A Sudden Change

"Young Master Nalan, Young Master Nalan? It's morning. Time to get up."

A crisp call sounded beside my ear. I groggily opened my eyes and turned my head to see a slightly youthful, adorable face before me.

Somewhat unfamiliar, yet somewhat familiar—it was Qing Lin, whom I had only met yesterday.

I vigorously rubbed my head. It felt a little painful and heavy. Thinking carefully, I recalled that I had drunk too much at dinner with the Xiao Family last night.

I cursed, fumbled a sobering pill out of my Ring of Holding, and swallowed it, only then feeling a little better. Then, under the ministrations of Qing Lin's soft, tender little hands, I quickly got dressed.

I had left Gama City over a month ago, and had gone more than a month without a maidservant attending to me. Now, after Qing Lin waited on me, a long-lost sense of comfort and ease welled up within me.

I could not help smiling. I subconsciously reached out and patted Qing Lin's head, saying, "You did well. You deserve a reward!"

Only after saying that did I suddenly snap awake, one hand frozen in midair. Qing Lin might be a little maidservant, but she was not an ordinary maidservant from my household. Doing that... was far too presumptuous!

Sure enough, Qing Lin and I had only just met. Although we had gotten along quite well yesterday, we were nowhere near close enough for such intimacy.

She tightly covered the top of her head where I had touched it with both hands, staring at me wide-eyed as she backed away in a panic.

"Young, Young Master Nalan..."

Like a startled rabbit, Qing Lin spoke timidly.

I withdrew my hand from the air and forced a smile onto my face. After thinking it over, I decided to simply go along with it.

I took a small necklace from my Ring of Holding. It was not particularly valuable, but it was very pretty, gleaming brilliantly. This had been a gift I prepared for Nalan Sun. Qing Lin would probably like it too.

I handed it to her, cleared my throat, and said, "Qing Lin, this is a reward from me. Take it."

Qing Lin hesitated for a moment, but still carefully accepted it. Lowering her head, she said, "Thank you, Young Master."

After leaving the room, Qing Lin led me to a small side hall. Xiao Yan and the other three were already there, but Xiao Ding and Xiao Li were nowhere to be seen.

When I turned to ask Qing Lin, I learned that Xiao Ding and Xiao Li were eating with the ordinary mercenaries. Xiao Ding had specially arranged this small side hall for the sake of the three young girls.

As soon as I entered the side hall, I clasped my hands and smiled. "Good morning, Third Brother. Good morning, Sister Xiao Yu. Good morning, Meier. Good morning, little sister Xun Er."

"Little Yezi, why did you get up so late?"

Xiao Yu's beautiful eyes darted back and forth between Qing Lin and me. She deliberately drew out her voice. "Don't tell me you were..."

I rolled my eyes irritably. I could not be bothered to pay attention to this woman, and directly took a seat to Xiao Meier's left.

Xiao Meier turned to me and softly said, "Good morning, Ye Gege."

"All right, all right, Sister Xiao Yu, say less."

Xiao Yan glared at Xiao Yu and said, "Nalan Ye is here too, so let's eat. I'm starving."

Although Xiao Ding had specially arranged it, to be honest, the Desert Iron Mercenary Group's breakfast was truly not much to speak of. It was far worse than the breakfast at Nalan Residence, but it was not my place to say anything, so I made do and ate.

Halfway through the meal, a mercenary suddenly burst in and shouted, "Third Young Master, something's wrong! For some reason, the Mo Family has suddenly sealed all the city gates. The entire Stone Desert City is under martial law. The two leaders request that you go to the Council Hall at once!"

At once, Xiao Yan and the others all turned their gazes toward me. I was equally puzzled. The Mo Family was merely a name; the Nalan Family was the one truly in charge of Stone Desert City.

But why had Stone Desert City suddenly been sealed off? This was not part of my plan—I swallowed the food in my mouth in a few quick bites, rose to my feet, swept my gaze around, and said solemnly:

"Don't look at me. I don't know what's going on either. This should be an unexpected incident. We should head to the Council Hall first."

Xiao Yan nodded, and everyone immediately rose and hurried toward the Council Hall.

Inside the Council Hall were Xiao Ding, Xiao Li, and several core members of the Desert Iron Mercenary Group. Luo Bu and Mo Wang were also present.

The moment our group entered, Xiao Ding could not help standing up and looking at me. He asked in a deep voice, "Nalan Ye, according to my information, the mercenaries in the city are being mobilized on a large scale—what exactly is going on?!"

The mercenaries were being mobilized?

My expression changed. Mobilizing mercenaries was no minor matter. This clearly meant war was about to break out! Who was the enemy? And who had mobilized the mercenaries?

After a moment of silence, I shook my head and took out a jade pendant from my Ring of Holding. "First Brother, I've been staying at the Desert Iron Mercenary Group all this time. How would I know what's going on?"

"The most urgent matter now is for First Brother to quickly send a trusted man to contact my family's shop. Once he gets there, we'll naturally know what happened."

Xiao Ding fell silent for a moment, but still ordered a core member to take my jade pendant as a token and sent him to contact my family's shop.

The Desert Iron Mercenary Group was indeed a local force in Stone Desert City, and its intelligence network was exceptionally swift. Reports of mercenary movements from all over the city kept arriving.

There was a detailed map of Stone Desert City in the Council Hall. Holding a charcoal pencil, Xiao Li continuously marked the directions and numbers of mercenaries being moved in various locations, then constantly revised them according to the incoming reports.

In an instant, the situation throughout Stone Desert City became much clearer. My heart pounded faster and faster, while my expression grew increasingly grim.

The map Xiao Li had drawn showed that more than two thousand mercenaries were converging from every direction, completely surrounding my family's shop!

I clenched my fists tightly and stared fixedly at the map. Beads of sweat the size of beans seeped from my forehead, and my breathing began to grow heavy.

I could not understand it. I could not make sense of it!

There was no reason for this. The Mo Family... what were they even? Their family had only a single Dou Spirit, while the Nalan Family had one Dou Wang and two Dou Spirits in Stone Desert City!

The Mo Family could never possibly break free of the Nalan Family's control. If that was the case, then the mercenaries throughout the city should still be under the Nalan Family's command.

But if they were under the Nalan Family's control, why would the Nalan Family mobilize troops to surround its own territory?

Moreover, this encirclement from all sides clearly looked like they were facing a powerful enemy.

A powerful enemy, a powerful enemy...

I stared unblinkingly at that surrounded shop on the map. My mind raced frantically, and my breathing suddenly stopped.

Yun Yun! Hai Bodong!

Yesterday, I had brought those two to the shop. They had not left afterward, instead staying there. Could the great enemy that had made the Nalan Family gather troops and surround the place actually be them?

No, that was not right. I immediately shook my head again. I had spent a long time with Yun Yun. I could not claim to understand her completely, but I knew her character fairly well.

With that cold and elegant temperament of hers, and considering she had come this time to repay a favor to me, there was no reason—and no possibility—for her to fall out with the Nalan Family.

Then was it that old monster, Hai Bodong?

My face darkened. I barely knew Hai Bodong at all. It was entirely possible that this old fellow had turned hostile!

As for Medusa having sealed him, trapping his cultivation at the Dou Spirit level—Hai Bodong had once been a Dou Emperor. There was no guarantee he did not possess some secret technique capable of temporarily undoing the seal.

But upon thinking it over carefully, that did not make sense either. Why would Hai Bodong turn hostile? To seize the Exotic Flame? Even then, he would have to wait until the Exotic Flame was in hand first...

I kept thinking, yet could not figure it out. Sweat covered my entire face, and my complexion began to turn pale, making me look rather frightening.

At that moment, I felt a warm touch on my right hand—soft and smooth. Looking down, I saw Xiao Meier holding my right hand. She looked at me worriedly and softly said:

"Ye Gege... your face looks so frightening."