While Qiu Ling made a difficult decision for himself, Hua Lin Yu was focusing on the gems in front of him that were still projecting the scenes happening all over the Demonic Ancestor’s Poisonous Herb Garden. Finally, he spotted the familiar figure and pointed at it. “There! That’s him!”

An Rong fixed his gaze on the figure of the young man in the projection and took in his surroundings before he nodded. “I know where that is. I’ll take you there.”

Saying so, he took another gem out of his spatial bracelet and held it against the wall where the image of Xiao Li was being shown. The projection was transferred over, now showing both on the wall and in the small gem in An Rong’s hands. He nodded and then handed the gem to Hua Lin Yu but didn’t let go immediately. “You pour your spiritual energy into this. As long as you do, it will continue to project the scene. Just focus your mind on his figure and the scenery will follow to shift as he does. This way, we’ll know where he goes.”

Hua Lin Yu nodded and did as he was told, carefully holding the gem.

An Rong waited a moment longer to make sure everything worked, then waved his hand to deactivate the wall of gems before leading Hua Lin Yu out of the palace.

The place where Xiao Li currently was actually wasn’t too far away from the chasm with the beguiling night tree. They simply needed to fly up, follow one of the tunnels in the mountain, and soon, they would reach a small valley that was hidden in the west. An Rong didn’t explain anything and instead grabbed Hua Lin Yu around the waist, directly rushing over there so that Xiao Li wouldn’t have left. As it turned out, he had made the right decision.

Xiao Li was wandering aimlessly through the valley, clearly not knowing where exactly to go. He seemed to just be taking in the general situation of this realm in preparation for whatever he had planned. Right now, he was looking curiously at the herbs around him, his gaze indicating that he didn’t recognize them but at least was able to understand that the resources of this place were very rich.

An Rong gave a faint huff while he leaned closer to Hua Lin Yu. “I see what you mean about him. Seems like what he’s looking for is a new home and he seems to like what he’s seeing.”

Hua Lin Yu looked up at him, surprised that An Rong was able to see what was going on in Xiao Li’s mind. Even he hadn’t been able to figure it out after he finally realized that he actually wasn’t a good person. But this man who didn’t know him at all was able to just take a casual look and tell him what Xiao Li was up to. He had to say that this An Rong seemed more and more knowledgeable. Clearly a hidden master!

An Rong simply smiled though. “That’s my kind. Even though I left the demon realm a long time ago, I still understand them to a certain degree. This one …” He shook his head. “Well, he might only have half the blood but he sure has inherited a hundred percent of their way of thinking.”

Hua Lin Yu pursed his lips but he couldn’t argue. If what he believed to be true by now was indeed the case, then what An Rong was currently saying was also true. It really made him question his perception though. How come he hadn’t noticed at all? So many people had warned him but he just hadn’t been able to see it.

Was it true that love made you blind? And even this kind of fake love was able to cause something like this? He wouldn’t have believed it before but now, it seemed that there was no use denying it. He had experienced it himself, after all.

An Rong out Hua Lin Yu down and strode over to Xiao Li, using his higher level to hide himself from him for the time being.

As for Hua Lin Yu, he stopped imbuing his spiritual energy into the gem since they had already found the person and simply it into his spatial earring for the time being. He couldn’t forget to give it back later on but he didn’t want to carry it all the time while they were talking to Xiao Li.

Finally, An Rong revealed his figure a few meters in front of Xiao Li, making him stop in his tracks. An Rong’s lips curved up faintly but the smile did not reach his eyes. “Hello there, I’m afraid I don’t know you.”

Xiao Li gave a faint smile. Even though he had stiffened for a moment, he had gotten through a lot of situations in his life and his skill of bluffing others wasn’t too bad. He didn’t think that anything was lost just yet. As long as he acted naturally, he didn’t think that there would be a problem.

He was also wearing the same dark robes that Hua Lin Yu had on, clearly having stolen one after entering the sect as well. “Oh, it’s no wonder. I just joined a few days ago so you probably haven’t met me yet. My name is Xiao Li. May ask who you are?”

He really seemed open and aboveboard as if he was just a regular disciple of the sect. If it had been anybody else in front of him, and Hua Lin Yu hadn’t been faster in making An Rong’s acquaintance, maybe Xiao Li really would have gotten away with this. But as things stood, An Rong simply smiled with faint disdain.

“Ah, that really is a strange coincidence. You see, when somebody joins the sect, they will usually be brought in front of the Sect Master. And as it just so happens to be, I am the Master of this sect so I should have met you already if you really joined the sect. But as it seems, that isn’t really why you’re here.” He pointed behind Xiao Li, still the same faint smile on his lips.

Xiao Li had a bad hunch but still turned to look over his shoulder, his expression freezing when he found Hua Lin Yu standing not too far behind him. Now, it seemed that simply acting would not be able to get him out of the situation. No, if he wanted to leave, then he needed to be more cunning than this millennia-old demon in front of him. Somehow, he didn’t think that the chance of that happening was very high.

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