Chapter 149: Escape

The sky had already grown dark, yet the dock remained a scene of boisterous commotion. A figure darted through the bustling crowd, heading straight for the designated meeting place.

The empty expanse of water held neither boats nor any familiar silhouettes. Amidst the shimmering ripples, only the sound of water lapping against the stones could be heard, along with the distant clamor from nearby. Mu Chengyao pulled down the brim of his hat to shadow his brow and turned to leave.

During the time remaining before his departure, his sole objective was to ensure he remained undiscovered.

How on earth had they been exposed? Mu Chengyao could find no clue for the moment. This planted a lingering seed of unease within him, yet he could not fathom where the problem lay.

Thinking of Lu Yalan, whose whereabouts were entirely unknown, Mu Chengyao felt a measure of gratitude that she had left ahead of time. He had already made up his mind to return to Yancheng alone. Yan Bazhai—

He reached out with both hands to clasp hers. For a split second, Xiaodu felt a sense of relief wash over her, because his palms were still warm and strong.

Just moments earlier, she had moved all of Li Ling's furniture inside, deliberately selecting the largest room specifically for him.

Those disciples all harbored varying degrees of rivalry to win favor, to say nothing of a sect master wielding such high status and great power.

Originally, after Dai Li contacted Hou Jian to explain the situation, Hou Jian told Iwai that a Japanese friend wished to hire him as a trading company manager. After pondering it for quite some time, Iwai concluded that having a legitimate occupation would make it more convenient to gather intelligence, so he agreed. Hou Jian immediately replied to Dai Li, stating that he would arrive in a few days.

She leaned there in a daze. When she awoke, she discovered a series of thin rays of sunlight piercing through the cave opening—the sun had finally broken through! At that moment, she faintly heard footsteps drawing closer and closer. Her heart leapt into her throat once more. A blinding glare pierced her eyes, and the person who entered was Paul.

They watched as those eerie black shadows, each possessing a pair of blood-red eyes, threw themselves one after another into the dragon of fire like moths drawn to a flame. In an instant, they were reduced to ashes, yet they acted as though they had no fear of death, surging forward wave after wave.

Though Terasaka wore an expression of deep reluctance, he was willing to accept this one-percent probability. However, these were not things ordinary people could accept.

Of course, the primary reason was that her physique was simply too flawless, leaving all the other women completely dumbfounded.

Murong had been rather busy lately and had not paid much attention to the news. Although she had instructed her assistants to place the daily newspapers on her desk, she simply had not had much time to read them. Had she missed something during this period?

It seemed the income gap between hunting high-level wealthy immortals in the city and hunting impoverished ordinary immortals in the wild was indeed vast.

The state-protecting sect of the Ten-Thousand Beasts Republic was the Ten-Thousand Beasts Temple. It had been established by uniting all the powerhouses among the beastly clans at the proposal of the two great powerful clans within them—the Dragons and the Phoenixes—and had existed since the era of the Evil-Battling Realm.

The other three did not mind Mother Gui's words. Just by looking at her expression, they knew it was a slip of the tongue, and therefore could not be bothered to haggle over it.

Such was the lot of a servant; if one contracted an illness, one could certainly no longer attend to the master. Yet Gu Wenting had fallen ill precisely at this sensitive juncture, making it hard to guarantee that the Emperor would not grow suspicious.

Two days later, the rumors in the capital had not subsided; instead, fresh details were added. It was said that the gathering of so many young ladies in the Longevity Garden that day was not for viewing flowers at all, but rather a imperial matchmaking event.

"I must say, this is hardly the place for a conversation. There's a pavilion nearby, let's head over there." Right at that moment, Qin Yi'er suddenly addressed the group.

"You all go back first to take care of Father; I need to make a trip up the mountain." After a long silence, Chu Ye finally uttered these words.

In the past, when everyone spoke of how dreadful the Wuchuan Base was, Su Yan refused to believe it. Now, seeing it with her own eyes, she panicked and lost her composure, completely at a loss for which path to take next.

Furthermore, since Consort Niohuru was managing the affairs of the harem at the time, she used her official position to send many fine gifts to the Fourth Prince. Everyone in the inner palace was well aware of Consort Niohuru's actions.

Gu Yunjian had once mentioned Nianxia's past life, and Jiang Muyuan had also made numerous inquiries about the people in Sun Qi's residence. The one who could bake exquisite pastries was none other than Xi Jiao'er.

Upon hearing Jiexi's words, Bufan, who accompanied Jiexi closely, smiled and nodded, feeling that this was an excellent proposal.