…

The night was getting darker.

The darkness spread around between heaven and earth like diffusing ink. In the dark courtyard, there were only wind and rain.

The wild wind blew the rain into the pavilion. Before the marble table at the center of the pavilion, Li Tianlan sat still with a teacup in his hands.

It had been a while since Gongsun Qi left, and the tea placed in front of him was already cold. But the cup in Li Tianlan’s hands was still warm. The tea in the cup was boiling under great heat like lava, and the steam was rising and the water was churning. But he didn’t notice, just thinking about something quietly.

At this moment, Li Tianlan wasn’t crazy like he was in a battle, or gentle like he was in the normal state. When he was thinking about something seriously, he was like a statue, looking dead and lifeless, radiating a kind of depressing strictness.

The Master of Samsara Palace went straight into Mount Dibing and fought Gu Xingyun on June 15th. The undercurrents were surging between Zhongzhou State and East Island. The mysterious power group occasionally appeared in the dark. And Gongsun Qi suddenly visited him today.

Somehow Li Tianlan had a feeling for the first time that he was a part of the general trend.

If what Gongsun Qi told him was true, then his identity was completely exposed now. After he got back from East Island, no, even from now on, he had to deal with the hostility from Kunlun City and the occasional killing intent from the Wang family of Beihai, and all the visible, invisible enemies, the enemies that would attack him before he could.

In the future, what would happen to the Li family? What would happen to East Emperor Palace?

Ever since he entered the secular world, this was the first time that he seriously thought about the survival issue and the overall situation in the future.

In the past, the conflicts between him and Kunlun City weren’t that serious. Killing Liu Xiuwei, pissing off Gu Yunxia, the sudden disappearance of Yang Mengjiang, or even killing Gu Changjiang, all could be forgiven and forgotten as long as he paid a sufficient price.

But his identity, for Kunlun City and even the Wang family of Beihai, was a big deal that could not be ignored.

The danger was hanging over his head right now. The faintly discernible danger kept making him upset. Li Tianlan instinctively started thinking about what would happen to him in the future.

Seriously speaking, his background right now was powerful enough. Sigh City would support him in the back. Ning Qiancheng and Dongcheng Rushi were still beside him. So right now it seemed that he could trust the Dongcheng Clan. At least he didn’t have to guard himself against them.

The Academics had been silent ever since the final battle on June 15th. Zhuang Huayang had been giving him whatever he requested. Most importantly, the Leading Cadre from the Academics brought Li Wangsheng back from the border, which was a kind of support.

Right now East Emperor Palace was a newly-established agency, but through this trip to East Island, Li Tianlan alone had established many military achievements. After he got back to Zhongzhou State, the level of East Emperor Palace would surely be brought up, and this would be the most important amulet. But how much it could protect them depended on how many levels East Emperor Palace would be brought up.

This was the bargaining chip he had right now.

As for Samsara Palace…

Li Tianlan gradually realized what Samsara had been planning on secretly.

His identity got exposed at such an awkward time. To some extent, this was the result of making plans for Samsara Palace. Li Tianlan wouldn’t blame or hate them, but after meeting Daybreak and Dawn, Li Tianlan had stopped considering Samsara Palace as his resource out of his premonition. Somehow he felt that this hugest resource wouldn’t provide any help for him in a long time to come.

But Sigh City, the Dongcheng Clan and the Academics had been obviously standing by his side. The only thing that disturbed him was that his enemies were too many to imagine.

His enemies were more than just Kunlun City and the Wang family of Beihai. To put aside the ferocious tusks that came out after the “treason” battle his father initiated, the family members of those soldiers, who died at the border because of his father’s “treason” battle, would be a huge threat to him twenty years later.

Li Tianlan had no expression on his face. He already knew that there would be lots of hardships waiting for him. But it still made his head ache in this dangerous situation. His identity got exposed too soon, if only he could have two or three more years…

He took a casual glance at the several teacups on the marble table, then shook his head subconsciously.

This was a gift that Samsara left him, and it could be a great help for him.

Nearly a thousand special warfare elites from Zhongzhou State all owned him a favor.

In the past few days, Li Tianlan would take time and meet some guests every day. Before Wang Shengxiao and Gongsun Qi came to him today, Li Tianlan was chatting with some special warfare superiors that he had saved. But as for the favor people owned him, there were subtle ways to make use of it. Li Tianlan wasn’t naive enough to believe that they really owned him their lives. It was a matter of life and death. With the threat of Kunlun City and the Wang family of Beihai, it would satisfy him if one tenth of them could give him a little help when he needed. In the following days, how to arrange this big net of manpower would become his number one priority.

Survival, exploration, rise.

These three words defined the future of East Emperor Palace.

The wind and rain were getting louder and louder outside the pavilion.

Li Tianlan’s eyes grew more and more steadfast, but he felt dead inside.

Inside the dark villa in front of the pavilion, the hall suddenly lit up, then got dark soon after.

Li Tianlan suddenly regained his composure and got up in the dim, quiet pavilion. His body flashed for a second. After switching places with the shadow, he had appeared at the door of the villa.

The silence of all the members from East Emperor Palace was what pleased Li Tianlan the most.

His identity was exposed. Li Baitian and Ning Qiancheng would definitely know about it. Li Baitian really made a big fuss about it for a long while, but then he got silent too.

Li Tianlan knew the consequence of his identity being exposed, how could Li Baitian and the others not know about it? But what moved him was that none of them wanted to leave East Emperor Palace at the moment.

Especially Li Baitian and Ye Huayu.

Both of them came from Mount Shu, which didn’t have much connection with Li Tianlan. But the two of them didn’t leave, and Mount Shu also stayed silent.

This kind of principled, unyielding sword intent behind the silence was what made Mount Shu win all the respect.

The cohesive force of East Emperor Palace started to come into form with everyone’s silence.

Almost everyone was meditating while healing their wounds.

After days of being a fugitive, everyone had learned a lot.

The first senior brother of Jade Pool, Xu Chu, who just joined the East Emperor Palace not long ago but didn’t leave, had begun to rush into the Half-step Thunder-shocking Realm.

Li Baitian was trying to get close to the peak of the Fire-flaming Realm. Now he still had a long way to go, but he would be pleased with any small progress.

Ning Qiancheng started to rush into the stabilization phase of the Fire-flaming Realm.

Ye Huayu tried to get into the Fire-flaming Realm.

Yu Qingyan had the slowest progress, but she was close to the Fire-flaming Realm. And this little girl had the lowest realm apart from Li Tianlan, but her killing capability was only less than Li Tianlan’s. At least for the group of people of East Emperor Palace, she wasn’t easy to mess with.

As for Dongcheng Rushi, she was considered the only “outsider” in this villa right now.

But she also didn’t cause any trouble for anyone. The sixth day since they got back to Changdao from Zhongjing was about to pass, but in the past week, Dongcheng Rushi was sleeping all along. She didn’t wake up once in six days.

Horsewoman had personally checked on Dongcheng Rushi, but her diagnose wasn’t a bad one. She just said that the sword strike consumed a lot of Dongcheng Rushi’s energy. Her passing out was just her body trying to protect itself. She needed to heal slowly, and she would wake up in ten days if everything went well.

Thinking about the condition of everyone in the villa, Li Tianlan opened the door of the villa and shook his head subconsciously.

Right now it seemed that, apart from Dongcheng Rushi who was in a coma, he had the slowest progress and the shortest meditation time.

He took a quick glance at the hall and wondered who turned on the light just now. But when he laid his eyes on the French window in the hall, he suddenly froze.

To put it in Horsewoman’s way, Dongcheng Rushi wasn’t supposed to wake up right now. But she was sitting in front of the French window while holding her knees, leaning back on the chair arm and looking at the rain outside with her head tilted.

She didn’t seem to notice Li Tianlan’s existence, just sat still there.

Her slightly messy hair hung down loosely on her back, and she was wearing white pajamas. It was too dim in the hall for Li Tianlan to see her face. At this moment, Dongcheng Rushi just sat there, so quietly like a ghost that would fade away at any minute.

Li Tianlan felt something wrong. He felt really weird about this fiancée who could easily and naturally treat him as her fiancé. He didn’t like her or hate her, and it was hard to explain the feeling. Emotionally, he felt like he should get close to her, but reasonably, he felt like he should stay away from her. At least right now, he wasn’t ready to face this fiancée who took the engagement really well.

Li Tianlan felt a little hopeless, then he turned on the lamplet. The dim, soft light lit up the hall a bit, and everything was in a blur.

Dongcheng Rushi still didn’t move. The rain and wind outside the window seemed to be the biggest attraction to her.

Li Tianlan instinctively felt something wrong again, but he couldn’t tell what exactly went wrong. He frowned subconsciously and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

The extremely ethereal, sweet voice rang out, but it sounded obviously aloof. “I’ve been sleeping for too long, so I came out for some air.”

Li Tianlan froze all of a sudden.

At this moment, he finally realized what went wrong.

The Dongcheng Rushi in front of him right now was a whole different person from the one he first met in Zhongjing.

The appearance was the same, but her disposition had changed.

Quiet and exquisite, melancholic and extremely cold!

That was a kind of coldness that didn’t care about anything in the world, with no emotion whatsoever. She didn’t care about anyone, including herself.

All of a sudden, Li Tianlan thought about the four dim, gray walls with cold texture in Dongcheng Rushi’s room in the villa of the Dongcheng Clan that he used to live in.

He felt a bit dizzy, thinking about how he first met her in Zhongjing a few days ago.

She was quiet and exquisite like she was now.

But the cold and melancholic Dongcheng Rushi right now, and the pure and innocent Dongcheng Rushi that night…

Which was the real her?

Li Tianlan frowned again and didn’t know what to do all of a sudden.

“Are you uncomfortable?”

Dongcheng Rushi said blandly without moving, “Did my attitude upset you? For that, I can apologize.”

She was cold and aloof.

It seemed like she was apologizing, but the more words came out of her mouth, the wider the gap between them became.

The girl who asked him to give her a hug with a dirty little face seemed to die quietly at this stormy night, without a trace.

Li Tianlan felt a little sad and sorry inside, but he didn’t know what were these feelings for.

“No.”

He said in a calm tone.

“That’s a lie.”

Dongcheng Rushi finally turned around. In the dim, soft light, her pretty, pale little face had no expression on it. Her eyes, which looked like cold planets, stared directly at Li Tianlan’s eyes. While the light flowing in her eyes, her crystal-clear eyes had thick coldness in them.

Li Tianlan shook his head, tried to leave behind all the thoughts in his head and said, “Are you hungry? After days of being in a coma, do you want something to eat?”

“Can you cook?”

Dongcheng Rushi raised her pretty eyebrows and asked.

“No, I can’t.”

Li Tianlan shook his head. “But there’s food in the fridge. You can make do with it.”

Dongcheng Rushi twitched her mouth, and this time, there was obvious mockery in her cold eyes. “I thought you are the kind of man that is good at making a woman happy. You don’t even know how to cook. I don’t know what Qin Weibai sees in you.”

Li Tianlan felt angry all of a sudden. He couldn’t help but argue. “I thought you were an innocent, cute little girl.”

“Little girl?”

Dongcheng Rushi interrupted Li Tianlan abruptly. She squinted her pretty eyes and giggled. Her laughter was cold but weirdly coquettish. “Yeah, a little girl. How’s my acting by the way? Do you like the goofy cutie type? Do you want me to play that role for you?”

Li Tianlan calmed down inside, then suddenly laughed and said, “No, I’m good.”

He nodded and turned around, about to go upstairs. He still didn’t hate Dongcheng Rushi, but he instinctively tried to stay away from women that he couldn’t figure out.

“What do you think of Rushi?”

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Dongcheng Rushi suddenly spoke behind him. She took a step forward and grabbed Li Tianlan’s arm.

This was a weird question, but at the moment they touched each other, Li Tianlan’s body froze. He said without thinking, “I thought you were nice before, but now I can’t figure you out.”

“Hahaha…”

It was the kind of sweet, crisp but cold laugh. In this situation, even Li Tianlan had amazing willpower, he couldn’t help but sweat. When he was hesitating, Dongcheng Rushi behind him pressed her body on his.

Her body was hot, but her voice sounded cold as the glacier. “Can’t figure me out? Since you walked in here, you had laid your eyes on my legs three times, on my breasts twice, on my face twice. My dear fiancé, which part of me you can’t figure out? As your fiancée, I’m more than happy to satisfy your thoughts.”

Her voice was soft and cold, but coquettish, with her hot breath blowing into Li Tianlan’s ear.

“My skirt isn’t very long. Maybe you can figure me out if I lift up my dress for you?”

She was almost biting Li Tianlan’s ear while talking. Her hand led Li Tianlan’s hand down and actually lifted up her white nightdress a bit.

Touching her amazingly tender thigh, Li Tianlan’s body shook violently. He took a few steps back subconsciously, turned around and looked at Dongcheng Rushi calmly.

“What? You don’t like it?”

Dongcheng Rushi looked at Li Tianlan like she was challenging him, or seducing him. “I’m still a virgin. As your fiancée, isn’t it completely normal to serve my future husband?”

The atmosphere was getting weirder and weirder.

Li Tianlan’s heart raced up. For a brief moment, he even thought he had met a ghost. But the brief touch just now, her tender, bouncy and warm skin, the sweet smell in her fresh, tempting breath were telling him that the Dongcheng Rushi in front of him was real. He took a deep breath and said calmly, “I’ll find a chance to talk to your grandpa about our engagement. So now…”

“So you mean you don’t want to marry me?”

At their second meeting, Dongcheng Rushi seemed to be indescribably aggressive. Her cold, charming smile faded away, and she asked while staring at him coldly.

Li Tianlan had a headache and didn’t say a word.

“Who do you think you are?”

Dongcheng Rushi sneered. “Are you the emperor? Or the Great Jade Emperor? For the past nineteen years, do you know how much I sacrificed for this engagement? Piano, music, dancing, poem, massage, embroidery, calligraphy, painting, and cooking. I learned all these things thinking they might make you happy.”

“Martial Arts, finance, tactics, politics, psychology, and interpersonal relations. I learned all these things that could help you.”

“Ever since I could remember, I knew about your existence. You are my fiancé, the man that will marry me one day. My grandpa told me this, my grandma told me this before she passed away, my parents told me this, my sister, too. When I was practicing sword in Jade Pool, my master told me this. When I went to the Border Control Corps, my godfather told me about it too. They had been telling me that we will get married for more than ten years!”

“Now whenever I hear the word Li I will think of Li Tianlan, then I will think of my future husband. Do you know what’s instinct? This is it. I can’t even fight myself. I have worked so hard for so many years, my whole family has worked so hard for so many years, and we did everything just to make you fall in love with me. And you? You tried to end the engagement with one sentence?! I lived for nineteen years for you! Li Tianlan, who do you think you are? Do you think you have the right to end this engagement?!”

The cold and harsh voice stopped, but it still echoed like a high pitch.

Li Tianlan froze and looked at the cold, furious girl in front of him. His brain was a mess.

The unutterable shock and bitterness crashed his heart, even his soul.

He only knew that he had an engagement with Dongcheng Rushi, but he never expected that Dongcheng Clan took it so seriously.

I lived for nineteen years for you!

This sentence was soul-shattering to him.

Li Tianlan opened his mouth but couldn’t say anything.

“You were definitely staring at my body secretly just now. Now you said you don’t wanna marry me. Are all men such hypocrites?”

Dongcheng Rushi asked coldly.

Li Tianlan felt awkward, and he said with a bitter smile, “There’s a difference. I admit I did stare at your body just now. And I have to say that you’re indeed gorgeous. I’m only a man, not a saint, and I have desire and feelings. But there’s a difference between desire and feelings. Can you understand?”

Dongcheng Rushi bit her lip hard while looking at Li Tianlan.

There seemed to be grievances in her eyes, but gradually coldness and stubbornness took over. “So what are you trying to tell me? Are you telling me that you just wanna play with me and don’t actually plan to marry me?”

Driven by devilish impulse, Li Tianlan hesitated for a second and nodded.

This was such a cheap move, but honest.

Dongcheng Rushi was indeed very pretty. A pretty innocent girl like that would win every man’s heart. Li Tianlan didn’t know what was wrong with him. But when he thought about her being his fiancée, he had some wild thoughts inside.

He did want to own this rare pretty girl, and maybe this was the dark side of him. But he never thought about marrying her.

His dream woman was in Huating, in Samsara Palace instead of the Dongcheng Clan.

This might bring him a lot of disdain, but at least for a brief second, this was his real thought.

“You really are an asshole!”

Dongcheng Rushi let out a cold laugh while her body was trembling. She stared straight at Li Tianlan. “For the Dongcheng Clan, I can accept your filthy thoughts. But how can she accept that?”

“Who?”

Li Tianlan felt completely confused right now.

“Who else can it be? Of course that goofy dummy, Dongcheng Rushi!”

Dongcheng Rushi let out a cold laugh and said.

Everything in front of Li Tianlan was spinning. His body shook and nearly collapsed.

He was dumbfounded and looking at the woman in front of him. He said slowly after a long pause, “Dongcheng Rushi? Then who are you? Where’s Dongcheng Rushi?”

Dongcheng Rushi in front of him took a deep breath and said in a cold tone, “I’m also your fiancée. I’m Dongcheng Yueshen. As for Rushi…”

She pointed at her brain and put on a creepy smile. “She needs to rest.”

At that moment, Li Tianlan understood something, but still had a lot of questions. He subconsciously lit up a cigarette and carelessly blew the smoke to Dongcheng Yueshen’s face.

“Dissociation of personality?”

Li Tianlan sounded out. “Are you the other half of the personality of Rushi?”

“Rushi is the other half of my personality!”

Dongcheng Yueshen looked cold and proud.

Li Tianlan let out a bitter laugh and took a big drag, without saying anything.

Dongcheng Rushi’s main personality was obviously in charge. Right now Dongcheng Yueshen was the second personality. Dongcheng Rushi had strong self-consciousness, but if the second personality was in charge of her body, Li Baitian and the rest would notice in days of being hunted. So obviously, the Dongcheng Yueshen in front of him was turned off most of the time. And the worst part was, Dongcheng Rushi didn’t know about this.

Li Tianlan smoked and was about to say something. Suddenly, the phone rang.

Dongcheng Yueshen froze, then turned around and picked up her phone from the tea table.

“It’s my grandpa.”

She said softly. She looked at the time, then looked at Li Tianlan, handed him the phone and said, “Right now, my grandpa will be very delighted if you answer the phone.”

Li Tianlan’s mouth twitched, then subconsciously shook his head.

Dongcheng Yueshen gave Li Tianlan a complicated glance, then answered the call and said softly, “Grandpa, I’m Yueshen.”

There seemed to be a pause in the phone. Obviously, all the important people in the Dongcheng Clan knew about Dongcheng Yueshen, the second personality, except for Dongcheng Rushi.

Li Tianlan shook his head hard and ignored the conversation between Dongchen Yueshen and Dongcheng Hanguang. When he came back from his thoughts, their conversation had come to an end.

She held the phone and wanted to say something, but didn’t, then hang up the phone.

Li Tianlan just wanted to be left alone and was about to go back to his room. Dongcheng Yueshen suddenly said, “My grandpa asked me to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

Li Tianlan subconsciously answered.

“He said…”

Dongcheng Yueshen’s cold, quiet big eyes seemed a bit blank. She said slowly, imitating Dongcheng Hanguang’s tone, “He said, be careful of Phoenix Pavilion.”

Li Tianlan’s heart suddenly sank.

Dongcheng Yueshen spoke very slowly. He heard her voice, but he could imagine what Dongcheng Hanguang was thinking while saying this.

That seemed to be…

Something that could not be mentioned?

Something that could not be mentioned?!

Li Tianlan thought about the meeting with Gongsun Qi just now. His eyebrows twisted together, and his mind was a mess.

“Do you know about Phoenix Pavilion?”

Li Tianlan asked suddenly.

Dongcheng Yueshen also seemed to be zoning out. She shook her head after hearing his question and stayed silent.

Li Tianlan realized something. He thought about her face when she wanted to say something and said, “Did you leave something unsaid in the phone call?”

Dongcheng Yueshen was slightly stunned, then she hesitated. This was her second meeting with Li Tianlan, or the first, but her well-nurtured instinct made it impossible for the second personality to say no to Li Tianlan. She nodded, then frowned and said, “There’s an expert in East Island.”

Li Tianlan learned nothing from this answer. He asked calmly, “And then?”

“No.”

Dongcheng Yueshen shook her head and said slowly, “That night in Zhongjing, there was an expert in the forest, an expert of the Invincible Realm. All the Martial Arts of Rushi were in that sword named Silence. Silence left the sheath early, and that sword strike was truly invincible. But someone pressed the sword and the sword intent back into the sheath, and this someone even condensed the shattered sheath with sword intent. What does it mean?”

Li Tianlan looked concerned, and his heart sank uncontrollably.

If Dongcheng Rushi’s sword strike was really an invincible hit, then the person who could press it down was blocking that hit forcefully with his strength!

“What level of strength is he in?”

Li Tianlan squinted and mumbled subconsciously

“I don’t know. But that person was the most powerful man I’ve ever met! It seemed he wasn’t hostile toward us, but it didn’t mean he was at our side.”

Dongcheng Yueshen shook her head and said.

“The most powerful?”

Li Tianlan shook his head subconsciously, not believing it completely.

“What do you mean?! Are you looking down on me?”

Dongcheng Yueshen’s eyes suddenly turned cold.

“No.”

Li Tianlan told the truth. “But as the frequency of your appearance, you don’t seem to meet a lot of people?”

“I can see what Dongcheng Rushi can see!”

Dongcheng Yueshen said coldly, “I haven’t met a lot of experts of the Invincible Realm, but at least I’ve met Gu Xingyun!”