Chapter 288: Reuniting with the Duke! (Part 1)

At the end of the long street, where dark clouds blotted out the moon, a slender shadow slowly approached.

He was dressed in a deep purple robe, exuding an air of languid nobility. His golden, vertical pupils were particularly striking in the dark of night. "Ask your master for me: is treating a noble, S-Class female of the Valoran Empire as a prisoner of war your Deep Sea’s idea of hospitality?"

The undersea abomination glared over. The man’s sudden arrival, his grating laughter, and his even more infuriating words stoked its rage.

By comparison, the weak little octopus was beneath its notice.

The giant crab beast decided to ignore it.

Instead, it turned and sneered at the man. "You have no right to question what my master does!"

It had already received its orders: once it found the Rabbit Clan female, it was to do whatever it took to keep her in the Chelsea East Territory until its master arrived.

The red Little Octopus sensed something was wrong. It immediately shot over to the Rabbit Clan girl’s side and gently prodded her with a tentacle.

’Run?’

Yu Zhizhi stared blankly at the figure for a long moment. She’d never imagined she would run into him here...

Run into the Duke!

She shook her head at the Little Octopus and, to avoid getting caught in the crossfire, shuffled behind a nearby advertising billboard.

’How could the Duke have left the Valoran Imperial City?’

As far as Yu Zhizhi knew, he never traveled far from home.

Besides, she had learned from Shen He last time that the Duke’s talent was array-based; he was invincible in the Valoran Imperial City, but he’d be in danger if he left...

The Duke had many, many enemies.

The undersea abomination clearly didn’t take this male from the Land Beast Clan seriously. It had guarded an entire sea region for the Empire all by itself. What kind of war hadn’t it seen?

The sea crab’s enormous body seemed to scrape the heavens. It braced its two giant pincers against a nearby high-rise and spewed a thick, inky flame from its mouth.

To the side, the Little Octopus scoffed. "And here I thought it was so tough. Isn’t its attack method just like mine?"

’It’s just spitting.’

Yu Zhizhi watched nervously. She had never seen the Duke fight anyone before and feared he would be swallowed by the black inferno, which was vast enough to engulf the entire street.

On the street below, the Duke turned his body slightly, as if sighing in mockery of the beast’s foolish overconfidence.

In an instant, a thick fog billowed out.

The black flames vanished without a trace, as if they had been snuffed out.

Swirling in the Cloud Mist, the man’s longish, dark-blue hair made his skin seem as fair as jade. His profile was as if drawn by a divine hand—wickedly handsome and elegant. His golden snake-like pupils shone like a golden moon against the horizon. Amidst the white mist, his figure was demonic, like an Evil God descended upon the mortal realm—

The sea crab’s attack had been completely nullified. It stared, its eyes wide with disbelief. This was the first time in its life it had ever encountered such a bizarre, unorthodox fighting style!

The behemoth was gradually swallowed by the fog. It struggled, its retreat thundering through the street, but it could not escape the strange Strength.

As if undergoing some terrible torture, a faint, trembling cry escaped from the depths of the sea crab’s throat.

A fear stemming from its very core forced it to capitulate, even though it was the guardian of an entire sea region.

’It feels like I’m about to be devoured completely...’

’Everything I am.’

With its last shred of consciousness, it watched the fog slowly recede. It had been reduced from a mountain-sized undersea abomination to an ordinary sea crab the size of a stool.

It raised its head, trembling, to see the purple-robed man standing before it. His condescending gaze and golden, vertical pupils made it shudder uncontrollably.

The once-arrogant undersea abomination didn’t dare utter a single word now.

The man finally turned away.

The sea crab’s heart was about to pound out of its chest. It wiped the sweat from its brow with a pincer and stared blankly at the ground, thinking of the Marshal of the Deep Sea Empire. The mission he had given it was a failure...

’How am I going to explain this to Lord Shen He?’

The male from the Snake Clan of the land who had appeared out of nowhere had crushed its spirit so completely it couldn’t even raise its head.

The red Little Octopus watched the man approach. Seeing such a behemoth forced back to its original form had sent a chill down its spine. Still, it glared viciously at him, looking as if it might charge forward and bite him at any second.

’Hmph! So what if he’s a snake?!’

Yu Zhizhi crouched behind the billboard. Seeing the Duke closing in, her rabbit ears twitched. She quickly pressed her forehead against the board, hiding in a way that was clearly just deceiving herself.

The Duke stopped in front of her.

He looked at the little female wrapped in a white robe. Her body trembled slightly as her hands clutched the edge of the damaged sign. Her white rabbit ears, covered in dust from her escape, looked filthy. Even her black hair was a mess, and her most expressive eyes were hidden from view.

He didn’t speak for a long moment.

Feeling a little guilty, Yu Zhizhi slowly turned her head. She looked up at the Duke. The dark clouds had dispersed at some point, and moonlight now spilled down. Standing against the light, the man’s features were hidden in shadow; only his golden, vertical pupils stared faintly down at her.

A knot of fear began to form in her heart...

It had been so long since she’d used the Teleportation Array to escape the Duke Mansion. Although they had video-chatted, and she had even spent time with the Duke’s Clone, this was the first time she had seen him in person again.

In a foreign land.

Yu Zhizhi’s eyes darted away. She didn’t know what to say. Thinking she was about to be punished, a film of moisture began to well up in her dark eyes. She pursed her lips slightly, looking as if she were the one who had been wronged.

The red Little Octopus’s gaze darted back and forth between the little rabbit and the man.

It sensed something was off about these two.

’They know each other?’

’And it seems like they’re on pretty good terms.’

Seeing the little female’s teary-eyed expression, the Duke felt an even stronger urge to laugh. She was always good at playing the victim. She had left a letter at the Duke Mansion and vanished without a trace, and now, before he had even said a word, the little rabbit’s eyes were already red, as if she were the one lodging a silent complaint.

’...The letter.’

He thought of that letter. Night after night, he would unfold it, watching the ink gradually fade with time. He would sit at his desk, tracing each stroke, unwilling to let it disappear into the silent river of time.

’What had she written in that letter?’

The Duke finally spoke. "Didn’t you hope I would give you a hug the next time we saw each other?"

Yu Zhizhi froze. She looked up at him and saw the man before her slowly opening his arms.

Her heart stirred.

’After all this time, the Duke still remembered...’

She had been so anxious when she wrote that letter, hoping only that the Duke wouldn’t punish her and would give her a hug the next time they met.

Back then, she hadn’t seen the Duke in a very long time.

The Duke had been angry.

But she didn’t know why.

All she knew was that their relationship had become very strained.

Yu Zhizhi slowly stood up. With her head lowered, she shuffled forward two steps. She gently wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.

The man carried the faint fragrance of a phantom orchid. Familiar memories resurfaced, and the anxiety in her heart gradually faded.

"...How did you get here?" Yu Zhizhi asked, a little dazed.

The Duke held the little female in his arms. He lowered his head, his nose brushing against her hair. The thought of her dust-covered rabbit ears made his brow furrow slightly.

But he still accepted her grimy appearance. His fingertips threaded through the little female’s hair as he spoke, his deep voice laced with a hint of amusement.

"My little pet ran away. Did you think I wouldn’t come find her myself?"

(One more Chapter to follow, please turn the page~)