552: Gathering information

He held this warm, soft body, which nevertheless possessed infinite resilience, in his arms.

His broad palm simply patted her violently heaving back gently, without any superfluous words.

"All right." Two words, low and deep, yet carrying the steadiness of a rock.

Luo Yan's choked sobs seemed to be forcefully suppressed, leaving only the faint trembling of her shoulders.

She tightly gripped the clothes on his back as if they were her only anchor.

Her cheek, buried in his chest, was burning with shyness, yet her heart felt as secure as if she had found a harbor for her return journey.

Yao Delong slightly loosened his arms, though his grip remained firm on her shoulders.

"I still have matters to attend to on this trip."

He looked into those red, watery eyes, with tiny tear droplets hanging on her eyelashes.

"Stop crying. Go and inform the shop assistant."

He paused, then added a clear time point: "We leave tomorrow morning."

There were no extra tender whispers, yet it was firmer than a thousand words.

Luo Yan sniffled hard, trying to force a smile, but her mouth still drooped, so she quickly nodded.

This word "leave" meant the dust had settled; it was a complete farewell to her past.

"Qiong Shuang!"

Yao Delong's voice was not loud, but it clearly pierced through the thin barrier of the Formation.

Whoosh!

The figure of the Little White Flood Dragon, like compressed light, shot in from outside the courtyard wall with a swish.

She stopped by his side, flicking her round, silvery-bright tail, her head held high, her dragon eyes sparkling with anticipation: "Big Brother?"

"Watch over this Sister Luo." Yao Delong said concisely, raising a finger to point at Luo Yan, who was standing beside him, her emotions not yet fully settled.

Qiong Shuang tilted her head, her large, crystal-clear ice-blue eyes curiously darting around Luo Yan's face several times.

The person who could provoke Big Brother to personally go to the City Lord's Mansion to establish authority and threaten them with total annihilation? What kind of background does she have? Her face... hmm, her temperament and charm are a bit unique; she is soft, unlike those sisters whose gazes are as sharp as knives.

As for cultivation... Early Golden Core Stage? Plain and unremarkable! In the Yin Yang Sect, she could barely qualify to guard the gate.

"Roar?" Her small dragon snout seemed to curl, and she rubbed against Yao Delong's leg.

It was unclear whether she was agreeing or confused.

A flash of white light!

A stunning, tall, and curvaceous older sister, covered in streamlined silver-scaled armor with silver hair and blue eyes, appeared in the courtyard, replacing the Little White Flood Dragon.

It was exactly Qiong Shuang's human form.

She stood casually, paced around Luo Yan, and swept her gaze from head to toe with a scrutinizing look, not avoiding it at all.

That gaze was direct and curious, carrying the natural curiosity of a top predator toward an unknown territory.

The powerful aura of a Tier 9 shapeshifted demon cultivator was instinctively revealed.

Although it was mostly contained, it was enough to make Luo Yan, at the Early Golden Core Stage, gasp for breath, her face turning an unnatural pale.

Qiong Shuang's voice had a metallic quality, along with unconcealed inquiry: "Hey! You!"

She extended a finger and pointed vaguely at Luo Yan, "Sister, what is your relationship with Big Brother?"

She leaned in a little closer, her ice-blue pupils burning with the fire of gossip: "Why did he go so crazy for you? Back when he was suppressing the City Lord and his son in the main hall... that Killing Intent, tsk tsk, the tip of my tail went stiff!"

Luo Yan was caught off guard by the question, her face instantly turning bright red.

She twisted the corner of her clothes helplessly, her eyes darting away, stuttering, unable to say a single word.

This question... how was she supposed to answer?

An accidental, yet deeply redeeming encounter? Or... "My woman," as he had declared himself?

In front of this powerful female demon, who was clearly also a close existence by his side...

"Tch!" Qiong Shuang waited for a long time without hearing a satisfactory answer.

She flicked her silver hair and crossed her arms, her cool, older-sister demeanor showing impatience: "Boring! So coy!"

Big Brother's women are just troublesome! It's not as fun as fighting, eating meat, and drinking!

Just then, footsteps were heard reporting outside the Formation, carrying a distinct, fearful tremor: "Shop... Shopkeeper! The... the City Lord's Mansion... has sent a fleet of carts to deliver... deliver heavy gifts! They've filled the front hall! The head steward is kneeling... kneeling outside, saying... please show mercy and accept them..."

Luo Yan, as if grasping at a lifeline, quickly looked toward Yao Delong.

Yao Delong's gaze didn't even glance at the blurry phantom of the bowing, pleading steward visible through the Formation; he merely looked at Luo Yan calmly: "Decide for yourself. Do not take these petty squabbles of ants to heart."

Luo Yan's face, which had been slightly pale from the earlier embarrassment, instantly flushed with color again due to these steady, calm words that carried unparalleled confidence.

She took a deep breath, trying to straighten her body that had just been softened by tears.

Although her temperament remained gentle, her eyes unconsciously took on a faint glimmer.

She nodded to Yao Delong, then looked at Qiong Shuang, who was standing to the side with a cold and playful expression.

Taking a deep breath, she projected her voice through the Formation as calmly as possible: "Return them! Not a single item kept!"

She paused, her voice becoming slightly clearer: "Pass this message to the City Lord's Mansion: I will leave Jinling tomorrow. The past is wiped clean! Do not disturb me again!"

There was a moment of dead silence outside the Formation, followed by the sound of fearful, relieved kowtowing and the steward retreating into the distance.

A flicker of imperceptible, strange light flashed in Yao Delong's eyes.

Very good.

She was neither dazed by the overwhelming benefits nor servile due to the threat of fear.

This sober rejection, spoken from her own mouth, was quite... pleasing to his eyes.

"I am going to check the city. You and Qiong Shuang wait here."

He instructed Luo Yan, his green robes moved slightly, and a flash of extremely refined energy distortion swept across his body.

Even though Luo Yan was close at hand and watching intently, she only felt his figure blur for an instant.

The next second, when she looked again, before her was a middle-aged Daoist with a handsome yet ordinary appearance, wearing a low-key gray cloth Daoist robe, with an aura revealed only at the Late Nascent Soul Stage.

It was the transformation of the Thousand Mechanisms Formless Art.

The space rippled slightly, and his figure vanished into nothingness.

Jinling City, main thoroughfare.

People were coming and going; because of the earlier disturbance, a lingering, indissoluble tension seemed to pervade the air.

In the tea houses and taverns along the street, discussions and buzzing were endless.

The gray-robed Daoist, transformed by Yao Delong, had his aura contained perfectly without any leaks.

He walked to the front of a magnificent building with a huge plaque hanging high that read "White Cloud Gold-Inlaid Pavilion." It was the White Cloud Merchant Guild.

As soon as he entered, a majestic, pure, yet non-piercing Origin Qi brushed against his face.

The light and shadows of the Formation swirled, and the guards were strict and vigilant.

Immediately, a steward dressed in luxurious clothes with white cloud patterns, with an aura stable at the Mid Nascent Soul Stage, came up to greet him.

He chuckled and sized up Yao Delong's disguised Late Nascent Soul Stage cultivation, his smile becoming two points more respectful: "Fellow Daoist, this way to the Immortal Jade Pavilion? Would you like to see some Medicinal Pills or Magic Treasures, or..."

Yao Delong interrupted directly, his voice deliberately suppressed to be low and hoarse: "No goods, I am inquiring about a person."

The steward remained smiling: "Oh? Please go ahead, Fellow Daoist. The Merchant Guild's information network is quite comprehensive."

"Hundred Refinements Demon Venerable." Yao Delong spat out the four words.

The air froze instantly!

The professional smile on the steward's face froze and shattered like snowflakes!

Deep within his eyes, an uncontrollable fear and disbelief erupted!

He even subconsciously took a small half-step back before suddenly realizing his loss of composure.

He forcibly steadied his stance, but his voice had already changed pitch: "Hun... Hundred Refinements Demon Venerable?"