Chapter 321: Back to the Inn

Taking advantage of the chaos, Yi Chen’s figure continued to rush towards the outer edge of the courtyard, towards the walls that surrounded the palace grounds.

Normally, this region was filled with guards who were on regular patrols, but because of the fire alarm, all guards were in disarray.

This was especially because the status of both the emperor and Cao Li had yet to be confirmed.

’Those twenty hidden guards should be rushing towards the throne room now...’ Yi Chen thought with a smirk as he kept moving.

However, despite his caution, a few alert ones were still paying close attention to the exit routes.

As a result, just when Yi Chen was about to climb up the walls and escape, he was discovered by one of them.

"Stop! Who are you?!"

The guard who was at the second Qi Absorption Stage exclaimed, ready to launch an attack towards him.

"This..." Yi Chen gritted his teeth in regret and immediately slashed his hand in the man’s direction.

A second later, his beheaded corpse fell on the ground.

Storing the body in his storage ring, Yi Chen looked around to confirm that there was nobody else nearby before finally jumping out of the palace grounds.

Now that he was out, he used his Bursting Fire Steps to the fullest and rushed through the city roads.

The dense, dark fog that enveloped the city aided him in his escape as he soon reached a secluded alley.

Taking the two bodies out of his storage ring, he burnt them to char, and only after ensuring that nothing was left of them did he leave for the Inn.

Along the way, he made sure to wrap a cloth around his head to ensure that when he entered the Inn, he wouldn’t attract unnecessary attention.

An hour later, when it was almost one in the morning, Yi Chen finally arrived back at the Inn.

To his surprise, Wei Ru was waiting for him in the lobby.

The moment her eyes met his, she stood up from the sofa and rushed towards him.

"Young Master Chen, what happened? Were you able to meet with Madam Cao Li? What took you so long?" Wei Ru asked with a worried look.

Since it had taken him so long, she had started to worry, fearing the possibility that he had been caught by the palace guards.

To her questions, Yi Chen just shook his head, "No, I wasn’t able to meet her..."

He sighed in disappointment and explained, "While hiding, I was waiting for an opportunity for Madam Cao Li to be alone, but throughout the time she was with the emperor.

At that time, I had thought that if I waited long enough, an opportunity would present itself. Instead, because of the unexpected situation, I was forced to escape."

"Forced to escape?" Wei Ru asked with furrowed eyes.

"Yes," Yi Chen nodded and answered, "Just about an hour later, the entire palace rose in alarm as the guards started shouting and alerting everyone that there was a fire.

When I heard the alarm, I knew that staying hidden any longer wasn’t an option, and with great difficulty, I finally managed to escape from there."

Yi Chen lied.

He had no intention of telling Wei Ru that he had dealt with Cao Li lest she get into trouble later on because of it.

"A fire?!" she widened her eyes in surprise.

"Yes." Yi Chen nodded with a serious expression, "The entire palace had turned chaotic because of it, with guards moving here and there to find the source and also to ensure the safety of the emperor.

Luckily, I managed to run past their eyes and safely got out of there. Otherwise, I would have definitely been in great trouble."

Yi Chen sighed in relief.

"Yes...If you had been caught during such a scenario, I just can’t imagine what would have happened to you." Wei Ru nodded in agreement, with relief apparent in her eyes as well.

A second later, she glanced at his attire and asked, "You changed into these not to catch attention, right?"

"Yes, with those silver glimmers constantly revealing my movements, I didn’t dare to rush out of my hiding spot," Yi Chen said with a subtle complaining tone evident in his voice.

Hearing him, Wei Ru chuckled softly, "That’s a pity...Young Master Chen looked great in those robes."

At those words, Yi Chen rolled his eyes before exchanging a short laugh with her.

Wanting to change to a different topic, Wei Ru asked the next moment, "So what is Young Master Chen planning to do now? Do you want me to look for another opportunity so that you can meet Madam Cao Li then?"

To her words, Yi Chen answered with a bitter smile.

"I’ll just stay at the Inn for the week, as by the end of it the teleportation array will be fixed. Once that is done, I’ll go back to Jade City. There’s a pile of things waiting for me there.

As for looking for another opportunity to meet Madam Cao Li, I doubt that after today’s incident such opportunities would show up in this short window, so Madam Wei shouldn’t trouble herself."

"Well, yes...it would indeed be difficult." Wei Ru replied with pursed lips, seeing that Yi Chen seemed to have given up on meeting Cao Li.

However, she didn’t linger on it for long and soon said with a welcoming tone, "Anyway, in the following days, if there’s anything Young Master Chen needs my help with, make sure to contact me."

"I’ll do just that if need be. Thank you." Yi Chen answered with a courteous smile.

"Mhm, good night then." Wei Ru nodded and a while later they both left for their respective rooms.

The first thing he did after returning to his room was to take a refreshing warm bath before finally hitting the bed. Too much had happened today, and he was completely exhausted as a result.

’I thought I would be able to edit the video tonight...guess I’ll do it tomorrow.’

Yi Chen thought before finally entering sleep’s embrace.

The next morning.

By the time Yi Chen woke up, it was almost ten in the morning. He had comfortably slept for eight hours, and by now, all the spiritual energy he had expended last night was recovered.

"...Amazing, it’s almost fully recovered." Yi Chen muttered in amazement while touching his ear, which had almost completely grown back by now.

Only the outer edges, which were still a little rough, needed some more time, but it wouldn’t be wrong to say that he had almost fully recovered.

Feeling much better while glancing at his reflection, he busied himself with the morning routine, and a while later, he launched himself onto the sofa.

"Let’s get it done with now."

Yi Chen muttered and took out the Video Capturing Stone from his storage ring. It was time to edit the hour-long video he had taken last night.

’I just know this is going to be an exhausting process...’

He thought with a bitter expression while opening the video on the stone as he started the trimming process.

Although Du Ming Li had taught him how to use it when he had bought it, since it was his first time doing it himself, it took him almost thirty minutes to familiarise himself with the task.

However, just when he was about to speed things up, he was disturbed by loud knocks on the door.

"Just who could it be?" he muttered with an irritated expression before moving towards the door while being a little on guard.

However, a rough scan with his spiritual energy soon made him lower his guard as he opened the door a few moments later.

Wei Ru’s panicked figure instantly appeared in front of his eyes.

"???"

Confusion immediately formed on his face, as he had not expected to see her in this state.

Meanwhile, a trace of relief appeared in Wei Ru’s eyes when she saw that Yi Chen was still here.

’...Yes, I worried for nothing. If it was him, then he would have long escaped.’

"Madam Wei? What’s wrong? Why do you look so worried?" Yi Chen asked with a frown.

"About that..." Wei Ru immediately informed him of what she had learned from her sources and the state of the entire city right now.

"...Madam Cao Li had disappeared?!" Yi Chen asked with a bewildered expression.

"Yes." Wei Ru nodded firmly and said, "All the city guards have been mobilised, and a search is going on in the entire city. Since there were traces of blood at the scene, many believe that she has been kidnapped."

As she said those words, she let out a deep breath and continued, "To be honest, I feel relieved to see that Young Master Chen is still here..."

"Hm? What does Madam Wei mean?" Yi Chen asked with a subtle frown.

"Since everything happened last night when Young Master Chen was also at the palace, I couldn’t help but think that you could be involved in this too.

But seeing that you’re still at the Inn, I realised that I was worrying for nothing. There’s no way you would do something like that..."

Wei Ru softly chuckled as she finished her words.

"This..." Yi Chen could not help but make a strange expression hearing her words and said, "Madam Wei jests...with my Meridian Refinement Stage cultivation, even in my wildest dreams I wouldn’t be capable of doing something like that."

"Truly, it’s only now that I’ve realised just how unfounded my worries were." Shaking her head, she continued, "Also, a few guards might come by in the evening to check all the guests. Therefore, it’s best that Young Master Chen stays in his room today so that they can complete all their procedures quickly."

"Ah, thank you for informing me, Madam Wei. I’ll keep that in mind." Yi Chen nodded with a smile and soon bid her goodbye.

"Looks like I won’t be able to visit the Red Velvet branch today..." he muttered to himself before busying himself with editing the video.

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