"Li Xin, I think there is something under the bed but I'm not too sure," Lory tugged Zhao Li Xin's sleeve. "Help me push the bed..."

Zhao Li Xin held her shoulder, "I can do it alone."

​​

"Oh, okay…Be careful. Don't make a sound!" Lory reminded him.

Zhao Li Xin gave the bed a simple kick which moved the bed two meters away from its original position without making much noise. Lory gave him a thumbs up and dropped to her knees to examine the dusty floor. She felt something, like a small hole, under one of her knees.

Lory moved her knee and quickly wiped away the dust. Lory tilted her head to make out the exposed symbol but soon realized why it was familiar.

"Li Xin, give me that weird object," She used her hands to describe the half globe object she found earlier.

Fortunately, the object was still in Zhao Li Xin's hand as he didn't have the time to return it when Lory pushed him under the bed. The Emperor didn't notice the object was missing as he was preoccupied with a lot of problems.

"You think it's some sort of key?"

"Don't you think so?" Lory raised her head and looked at Zhao Li Xin.

"Let's try…" He put the object in the hole and it was a match. The floor beneath Lory split and she almost fell through but Zhao Li Xin swiftly pulled her to his side. Lory was shocked as she wasn't expecting it. She rested her back on Zhao Li Xin's chest while he held her tightly out of fear. He only felt his hand was holding something that felt different when his fear subsided. It felt so soft.

"Li Xin…your hand…" Lory pursed her lips.

It turned out his hand was clenching her bosom. He immediately released it.

"Sorry…" He said awkwardly. It was the first time he felt embarrassed...but also slightly happy.

"It…its fine," Lory said calmly but her red face betrayed her. Her tainted red cheeks made her look more adorable. Zhao Li Xin's heart raced faster than usual as a fire was ignited within him. He had to circulate his Qi to maintain his calm.

"Oh, it's a secret passage! There's no palace without it!" Lory shifted their attention to elsewhere. The man didn't understand her dry joke but he found her behavior cute.

"The dragon nest is the Emperor's bed?" He rubbed his chin with a serious face. He was a little disappointed by the riddle. "It's a little bit lame, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" Lory agreed. She also expected more from it.

"Let's go," He raised his hand for her to hold and warned, "It can be dangerous…"

"Okay!" Lory grabbed Zhao Li Xin's hand with a blush as they both went down the stairs. They reached a small dark tunnel covered with spider webs and rats. It smelled of mustiness, rats feces, and dirt. Zhao Li Xin used his Qi to create a firebolt float with his hand as they walked slowly. They maintained their vigilance in case there's a trap or something.

"I guess no one has been here for a long time," Lory wiped off a spider web stuck on her face.

"There's a light at the front," Zhao Li Xin halted his pace, glanced at her, and reminded, "Don't let go of my hand and stay behind me."

Lory nodded and tighten her grip around Zhao Li Xin's hand as she let him walk in front of her. He increased his senses in case there was any imminent threat. The light in front of them got brighter as they got closer. they suddenly stopped when they could saw a tall frozen crystal three meters away from them. The crystal was standing tall and was imbued with cold air and white light with a red spot in the middle.

"Is this…?" Lory gasped.

"I think it is…" Zhao Li Xin was also amazed yet it was not easy for him to be amazed. He wanted to move closer but Lory stopped him.

"Wait… Look down!" Lory pointed at a strange red circle around the crystal with a weird language on it. Zhao Li Xin had never seen such an array before.

"It's a blood rune," Lory's revelation surprised Zhao Li Xin even more. "It's a protective shield for the crystal. Only a pureblood descendant can enter the circle. The blood of an unrelated person would be sucked dry if they try to get close to the circle."

"Is it a different type of array? I've never seen anything like it," Zhao Li Xin was intrigued by the new discovery.

Lory smiled mysteriously, "This is not an array. This is magic."

"You should never see anything like this here, ever," Lory's eyebrows creased. It should not exist in this world. What was going on?

"You know this?" Zhao Li Xin was stunned for a second before he realized it probably had something to do with her past. This increased his curiosity. Did she mean she was not human when she said 'magic'? Was she a witch or...? Meh, who cared?

"Let me check first…" Lory kneeled in front of the circle and touched it with both hands. She closed her eyes and slowly took a deep breath. The air around her changed and she could feel a surge of power creeping from her fingers.

[Show me…]

Something like a glass broke in front of her and she could see reflections inside the glass fragments. One fragment showed a man in front of the crystal, another fragment showed the man looking behind him while another fragment showed a woman with a white dress. Lory saw grey eyes as the fragments broke into additional pieces. Lory saw silver hair this time around before the small fragments broke again.

Lory weakly pushed herself away from the circle and Zhao Li Xin immediately caught her falling body as he anxiously shouted, "Ri Yi!"

Lory felt dizzy and her sight was foggy almost like someone had hit her head with a baseball bat. She blinked a few times until her sight became clear.

"I'm fine…" She said weakly. "It took too much than I thought it would."

"Are you hurt anywhere? Can you see me?" He was more stressed as she looked pale.

"I'm fine… You are such a worrywart!" Lory scoffed.

"We are done here!" He said with impatience. He ignored her complaints and carried her out of the tunnel. He made sure to close the tunnel and his subordinates returned the Emperor's chamber the way it usually looked to cover their traces. Zhao Li Xin didn't take her back to the maids' courtyard since she looked unwell. They had already found the ancestor crystal so there's no point for them to stay there any longer. He let his subordinates handle the rest as his priority was always Lory.

Zhao Li Xin carefully placed Lory on his bed. Lory could only smile at him as she was too tired to stay awake.

"I need to sleep for a while…" She said faintly. "Don't worry..."

Zhao Li Xin held her hand and pressed it on his cheek. He forced a smile on his face, "Don't sleep for too long."

"I won't…worrywart…" She smiled softly before her eyes became too heavy and her consciousness gradually disappeared. Zhao Li Xin clenched her hand tightly. His breathing was heavy but much calmer this time around. He also did not bother to call Jin Hao because he knew Jin Hao couldn't help her. There was no one who could… He sat on the side of the bed and continued to hold her hand as he watched her for as long as it took. He could only wait for her to wake.

_______________________________________

"Where is this place?" Lory pondered. She looked down and saw a blue sky with white clouds underneath her feet. She unconsciously raised her foot and heard the sound of water splashing but her foot was not wet. Was she floating on water or above the sky? Lory looked up and saw the same blue sky with white clouds hovering above her. She couldn't tell which of the two was the top or bottom.

"You should not be here…" Lory was stunned. It sounded like the voice come from her but why was she saying that.

"But here I am," A low baritone voice answered.

Lory turned around and was shocked to see the man walking slowly towards her. The man's skin was as pale as snow, which made his long dark hair more conspicuous. He had a strong jawline and a sharp chin. He was a little thin but was still handsome, nonetheless. His deep yellow eyes attracted her the most.

"Why are you so persistent?" Another word came from her mouth. Lory was confused about why she kept saying something she didn't understand. The voice also didn't sound like her. She looked down at herself and wondered why she was wearing a dress.

The man stood so close to her and gently caressed her cheek. "You miss me… I can feel it but why are you trying to hide it?"

Lory wanted to kick the man for touching her but only turned her cheek to avoid the man's touch. She trembled as she responded. Her words were filled with sadness and anger. "We're not meant to be. Can't you see it? There's no future for both of us!"

"I will make a future. Nothing can stop us!" He touched her chin gently once again, "Nothing can stop me!"

His gentle expression disappeared and his yellow eyes glowed as his smile turned cold and creepy. Darkness emerged from his body and spread slowly until it covered the blue sky into nothingness.

"I'll eat the world for you!" He slowly opened his jaw and his mouth became bigger and bigger. It's enough to swallow her whole. She wanted to run but was frozen like she was nailed to the floor. She couldn't move, she couldn't fight it and she couldn't even breathe. The only thing she could do was let the darkness swallow her before she heard the screaming, a heart-wrenching scream.