My Safety Should Never Be Built on the Sacrifices of Others; Chiyo, Wait for Me

Dog Demon City.

Princess Lingyue stood alone on the moonlit terrace atop the palace.

Her silver hair drifted gently in the night breeze, while the hem of her pale violet robes rippled like water.

In her hand, she held the Calming Heart Bell that shared the same origin as Chiyo. Its body was faintly hot, trembling in rapid, delicate pulses.

"Why isn't he back yet..."

She murmured softly, her golden eyes fixed on the eastern sky shrouded in eerie purple mist.

Ever since Chiyo had left, she had been unable to settle her mind.

Every dawn and dusk, she would climb onto this terrace.

She tried to catch even the faintest trace of his Demonic Power from that distant skyline.

At first, she could still sense the lingering echoes of scattered clashes, but since the night before last, everything had fallen silent.

That was not peace, but the suffocating stillness before a storm.

The abnormal reaction of the Calming Heart Bell confirmed her ominous premonition.

Chiyo was facing an unprecedented crisis. He might even have been driven into a desperate situation.

"Your Highness."

Inuzuka Retsu's aged, weary voice came from behind her.

Princess Lingyue did not turn around. She merely tucked the Calming Heart Bell into her robes.

When her fingertips brushed the bell, its searing heat made her heart tremble.

"Great Elder, is there any news from the east?"

Inuzuka Retsu walked to her side and looked at the same stretch of sky. After a long silence, he slowly shook his head.

"The last message came at midnight yesterday. It was sent by thirteen elite warriors under Lord Toga.

Two of the Flying Moth Demon's four demon generals have appeared. Poison Scale and Illusory Wing are guarding the perimeter, and the battle is brutal.

As for Elder Chiyo..."

He