From under the altar table, Viper emerged with a slightly embarrassed expression.
Song Zhiyi frowned tightly.
Viper was just about to explain and introduce himself.
But Song Zhiyi didn't give him the chance.
"Guards! Seize the assassin!"
At the order, the numerous guards who had been guarding the city lord's safety near the ancestral hall immediately swarmed forward and surrounded Viper in the middle.
Viper could have fought back, but he was afraid that if he did, he would really be unable to clear the suspicion on him no matter what.
"City Lord Song, please forgive my rudeness. I came here this time to—"
"Drag him away!"
Before Xie An could finish speaking, he was dragged away.
While being dragged away, Viper looked at the guards beside him and defended himself, "I'm really not an assassin. If I were, I would have attacked long ago."
The guards didn't say a word.
When they got out of the ancestral hall.
Xie An used his spiritual power to summon Zhuyan and successfully escaped.
Lying on Zhuyan's back, he looked at the vigilant guards and explained in a low voice, "I just came to the city lord to inquire about some news. I heard that the city lord has not been seeing visitors recently. After some inquiries, I learned that he was going to the ancestral hall, so I hid under the altar table in advance. I have absolutely no ill will towards City Lord Song."
The guards looked at each other.
If this man in front of them attacked, none of them would be a match for him.
The leading guard, who was a bit bolder, stepped forward and said, "Sir, no matter what your business is in our Haiyou City, since you're here, you should know the rules here. The ancestral hall is a restricted area, and no one dares to enter it."
"I think it's quite clean inside."
"That's because our city lord comes to clean it personally every seven days. He never entrusts this task to others."
"I, I can only say I'm sorry. I originally wanted to wait for City Lord Song to finish before discussing things with him. But he took so long to speak. My feet got a bit sore under the altar table, and I accidentally moved, which disturbed your city lord's sacrifice to his ancestors."
The leading guard replied, "Sir, do you want to leave Haiyou City on your own now, or come back to our jail with us? If you come back to the jail with us, after our city lord calms down and realizes his mistake, he will come to find you."
"Will he?"
The guard nodded.
Their city lord had always been a kind man.
But Viper thought the possibility was really small. Just now, Song Zhiyi didn't even give him a chance to explain.
"No. If there's something later, I will surely come to ask for advice again."
After saying that, Viper lay on Zhuyan's back and quickly left Haiyou City, heading towards the ancient tomb in the middle of the desert.
When he arrived, the Chu siblings were already waiting there.
Viper just shook his head when he saw them.
"Does Song Zhiyi know that you know us?"
"He doesn't know."
"Then how did this happen?"
"Today is Ye Ling's memorial day. I disturbed him."
Chu Wen and Chu Nuan lowered their heads and said, "You have to understand this. For Song Zhiyi, Ye Ling is truly an irreplaceable family member."
"I showed up in the wrong way. I didn't expect that City Lord Song wouldn't even give me a chance to explain."
"A dragon has its reverse scale. Touch it and it will kill you. Song Zhiyi's weakness is Ye Ling's death. He has always been brooding about it, thinking that he didn't help Ye Ling."
Viper had no choice.
He could only say, "Two of you, I'll have to trouble you to pave the way for me first. I want to go in first. So much time has passed. I'm afraid Ye Xingchen can't hold on anymore."
"This—"
"Don't worry. I'm confident. Ye Xingchen hasn't come out for two months. He must be trapped inside. After I go in, there are only two possible results."
"One is that both Ye Xingchen and I will be trapped inside. That's okay, at least he'll have a companion. The other is that we'll work together to get out of trouble. Don't worry. After hearing what City Lord Song said today, I know that he's not a heartless man. Then you can go to him again. If the senior wakes up and knows that Ye Xingchen is in trouble in Nanguan, he will surely rush here immediately."
Chu Wen and Chu Nuan looked at each other.
Then they nodded.
"Xie An, you must be careful."
"It's okay."
The siblings, using their identities as descendants of the Chu family, led them into the Chu family's ancient tomb. Then, under their leadership, they reached the center of the tomb.
Then, the same scene as before happened again. They and Viper were separated by a beam of light and then immediately disappeared.
Viper only felt a flash of strong light. When he opened his eyes again, he saw a meadow. At the edge of the meadow, there was a green spring and the sea.
He looked around and found that there was a wisp of cooking smoke rising from the forest.
Without suspecting anything, Xie An aimed in that direction and walked towards it.
The deeper he went, the more delighted he felt.
There were traces of someone walking in the forest. It should be left by Ye Xingchen.
When he got close to the cooking smoke, Xie An saw three or four small bamboo houses. In the middle of the small bamboo houses, there was a big yard.
There was a flowerbed beside the yard, and a cherry tree was planted in the flowerbed.
The cherry tree was in full bloom, looking extremely gorgeous.
Cherry blossoms? It wasn't the season for cherry blossoms to bloom.
Xie An was standing outside the wall. Just as he was about to go in and take a look, he saw Ye Xingchen walking out of one of the small bamboo houses.
There was a smile on his face. Two strands of hair in front of his forehead were gently sticking to his face. Occasionally, a gentle breeze blew, and those two strands of hair fluttered in the wind, looking extremely elegant.
Viper stretched out his hand, just about to say hello.
But then, he saw an incredible scene.
Another person walked out behind Ye Xingchen. That person's appearance was actually his own.
Xie An stood there, stunned.
Moreover, he didn't know why. Although Ye Xingchen was walking straight towards him, it was as if he couldn't see him. He just walked straight through his body.
Could it be that since there was already a Xie An in this space, he himself couldn't appear in a physical form?
Viper followed them, wanting to find out the truth.
The messenger had said that it might be the work of the mermaids. But most of the things about mermaids were just legends. To know the details, he still had to investigate on the spot.
"Xiao An, do you think sister will like to eat this?"
The fake Xie An nodded.
Looking at Ye Xingchen with extremely gentle eyes.
"Of course she will. The senior is rarely picky about food."
Ye Xingchen smiled. His eyes curved, looking very nice.
"Thank you for being willing to accompany me. Having a bosom friend like you is the greatest fortune in my Ye Xingchen's life."
The fake Xie An didn't say a word. He just stepped forward and put the wild vegetables Ye Xingchen had picked into his own basket.
"Thank you."
"It's okay. Let's go back."
Ye Xingchen and the fake Xie An returned to the small bamboo house.
"Why did you take so long today?"
Such a familiar voice. Xie An looked up in the direction of the voice. There, a woman in red was standing, looking at the two of them with a smile.