Chapter 77: Cunning

"What?" Emilia exclaimed in shock. "You're saying Xia Yan isn't dead? But how could he possibly be alive? How could that pure-blood Asa let Xia Yan go?"

Emilia knew Asa's character all too well; he was certainly not someone easily deceived. What possible reason could a man like that have for sparing Xia Yan?

"The reason is the decisive battle two months from now," Weiwei said. "Asa's stance is that Xia Yan has both merits and crimes. The Winged Clan will not proactively initiate a trial to condemn him, but instead force him to a fight to the death with Lelin, the patriarch of the Wilber family."

"Lelin?" Emilia mused for a moment. "A Seven-Star Esper?"

"Yes," Weiwei nodded. "Asa is probably doing this deliberately. He believes he has absolute control over Xia Yan's life and death, and wants him to spend the remaining two months living in terror."

"What a despicable wretch. Yet he has indeed grasped Xia Yan's Achilles' heel; no matter what, he can torment Xia Yan to death. Even if an enormous upset occurs and Xia Yan actually manages to defeat Lelin, Asa can simply step in and kill him himself." Emilia simply loathed such people—self-righteous, believing they held everything in the palm of their hand, yet their power hadn't even reached absolute development. She couldn't understand what he had to be so arrogant about.

"After that, Xia Yan returned to the human side and headed straight to Gong Kui," Weiwei said.

"Oh," Emilia frowned. "So for Xia Yan, he hopes to spend his final two months before death living within human territory!"

"Not quite. That seems to have been Asa's idea; he directly contacted Gong Kui and made that exact demand." Weiwei's expression was very serious.

Emilia was furious. She let out a soft huff. "I understand Asa's intention. He wants Gong Kui to keep Xia Yan under control so he can't run around causing trouble."

Yet Emilia was also puzzled. Why would the human side bother telling her about this? Wouldn't keeping it a secret have been much better?

That despicable woman Gong Kui would surely imprison Xia Yan. Since she couldn't truly control him, cutting off his path to survival was her most perfect way of handling things.

Furthermore, no one could save Xia Yan; his situation was completely hopeless.

"The reason Gong Kui told us is because Xia Yan left," Weiwei said with a strange expression. "Xia Yan stated that he still had unfinished business, though Gong Kui couldn't extract a single shred of intelligence from him. Yet Gong Kui stubbornly passed the information on to us anyway. She probably suspects that whatever Xia Yan is about to do has something to do with us."

"As if that woman Gong Kui would do anything simple! Inbelievable, there must be a conspiracy behind this!" Emilia didn't trust Gong Kui at all. "Still, it doesn't matter. What kind of conspiracy could she possibly hatch that would manage to plot against me?"

"My Lady, will Xia Yan really come here?" Weiwei asked, confused. "Xia Yan's agreement with us has already been fulfilled. He has no reason to come here again, nor is it possible for him to be shameless enough to seek the My Lady's help—especially since My Lady cannot help him either."

Weiwei also understood that Xia Yan was a dead man walking. Even the gods couldn't save him, and My Lady was no exception.

Emilia was also pondering the possibilities.

"Perhaps if he comes, it's just part of Gong Kui's conspiracy," Weiwei speculated.

"Enough, say no more." Emilia shook her hand, cutting off Weiwei's words. After a long moment, she asked, "Weiwei, do you think Xia Yan is still salvageable?"

"Raise his strength to surpass Asa within two months?" Weiwei shook her head. "Forget two months, whether he could achieve that in twenty years is hard to say."

"What about simply raising his strength to surpass Lelin?" Emilia inquired.

"That's impossible," Weiwei shook her head. "Two years is already a pipe dream, let alone two months. My Lady, you must remember that Xia Yan has already used three Type-I potential potions and three Type-I limit-breaking potions."

"I see." Emilia smiled, her expression rather enigmatic—a rare thing for her lately, even a smile tinged with dark humor.

Just at that moment, the optical brain Emilia carried buzzed with an incoming communication.

Wait—a communication?

Weiwei felt something was terribly wrong, because on My Lady's optical brain, there was only one person who could contact her directly: Xia Yan.

Aside from him, even those two pure-blood demons could only contact My Lady through her.

Emilia connected the call. Naturally, it was Xia Yan on the other end; Xia Yan would never give her contact information to anyone else.

"Xia Yan, what is it?" Emilia asked.

"Emilia, I want to return the Chain of Purity to you. This thing is of no further use to me, so I'm returning it to its rightful owner," Xia Yan's voice was very calm.

Just as Emilia had anticipated, even when coming to see her, he wasn't coming to ask for help.

No one would help him, because no one owed him anything.

Just as Gong Kui had said, she was the person closest to Xia Yan, yet Xia Yan had abandoned that final chance without a moment's hesitation.

Such was the cruelty of this world's laws.

After a pause, Emilia said, "It's just a piece of garbage worth one hundred and fifty diamond coins. Why bother passing it back and forth? There's no need for that. If you don't want it, just find somewhere and throw it away. We are very busy and have no leisure time to deal with you."

Xia Yan gave a bitter laugh. "Very well, I understand."

"So, where do you plan to go next?" Emilia asked an extra question. "Just find some random place to spend your final two months, and then go march to your death?"

"Perhaps," Xia Yan nodded. He truly didn't have any particular destination in mind, but before dying, he could at least choose how to spend his final moments.

Perhaps he would return to Fuxiang City; that was where he was born. Gu Yue'er was there too; he could go see her...

Aside from that, there seemed to be nothing left for him to be nostalgic about.

"Then go ahead. Your time is running out," Emilia mocked. "Xia Yan, don't use this communication channel anymore. There are no longer any ties between us. You've successfully completed your mission, and I've given you your reward."

"I understand." Xia Yan nodded.

Emilia hung up the call, let out a muffled snort, and dismissed Xia Yan from her mind.

"My Lady," Weiwei stood to the side, looking at Emilia respectfully.

"How pitiful, Xia Yan," Emilia sighed softly. "The entire world has abandoned you, and no one can help you. This time, unlike the Free Zone, I don't even want to help. Do you regret it? Staying with Gong Kui might have been a better option!"

Weiwei dared not speak; she could sense that My Lady was in an abyssal mood.

"Weiwei," Emilia fell silent for a long time before finally speaking. "Contact the two pure-blood demons. I have something to tell them."

"Understood," Weiwei nodded, carrying out Emilia's orders immediately, even though she had no idea why.

Soon, Weiwei managed to contact one of the pure-blood demons.

Emilia's words were extremely concise: she needed to take a leave of absence for a period of time.

The duration would be about two months.

That pure-blood raised no objections whatsoever!

Next was the second one—a female pure-blood in her forties. This pure-blood was somewhat more naggy, expressing a bit of dissatisfaction, yet she didn't dare override Emilia's decision. In the end, she nodded in agreement, telling Emilia to return as soon as possible since her work, though not overwhelming, was crucial.

Even if the entire world had abandoned Xia Yan, there was still one person who hadn't given up on him.

Even if Gong Kui couldn't pull it off, Emilia still had a chance of succeeding.

Even if Asa had pronounced a death sentence upon Xia Yan, to her, it was nothing more than an absurd joke.

Even if Emilia complained incessantly with her words, in reality, she was going to help him anyway.

Xia Yan's choice had not been wrong after all! In this world, hope was not entirely extinct; a final sliver of radiance still lingered!

Choosing Gong Kui meant abandoning all of that.

Yet Xia Yan's choice had not been Gong Kui!

Giving Xia Yan two months of time in the first place had been Asa's mistake.

And that mistake could never be undone; it would surely make Asa regret it.

Emilia firmly believed this, always.

"My Lady, should I accompany you?" Weiwei looked at Emilia respectfully.

"No need. Didn't I already say I'm taking a two-month leave? The same goes for you, Weiwei," Emilia smiled.

"But," Weiwei said in surprise, "I've always been by My Lady's side. I know all your preferences and dietary habits very well. If there's no one to take care of you, it will be terribly inconvenient in many ways."

"Enough, enough," Emilia said irritably. "You've worked hard for so many years; consider this your vacation."

Shortly after, Emilia boarded a flying vehicle and headed toward the outskirts of the Demon Territory.

She had indeed told Xia Yan not to contact her.

However, she had never said that she couldn't contact Xia Yan.

In that regard, she was acting rather despicably herself!

Xia Yan boarded his flying vehicle, feeling somewhat aimless and lost. He decided to return to the Ninth District first—even though he didn't truly have a home there.

However, before even a short while had passed, his optical brain signaled an incoming call.

Xia Yan frowned. Seeing the caller ID, he felt a sense of disbelief.

Xia Yan connected the call, and Emilia's voice immediately came through: "Where are you?"

"Where am I?" Xia Yan asked in bewilderment.

"I'm asking for your coordinates," Emilia said with annoyance.

"I'm near the border of the Second District. The specific coordinates are..." Xia Yan rattled off the coordinates displayed on his optical brain, still not understanding what Emilia was trying to do. "What is it? Is something the matter?"

"Wait there for me. I'll be there shortly." Emilia lacked the habit of explaining herself. With that, she hung up the call, increased the speed of her flying vehicle, and raced toward the coordinates Xia Yan had provided.

Xia Yan was somewhat baffled, but he still brought his flying vehicle to a halt, landed it on the ground, and waited in place.

After roughly half an hour, he spotted an extremely luxurious flying vehicle speeding toward him.

To call it luxurious was an understatement; it was outrageously extravagant—definitely not something an ordinary person could ever afford.

What surprised Xia Yan even more was that Emilia had come entirely alone; her housekeeper, Weiwei, was nowhere to be seen.