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Shortly after Su Yiyun left, the ice encasing Su Liu'er melted.

After freeing herself from the ice, she bit her lip.

"I can't believe I fell for his tricks."

"You can't put it like that," said the Hundred Flowers Sect Master faintly, "Ice Empress, there's no need to even bring up your accomplishments in the field of ice techniques, but just now, that guy used your own area of expertise against you. It wasn't as simple as 'falling for a trick.'"

Su Liu'er had no way to refute his words. She'd studied ice techniques since she was a child and it was fair to say her resistance to ice type attacks was pretty high. Not even Lulu, who shared the title "Ice Empress," could possibly render her completely incapable of defending herself and seal her in ice.

Yet Su Yiyun effortlessly obliterated her attacks and even froze her solid.

More importantly, he didn't specialize in ice techniques, but rather in spiritual formations.

"He's truly not simple," said Su Liu'er, voice filled with unwillingness.

"For such a grand figure to fall into the demon's hands is really not good news for us," said the sect master charmingly.

Then he laughed, "Emperor Ye, you let a character like this slip through your hands. You really messed this one up."

"You could say that," nodded Ye Zichen.

Sensing that Ye Zichen was in low spirits, the sect master stopped teasing him and smiled. "It seems that this farce has ended. I suppose they were just here to show their faces. Before long, their true elites will bear down on our borders en masse. In that case, I won't linger here any longer here. I need to return to the sect to make arrangements."

"Thanks for all your hard work," said Ye Zichen.

"No need for pleasantries; as the old saying goes, 'without lips, teeth are cold.' I don't think for a second that I can simply mind my own affairs in a situation like this. I expect that the other sects will feel the same way. Emperor Ye, can you tell me where you sent the guests? I'd like to go discuss countermeasures with them."

"The Nine-tailed Fox Clan."

"Great, then I'll head out first."

"Take care, Sect Master. Forgive me for not seeing you out."

The sect master of the Hundred Flowers Gate floated off, leaving behind only Ye Zichen, Su Liu'er, and Lin Xihe.

This whole time, Lin Xihe looked utterly devastated. Everyone there could understand why she'd feel that way.

The person she'd wanted to entrust her life to was actually just using her...

"City Lord Lin…."

As a woman herself, Su Liu'er felt her pain deeply. She almost couldn't bear to watch and went over to comfort her, only to see Li Xihe smile at her.

"It's fine," she said, forcing herself to smile as if telling Su Liu'er to leave her with this last shred of her dignity.

Despite everything, she was still the lord of a city. She wasn't so fragile that she couldn't live without someone else comforting her.

"Zhao Zizhao had a secret connection with the demons. The next time I see him, I'll definitely kill him myself."

A decisive glint flashed through Lin Xihe's eyes. Before long, she got her emotions under control and laughed, "Luckily, we didn't hold the wedding ceremony. Otherwise, I might very well still be in for a lot of trouble. It's already late. How about I arrange for you two to take a rest?"

"I won't trouble you any further," said Ye Zichen. "I still have to plan and prepare for when the demons arrive."

"Me too," said Su Liu'er. "I need to return to the NIne-tailed Fox Clan. The demons have already appeared. Who knows? They might be lurking in the dark, eyeing our territory covetously as we speak. Without me personally assuming command of my clan, I won't be able to relax."

"Well, in that case, I won't insist that you stay," she said, a thin smile appearing on her face.

Then she turned to Ye Zichen. "Emperor Ye, if there's anything you need, so long as it's within my abilities, I absolutely won't refuse."

"I'll remember that," said Ye Zichen with a slight nod. With that, he and Su Liu'er left the courtyard.

Lin Xihe smiled as she watched their departure. When they finally disappeared from view, she raised her head and gazed at the distant, brilliant moon.

She smiled, but her eyes...

Were red.

After an hour, Ye Zichen appearing in Maple City. He'd planned to invite Su Liu'er to discuss the demon situation with him. However, since she was truly overcome with worry for the Nine-tailed Fox Plans, they decided to split up.

Without disturbing anyone, Ye Zichen quietly returned to his residence.

He spread out his spiritual awareness. Actually, by now this was already instinctive behavior; when he returned home, he needed to immediately check and see whether Xiao Yumei and Tiantian were home or not.

They weren't there!

"Lorie, come see me in my room."

A transmission exploded through Lil' Lorie's consciousness like sudden clap of lightning, startling her so badly that she accidentally tossed the pill she was about to consume onto the ground.

She looked at it mournfully, pouted, and disappeared. When she reappeared, she was already in Ye Zichen's room.

"If you want to come home, just do it. There's no need to scare people. Just now, you startled me so badly, I dropped my candy on the ground. You need to make it up to me!"

Lil' Lorie reached out her hand as if she'd been grievously wronged.

"Why aren't Yumei and Tiantian in the residence?" frowned Ye Zichen. "Didn't I tell you to stay by their side?"

"That's right, I told them that if they wanted to leave, they should tell me first. But they snuck out without telling me," she said, batting her eyes.

"They didn't tell you? How long have they been gone?"

"They left shortly after you and Zuo Mo," shrugged Lil' Lorie.

Then, noticing his displeasure, she hurriedly justified herself. "Hey, you'd better not scold me. Actually, I noticed when they were sneaking out and secretly followed them, but they went to the Southern Heaven's Gate. The guard wouldn't let me in, so there was nothing I could do but return home."

Hearing this, Ye Zichen's brows rose, then his expression finally softened. If he wasn't mistaken, they must've gone to the Heavenly Court to visit Chang'e. Furthermore, under these circumstances, the Heavenly Court was indeed much safer than the Immortal Region.

"Understood. You can leave for now. I'd like to think by myself for a bit," said Ye Zichen, waving her away. Then he noticed her staring intently at him and batting her eyes.

He waved his right hand, and a pile of pills appeared on the table. The instant Lil' Lorie saw this, she dashed over gleefully and took the medicines into her "candy bag."

"Who?"

Just as she was collecting her medicines, Lil' Lorie knit her brows, then fixed in on one of the corners.

Shortly after, she called out, "you think you can run?"

Instantly, she appeared in the corner of his room. Her fair and tender hands clawed at the seemingly empty space.

"You want to run? In front of me?"

Ye Zichen watched in astonishment as a black-robed young man with a helpless grin appeared in that very spot.

After a brief, shocked pause, he looked at the youth, expression complication, and sighed.

"How could it be you?"