Chapter 424: Signs

　　Mu Qinghe and Jian Fengchi returned to Imperial City without attracting any attention.

　　The moment he returned, Mu Qinghe locked himself in his room.

　　Jian Fengchi wanted to examine his wound but was shut outside the door. He didn’t have a good temper himself, and his patience had run out due to Mu Qinghe’s reaction. Thus, he couldn’t be bothered and busied himself with other things.

　　Mu Qinghe dealt with his wound himself in his room. There was no expression on his face, and he looked like a block of wood. But everything that happened in the imperial mausoleum was replaying in his head.

　　Especially… that illusion. Even though he knew that it was an illusion, it still made waves in his heart whenever he thought about it, especially when he was alone. All sorts of images and sounds flooded his mind.

　　Mu Qinghe closed his eyes frustratedly but found that that person’s face grew increasingly clear in his mind.

　　There was still a smile on her face.

　　“Qinghe, why did you call me?” Her clear and gentle voice echoed in his ears.

　　Mu Qinghe felt like his heart was being poked at; it felt sore.

　　However, her smile quickly disappeared. It was replaced with shock and disbelief. “Qinghe, you betrayed me?”

　　The sparkle in her eyes dimmed as they were flooded with despair and sadness.

　　Mu Qinghe’s eyes flew open! In such a short time, he was covered in cold sweat.

　　The mixture of his sweat and blood stung.

　　He stood up, intending to clean himself up, but his expression changed when he took a step. Then, he froze.

　　A green bronze mirror flew out from him and blocked his way!

　　Mu Qinghe felt his blood churn, and a terrifying aura enveloped him!

　　Mu Qinghe staggered and fell to his knees. Crippling pain came from his heart.

　　He gripped the front of his shirt tightly and pressed down hard, but it did nothing to relieve the pain.

　　“Where’s the thing?” A cold but authoritative voice came from the mirror.

　　Mu Qinghe gritted his teeth as sweat trickled down his forehead. His lips were quivering, and his face was pale. “I was incompetent… I was unable to get the item…”

　　“Imbecile!” The pain multiplied and overwhelmed him!

　　Mu Qinghe finally couldn’t stifle himself. He spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground!

　　He could barely speak now.

　　“I asked you to do one thing, but you couldn’t even do it! Mu Qinghe, when did you deteriorate this badly? Or… are you doing it on purpose?”

　　“I… I didn’t…” Mu Qinghe struggled to speak as he trembled. Just saying that alone used up all of his remaining energy.

　　“You’ve been outside for long enough. You’ll raise suspicions if you don’t return soon. You have to return soon!”

　　Even though Mu Qinghe was in immense pain, he heard the words clearly. “But.. but that thing…”

　　“Since you didn’t have the ability to get it back, it’s just a waste of time for you to stay! You don’t have to deal with this anymore!”

　　No… I finally got this chance, so how can I give it up?! Mu Qinghe’s lips quivered. “I… I know that a mystery person took it…”

　　“What mystery person?” Mu Qinghe’s words clearly attracted the person’s attention.

　　“I.. didn’t see what that person looked like… but… If I see him again… I will be able to recognize his aura…” Mu Qinghe managed to say this sentence. “P-please… let me continue… I won’t… disappoint you…”

　　Mu Qinghe was so weak that his voice was barely audible by the end of the sentence. However, that statement was clearly very useful.

　　“If that’s the case, I’ll give you a few more days. If there’s still no progress then… You know what the consequences are!” With that, the mirror quickly disappeared.

　　Mu Qinghe was the only person left in the room again. He lay on the floor, his clothes soaked through.

　　He looked a mess.

　　A blue shadow appeared next to him; it was Hong Yao. It closed in next to him and rubbed itself against his face as it buried its face.

　　Hong Yao had always been proud and lively, but it was unusually quiet at this moment, staying quietly next to Mu Qinghe.

　　“I’m fine,” Mu Qinghe said lowly.

　　Hong Yao flapped its wings and looked up at him, but it didn’t say anything. In the end, it chose to keep silent.

　　…

　　Chu Liuyue followed Chu Ning back to Heptagon Alley, but they didn’t find anything.

　　When they were done, the sky was dark, and Chu Ning asked her to return home.

　　Chu Liuyue knew that her father was going back to investigate further and that it wasn’t appropriate for her to follow him, so she did not insist.

　　The skies were dark, and the moon was hanging high.

　　Chu Liuyue sat in her room with her legs crossed as she absorbed the Heaven and Earth Force from around her.

　　After breaking through to the third stage in the Imperial mausoleum, her abilities had improved tremendously. However, her advancement was too sudden this time, and she was afraid that it might destabilize her foundation. Therefore, she began cultivating again.

　　After feeling the force in her body become more stable, Chu Liuyue looked toward her palm.

　　After her Yuan meridian leveled up, her absorption of Heaven and Earth Force increased significantly.

　　If that’s the case, this will greatly aid my cultivation in the future. What I lack the most now is time. Chu Liuyue wanted to head to the Tianling Dynasty to seek her revenge after she had regained enough of her ability.

　　She didn’t expect to be going when she was only a stage-three warrior.

　　Given her ability and level, it was just going to be trouble once she arrived there…

　　Suddenly, she felt a ripple in her dantian.