Yue Jinghua stared at the little boy next to her, looking him up and down and feeling something was not quite right about him.
It seemed that ever since he came back from the Little Shang Palace, the little boy had been off.
Hongling said that the boy had behaved well in the palace that day, calling Lie Rou "Mother" and easing an awkward situation for her.
Afterward, Yue Jinghua playfully teased the little boy, asking him to call her "Sister" to hear it, but he turned back into a tight-lipped person, no matter how much she coaxed, he’d give no response.
"What have you been doing hiding in the Spirit Wood Garden these past days?" Yue Jinghua was here tonight to pick up Yue Chen, brought by Lie Rou. According to Hongling, the young master had practically been living in the Spirit Wood Garden these days.
"Planting flowers," the little boy mumbled as he walked, as if he could find gold on the ground late at night. He wasn’t lying, he had been planting something indeed. A while back, he had obtained a Purple Lotus Seed in the residence of the Feise Empress Dowager, which was no ordinary lotus seed.
The two walked in silence for a while longer.
Yue Chen paused and then suddenly stopped, taking something out of his bosom.
"What is this?" Yue Jinghua took a closer look at what was in her hand; there were two red Crystal Stones.
"Found them," Yue Chen said, a bit guiltily, and quickened his pace.
The two irregularly shaped Crystal Stones were still slightly warm to the touch and the color was like the most exquisite rose, utterly resplendent. Held in her hands, she could feel a unique power coursing through them.
"Blood Essence?" Qing Pu smelled the spiritual energy fluctuation and floated beside Yue Jinghua, examining the two Crystal Stones closely.
Just as Dark Practitioners have Dantians, Dark Beasts cultivate Dark Pills, and spirit woods cultivate spirit cores, but unlike Dark Practitioners, not all Dark Beasts and spirit woods can cultivate their corresponding Dark Pills and spirit cores.
Those Dark Beasts and spirit wood that fail to cultivate spirit cores and Dark Pills still contain Dark Power within them. Blood Essence is the crystallized product of Dark Beast or spirit wood blood and flesh after refinement.
For most Dark Practitioners and Dark Beasts with spirit wood, Blood Essence acts as a tonic, consuming it can increase one’s cultivation by a certain proportion.
Depending on the cultivation level and life-and-death status of the Dark Beast or spirit wood at the time of refining Blood Essence, the purity of Blood Essence will vary. The purity of the two pieces of Blood Essence in Yue Jinghua’s hand was very dense.
Hearing Qing Pu’s tone, Yue Jinghua knew that this stuff was no trivial matter, and couldn’t help but wonder, "Where did you get these two Crystal Stones from?"
"From the palace," Yue Chen said with his head down, walking briskly. His pace was so fast that Yue Jinghua felt it a bit difficult to keep up without using Dark Energy.
"I heard from Mother that you went to the Feise Empress Dowager’s chamber that day as well. What were you doing there?" Yue Jinghua vaguely remembered that day when she broke the Killing Cage, she seemed to have glimpsed Yue Chen in a corner of the Water Pavilion.
She wondered if he saw her.
In Yue Jinghua’s heart, she comforted herself, thinking the little boy’s cultivation was too shallow, and with the Evil Qi that filled the sky that day, his vision must have been affected. Even if she broke out of the prison, he might not have seen clearly.
But what was this boy doing in the Water Pavilion instead of staying on land?
Yue Jinghua naturally didn’t know that Yue Chen sensed a somewhat familiar scent as soon as he entered the palace.
He followed that scent all the way to the chambers of the Feise Empress Dowager, and in the chamber’s Water Pavilion, he found Ye Zi, who had been "trapped" in the Blood Evil Array for a long time.
Only he never expected to find Yue Jinghua also in the Consort’s palace, and the person with her...
The Divine Court. Why was she with someone from the Divine Court? Could it be that she...
In his dark eyes, a hint of annoyance surfaced, and Yue Chen abruptly stood still, turning around.
Yue Jinghua, who was conversing with Qing Pu, was caught off guard and collided with him, full on. Yue Chen was still the size of a child, just reaching Yue Jinghua’s chest.
With the collision, Yue Jinghua felt a pain in her chest, as if she had hit a big rock.
However, Yue Chen felt completely different. His nose picked up a pleasant scent, and following that, he plunged into something soft and fluffy. It was only when he realized where he had bumped into that he became utterly flustered.
"Tsk, Baozi’s face has shrunk so much, the tactile experience has worsened a lot. No wonder the whole person feels like a block of stone," Yue Jinghua unconcernedly pinched Yue Chen’s face, noting some subtle changes in his facial contours.
It was rare that Yue Chen did not dodge or resist, allowing her to "maltreat" him.
Seizing the opportunity, Yue Jinghua pressed on, "Did you pick these up from the Feise Empress Dowager’s palace?"
"Mm," Yue Chen nodded.
"Did you go to the Water Pavilion just to fish these things out?" Yue Jinghua continued her questioning.