Orange Appears, the Gentle Senior Brings an Imperial Military Order

After the rain stopped, the mist around Star Dou's outskirts did not disperse. When Huo Yuhao left the outskirts with the soul engineering fragments, fine stabs of pain still lingered in his spiritual sea. It was not an injury. It felt more like someone far away was lightly plucking at the thread of his fate with a cold needle. Wang Dong'er walked on his left. Wang Qiu'er walked on his right. Neither of them mentioned the lucid yet boundary-crossing choice behind the mountain rocks last night.

Wang Dong'er's eyes were slightly red, but she was quieter than usual. The quieter she became, the heavier Huo Yuhao's heart felt. Wang Qiu'er remained as straightforward as ever, her golden eyes coldly sweeping over the road ahead.

"Someone's coming."

Huo Yuhao raised a hand. The group stopped. In the mist ahead, the silver-blue glow of soul tools gradually lit up. It was not an ambush formation. It was a ceremonial formation. The Sun Moon Empire military's highest-standard soul tool formation for welcoming guests. Dozens of floating soul tool lamps unfolded at once, their light like sliced moonlight as it paved a narrow, frigid road. At the end of that road, a black-and-gold soul tool carriage stood at the forest's edge. Its door opened, and a slender white hand emerged first.

Orange stepped down from the carriage. She wore the formal gown of the Sun Moon Empire's crown princess, yet she had not turned herself into one of those palace ornaments who could do nothing but smile. Her silver-gray dress clung to her waist, and a dark military coat hung over it, its cuffs embroidered with tiny sun patterns. Her hair was tied back neatly, and her features remained gentle, but before an imperial military formation, that gentleness carried an indescribable hint of danger. When she saw Huo Yuhao, she smiled first.

"Yuhao, it's been a long time."

Those four words were soft. Soft enough to resemble the days at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, when she had carried a bowl of hot soup over to him. But Huo Yuhao did not answer at once. He saw the military banners behind her, the triggers held in the sleeves of the soul engineers on both sides, and the golden-patterned token at her waist that represented her status as crown princess.

Wang Dong'er's fingers tightened slightly. Compared to Wang Qiu'er, she disliked Orange more. Not because Orange directly fought for anything. Quite the opposite: Orange fought for nothing. She merely stood there, like a past Huo Yuhao had no way of denying. She knew his silence, knew his habits, and even knew how to offer that old time back to him through a single "it's been a long time." Wang Qiu'er, meanwhile, stared at the token at Orange's waist.

"You brought people to capture him?"

Orange looked at her. Two similar faces stood beside Huo Yuhao, one bright and clear, the other wild with golden eyes. A fleeting trace of surprise flashed through Orange's eyes before she returned to her gentle expression.

"If I truly intended to capture him, I wouldn't have come myself."

She took a sealed soul tool case from her sleeve and tossed it to Huo Yuhao. He caught it. There was no offensive soul power inside, only a copy of a secret order from the Sun Moon Imperial Family. The instant he opened it, the Return Flow Core Fragment trembled softly. Eight words surfaced upon it—

Beast Command Core Fragment, live specimen acquisition.

Wang Dong'er's expression changed. Ye Guyi gripped her sword hilt behind them. Ma Xiaotao narrowed her eyes, and Evil Phoenix Flame flickered at her fingertips before vanishing. Orange did not rush to explain. She merely lifted her gaze and looked at Huo Yuhao.

"The Sun Moon Imperial Family already knows you obtained that Star Dou lead. They do not merely intend to seize the soul tools. They also want your spiritual algorithms and the Return Flow response."

Huo Yuhao's voice sank. "So what are you here for?"

"To give you a way out."

"And the price?" Orange's smile finally faded slightly.

"You enter Sun Moon Camp with me. I will personally change you from an 'enemy target' to an 'Empire temporary cooperation partner.' You can access their sampling devices, and you can investigate who had the Holy Spirit Cult watch this divine lead."

Wang Dong'er said coldly, "And then? Have him hand the soul engineering fragments over to you?" Orange looked at her, her tone still gentle.

"I will not say I don't want them."

That sentence was too frank. So frank that even Wang Dong'er froze for a moment.

Orange continued, "I will fight for it on behalf of Sun Moon, and I will make sure Yuhao leaves alive. Miss Dong'er, you may hate me, but you had better believe one thing." Her gaze passed over Wang Dong'er and returned to Huo Yuhao.

"If I had truly wanted him dead, the third letter would never have reached Star Dou."

Huo Yuhao did not answer immediately. Of course he knew. Every letter Orange sent contained calculations. Yet every letter had also saved his life. People like her were the most dangerous, because she was genuinely gentle, and she genuinely knew how to use that gentleness. Huo Yuhao held the soul tool case as Spirit Detection spread forward. Three layers of soul tool formations lay in the direction of Sun Moon Camp: the outermost military formation, the second sampling formation, and at the deepest point, a hidden door tainted by the aura of the Holy Spirit Cult. Orange had not lied to him.

"I'll go with you."

Wang Dong'er and Wang Qiu'er both snapped their gazes toward him. Huo Yuhao added, "But they come with me."

Orange gently shook her head. "How could the Sun Moon Empire possibly allow all three of you to enter together? I only secured permission for you, one person. You should know that even though I am already the crown princess, my authority is not limitless."

Wang Qiu'er stepped forward, vicious intent pressing from her golden eyes. "Then we'll fight our way in."

Huo Yuhao raised a hand and pressed down on her wrist. That gesture darkened Wang Dong'er's gaze for another instant. Orange saw it but did not expose it.

She merely said, "You may bring her, this young lady with the Angel Martial Soul."

Ye Guyi raised her eyes. "Me?"

"The aura of the Holy Spirit Cult is inside Sun Moon Camp. If you enter, the Sun Moon military will instead restrain itself for the time being."

Orange paused, her gaze falling between Wang Dong'er and Wang Qiu'er.

"You'd better not let anything happen to him," Wang Dong'er said resentfully.

Orange softly replied, "Naturally."

"If anything happens to him, I'll slaughter my way into your camp." Orange looked at her for a long time. Then she smiled.

"No wonder he can't let go of you."

The words were like a soft needle, pricking Wang Dong'er's chest until it felt stifling.

Huo Yuhao frowned. "Orange." Orange lowered her eyes.

"Sorry. Force of habit." She turned around, and the Sun Moon soul tool lamps parted to either side.

"Come, Yuhao."

She did not call him Huo Yuhao. Wang Dong'er and Wang Qiu'er stood where they were, watching Huo Yuhao and Ye Guyi follow Orange onto the silver-blue path. Ma Xiaotao walked over to Dong'er's side, her fiery red hair tossed by the wind.

"Does it hurt?"

Wang Dong'er bit her lip. "No." Ma Xiaotao smiled.

"Being stubborn is useless. If you really want to keep a man, suffering in silence isn't enough."

Wang Dong'er looked at her. There was no desire to compete in Ma Xiaotao's eyes, only a mature clarity that was nearly dangerous.

"You need to know why other people are drawn to him."

Wang Dong'er froze. Ma Xiaotao gazed at Orange's retreating figure in the distance. "That woman knows when to stop, and she knows how to wield a blade. A gentle blade."

Wang Dong'er asked softly, "Then what should I do?" Ma Xiaotao's smile faded somewhat.

"Don't ask me." Phoenix Flame danced softly at her fingertips.

"I don't understand these things."

At the end of the silver-blue soul tool lamps, Orange suddenly stopped. She did not turn around.

"Yuhao, after entering the camp, no matter what you hear or see, do not act impulsively."

Huo Yuhao asked, "What is inside?"

Orange's voice was very soft. "The orders they gave me."

She turned her face slightly, gentleness and darkness overlapping in her eyes. "And the selfish desire I never told you about."