Yangzhou City, underground secret chamber of the City Lord’s Mansion.
Time rewound slightly by a dozen minutes or so.
At that moment, Lu Li was conversing with City Lord Zhao, and Gong Shangyu had not activated the Time-Stop Domain.
Gazing at the eerie altar before her—its strange aura impossible to describe—Gu Qingying’s heart brimmed with questions.
Yet, considering the frightened children trembling behind her, who had never witnessed such a bloody spectacle, she restrained her doubts.
Resolutely suppressing her confusion, she pressed forward with the children trailing behind.
“Stay close to me, don’t fall behind!”
Gu Qingying’s violet eyes scanned the dim, winding corridor ahead sharply.
Her divine sense spread out to its fullest extent, alert for any lurking danger.
However, throughout their journey, aside from their own footsteps and breathing, the tunnel was so deathly silent it seemed abandoned long ago.
Yet this unnatural silence did not comfort Gu Qingying.
Instead, it intensified the ominous premonition brewing in her heart.
Just as she and the children passed through a stone corridor and faint light flickered ahead, an extremely strange sensation suddenly descended!
Without warning, everything around Gu Qingying—the dust particles drifting in the air, the children’s faces frozen in surprise, their lifted footsteps—was locked in place by an invisible force!
At this moment, in the underground secret chamber of the City Lord’s Mansion, everything except Gu Qingying was completely motionless.
“Time stop… it’s Gong Shangyu!”
Gu Qingying’s heart sank deeply.
She was far too familiar with this power—it was the ability of her second senior sister, Gong Shangyu’s Rebirth System!
Clearly, she had arrived!
And she had activated her system ability…
Watching the children frozen like clay statues before her, Gu Qingying’s fury toward Gong Shangyu surged wildly!
Second Sister Gong! What on earth are you trying to do?
I’m about to take these brats out, and you suddenly stop them with your system ability!
I can tell you’re deliberately opposing me!
Scolding Gong Shangyu angrily for her blatant lack of consideration, Gu Qingying began hefting the immobilized children like sacks one by one, placing them carefully on the steps.
But just as she wiped the sweat from her brow after carrying the last child onto the steps, a lazy figure appeared, leaning against the corner of the corridor ahead.
A teasing voice rang out mockingly.
“Hehe… isn’t this Sister Qingying?”
“We’ve only been apart for two hours, and you’ve already turned into some kind of laborer lugging heavy bags?”
Gong Shangyu shook her white jade bone fan with a smile that curved her peach blossom eyes into crescent moons.
Her gaze landed on the fine sweat at Gu Qingying’s temple and the children frozen in various poses by her time-stop ability, her tone dripping with playful mockery.
The moment Gu Qingying heard that voice, a blaze of anger erupted within her.
She snapped her head up sharply, violet eyes burning like fire as they glared at Gong Shangyu.
“Gong! Shang! Yu!”
Gu Qingying gritted her teeth as she spat out the words, “How dare you say that! Was it you who did this? Release this damn time stop at once!”
She lunged at Gong Shangyu in a rage, her stance like a cat whose tail had been stepped on—claws unsheathed and ready to scratch that pretty face.
But Gong Shangyu clearly anticipated this.
Instead of dodging, she smiled sweetly and extended a slender finger, pressing it precisely against Gu Qingying’s forehead.
Gu Qingying’s forward momentum stalled instantly.
Gong Shangyu was considerably taller, with longer arms, and her cultivation level utterly surpassed Gu Qingying’s.
So just that single finger held Gu Qingying’s head firmly in place, no matter how much Gu Qingying flailed her short arms and kicked her short legs, she couldn’t come close to Gong Shangyu.
“Hehe… Little junior sister~ We’ve both lived through heavy burdens this lifetime~ Don’t be so angry~”
Gong Shangyu chuckled as she watched Gu Qingying’s puffed cheeks and reddening face, struggling futilely to reach her.
Amused, she fanned herself more vigorously.
Though infuriated, Gu Qingying was helpless against Gong Shangyu and forced herself to cool her temper.
She spoke coldly to her second senior sister.
“Hmph… Enough nonsense! How are you here? Didn’t Master just leave with you? Where is he now?”
Gong Shangyu strolled closer, gently tapping Wang Yingying’s little face with her fan.
Smiling softly, she explained to Gu Qingying.
“My coming here was naturally to find you all.”
“As for Master…”
She deliberately lengthened her tone, savoring the jealous spark igniting in her junior sister’s eyes, “He’s upstairs right now, drinking tea and chatting with that ‘overprotective father’ City Lord Zhao Zongchang in the City Lord’s Mansion hall~”
“Hmm? City Lord Zhao?”
At the mention, Gu Qingying immediately recalled the “Uncle Zhao” the children had described as kind to them, and a sudden clarity dawned on her about the situation’s true nature.
“Could it be… Zhao Zongchang, the City Lord of Yangzhou City, is the mastermind behind the disappearance case?”
“Hmm. Unless something unexpected happened, yes.”
Gong Shangyu tapped her palm with the bone edge of her fan:
“All the evidence I found points to him. The procurement lists from the City Lord’s Mansion, his diary, the renovations to Yangzhou City two years ago…”
“All evidence implicates him. Even the secret passage door is hidden in his daughter’s coffin, which has been kept at home, unburied, for two years.”
The more Gong Shangyu spoke, the more animated she became.
By the end, she raised her chin, eyes shining with unreserved pride toward Gu Qingying.
Gu Qingying had no patience for her boasting and hurriedly pressed Gong Shangyu with urgency, “If that’s true… then how could you leave Master alone with such a dangerous person?”
Gong Shangyu immediately rolled her eyes, then poked Gu Qingying’s forehead with a finger.
“Are you stupid? I have the Time-Stop Domain activated here—Zhao Zongchang can’t move even if he wanted to!”
“Besides, you’re seriously underestimating Master. Even without my time-stop protection, with his cultivation, handling a mere Zhao Zongchang is a breeze. After all, he’s the peak master of Duanqing Peak.”
“With Master’s level, even a Golden Core elder ancestor might not be able to take him down!”
Hearing this, Gu Qingying pursed her lips and fell silent.
Then as if recalling something, she fixed Gong Shangyu with a sharp glare and asked.
“While I was away just now, you didn’t take advantage of my absence to do something to Master… did you?”
Upon hearing this, Gong Shangyu slightly covered her lips and let out a coquettish, playful laugh.
“Hehe… Well, that’s hard to say~”
“After all, Master is always so graceful and defenseless around me…”
“I might have… just helped tidy his collar that the cold wind had messed up? Or perhaps secretly touched his hand?”
“Or, maybe, I started the time stop and secretly kissed him~”
“Who knows such things…”
“Oh, and by the way~ Master’s waist is very smooth~”
“Ahhhh… Gong Shangyu! You’re looking for death—”
Gu Qingying trembled with rage, cold light flashing fiercely in her dark violet eyes.
Even the Protective Seal inside her, used to suppress Gu Hongchen, nearly loosened by a fraction.
Meanwhile, Gong Shangyu was completely oblivious to this, evading her sister’s attacks with a series of nimble dodges and occasionally letting out smug chuckles like a cunning cat playing with a mouse.