prepared.

When the identity of the head of the White Cloud Sect was exposed, Sun Zhuo Er became somewhat uneasy day and night.

That day, he was originally supposed to meet with the head of the White Cloud Sect, but suddenly received a call for help from him. When he rushed there, he only saw a woman torturing the head of the White Cloud Sect.

Sun Zhuo Er tried and immediately knew he was no match for this woman. Without hesitation, he abandoned his accomplice and ran, not even having time to see the woman’s face clearly.

After he finally escaped to a safe distance and thought about it carefully, he felt that the woman’s face was somewhat familiar.

But later, when everyone said it was the enchantress who had infiltrated the celestial realm camp, Sun Zhuo Er believed it too.

He had indeed encountered the enchantress quite a few times.

When the head of the White Cloud Sect was taken back by his own sect for punishment, Sun Zhuo Er felt that his crisis had been resolved, so he quietly returned to Wen Tian Gate to recuperate discreetly.

However, on the very night that Li Qing and Dong Xia returned to Wen Tian Gate, Sun Zhuo Er sensed that the restriction he had placed on the head of the White Cloud Sect had been triggered.

The head of the White Cloud Sect was actually still alive and wanted to reveal his identity to someone!

This fact made Sun Zhuo Er break out in a cold sweat.

He didn’t know where the body of the head of the White Cloud Sect was, or who exactly had interrogated him. After being on edge for several days, he finally decided to set a trap for the person behind the scenes.

To ensure this trap was foolproof, Sun Zhuo Er truly put his own lair up as a stake.

One must enter the tiger’s den to catch the tiger’s cubs.

Sun Zhuo Er also successfully lured out the big fish, Bai Ze Yue, but failed to eliminate him completely.

After Bai Ze Yue was rescued, Sun Zhuo Er encountered the enchantress at Wu Yang Ridge.

This encounter nearly cost Sun Zhuo Er his life, making him still feel terrified and gnash his teeth when he thinks about it even now.

It was at this time when Sun Zhuo Er needed Li Qing the most that Li Qing suddenly disappeared.

Thinking about how without Li Qing’s protection, the enchantress would surely be able to enter Wen Tian Gate again and kill him if she went mad, Sun Zhuo Er couldn’t help but shudder.

“Does the Sect Leader think it might be Li Qing?” Yue Fu Tu asked.

Sun Zhuo Er came back to his senses and forced a smile: “I have some suspicions.”

“Then we’ll investigate further,” Yue Fu Tu made a decision, “If it’s really Li Qing who’s been captured by the enchantress, we need to think of a way to rescue him.”

Sun Zhuo Er nodded absent-mindedly a couple of times and waved his hand, dismissing everyone to go about their own business.

After everyone had left, Sun Zhuo Er stood up and paced anxiously in circles.

He felt as if the sky above his head was pressing down inch by inch, about to flatten him into a pancake.

Sun Zhuo Er, unwilling to give up, pinched his fingers and tried once again to send a message to Li Qing, but there was still no response. If it weren’t for the natural flow of spiritual energy from his fingertips, Sun Zhuo Er would have thought his spell hadn’t been successfully cast.

But since it could be sent out, it meant that Li Qing was definitely conscious, just unwilling or unable to receive the message.

After trying several times, Sun Zhuo Er gritted his teeth and gave up, switching to another message-sending spell gesture: “It’s me. I need to know as soon as possible who the man currently by the enchantress’s side is… Don’t waste words, if I’m finished, you’ll all go down with me, and no one will come out well!”

Dong Xia felt that the spiritual energy around her was fluctuating a bit abnormally.

It was as if the water in a pool, originally as still as a mirror, suddenly had a light leaf fall into it, causing the entire pool to ripple.

Even though it was just an unremarkable leaf.

Dong Xia asked Bai Ze Yue, who replied that he hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

But she didn’t give up, instead concentrating more intently for a while, and finally caught a flaw in the air.

When this fluctuation appeared again, Dong Xia, quick as lightning, reached out her hand and intercepted it in mid-air, as if catching the flying leaf just before it touched the water’s surface.

Unfortunately, this ethereal and fragmented force could no longer be seen in its original form.

Dong Xia glanced at the trajectory of the impact and raised her eyebrows, saying: “It was aimed at Li Qing.” She carefully studied it for a moment, then casually said: “I guess it’s a message-sending spell.”

Bai Ze Yue, who witnessed this: “…”

Intercepting a message-sending spell that crosses thousands of miles in an instant with bare hands was no longer something a human could do.

“Do you think it came from Wen Tian Gate?” Dong Xia shook off the fragments of spiritual energy clinging to her hand and asked Li Qing playfully, “They must be going crazy looking for you.”

Li Qing asked: “Do you want me to go back, to cut ties with you completely?”

Dong Xia shrugged.

She did indeed have that intention.

If she brought Li Qing back to Wen Tian Gate, the sect’s protective formation would surely not be activated.

Then she would have a greater chance to sneak in and find Sun Zhuo Er, take him out of Wen Tian Gate’s range, beat him to a pulp, and get the list of informants she wanted.

She might even be able to accomplish all this without a scratch.

After that, she could use Wen Tian Gate to tie down Li Qing’s movements, and without the He Qi contract, wouldn’t it be killing multiple birds with one stone?

Just as Dong Xia was about to make this decision, Bai Ze Yue cleared his throat and reminded her: “Isn’t there still a place you haven’t been to?”

“What place?”

“You haven’t been there for several years,” Bai Ze Yue hinted indirectly.

Dong Xia suddenly understood.

Bai Ze Yue was referring to Winter City.

Winter City was not a town that only had winter as its name suggested. On the contrary, it was beautiful and red all year round, like a flame that would never extinguish.

The reason it was called Winter City… was because Dong Xia had made it her place of origin and return, and named it after herself.

As it was passed down, it became the default name.

Winter City held many of Dong Xia’s past attachments, and she would still return to wander there from time to time.

This time, she had been away for more than three years and hadn’t had the chance to go back for a look.

“I’ll go later,” Dong Xia glanced at Li Qing beside her, who was lowering his eyes and concentrating on drawing, seemingly not having heard her conversation with Bai Ze Yue.

Bai Ze Yue also turned his gaze towards Li Qing: “You don’t want him to know?”

Dong Xia nodded.

How could she let Li Qing know about her weakness?

In Winter City, Dong Xia wouldn’t even fight with Li Qing, for fear of causing any damage or casualties.

With the earth-shattering way she and Li Qing fought, it was better to fight in the celestial realm’s territory. Better the friend’s demise than one’s own.

“Maybe he already knows,” Bai Ze Yue muttered, and was immediately flicked on the forehead by Dong Xia, making him suck in a cold breath of pain.

This was only because Bai Ze Yue had decent cultivation; if it were an ordinary person, their head would have cracked open.

“What’s the situation at Wen Tian Gate?” Dong Xia casually asked as she withdrew her hand, “How desperate has Sun Zhuo Er become? It would be best if he’s driven to desperation, then I can send him to meet his maker.”

Bai Ze Yue rubbed his forehead: “Naturally, they’re secretly searching for Li Qing’s whereabouts, and have even kept… Dong Xia’s disappearance under wraps. But their search is aimless, and they probably won’t guess the truth until they start suspecting you.”

“The truth?” Dong Xia sneered coldly, “That Li Qing is living comfortably in the demon realm? Or that Li Qing has developed inner demons? Or that he secretly saved me three years ago without anyone knowing? Or that I’ve become his Immortal Lord’s dao companion? If they can guess the whole truth, I’ll give Wen Tian Gate a standing ovation.”

Before Dong Xia herself regained her memories, she couldn’t have imagined Li Qing would do such a thing.

Bai Ze Yue: “…” It was indeed a bit unbelievable.

Li Qing suddenly looked up and said: “Did I do all these things?”

Dong Xia immediately threw a peanut from the table at him: “I didn’t ask you to speak.”

Li Qing caught the peanut, looked at it, and ate it with a calm expression.

Bai Ze Yue, unable to bear watching this, changed the subject: “I have some matters to attend to in the next few days, it’s about several…”

He had just begun when Dong Xia, with a headache, interrupted his long speech: “Go handle it, I’ll find you if there’s anything.”

Bai Ze Yue: “…”

He immediately condensed the main points into one sentence, “Among them, there’s someone who wants to seek an audience with you, saying he might have something you need.”

Dong Xia didn’t even look up: “Not interested.”

Unless it was a way to catch Sun Zhuo Er, or a method to kill Li Qing, Dong Xia wasn’t interested in anything at the moment.

“You might want to meet him,” Bai Ze Yue didn’t give up, he lowered his voice and said, “This person is an expert in puppet techniques.”

Dong Xia paused, seeming to think of something, and glanced at Li Qing before saying: “Then let’s meet.”

She had made quite a stir recently, so it wasn’t surprising that people in the demon realm knew what she was looking for.

The person who came to curry favor through Bai Ze Yue arrived a day later.

This person was white and plump, like a well-risen white steamed bun.

After seeing Dong Xia, the fat man introduced himself with a smile, bowing and nodding.

Dong Xia didn’t remember his name, only asked: “What good method do you have?”

The fat man rubbed his belly and chuckled, his gaze sweeping across the room and landing on Li Qing: “You want to use it on this… right?”

Dong Xia rested her chin on her hand and let out a light hum from her nose as a response.

The fat man’s eyes lit up as he took out a small figure wrapped in silk from his sleeve, and respectfully asked: “May I come closer to examine? I won’t harm this young man at all.”

Dong Xia waved her hand indifferently: “If you can really kill him, I’ll reward you handsomely.”

The fat man’s steps faltered: “…” It seems this person wasn’t the rumored male favorite.

Li Qing watched silently as the fat man approached him, sitting still in his original spot.

“May I borrow your hand?” the fat man asked with a smile on his face.

Li Qing glanced at Dong Xia, who was standing with her arms crossed not far away, lowered his eyes in thought for a moment, and then placed his hand on the table.

The fat man immediately took Li Qing’s hand and started muttering incantations. Demonic energy overflowed from his fingertips, flowing like thin little snakes over Li Qing’s palm and the small figurine.

After mumbling for a while, Li Qing’s hand suddenly moved slightly.

The fat man raised his head almost at the same time. He looked at Li Qing blankly, then turned back to ask Dong Xia, “May I ask you a stupid question?”

Dong Xia raised her eyebrows at him.

“This person’s mind is very clear,” the fat man said puzzledly. “He has several hundred years of memories. Sealing them might be a bit…”

As soon as he finished speaking, the fat man saw a fierce attack coming straight at him. Frightened, he let out a miserable scream of “Ow!” and dove to the ground, covering his head.