Suddenly, a delicate, melodious voice tinged with curiosity rang out, completely interrupting their thoughts.
Although Abao and Anlan were no longer embracing, they were standing extremely close. Hearing the voice, they turned in unison toward its source. The person they saw had eyes that flickered incessantly, a flicker of crisis stirring in her heart.
It was Yueye, Anlan’s sister in this lifetime.
However, once she saw her, Anlan shifted her attention away from this sister, who harbored a latent hostility toward her, and focused on someone else entirely.
What an adorable, beautiful little girl!
With bright, clear eyes, pearly white teeth, and a fair complexion that complemented her innocent aura, she was exactly the kind of girl Anlan adored.
This was the little sister she had always dreamed of!
Unlike her sister in this life, who was certainly beautiful but clearly deep and calculating, Anlan—a half-demon who had lived her past life with a straightforward, "an eye for an eye" philosophy—did not care for such a personality.
Anlan looked at Leng Xiao, who had accompanied Yueye, with sparkling eyes, making no attempt to hide her affection.
Now, it was Abao’s turn to feel a sense of crisis.
What was going on? Why was Anlan looking at Leng Xiao like that? Didn’t she like him best?
Abao felt a pang of jealousy. He turned slightly, subtly blocking Anlan’s line of sight, and flashed a smile at the two girls.
"Little sister, Yue’er. You two have come as well?"
"Yes, Brother Bao. What were you and Sister doing just now? Leng Xiao and I called out to you, but you didn’t hear us."
Yueye appeared charming and cute, her exquisite face easily winning people over. Whether it was her imagination or not, Anlan felt that the gaze Yueye directed at her held a hint of hostility.
Anlan did not know that it was no delusion.
"It’s nothing. Lan and I were just discussing some matters regarding cultivation. Nothing to worry about."
"Cultivation? Brother Bao was discussing it with this sister? Is this sister’s cultivation also very impressive?"
Six-year-old Leng Xiao was meeting Anlan for the first time that day, so she was incredibly curious about this breathtakingly beautiful elder sister. She stared at Anlan with wide, shining eyes, successfully making her laugh.
"Well, just average. Only third in the Demon Race, I suppose!"
Anlan smiled and stroked little Leng Xiao’s head, sounding as if she were speaking of a trivial matter.
"Wow!"
Leng Xiao didn't understand, she simply exclaimed in awe. She even developed a sudden urge to snuggle up to this peerless beauty, completely abandoning her usual favorite, Sister Yueye, to throw herself into Anlan’s embrace.
Anlan was overjoyed to finally be holding such an adorable doll.
This sight left both Abao and Yueye, who were watching from the sidelines, feeling unsettled. One was overwhelmed with jealousy; the other felt a rising sense of crisis.
However, both were inherently formidable hunters. In his past life, Abao had been blinded by beauty and fooled by Yueye’s true nature, but having not been deceived this time, his latent instincts as a powerful hunter were ignited. He intuitively knew what he should and should not do.
Therefore, he did not stop this scene that he found so grating.
Yueye, however, was different.
"Brother Bao..."
Yueye’s voice, hook-laden and sweet, brushed against Abao’s ear, making him instinctively furrow his brows.
"Yue’er, what is it?"
When Anlan finally rose from the soft, fragrant embrace of her cute little sister, the two of them were nowhere to be seen. It seemed they had left to attend to something.
Just as Anlan was pondering the possibility of luring Leng Xiao back to her own quarters, Yueye reappeared, her eyes rimmed with red.
"Sister, do you know that Brother Bao has been punished by His Majesty the Demon God Emperor?"
"Ah? I… I heard as much..."
"So, is it true that Brother Bao has to endure the punishment of twenty lashes? Wuu-wuu-wuu~"
"Twenty lashes? That harsh?"
Anlan’s eyes widened. She truly hadn't expected the Demon God Emperor’s punishments to be so severe. Abao was only a child, merely three years older than her! Twenty lashes!
Anxious, Anlan stopped doting on her cute little sister and hurried to ask where the punishment was taking place, intending to go see for herself.
Yueye’s eyes flickered for a moment before she told Anlan the location. Once she heard it, Anlan bolted out, vanishing in an instant.
Yueye’s lips curled into a faint smile. However—
"Sister Yue, isn't the Purgatory of the Heaven-Defying Magic Dragon Clan off-limits to outsiders?"
Yueye’s eyes shifted as she replied, "Xiao Xiao remembers wrong. It will be fine if we just go to see Brother Bao."
"Really? Is that so? Then I want to go see Brother Bao too. Twenty lashes! Xiao Xiao’s heart aches for Brother Bao."
"But didn't you say you wanted to eat human pastries? I have prepared delicious ones for you back at my place. Don't you want to eat them?"
"I..."
How could she not? The little glutton loved human pastries more than anything else. She immediately pushed the thought of seeing her own brother to the back of her mind and followed Yueye.
She forgot that her initial realization was actually correct.
However, Yueye had not anticipated that her sister was no longer in her old position. Nowadays, even two of her were no match for Anlan. The most obvious sign was that Anlan was now followed by a personal guard assigned by Agares.
Any guard assigned to her was at least a Tier Seven demon.
As Anlan walked further and realized something was wrong, the guard jumped out and blocked her path.
"Who are you? Why are you stopping me? Move aside!"
"Princess Anlan, please calm your anger! We are the guards arranged by Lord Agares to protect you; your personal safety is our primary duty. We did not block your path out of malice, but to inform you that you must go no further. Ahead lies the forbidden ground of the Heaven-Defying Magic Dragon Clan, where no outsider may enter!"
"Forbidden ground?"
Anlan was no fool. She understood everything immediately, and the realization left her with a bitter, mocking laugh.
Trying this trick again!
Did this Yueye really hate her sister so much? From childhood to now, such schemes had been countless. Anlan had seen them all and could understand that, in the interest of survival, Yueye resorted to such petty tricks. While she despised them, she had considered it a private matter between sisters.
But now, she was directing these schemes at her?
A wave of coldness surged through Anlan, and she glanced toward the restricted area.
"I understand. Can you tell me if Abao can survive twenty lashes?"
The guard was taken aback. He had expected her to ask him to punish her sister, a request that would have put him in a difficult spot. Though he felt Princess Yueye had gone a bit too far, they were still children, and he wasn't about to have a Tier Seven guard discipline a princess. He never expected Princess Anlan to ask this instead.
After a moment of surprise, he recovered and shook his head.
"Rest assured, Princess. While twenty lashes sound terrifying, to the formidable physique of the Heaven-Defying Magic Dragon Clan, it is nothing. At most, he will suffer a few superficial wounds."
"Alright, I understand. Thank you!"
With that, she took one final look at the forbidden area and turned to leave.
Since he would be fine, her mind was at ease. Now, she had more important matters to attend to.