Chapter 49 Is he more beautiful, or am I?

"You are the only one who dares to call me Yao-yao." Yao stared closely at Mo Liuli's makeup and said.

"However... how did you end up dressing like this?"

"And you suddenly rushed out like that—what would you have done if that old monster had hurt you? My heart would have ached terribly!" Yao chattered endlessly as he circled around Mo Liuli.

Although Mo Liuli looked quite delicate in her current appearance, it was a far cry from her true face.

A trace of disgust flashed across the depths of Yao's eyes, which he quickly concealed, but even so, it was caught by Mo Liuli.

"Hmph!"

Ignoring him, Mo Liuli turned around and started heading back the way they came.

Realizing that direction led to the Huanlan Imperial Palace, Yao immediately reached out and pulled Mo Liuli back. "Wrong way, wrong way, we should go this side. That path leads straight to the palace."

"Mind your own business! This girl is going right back! If it weren't for an idiot like you, I wouldn't have exposed myself so soon!"

Mo Liuli brushed his hand away without even glancing at him, walking swiftly forward with the wind at her heels.

How could she possibly leave in peace when she hadn't even found Long'er's whereabouts yet?

In the end, after much pestering and clinging by Yao, he once again sneaked into the imperial palace with Mo Liuli.

However, given that Yao's appearance during his battle with Huanlan had drawn too much attention, Mo Liuli requisitioned an oversized maid's outfit from the Eastern Palace for him to wear as a precaution, and even applied a seductive layer of makeup to his face.

"Pfft, Yao-yao, were you born in the wrong body? Look at this look—a standard beauty!"

Seeing Yao dressed in women's clothing, Mo Liuli chuckled, lifted his chin, and teased him.

"Then tell me, am I more beautiful, or is that man who lives in the shadows more beautiful?"

Yao thought for a moment, unable to find the right words to describe Xiao Junwang, and ultimately could only resort to describing him as someone who lived in the shadows.

Naturally knowing who Yao was referring to, Mo Liuli's smile stiffened slightly. Without a word, she turned and walked away.

"Are you certain what you're looking for is in there?"

Following closely behind Mo Liuli, Yao asked as he touched the smooth surface of the rock wall deep within the imperial palace where she had stopped.

Ignoring him, Mo Liuli focused her spiritual energy to scan the rock face.

After locking onto a relatively small section of the wall, she used the same method she had used earlier to break open the stone coffin, carefully feeling the rock over and over again.

*Hang in there, Long'er, Mother will rescue you very soon.*

The fire element within the rock wall seemed to sense Mo Liuli's presence, leaping about joyfully and emitting the faint sound of a dragon's roar.

"Awoo! Awoo! Mother, Mother, please save me!"

Recognizing Long'er's voice, Mo Liuli wore a smile of relief as her hands sped up even faster.

"What's that? Did I hear a sound?"

Yao heard it too, pressing his ear against the rock wall and muttering with a frown.

When Xiao Junwang arrived and saw that Mo Liuli had disguised herself as a maid, he frowned. Then, noticing the rather bulky maid standing beside her, he immediately found the figure familiar.

Seeing that Mo Liuli was failing to open the rock wall and growing increasingly agitated, Xiao Junwang landed lightly, stepped up behind her, and traced the outline of a lotus flower with his finger upon the exact spot she had been probing.

The lotus glowed faintly, penetrated deep into the rock wall, and then vanished.

...

Mo Liuli froze. The fragrance wafting from behind her miraculously calmed her anxious heart.

The corners of her lips curved upward involuntarily as she stared blankly at that pair of slender, elegant hands.

Yao had been startled by Xiao Junwang's sudden arrival, initially fearing that the old monster of Huanlan had tracked them down, but he finally calmed down slightly upon recognizing Xiao Junwang's unchanging mask.