Chapter 55: As Long As You’re Not Married, You’re Still Mine.

Through the vivid red flames, both Xing Jue and Si Yao’s faces appeared distorted—one cold and menacing, the other with a curled lip, yet her eyes held no mirth, only weariness.

Si Yao held a cigarette between her lips and leaned closer; the flame trembled, but before she could light it, Xing Jue extinguished the fire and, in the darkness, brushed away her cigarette and claimed her lips.

Si Yao whimpered, her resolve faltering in a moment of weakness.

...

At those words, the children noticed nothing amiss, cheering and clapping in delight, praising my correctness. Only Zhu Di’s expression darkened, his gaze turning icy as he looked at me.

When the Western Consort left, Xi Sa mulled over the last remark, suspecting it was a deliberate attempt to explain or exonerate herself. It was a matter of common knowledge—why emphasize it? Yet she had gone out of her way.

At that time, the great magic war had just ended. Shortly after You Yitian broke free from the Illusory Angel’s barrier, Ye Xin hurried over.

“There are plenty of people around. If anything comes up, we’ll take care of it. Don’t worry, celebrate the New Year at home. Wait for me. I’ll be back after the holiday and bring you some goodies!” As they spoke, the car was already pulling up at the train station, perfectly timed. The train they were to catch was already waiting at the platform.

Now, just outside the city of Chaoge, thirty miles away, there lived a man named Ding Ce, a reclusive scholar of great wisdom. Having failed to gain recognition from the imperial court, he chose to withdraw from public life. He had two sworn brothers, Guo Chen and Dong Zhong.

There are no people in this world without leaks—only walls without cracks. Eventually, word of this affair reached Zhao Zhengce, and astonishingly, the informer was none other than a traitor of the Fu Zhigao ilk. As Zhao Zhengce later remarked to his classmate Hu Tian: “Bearded Qi Chun has returned to the revolutionary fold once again.”

Gao Zhongqiu’s face was ashen, his thoughts troubled by his wife’s temperament. After their son Gaosheng’s incident, her demeanor had become increasingly erratic. The more he pondered, the more he suspected she was involved.

The Hurricane Battle Array appeared once more, but Robert could do little to stop it. Battle formations had never been Behemoth’s forte, and Robert was not troubled by this. Yet, hadn’t the Aukin clan long been ridiculed by humans as “having rocks for brains”—that if Behemoths were dull, Aukin were even duller?

“No inconvenience at all—everyone, come on over! Drinks are on me tonight!” Chen Hu said, clapping Minmin on the shoulder.

“Brother Xiao, we have mulberry groves in our mountains too, and we used to raise silkworms. But after the silk and textile mills all closed down, there was no market, so people gradually abandoned them. How could we compare to your place, with its whole system of silk factories, textile mills, and garment workshops?”

Yet Ling Zixuan forbade all this with a mere flick in the air, and the matter was halted.

After all, Yong’s soldiers weren’t made of wood, nor were they some kind of mechanical units—their morale was not constant. Everyone knew the battle on the river determined their retreat.

In the end, Ye Lan and Haifeng each picked up their ghost-expelling weapons and pressed on in the direction where Ye Lan sensed Kong Yu.

Yi’s voice rang out, loud and clear, but facing the calm sea, it carried no distance. Instead, the force of it shook the trees behind them, sending flocks of birds screeching into the sky.

Two years ago, Magistrate Ma of Xianju County fell prey to the Jiuyang Society’s machinations. In open court, in order to interrogate Fan Zhao, he removed his own official hat. Fan Zhao remembered this vividly. Secretly, Fan Zhao admired Sun Jiagan’s righteous fury, telling himself he must persevere in the face of it.

“Don’t you dare slander me! Just because I’m prettier than you doesn’t mean you can pick a fight for no reason.” Fox Qiqi shot back, never one to suffer a loss in an argument.