Chapter 1463 427: The Secret of Su Yurou from the Third House! (6k)_2

She actually took the initiative to reach out, gently wrapping her hand around Zhou Qing's wrist. "We'll go together."

Zhou Qing only felt a warm sensation spread from his wrist; Shen Hanyi's hand was far softer than he had imagined.

That simple gesture sent a current of warmth surging through his heart.

The distance he'd thought would take so long to bridge was, because of their daughter's appearance, dissolved in a single night.

"Okay." Zhou Qing's voice tightened a little. He carefully turned his hand to gently hold Shen Hanyi's, afraid that using even a bit more strength would scare her away.

"And me!" Shen Yunzhou suddenly squeezed in between the two of them, and without giving them a say, laid his own hand atop their joined hands. "I'm her real uncle, I'm going with you too!"

Shen Hanyi and Zhou Qing turned their heads at the same time, looking at Shen Yunzhou's utterly serious expression, both momentarily at a loss for words.

...

Just like that, the three quietly left the mountain estate.

To be safe, Zhou Qing even specially sent a message to Second Granduncle, hoping he could look after Lu Yaoyao for the time being.

But the message went out and half a day passed with no reply; most likely Second Granduncle wasn't within the Communication Jade Scroll's range, and who knew where he'd gone.

Two days later, the Flying Ship was gliding through a sea of clouds.

Zhou Qing, who was currently piloting the ship, suddenly opened his eyes, just in time to see a familiar streak of light weaving down through the clouds ahead.

"It's her!" With a single glance, Zhou Qing recognized the figure.

Back in Celestial Wave City, there had been two Divinity Transformation Realm Cultivators, one fat and one thin, pretending to fight.

The fat one's seemingly rage-fueled yellow-sand Realm had in truth been used to secretly lift the Storage Bags off the spectators.

Afterwards a fake Law Enforcement Envoy had even shown up to play mediator; the few of them coordinated as if perfectly choreographed.

Because his old hen was stolen, he'd had no choice but to bring Lu Yaoyao in pursuit to a small alley, where he caught the three of them dividing the spoils.

And then that Mid-stage Spirit Severing Realm fox clan beauty, Cloud Nine Charm, appeared.

She wielded a Cyan Jade Smoke Gun and even exchanged a few brief moves with Zhou Qing in that alley.

But later City Lord Li Changhong's intimidating voice rolled over them; citing Celestial Sound City as a transit hub, with seven four-colored large Teleportation Arrays leading to various places running here, he forbade further fighting.

If a Spirit Severing Realm battle disturbed the spatial stability here, he would suppress them completely, so the two had no choice but to stop.

However, in that span of time, those three Divinity Transformation tried to seize the chance to ambush Lu Yaoyao.

She, in turn, unleashed her Realm and forcibly blocked all three of their attacks.

Back then, upon seeing the veiled Shen Hanyi within that Realm, and Lu Yaoyao with the same silver hair, Cloud Nine Charm had said with meaningful depth, "So you know her. In that case, we can be considered acquaintances."

He had guessed even then that Cloud Nine Charm was very likely also someone from Nanhuang State.

Just as Zhou Qing was sinking into thought, Shen Hanyi, who had been resting in the cabin, came out, a Communication Jade Scroll in her hand.

"Got some information," her voice was cool. "There's a city below. Let's go down and take a look first."

Zhou Qing didn't press for details and immediately steered the Flying Ship into a descent.

Before long, the outline of a bustling city appeared below. Following the direction Shen Hanyi indicated, the Flying Ship slipped down into it.

...

This city was extraordinarily prosperous. Lofty buildings lined both sides of the streets, carved beams and painted rafters hung with spirit lamps of all colors.

Spirit banners fluttered before shopfronts, the passersby were richly dressed, and the air was suffused with the fresh fragrance of Spirit Fruit and Spirit Tea.

After all, this was, in the end, part of the Fifth Tail's Inner Domain.

At this moment, within an elegant inn in the city, a beautiful woman sat by the window on the second floor.

She wore a moon-white drifting-cloud brocade dress, the hem flowing like water around the chair.

Her melon-seed face was set with a pair of lively peach-blossom eyes, and in her jade hand she lightly shook an embroidered round fan.

She was none other than the Second Branch Madam—Su Yurou.

Just then, a commotion suddenly rose from downstairs.

A beautiful woman in a dark red gauze gown could be seen slowly ascending the stairs; nine-tailed fox patterns embroidered on her skirt seemed to swim like living creatures.

She toyed with a Cyan Jade Smoke Gun between her jade fingers, threads of violet spirit mist coiling around the gun's body.

Every step she took swayed with alluring grace, and nine faint fox shadows drifted around her body—it was precisely Cloud Nine Charm, whom Zhou Qing had seen before.

"Chchch…" Her red lips parted slightly as she exhaled a breath of spirit mist tinged with a bewildering fragrance, making the nearby diners stare in dazed fascination.

She paid it no mind, going straight to Su Yurou's table and sitting down, casually setting a Sound Insulation Restriction.

"Your man's dead?" Cloud Nine Charm spoke bluntly, twirling the Smoke Gun between her fingers.

Su Yurou's round fan paused slightly, a hint of complexity flashing through her peach-blossom eyes. "I know. It was all orchestrated by me."

Cloud Nine Charm narrowed her foxy eyes. "I can vaguely sense that you handed over the Imaging Stone recording of Shen Lieyang killing the Flying Thief Alliance to Shen Hanyi."

"Yes," Su Yurou gazed out the window. "I just didn't expect Shen Lieyang not to die, while that useless man Shen Yunlan ended up dying first. Even now I don't know who killed him."

"Who killed him shouldn't matter to you anymore," Cloud Nine Charm chuckled softly. "You'd long since given up on that man, hadn't you?"

Su Yurou's fan suddenly stilled, her voice turning a shade colder. "When I first became his Dao companion, I even had my hopes. But later I found out how ridiculous he was—and stupid to the extreme."

Her fingertips pressed down slightly, the fan ribs emitting a soft "crack."

"I tried to talk sense into him many times, but he insisted on courting death." Su Yurou let out a cold laugh, a trace of mockery flashing through her peach-blossom eyes.

"You probably don't know—aside from me, he actually had several women outside. I even investigated those women specially; every last one of them was arranged by the main branch."

The next moment, the round fan snapped open with a "whoosh," covering half her face and leaving only a pair of icy eyes visible.