Looking at the loyal Spirit Saint Death Sworn before her, a trace of complexity flashed in Zhu Zhuyun's beautiful eyes as her thoughts whirled slightly.
In fact, just now when her father summoned the Death Sworn,
she had originally wanted to tell him that they didn't need an escort and could leave on their own.
This was because both sisters now possessed a guaranteed reward from the diary system: the Thousand-Mile Teleportation Talisman.
Although they didn't have many of these life-saving talismans, they were definitely enough for their needs.
As long as they crushed a talisman, it could teleport them a great distance away from Star Luo City in a very short time.
However, just as the words reached her lips, Zhu Zhuyun calmly considered a more realistic issue.
That was, whether it was her or her sister Zhu Zhuqing, their current spirit power cultivation levels were simply too low.
One was a level thirty-plus Spirit Elder, and the other was a Spirit Master who had just achieved a Breakthrough to level nineteen.
With such meager strength, if they didn't have a powerful guard to protect 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 high probability they would encounter various unpredictable dangers.
They might not even make it out of the Star Luo border before encountering bandits or losing their lives to a high-level Spirit Beast.
While the teleportation talismans could save their lives, they couldn't just teleport every time they ran into trouble.
Therefore, to be safe,
Zhu Zhuyun eventually swallowed her words and said nothing, accepting Hong Xiu's accompaniment.
The night wind howled and dark clouds obscured the moon as Star Luo City fell into the deepest darkness.
After confirming there were no eyes from the Imperial Secret Agents nearby,
Hong Xiu took advantage of the excellent nocturnal cover to lead Zhu Zhuyun and Zhu Zhuqing. The three figures silently scaled the high walls of the Youming Dukes Manor and quickly escaped.
Using the night as cover, they avoided the patrolling City Defense Force and completely vanished into the vast darkness of Star Luo City.
Time passed minute by minute, and the long, oppressive night finally ended.
When the sky began to brighten slightly,
inside the Youming Dukes Manor, the early-rising servants of the Zhu Family carried washing utensils as usual toward the two Young Misses' chambers to attend to their morning routines.
However, when they respectfully pushed open the doors and saw the empty beds, they were instantly scared to the point of Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.
The servants discovered in horror that the two Young Misses were actually gone!
Some of their personal belongings were also missing.
They ran frantically to the main courtyard, prepared to inform the Master and Madam of this major event.
However, when the servants urgently knocked on the door of the master bedroom,
they were surprised to find that the Master and Madam were both sleeping very soundly, as if nothing could disturb them.
After shouting anxiously outside the door for a good while, a trace of sluggish movement finally came from inside the room.
On the bed, Zhu Ming's face twitched slightly, and he frowned with extreme realism.
He feigned the appearance of someone just awakened from a very deep sleep: "It's early morning; what's with all this shouting outside? Where are your manners?"
"What exactly has happened? Why are you so flustered?"
The servant outside was sweating profusely, their legs shaking, and they reported loudly with a sob in their voice: "It's bad! Master, something terrible has happened!"
"The Eldest Young Miss and Second Young Miss... both Young Misses' rooms are empty! They've all disappeared!"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Ming, who had been pretending to be bleary-eyed and nonchalant, immediately "turned pale with shock."
"What did you say?!"
Zhu Ming let out an incredulous and furious cry, becoming completely "awake."
He didn't even bother to put on his outer robes, simply throwing on an inner garment and rushing out of bed barefoot.
He slammed the door open, pushed aside the servant blocking the way, and rushed toward the courtyard where Zhu Zhuyun and Zhu Zhuqing resided with burning urgency.
Kicking the doors open, Zhu Ming searched every single corner of his two daughters' rooms meticulously.
The result was naturally that they were empty; they were indeed gone.
After confirming this, Zhu Ming's eyes instantly became bloodshot, and veins bulged on his forehead, making him look like a mad lion that had lost its reason.
"Search! Everyone go and search!"
Zhu Ming stood in the courtyard and let out a furious roar toward the sky, his voice shaking the tiles of the entire Youming Dukes Manor.
"Even if you have to be digging three feet into the ground, you must find their whereabouts today!"
"Send out all the elites of the manor immediately!"
"Go to every corner of Star Luo City and every checkpoint and major road outside the city to search thoroughly!"
Zhu Ming panted heavily, his eyes filled with "anxiety" and uncontrollable "rage."
He violently flicked his sleeve and shouted at the butler beside him: "Someone! Prepare the carriage!"
"Forget it, I'll go myself."
"With such a major incident occurring, two Prospective Imperial Concubines have mysteriously vanished!"
"I must go to the palace first to personally beg for Your Majesty's forgiveness, report this matter, and request the City Defense Force's assistance in the search!"
Zhu Ming rushed to the palace gates alone at his fastest speed.
Without even waiting for the standard layers of notification, he directly displayed his Nether Duke medallion and hurried deep into the inner palace.
Arriving outside the Imperial Study, he anxiously grabbed a leading Eunuch Attendant on duty.
Zhu Ming commanded in a low voice: "Quick! Go in and report to Your Majesty immediately, say that the Nether Duke has a matter of life-and-death urgency and requests an audience!"
Seeing the Duke in such a sweat-drenched state, the attendant didn't dare delay for a second and ran into the Imperial Study, scrambling and crawling.
Before long, the decree of the Star Luo Great Emperor, Dai Yutian, came from within.
"Summon Zhu Ming for an audience!"
Zhu Ming took a deep breath, quickly adjusted the "anxious" and "fearful" expressions on his face, and strode into the Imperial Study.
Inside the Imperial Study, Dai Yutian said coldly: "Zhu Ming, it's so early in the morning; what exactly has happened?"
"What kind of world-shaking matter could make you, a dignified Nether Duke, this frantic?"
Hearing this, Zhu Ming dropped to one knee before the imperial desk with a thud.
His expression was very unsightly, and his voice was low to the extreme: "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"
Zhu Ming looked up, his eyes full of grief as he gritted his teeth and said: "My two rebellious daughters, Zhuyun and Zhuqing..."
"For some unknown reason, they suddenly vanished completely from the Youming Dukes Manor last night!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the air in the Imperial Study seemed to freeze instantly.
Upon hearing this, Dai Yutian slammed his hands down and stood up from his dragon throne, his eyes wide with sudden rage!
"Zhu Ming! What do you mean by that?!"
Dai Yutian's voice was like rolling thunder, exploding within the Imperial Study.
"Are you saying that your two living daughters vanished into thin air from within the heavily guarded Youming Dukes Manor?!"
...