Yu Xiaogang and Flender Arrive in Heaven Dou City! Zhu Zhuqing Is Still...

"Li... Li Zhixian..."

"Let... let me see you..."

Xue Qinghe's voice was hoarse and choked with sobs, trembling as she spoke.

She carefully used her sleeve to wipe the mud and blood from Li Zhixian's face.

As that familiar face gradually emerged from beneath her sleeve.

She could no longer hold back and threw herself into Li Zhixian's arms.

"Hiss—"

Li Zhixian sucked in a breath.

The spot Xue Qinghe had grabbed was precisely where his wrist had been broken.

"Hmm?!"

Xue Qinghe raised her head. The tears had not yet faded from her eyes as she unceremoniously lifted Li Zhixian's tattered sleeve.

When she saw the savage, horrifying dark purple bruising from his wrist to his forearm.

A cold, violent fury surged in her eyes.

"Zhao Wuji did this?"

Li Zhixian smoothed down his sleeve, concealing the wound, and smiled.

"It's almost healed."

"The next time I see him, I'll kill him."

Xue Qinghe glanced at him and nodded lightly.

At that moment, Pufferfish and Snake Lance stepped forward, studying Li Zhixian with uncertain amazement.

"Li Zhixian, your aura..."

"Strange. You're clearly standing right before us, yet we can't sense your aura at all."

That was precisely why Li Zhixian had passed right by them earlier without being noticed.

Assuming the two were the Crown Prince's guards, Li Zhixian smiled casually.

"I was fortunate enough to obtain a Spirit Grass that can conceal my aura."

"Otherwise, I would have found it difficult to escape Zhao Wuji's grasp."

Pufferfish and Snake Lance clicked their tongues in amazement.

"To survive Zhao Wuji's all-out pursuit..."

"At your age, that is already extraordinarily impressive."

Li Zhixian smiled but said nothing more.

Impressive?

A loss was a loss.

He would win it back someday.

"Let's go, Your Highness."

Li Zhixian turned toward Xue Qinghe, whose eyes were still red-rimmed.

Xue Qinghe nodded.

"There are still many people outside searching for you."

The two walked side by side to the edge of the forest.

But Xue Qinghe suddenly stopped.

"What is it?"

Li Zhixian looked at her in confusion.

"Wait a moment."

Xue Qinghe raised her fingertip.

A wisp of pure Bright Soul Power flowed from it, condensing before her into a smooth Soul Power screen as clear as a mirror.

Facing the light mirror.

She tidied the strands of hair that had become slightly disheveled in her emotional turmoil.

Then she took out a plain white handkerchief and wiped the flecks of mud from her cheeks.

Only after finishing all this.

Did she notice Li Zhixian beside her shaking his head with a smile.

Against his mud-covered face, his white teeth were especially dazzling.

"You... what are you laughing at?"

Xue Qinghe checked herself in the mirror again, confirming there was nothing amiss.

Li Zhixian's smile deepened.

"I'm laughing at how much you care about your appearance."

"Look at me. I'm covered in mud and blood, nearly dried into a crust, yet I never thought to wipe myself clean."

Xue Qinghe shot him an annoyed look, though the tips of her ears reddened slightly.

"It's because of you. The mud on my face... isn't it all from you?"

"If I went out looking like this, what would people think?"

Li Zhixian said helplessly.

"Now you're clean, so let's go..."

"What's the rush?"

Xue Qinghe stepped before Li Zhixian, picked up the plain white handkerchief again, and raised her hand to wipe the mud from his face.

"I've already used this handkerchief."

Lowering her eyes, she asked.

"You don't mind, do you?"

Li Zhixian looked at their reflections in the light mirror—Xue Qinghe's movements were gentle and focused, her expression unusually earnest and tender.

His features gradually became clear beneath her careful wiping.

Li Zhixian smiled.

"What if I said I did?"

"Then bear with it."

Without even looking up, Xue Qinghe spoke with a coquettish tone that allowed no argument.

Pufferfish and Snake Lance deliberately lagged several steps behind.

From afar, they watched the pair ahead, who were practically pressed together.

Pufferfish cast Snake Lance a sidelong glance, his gaze meaningful.

Back then, you were the one who pounded your chest and guaranteed that everything would be fine.

Snake Lance sighed silently.

Watching the tenderness in the Young Master's expression as she wiped Li Zhixian's face.

Even he, a butcher whose hands were steeped in blood, felt as though something had gently soothed his heart, filling it with warmth.

He suddenly spoke in a low voice.

"The Young Master infiltrated Heaven Dou City alone at the age of nine..."

"A little girl, alone amid the treacherous intrigues of the imperial palace—how much suffering and hardship must she have endured..."

"Only we brothers have seen it and felt the pain in our hearts."

"But His Majesty the Pope..."

Pufferfish's expression suddenly stiffened.

Snake Lance continued on his own.

"From what I know of His Majesty the Pope..."

"She would never feel at ease without eyes and hidden agents of her own around the Young Master... they must exist."

"Now that Li Zhixian has become so close to the Young Master..."

"He has likely already entered His Majesty the Pope's sights."

Pufferfish clenched his fists.

He knew that Pope's methods and temperament all too well.

Once she decided that Li Zhixian might become a variable capable of affecting Spirit Hall's grand plans, there was no telling what ruthless and heartless thing she would do.

"During Li Zhixian's disappearance, we both saw how distraught the Young Master was. We know what that means."

"If His Majesty the Pope truly makes a move against Li Zhixian..."

"I dare not imagine how the Young Master would react."

Snake Lance's tone was grave.

"We can only hope that His Majesty the Pope..."

"Still retains a trace of familial affection for the Young Master."

When Li Zhixian and Xue Qinghe emerged from the forest.

And appeared before the anxious search party.

After a brief silence, the crowd erupted in ecstatic cheers and surged toward them like a tide.

Dugu Yan froze for a moment, then rushed over as if she had gone mad, tears scattering behind her as she ran.

Without a care for anything else, she threw herself into Li Zhixian's arms, her voice filled with lingering terror.

"Li Zhixian..."

"Waaah... you... you scared me to death..."

Ye Lingling also jogged up to Li Zhixian.

The girl instinctively raised her arms a little, as though she wanted to embrace him too.

But in the end, she timidly lowered them again.

All she could do was look silently at Li Zhixian with those sapphire-blue eyes shimmering with tears and whisper.

"It's good that you're all right... It's good that you're all right..."

This scene fell into Mother Ye's eyes from afar.

It made her frown.

"Lingling, you're far too passive!"

"With such a good opportunity, if you don't take the initiative, when will it ever be your turn?"

On the other side, seeing that Li Zhixian was unharmed, Dugu Bo smiled as he stroked his white beard, and his figure abruptly vanished.

The members of the Imperial Dou Team were also delighted by the sight.

Yufeng reacted the most intensely.

A grown man actually covered his mouth and began to cry.

Osler felt his scalp tingle at the sight.

"Yufeng, damn it, what the hell are you crying for?!"

Yufeng glared at him and said through tears.

"My idol is fine! With such a touching scene, can't I cry a little?"

Unable to stand a grown man crying and sniffling, Osler said to the Shi Brothers.

"Give Yufeng two punches for me!"

"Sure thing!"

After calming the wildly excited crowd.

Li Zhixian waved his hand and borrowed a hundred gold coins from Xue Qinghe.

He hosted a grand feast at Shanxiang Restaurant, treating these rare friends.

Meanwhile.

At the other end of Heaven Dou City.

Yu Xiaogang and Flender were frantic with worry. The moment they left Suotuo City.

Flender used his Martial Soul Avatar, the Four-Eyed Cat Eagle, and carried Yu Xiaogang as they sped toward Heaven Dou.

After such relentless travel.

A day later, the two finally arrived.

Liu Erlong, who had been waiting for them, led them to the village where Ma Hongjun was hiding.

When they saw Ma Hongjun lying on a bed, missing his right arm and his lower body, still unconscious.

Yu Xiaogang gritted his teeth hard, a dark expression appearing on his stiff face.

Flender, who had personally brought Ma Hongjun out of the village, instantly had bloodshot eyes.

And at this moment.

Zhu Zhuqing was still galloping through dust and wind on the road to Heaven Dou City.

Sorry for the late update today.

There will be another chapter tonight. Thank you, dear readers~~