Lu Li appeared in a Teleportation Portal in a hall in the Dan City. The black-armored warrior went into the Teleportation Portal again and went back to the Demon-slaying Grounds.
The one guarding in the hall was still the elder warrior at the peak of the n.o.ble Lord Realm of the Du Family. He was surprised and shocked to see Lu Li.
He winked at the two guards outside before he stood up and said, "Young Master Lu, you are back. Who was that one?"
Information of what happened later at the Demon-slaying Hall hadn"t reached outside yet. But some who went to the small battlefield had come back early and had already told people what Lu Li did in there, along with the fact that he had captured and imprisoned Ji Mengtian and four others.
Therefore, the elder guardian was shocked and nervous to see Lu Li come back to the Dan City all of a sudden. The elder warrior kept checking at the Teleportation Portal, wondering if there were pursuing forces coming. The Du Family could not afford to offend any major forces.
Lu Li stood in the hall absent minded.
More than half a year ago, he and Jiang Qiling entered the Demon-slaying Grounds from here and now he had come back alone. He didn"t know what Jiang Qiling was like now and wasn"t sure when they were going to meet again. Judging by the looks of Jiang Tianshun, it might be a long time before they could see each other again…
Apart from acquiring the Ding of Barbarian G.o.d and improving his and Little White"s abilities during the half years" time at the Demon-slaying Grounds, Lu Li gained nothing else. Worse, he had offended the four forces who in 10 years would gather at the Northern Desert and kill him, all of his friends, families and attendants.
His only aspiration of going to the Demon-slaying Grounds this time was to get Bai Qiuxue"s cure. Now not only did he fail on that quest, he had made himself a ton of troubles. He could not tell whether it was right or wrong for him to take this trip.
"Rustle, rustle, rustle~"
From outside came some footsteps. Lu Li looked up and saw a familiar man, Patriarch Du Ran, along with Du Family Patriarch and some other patriarchs.
"Young Master Lu!"
Du Wu, Family Patriarch of the Du Family, cupped his fists and said, "You…you have come back? Where is Lady Qi? How is it going in the Demon-slaying City?"
"What happened at the small battlefield is dealt with!"
Lu Li was in no mood to explain everything. He added, "You will know the details in a couple of days. Well…Grand Master himself handled it. I don"t want to say more. I am going back to the Northern Desert."
Lu Li was a bit downhearted. He had been away from the Northern Desert for more than half a year now. He wanted to go back as soon as possible in case something had went wrong there.
Du Wu hesitated but he didn"t dare to force Lu Li to stay, nor did he have the courage to let Lu Li leave just like this. What if powerful warriors from the four forces chased Lu Li here and requested to see him from Du Wu?
Du Wu thought about it and said, "Du Ran, go with Young Master Lu to the Northern Desert. Young Master Lu is in a bad mood. Try to comfort him."
Du Ran was sent to spy on Lu Li naturally so that the Du Family could know about Lu Li"s whereabouts. Lu Li didn"t want to point it out for it was not a bad idea for Du Ran to come along. He could actually save Lu Li a lot of trouble.
Lu Li and Du Ran walked into the Teleportation Formation in the city right away. Du Wu immediately sent someone to inquire about the situation in the Demon-slaying Grounds and report up that Lu Li had arrived at the Dan City.
Lu Li and Du Ran teleported for several times and arrived at the Clouds City where they teleported away to the Ling Empress City at once.
"Greetings, Emperor!"
Lu Li"s appearance at the Ling Empress City plaza caused a huge sensation. It had been more than half a year since he appeared in public last time. There had been some rumors in the city now. Now that people saw him coming back, they were getting cheered up.
"Whoosh, whoosh~"
Madam Yan, Yu Huashen and Ming Yu flew out with many others to welcome Lu Li. Only very few knew that Lu Li had gone to the Demon-slaying Grounds and Madam Yan and the others had concealed Lu Li"s whereabouts. Therefore, during this time, people at the Northern Desert were getting a bit jittery. No rumor could hold water now that he had come back.
Lu Li made some eye contact with Madam Yan and was relieved to know that nothing major was going on at the Northern Desert.
He didn"t spend too much time talking with Madam Yan. He brought Du Ran to his palace and asked Madam Yan to entertain Du Ran. Lu Li asked about some general situations and was ready to teleport to the Deserted World on his own to check on Bai Qiuxue and Bai Xiashuang.
"Right!"
Thinking of Bai Qiuxue, Lu Li thought of something. He turned to Du Ran and asked, "Patriarch Du, I am going to ask you for some secret a.s.sistance. I want to purchase a fruit called the Bodhi Fruit!"
Lu Li got some paper and brushes to paint a picture of the Bodhi Fruit and wrote down its information. Then he said carefully, "Please keep it confidential. Don"t even tell your Family Patriarch. If you find anything, just send a word to me and I will deal with the rest. If you can find it, I will be owing you a big deal."
Grand Master would tell the Pavilion of Delicacy not to give Lu Li any help. Naturally, he could not make it public and could only ask Du Ran to find it off the record.
Of course Du Ran agreed as Lu Li was earnest and this was just a trivial matter. Lu Li nodded and left. He teleported to the Deserted World and then to the Heaven Dragon Snow Mountain.
"Go play~"
As soon as he arrived at the snow mountain, Little White sneaked out from his sleeve excitedly. Lu Li put it on the ground and waved his hand to let it go. Little White was very capable now so he wasn"t worried that someone was going to hurt it.
"Saint Lord!"
A patriarch of the Cyan Phoenix Race was guarding outside the hall. He was excited to see Lu Li and saluted him. Lu Li nodded and entered a hall. He didn"t see Bai Xiashuang there. She must be cultivating in her own castle.
Pus.h.i.+ng the door to the ice room open, Lu Li saw Bai Qiuxue who was still frozen in an ice bed. Looking at her beautiful and yet pale face, he felt his heart break.
Walking to the bedside, Lu Li put his hand on the ice over her face. He said apologetically, "Qiuxue, I am back. While I am away, you must be lonely. It"s all my fault. I am going to tell you something bad…I didn"t get the cure this time so you need to stay in here for a bit longer. I am sorry. I am useless…"
Lu Li kept murmuring. He spoke a lot but he wasn"t even sure that Bai Qiuxue could hear him.
He sat in there for a long time without using Xuan Energy to fight against the cold air. Soon, a layer of frost climbed up to his eyebrows and hair and gradually over his entire body. At this rate, he would be frozen completely…
But he didn"t mind it. He still sat there still like a wood carving, murmuring constantly.
After a while, he couldn"t even move his lips. There was a thin layer of ice over his body. He had become an ice sculpture.
He seemed to be tired and had stopped talking. He looked at Bai Qiuxue quietly, leaving himself at the mercy of the layer of ice over his body that was getting thicker and thicker…
"Creak, creak~"
After an hour, the door was pushed open. Bai Xiashuang walked in and saw a man that had turned into an ice sculpture sitting by the bed, looking at Bai Qiuxue affectionately.
"Dok, dok~"
Bai Xiashuang didn"t say anything. Tears kept dripping. The temperature in here was so low that her tears froze into ice particles and made a clear sound when dropped to the floor.
Bai Xiashuang had been living a painful life. But she knew Bai Qiuxue was having a harder time. Now that she looked at Lu Li, she could tell his life was even more miserable…