A few days later, Baiyi quietly accompanied Lian Ye as she played and roughhoused around the Imperial Palace.
Sure enough, as long as he didn’t bring up that kissing incident again, the silly Lian Ye wouldn’t give it a second thought.
But still… why did he feel like he’d forgotten something important?
He distinctly recalled experiencing something crucial during Children’s Day a few days prior.
Yet his mind drew a complete blank.
Whenever he tried to recall that morning’s events in detail, a faint pain would suddenly stab his head, persistently nagging at him.
As if blocking him from thinking further.
“Tch. So frustrating.”
Finally, Baiyi opened his eyes, threw off the blanket, and got up from bed.
He’d lain there quietly for so long, pondering recent events.
And he realized something that had been bothering him.
What happened on Children’s Day.
The girl sent by the Shadowblade Alliance to assassinate him, and that mysterious Sorcerer with eerie techniques and an identity shrouded in mystery.
Since the military took them to the Imperial Palace’s underground interrogation room, both had remained unconscious with no signs of waking.
Afterward, Baiyi dispatched troops for a thorough search across the capital, gathering intelligence.
But they found nothing. Even the Sorcerer’s stage appearance on Children’s Day was his first known sighting.
Before that, no one knew his identity or background.
As if he’d materialized out of thin air in the Great Empire’s capital.
“Are both targeting this silly girl? I might get the Shadowblade Alliance, but why would that strange Sorcerer want her?”
Baiyi glanced at Lian Ye lying quietly beside him, her arms clutching him tightly.
She was just a little naive child, yet she’d become a coveted target for countless people without him realizing.
Though he didn’t know their motives, Baiyi understood one thing clearly.
To snatch Lian Ye away, they’d sent one of their strongest members and countless elites.
What were their true intentions?
Was this too cruel for her?
“Frustrating.”
Agitated, Baiyi turned to the desk beside his bed.
At some point, an exquisitely crafted, lifelike doll had appeared on his bedside table.
“When did this thing get here?”
He reached out, picked up the doll, and placed it before him.
Long, silky black hair. Pale, soft skin.
Baiyi’s hands squeezed and prodded the delicate doll, repeating the motion.
Then his brows slightly furrowed, a trace of confusion flashing in his eyes.
The doll’s texture felt incredibly real.
Its soft, supple feel was just like touching human skin.
When he ran his hand through its hair and gave a gentle tug, a few strands came loose, lying in his palm.
The roots looked exactly like hair pulled from a human head.
“What is this…”
A bad premonition surged in Baiyi’s heart.
“I didn’t even notice this. When was it placed here? I have no idea.”
Staring at the doll, he recalled the Sorcerer’s words backstage:
“My new masterpiece… requires exquisite, perfect materials like you! So, bear with it—you’ll be the sacrifices for my creation!”
“Materials? Sacrifices? Could that scum be a Dark Mage!”
At this thought, nameless fury ignited in Baiyi’s eyes.
His mind conjured the seductive, enchanting woman from Beast Rat Street.
Was this Sorcerer connected to her?
Could he be sent by the Ghost Lady?
These bastards… always targeting Lian Ye?
Or just greedily seeking materials for their “masterpieces”?
The frustration in Baiyi’s heart flared into raging fury, his eyes blazing.
He didn’t know why, but whenever someone targeted this silly girl beside him, he burned with rage.
Right now, he genuinely wanted to capture everyone who’d tried to harm Lian Ye that day, interrogating them one by one.
Damn you bastards, I’ll investigate every single scum!
If I find your target is this silly girl beside me…
I’ll subject you to the cruelest methods, torturing you to death!
