"A visitor from the old residence wants to see the head of the household," the guard reported, not noticing Ye Lanshan but spotting Ye Luotian standing outside, so he simply informed him of the matter.
"Tell him the head is busy and not seeing guests. Have him leave." Ye Luotian didn't want anything to disrupt his plans.
"Yes." The guard acknowledged with a fist salute and headed for the gate.
"The head is occupied with affairs and isn't receiving guests. You should go," the guard said coldly upon returning, dismissing Sikong Kuang and the others.
"We can leave, but give back what I gave you earlier." That was his last transmission talisman, meant for later use, but now it was his only chance.
"It's just a scrap of paper. Look at you treasuring it. Here." The guard pulled the strange paper from his chest and tossed it at Yun Di.
A flash of anger crossed Yun Di's eyes as he stepped forward, wanting to beat the guard for relief, but Sikong Kuang stopped him.
Seeing his aggressive stance, the guard taunted, "Oh, what, you want to hit me? Causing trouble at the Ye estate—you must be tired of living."
"Now's not the time for trouble. Let's go." Sikong Kuang grabbed Yun Di and dragged him to a secluded spot.
"What's the point of provoking them for no reason?" The other guard, who had stayed silent, felt uneasy seeing his colleague deliberately bait Yun Di. If word got out, who knew how people would judge the Ye mansion.
"Just testing what kind of people they are," the guard replied, his face expressionless again.
The other guard realized, "You were worried suspicious people might sneak into the mansion?"
"That's not your concern. Mind your post and keep your mouth shut." The guard's tone was icy.
...
"As soon as Futian and the others entered the capital, they vanished like smoke. No matter how we search, we can't find them."
"What did you say? Still haven't found Futian and the others? What are you all good for? All this time, and you can't even locate one person. Useless." Yun Qingfeng slammed his teacup to the ground in fury.
"Qing, calm down. Don't ruin your health over those scum." Ruyue walked slowly from the doorway to his side, taking his hand as if to comfort him.
Yun Qingfeng took a deep breath, his face returning to calm, and said coldly, "Search every house if you have to. I refuse to believe we can't find them."
The kneeling outer disciple hesitated, "But, what about the emperor?"
"Forget the emperor. Your only task now is to catch Futian and bring him back." Yun Qingfeng pulled Ruyue to sit down.
"Exactly. For us from the holy land to grace this place is their honor. Who would dare stop us?" Ruyue sat beside Yun Qingfeng, backing him up.
"Enough, get out. You're just annoying me." Yun Qingfeng waved his hand irritably.
"Yes." The disciples, afraid to anger him further, retreated within seconds.
"You're getting more ruthless. Look how scared they are—they'd rather avoid you." Ruyue smiled faintly, channeling mystic energy into Yun Qingfeng to help suppress the evil aura within him.
"Sigh, there's no choice. Lately, I can barely control my restlessness. If I don't finish this quickly and return to the holy land for the clarity pill, I might lose control entirely." That was the real reason for Yun Qingfeng's urgency.
A trace of worry flickered in Ruyue's eyes, then she seemed to make a decision and said firmly, "Then use my blood."
"When my uncle couldn't suppress the backlash of the Dust-Avoiding Art, he used my blood to do it."
"No. When I rescued you from your uncle, I swore I'd never become like him, never let you get hurt." Yun Qingfeng refused her with righteous indignation.
"But it's different. I'm willing, and I trust you. You won't become like my uncle, right?" Ruyue leaned her head gently on Yun Qingfeng's shoulder, speaking softly. "We've come so far to be together. I don't want you to lose yourself to the backlash and become unrecognizable."
"Qing, honestly, even if you used my blood for a lifetime, I'd do it willingly. You don't need to feel burdened." Though her voice was light, her tone was deadly serious.
Yun Qingfeng coldly pushed her away. "I will never use your blood, even if I lose all sense of kinship."
"Qing," Ruyue froze, "I don't mind you using my blood. What do you mind? Or what are you afraid of?"
"Do you even realize your blood is addictive? Your uncle once told me that at first, he only wanted a little to suppress it. But your blood is like a drug—the more you drink, the more you crave. That's what turned him into that monster."
"I don't want to hurt you or follow his path. So don't bring this up again." Yun Qingfeng flicked his sleeves and walked out of the room.
...
"Ye Lanshan isn't like that. I believe her. Something must have held her up," Yun Di insisted to Sikong Kuang, certain there was a misunderstanding.
"The Ye guard already said she doesn't want to see us. What misunderstanding?" Sikong Kuang didn't want to argue about trivialities. He just wanted a place to hide from the Sikong family for a while.
Yun Di stopped explaining and instead infused mystic energy into the crumpled transmission talisman.
"What is it? Speak." A cool voice came through the talisman.
Yun Di said, "We just went to the Ye estate, but the guard said you wouldn't see us and told us to leave."
"I understand. Where are you now? I'll come find you." Ye Lanshan lowered her head, placing the formation book back on the shelf.
"We're in an alley not far from the Ye estate."
"Alright, stay put. I'll come to you." With that, Ye Lanshan ended the connection.
"You must be Sikong Kuang." A familiar, cool female voice came from behind him.
"Who?" Yun Di spun around to see Ye Lanshan in men's clothing standing behind him.
Ye Lanshan glanced at their disheveled state and said calmly, "It's not suitable for you to stay at the Ye mansion now. Come with me. I'll take you somewhere no one can find you."