Patter---
Rainwater flowed down a hole in the ceiling, carrying soil and pouring into the ground, turning the originally magnificent Imperial Sect secret vault into a ruin.
This place used to be filled with the treasures collected by Nangong Cheng from the four regions over the past thousand years, and now he had become a part of these supreme treasures himself.
The golden shell of the Void Returning cultivator would gradually turn into a spring under the urging of time, and the majestic spiritual energy accumulated over thousands of years would also turn to dust and return to earth, nourishing the lands within a thousand miles.
It could be foreseen that the area around Heavenly Gate City would become the place with the most abundant spiritual energy in the Central Region in the future.
"Oh my~ I'm rich!! I'm rich!! Hahaha..."
Ye Waner's eyes seemed to be filled with spirit stones. She was now covered with various unknown magic necklaces and even had seven or eight golden hairpins in her hair.
On the other hand, Liang Zhu was her opposite.
Although he was also carrying a sack-sized storage bag, he was more composed than Ye Waner, who stuffed everything into it like a good robber. He only took spirit stones and natural treasures that he recognized. As for those things he didn't know, he didn't take anything.
"Brother Liang... load faster, stop dilly-dallying."
"Don't be so hasty. Try to only take spirit stones and things we can use. Each of these magical tools and natural treasures is priceless, but most of them are useless to us and we don't know what they are. It will be a big problem to sell them later. Selling a large number of valuables is equivalent to showing off your wealth, which will only attract unwanted attention."
Ye Waner thought it made sense and nodded quickly, dumped out the things she had taken, and started loading again.
"Oh~~ As expected of you, Brother Liang, I've learned a lesson! Hehehe... I've made a fortune..."
Liang Zhu glanced at her and sighed slightly as he continued to fill his storage bag, but he wasn't thinking about how to spend all those spirit stones.
His mind was on Tong Zilan now.
On the way here, Liang Zhu did not see her. He thought that Ye Anping must have taken her out. Therefore, rather than moving things with Ye Waner, Liang Zhu wanted to find his sixth brother as soon as possible to confirm Tong Zilan's safety.
Rumble---
The ceiling of the secret vault made a series of noises. It seemed that the main beam was about to collapse.
"Brother Liang, it looks like it's about to collapse."
"Well, hurry up."
The two of them sped up their movements, but not long after, Liang Zhu heard footsteps coming from behind him. He immediately became alert, took out a dagger from his storage bag, and turned around.
"Who's there?!"
"..."
Seeing that it was Tong Zilan, Liang Zhu's eyes widened, and he hastily put the dagger away, threw the storage bag on his shoulder on the ground, and stepped forward to support her.
"Empress? You... didn't you go out with Master Ye?"
Tong Zilan's golden robe was torn with several holes, and her arms and legs were bleeding. She was in a sorry state, and only after Liang Zhu helped her did she relax a little and lean into his arms.
Tong Zilan looked at the golden shell of Nangong Cheng not far away and said, "Cough -- before the Immortal Matriarch fought with him, she used her spiritual power to protect me, but I still fainted. When I woke up, she had disappeared. I thought she might be here, so I came over."
Rumble---
The ceiling once again made a series of mournful sounds, and countless debris fell.
Liang Zhu raised his sleeve to protect Tong Zilan from the falling debris and looked at the ceiling. "Empress, this place is about to collapse. I will take you out first. Miss Ye, please help me get my storage bag."
As he said that, he picked up Tong Zilan and summoned a flying sword to take her out, which made Ye Waner, who was loading things, grumble. But looking at these two, the guard and the Empress, she nodded resignedly. "Eh?... Never mind, okay, you can go! My Escape Technique is much faster than yours."
Tong Zilan was startled by Liang Zhu's action. As the Empress of the Central Region , this was the first time she had been picked up like this in hundreds of years. She was a little flustered for a moment, but she quickly came to her senses and raised her hand to interrupt. "Officer Liang, it's not necessary."
"What is not necessary?"
"You and this Miss Ye can just load up and leave, I will leave later."
Tong Zilan gently pushed Liang Zhu's chest, got down from his arms, and then dragged her feet toward Nangong Cheng's golden shell.
Tap tap...
The sound of footsteps was heavy.
Liang Zhu looked at Tong Zilan's back, hesitated, and hurriedly followed her, asking, "Empress, what are you doing? This place is about to collapse."
Tong Zilan looked at Liang Zhu. "Officer Liang, you helped me save my daughter back then, but I have nothing to repay you. My daughter will be left in your care from now on. I thought about it for a long time, and I finally decided to stay here."
"Why?"
"Since the day my child was born, I have not fulfilled my responsibilities as her mother. After more than ten years, how can I have the face to go to her and ask her to call me mother? Now that the Imperial Sect is gone, no one else will know her identity as the Second Princess from now on. Officer Liang, I hope you can let this matter be buried in this land."
"..."
"Besides, I owe a life to the Eternal Bliss Palace servants."
"Empress..."
"Mr. Liang, take your things quickly and leave with Miss Ye."
Ye Waner, who was carrying two sacks of stuff, listened to these words and looked over, interrupting her. "Empress, what are you thinking? Didn't you really hate Nangong Cheng? If you want to keep him company for his funeral, won't that be letting him off lightly?"
"Miss Ye, what I hate is the current Nangong Cheng, not the Nangong Cheng of the past. I met him when I was seventeen, and when I married him, he promised me that he would not marry another woman in this life. Anyway, we had many years of blessings. Even if he goes to the underworld, I will be by his side."
Ye Waner slightly raised her eyebrows, pouting. "I don't get it! My credo is that it's better to live a miserable life than to die a good death!"
"Hehe... Miss Ye, when you meet someone, you will understand."
Tong Zilan smiled bitterly, walked to Nangong Cheng's golden shell, lifted her skirt, and sat down before gently stroking his temples with one hand. "Your Majesty, do you now regret what you have done over the years?"
"..."
Rumble---
The bricks and stones shattered, and violent vibrations came from below. A crack quickly spread along the corner of the wall toward the ceiling.
Ye Waner looked up and didn't bother to load more things. She turned to look at Liang Zhu and Tong Zilan, who were standing still, and said, "Brother Liang, it's going to collapse. I'll take the storage bags out first! Hurry up and bring the Empress out!"
After saying that, her figure turned into a stream of light and disappeared on the spot.
Liang Zhu looked at Tong Zilan sitting beside Nangong Cheng in silence, then turned back and prepared to jump on the flying sword.
He was only a former guard of the Justice Division .
Since Tong Zilan had decided to stay here, what right did he have to interfere with her decision?
Even if Tong Zilan died here, he would remain Ating's adoptive father after he returned, and she would never know about her origins as the effects of her identity would be buried forever in the underground of the Heavenly Gate City along with Tong Zilan.
Over these decades, he had honestly regretted many times -- if he hadn't saved Ating back then, he would have achieved great success and secured a place in the Imperial Sect.
If he saved Tong Zilan now, he would probably regret what happened today in the foreseeable future.
However...
Liang Zhu turned and took a step forward, then he suddenly closed his eyes, clenched his teeth, and stopped in his tracks.
"Tsk..."
He smacked his lips lightly before instantly arriving in front of Tong Zilan. Without a word, he hugged her waist, picked her up, and then jumped onto the flying sword in one step.
"Officer Liang... you?!"
"Guarding and protecting the master is one of my responsibilities. I have no right to interfere with what you want to do, but I need to fulfill my duties. It is my responsibility to ensure your safety, Empress."
"..."
As his words fell, the room collapsed.
Boom---
The soil and rocks above the ceiling suddenly poured down like a flood. Liang Zhu used an earth-based talisman to condense a protective wall in front of him, and he took Tong Zilan with him, flying up through the hole above.
In Nangong Cheng's lifeless eyes, a trace of light left by the flying sword flashed, and then he was buried under soil and rocks.
The two people who jumped out of the ground came to the top of the palace and looked down.
Only to see engraved bricks and decorative tiles, purple pillars, and golden beams as if plunged into quicksand. Accompanied by rattling gusts, everything slowly sank into the ground, raising the dust to the sky under the curtain of rain.
After a quick glance, Liang Zhu flew with Tong Zilan to a relatively intact street. Seeing an oil-paper umbrella left on the street, he walked over to pick it up, held Tong Zilan in his arms, and headed to Flowing Moon Inn .
On her face, wet by the rain, a pair of eyes looked at Liang Zhu's face in confusion.
"Officer Liang..."
"What is the Empress' order?"
Why are you doing this?"
"...It's my duty."
Liang Zhu responded distantly, but after hesitating for a while, he looked down at Tong Zilan's face, shifted his gaze, and added, "Also... Ating needs a mother."
Tong Zilan's eyes widened involuntarily, and then she pursed her lips and lowered her head.
After Liang Zhu answered, he did not speak again. He just pressed Tong Zilan's shoulder against his chest, using actions instead of words.
Somewhat hesitant, Tong Zilan tensed her body for a long time before relaxing, leaning her forehead against his chest and slowly closing her eyes.
"..."
"..."
A man holding a woman with an umbrella, walked on the street in the pouring rain, without a word. Accompanied only by the pounding sound of the rain hitting the eaves, they arrived in front of the two-story pavilion with the plaque " Flowing Moon Inn ".
"Empress, we're here."
"Oh... right."
Tong Zilan was slightly startled by his voice, and then she hurriedly prepared to get down from his arms, but at this time, the people inside the inn seemed to have heard the motion outside.
The door of the inn abruptly opened.
It was Hongyu, with a bandage on her shoulder, who opened the door. When she saw Liang Zhu and Tong Zilan, the worry on her face finally dissipated. She said, "Master Liang, is the Empress injured?"
Tong Zilan was a little flustered. After all, Hongyu was her personal maid. She quickly jumped down from Liang Zhu's arms, pulled Hongyu to her chest, and hugged her. "Hongyu, you've suffered..."
"No... Empress, I... Woo-woo..."
Tong Zilan smiled helplessly and lightly patted her back, soothing her for a while. Liang Zhu didn't want to disturb her, so he walked into the house, closed the door to the room, and pulled the latch.
He looked around and saw that the lights were on in several rooms on the second floor, so he knew that Ye Anping and the others had probably returned. However, noticing a bloodstain on the stairs, he was startled and asked hurriedly, "Miss Hongyu... Is Master Ye injured?"
Hearing this, Hongyu also came back to her senses, stopped crying, and replied, "Ah... No, the blood belongs to Sister Feng, it seems that she was seriously injured. Young Master Ye is now on the second floor, treating her wounds. Just now, Master Yue also came to report that he was safe. Seeing that Master Ye was busy, he did not disturb him and went back to the Justice Division place."
"Too bad..." Liang Zhu shrugged before looking at Tong Zilan. "Miss Hongyu, take the Empress upstairs to bathe, change clothes and rest. I'll go to the Justice Division Office ."
Saying this, Liang Zhu picked up his oil-paper umbrella again and prepared to go out.
Seeing that he was about to leave, Tong Zilan hurried forward and took out a cloak from the storage bag, giving it to him. "Be careful on the road..."
Liang Zhu was stunned for a moment. Although he was already soaked, he still took the cloak and nodded awkwardly. "...Okay."
Hongyu kept looking back and forth between the two of them. After Liang Zhu left, she asked in a low voice, "Empress, you and Master Liang, what are you..."
"He is my little girl's adoptive father, and I am her mother, although I am not competent..." Tong Zilan replied awkwardly. "Hongyu, in a few days, you can go to the Heavenly Cemetery outside the city to erect a monument. The Eternal Bliss Palace servants are gone, but the monument still needs to be erected."
"And then? Where will you go, Empress?"
"To the Hundred Lotus Sect..."
Tong Zilan looked at Hongyu in silence, then took out two jade pendants and put them in her hand.
"Hongyu, you were the palace guard of the Eternal Bliss Palace . Now that the Imperial Sect no longer exists and Eternal Bliss Palace is also gone, you can go wherever you want. You should be able to exchange these two pendants for a lot of spirit stones. You can ask Officer Liang to help you exchange them. In the future, you can find a sect or become a rogue cultivator. Either way, it's fine..."
"Ah..."
Hongyu looked at the pendants in her hand and remained silent for a long time without clasping them.
Seeing this, Tong Zilan breathed a sigh of relief. "Or maybe you want to go to the Hundred Lotus Sect with me?"
"I have been following you since I was little, and I swore to serve you for the rest of my life. How could I leave? Wherever you go, I will go with you..."
"I won't force you, and I'm not the Empress anymore, so I don't have the power to order you. Do you want to consider it for a few more days?"
"No need to consider!" Hongyu pushed the jade pendants back to her and knelt to pay her respects. "I hope Empress... Senior Sister will take me with her!"
"No need to show respect like this. I will ask Young Master Ye later. I don't think he will refuse."