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Chapter 1394 - Letting the cat out of the bag

Why had the Holy Maiden appeared here all of a sudden?

Hadn’t she returned to demon race territory?

Murong Xue and the others were all thinking roughly the same thing. For her to appear now, at a time like this, in the vicinity of the Upheaval Alliance’s new base, could mean only one thing:

She was absolutely going there to see Ye Zichen.

The countless clans of the God Race might not want to see internal strife amongst the gods, but the demons…. This was the opportunity they were waiting for.

Careful scheming and calculating.

Xuan Ji and Xue Yang had done everything they possibly could, contacting other factions and arranging an elaborate web of lies, all for the sake of keeping Ye Zichen in the dark.

And yet, they never could have guessed that the Holy Maiden would appear here and now

“Xue’er, hurry up and contact Beibei. Tell her what we just saw. We’ll go try and stop the Holy Maiden, but whether we can hold her back or not, we have to inform Great Emperor Xue Yang right away.”

“Got it.” Murong Xue immediately contacted Xue Beibei, while the others raced after the Holy Maiden as fast as they possibly could.

They definitely had to stop her before she reached the Upheaval Alliance’s base.

Little did they know that, just as they realized something was amiss, the hooded figure laughed. “It seems…. I have to speed up.”

___

Ye Zichen watched Jiang Yong and the others leave, then returned to the reception area.

He was quite confused, almost in disbelief. Liu Qing replied to his messages, but her tone was full of obvious irritation and impatience. And yet, despite this, she kept responding and chatted with him for almost an hour.

Perhaps due to an overabundance of suspicion, evering during his conversation with Liu Qing, he brought up the Anti-Upheaval Society.

But she told him roughly the same thing as Jiang Wei: Xue Mo and the others had gone off exploring a hidden land.

Hearing the same explanation finally put Ye Zichen at ease. Jiang Yong and the others had acted simply too strange; he couldn’t help but seek confirmation elsewhere.

When he felt they’d chatted long enough, Ye Zichen prepared to ask Liu Qing about recruitment once more, but then….

“Hey, we might again!” A sudden chuckle filled the hall. Ye Zichen looked up and saw the Holy Maiden clad in black robes. She’d already lowered her hood, revealing delighted purple eyes.

A few alliance members followed him in. When he saw his new guest, Ye Zichen frowned, set down his jade slip, then waved his subordinates away.

They bowed, then left. Only then did Ye Zichen say, “What are you doing here? Don’t tell me you’re here for a tour too?”

“Is that a problem?” She didn’t hold back in the slightest. She plopped right down into a chair and laughed, “If I come here and get used to the place now, when we become enemies in the future, I’ll have useful information to use.”

“In that case, there’s no way I can show you around. My apologies,” said Ye Zichen.

“You’re seriously refusing? How could Sun Yige fall for a guy like you? I really don’t get it.” The Holy Maiden swayed her head back and forth. “I was actually just joking now. I’m a woman of character, and when I have an opponent, the thrill of the unknown is part of the excitement of it all. I have no desire to investigate your secrets. Besides, your little faction isn’t worth plumbing the depths of anyway. Ai, do you have something to drink? If so, pour me a glass. I rushed all the way here, and I’m awfully thirsty.”

Ye Zichen waved and summoned a bottle of immortal brew, which he set down in front of her. “What’s there to be afraid of?” Without so much as the slightest hesitation, the Holy Maiden took a sip. She drank primly and elegantly. She even carefully covered her mouth with her sleeve, like the modest, refined daughter of a powerful family.

When she set the immortal brew back down, the bottle was already empty.

Ye Zichen had been watching her on high alert this whole time. Ever since first laying eyes on her, he’d sensed that she was no ordinary woman.

It was hard to see through her motivations, her thoughts, or her actions.

“Aren’t you concerned about the Battle of Geniuses?” he asked.

The woman suddenly covered her mouth and burst into laughter, her deep purple eyes flashing with playful curiosity, but also a hint of pity. “It seems they’ve really kept you completely in the dark. If I hadn’t shown up, who knows how long they would have kept this from you? You’re truly a pitiful little creature.”

Ye Zichen knit his brows and looked at her. “What do you mean by that?”

“You’re still talking about the Battle of Geniuses. Could it be that you haven’t heard? They shut it down half a month ago,” laughed the Holy Maiden.

“They shut it down? Why?”

“You don’t even know that?” The Holy Maiden laughed, then looked enlightened,”But then, that makes sense. You didn’t even know they stopped the event from proceeding any further. How could you possibly know why they made that choice?”

“What exactly are you trying to say? Out with it!” said Ye Zichen.

“If I tell you, I’m afraid your heart can’t take the shock.” She chuckled, then walked up to Ye Zichen and whispered in his ear, “Xue Mo was beaten to the brink of death. Did you… know about this?”

Boom!

Ye Zichen’s aura exploded outward. His materialized fury billowed out, spreading throughout the room. He clenched his feet, leaving cracks in the floors.

Ye turned his head, then stared, wide-eyed, and the Holy Maiden. “Say that one more time!”

“I knew you couldn’t take it.” The Holy Maiden giggled and stepped aside, then ran her hands through her long hair, which Ye Zichen’s exploding aura had messed up.

“It wasn’t long ago. Your Anti-Upheaval Society’s Xue Mo, that is, the second princess of the Sea of Innocence, was beaten to the brink of death, and even now, her fate is uncertain. Great Emperor Xue Yang and the other Divine Mountains agreed to suppress the incident, to the point of forbidding the remaining participants from leaving Divine Martial Academy so much as a single step. All are forbidden to spread word of this incident.”

“As for why they’d go that far, I expect you know full well: they don’t want you to know about it. But I just can’t stand to see you muddling around in the dark. Just looking at you makes me feel stifled, like the whole world is playing tricks on you.”

“You’re the guy my Little Sun likes. How could I possibly just watch them trick you? In order to tell you what really happened, I came here all the way from Nine Li territory. Well, what do you think? Aren’t I treating you much better than all those who kept you in the dark?”

“So, is that how it was?” Ye Zichen laughed bleakly, then fell silent. Despite his silence, however, his towering, heaven-shaking fury was readily apparent.

No wonder Jiang Yong and the others were acting so strangely.

No wonder they’d tried so hard to stop him from going to Divine Martial Academy.

They’d done all this to keep him from finding out what had happened.

To keep this secret, they’d come up with a whole web of lies. Even his aunt Xuan Ji and the Four Directions Palace were involved…

“Brother Ye.” At that moment, Jiang Wei arrived. He’d been the first to rush back over, and he flew in on his flying sword, so he was many times faster than the others, who were traveling on foot.

En route, he saw no trace of the Demon’s Holy Maiden. He almost wondered if he’d been mistaken.

But regardless of whether his eyes were playing tricks on him or not, he rushed straight into the Upheaval Alliance’s base, ignoring the gatekeeper’s attempts to stop him and rushing right into the reception area.

He hoped he wouldn’t see the Holy Maiden here. He hoped he had gotten worked up over nothing.

But then...

He saw her….

The demons’ Holy Maiden smiled faintly as she stood by Ye Zichen’s side. When Jiang Wei arrived, she turned and smiled at him, too.

Ye Zichen arched his brows, then greeted Jiang Wei with cold indifference. When he spoke, his tone was suffocatingly low and cold. His words were quiet, but he practically spat them out, like a judge passing down his verdict, “You’re here?”