Chapter 55: The Heir is Returning?

That night, the moon shone clear and bright.

Beneath the curtain of night, the moon spilled silvery light, bathing the whole land in a gentle, pale silver. The clouds at the horizon were swept away by a fierce aura, trailing brilliant tails of energy as they sped off into the distance.

Cheng Guang stood by the pavilion, gazing for a while at the commotion far away. Even without approaching, even separated by a great distance, he could feel the terrifying aura emanating from that place. Had he been near, even a brush with the aftermath would leave him crippled, if not dead.

Qian Siyuan stood beside him, also watching the distant turmoil. When things began to settle, Qian Siyuan turned to Cheng Guang with a gentle smile and said, “Young Lord, I’ll take this fox demon to the Lantern Bureau for now. Later, you can interrogate her yourself.”

Cheng Guang nodded, indifferent. He glanced at the limp forms of Bai Shuxuan and Red Candle in Qian Siyuan’s hands, lifeless and sprawled on the ground, but said nothing and prepared to return to his residence.

Now that the matter was settled, he felt no pressure.

Cheng Guang intended to return home and claim his reward, to see what use this newly obtained Forbidden-Breaking Pill would have.

As for Bai Shuxuan, she was no longer a threat for the time being.

If he hadn’t wanted to extract some value from her, Bai Shuxuan would likely already have been killed by Qian Siyuan’s hand.

After a few words with Qian Siyuan, Cheng Guang departed, returning to the Duke of Zhenguo’s mansion.

Upon entering the Myriad Phenomena Garden, he discovered Qingluan seated quietly among the trees, gazing up at the moon, lost in thought. She appeared deeply troubled.

As Cheng Guang approached, Qingluan didn’t react for some time—longer than she had been absent-minded before. Only when Cheng Guang drew near and gently tapped her shoulder did Qingluan startle, quickly turning her head and realizing he had returned.

Seeing Cheng Guang, Qingluan was first delighted, but soon her lovely features grew tense, and she exhaled heavily, speaking aloud:

“Young Lord, something terrible has happened.”

“That Young Lord… is coming back…”

Cheng Guang’s eyes narrowed at her words, the joy of his completed task vanishing entirely.

He knew well that the Young Lord Qingluan referred to was the true Young Lord.

The Young Lord had slipped away, secretly brought by Cheng Zhihai to the Duke’s mansion as a decoy to avoid his father’s control.

By any reasonable course of history, his identity as a groom should have been exposed long ago, but his arrival from another world had changed everything: instead of being revealed, his identity as Young Lord had become accepted.

As a result, Cheng Zhihai didn’t follow the original timeline by sending people out to search for the real Young Lord and forcibly bring him back.

Now, the Young Lord, realizing Cheng Zhihai hadn’t sent anyone after him, perhaps bored from his wanderings, planned to return home.

Once the Young Lord returned, his own identity would inevitably be exposed.

Even though he possessed pure royal blood of Daxia, his appearance identical to the real Young Lord, his cultivation and strength superior in every way, a counterfeit remains a counterfeit.

Cheng Guang had plotted and cultivated diligently, all to prepare for this day, but he hadn’t expected the real Young Lord to return so soon.

Suppressing the turmoil in his heart, Cheng Guang comforted the anxious Qingluan, “Don’t worry. How did he contact you?”

Qingluan replied, “When he left, he gave me a piece of jade—a one-use treasure. When the jade shatters, it means the Young Lord is coming back.”

“I don’t know his exact schedule, but I imagine he’ll return soon.”

She spoke, her beautiful brows furrowing again, unsure how to face the true Young Lord.

If he returned, their predicament would certainly be exposed.

Qingluan, for having lost her purity, would at best be abandoned.

Cheng Guang, having usurped another’s place, would be sentenced to a gruesome death.

A glimmer flashed in Cheng Guang’s eyes. He wasn’t as panicked as Qingluan; he had long foreseen this day.

He had only two paths to choose from.

First, intercept and kill the Young Lord before he returned.

Second, escape with his companions before the Young Lord arrived.

The first path was far too difficult: he had no idea where the Young Lord was, nor could he send the household’s people to investigate, since their identical appearance would only hasten the Young Lord’s return if discovered.

Going alone to intercept him was a fantasy; every move he made was watched by Cheng Zhihai—not merely out of concern, but as a formidable obstacle.

No matter what he did, he couldn’t escape Cheng Zhihai’s gaze.

The second path seemed difficult as well, but not entirely impossible.

Cheng Guang recalled Bai Shuxuan.

Earlier, Bai Shuxuan had produced a stone etched with lightning patterns, which, according to Qian Siyuan, could tear open a boundary and return to the demon domain.

Though the lightning stone had been used up, Cheng Guang didn’t believe Bai Shuxuan, as the saintess of the Qingqiu Fox Clan, had only one means of escape.

If necessary, he could rely on Bai Shuxuan’s methods to flee the mortal realm and distance himself from the Great Zhou Dynasty.

At this moment, Cheng Guang preferred the path of escape.

After all, standing beside the true Young Lord, no matter how similar, a comparison would inevitably expose him.

Thoughts surged through Cheng Guang’s mind. He patted Qingluan’s shoulder and said, “Don’t worry. Leave this to me. I’ll try to resolve the Young Lord. If I can’t, we’ll run.”

Qingluan was too worried to respond, brushing her hair as she considered how difficult both solutions seemed.

But at this moment, she had no other options—she could only trust Cheng Guang.

“You are the real Young Lord now, as long as you remain in the mansion. Even if he… wants to prove his identity, it won’t be easy…”

“We should plan ahead. Whether to stay or leave, it’s up to us.”

With that, Qingluan hurried away.

Cheng Guang sat in the courtyard for a while, his gaze fixed on the moon above. After some time, he rose and returned to his chamber.

“Claim reward!”

Seated inside, he addressed the system inwardly.

As soon as he finished, golden light gathered before his eyes, swirling and flashing until it condensed into a round pill.

Cheng Guang took the pill in hand.

A system message appeared in his mind:

[Forbidden-Breaking Pill: Upon consumption, all restrictive effects are nullified for a period, allowing free movement unhindered by restraints.]

Cheng Guang held the pill, eyes lowered. It was indeed as he expected—a pill to nullify restrictions, granting freedom from all constraints.

For now, he wasn’t sure what use the Forbidden-Breaking Pill would have for him, so he put it away, sitting quietly on his bed to await the system’s midnight task.

At such times, it was not the reward itself that Cheng Guang anticipated, but rather the intelligence revealed in the system’s task prompts.

He sat in silence, time ticking away.

At midnight, a cold, emotionless voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

……