Chapter 754 - 346: Porcelain Doll’s Probe

Chapter 754: Chapter 346: Porcelain Doll’s Probe

Dragon Capital.

After learning the secret of the Round Table Conference’s oracle, Li Xin didn’t rush to try anything. He rolled the dice twice, but both times the result was "invalid," which meant this wasn’t a power the dice could target. For the moment he couldn’t get a handle on it. If he still couldn’t fully wield the Nine-character True Words on his own, then he had no way to foresee what kind of mutation might occur at the Round Table Conference.

With a great war looming, Li Xin could only suppress his curiosity by sheer force of will.

Over the next two days, Li Xin mobilized all the Night Patrol and reached an agreement with the Celestial Principle School. After all, his guess about Ye Shidao’s moves was just that—a guess. Everything had to wait for the weekend’s outcome. There was no word from Hundred Martial Hall, and he had no idea what Old Fang and Jian Lezhi planned to do. Old Fang might have his own scruples about coming to Dragon Capital. All Li Xin could do now was do everything humanly possible and leave the rest to fate.

Freedom Daily went all out. To celebrate its founding, it announced a three-day bonfire party starting Friday. Anyone with an issue of Freedom Daily or a copy of Utopia Mountain: A Tale of Vengeance and Grace could attend for free; you could also get in on-site with a single Li Bean. The program featured the author of Utopia Mountain personally coming to Taiyin Mountain to share the grand finale of Utopia Mountain: A Tale of Vengeance and Grace, as well as the secret of the Utopia Mountain treasure.

During this period, the Night Patrol and the disciples of the Celestial Principle School had also achieved a preliminary tacit understanding; manpower deployment and assignments were all in place. That night, Li Xin left Shadow Owl and didn’t take a carriage; instead, he walked back alone. He’d been doing that these past two days.

Dragon City was filled everywhere with the breath of everyday life. Every household, after a busy day, was enjoying warmth in the dead of winter. The city guard was on patrol. Everything felt unusually tranquil.

As he passed a street corner, the mist suddenly thickened a bit. From the opposite side of the intersection walked out a petite figure—a very exquisitely pretty girl, wearing a purple pleated skirt, adorned with many delicate pieces of jewelry, white socks up to her calves paired with small black leather shoes, a bright smile on her face as she walked toward Li Xin.

Her outfit looked a bit like the gothic style from his previous life. As the distance closed, that exquisite little face was indeed striking. The little girl was also sizing Li Xin up.

From the little girl’s point of view, on the rooftop up to Li Xin’s right, a huge monster wrapped in a black robe was clutching the scythe of Death, quietly hovering in the mist and staring at her.

Interesting.

The distance between them grew shorter and shorter. Li Xin frowned slightly, then quickly smoothed his expression. He glanced at the luxuriously dressed little girl; the girl looked him over as well, then suddenly smiled at him, stretched out a white finger and took out a candy. "Big brother, do you eat lollipops?"

Li Xin looked at the cute little girl and glanced around. "Little miss, it’s late, don’t wander around everywhere. Hurry home. At my age, your brother smokes, not candy."

The little girl smiled sweetly and put the candy away. "That’s really a pity."

The two brushed past each other. After a moment, Li Xin suddenly looked back, only to find the other side of the street completely empty. At this hour, anyone wandering the streets so casually was definitely no ordinary person. Had she come for him?

The mountain rain is about to come, and the wind fills the tower.

Li Xin went home; on the other side, the Porcelain Doll arrived at the Sun Circus.

The circus was dead silent. A short, squat figure was squatting on the ground, head tilted back, gazing up at the red moon in the sky, in a toad-like posture. Faint red light was continuously pouring into the clown’s mouth.

The Porcelain Doll arrived and didn’t disturb him, quietly waiting for the clown to finish devouring.

"Lord Chou, long time no see. Your cultivation has advanced at a tremendous pace," the Porcelain Doll lifted her skirt slightly and bowed. "You’re looking more and more like a person."

"Lady Porcelain Doll, what is it?" The clown’s image was vivid, but his expression was stiff. He sat there woodenly, arms hanging down, his body radiating a faint red glow.

"Nothing in particular. Mainly, with the plan about to be carried out, I came to see if there’s anything you need me to do." The Porcelain Doll smiled.

"No." The clown spoke woodenly.

"Then I’ll leave it to you when the time comes. Peak Pool is one of the Five Great Sanctuaries; its strength is not to be underestimated. If they happen to cause trouble, all you need to do is hold them off and buy me a bit of time." The Porcelain Doll licked her lollipop as she smiled.

The clown nodded, expressionless, looking at the Porcelain Doll. "Has Lord Creator arrived?"

"Lord Creator comes and goes like a ghost. How would I know? But when it’s time for him to come, he’ll definitely come." The Porcelain Doll smiled. "I found someone interesting in Dragon Capital, a heir of the Secret Castle. Heirs of the Five Great Sanctuaries keep popping up, but this is the first time I’ve met an official heir of the Secret Castle."

"The Immortal is free of desire and want. Where would an heir come from?" the clown said woodenly.

"What ’free of desire and want’? I just wanted to test that man, but then I saw the Immortal. It was warning me, hehe." The Porcelain Doll said as she swung on a swing. "So I was thinking you could calculate whether the Secret Castle Association will interfere in our affairs."

The clown looked at the Porcelain Doll, brought his hands together, and his eyes suddenly turned crimson. Red sigils kept emerging. After a while, the red light in his eyes receded, and he shook his head. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

The Porcelain Doll hopped down from the swing. "Then I’m relieved. Many thanks, Lord Chou."

With that, she lifted her skirt and spun in a circle; her figure vanished.

The clown silently stared at the empty circus, as if he himself had turned into stone.

***

Early Friday morning, the heads of each major family were all geared up, because there was an important Cabinet meeting today. Everyone from the Potter Family had been confined; the Black Iron Guard and the Church Court had been investigating for many days and had to give a result. Duke Potter, who had endured for so long, would also be attending the meeting. A fierce clash was inevitable, and today the Princess would also be personally presiding over the Council.

All the main streets of Dragon Capital were garrisoned by the Black Iron Guard. The nobles could all smell that something was different, but for ordinary people, there was a much more important event to attend.

At the foot of Taiyin Mountain, the large-scale "Utopia Mountain Event" had already kicked off. Many people had set out early. The price of a single issue of Freedom Daily or a single Li Bean attracted lots of Beijing people who loved joining the fun—especially since rumor had it they would reveal the secret of a treasure.

Of course, the vast majority didn’t believe it. What treasure? Even if it existed, there was no such thing as "sharing" it. They were just there for the spectacle. With New Year approaching, everyone was already in high spirits. An event this interesting drew crowds of participants; some even treated it like a countryside outing. As for the power struggles in the Council, that was far too distant from their lives.

All the squads of the Night Patrol and the scholars of the Celestial Principle Academy were on full alert. If nothing happened in these two days, then the odds were high that things would be safe afterward.

Inside the Council, verbal blades had already been drawn. Led by Duke Potter, the Freedom Faction harshly condemned Ye Shidao’s abuse of power. This was a regression of freedom and justice; it trampled the tacit baseline. The two sides had already torn their faces.

What was unexpected was that the Righteousness Faction, which normally would have sat back and watched, didn’t stand idly by this time. Instead, they reached a consensus with the Freedom Faction. Differences were differences, but they had all realized that letting the Black Iron Guard enter the city had been a blunder. It effectively turned the strongest force in the Royal City into Ye Shidao’s private army, and that had to change.

"The Black Iron Guard should be withdrawn back to their garrison and the Knight Order should return. Investigating cases should be handled by professional departments, such as the city guard and the Night Patrol."