The old man's face was pale, and his eyes were clouded.
Dou Luo looked at the man's worn clothes and the urgency in his eyes, which was almost indistinguishable from despair.
"You brat... Are you really sure you can do it? This old man has been poisoned. Even I can't think of any way to save myself. How dare you open your mouth and promise that?"
Lin Chen slowly withdrew his hand.
He smiled at Dou Luo, his expression calm. "Old sir, since I dared promise, naturally I have a fair degree of confidence."
"The person who gave you the poison was a peerless expert."
"A peerless expert?"
Dou Luo's eyes narrowed. A gleam of light flashed through them, and his breathing grew slightly uneven.
He guessed—
Could the peerless expert Lin Chen had mentioned be the person who had attacked him that day?
If that was the case, then the being in question was truly terrifying.
Perhaps even stronger than he could imagine.
"Could it be... the person who saved you that day?"
Lin Chen neither confirmed nor denied it. He only smiled enigmatically.
As far as he was concerned, this was merely a means of bluffing.
It was just to make Dou Luo believe in him.
He had no other choice.
But he also had to make Dou Luo believe he was an expert who could treat the poison, so that he could openly enter the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well!
Only there—
Could he hide the greatest risk.
"That peerless expert once said that the poison in your body isn't impossible to cure. It just needs something to help the medicinal herbs take effect."
Lin Chen pointed toward the setting-sun forest and said quietly.
"You've guarded that place in the Sunset Forest for many years. The peerless expert must have been referring to the medicinal herbs that have grown there for years. Those are your only hope."
Boom!
Dou Luo was shaken.
He thought of that peculiar spring in the heart of his family's territory, the place even he had never dared to set foot in.
The rare flowers and herbs that had grown there for years—he had never known what they were for. Now Lin Chen had casually revealed their secret.
How could he not understand?
"So that's it! The herbs in that place can actually cure my poison!"
Dou Luo slapped his thigh, overcome with excitement.
"When this matter is settled, I'll take you to the Sunset Forest at once!"
"Lin Chen, you brat... You'll have to rely on the poison to get in!"
Just as Dou Luo was overcome with joy, Lin Chen's awareness had already silently sunk into the depths of the Diary.
Since he had arrived at the imperial palace, there was no point in staying idle.
Besides, the atmosphere here felt a little oppressive. Perhaps he should start writing today's diary...
[Diary entry...]
[Phew. You certainly made me worry this morning. You and Qian Ling'er had both gotten involved, so I'll follow the rules too.]
[I'm done writing the diary, right?]
When Zhu Zhuqing and Mi Ruoxi saw the words appear, they nearly burst into tears.
The two of them had gotten involved just to earn that sentence!
All for that one line!
[Zhu Zhuqing is usually so cool and composed. Yet, after putting on white silk, that rare, unexpected shyness of hers really does show. Mi Ruoxi is as active as ever.]
[Qian Ling'er, Qian Ling'er. You want to wear it, but you don't dare. You even have to keep up that composed expression. I feel tired on your behalf.]
[I suggest that next time you're lucky enough to see me, you should stop playing the part of a woman and change back into that pink dress. Then we can have another proper chat about the secrets of the Angel God's inheritance.]
At this moment, Qian Ling'er's mind was in turmoil.
The secrets of the Angel God?
What did he mean?
"Lin Chen, you bastard..."
Zhu Zhuqing, who was sitting nearby, had originally been quietly drinking her tea. When she heard the diary update, she immediately stiffened.
Zhu Zhuqing's cool, beautiful face flushed red all the way to her ears.
"That bastard... He really wrote about me in the diary..."
"He was doing that on purpose!"
Mi Ruoxi was so angry her face turned pale. She shot Lin Chen a fierce glare.
If she hadn't been kept alive by this fellow's poison, and hadn't had to put on the white silk to protect herself, why would she have ended up in such a state?
Lin Chen simply smiled, completely unbothered.
But Qian Ling'er's hand, resting on her wine cup, suddenly tightened.
"Did you just say you were wearing white silk?"
Qian Ling'er grumbled inwardly.
"Lin Chen, you'd better watch yourself!"
"I, Qian Ling'er, might as well die out here. I will never wear white silk for you!"
Lin Chen seemed to close his eyes and rest.
In the sea of his mind, the Diary continued to write.
However, the next entry swept away all the teasing and anger from before, replacing them with bone-chilling dread.
[I need to remind you again: Mi Ruoxi clearly found out through the Diary that Qian Ling'er was Qian Ling'er, yet she didn't dare say a single word to Qian Ling'er.]
[Silence is clever. After all, it was impossible for Qian Ling'er to believe that the Qian Ling'er she'd spent ten years carefully teaching would turn out to be an undercover agent. If she had exposed herself too soon, the consequences would have been devastating.]
[If nothing changes, Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan will soon face the greatest calamity of its history... The name of the Soul Hall will spread across the continent. Dou Luo will start his rebellion, half the disciples of the clan will die, and the clan will be reduced to ruins...]
[I just don't know what will happen to Mi Ruoxi this time...]
"Ah..."
The black heart in Mi Ruoxi's hand fell to the ground.
She hurriedly picked it up, careful not to let anyone else notice.
"Ruoxi, are you all right?"
"I... I'm fine."
She was as though struck by lightning, her body trembling violently.
Her complexion turned deathly pale in an instant.
"Qian Ling'er..."
"Will the whole clan be affected too?"
Each word was like a sharp blade soaked in poison, stabbing straight into her heart and tearing apart the beautiful dreams she'd held for the future.
She seemed to see that terrible scene—
The broken clan, the dead disciples, and the arm severed by Dou Luo's side...
"No... That can't be real..."
Mi Ruoxi lifted her head, her eyes fixed on Qian Ling'er, who was sitting high above.
Qian Ling'er was smiling brightly at Ning Qinghe.
That scene pierced Mi Ruoxi's heart. At that moment, she felt an unbearable sense of humiliation and fear, as if a flood had swept over her and drowned her.
She lowered her head again and looked toward Dou Luo, who was speaking and laughing with Lin Chen.
The Lin Chen who controlled the future and knew every cause and effect—
He hadn't attacked her. But Mi Ruoxi knew that his words were meant as a warning.
"He's... warning me!"
Mi Ruoxi's eyes glistened. Tears gathered in them, but she didn't dare let them fall.
The defiance had vanished from her gaze.
All that remained was a humble, almost desperate plea.
"Lin Chen... Please... spare me."
"As long as you can save the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan, as long as you can save my father and the others, you can ask anything of me... I'll agree to it all."
She looked at Lin Chen. Her eyes were filled with pleading dependence, and even Zhu Zhuqing, sitting at her side, sensed an indescribable tenderness.
"Ruoxi... Are you all right?"
Zhu Zhuqing didn't know how to comfort her.
What had happened was so sudden. But at this moment, the Diary's contents were the most urgent thing to deal with.
Before you continue