Orange's Clue Arrives Again; Guyi Accompanies Him All the Way

When the carrier pigeon landed, Huo Yuhao had just returned from the arena.

The Shrek rest area still carried the noise of victory. Xu Sanshi was arguing with He Caitou over who had looked cooler during their coordination just now. Bei Bei was quietly reviewing the flaws in their opponent's Soul-Washing Formation with Tang Ya. Xiao Xiao sat to one side, hugging Caitou's sturdy arm, the excitement still not entirely gone from her face.

Yet Huo Yuhao did not feel the slightest bit relaxed.

Although he had lived up to Dong'er's words—"Even without Qiu'er, we can still win"—this victory had done nothing to change Wang Dong'er's deliberate distance from him.

Orange's carrier pigeon did not land on the windowsill. Instead, it flew directly into the range of his Spirit Detection. His Spirit Eyes flashed, and the pigeon transformed into an extremely thin piece of soul tool paper, bearing only two lines.

First line: The Sun Moon military camp would change shifts tonight.

Second line: The fake auspicious beast core would be transferred into the Empire Soul Tool Tower.

The third line had been deliberately written in extremely faint soul tool ink. It only appeared when Huo Yuhao swept it with Spirit Detection.

Don't trust the tournament arrangements. The real competition isn't in the arena.

After reading it, Huo Yuhao's fingers tightened slightly.

Wang Dong'er stood by the door, not coming over to him immediately as she once had. When she saw that orange point of light, her gaze merely turned cold.

"Another secret report from Orange?"

Huo Yuhao nodded.

She asked nothing else. That farewell-like intimacy last night had already said too much. The beautiful victory during the day had not repaired the crack between them, either. She was still standing here because Shrek still needed her, because the Sun Moon Empire and the Holy Spirit Cult were still reaching out from the shadows.

Huo Yuhao laid out the last three letters he had received from Orange in sequence.

The first had warned him about the Sun Moon soul tool core.

The second had provided a structural diagram of the simulated auspicious beast aura.

The third had directly pointed out that the Sun Moon military camp would change shifts tonight.

Linked together, the three letters formed a narrow path Orange had forcibly pieced together for Huo Yuhao beneath the layers of surveillance within the Sun Moon Empire. She had neither removed herself from the situation nor fully spelled out the danger, but Huo Yuhao understood. Someone in the Sun Moon Empire wanted to use the Holy Spirit Cult's hands to test a newly developed Beast Command. And Orange wanted to push Huo Yuhao in the right direction before everyone else, to see how he would drive everything forward.

That was the most frightening thing about Orange.

Last night it had been Wang Qiu'er; today, it was Orange. Every woman around Huo Yuhao seemed to have more than enough reason to stand within his battlefield. That was what exhausted Wang Dong'er the most.

Huo Yuhao pressed his Spirit Detection into the map. Icy blue light spread across it, magnifying the locator rune from Orange's letter. The Sun Moon temporary camp, the soul tool tower, and Shrek's old battlefield connected at three points, forming a curved hidden line.

Ye Guyi frowned. "They bypassed every public patrol route."

"Because the tournament is a smokescreen," Huo Yuhao said. "The Living Formation Nails in the third round were only a test. If they gather enough genuine emotional fluctuations and feedback from the fake auspicious beast aura during the matches, they can continue developing the Beast Command."

Ma Xiaotao leaned against the doorway, her red clothes like fire. Her tone was lazy, yet cold. "Then let's just wipe out their camp."

Huo Yuhao shook his head. "We can't force it. Since they're changing shifts tonight, it means someone wants to move the core. It also means Orange may not be able to control the situation completely."

Huo Yuhao looked toward Wang Dong'er, signaling with his eyes. "I'm going to the Sun Moon Empire's soul tool tower. Dong'er, would you be willing to..." His voice carried a trace of nervousness. After pausing, he continued, "Go with me."

Wang Dong'er smiled. "All right. I'll go with you."

Huo Yuhao froze for a moment, then a relieved smile appeared on his face.

Wang Dong'er looked at the map, her voice unnaturally steady.

"Don't misunderstand. I'm not doing this for anything else, and it's not because I want to go with you. I'm a member of Shrek too. I have a responsibility to get to the bottom of this."

Huo Yuhao's chest ached. He knew Wang Dong'er was gradually pulling herself back from the position of "Huo Yuhao's lover" to that of "Shrek teammate."

Half an hour later, at Shrek's rear gate.

Huo Yuhao checked the Soul Tool Locator Rune one last time. Orange's letter had become a faint orange point of light at the edge of the map. Wang Dong'er saw it but did not ask.

Ye Guyi held her holy sword in her arms, while Ma Xiaotao pressed a flicker of dark red flame beneath her fingertips. She glanced at Huo Yuhao, then at Wang Dong'er. For once, she did not joke.

After leaving the city, Ye Guyi remained at the side rear of the group.

She neither approached Huo Yuhao nor moved far away from him.

Like a sword that could be drawn at any moment.

Ma Xiaotao walked on the other side, keeping her flames low. Her red clothes fluttered softly in the night wind. One was holy light, the other evil fire. One was cold as snow, the other hot like a flame hidden in the night.

Huo Yuhao walked at the front, his Spirit Detection spread wide.

Wang Dong'er did not stay close to him. She was ahead to his left, using light to scout the way, her movements calm as if there were no personal feelings involved at all. Huo Yuhao could sense her, and he could sense the distance she had deliberately left between them.

It hurt more than an argument.

Wang Dong'er said softly, "Ye Guyi has been watching you. That doesn't look like a friendly gaze."

It did not sound like jealousy, but more like a warning.

Huo Yuhao said helplessly, "She's watching the lingering evil aura on me."

Ma Xiaotao lazily added, "Or maybe she's watching you."

Huo Yuhao stumbled, nearly tripping over his own feet.

Ma Xiaotao laughed.

Ye Guyi gave her a cold look. "Someone whose evil fire has not been cleared should not provoke others so casually."

Ma Xiaotao raised her brows. "You manage that too?"

"I manage evil thoughts."

"Then you'll be busy." Ma Xiaotao looked at Huo Yuhao. "There are plenty of evil thoughts in this team."

Wang Dong'er's ears reddened slightly, but she did not scold Ma Xiaotao to stop talking nonsense as she would have before. She merely kept watching the road, making Huo Yuhao feel even worse.

After traveling thirty li through the night, the first ambush appeared.

It was not soul masters, but a patch of Soul Tool Mist buried within the forest. The mist was grayish white. Ordinary Spirit Detection dispersed the moment it touched it, but once scattered, it would cling to the outer layer of a person's spiritual sea and create a false sense of direction.

Huo Yuhao raised his hand.

"Stop."

Wang Dong'er's light wings spread slightly. Flames curled around Ma Xiaotao's fingertips, and the smile faded from her face. "A little Sun Moon toy?"

Huo Yuhao shook his head. "Sun Moon shell, Holy Spirit Cult core."

Ye Guyi drew her sword. Holy light fell into the gray mist. A dense chorus of shrill cries immediately rose from within it, as though countless ghosts had been exposed in their true forms.

Huo Yuhao activated his Spirit Eyes. His Spirit Detection slipped through the gap cleaved open by the holy light and drilled into the bottom of the mist. He saw them. Seven black soul tool nails were buried deep within the fog formation. Their structure was identical to the Living Formation Nails from the third-round arena.

"They're buying time,"

Huo Yuhao said quietly.

"The soul tool tower's shift change will take all night. The fog formation is meant to make us detour."

Ye Guyi said, "I'll cut it open."

"Not enough."

Huo Yuhao raised his hand, spreading his Spirit Detection.

"Dong'er, seal the upper layer. Sister Xiaotao, burn the left side, but don't burn the Evil Soul Nails. Ye Guyi, use your holy light to cut their evil runes. Don't touch the Sun Moon outer shells."

Ma Xiaotao's eyes brightened, and her flames fell with precision.

Ye Guyi frowned. This man commanded them so naturally. So naturally that it seemed these utterly different women, even women dangerous to one another, should have been revolving around his tactics from the start.

But he did not rely on sweet talk. He relied on strength, on standing in the most dangerous place time and again.

Holy light, evil fire, and butterfly wings entered the formation at once. Huo Yuhao used Ultimate Ice to lock down the seven soul tool nails, then shattered their inner cores in reverse with Spirit Shock.

The fog formation exploded apart.

Ye Guyi looked at him. "I could have broken through it directly just now."

"Breaking it by force would have made the soul tool nails self-destruct and alerted the Sun Moon camp."

Huo Yuhao withdrew his Spirit Detection.

"We need to be fast, but we also need to be quiet."

Ye Guyi fell silent.

After a moment, she said, "You're very capable."

Huo Yuhao looked at her.

"But I will continue watching you. To see whether you control power through desire, or whether desire drags you onto an evil path."

Ma Xiaotao chuckled. "You make that sound terrifying."

Ye Guyi said coldly, "You're within my range of observation too."

Ma Xiaotao raised a hand and gathered her red hair. "Then take your time watching."

She moved half a step closer to Huo Yuhao and lowered her voice.

"Junior brother, hear that? If you want to do anything bad from now on, you'll have to get past the Holy Angel first."

Huo Yuhao did not turn around.

After the mist dispersed, a deep soul tool bell rang out from the direction of the Sun Moon camp.

Ye Guyi looked up. "The shift change has begun."

Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes lit up.

"Operation begins."