The arc of splattered blood slowly descended.
"Clang—shriek!"
Li Zhaoye's sleeves whirled as his sword, Changtian, tilted toward the ground, a trail of blood winding down the blade before dripping onto the palace tiles in a rhythmic patter.
"Drip, tap-tap-tap."
Qing Xu lowered his head, lifting a finger to dab at the blood seeping from beneath his ribs.
Suddenly, he chuckled. "Ah, our Luo Luo has truly grown up. No sooner does one flower-guarding knight fall than another takes his place."
Behind him, a gap the color of the Yellow River shattered like scattered petals.
"Enough nonsense," Li Zhaoye sneered, arrogance etched across his face. "Fight or not?"
Qing Xu giggled wetly. "Brat, don’t let one lucky ambush go to your head."
Before the words fully faded, his figure vanished.
"Clang!"
Li Zhaoye leaped back, deflecting an ink-black box with a slant of his sword.
He raised a hand to form a seal, then paused—remembering the mosquito still clutched in his palm. With a careless tug of his collar, he stuffed Luo Luo inside his robes.
Luo Luo: "Buzz?"
Li Zhaoye’s aura crashed over her like a tidal wave.
Dazed, she found herself plastered against his chest—her view filled by the elegant curve of his collarbone above and the hard planes of muscle below.
A fire-wielding mosquito, yet his body heat scorched her.
He moved in flashes, clashing midair with Qing Xu in bursts of force.
"Boom—clang!"
The hall trembled with chaotic energy, buffeting Luo Luo until she swayed unsteadily.
Left with no choice, she flattened herself against Li Zhaoye’s chest, all six legs clinging to his skin, wings splayed over him.
Li Zhaoye tilted his head with a low laugh. "So clingy."
The vibration of his voice rumbled through her, sending a shiver from her wings to her tail (if mosquitoes even had tails).
Flustered and furious, Luo Luo arched, driving her proboscis into him for a sharp sting.
"Ow, ow, ow," he chided, feigning pain while slashing at Qing Xu. "We’re in the middle of a fight—no kissing."
Luo Luo: Hah.
If this counted as a kiss, she’d already kissed all three Ancient Sovereigns.
He’d be fourth in line.
Look at this "Li the Fourth," preening over nothing.
"Boom!"
Sword and ink box collided again, shockwaves rattling the walls.
Luo Luo peeked out from his collar.
The gale tousled the fine fuzz on her head as Li Zhaoye fought with his usual reckless abandon, frequently lunging skyward to deliver sweeping, two-handed strikes that left no room for retreat.
"Screech—boom!"
His blade carved a gleaming arc, forcing Qing Xu to evade. The older man darted back as strike after strike missed, each impact against the floor sending up sprays of sparks.
"Pointless," Qing Xu called, robes flapping in the turbulent energy. His figure flickered like a mirage. "Boy, a teacher for a day is a father for life. To kill your own father—you’re still lacking!"
Li Zhaoye’s lips curled coldly.
His sword strikes grew sharper.
"We could be here all day," Qing Xu mused, dodging another slash before darting outward. "Aren’t you curious what really happened in ancient times? Let’s call a truce and catch up to Taiyi and Tian Yin!"
As a Daoist Hedao, once he resolved to flee, even Li Zhaoye couldn’t stop him.
After a beat of hesitation, Li Zhaoye shoved Luo Luo deeper into his robes and gave chase.
Luo Luo: "..."
When had he noticed her sneaking out?
The trio—two men and one mosquito—streaked past shadowed halls until Qing Xu materialized ahead.
He halted, letting his sleeves settle.
"Odd," he murmured, turning to Li Zhaoye. "Look."
Below, a chamber lay strewn with mangled corpses, the floor slick with half-congealed demon blood.
The blood’s surface, mirror-smooth, showed no ripples.
This was the only exit. If Taiyi and Tian Yin had passed through, their movement would’ve disturbed the blood.
Li Zhaoye landed beside Qing Xu.
Shoulder to shoulder, they stood as they once had.
"Hey," Li Zhaoye drawled, slinging an arm around Qing Xu’s shoulders and leaning in. "Doesn’t this seem like—"
His grasp closed on empty air.
Qing Xu had teleported ten zhang away.
Li Zhaoye clicked his tongue, handsome features briefly crestfallen.
"Old fox. Clever."
Had he connected, the dagger hidden in his sleeve would’ve found Qing Xu’s kidney.
Qing Xu deadpanned: "Says the king of tricks."
Pressed to Li Zhaoye’s chest, Luo Luo had felt his heartbeat spike—thudthudthud—with predatory anticipation.
Now, foiled, it steadied instantly.
Luo Luo: "..."
Even your pulse is pragmatic?
Unfazed, Li Zhaoye continued as if no assassination attempt had occurred: "—seems like no one came through."
Qing Xu: "..."
"Wow," Qing Xu simpered, "what a deduction! Are you a genius?"
Li Zhaoye grinned: "Just decent. Too kind, too kind."
Qing Xu: "Ha. Ha."
Clearly, the sole exit bore no traces of passage.
"Well, this is bizarre," Qing Xu said. "Two Daoist Hedao, full-grown men, vanishing in broad daylight? I swear they went this way—ask Luo Luo if you don’t believe me."
Li Zhaoye clasped his hands earnestly: "No need, no need. Between us, trust is implicit!"
Qing Xu’s smile didn’t reach his eyes: "Is that so?"
A master manipulator, he found Li Zhaoye inscrutable now.
He’d tortured and killed him. Surely the hatred ran deep.
Yet Li Zhaoye showed nothing, merely jerking his chin: "So? What’s your theory?"
Qing Xu pondered: "Only the Sage could be involved."
Li Zhaoye arched a brow: "Explain."
Qing Xu smiled faintly: "Ah, but you’re asking the wrong person. Luo Luo would know—she’s the Sage’s closest companion. Isn’t that right, Luo Luo?"
Luo Luo’s wings twitched.
Li Zhaoye plucked her from his robes, pinching her wings between two fingers to dangle her at eye level.
Luo Luo swayed innocently: "Bzzz."
She knew nothing.
The Sage spoke sparingly—to her, fewer than ten sentences total.
Li Zhaoye tossed her aside, sighing at Qing Xu: "She’s clueless."
Qing Xu revealed a subtle expression: "Luo Luo, is it inconvenient to tell Li Zhaoye about you and the Sage?"
Luo Luo tilted her head: "Bzz?"
What matter? What inconvenience?
Li Zhaoye rubbed her wings with his fingertip.
She turned to look at him, only to see him smiling brightly, eyes curved and lips curled, as he retorted at Qing Xu: "Can mosquitoes talk? Are you stupid?"
Qing Xu chuckled: "Ah, I forgot. Bzz bzz bzz."
You little brat, finally lost your cool, huh? Serves you right for pretending.
Qing Xu strode toward the inner hall, chatting casually with Li Zhaoye as he walked: "Our little Luo Luo is truly adorable. Even the Sage dotes on her, holding her in the palm of his hand."
Luo Luo protested: "Bzz!"
The Sage never grabbed her with his hands.
"Who hasn’t been a mosquito before?" Li Zhaoye laughed. "What’s the problem with a mosquito landing on your hand?"
He flexed his fingers, squeezing Luo Luo into his palm.
Qing Xu deliberately cast him a pitying glance and shook his head: "Tsk..."
As they spoke, the two men and one mosquito quickly approached the narrow chamber.
The eternal lamps on the chamber walls resembled the Sage’s indifferent eyes.
Qing Xu suppressed his teasing demeanor and said gravely, "Since there are no signs of departure... Taiyi Jun and Tian Yin Jun might still be there."
The thought sent chills down one’s spine.
Li Zhaoye shrugged: "We’ll know once we take a look."
The chamber came into view.
Qing Xu: "Be care—"
Before he could finish, Li Zhaoye had already barged in recklessly.
Luo Luo struggled to wriggle out from between his fingers.
She wanted to see what was happening too.
Just as she was about to peek out, Li Zhaoye raised his thumb and mercilessly pushed her back in.
"???" Luo Luo seethed helplessly. "Bzz bzz bzz!"
With a soft tap, Li Zhaoye stepped into the chamber.
A moment later, he clicked his tongue quietly: "The Sage isn’t home."
Qing Xu followed closely behind.
"There’s definitely something wrong here," Qing Xu said solemnly. "When the Sage died, his robes fell to the ground."
Yet now, the floor tiles were bare.
Qing Xu’s eyes flickered: "Could it be... the Sage’s death was just an illusion, a deception meant for the Three Ancient Sovereigns?"
"Clang!"
Li Zhaoye sneered, drawing his sword in a swift motion. The Changtian Blade carved a heavy arc through the air, tearing it apart ruthlessly.
He raised the sword and slashed sideways—BOOM!
With one strike, the illusion shattered.
Unfortunately, the truth of the past remained hidden. All that followed was a deafening crash as the Hall of Seals collapsed, and the entire memory world rapidly disintegrated.
"Tsk."
A sudden sense of weightlessness struck. Taking advantage of Li Zhaoye’s loosened grip, Luo Luo fluttered her wings and flew out.
This memory was ending.
Fuming, she flapped her wings, brushed past his collar, and landed on his face.
She raised her proboscis and stabbed down with all her might.
"Bzz—ow!"
His face was much thicker than she’d imagined. Her proboscis bent, but she couldn’t pierce through.
Luo Luo snapped back to reality.
Her first thought upon waking—My forehead hurts!
She opened her eyes, but her vision was blurry.
"Huh?"
Something hard was pressing firmly against her forehead. She tried to lean back but found herself completely immobilized.
Her head felt clamped in place.
Dazed, she mumbled: "Bzz bzz bzz?"
A soft chuckle sounded extremely close to her.
Li Zhaoye slowly pulled away.
Luo Luo finally realized—he had been cupping her face, forehead pressed to hers—he had entered her soul world to find her.
"Little Junior Sister is awake!"
"Luo Luo! Luo Luo!"
"You’re finally awake! You scared us half to death!"
A chorus of greetings erupted around her.
Senior Brother Zhang, with his thick beard, sniffled: "Thank goodness you’re okay. We thought you were done for."
Luo Luo: "Bzz... I-I’m fine."
It had been a while since she last spoke, and her voice felt unfamiliar.
She glanced around and saw all her senior brothers and sisters—the ones who’d roasted chicken and fallen off cliffs with her in the nightmare—gathered around her bed.
"Is everyone alright?" Luo Luo asked.
"Don’t worry, you were the last to wake up," Zhao Yu said. "Senior Uncle Fuling handed over the antidote, and we woke up as soon as we took it. Only you wouldn’t stir. Senior Brother Li came for you right after finishing his fight."
Luo Luo: "Oh..."
So it was Senior Uncle Fuling.
Still groggy, she blinked slowly, piecing things together.
From the scattered chatter, she gathered the gist of what had happened outside.
Senior Sister Xu Junzhu had successfully advanced to the Nascent Soul stage. Because she hadn’t been poisoned, she missed the chance to eat roasted chicken with Master Lingxue and was now sulking.
The Divine Palace had attacked but was driven back by Li Zhaoye.
The northern mountains had shaken violently all night, suggesting something major had happened, but no news had arrived yet.
Luo Luo nodded: "Oh..."
Li Zhaoye waved a hand: "If there’s nothing else, disperse."
"Ah, right!" The crowd stood to leave. "Rest well, Little Junior Sister!"
Li Zhaoye shut the double doors of Luo Luo’s pavilion and, after a moment’s thought, locked them.
He turned and walked toward her with deliberate steps, smiling.
Luo Luo was still a bit dazed.
She stared blankly as he reached her bedside and sat down.
"So," he glanced at her sideways, "tell me everything that happened. Every single detail."
Luo Luo: "Oh..."
The moment she nodded, her forehead bumped into his hand—he had pulled the blanket up to her chin, bundling her snugly, then propped a large pillow behind her back.
She tilted her head to look at him.
Something about him felt off, but she couldn’t pinpoint what.
Shaking her head, she began recounting her fall into Qing Xu’s nightmare, from roasting chicken to plunging off the cliff.
"The senior brothers and sisters left early, so they didn’t see the cliff turn into Qing Xu’s giant face," Luo Luo stretched her arms out from under the blanket, gesturing widely. "This big!"
Her fingers nearly brushed against his arm resting on his knee.
He seemed to shift slightly away, avoiding contact.
Luo Luo withdrew her hand and placed it on the blanket.
She studied him sideways; he kept his gaze forward and nodded: "Mm, go on."
Luo Luo: "Oh..."
She obediently continued her recollection.
"After that, the Sage intervened. He took me and Qing Xu back to the ancient era in his memories. He already knew about the three conspiring against him, but he..."
Li Zhaoye raised a hand to interrupt.
"Wait," he said. "I need every detail. All of them."
He turned to her, eyes lowering to meet hers.
"You saw it too—this Sage is full of secrets. I need to know his every word and action to figure out what really happened in the end."
His tone was deadly serious.
Luo Luo nodded in understanding: "Oh... I get it."
She dredged up even finer details—from wilted vegetables and eggs to bird nests in old trees, from battling red and black ants to the collapsing Hall of Seals and the Three Sovereigns scheming loudly inside.
"Think harder."
"Oh..." Luo Luo racked her brain. "Ah, right!"
She carefully recounted the three Daoist lords' analysis of the Sage as well.
"I think they made some fair points. The Sage really does seem like... 'Heaven and earth are ruthless, treating all things as straw dogs'? He views everything equally, and I also feel he must be on the verge of merging with the Heavenly Dao."
Li Zhaoye nodded. "What else?"
Luo Luo slowly swayed her head. "Mmm... also... he's just very detached, free from desires."
She gestured while describing the Sage's words and actions.
"Hm?"
As her fingers brushed near him, he shifted slightly away again, avoiding contact.
"Li Zhaoye."
Luo Luo tilted her body toward him, peering up at his eyes from below.
"What." He raised a hand to push her aside. "Keep going."
Luo Luo blinked in surprise. "You're acting kind of weird."
"I'm not." His words came rapid-fire. "Continue."
Luo Luo blinked again.
He was so cold, so serious—nothing like when he'd burst into the Sealed God Palace to find her. Back then, he'd laughed heartily, teasing her for her sassiness, for clinging to him, for kissing him.
Now he was all business.
Clearly, whatever happened between the Sage and the three ancient lords in that chamber was critically important.
Luo Luo focused intently, dredging up every detail.
"Hongmeng Jun's illusions were seen through instantly. He defeated Taiyi and Tian Yin with single strikes each. I've never seen anyone that powerful before."
She wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but the atmosphere seemed to grow heavier.
"He restrained all three with a mere gesture, letting a little mosquito like me feast on those Hedao Daoists. Heh."
"When I last saw him, there was hardly any humanity left in his expression—more like... a deity?"
Serene, detached, desireless—as if he might dissolve into the Great Dao at any moment.
"That's it?" he asked.
Luo Luo thought carefully. "That's all."
"Fine." Li Zhaoye said. "I'll ask, you answer."
Luo Luo nodded obediently. "Mm!"
She stared at him, but he remained silent for a long while.
Finally, he spoke: "When you were a mosquito out in the wild, did storms ever drench you?"
Luo Luo gradually curled back under the blanket. "I don't mind wind—it feels nice ruffling my fuzz. When it rained, I hid in the Sage's sleeve."
"Did you squirm around in his hands too?"
"Not really." Luo Luo said. "The Sage doesn't grab mosquitoes. He usually just observes—flowers, grass, ants, grasshoppers."
"But you said he delivered you to feed on Hedao blood?"
Luo Luo nodded. "I stood on his fingernail while he extended his hand toward them."
"Right."
Luo Luo frowned. "Is that important too?"
"Naturally." Li Zhaoye said offhandedly. "Every detail could hold the key."
Luo Luo nodded solemnly. "Oh! Then let me tell you about the cuckoo incident."
She had a vague sense that something significant lay hidden there—she just couldn't grasp what.
The Sage had stood beneath an old tree, repeatedly catching a helpless chick pushed from its nest by a cuckoo, returning it each time.
Li Zhaoye raised a brow. "And you?"
Before she could answer, he suddenly grinned. "You definitely bit that cuckoo."
Luo Luo gasped. "How did you know?!"
Li Zhaoye gave her a sidelong glance. "I know exactly how you operate."
Luo Luo turned away, secretly sticking out her tongue. "...Says the one who'd have bitten it too!"
"Then what?"
"Then the chick's parents returned with food, feeding both their own offspring and that wretched cuckoo. After watching this, the Sage moved on." She leaned closer urgently. "Could this be vitally important?"
Li Zhaoye's eyes curved slightly. "Absolutely possible."
Luo Luo beamed. "I thought so too."
They pondered in silence for a while.
"His physical form became the Sealed God Palace, suppressing the rift of chaotic miasma." Li Zhaoye said slowly. "What walks the mortal world is his soul's manifestation."
"Right!"
"Then this manifested soul..." He paused. "Was he warm or cold when you bit him?"
Just as Luo Luo started to shake her head, he raised a hand, turning his face away.
"Never mind. Doesn't matter."
Luo Luo stared at his profile—all she could see was the sharp angle of his jaw as he looked out the window.
His lips were pressed thin, his Adam's apple bobbing.
Her delayed realization finally caught up.
"Li Zhaoye." Luo Luo asked. "Are you jealous? Is this about me?"
His profile stiffened almost imperceptibly.
"Tch." His lips twisted. "Don't flatter yourself. Why would I be?"
Luo Luo pressed further. "Then why won't you look at me?"
He turned with a laugh, gaze dropping to meet hers. "Looking now. What?"
"You won't touch me either." She lifted her hand slightly. "Every time I reach out, you dodge."
Li Zhaoye scoffed. "Ha."
He lazily raised his own hand, seizing hers and crushing it in his palm.
"Happy?" His tone was mocking.
Luo Luo felt her heartbeat accelerate.
His grip was painfully tight, making her bones ache, yet flooding her with an odd, weighted sense of security.
Though only one night had passed in reality, within the soulscape it had felt like eternity.
She'd missed him for so long.
"Then..." Luo Luo's voice trembled slightly. "After all this time apart... you haven't... kissed me."
The instant the words left her lips, she regretted them.
Before she could recoil, his hand clamped around the back of her neck.
Light vanished as he descended upon her—tilting his head, capturing her lips in a fierce, biting kiss.
There was no tenderness this time.
He claimed her mouth relentlessly, teeth scraping her lower lip, tongue forcing past her defenses to conquer every inch.
When his tongue found hers, it pinned her down like a predator cornering prey, leaving no escape.
She gasped at the sting of his teeth, and he used the opportunity to swallow her breath whole.
Their ragged breathing mingled as he plundered deeper, one hand gripping her nape, the other cradling her skull—trapping her completely.
Only when she grew lightheaded did he finally relent slightly, still nibbling her swollen lips as he murmured against them: "There's your kiss. What else do you want?"
Luo Luo: "..."
What else?
Her thoughts swam dizzily, pulse hammering against her ribs.
He coaxed further: "Not saying? Should I guess?"
Her heart might actually explode.
Still gasping for air, she managed shallow, rapid breaths—each one chased by his lips and nose as he deliberately inhaled every exhale.
"Then I'll... start guessing?"
His voice was slightly husky, the words laced with a devilish charm.
