The one who emptied the treasure vault was actually...

"It wasn't me. I only stole a trinket or two... it's impossible for me to have emptied the entire secret treasury."

Hearing Cipher's words, Aglaea merely looked at her with a calm expression.

"I know."

"You know?"

Cipher was stunned for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "I didn't expect you, Tailor, to be such a good judge of character. So, what if I told you it was me?"

"You couldn't have."

"Why?"

"Because you don't possess a Soul Tool, and you lack the capacity to empty the imperial treasury in one go."

Once those words were spoken, Cipher fell silent for a few seconds before letting out a scoff.

"You don't even believe me when I tell the truth. You're really dense. Forget it, Tailor, I'll come back next time."

Aglaea was just about to speak, but she found that the other party had vanished in a flash once again.

She looked in the direction where Cipher had disappeared, a trace of doubt rising in her heart.

If it wasn't Cipher, then who could have done it?

On the evening of the fourth day, Cipher did not come.

On the fifth day, she didn't come either.

On the evening of the sixth day, just as Aglaea was preparing to close the shop, she suddenly heard a soft sound from the roof.

Then, she saw Cipher crouching on the eaves, her hands resting on her knees like a kitten, tilting her head as she looked down at her.

"You close up quite early."

Aglaea nodded. "Yes, it's dark."

"It's only fun once it's dark."

Cipher leaped down from the eaves, landing lightly at the shop entrance.

The cloak she wore today was noticeably better-looking than before, though it was still crudely made.

Aglaea only glanced at it twice before withdrawing her gaze and continuing to pack up her stall.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, Cipher suddenly leaned in close.

"Tailor, when your Dean returns, could you ask him a question for me?"

"What question?"

"Ask him what exactly he wants to get from me."

What did he want? The Dean surely just wanted to recruit her into the academy.

However, she had no idea why the Dean would want to recruit a thief.

Thinking of this, Aglaea nodded. "Alright, but in exchange, you need to answer a question for me as well."

"Hmm? Go ahead and ask." Cipher waved her hand nonchalantly.

However, Aglaea's next words left her stunned.

"You should already be at level thirty-four, right? With that kind of strength, why choose to be a thief?"

"On the first day, you brought me that ruby ring and said it was to pay off a debt. That must have been something from the imperial palace, right?"

Cipher stammered, not knowing how to respond.

Seeing that she had been exposed, she had no choice but to explain helplessly:

"I steal... because... there are a few stray brats in the city. They... no one looks after them, so I steal things to trade for money to get them supplies."

"I know stealing is wrong, but I have no other choice."

Aglaea remained silent for a long while before she finally spoke.

"Will you come again tomorrow?"

On the seventh day, Ye Qiong finally returned.

As soon as he pushed open the shop door, Ye Qiong saw Aglaea behind the counter, working on the tailoring of a blue-black garment.

Ye Qiong scanned the shop. "Has anyone been here these past few days?"

"Cipher."

A smile immediately appeared on the corners of Ye Qiong's mouth.

Just then, a rush of hurried footsteps sounded at the door.

Cipher pulled back the curtain and poked her head inside, her Cat Ears standing perfectly straight:

"Seamstress! I heard that dean of yours is back..."

Her gaze landed on Ye Qiong, and her voice cut off abruptly.

Ye Qiong waved at her with a smile:

"Hello there, little cat."

Cipher's tail puffed up instantly:

"Who's a cat!"

"Those things on your head, they couldn't possibly be dog ears, could they?"

Cipher instinctively covered her Cat Ears, her face flushing bright red:

"H-how do you know?"

"I know a lot of things."

Ye Qiong leaned against the counter, arms crossed, watching her with a smile:

"I also know you're from Doloss, raised by an old woman since you were small. Later, she was framed, you escaped, and you've been wandering ever since."

Cipher's expression changed in an instant, and she looked at Ye Qiong with wariness:

"Who... who exactly are you?"

Ye Qiong looked at her, his gaze calm:

"My name is Ye Qiong, but you can just call me Huizi."

Cipher froze for a moment:

"Huizi?"

Such a familiar name.

It sounded like the name she used to give the trash cans on the street.

"I opened an academy in Heaven Dou City, and I'd like to invite you to join."

"An academy?"

"That's right, Omphalos Academy."

Cipher recited the name, a strange light flashing in the depths of her eyes:

"Why did you choose that name?"

Ye Qiong didn't answer, simply continuing to look at her with that same smile.

Yet, that smile made her feel a sense of "benevolent" intimidation.

After a long while, she finally looked up:

"Does your academy... still accept students?"

"It does."

Ye Qiong reached out a hand toward Cipher:

"Welcome to Omphalos Academy."

From the time Aglaea opened her shop to Cipher's enrollment, exactly seven days had passed.

In front of the Heaven Dou City auction house, Cipher turned around abruptly:

"The auction house? Why are you bringing me here? Didn't you say you were taking me to the academy?"

Ye Qiong waved his hand without looking back:

"We need to sell some things first. There's a whole bunch of students back at the academy waiting to be fed; I can't exactly go back empty-handed, can I?"

Cipher blinked, suddenly remembering something:

"Wait, you don't mean..."

Ye Qiong's footsteps faltered, and he turned back to make a shushing gesture at Cipher.

Cipher's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at him: "So that incident was your doing?"

Ye Qiong smiled but said nothing.

Cipher hurriedly lowered her voice and leaned in: "I never imagined you actually emptied out the Star Luo Empire's imperial treasury!"

"What kind of talk is that? I just picked it up."

"..."

Cipher opened her mouth, at a loss for words.

Seeing this, Ye Qiong laughed and patted her on the shoulder:

"These things are just gathering dust in that storehouse anyway, so it's better to bring them out and let them realize their true value."

Cipher stared at him, stunned:

"Aren't, aren't you afraid of being discovered?"

Ye Qiong didn't even look back:

"Afraid of what? I didn't leave any traces behind. Besides, even if they investigate, they'll only ever trace it back to that 'petty thief who specializes in jewelry stores'."

Cipher immediately bristled: "You!... You set me up on purpose?"

Ye Qiong turned his head and winked at her:

"I didn't say a word."

Cipher stood frozen in place, watching his back disappear around the street corner.

Her heart was filled with speechlessness.

She had originally thought that she, a person who went around swindling and stealing, was already shameless enough, but she hadn't expected someone to be even more shameless than her.

Aglaea walked out from behind and stood by her side:

"You'll get used to it."

Cipher turned her head to look at her: "You knew about this all along?"

Aglaea shook her head:

"I only just found out myself."

"Then aren't you surprised?"

Aglaea thought for a moment, then smiled with resignation:

"He can even conjure an entire academy out of thin air; emptying out a treasure vault... doesn't seem all that unexpected."

In the private room of the auction house.

Ye Qiong leaned back against his chair, a faint smile playing on his lips.

He had indeed emptied the imperial palace's secret treasures, but that was only because he had accidentally broken in while testing the abilities of the Dragon Wings of Space.

Sticking to the principle of "it was an accident," he had then accidentally gathered up all those secret treasures and taken them away.

Thinking of this, Ye Qiong let out a scoff: "They must be tearing their hair out by now, right?"