Yun Ruoyan asked the youth who had given him that information, but he didn’t reply immediately. Despite having consumed an antidote and then letting out her blood, the red-mist spider’s venom had temporarily placed severe restrictions on her cultivation, and she wouldn’t be able to defend against him for the moment.

And although Qiuqiu could use its mental energy to communicate with Li Mo directly, Yun Ruoyan couldn’t. She didn’t dare to make any sudden movement—if she were to scream out for help, the red-mist spider that was still on the youth’s wrist would instantly leap toward her and bite. While she was poisoned, she wouldn’t have the agility to dodge the spider’s attack.

“Mistress, you’re in great danger! Let me inform Li Mo!”

“No, don’t! We still need to figure out who the spy is.”

“There’s no time! Li Mo’s already discovered that you’re in danger, and he’s heading toward you right now.

“Get him to wait!”

Just as Li Mo was about to get close to Yun Ruoyan, Qiuqiu’s voice suddenly rang out in his mind, telling him not to step any closer and that Yun Ruoyan was trying to uncover the identity of the spy within Kongming Academy.

Li Mo frowned and stopped moving, but his gaze didn’t stray from the two youths in the distance. If Yun Ruoyan was in any danger, he would be able to step forward in time to shield her.

However, the youth seemed to be able to sense Li Mo’s presence. He turned to him, his gaze arrogant and wicked. He retrieved a black scroll from his clothes, then held it over his head. Li Mo was greatly alarmed by the youth’s gestures, and he rushed toward Yun Ruoyan like an arrow.

Yun Ruoyan also noticed the object in the youth’s hand: a black scroll, exactly like the one the black-robed man had used before. She was almost certain that it was another transportation scroll. Li Mo had mentioned how rare such scrolls were, and neither of them had expected the youth to possess another one.

The youth smashed the scroll against the ground, instantly enveloping him and Yun Ruoyan in a white smoke. Li Mo rushed toward Yun Ruoyan as quickly as lightning, but he was still too slow. By the time he reached the white smoke, they had vanished.

Li Mo then turned back and rushed to the Farsighted King. Grabbing his collar, Li Mo looked toward him with eyes like ice. “What do you want?” he hissed.

“Brother, what’s the meaning of this?!” the Farsighted King stared blankly at him.

“Where did that kid bring Yan’er?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? Do you think no one knows of your plans?” Li Mo slowly raised his hand, hoisting the Farsighted King up from his seat. The Farsighted King’s cultivation was so far below Li Mo’s that he couldn’t resist at all.

“Li Mo, let go of him!” Li Xiu quickly shouted. “If there’s something wrong, we’ll clear it up. Don’t act on impulse!”

“Your Highness, if I’m not mistaken, that young lad must have used a legendary transportation scroll to make them both vanish!” The present officials had never seen Li Mo so angry. None dared be the first to comment on the commotion except Yun Lan, and only because Yun Ruoyan was his daughter.

“Brother, please release me first.” Li Sheng struggled to break free of his grasp.

Li Mo put him down and shouted. “Speak! Where did you send Yan’er?!”

The Farsighted King coughed a few times before he began speaking. “That teleportation scroll indeed belongs to my manor, and was one of the possessions that I bequeathed to General Wei. I’m sure that he must have handed it to his son in turn. Wei Hai’s a rather mischievous lad, and it’s possible that he’s playing a joke. They might still be in the vicinity, so you should send guards out on patrol to see if they can spot them.”

“Right, Li Mo, don’t be so impulsive,” Li Xiu persuaded. “There are so many officials and me around that he wouldn’t be able to do much. I’m sure he’s just trying to play a little joke on us all.”

Li Xiu then commanded the eunuchs present to lead the search for the two youths.

“Li Sheng, are you sure you want me as your enemy? I wasn’t particularly interested in your plans, but now…” Li Mo snarled, “Get that lad to bring Yun Ruoyan back immediately, or no matter what you’re planning, I’ll make sure none of it comes to fruition!”

Li Mo was whispering directly into Li Sheng’s ear, and no one else could overhear them. Li Sheng’s innocent mien shifted almost imperceptibly. “Me? What could I be planning? Li Mo, what are you talking about? Even if I were intending on doing something, how would you know about it?”

Li Sheng had planned his rebellion for decades, and he naturally thought that he had concealed it perfectly.

“No matter how much you try to hide something, there’ll always be traces left behind!”

“Alright, then.” Li Sheng suddenly smiled. “Since you already seem to know everything, then I’ll be frank: the teleportation scroll that Wei Hai used is a mid-rank scroll with a range of five hundred miles.”

Li Mo’s eyes were so frosty that Li Sheng innately feared him, but with Yun Ruoyan in his grasp, he didn’t have to be too worried about Li Mo. “By this time, my dear adopted son has long since whisked your disciple away, and no one will be able to discern his whereabouts. If you let me go now, I promise I won’t hurt Yun Ruoyan, but otherwise…”

“Don’t you know that I hate being threatened?” Li Mo’s face was almost plastered to Li Sheng’s ear, his tone so frosty that Li Sheng felt as though his ear was about to freeze over.

“The Slaughtering King does whatever he pleases, and naturally dislikes being controlled. However, even a dragon has its weakness, and I believe yours is this Miss Yun.”

Li Sheng forced himself to remain calm. “You have two choices: let me go and retrieve your disciple, or expose me and lose her!”

“Your Highness, we haven’t found any traces of Young Master Wei and Miss Yun around,” a servant rushed in and reported.

Li Xiu frowned. Where could the two underaged youths have run off to? He couldn’t help turning to Li Mo and Li Sheng, only to see Li Mo holding Li Sheng’s collar high up in the air once more. Li Sheng’s pale face was quickly turning red, as though he were about to gasp his final breath at any moment.

Just as Li Xiu was about to stop them, Li Mo flew off with Li Sheng. “I will 

never 

be subordinate to anyone!”

“Li Mo, where are you bringing me?!” On the sword, Li Sheng’s red face slowly turned pale white once more. “After all, we’re brothers. Can’t we discuss things properly, like gentlemen?”

“My surname’s not Li, and I’m not related to the Lis by blood. My master, the first elder of Kongming Academy, paid a price to have me stay at the Li kingdom’s palace, so I don’t owe you any goodwill either.”

Li Mo glanced down over his sword at the Li kingdom’s capital, his eyes indifferent and disdainful.

“Whether you want to rebel or even take over the entire Chenyuan continent, I don’t care. However, you shouldn’t have tried to sneak into Kongming Academy, and you shouldn’t have dared to kidnap her despite knowing how important she is to me. I’ll give you three days: if, in three days, Yun Ruoyan isn’t safe and sound in my manor, I’ll take your life myself.”

The aftereffects of using the teleportation scroll in her weakened state quickly sent Yun Ruoyan into a state of dizziness. In her daze, she seemed to be able to hear Lin Yuemei’s voice.

“Yan’er, Yan’er, come, come over here, let me and your father have a good look at you.”

Yun Ruoyan slowly came to, but the voice that reverberated through her mind was Qiuqiu’s, not Lin Yuemei’s. “Mistress, Mistress, you have to wake up!”

“Qiuqiu!” Yun Ruoyan jumped up in shock. She had been lying on the ground, but now she was sitting upright. Inspecting her surroundings, she found that she was lying in a cage within a mountain cave, one unfamiliar to her.

“Qiuqiu, where is this? How long was I out?” Yun Ruoyan frowned, her face blank and wary.

“We’re in the Farsighted King’s lands, a thousand miles from the capital,” Qiuqiu answered. “You’ve been unconscious for two days.”

Yun Ruoyan felt her forehead. She was still a little dizzy, but her body’s numbness had entirely dissipated.

“You’ve actually woken up!” Suddenly, a youth appeared at the cave entrance—the same one who had plotted against her, Wei Hai. “What sort of strange creature are you, to have beaten the red-mist spider’s venom in just two days?! No one else has ever survived its bite!”

Yun Ruoyan ignored Wei Hai’s curious glance. “What do you want?”

“I haven’t thought it through.” Wei Hai walked up to Yun Ruoyan’s cage and sat down in front of it. “The night I found out that you and Li Mo killed my master and senior sister, I wanted to eviscerate you on the spot,” Wei Hai began, his face lined with a viciousness unbefitting his age. “But now I’ve changed my mind. Your constitution seems to be rather unusual, and I’d like to study you carefully.”

“Study me?” Yun Ruoyan’s face turned pale. “You dare!”

“Haha, why wouldn’t I dare?”

“Your godfather’s still with Li Mo. If you dare hurt me, Li Mo surely won’t let him go!”

“Oh? You really believe him?” Wei Hai laughed. “Since you seem like an innocent young girl, let me tell you the truth. That old man’s trying to foment a rebellion, and he managed to persuade my master to help him out—but he caused both my master and my senior sister to die!”

Wei Hai laughed even as his features twisted into a grimace. “And now that they’re all dead, there’s no reason for me to stay by that old man any longer. I can do whatever I want, and he won’t be able to stop me!” 

In the underground cellar of the Slaughtering King’s manor, the Farsighted King faced his second day of imprisonment.

“One day left,” Li Mo whispered from outside. “If I don’t see Yun Ruoyan here tomorrow, don’t blame me for being heartless.”

By this time, even Li Sheng was getting worried. Wei Hai had always been a disobedient pawn, and he had become even more deranged after his master and senior sister’s death. Li Sheng had had his men send word to Wei Hai to bring Yun Ruoyan back, but he hadn’t responded even after two days. Most likely, he had already absconded with her!

Li Sheng’s initial plan was to probe how important Yun Ruoyan was to Li Mo. Even though he had already secured the manual of dragons’ tactics, Li Sheng still didn’t feel secure—the Slaughtering King’s name was so imposing that his soldiers would quake just from hearing his name. If he were able to suppress Li Mo without any fighting, that would be far preferable.

Because of his fear of Li Mo, Li Sheng had spent a considerable amount of effort studying him. It wasn’t difficult to figure out that the cold, aloof Li Mo had only one woman he seemed to care about, and with whom he had a rather ambiguous relationship.

Unfortunately for him, however, Li Sheng hadn’t expected how stubborn Li Mo would be, even at the cost of Yun Ruoyan’s life...

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