Chapter 182: The Drama King Hell Duke
Looking at the loyal Soul Saint death warrior before her, a trace of complexity flashed through Zhu Zhuyun's beautiful eyes as her thoughts subtly shifted.
Actually, just now, when her father summoned the death warrior, she wanted to speak up and tell him that there was no need to send anyone to escort them—that the two sisters could leave on their own.
Because both she and her younger sister Zhu Zhuqing currently possessed a guaranteed reward given by the diary system—the Thousand-Mile Teleportation Talisman.
Although the number of these life-saving teleportation talismans was not large, it was definitely sufficient for their needs.
As long as they crushed the talisman, they could be teleported a great distance away from Star Luo City in an extremely short time.
However, just as the words reached her lips, Zhu Zhuyun suddenly calmed down and thought of a more realistic problem.
That was, whether it was her or her younger sister Zhu Zhuqing, their current soul power cultivation was simply too low.
One was a rank thirty-plus Soul Elder, and the other was a Soul Master who had just achieved a breakthrough to rank nineteen.
With such meager strength, if they did not have a powerful escort protecting them—
Then, on their long journey to the Heaven Dou Empire, to seek refuge with Lin Yuan at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, there was a very high chance they would encounter all kinds of unpredictable dangers.
They might not even make it past the borders of the Star Luo Empire before encountering bandits or even losing their lives to high-level soul beasts.
Although the teleportation talismans could save their lives, they could not be relied upon to teleport every time trouble appeared.
So, for the sake of caution,
Zhu Zhuyun ultimately swallowed her words and said nothing, silently accepting Hong Xiu's accompaniment.
The night wind howled, dark clouds obscured the moon, and Star Luo City fell into its deepest darkness.
After confirming that there were no royal spies nearby,
Taking advantage of the perfect cover of night, Hong Xiu led Zhu Zhuyun and Zhu Zhuqing. The three figures silently climbed over the high walls of the duke's mansion and swiftly fled.
Using the cover of night, they avoided the patrolling city defense forces and disappeared completely into the vast darkness of Star Luo City.
Time passed second by second, and the long, oppressive night finally came to an end.
As the sky gradually began to brighten,
Within the Hell Duke's mansion, the Zhu family servants who woke early, as usual, carried washing supplies to the two young ladies' bedrooms to attend to their morning routines.
However, when they respectfully pushed open the door and saw the empty bed, they were instantly terrified out of their wits.
The servants discovered in horror that both young ladies were gone!
Some of their personal belongings were also missing.
Panicked, they rushed to the main courtyard, preparing to inform the master and mistress of this major event.
However, when the servants anxiously knocked on the door of the master bedroom,
They were surprised to find that both the master and mistress were sleeping extremely deeply, as if nothing could wake them.
After calling out anxiously outside the door for quite some time, only then did a faint, lazy movement finally come from within.
On the bed, Zhu Ming's face twitched slightly as he frowned in an extremely realistic manner.
He put on the appearance of someone who had just been awakened from an extremely deep sleep. "So early in the morning, why is there so much noise outside? What kind of behavior is this?"
"What exactly has happened? Why are you all so flustered?"
The servants outside were drenched in sweat, their legs trembling, and they reported loudly with a trembling voice, almost in tears: "Something terrible has happened, Master!"
"The eldest young lady and the third young lady… their rooms are empty. They have both disappeared!"
Hearing this, Zhu Ming, who had still been pretending to be drowsy and indifferent, was instantly "shocked."
"What did you say?!"
Zhu Ming let out an incredulous roar of anger, completely "waking up."
Without even bothering to put on his outer robe, he simply threw on a single garment and rushed out of bed barefoot.
He yanked open the door, pushed aside the servant blocking his way, and hurried toward the courtyard where Zhu Zhuyun and Zhu Zhuqing resided.
With a kick, he burst open the door. Inside his daughters' room, Zhu Ming carefully searched every corner.
The result was naturally empty. They were truly gone.
After confirming this, Zhu Ming's eyes instantly turned bloodshot, veins bulging on his forehead like a lion that had lost its sanity.
"Search! All of you, search for them!"
Standing in the courtyard, Zhu Ming let out a furious roar toward the sky, his voice shaking the tiles of the entire duke's mansion.
"Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, you must find their whereabouts today!"
"Immediately dispatch all the elite forces in the mansion!"
"Search every part of Star Luo City and all checkpoints outside the city thoroughly!"
Zhu Ming breathed heavily, his eyes filled with "anxiety" and uncontrollable "rage."
With a sharp flick of his sleeve, he shouted to the steward beside him, "Someone, prepare the carriage!"
"Forget it, I'll go myself."
"Such a major incident has occurred. Two prospective imperial consorts have mysteriously disappeared!
"I must go to the palace immediately, personally plead guilty to His Majesty, report this matter, and request the city defense army's assistance in the search!"
Zhu Ming rushed alone at top speed to the gates of the imperial palace.
Without even waiting for layers of formal reporting, he directly revealed the Hell Duke's token and hurried straight into the inner palace.
Arriving outside the imperial study, he grabbed a chief attendant on duty with an anxious expression.
Zhu Ming ordered in a low voice, "Quick! Go in immediately and report to His Majesty that the Hell Duke has an urgent matter of utmost importance to request an audience!"
Seeing the duke in such a sweat-drenched state, the attendant dared not delay in the slightest and scrambled into the study.
Before long, the will of the Star Luo Emperor Dai Yutian came from within.
"Summon Zhu Ming for an audience!"
Zhu Ming took a deep breath, quickly adjusted the "anxious" and "fearful" expression on his face, and strode into the imperial study.
Inside, Dai Yutian said coldly, "Zhu Ming, early in the morning, what exactly has happened?"
"What kind of catastrophic event could make you, the dignified Hell Duke, so frantic?"
Hearing this, Zhu Ming dropped to one knee before the imperial desk with a thud.
His expression was extremely grim, and his voice sank to the lowest tone. "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"
Zhu Ming raised his head, his eyes full of pain as he gritted his teeth. "My two unfilial daughters, Zhuyun and Zhuqing…"
"For some unknown reason, last night, they suddenly disappeared completely from the duke's mansion!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the air in the imperial study seemed to freeze instantly.
Dai Yutian suddenly stood up from the dragon throne, his eyes wide with fury.
"Zhu Ming! What do you mean by this?!"
His voice was like rolling thunder, exploding within the imperial study.
"You mean to say that your two living daughters vanished into thin air from within the heavily guarded Hell Duke's mansion?!"
End of Chapter