Sikong Ran grumbled with resentment, "I never meant to become her enemy. I was only teasing her a little… Who knew it would escalate like this? It's all her fault for being so arrogant! Doesn't she know how much I care about my pride? I even backed off a little, yet she kept pushing!"
"You shouldn't have used Gu Qingche to threaten her. That girl may have seemed calm on the surface, but I suspect she's already marked you in her heart. Young Master, you'd best be careful," He Zhongyi warned solemnly.
"I—I was just trying to save face! I didn't actually plan to harm Gu Qingche. But she looked at me like she wanted me dead!"
Sikong Ran pouted, his alluring face now tinged with a trace of grievance.
Not far behind, concealed in the shadows, Gu Qingli had followed them unnoticed. Upon hearing their conversation, she couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.
So, Sikong Ran really was nothing more than a child who refused to grow up. He prized his dignity, as if others did not. Still, listening to their words, her anger began to subside. At least they hadn't truly intended to harm Gu Qingche.
Just then, both Sikong Ran and He Zhongyi abruptly sensed an ominous gaze fixed upon them.
Fifty meters ahead stood a man dressed in black robes, face obscured by a wide-brimmed bamboo hat. Beneath its shadow, a pair of eyes—cold and venomous as a viper's—bore into them.
Though it was just past noon and the sun blazed overhead, the bustling street alive with voices and movement, He Zhongyi felt a chill pierce his very core.
"Young Master," he said lowly, immediately pulling Sikong Ran back from his stride. A sense of imminent danger gripped him, and he couldn't gauge the man's strength—only that it far surpassed theirs.
Gu Qingli, too, had caught sight of the figure. That presence, shrouded in icy hostility, reeked of ill intent.
She grew instantly wary. This man's cultivation… it was above the King rank.
But who in Loulan City would dare target Sikong Ran?
While uncertainty lingered, the shadow moved. In a blink, he appeared before He Zhongyi and Sikong Ran.
"What business have you here, friend?" He Zhongyi asked warily, stepping in front of Sikong Ran as they both retreated several paces.
"You are He Zhongyi?"
The stranger ignored Sikong Ran entirely, his gaze fixed solely on He Zhongyi.
"And you are?" He Zhongyi's brows furrowed. A strange feeling stirred within him—familiar and foreign all at once.
"Fortunate little brat," the man sneered, voice laced with venom. "Taken in by the City Lord of Loulan, were you?"
"Who are you!? Lurking around like a ghost! What do you want with He Zhongyi?" Sikong Ran shouted, stepping forward, his tone accusatory. The man's peculiar behavior had set him on edge.
Still, the stranger paid him no heed. Instead, he slowly raised a hand, revealing a piece of black crescent-shaped jade no larger than a palm. Strange ancient runes were etched across its surface.
The moment He Zhongyi laid eyes on it, his entire body trembled. His expression shifted instantly—shocked, even shaken.
"If you wish to know the truth… come with me." With that, the shadowy figure turned and vanished into a narrow alleyway, his speed unnaturally swift.
"Young Master, return to the manor!" He Zhongyi instructed urgently before surging forward in pursuit, battle aura flaring around him.
Without hesitation, Sikong Ran followed. "I'm not leaving you alone!"
Gu Qingli hadn't expected such a turn of events, but curiosity now burned within her. With a twist of her slender frame, she too gave chase. At her current level of mastery in the Star-Stepping Technique, none below the King rank could outpace her.
What was that strange object the man revealed? For it to provoke such a strong reaction from He Zhongyi, it could not be anything ordinary.
But what surprised Gu Qingli most was how long they ran—an entire hour—until they reached the edge of the Beast Prison Forest. Wild grass grew in unruly tufts, the air thick with dampness and silence, the place remote and shrouded in an eerie gloom.