After confirming that nothing in her chamber was missing or damaged, Guangdai stepped back into the corridor and inspected the surrounding rooms.
The treasures of the tengu clan — along with the items she had personally collected — were all intact.
Nothing had been stolen.
Nothing destroyed.
Whoever had entered… had not come for plunder.
It felt—
Almost deliberate.
Almost… gentle.
Frowning slightly, she approached the broken section of the corridor and looked down.
"So they fell from here?"
As the master of the Thousand-Gated Void Vessel, she could sense every presence within it.
"All of them… in the martial hall."
After confirming no one else remained in the upper levels, Guangdai spread her wings and dove downward.
She would personally execute the intruders.
Martial Hall
Inside, the intruders and Luo Li stood clearly divided.
During the chaos, the number of awakened warrior statues had grown to over a dozen.
If trapped long enough, they would all perish.
The pirates were furious.
In their minds, it was Luo Li's interference that doomed them. Why had he stopped them? Was he insane? He was trapped here too!
Surely he wasn't allied with the pavilion's master — the statues had attacked him as well.
"We can't hold back anymore! We break out together!"
The treasure hoarder captain barked orders.
"Move aside! I'll blow the passage open!"
Bundles of gunpowder were pulled from packs.
They quickly set charges along the sealed corridor while others held off the statues.
The pirate leader secretly thanked his luck — good thing he hadn't betrayed them earlier. Alone, he'd be dead by now.
All eyes flicked warily toward Luo Li.
But he did nothing.
He simply watched.
Almost distracted.
The gunpowder was lit.
They leapt back—
The explosion erupted.
But before the shockwave could fully expand—
The ceiling of the martial hall split open.
A dark silhouette descended.
Suspended midair, wings unfurled.
Guangdai.
With a single gesture, lightning surged outward, swallowing the explosion whole. Thunder roared violently, crushing the force of the blast into nothingness.
Silence.
The intruders stared upward.
Their hearts sank.
"She's back…!"
They had only dared enter because she was absent.
The Great Tengu's reputation alone was enough to deter even the boldest fools.
Her cold gaze swept across them.
"You will all die here."
Her killing intent was suffocating.
Yet she did not strike immediately.
"Before that, answer me. Which one of you entered the upper level… and stepped into my chamber?"
She needed to know who had crossed the pavilion's first line of defense.
How she would deal with them—
That depended on the answer.
Silence followed.
The intruders looked at one another.
No one had gone upstairs.
They had remained together the entire time.
Unless—
The pirate leader's eyes flicked toward the back of the hall.
Toward Luo Li.
The only outsider.
Understanding dawned instantly.
He pointed.
"It was him! Honorable Tengu-sama, it must have been him! He stole your treasures and angered you! We merely wandered in by mistake! We took nothing! Please, show mercy!"
If those two fought—
He could escape in the chaos.
Guangdai barely spared him a glance.
"Wandered in by mistake?"
Her voice was ice.
A floating pavilion at sea.
And they had wandered in.
Ridiculous.
But she no longer cared about them.
Her gaze shifted—
Following his pointing finger.
Until it landed on the lone figure standing quietly behind the statues.
And then—
Her breath stopped.
Her pupils contracted sharply.
The world seemed to fall silent.
The pirate leader felt the change immediately.
This wasn't anger.
This was—
Shock.
Guangdai stared.
Was it an illusion?
A hallucination?
Or some cruel trick born of longing?
She did not dare believe it.
Did not dare accept that the person engraved deepest in her heart now stood before her.
Then—
A familiar voice broke the stillness.
Calm.
Lazy.
Teasing.
"Little girl… after all this time… don't you recognize me?"