This is the thread he tied before leaving the room, the other end fastened to Logan Barrett.

This way, if anything happened, he could return in time.

But the thread was being tugged on and off, not like something was wrong, more like someone was playing a prank.

Owen Fletcher lowered his eyes to look at that ring finger, just about to turn back.

Suddenly, he heard a sudden commotion behind him, the entire peach blossom grove boiling like a cauldron. The evil spirits buried underground, along with the disciples of the Hua family rushing over, all converged toward the same place as if drawn by a pilgrimage.

Owen Fletcher: "…"

He let out a soft sigh, and in the next instant, his consciousness returned to his body.

***

The lights in the room were flickering, and the guards outside had disappeared.

The person on the bed was already on the floor. Even though he had been given shoes earlier, he wasn’t wearing them now, just standing barefoot by the window with his robe draped over him.

He had pushed the window halfway open, letting the cold wind blow in.

He squinted and listened for a while, then casually tugged the bell thread, turned his head and said, "Owen Fletcher, what’s going on outside? The commotion is terrifying."

Owen Fletcher: "…"

The Celestial Lord Tian Su looked at him for a moment, at a loss for words, then moved his lips and said, "I don’t know, maybe a pilgrimage."

Logan Barrett: "…"

Logan Barrett was silent for a moment, then said, "Would it sound a bit silly if I asked who the pilgrimage is for right now?"

The evil spirits underground were darting about quickly, and the Hua family disciples moved as swiftly as the river wind.

In an instant, the noise outside the courtyard was deafening.

Logan Barrett held onto the window frame, looking at him eagerly.

Owen Fletcher pinched the bridge of his nose.

***

Logan Barrett only felt the thread on his wrist suddenly yank him hard.

In the next moment, his wrist was tightly grasped.

"Close your eyes." Owen Fletcher's voice fell.

He felt the wind of deep winter mixed with the river’s dampness rush in, and when he opened his eyes again, he was standing somewhere else.

"Where is this?" Logan Barrett glanced around.

"Peach Blossom Isle Disciples’ Hall." Owen Fletcher was holding his hand, also looking around.

All the disciples had chased after the evil spirits, leaving the Disciples’ Hall completely empty.

Logan Barrett looked at Owen Fletcher, then suddenly asked, "Earlier, were you meditating like in those storybooks?"

Owen Fletcher: "…No."

"Oh." Logan Barrett nodded, "If you weren’t meditating, then I guess you went out to look for something."

Owen Fletcher suddenly turned his head to look at him.

After a moment, he gave a soft "Mm."

Logan Barrett: "Looking for what?"

Owen Fletcher was silent for a moment, then said, "Something that was taken away a long time ago and then returned."

***

Back then, when Logan Barrett killed Ethan Brooks's father, brother, wife, and daughter, he was in Xiandu. By the time he arrived at Chunfan City’s Peach Blossom Isle, he only heard a few scattered rumors.

It was said that year, Logan Barrett asking Ethan Brooks for help was just an excuse.

He was a rampant demon lord, ruling over the entire Zhaoye City, commanding countless evil spirits and monsters—what help could he possibly need from Ethan Brooks?

He changed his appearance, pretended to be an ordinary guest staying at Peach Blossom Isle, all just to look for something.

Rumor had it that the Hua family possessed an immortal treasure. After Logan Barrett left Peach Blossom Isle that year, the treasure disappeared.

No one knew what the treasure actually was, nor why Logan Barrett took it. All that was heard was that not long after, the treasure was returned to Peach Blossom Isle.

And the day after the rumor spread, Logan Barrett stormed Xiandu.

Back then, Owen Fletcher had no time to figure out the connection, and perished along with Xiandu.

Now, returning to Peach Blossom Isle, he wanted to find that thing.

And the person who took it back then was right in front of him, knowing nothing of the past, just listening to him and nodding, saying, "No wonder, I noticed you kept looking around."

As they spoke, another earth-shattering noise erupted outside the Disciples’ Hall.

It must have been the evil spirits underground, having found nothing in the western guest rooms, now rushing toward the eastern Disciples’ Hall.

Logan Barrett poked his head out to look, and asked Owen Fletcher, "Which places have you already searched? Which ones haven’t you checked yet? Why don’t we search the rest together?"

Owen Fletcher: "…"

Owen Fletcher: "There’s still the Discipline Hall, the Purity Hall, the Scripture Hall, and the Qiwuyuan."

…

So that night, at the suggestion of the great demon lord Logan Barrett, Celestial Lord Tian Su Owen Fletcher led all the evil spirits accumulated under the peach blossom grove for a hundred years, along with nearly a thousand disciples of the Hua family, and plowed through the entire Peach Blossom Isle.

In the end, they ended up at the Qiwuyuan where Ethan Brooks was in seclusion.

But the Qiwuyuan, which should have been filled with the scent of medicine, was completely empty, and the person who should have been in seclusion there was nowhere to be found.

"Where is he?" Logan Barrett looked around but saw no sign of anyone.

Owen Fletcher suddenly remembered something he’d heard on the way.

A Hua family disciple had said: Ethan Brooks won’t come out of seclusion until noon tomorrow, and must not be disturbed before then, or all his efforts will be wasted.

"What kind of seclusion is so intense?" Logan Barrett muttered after hearing this. "Since things are already like this, what could possibly make him break out of seclusion midway?"

He was about to look again when he suddenly heard Owen Fletcher say in a low voice, "…I see him."