I'll also work hard to conquer the dungeon today.

Chapter 349, 1.23, 12 Paper Cutting (Inside)

There was complete silence all around; no one spoke.

Bertias stood with his hands behind his back, a smile tinged with confidence and certainty. His blue-gray eyes gazed silently at Mu Yegui, though the smile didn't reach his eyes. He wore a gray cloak, his long, straight blue-gray hair casually falling behind his head.

Her appearance is delicate and gentle, yet she doesn't show any femininity at all; instead, she gives people a very clean and neat feeling.

Behind him sat a quiet, elegant young woman with short, slightly wavy, golden hair that barely reached her shoulders. She was exceptionally beautiful, possessing a delicate charm that instantly evoked tenderness. The most striking feature of her face was her pair of emerald-green eyes, clear and pure.

A black butterfly rested on the back of her fair hand, its wings thin and translucent, adorned with black mandala patterns, mysterious yet alluring.

Lan Xiao kept her head down, seemingly not paying attention to the two people, but staring at the wings of the black butterfly, a dark and unfathomable glint in her eyes.

I don't know how much time has passed, or perhaps not much time has actually passed.

"Does Xiao Bei know a saying?" Mu Yegui tilted her head and looked at Bertias, her long, misty gray curly hair falling from her shoulders and swaying gently with her movements.

"Do I know too much?" Bertias chuckled and said slowly.

The smile on his face gradually disappeared, and his expression returned to calm.

Mu Yegui glanced at the soldiers at the door and said slowly, "Knowing that I am the Crown Prince, and especially knowing that the rules do not apply to me, you still exposed me in front of me. Aren't you afraid that I will kill you? After all, the rules do not apply to me, and I can use the items at will, while you cannot. From the beginning, the advantage has been on my side."

Knowing full well that the other party has an advantage, deliberately pointing it out or exposing it is clearly telling the other party, "I already know everything, so you can stop hiding it."

It's hard to say whether this behavior was a case of being too clever for one's own good, or a deliberate setup for what's to come.

“But at least it can prevent you from suddenly using a tool to catch us off guard. And if I point it out, I will be on guard against you at all times, because I know you might use a tool.” Compared to the unknown, Bertias prefers to keep the initiative in her own hands.

It's a common trait among intelligent people: they like to take the initiative and dislike being passive.

Whether it's Dao Lin, Ming Jin, Shui Qi, or Bertias, they are all the same kind of person.

“Being on guard…” Mu Yegui said thoughtfully.

With a glance at Bertias, his cool silver eyes extended, and a black book appeared out of thin air in Mu Yegui's palm.

She casually flipped it open, wrote something on the page with her right hand, and saw Bertias stumble and fall to the ground.

“Even if you’re on guard, it won’t do any good.” Mu Yegui squatted down, looked down at Bertias who was lying on the ground unable to move, and said softly.

Bertias's expression shifted, then returned to normal in an instant. He chuckled dryly, looked up at Mu Yegui, and said ingratiatingly, "It hurts so much, can you help me stand up?"

"What's there for a grown man to be afraid of in pain?" Mu Yegui said calmly.

“A grown man can be afraid of pain too, and he’s afraid of pain!” Bertias said, frowning slightly and with a hint of grievance in his voice.

Bertias's appearance here is almost shamelessly cutesy. He may be doing this unconsciously or intentionally, using his behavior to judge the character of others.

Just as the two were about to continue talking, Lan Xiao suddenly stood up, frowned, looked towards the door, and reminded them, "Someone's coming." The two were slightly taken aback. One of them casually put away the Nightmare Book, while the other silently got up, straightened his clothes, and pretended that nothing had just happened.

"Shut up! What's going on?! The city lord is entertaining distinguished guests, can't you all be quiet?!" A man dressed as a steward stormed over and berated the group of soldiers.

"Sir, don't blame us. We didn't kick the door down." One of the soldiers, who looked younger than average, frowned and pointed at the three people inside the door, complaining.

"You think you can justify disturbing our distinguished guests? After I told you to arrest them, I just randomly put them in some remote spot, but you put them in the side courtyard. Are you afraid the city lord won't summon them?" The steward continued to berate them with a dark face.

Mu Yegui stood quietly by the door, listening intently. Then, he stepped out and walked out openly when no one reacted.

"Sir, the man!" one of the soldiers shouted, pointing at Mu Yegui who had already walked out the door.

"What are you yelling about! It's your turn to speak!" The steward, with his back to the door, berated the soldier without turning around.

The soldier watched as Mu Yegui walked out the door, then swaggered over the wall without any attempt to avoid suspicion. The other two followed suit, and just like that, not a single one of them remained.

All the soldiers witnessed this scene, but because the commander forbade them to speak, they could only stare in silence.

Mu Yegui climbed over the wall and arrived at what seemed to be the back garden. She looked around at the flowing water and artificial hills, lost in thought.

"This is the City Lord's Mansion. I looked for it in the surface world before, but I couldn't find it. So this is it?" Beltias said slowly, recalling the information that the steward had inadvertently revealed earlier.

In other words, the surface world and the inner world are mutually restrictive and complementary, each possessing something the other does not have.

To unlock the storyline, perhaps the two worlds need to be integrated.

But how can they be integrated?
Three figures approached from a distance. Mu Yegui paused slightly, grabbed Lan Xiao and Bertias, pulled them behind him, and hid them behind the artificial hill.

Listen quietly to the conversation of the three people who are gradually approaching from a distance.

"Miss Zixiao truly lives up to her reputation." The voice was deep, mature, and seasoned, clearly belonging to a middle-aged person.

"You flatter me, City Lord. It's just a trivial matter, nothing to worry about." The soft female voice was very modest, giving people an extremely elegant and gentle feeling.

"No, no, Miss Zixiao, you are too modest. If it weren't for you, Madam would have made a grave mistake," the man said again.

"Um..." The man hesitated, suddenly unsure of what to say.

"What's wrong?" Zixiao asked with a light laugh.

"Could you put in a good word for me with the King?" the man whispered to Zixiao.

"I'm sorry, I really can't be of much help. The King doesn't seem to care much about anything. If it weren't for Lord Ji insisting that the King come out to relax, he would probably still be in the palace in the capital right now. In the capital, it's Lord Ji, not the King, who manages the government affairs," Zi Xiao chuckled and said.

"This……"

(End of this chapter)