However, Shen Zhaozhao and Murong Xiao waited anxiously for a long time, but Tu Shanche pursed his handsome lips again and again, and in the end, he kept them tightly closed and did not utter a single word.
The struggle and melancholy in his eyes were so intense they were almost palpable.
"Alright."
Finally, Shen Zhaozhao seemed to have lost her patience. She shrugged and said in a light tone, "Tell me if you want, keep it to yourself until you die."
However, at this point, the tone suddenly changed. She glanced at Murong Xiao, who was still sobbing, as if she were assessing a commodity waiting to be sold.
"Anyway, now I know your brother is the real prince from the upper realm. You can die without worry. The moment you kick the bucket, I'll sell him to a brothel."
"Tsk tsk, Your Highness from the Upper Realm, how many spirit stones is this worth? I'm afraid the entire Lingzhou's mines combined wouldn't be enough to satisfy you. It's enough for me to live a carefree life for tens of thousands of years."
"???"
Murong Xiao suddenly looked up, her tear-streaked face instantly blank, staring at Shen Zhaozhao in disbelief.
"you--!"
Tu Shanche reacted even faster than Murong Xiao. A terrifying, overwhelming pressure that distorted the very space crashed down without warning, like a solid mountain.
"!"
Shen Zhaozhao was the first to be hit. She felt her internal organs shift instantly, and a sweet taste suddenly rose in her throat. She spat out a mouthful of hot blood, which splattered onto the decaying leaves at her feet.
The cultivation level of a newly formed Golden Core cultivator was as fragile as a thin sheet of paper in the face of this oppressive force.
"cough……"
Shen Zhaozhao was pressed down so hard that she couldn't straighten her back, but she stubbornly refused to kneel down.
She raised her hand and casually wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. Then, she met Tu Shanche's eyes, which seemed to be spitting out golden flames of anger, and gave him an extremely irritating smile: "Feeling sorry for him now? Getting angry?"
"This is nothing!"
"You think that once you die, and the Celestial Emperor takes him back to the Upper Realm, he'll finally calm down?"
"Given his personality—which is completely devoid of anything but you—it's not surprising that he'd do anything!"
"If I can't do it, what about your immortal enemies, the otherworldly demon realm?! Are they capable of doing this?!"
Shen Zhaozhao: "He's fine as long as he doesn't ruin himself now, but what if you die, and he can't think straight and does something reckless that allows those demons to take advantage and kidnap him?!"
The terrifying pressure emanating from Tu Shanche suddenly froze, as if an invisible hand had gripped his throat.
Those eyes, burning with golden flames of fury, were fixed on Shen Zhaozhao, churning with a storm of emotions—rage, disbelief, and even more so… a panicked feeling of having one’s deepest fear brutally ripped open.
He had imagined countless possibilities for Xiao'er after his death, but he never dared to think of this one.
Every word Shen Zhaozhao spoke pierced his already battered heart, causing him unbearable pain more than any punishment from a Celestial Emperor.
The overwhelming rage and the overwhelming power that seemed to crush everything ultimately turned into a sigh that went straight to the bone, a sigh filled with endless weariness and the desolate sorrow of resignation.
He slowly raised his hand, trying to pull away Murong Xiao, who was clinging to him and trembling with sobs.
But as soon as Tu Shanche's fingers touched his younger brother's arm, Murong Xiao, like a small beast whose scales had been touched, suddenly tightened his grip, his knuckles turning white, and he wanted nothing more than to embed himself in his brother's arms.
Tu Shanche tugged at it, but couldn't budge it.
He tugged again, but Murong Xiao only held on tighter, letting out a whimper like a wounded cub.
Tu Shanche's movements froze completely.
He looked at the fluffy head in his arms, covered in tears and dirt, and felt the subtle yet stubbornly persistent trembling. The last bit of his determination to "bear the burden alone" crumbled in his heart.
"...Never mind."
He lowered his eyes, his voice carrying a calm that seemed to have settled the dust, and gently patted Murong Xiao's back as a form of reassurance: "The Immortal Emperor... ordered me to eliminate that otherworldly demon that has been causing Immortal Venerable Mo Yuan... unease."
"What?!"
Murong Xiao's bloodshot eyes widened: "Even Immortal Venerable Mo Yuan couldn't withstand this thing, and you're being sent?! Isn't this clearly an attempt to kill you?!"
He was so angry he jumped up and down: "And traversing to another world?! In the entire Upper Realm, besides that old bastard Mo Yuan Immortal Venerable, who has the ability to tear open the boundary?! How are you going to go, bro?! Are you going to bang your head against it?! You dog, you old beast! He—"
Murong Xiao's cursing stopped abruptly.
He saw Shen Zhaozhao looking at him with an extremely complex expression, as if she was trying to digest some earth-shattering secret.
After several breaths, Shen Zhaozhao seemed to have finally found a breakthrough. She slowly raised her eyelids, her eyes filled with curiosity and a hint of... indescribable subtlety.
"Ah...so," her voice trembled with a hint of sudden realization and hesitation, "your Immortal Venerable Mo Yuan was truly defiled?"
She paused, and finally, in a tone that was both sympathetic and slightly disdainful, she added softly, "Your Immortal Venerable is... a bit weak."
"???"
Murong Xiao almost choked on his own breath at this unusual focus. He was so angry that his face turned red, and his finger pointing at Shen Zhaozhao trembled as he said, "Is this the time to be arguing about this?!"
Looking at his agitated younger brother and Shen Zhaozhao's "Immortal Venerable is no good" expression, Tu Shanche's tense nerves, which had been taut for who knows how long, strangely relaxed.
It doesn't seem so difficult to say it out loud.
Since things are already as bad as they can get, we might as well make things clear so that the young prince doesn't accidentally run into something deadly.
He reached out, with a force that brooked no refusal, and pressed the still hopping Murong Xiao back to his side. His large, warm hand gently stroked the boy's messy hair, trying to smooth out the frizzy strands.
"Xiao'er".
Tu Shanche's voice returned to its usual gentleness: "Immortal Emperor... heard from the Heavenly Dao that the otherworldly creature... has followed the aura of Immortal Venerable Mo Yuan and infiltrated Lingzhou."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over Shen Zhaozhao and Murong Xiao, a deep silence settling in the depths of his golden eyes.
"The Immortal Emperor means... that I should find him and completely eliminate him. Otherwise, if Immortal Venerable Mo Yuan continues to be uneasy, the Demon Realm may find an opportunity to disturb the peace of the Three Realms."
Shen Zhaozhao hissed and raised an eyebrow. "So, you now have some clues about the whereabouts of that 'otherworldly object'?"
Tu Shanche was taken aback by her question for a moment. A trace of confusion flashed in his clear golden eyes. Then he lowered his eyelashes, and his long silver hair slipped down his shoulders as he shook his head slightly, revealing a somewhat inappropriate gentleness.
“I’m not afraid you’ll laugh at me for saying this,” he said in a low voice, with a rare hint of embarrassment, “I…can’t find a trace of that strange thing at all. It seems to have completely merged into this world, leaving no trace.”
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