Shanghai City, Golden Wind Hotel.
After Ye Ling saw Di Zhui being received into his portable cave dwelling by Long Shenshan, he bid farewell to Lu Xue Qilin and hurried back to his hotel room.
When Ye Ling returned to his room, Li Xiaoxiao had already woken up and was operating something on the computer.
Feng Ke and Du Yameng sat on either side behind Li Xiaoxiao, watching her fingers fly across the keyboard with adoration.
Feng Ke was a girl who knew nothing about computers, and while Du Yameng could use a computer, it was limited to ordinary internet browsing. When a world-class top hacker displayed her skills in front of them, the admiration the two felt for Li Xiaoxiao was like a gushing spring! Da Feng Novel Network
Ye Ling returned to the hotel and saw the three girls gathered together. A smile flickered in his eyes, and he walked over to ask, "What are you all doing?"
"Emperor!"
Li Xiaoxiao, who had been staring intently at the computer screen, suddenly heard Ye Ling's voice. She jolted and immediately sprang up from her seat, standing at attention.
Previously, she had fainted due to excitement and lack of oxygen because Ye Ling had asked her to stay by his side. Now, although she seemed to have recovered, working in front of Feng Ke and Du Yameng had already put her on edge.
Now, with Ye Ling's appearance, her brain felt like it was about to crash again.
Seeing Li Xiaoxiao's flushed face and rapid breathing, Feng Ke and Du Yameng looked at Ye Ling suspiciously, thinking he had done something unspeakable to her.
Seeing that Li Xiaoxiao was about to faint again, Ye Ling shook his head, smiled, and sent a wisp of his spiritual energy into her body to stabilize her mind and calm her emotions.
After Li Xiaoxiao calmed down, Ye Ling asked the three girls, "Let's talk business. What were you doing just now? You seemed very tense."
Li Xiaoxiao said somewhat bashfully, "Apologies, Emperor... I saw the computer you assembled earlier and got a bit carried away, so I used it without permission."
"What's the harm in that? If you like it, feel free to use it." Ye Ling didn't care about a computer and generously gave it to Li Xiaoxiao.
"Really?"
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Li Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up, and she almost jumped for joy. Then she remembered the important matter and quickly said, "Right, right, Emperor... There's something important I need to report to you."
"Something important?"
Li Xiaoxiao took a deep breath and said, "I discovered that your computer has traces of being attacked. What I was doing just now was tracing the attacker's IP."
"My computer was attacked?"
Hearing Li Xiaoxiao's words, Ye Ling was stunned. He then walked quickly to the computer screen filled with command lines and asked, "Did you find out who did it?"
He had assembled this computer himself from scratch, and it contained no personal data. Even if it were hacked, it wouldn't have any significant impact.
However, he was curious as to who would attack his computer.
Li Xiaoxiao shook her head and said grimly, "We haven't figured out who the attacker is yet, but it's confirmed that they are from the Red Dust Pavilion."
"They attacked us because our intrusion into their database was discovered."
Ye Ling nodded slightly and said, "That's possible... Stealing the database was too obvious, and they were bound to find out sooner or later."
Besides the Red Dust Pavilion, no other force would likely do this.
After all, with his hacker knowledge, his technical skills were top-notch in the world. Ordinary hackers wouldn't be able to trace his IP!
In China, only the Dragon Department and the Red Dust Pavilion had the capability to do this. The Dragon Department had no reason to attack him, so the only remaining possibility was the Red Dust Pavilion.
Ye Ling patted Li Xiaoxiao's head and comforted her, "It's fine if you couldn't find out. This computer has no data, and I haven't installed any cameras. Even if they hacked in, they can't do anything."
"You've been working hard lately, get some rest."
Ye Ling's mood had improved considerably after finding Ye Feng.
He had initially thought he would only be able to capture Ye Feng when the ancient ruins entrance opened, but he hadn't expected Ye Feng to descend from the immortal realm earlier, allowing him to capture him successfully.
Although he hadn't found a solution to the soul-bound contract yet and couldn't act against Ye Feng, he had completely tracked Ye Feng's movements.
He could capture Ye Feng whenever he wanted.
Coupled with the informants he had placed around Ye Feng, he could always know Ye Feng's whereabouts and monitor his actions.
A rat hiding in the dark was now exposed under the scorching sun with nowhere to hide. The thought of this made Ye Ling extremely pleased.
Hearing Ye Ling's concern, Li Xiaoxiao's face instantly turned red, her heart beating rapidly. She stammered, "I, I understand..."
Li Xiaoxiao had already become Ye Ling's fan. Being suddenly cared for by Ye Ling, her emotions, which had been forcibly stabilized by Ye Ling's spiritual energy, began to stir again.
Seeing Li Xiaoxiao's slightly unwell complexion, Feng Ke also asked with concern, "Xiaoxiao, are you alright?"
"I, I'm fine..."
Li Xiaoxiao said, then bowed deeply to Ye Ling, Feng Ke, and Du Yameng, apologizing, "I, I'm sorry! I, I think I need some fresh air!"
With that, Li Xiaoxiao fled the room, not daring to stay any longer.
Her social anxiety was about to act up!
Seeing Li Xiaoxiao suddenly run out, a hint of worry flashed in Feng Ke's eyes. She quickly said to Ye Ling, "It's so dangerous outside now, there might be Tongtian tribe members appearing again. I'll go find her!"
Du Yameng also chimed in, "I'll go too!"
Soon, Feng Ke and Du Yameng also ran out of the hotel room, leaving Ye Ling standing alone in the room, somewhat dazed, not understanding why things had suddenly turned out this way.
"This is truly..."
Seeing all three girls rush out, Ye Ling could only smile wryly. He didn't chase after them, but instead released Di Zhui from his portable cave dwelling to get some air. He then returned to the computer to verify his suspicions.
Ye Ling had infused a bit of his power into Feng Ke and the other two girls. Even if similar Tongtian tribe kidnapping incidents occurred, the protective spiritual energy within them would be enough to ensure their safety. Ye Ling wasn't worried about them being in danger outside.
Ye Ling skillfully plugged in the USB drive and opened the Red Dust Pavilion's database, browsing the information of the Twelve Venerables.
Although he had already reviewed it once, after searching the souls of Ye Feng and Lu Yun, he discovered some peculiar things.
Both Ye Feng and Lu Yun had some understanding of the other Venerables.
However, they had absolutely no information about Zhang Xiaoling, who ranked first!
Logically, as the highest-ranking members of the Red Dust Pavilion, the Twelve Venerables jointly ruled the organization. They must have had some work interactions and should have been very familiar with each other.
Yet, both Ye Feng and Lu Yun knew almost nothing about Zhang Xiaoling, who ranked first!
In their memories, Zhang Xiaoling was like a mystery. His strength and identity were extremely enigmatic.
"Lu Yun didn't know much about Zhang Xiaoling, but I could sense his fear of Zhang Xiaoling from his memories."
"One Venerable fears another... Zhang Xiaoling seems to be on a different level from the other eleven Venerables of the Red Dust Pavilion..."
"Not only Lu Yun, but even Ye Feng, whose status in the Red Dust Pavilion rose like a rocket, also subtly feared Zhang Xiaoling."
Ye Ling reread Zhang Xiaoling's information, his eyes growing deeper.
At that moment, his computer's firewall issued another warning.
Another attack was incoming!