Chapter 423: Could this be an illusion?

Qiao Chu's gaze stayed on the Qilin; he naturally saw clearly that the Qilin had no change in gaze, not even the slightest facial expression change.

He felt a sting in his heart and said, "Master, even if I approached you with an agenda, my concern for you these past three years is genuine, I have never been lax in my duties to the sect, nor have I harmed anyone—how can you be so ruthless?"

Yue Yun really laughed at his thick skin: "Is your brain broken? You can't understand your own logic!"

"I'm not talking to you!"

Unlike just now when he kept calling her "senior sister," Qiao Chu now doesn't want to hear Yue Yun's nonsense.

Yue Yun suddenly recalled how Qiao Chu's expression had changed abruptly earlier.

The shock of that moment still leaves her with lingering fear.

At that time, she should have been on guard!

If she had promptly informed the master, perhaps today would be completely different, and Hanlu Stronghold wouldn't have been taken so easily.

The Qilin listened to Qiao Chu's words coldly, without responding.

Qiao Chu clenched his jaw, grinding his molars, his gaze burning as he stared darkly at the Qilin: "Master, was your claim of feeling unwell that day also a lie? Are you afraid people will find out what happens on the fifteenth of each month?"

Qilin: "Correct."

"You still say you trust me— isn't that already a lack of trust?!" Qiao Chu began his unreasonable questioning again.

Even Pei Shangling couldn't bear to listen.

"How can there be someone as shameless as you?!"

But as soon as he spoke those words, he froze.

Not long ago, he too had treated A Zhi in this unreasonable manner.

He was as if under a curse cast by Pei Yunxi, ignoring the harm Pei Yunxi inflicted on A Zhi, and even naturally demanded that A Zhi satisfy Pei Yunxi regardless of danger to her life.

Turns out he, like Qiao Chu, has a screw loose…

Qiao Chu angrily glanced at Pei Shangling: "What right do you have to speak here, Prince Ling? You're no different from a clown!"

"You!" Pei Shangling flushed, unable to retort.

Prince Ling?!

Only then did Yue Yun realize the identity of the man before her.

So he's a prince?

What exactly is his grudge with the master?

Did Qiao Chu know him because someone else told the traitor Qiao Chu about him?

Yue Yun was very curious, but when she had previously asked the master, he obviously didn't want to say more, so she didn't press further.

"Master, answer me! Is it from that time onward that you stopped trusting me?!" Qiao Chu continued pressing, determined not to relent until he got an answer.

"You're clearly a traitor, yet you dare to question me." The Qilin gave a soft laugh: "I didn't tell you because I feared walls have ears; in fact, mice can hear whispers ordinary people cannot, they are everywhere—does this answer satisfy you?"

"Satisfied, naturally satisfied—Master didn't deceive me." Qiao Chu laughed.

"I certainly haven't deceived you; it's always been you deceiving me." The Qilin no longer would grieve over a deceiver, since it was a deception from the start, there's no point in sorrow— "I also don't have time to waste on you; I hope today is our last meeting."

He still needs to find Andluo.

What is Andluo intending to do by taking A Zi away?

"Master!"

No matter how Qiao Chu shouted behind him, the Qilin never turned back or halted his steps.

Yue Yun didn't know whether to follow the Qilin or stay.

The master also hasn't said how to deal with Qiao Chu.

Her gaze fell on Pei Shangling— could it really be that this prince should kill Qiao Chu?

Pei Shangling glared at Qiao Chu: "Ask you one last time— where is my senior sister, do you know or not?!"

"Of course I don't know— Xiao Yichen is just Andluo's dog; if this dog goes mad and wants to do something, how could we possibly know beforehand?" Qiao Chu looked at Pei Shangling with a mocking expression: "If you think I'd know, you've got a screw loose too."

Pei Shangling couldn't help retorting: "Really? The Qilin thinks the same."

His words successfully changed Qiao Chu's expression.

"However, I don't really trust your one-sided story— people don't cry until they see the coffin, and I have plenty of ways to make you talk!"

Mu Yuanzhi felt that Xiao Yichen had been gone for a long time, perhaps because being here every moment is agonizing for her.

She pondered how to save herself, yet the huge room offered nothing that could cut the iron chains.

They were probably all taken away by Xiao Yichen.

Just as Mu Yuanzhi had no clue, the corner of her eye caught the clepsydra placed before the bed.

This clepsydra is clearly placed in its original position as it was when she was in Changle Palace before.

It shouldn't be here; she recalled that she had temporarily placed it here while personally rearranging the sleeping quarters' layout, and the next day she couldn't return to Changle Palace.

From then on, Changle Palace became Pei Yunxi's bedroom.

Even such a detail she had long forgotten, Xiao Yichen insists on restoring…

Too terrifying.

Mu Yuanzhi tried to shift over, checking whether the chain's length could support her moving to the front of the clepsydra, where the protruding iron rod is extremely sharp— if used to sever the chain, would it work?

That's a bit far-fetched.

But this is also a makeshift solution; we can't just do nothing and wait for rescue— if no one comes before Xiao Yichen returns, it'll be disastrous.

The chain isn't long; it barely supports her reaching the foot of the bed, turning around is difficult, so Mu Yuanzhi can only turn sideways, straining to let the chain around her wrist reach the clepsydra's iron rod; she tried grinding it a bit, feeling the rod's force on the chain as a drop in the bucket.

She had no choice but to persist in grinding while continuing to think of other ways.

The chain on her wrist easily abrades skin; she had to grind hard, and soon her wrist became swollen and broken.

Mu Yuanzhi endured the pain and kept repeating.

At that moment, suddenly there was movement again!

It's not outside; it feels like it's in this sleeping chamber……?

Mu Yuanzhi felt herself sway a little, or perhaps it was this space that swayed.

Earthquake?!

If this is Jingcheng, an earthquake like this hasn't occurred in over a hundred years.

Jingcheng is not an earthquake zone; even a slight, barely noticeable quake is a once-in-a-century event.

She was now even more sure this wasn't the real Changle Palace.

So where exactly is this place?

If it really is an earthquake, being locked up like this would be near-certain death!

Mu Yuanzhi held her breath for a moment; the shaking didn't happen again, and she only then felt a little relieved.

No, this feeling……

This couldn't be an illusion, could it?!

Mu Yuanzhi, who had already experienced several illusions, instantly thought of this possibility.

If it were an illusion, that would make sense.