Chapter 1947

Huo Xiaoru said: "With your wisdom, how could you understand?" She sighed: "Back then I treated you well; I told you the secret of the airship, I taught you how to repair the airship, yet you repaid kindness with betrayal, joining with Long Xuan'en and his gang to harm me!"

Hong Beimo said: "You... you have cultivated the Seed Demon Great Art?"

Huo Xiaoru chuckled and said: "What Seed Demon Great Art? The so-called Seed Demon Great Art you speak of was created by me; the so-called Seed Demon Great Art is merely a form of parasitism. To you people, flesh and life are inseparable; to me, flesh is merely a shell; even if my body is shattered to pieces, I can still survive in this world."

Hong Beimo said: "Why have you hidden for so many years?"

Huo Xiaoru said: "Why should I hide? I was just too lazy to bother. After you all teamed up to harm me that time, I realized a principle: rather than forcing you to do things, it's better to let you do them willingly; driven by your inner desires, you will achieve my goal just as well, and with twice the efficiency." She smiled sweetly and said: "You have not disappointed my expectations; the airship has been repaired in your hands. Liu Yuzhang likewise did not disappoint my expectations; in his quest for revenge, he spared no means, trying every way to open the gate of the underground palace, yet he never imagined that the underground palace held no treasure, but my soul. Back then, the Chosen One paid a heavy price to finally control me, and Zhuge Yun Chun further helped them design the mechanisms, sealing me deep within the underground palace. I thought I would never regain the ability to see the light of day in this lifetime, yet I never expected to regain my freedom—hehe... it was your desires and ambitions that helped me!"

Hong Beimo gazed at Huo Xiaoru before him, his heart turned cold, yet he had lost the ability to move; he whispered: "Qiqi is your daughter, and you actually used your own daughter!"

Huo Xiaoru's face expressionless, she said: "Familial affection exists only in your humans' cognition; to me, she is merely an object I created; my purpose in creating her was so that she could be useful someday; without the bloodline of the Chosen One, how could one break through the barrier and enter the underground palace? Since she belongs to me, I naturally can decide her life and death!" A chilling killing intent burst from her eyes: "You are the same!"

Two beams of blue light shot from her eyes toward Hong Beimo's eyes; Hong Beimo wanted to close his eyes, striving not to look at her gaze, but he could not even perform such a simple action.

Ji Feihua and Hu Xiaotian now fully understood that the so-called ultimate weapon against the Mirage hidden in the underground palace was a deceit from start to finish; it must have been deliberately designed by the Mirage to step by step lure them into the underground palace, bring them here, break the barrier, open the seal, and the true intention was to release that blue light orb.

The darkness calmed them, allowing them to think clearly about what had happened; Hu Xiaotian whispered: "What is that light orb?"

In the darkness, Ji Feihua took out that night pearl; its pale yellow light illuminated the underground, lighting up Ji Feihua's stunningly beautiful face that took one's breath away, and also illuminated the deep gloom in her eyes.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Perhaps that light orb is the true Mirage!"

Ji Feihua said nothing, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Inside, besides a sense of defeat, she felt deep gloom; they were trapped deep underground, while the Mirage had already escaped, and no one knew what would happen outside.

Hu Xiaotian had also thought of this; he lowered his head to look at Qiqi, who remained unconscious, but her heartbeat and breathing were still present; if not for Ji Feihua's timely intervention to stop it, perhaps Qiqi would already be dead.

Ji Feihua said: "I'll go see if there's an exit; you first think of a way to save her."

Hu Xiaotian nodded.

Ji Feihua rose and left.

Hu Xiaotian laid Qiqi flat on the ground, recalling that Qiqi was the daughter of the Mirage and Chu Yuanhai, the offspring of the Chosen One and the Mirage; such a unique lifeform might not respond to ordinary first aid, but besides standard CPR, Hu Xiaotian had no other method. So he could only try everything, performing chest compressions and artificial respiration; after a while, it actually worked, and Qiqi woke up amid a series of coughs. The first thing she did upon waking was to throw herself into Hu Xiaotian's arms, sobbing silently; Hu Xiaotian whispered comfort, although he was curious about what had happened to Qiqi, the situation was not suitable for asking.

Qiqi's emotions calmed a bit, and she whispered: "I don't know what happened to me; my body feels as if it's been drained."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Let's leave this place first!"

Qiqi nodded, and with Hu Xiaotian's support she stood up, but her legs were soft and weak; Hu Xiaotian bent down, let her lie on his back, and carried Qiqi on his back. Ji Feihua also returned at this time, saying to them: "There is a crack ahead; passing through it leads to a long passageway; I'm worried about losing our way, so we should go together." She looked at Qiqi, seeing that Qiqi, lying on Hu Xiaotian's back, had already fallen asleep.

Ji Feihua led the way ahead, bringing Hu Xiaotian to the crack she had discovered; crawling through the opening, after not walking long, they saw a long passageway; they walked along it for about three li, after which there was no further path; Ji Feihua raised the night pearl, searching for a passage, when suddenly Qiqi said: "This is Long Ling Shengjing."

Hu Xiaotian and Ji Feihua were both startled, but upon reflection, the person who built these two underground secrets in the palace was the military sage Zhuge Yun Chun; it's also plausible that Long Ling Shengjing and the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda are connected by a passage; previously, Long Ling Shengjing was destroyed once by Hu Xiaotian using a light sword, and this time the Mirage's escape from the underground palace seal caused another underground collapse; the two collapses greatly altered the palace's subterranean environment, and the crack Ji Feihua just passed through might have coincidentally linked the two.

Qiqi said: "Look at your feet; there are black and white tiles; the one at the upper left of the second layer of the inner circle can be pressed down."

Ji Feihua followed her indication and found that tile; she pressed it down with her left hand, and indeed it could be pushed; after pushing, a stone block protruded from the wall; she turned it counterclockwise one full turn, and the front wall slowly rotated open amid a rumbling sound.

Long Ling Shengjing's restoration was entirely according to the diagrams provided by Qiqi; she was thoroughly familiar with its mechanisms; seeing that Qiqi still clearly remembered so much, Hu Xiaotian felt secretly pleased, indicating that the light orb had not drained too much of her energy.

Qiqi said: "I left a passage here; if it hasn't been damaged, we should be able to get out soon..."

At dawn, the entire Imperial Gardens Bureau had turned into a massive construction site; Huo Shengnan had almost mobilized all available manpower within the palace, digging three chi deep in the Bureau to search for Hu Xiaotian and Qiqi; although many people joined the excavation, progress was minimal; Princess Consort Long Xi Yue of Zhenhai and Chancellor Zhou Ruizhen both appeared in person; last night's events were no small matter—the King of Zhenhai and the Yongyang Princess, the two most powerful figures in Dakang, had vanished simultaneously; if something happened to them, the recently stabilized Dakang would most likely fall into chaos. In Zhou Ruizhen's view, Hu Xiaotian and Qiqi going into a cave for adventure was sheer nonsense; such matters could be left to subordinates—why bother doing it personally?

Shi Xuedong stood bent over, his face drooping; just now Long Xi Yue had told him to stand up, but Zhou Ruizhen had scolded him mercilessly, almost to the point of dragging him out to be beheaded.

Zhou Ruizhen came to Long Xi Yue's side; after searching all night with no result, it was time to consider emergency measures; a state cannot go a day without a ruler, and under the current circumstances the only option was to have Long Xi Yue temporarily preside over affairs.

Although Long Xi Yue was deeply worried, her expression remained composed; she repeatedly reminded herself not to lose her composure, for if she did, the whole situation might spiral out of control; she firmly believed that Hu Xiaotian was always fortunate and would surely come to no harm.

Zhou Ruizhen bowed to Long Xi Yue and said: "Princess Consort..."

Long Xi Yue raised her hand to stop him from continuing, speaking softly: "I understand what the Chancellor means, but I don't want to discuss other matters right now."

Zhou Ruizhen nodded, his heart filled with admiration for this outwardly gentle yet inwardly strong princess consort, and he felt much more reassured; even if the worst came to pass, with her present, Dakang should not fall into chaos. He couldn't help but think: if Hu Xiaotian really met with misfortune, what would become of his daughter? After all, his daughter still had no official status, and she was pregnant with Hu Xiaotian's flesh and blood; thinking of this made his heart grow heavy again.

At that moment, a report suddenly came from afar: "His Highness the Prince has arrived!"

Everyone was startled, simultaneously looking toward the distance, only to see in the morning light Hu Xiaotian dressed neatly, wearing a brocade robe, walking with steady steps toward them, his face bearing a calm, confident smile, he spoke loudly: "Even early in the morning it's not peaceful; what's this? You've come to the Imperial Gardens Bureau to dig for treasure? If the Princess finds out you're digging three chi here, she'll surely punish you!"

Upon seeing Hu Xiaotian appear, everyone burst into cheers; Long Xi Yue, however, at that moment suddenly shed tears, worried that others would see, she hastily turned her head away and quietly wiped them away.

Huo Shengnan also came out of the excavation site; seeing Hu Xiaotian safe and sound with her own eyes, she finally relaxed, quickly ordering work to stop, since Hu Xiaotian was unharmed, there was no point in continuing the dig.

Hu Xiaotian smiled at Huo Shengnan, then approached Long Xi Yue; although Long Xi Yue had already wiped away her tears, Hu Xiaotian could still tell she had been crying, and he smiled softly: "I just didn't come back for one night, and you came all the way here after me?"

Long Xi Yue chuckled and said: "Next time you stay out all night, be sure to have someone let me know, so I won't have to come after you!" Their gazes met, brimming with affection; the concern and warmth were something outsiders could not feel.