Li Ming stared at the empty table. The boy didn't only take the three silvers with him but he also grabbed almost all the food and fled.

The question was how did he leave. Since she was already standing at the entrance, it was impossible that he left through the main door. No one passed by her side in those two minutes.

For a moment she thought about asking the woman if there was a back door or something like that in the Inn, but then she changed her mind.

There was nothing that she could do. After all, she couldn't keep him with her.

That's why Li Ming decided to forget about the little kid, just hoping that he would safely return to his world without getting into another problem.

She paid for the food and went to look for Zi Yan and Jin Jing. She found both the girls sitting inside their room as they practiced cultivation.

A soft smile appeared on her face as she looked at the hardworking girls. Deciding to not disturb them, Li Ming silently left their room and decided to visit the market.

The main market street was bustling as the sun prepared to slowly end the day.

She passed through an alley and felt an indescribable feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Her eyes immediately turned towards the south. She was almost at the end of the street and a few meters away she could see the City gate.

Beyond that gate was an endless field. Her eyes could see the slightest impression of a mountain or probably a forest far in the south.

She once again felt that little tug. Something from that side was calling her.

She stopped an old woman who was walking past her with two little boys. She looked like someone who actually belonged to a village.

"Old Madam, can you tell me what is that place?" She asked while pointing towards the faraway mountains.

The old woman looked in the direction where Li Ming was pointing and replied while nodding her head, "Miss, that's the Whispering Pinnacles."

"Whispering Pinnacles?" Li Ming asked curiously. The name grabbed her attention.

"Those mountain ranges are not very long but there's a strong ward around it which prevents everyone from entering into the forest."

The woman pointed at the mountains and continued, "Most importantly, on the other side of these ranges are the Snow Fields. No one knows who put the wards around the mountain and why, but for centuries other than the Immortal Deities no one was able to enter into it."

Li Ming looked at the slightest glimpse of the mountain pinnacles far in the south. Still feeling that tug towards it.

The woman told her that there was a small fishing village near the foot of the pinnacles at a walking distance of one day.

Li Ming thanked the woman and after giving a final glance to the mountain tops, she turned around and left.

---

"Miss Li, why are you suddenly changing the plans?" Zi Yan asked as they followed Li Ming inside the auction house.

The worry was visible on the faces of the two girls.

They were not expecting Miss Li to barge into their room suddenly and tell them to get ready to leave.

"I suddenly got some urgent work to finish and for that, I will need to leave the Capital city. I can't leave the two of you here. That's why I'm sending you guys back." Li Ming replied as they made their way towards the teleportation array in the back of the shop.

Li Ming paid the silvers and after two minutes, the three of them appeared in the Xi Qiu City of the Han Empire.

It took Li Ming some time to find a carriage that could take Zi Yan and Jin Jing to the Dongji village.

"I'll probably not be able to return early tomorrow. Don't wait for me and don't skip the morning lessons. Alright?" Li Ming asked as she ordered the two girls who immediately nodded their heads.

"Take care, Miss Li."

"Be safe, Master."

Zi Yan and Jin Jing both shouted as the carriage started to move forward.

A sigh left Li Ming's mouth as she stared at the back of the carriage which disappeared from her vision after a few minutes.

The day was ready to end and Li Ming once again started to walk towards the teleportation array to return to the Capital city of the Wang Empire.

She originally planned to return to the Dongji village after the auction but now she was once again stuck with an unplanned problem.

The tug that she was suddenly feeling towards the so-called Whispering Pinnacles, only increased with each passing minute. Making it hard for her to concentrate on anything else.

She needed to go there as soon as possible, but the question was, how?

After another five minutes, she returned to the Capital city of the Wang Empire.

She grabbed a map of the Wang Empire from a stall and returned to the Inn where she had booked the rooms.

Her head was starting to feel heavy as she registered that her body was drained of energy.

Unknowingly, she ended up overusing her powers, and due to that, she was now struggling to even open her eyes.

"Damn it!"

She cursed lightly as she almost lost her balance at the top of the stairs.

The fact that her body had suddenly lost all its energy was not a good thing. It took her spinning head a few minutes to realize that the pull she was feeling from the Whispering Pinnacles was also sucking out her energy.

Somehow, she made her way towards her room and opened the door.

However, the very next moment her feet got entangled in the rug that was spread on the floor and lost her balance.

"Aaaaaaahhh...!"

Li Ming closed her eyes tightly as she let out a scream at the sudden gravitational pull on her body, waiting to land on the hard floor.

Though it never happened. Rather than the cold hard floor, she found herself engulfed in the arms of the one and only Second Demon Prince.

Her body which was drained from all the energy suddenly felt alive at the touch of her mate as he held her protectively in his arms.

However, she also realized something, something that made her immediately push the Demon Prince away.

Hei Long scurried back a few steps at the sudden push from the young girl. A frown appeared on his face as he looked at her disarrayed form.

He had no idea what he was doing here in her room. He just saw her figure entering into the inn and his leg automatically brought him here too.

When he caught up with her, he found her about to fell on the ground. Without thinking twice, he immediately ran forward to protect her.

"W-what are you doing here?" Li Ming asked the Demon Prince. Her tone though a little hoarse but it carried no hint of warmth in it.

The sudden change in her behavior made Hei Long raise his eyebrows at her.

"I just saved you from breaking your fragile bones. You have a nice way of saying thank you."

The mockery was clear in his tone as Hei Long smirked at her with his eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Thank you so much for your help. Can you please leave now?" Li Ming asked as she pointed at the door which was closed now, enclosing the two of them inside the room.

Suddenly his eyes gleamed bright red and the very next second Li Ming found him standing right in front of her.

There was barely any space left between the two of them as his hot breath caressed her cheeks.

Li Ming relaxed on the wall behind her as she tried to put some distance between the two of them.

Her mind was struggling between the fight of the pull that she was feeling from the Whispering Pinnacles and the pull that she was feeling from the mate bond that was binding her to Hei Long.

"What's wrong, Sweet prey? Are you suddenly afraid of me?" Hei Long asked in his husky voice as he closed the distance between the two of them that Li Ming had created.

Li Ming sucked in her breath as she once again felt the same imbalance in her energy.

The pull that was sucking out her energy was also trying to get its hand over the energy of Hei Long. That was exactly the reason why she pushed him away before.

"Don't come closer." Li Ming said hurriedly as she pushed herself more into the wall. She couldn't let anything happen to her mate.

She felt dark spots appearing in front of her eyes and the wall behind her was the only thing that was keeping her from falling on the floor.

"What happened to you suddenly? I thought you wanted me to enter into your harem." Hei Long asked with a soft smirk on his lips.

However, his eyes were observing the way Li Ming's complexion had suddenly paled, and the way her eyes appeared dizzy.

He could feel that she was struggling to even open her eyes. Something was very wrong with her.