Volume One, Chapter Ninety-Seven: A Closer Bond

When the report came to an end, applause broke out spontaneously in the conference room.

Director Wang wore a smile of relief, tinged with pride. He did not sit down at once, but turned instead toward Fu Siyuan, who had been listening quietly from the corner.

At that, the Fourth Master’s frosty expression softened in an instant. His consort was simply too adorable—how could anyone not be fond of her?

Inside the room where she was kept under confinement, Chu Xia saw Chu Yu at the doorway, drenched through by the rain. Distressed, uneasy, and irritable all at once, every emotion surged together, and Chu Xia raised her fist and smashed her own window, caring nothing for whether she might hurt herself.

This man was already forty, and yet he still seemed to have failed to find the true path to success. Did he know how absurd his bluster looked? Did he not know, or did he know and do it anyway?

But no matter how long she cried out, no one answered her; even the people passing to and fro never seemed to hear.

And now, such a thing had happened. She had spectacularly become the scapegoat and made a public fool of herself. Did she still have any way out? No. At the very least, from her words, it was clear she had no intention of retreating.

Looking at her adorable expression, Pei Ruochen always felt like laughing. When he first saw her crying, he thought it looked nothing like her at all. Tian Shixue ought to smile more.

There was not much homework in class today, and she had already sent someone to answer for her attendance. The teacher had long since chosen to turn a blind eye.

By now, after learning of Qiao Muya’s background and the fact that she had poisoned and harmed Master Lie, Tang Xin finally realized how mistaken she had once been, to have believed with such certainty that Qiao Muya was a filial, well-behaved good child.

It turned out that, in the eyes of cultivators, anyone who had achieved mastery in divine arts must be pure of body. Once that taboo was broken, ascension would be forever out of reach. Since the Demon Lord possessed an indestructible body, he was clearly still untouched.

“Heh, Brother Li, is it strong enough?” Yang Ming had also come to the edge of the ring, and he grinned mischievously at Li Bingxian.

Then he thought of how that man had once used Yan Tang’s life to force Qi Liaoliao into remarriage, and he could not help but curse him as a beast.

During that month, Xiao Yu forged many things, the most numerous of which were complete sets of machinery for manufacturing equipment. This machinery was unlike his earlier designs. On the blueprints provided by the artificer, they all took the form of proper mechanical devices, but what Xiao Yu ultimately created was a mechanical hive.

Those around him who had still harbored thoughts of resistance stared wide-eyed in the direction Gangzi had vanished, no longer saying a word. If Gangzi had been flung out like that, could he still fly back?

The jerk’s fist was caught. It was not Blood Slaughter who had blocked it, but Wang Yue.

To be exact, he had merely poured oil on the flames. The child had not seen Mengmeng to begin with, and with his mouth already turned down, he had been on the verge of bursting into tears anyway.

In this way, not only was the emperor’s impression of Su Peiying deepened, but if there were ever any conflict with Su Shizhen in the future, at the very least no one outside would have any weapon with which to accuse him of unfilial conduct.

Huang Nian was also his younger brother. Although she did not expect him to feel any sort of brotherly affection for him—after all, they had never truly spent time together, and Huang Nian’s mother was none other than Su Wu.

The attendant heard someone raise the bid and immediately swallowed back the words on the tip of his tongue, hurrying to say, “Seven hundred million!” After speaking, he looked again and again toward the bidder’s seat, feeling that the voice sounded extremely familiar.

Mo Shiche’s throat moved up and down as he watched her walk out wearing nothing but a sheer nightgown, his features cold as if a layer of ice had formed over them.

“Ning Ruxi, take out the medicinal solution.” The letters between her and Li Xin could only be revealed with that specially prepared liquid.