In the dimness, Lin Qingyang crouched on a shelf, lit from below, which made him look especially frightening. Qi Mo recoiled in fright and crashed straight into the shelf behind him, sending booklets tumbling all over the floor.
Lin Qingyang landed lightly, picked up the booklet he had just selected, and raised an eyebrow at him.
Qi Mo collected himself, and only then did panic appear on his face. "Master..." he called softly.
Lin Qingyang looked over Qi Mo's new appearance. Without his wolf ears, he looked even more handsome and refined. In those clothes, he really did look like a handsome Human Clan youth.
"Well, look at you. Changing your appearance, picking locks-how many more surprises have you kept from His Majesty?" Lin Qingyang said sarcastically.
Hearing the displeasure in his voice, Qi Mo looked even guiltier and dropped to his knees before him.
"Where are your ears and tail?" Lin Qingyang asked.
"The Demon-Locking Ring's power weakens at midnight, so I can use a tiny bit of demonic power. It isn't enough to do much, but it's enough to hide my ears and tail," Qi Mo answered honestly.
Lin Qingyang shot him an irritated glance, then ignored him and began leafing through A Chou's booklet.
"That wasn't what it said before," Qi Mo couldn't help saying.
Lin Qingyang gave him a sidelong glance, and Qi Mo dared not say anything more. Lin Qingyang turned back to the booklet. It said A Chou was a female demon sold to the Jin Yao Workshop by a Demon Hunter ten years ago. Her breed was gray wolf. He remembered Lin Yao saying that Qi Mo had also been taken for a gray wolf before his awakening.
"Who is A Chou?" Lin Qingyang asked.
Qi Mo paused. "She's my older sister."
Lin Qingyang took a moment to process that. "Wait, didn't you say all your family were gone?"
Qi Mo lowered his head, not daring to look at him, his ears tilting back guiltily. Seeing him like that, what was there left to misunderstand?
"Which of your words are actually true?" Lin Qingyang snorted, unable to keep his temper from rising.
Qi Mo kept his head lowered and dared not speak.
Lin Qingyang frowned and asked, "You insisted on coming to Wasteland Town because you wanted to find your sister?"
Qi Mo was silent for a moment before saying slowly, "She was captured and taken to the Jin Yao Workshop with me. Because of the scar on her face, no one ever bought her. She was still here when I was sold to the Nine Skies Sect. I just..." He paused before continuing, "I just wanted to know if she was still alive."
In a place like the Jin Yao Workshop, most demon slaves who couldn't be sold didn't survive more than a few years.
Qi Mo looked up at Lin Qingyang, his eyes reddening, a rare pleading note entering his voice. "I was wrong to hide it from you. You can punish me however you want, but could you please tell me where she... went afterward?"
Qi Mo looked at the booklet in his hand, his voice trembling slightly, as though he wanted to know the answer but was also afraid to hear it.
Seeing him like this, Lin Qingyang sighed helplessly. "Get up first."
Only then did Qi Mo stand, his eyes still fixed on the booklet in Lin Qingyang's hand.
"It only says she was sent to the Underground Palace two years ago. What kind of place is that?" Lin Qingyang asked.
Qi Mo's expression darkened, then anger rose on his face. Through gritted teeth, he said bitterly, "It's beneath the Jin Yao Workshop. They use it to breed demon slaves!"
Lin Qingyang's heart sank at Qi Mo's answer. In a place like that, she probably wouldn't survive long at all. With a cold expression, Qi Mo turned and started out.
"What are you doing?" Lin Qingyang grabbed him.
"I'm going to find her!" Qi Mo looked at Lin Qingyang, his eyes bloodshot and his expression stubborn, looking as though he wouldn't let anyone stop him.
"Don't look at me like that. I never said you couldn't go. Do you know where the Underground Palace is?" Lin Qingyang asked helplessly.
Qi Mo paused, then nodded hesitantly.
"Then let's go." Lin Qingyang headed for the door.
Qi Mo froze for a moment, then followed him. "You're going too?"
"What else? Let you go out alone and cause trouble for me?" Lin Qingyang said irritably.
They reached the Archives Room's door. Through the crack, Lin Qingyang saw that the two guards had returned to the corridor. He was about to go out and knock them unconscious when Qi Mo pulled another mouse from his sleeve.
Lin Qingyang turned and was startled to see a live mouse right in front of him. The Windflower Sword in his hand was just about to scream, but Lin Qingyang gripped its hilt, stopping it.
"Just how many mice have you hidden on you?" Lin Qingyang asked, speechless.
"There's one more." Qi Mo started reaching for it.
"Don't take it out!" Lin Qingyang hurriedly stopped him, then waved for him to hurry up and release the mouse.
Soon, the two guards were lured away by the mouse just as before. Seeing the corridor empty, Lin Qingyang was about to step out when Qi Mo suddenly pulled him back.
"Someone's coming!" Qi Mo whispered.
"You can still hear them without your ears?" Lin Qingyang asked.
"My ears are only hidden. They're not gone," Qi Mo explained.
Looking through the crack in the door, they soon saw Hua Jin approaching with a man. The man was dressed in black, tall and thin, with delicate, feminine features and loose black hair. His face was as pale as a corpse's. His narrow brows and eyes, unusually black pupils, and expressionless face made him look gloomy and eerie.
The two entered the room next door, one behind the other, and the door slammed shut.
Only then did Qi Mo and Lin Qingyang leave the room and tiptoe away. As they passed the other pair's room, its door wasn't fully closed, and a cold voice drifted through the gap.
"I already told you, it isn't time yet." It seemed to be the man in black's voice.
"How much longer do we have to wait? If we keep waiting, everyone in the Xuanhuang Sect will be dead," Hua Jin said agitatedly, a trace of panic in her voice.
"Don't worry. Soon. Once they..." As the man in black spoke, he seemed to notice something and abruptly turned toward the gap in the door.
Hua Jin walked to the door, opened it, and looked both ways. Seeing no one in the corridor, she slammed it shut again.
Lin Qingyang had already flashed to the stairway with Qi Mo, and the two headed down the stairs.
"I'm curious. You can't even read. Even if you found that booklet, you wouldn't understand it," Lin Qingyang said.
Qi Mo was silent for a while. "I could memorize it, then split it into individual characters and find chances to ask you about them."
Lin Qingyang snorted. "You certainly had it all planned out."
Qi Mo lowered his head, not daring to respond. Lin Qingyang glanced at him and asked, "You went to all this trouble. Did you never think of asking me for help in the first place?"
Qi Mo paused, then said in a muffled voice, "I didn't want to trouble you."
"And sneaking onto someone else's turf in the middle of the night to run wild isn't making trouble for me?" Lin Qingyang asked coldly. His gaze on Qi Mo was calm and piercing, as though it could see straight into his heart.
A flicker of panic crossed Qi Mo's eyes, and he immediately looked away, not daring to meet his gaze. Lin Qingyang withdrew his gaze and gave a soft snort. "I'll deal with you when we get back!"
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