"But..." Mu Qing hesitated slightly.
"Your father must be thinking for your sake," Fan Luoyu said.
"This isn’t just my personal matter, it’s the matter of our Fan Clan. Let me handle it myself, alright? I don’t want to make things difficult for you. You know, there are some things we can’t change."
"Alright," Mu Qing nodded slightly. Then she looked at Steward Xu and said, "If you people dare do anything to her, I will never forgive my father for the rest of my life."
With two men guarding her, Mu Qing left the flower boat, and a prepared boat was already waiting by the side to receive her.
Steward Xu pointed inside the decorated boat and smiled. "Miss Fan, please."
"Can you come along with me?" Fan Luoyu looked at Xu Zimo and asked.
Xu Zimo nodded slightly.
"This young man," Steward Xu raised his hand slightly, blocking Xu Zimo’s way.
"What? You want to stop me?" Xu Zimo asked, lifting his head.
"That’s not what I mean," Steward Xu still smiled. "I only ask if you’ve thought it through. Once you enter here, it will be very hard for you to leave again. If you leave now, I will act as if nothing has happened."
Xu Zimo glanced at Fan Luoyu.
Although she was trying her best to hide it, the nervousness in her was still noticeable.
Her right hand lightly pinched the corner of her white robe, and even her breathing was somewhat heavy.
Xu Zimo remembered what that guard Gong Lei had once told him.
Fan Luoyu had always been known in Victory City as a great benefactor.
When her father was alive, he had protected her well, and she had never suffered the slightest grievance.
It seems that this is what life’s ups and downs are like.
Her father’s sudden death placed all the family’s burdens upon her shoulders.
With no support behind her, she still had to plunge into this dragon’s den of a city.
The bitterness in her heart could not be pleasant for anyone.
Although Fan Luoyu had always been calm and rarely showed emotions or expressions, Xu Zimo could not fully empathize, but he could understand.
"Let’s go," Xu Zimo said as he took Fan Luoyu’s hand, pushing Steward Xu aside and walking inside.
Fan Luoyu gave Xu Zimo a grateful look.
Feeling the warmth on her wrist, she didn’t pull away. Instead, in the dark cabin, she found a rare sense of security.
"Thank you," Fan Luoyu whispered. "Actually, I’m afraid. I don’t even know what to do."
"Afraid of what?" Xu Zimo asked.
"If I tell you, can you keep it a secret?" Fan Luoyu asked.
Then she repeated, "I’ll only tell you. Even though we haven’t known each other long, and barely spoken, for some reason… Among all the people around me recently, not even Qing’er or Uncle Chen could I fully trust. But I just feel like I want to trust you. I don’t know why, maybe it’s a sense of safety, or something else. I can’t really explain."
Perhaps it was Xu Zimo’s choice tonight that touched Fan Luoyu’s heart.
By entering this boat, he had chosen to get involved in this matter.
He hadn’t stayed out of it and walked away.
This made Fan Luoyu feel she shouldn’t hide things from Xu Zimo.
"If you want to say it, then say it. If not, then it’s fine," Xu Zimo replied.
"I can listen, or not listen."
"Actually, I know why they are targeting our Fan Clan," Fan Luoyu said. "Including my father’s death, it wasn’t an accident. It was all because of one thing."
"What thing?" Xu Zimo asked.
The two walked down a long corridor, entering a spacious hall.
The hall was quiet, no guards around, only a middle-aged man seated on the chair at the head.
He wore a dark blue long robe, his hair very messy. It wasn’t that it was dirty, but rather that the hair itself was coarse and poor in quality.
It all fell loose over his shoulders.
His appearance was somewhat rugged, with thick lips, small eyes, and a slightly plump build.
At that moment, he was quietly brewing tea while sitting in the chair.
When they arrived, Fan Luoyu’s voice suddenly cut off.
The two stopped at the doorway and looked at the man.
"You’re here," the middle-aged man smiled.
"City Lord?" Fan Luoyu asked in surprise.
Looking at him, and then thinking of Mu Qing, it seemed impossible that they were father and daughter.
"Sit down," the middle-aged man waved slightly, motioning for them to sit.
"I am Mu Chengmiao, no need for much introduction," the man said with a smile. "I know you and that girl Mu Qing are close, good friends. Strictly speaking, you should call me uncle."
"I don’t dare claim such ties," Fan Luoyu shook her head slightly.
"I know you hold resentment in your heart. If I could avoid it, I wouldn’t get involved in this matter either," Mu Chengmiao said with a smile. "After all, there’s no benefit to me."
"But City Lord, you’ve already involved yourself," Fan Luoyu replied. "If you have something to say, then just say it. Circling around is meaningless."
"In that case, I won’t hide it," Mu Chengmiao said. "That thing, it’s in your hands, isn’t it?"
"What thing?" Fan Luoyu asked, puzzled.
"You see? I just said, don’t play dumb. That’s meaningless," Mu Chengmiao shook his head.
"The thing is good, yes, but you also need the life to keep it. Think of your father’s end."
"Are you threatening me?" Fan Luoyu asked.
"Not a threat, just stating the truth," Mu Chengmiao replied. "Take my advice: hand it over. With me watching over your Fan Clan here in Immortal City, no one would dare trouble you again."
"I don’t understand what you’re talking about," Fan Luoyu stood up and said. "If the City Lord insists on playing riddles, then forgive me for not accompanying further."
Seeing her about to leave, Mu Chengmiao’s gaze grew sharp. "Before you step out that door, don’t you want to think about the Fan Clan’s situation? And your clansmen?"
Watching Fan Luoyu pause, Mu Chengmiao continued, "The Slaughter Emperor’s Imperial Mark is in your hands, isn’t it?"
"The Slaughter Emperor?" Xu Zimo frowned slightly.
In the Western Region of the Eastern Continent, among the emperor-lineage sects, aside from the True Martial Sacred Ground, the strongest was the Purgatory Sacred Ground, which had two emperors.
Its founder was the Purgatory Emperor, and its second emperor was the Slaughter Emperor.
This Slaughter Emperor, in fact, had emerged from the Western Region.
As for the Imperial Mark, Xu Zimo understood a little.
The Slaughter Emperor had killed countless beings in his life, even cutting down his wife and children with his own sword.
He truly proved his Dao through killing.
After carrying Heaven’s Will, he soon ascended to the Outer Heavens.
It was said he had left behind an Imperial Mark, for his successor.
Of course, the story was complicated.
Proving the Dao through slaughter had always been a heavily debated matter.
After all, what sane person would choose such a path that denied kinship and destroyed family?
To kill even one’s own loved ones to perfect one’s Dao?
Thus, before his ascension, the Slaughter Emperor had always struggled to find a true successor.