The Nine Tortoise Isles.
It was already well past midnight when they returned to the Lu Family's base.
Mu Qinghong came to meet them. Seeing that both were unharmed, she sighed with relief. "Princess, everything here is as usual. Dragon-Slaying City has made no moves."
Li Lingyue nodded, her gaze sweeping over the island's sentry posts. "What about Kangjinlong and the others?"
"They're locked in the dungeon under seven layers of restrictions. They couldn't escape even if they sprouted wings."
Li Lingyue gave a satisfied hum and entered the stone chamber with Lu Changfeng.
The chamber was brightly lit.
Zhao Lanjun hauled Hei Chijun off to the dungeon while Mu Qinghong reported on what had happened during their absence.
Li Lingyue sat in a chair, tapping its armrest lightly with her fingers, then suddenly sighed.
Lu Changfeng glanced at her. "What's wrong?"
"We forgot something."
"What?"
"Su Yanqiu."
Li Lingyue rubbed between her brows. "He possesses the White Marsh's divine ability. He must know where the third volume is, but we forgot to ask..."
Lu Changfeng remembered too. They really should have asked, but under those circumstances, one remark had led to another, and Su Yanqiu had seen them out as soon as he handed over the casket. They had felt too awkward to ask anything else...
"It's all right."
Lu Changfeng considered it, then said, "Now that we've untangled the connections, we can use the Plum Blossom Guards' intelligence network to investigate the Li Clan of Li Gate. Follow the vine to the melon, and we're bound to uncover something... If that fails, we can swallow our embarrassment and ask him again. Our first priority is opening that casket. With those people holding off Dragon-Slaying City and drawing out the fighting, we can't let this opportunity slip."
Li Lingyue