The Most Dangerous Place Is the Safest

Hearing that something had happened to Xiao Huai, Huo Qiyun immediately looked anxious. “What happened to Xiao Huai? Is she still safe?”

Ever since he started cooperating with Xiao Huai to scheme Liu Hongshan, although Huo Qiyun didn’t say it, he had already taken her as his companion.

After all, if Xiao Huai had not stood up for him at that time, he might have already attacked Liu Hongshan and been killed and thrown down Furnace Peak.

“She’s fine… at least for the time being.”

Lin Ran replied softly and roughly explained what Liu Hongshan had done to Xiao Huai.

Even though Lin Ran had omitted a lot of details, after Huo Qiyun and the empress heard it, their expressions darkened.

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“This despicable Liu Hongshan!”

Huo Qiyun stomped his feet and suddenly thought of something. He looked at Lin Ran. “By the way! Didn’t you challenge him to a death duel? Let’s go find him now and kill him together!”

“I’ll kill Liu Hongshan, but not now.”

Lin Ran rejected it. Before Huo Qiyun could speak, he continued, “Besides, have you forgotten the rules of the death duel? No one is allowed to interfere in the battle between the two. Even if I bring you there, you can’t interfere.”

“Rules don’t apply to that kind of person. He deserves to be punished by everyone!”

Huo Qiyun waved his hand and said angrily, “If you don’t dare to go, wait here! I’ll go myself!”

With that, Huo Qiyun was about to leave. Lin Ran was about to stop him when the empress suddenly shouted sternly, “Huo Qiyun! Stop!”

The empress’s shout was very sudden. Lin Ran was shocked, and Huo Qiyun was so frightened that he stood rooted to the ground, not daring to lift his feet.

After stopping Huo Qiyun, the empress frowned slightly and said in a low voice, “Rules are rules. If we don’t follow the rules simply because he is despicable, then what’s the point of setting up rules?”

Seeing that Huo Qiyun was about to talk back, the empress softened her tone and said, “Don’t forget that you’ve also killed many people… To their families, aren’t you a bad person too? You said we don’t need to apply rules to evil people, but is it easy to distinguish good from evil?”

Huo Qiyun was rendered speechless by the empress’s question. It was not that he was convinced by her logic, but when he was suddenly confronted with such a philosophical question, his brain couldn’t quite react to it.

Seeing the confusion in Huo Qiyun’s eyes, Lin Ran knew that Huo Qiyun didn’t understand at all. However, as long as Huo Qiyun didn’t act rashly, he wouldn’t expect anything else from him.

After a moment of silence, Lin Ran clapped his hands and changed the topic. “Alright, alright! let’s save Xiao Huai first before going to the north to help the soldiers!”

The empress nodded slightly. Huo Qiyun asked, “Where is Xiao Huai? Is it far from here?”

“Not far. Just over there.”

Lin Ran pointed in a direction. He could vaguely see a tall mountain range standing quietly under the night sky.

“Mount Sword?!”

Huo Qiyun recognized the tall mountain peak at a glance. “Xiao Huai is actually on Mount Sword?!”

“Yes, the tree hole where the Sacred Abyss Sword is stored.”

Lin Ran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. When he heard it from Liu Hongshan, his reaction was similar to Huo Qiyun’s.

Logically speaking, as the holy land of the Heavenly Saint Dynasty, Mount Sword attracted a lot of attention. Therefore, when Liu Hongshan was hiding Xiao Huai, he should not have chosen this place.

However, Lin Ran quickly understood that perhaps it was precisely because Mount Sword attracted a lot of attention that Liu Hongshan chose it.

The fake Sacred Abyss Sword had already been stolen and destroyed, so naturally, no one would pay attention to the tree hole. This way, that place became the safest place to hide Xiao Huai.

In addition, there was some kind of restriction in the tree hole. Not only could it block the detection of divine sense, but it could also block the dispersion of sword intent. Unless one used the Mount Patrol Token to open the tree hole, no one would notice that there was a person hiding inside.

This was also why Liu Hongshan said confidently that unless he took the initiative to tell Lin Ran where Xiao Huai was, Lin Ran might never find her.

After Lin Ran explained, the three of them arrived at Mount Sword.

Previously, the mountain guardian, Wang Kailin, was Liu Hongshan in disguise. After he was exposed and left, the empress had yet to appoint a new mountain guardian. Therefore, at this moment, Mount Sword was quiet and pitch-black.

“We’re going to save Xiao Huai. Hurry up and change your outfit.”

Before setting off, Lin Ran urged the empress, “We’ll go straight to the front line in a while. As the emperor of a country, why are you dressed like the commander of the imperial guards?”

When the empress heard this, she felt that it made sense, so she nodded and went to the wooden house where the mountain guardian lived to change.

As soon as the door was closed, Huo Qiyun looked at Lin Ran and asked, “What’s the situation?”

Lin Ran was stunned. “What do you mean?”

“Why did you send her away?”

Huo Qiyun pointed in the direction of the wooden house. “Besides, your body smells awful. You should be the one who needs to get changed.”

Lin Ran’s expression stiffened, then he looked speechless. “You are never so smart when it comes to serious matters.”

Huo Qiyun shrugged like Lin Ran usually did and asked with a serious expression, “What’s going on? Are you worried that Xiao Huai isn’t here?”

“Liu Hongshan probably won’t lie to me about this.”

Lin Ran shook his head and hesitated for a moment before saying softly, “I’m afraid your Sister Empress won’t be able to accept what she sees.”

Huo Qiyun looked confused, and Lin Ran put away the smile on his face. He frowned slightly and said softly, “The Taotie Evil Technique that Liu Hongshan cultivates can instantly turn a living person into a skeleton… Who knows what Xiao Huai looks like now?”

Hearing this, Huo Qiyun finally understood, and his expression instantly turned serious.

“Anyway, let’s go take a look first.”

Lin Ran sighed and said, “It’s not the first time Liu Hongshan has devoured Xiao Huai, but Xiao Huai still has a complete body. This means that she has some kind of recovery ability. If she… we’ll hide her somewhere else first and bring her to see the empress after she recovers.”

Huo Qiyun nodded. Then, the two of them went to the Sacred Sword Hall of Mount Sword.

In the yard, the peach tree that had been growing for hundreds of years was still lush. The trunk that opened had already returned to its original state.

Lin Ran’s expression was extremely solemn. He knew that he might see something he would never forget in his life…