Leng Xiaoyue's Hesitation

The situation was far too strange. Even Li Qingyue, usually so composed, could not help frowning slightly.

He silently rewound the footage, then pulled up several other surveillance clips.

Leng Xiaoyue had been thorough. Her phone held almost every other recording, but each showed something entirely different.

In the earlier footage, Li Qingyue could clearly be seen walking into view. At that point, his figure was still plainly visible.

But when his body paused ever so slightly, his figure seemed to vanish into thin air, without anyone looking his way.

Yet even after he had disappeared, nothing in the footage struck anyone as odd.

Neither the Soul Masters from earlier nor anyone else had noticed anything unusual in the surveillance videos.

Then two people suddenly appeared, exchanged a few words in hushed voices, and were shot dead.

There was nothing in the entire sequence that could lead anyone to suspect Li Qingyue.

Even when Li Qingyue slowed the video countless times over and examined it frame by frame, scrutinizing every detail, he still could not tell when he had disappeared.

He could not even pinpoint the crucial second.

It was an eerie phenomenon, as though something unknown had attached itself to his body.

"What the hell is this? Is it unknowable and invisible because I used the Reignbow Arbiter Martial Soul?"

"But normally, the Reignbow Arbiter shouldn't have that kind of power."

As Li Qingyue spoke, he stared at his hands, confusion in his eyes.

But right now, he had no mind to dwell on it.

Once he had confirmed that Na'er was safe, Li Qingyue turned straight to Leng Xiaoyue.

"Find a way to delete all the surveillance footage. We can't leave any of it behind."

"If it stays, it could cause trouble, and the Qiangu Family is bound to investigate."

Li Qingyue looked at Leng Xiaoyue as he spoke, his tone direct.

Given the Qiangu Family's resources, finding the backup footage and cloud recordings kept by the property management company would not be difficult.

So if they were going to delete the footage, they had to delete every recording from the entire apartment building. Not a trace could remain.

That might be difficult for anyone else, but Leng Xiaoyue could do it.

Hearing his words, Leng Xiaoyue nodded. Clearly, she had already done just that.

"It's all been wiped clean, and I've forged our identities too."

"Even if the Qiangu Family comes to investigate, they won't notice anything wrong here."

"They'll just think the owner of this place went traveling in another province."

"And the property wasn't registered under either of our names in the first place. I used a stranger's identity, so they won't suspect us."

Leng Xiaoyue spoke plainly, though her brows remained faintly furrowed.

She did not care about her own safety.

But if the two of them stayed together, they might draw attention.

As they were thinking it over, Mu Chen walked in behind them.

Seeing the two of them standing there, and the dark circles beneath Leng Xiaoyue's eyes, he frowned.

"What happened? Can you tell me?"

"If something's wrong, I might be able to help you deal with it."

Mu Chen stepped forward as he spoke, his gaze calm.

He could make a fair guess at what kind of trouble it was.

But nothing had happened in three years, so Mu Chen had thought the Qiangu Family had given up.

Judging by the way they looked now, though, the other side had clearly made another move.

At the sight of Mu Chen, Leng Xiaoyue frowned.

She did not want to drag him into this. But given the situation, things would certainly be much better if Mu Chen was willing to get involved, or at least offer help.

Unlike Leng Xiaoyue, who was still weighing those concerns, Li Qingyue did not mind.

After all, Mu Chen was already his master. There was nothing wrong with asking him for help.

So Li Qingyue held nothing back and gave him a general account of what had happened.

When Li Qingyue finished, Mu Chen frowned too. People from the Qiangu Family were looking for his apprentice and might even take him away.

"If they take away someone with your talent, it would be a terrible waste. They'd be destroying the world of Forging."

"How about this? Come stay at my house for now. Aunt Bao and I would both be happy to have you."

"You've eaten at our place before. You know what Aunt Bao is like. She won't make things difficult for you."

"Stay with us for now, and go to school with Mu Xi and the others."

"No matter how powerful the Spirit Pagoda is, they can't easily trace you to my home."

"I am a level-eight Blacksmith, after all. If they're brazen enough to come onto my turf and investigate, I won't mind fighting them."

Mu Chen sounded confident, but he was not deliberately boasting.

His standing spoke for itself.

A level-eight Blacksmith held considerable renown throughout the world of Forging.

What was more, his senior fellow apprentice was Zhen Hua, the greatest Blacksmith in the world.

If someone truly pushed him to the brink, he could ask Zhen Hua to step in.

With Zhen Hua's backing and connections, he had little reason to fear even the Qiangu Family.

Besides, he had done nothing to offend the Qiangu Family.

At Mu Chen's words, Leng Xiaoyue looked to Li Qingyue. The decision had to be his.

Li Qingyue had no intention of dragging things out. More back-and-forth would only waste time.

This really was their best option, so Li Qingyue nodded at once. "Sorry for the trouble, Master. I'd like to bring Na'er to stay at your house."

"All right, let's go. I'll take you both back now."

"Wait, what about you?" Mu Chen asked, looking at Leng Xiaoyue in puzzlement.

Leng Xiaoyue was not particularly concerned. To her, Li Qingyue and Na'er were just two targets.

Besides, those two were the ones the Qiangu Family wanted, and she belonged to a collateral branch of the family. The chances of her being caught were low to begin with.

So she shook her head calmly. "I'll be fine. Please protect Li Qingyue. I'll go get Na'er."

After speaking, Leng Xiaoyue silently looked at Li Qingyue.

When he nodded, she calmly brought Na'er over.

As the two of them left with Mu Chen, Leng Xiaoyue took a deep breath.

She reached into her trouser pocket, pulled out a pack of women's cigarettes, and lit one.

Thin smoke drifted through the air. Her expression was unusually calm, yet a struggle lay beneath it.

Her younger brother had died, but it was not because of Leng Yaozhu. There had been another reason.

Leng Yaozhu had kept it from her all this time, thinking she did not know.

But Leng Xiaoyue had learned the truth through her own channels. In fact, she had always kept an eye on her younger brother.

She had not been in Eastsea City these past few days. She had gone to the small county town where her younger brother had been settled and taken care of his funeral arrangements.

Now that she was back, she hesitated over whether to keep looking after Li Qingyue—or whether to kill him herself.