Chapter 192: Zodiac and Rabbit
The two hugged each other for a while before finally letting go. Dream Butterfly looked around, as if searching for someone.
"Are you looking for someone?" Mirror Butterfly asked.
Dream Butterfly nodded. "Where is Matron? I haven’t seen her anywhere. Is she sick, or has she gone out for some business?"
"Um..." Mirror Butterfly hesitated for a moment. "There’s an urgent matter she needs to attend to. In truth, she didn’t want to go, but this time it’s very important."
"May I know what kind of matter? Does she need any help? I might be able to ask Lord Wei to help her if she needs anything," Dream Butterfly asked.
The matron had adopted her and raised her from the streets. If not for her, she might have already died there, or ended up in an even worse situation.
"You don’t need to worry about it, Yu’er. Lord Wei might not look kindly on you if you use him to solve our problems. Besides, you have already been redeemed. What you should do now is serve Lord Wei to the best of your ability," Mirror Butterfly said with a smile.
"Um... I understand, Sister Mirror Butterfly," Dream Butterfly nodded before hugging her again, grateful for the care she had always received.
After they said their farewells, Dream Butterfly took her leave and walked out of the top floor of the Immortal Dream Tower.
The festive atmosphere continued as the people within the Immortal Dream Garden, along with her admirers, watched as Dream Butterfly boarded a flying ark parked at the top of the tower.
Hua Zuixian, who served as the protector of the Immortal Dream Garden, continued in his role according to the agreement. He only needed to protect them for one hundred more years, or until the Immortal Dream Garden could find someone to replace him.
During this time, Hua Zuixian would regularly visit Dream Butterfly in Thousand Treasure City.
On the flying ark, Wei Chen, the man of the hour, took Dream Butterfly’s hand and helped her step onto the deck. Even though Dream Butterfly could easily jump or fly up to the ark, they had decided to keep her cultivation a secret for now.
As for why?
Wei Chen, as a man from the modern world, knew very well how toxic admirers of an idol could become.
And this place.... is a cultivation world, so it could be even worse if some fans became agitated.
Right now, those hardcore SIMPs still believed that Wei Chen could not do anything to Dream Butterfly because of her body condition. This was one of the reasons why those folks did not go on a war path or try to fight him.
After all, getting entangled with such toxic and obsessive SIMPs was not something Wei Chen planned to deal with.
The flying ark departed from the Immortal Dream Garden. Both Wei Chen and Dream Butterfly sat together in the lounge, admiring the view, chatting, and teasing each other like a newlywed couple.
Unbeknownst to them, there were two pairs of eyes watching them, each filled with different emotions.
One pair was filled with malice, while the other was filled with worry and uncertainty.
The latter belonged to Mirror Butterfly, Dream Butterfly’s good sister. Her heart was filled with worry, hesitation, and unwillingness. Beneath all those complicated emotions, her eyes also hid a trace of sadness.
As for the first pair of eyes, filled with malice,
it belonged to Lian Cheng.
Looking up from the ground at the flying ark disappearing into the horizon, he had already observed Wei Chen and roughly estimated his cultivation. From what he could tell, he guessed that Wei Chen was at the Soul Transformation Realm, but his power output was so great that he could fight against those in the Void Refining Realm.
Killing, no, even injuring a Soul Transformation Realm expert at his current cultivation, which was only at Foundation Establishment, was impossible.
Unless...
Unless he took advantage of other people’s greed and blind confidence. He now had a rough plan. What he needed next was more information so he could refine it.
And once his plan was complete, even if this so-called Young Master Wei Chen had three heads and six arms, he would not be able to survive his trap.
"Wait for me, Yaoyao... this time... this time, no one shall stand in our way to happiness. No one shall touch you. Even if this realm falls into ruin, no one shall touch you," Lian Cheng muttered under his breath.
— Meanwhile - ??? —
Hidden behind an illusion array lay an abandoned courtyard within a large estate. The estate had fallen into disrepair, rotting under the merciless passage of time.
In the courtyard stood the silhouette of a man concealed within black mist. In front of him stood a voluptuous woman wearing a rabbit mask. She looked at the man with cold eyes.
"Rabbit, how is the progress on your end?" the man in the mist asked, his tone curious.
"Mr. Zodiac, we have run into... a bit of a complication," said the woman in the rabbit mask.
"Oh? Tell me. What kind of complication?"
"The future Demon Empress... she is now under the protection of a man... a man from a Hidden Ancient Clan."
Hearing this, the mist slowly faded, revealing a man dressed in black clothing with soft armor. His mask had no openings for the eyes, as if he did not need them.
"Which clan?" the man asked. His voice was now serious, devoid of any teasing or amusement.
"Underworld Palace," said the woman in the rabbit mask.
The moment the name was spoken, the atmosphere became tense.
The woman in the rabbit mask felt a crushing pressure around her throat. She could barely breathe, as if the man before her were strangling her. Yet he had not moved at all, he simply stood there, staring at her.
Even without eye openings in his mask, she knew he was glaring daggers at her.
"How did this happen?" Mr. Zodiac asked.
The woman in the rabbit mask swallowed nervously. She knew that if her answer did not satisfy him, her life would end here.
"The Demon Empress... she... she admires him. His name is Wei Chen, the young master of the Underworld Palace. He..."
Slap!
The man in the black mask struck her. She fell to the ground, and her mask slipped off her face.
The face beneath the mask was revealed. It was the matron of the Immortal Dream Garden.
"Foolish woman! There is no one named Wei Chen within the Underworld Palace Hidden Ancient Clan! You have been deceived!" Mr. Zodiac said with malice.
"That’s impossible! Everyone at Mo Xingyao’s engagement ceremony witnessed how powerful their subordinates were! There’s no way they would lie about that!" the matron argued.
"Humph! Just because they did not lie about their power does not mean they would not lie about their identity! A Hidden Ancient Clan would never reveal itself so easily! And you know this. Weren’t you once one of them? A former servant of a Hidden Ancient Clan?"
Mr. Zodiac’s words jolted the matron’s memory. Yes, she had once served a Hidden Ancient Clan, before she had enough of their cruelty.
Mr. Zodiac stepped forward and grabbed her hair, forcing her to look up at him.
"You. Woman. Do not think I do not know what you are planning. On one hand, you use us, the Zodiac, as a shield, relying on our influence to protect yourself from your former masters. On the other hand, you try to curry favor with the Hidden Ancient forces."
As he spoke, anger seeped into his voice, and his hand tightened around her throat.
"Selling your so-called daughter, hoping to gain favor and climb the ladder of society with your pitiful cultivation. What a vile person you are. If you were not good at making money, you would never have had the chance to wear one of the Zodiac masks!"
Slap!
Mr. Zodiac struck her again, sending her to the ground. He stepped back, took out a handkerchief, and wiped the hand he had used to strike her, then burned the cloth to ash as if disgusted.
"What a disgusting woman you are. Do you really think the Hidden Ancient forces would respect you? Do you think they would see you as the mother of someone like Dream Butterfly?"
"Do not think I do not know why you came running here. You are trying to stall for time," Zodiac said with disdain.
The matron’s face turned pale with horror. She had not expected her intentions to be seen through so easily.
"A woman like you, clinging to another like her, calling her your daughter. What a pathetic existence," Mr. Zodiac said coldly as he looked down at her.
"If it were not for your ability to make money, I would have already killed you!" He paused and then kicked her in the stomach.
The matron’s body flew backward and crashed into the wall, cracking it on impact.
"Ugh!"
Mr. Zodiac walked toward her.
"From now on, you will devote all of your resources and abilities to help the Zodiac, to atone for what you have done."
"Yes... Lord Zodiac," the matron said weakly as she looked up at him. "About Dream Butterfly... could you... could you please... release her?"
She pleaded with her eyes as she adjusted her posture, trying to use her feminine charm to soften the man.
"Heh..." Mr. Zodiac sneered. "What do you think? Do you really think I would let them go?" he said in a cold tone.
"No..." the matron uttered in despair.