"Someone was following me just now, so I couldn't say much. Sorry. Do you know how Zach is doing?" the woman asked urgently.
From her tone, Evan could tell the woman cared about Zach, but because of those two people, she couldn't admit it outright.
"I haven't seen him in a long time either." Evan thought about how he hadn't gone down for over ten years, so he really didn't know how Zach was doing.
"Could you bring him up to see me?" the woman asked anxiously.
"It might be better if I take you down instead. There are so many Soul-Heaven Palace people here; you're watched even more closely up here," Evan said after thinking it over.
"It's no use. Every time I get near the entrance, the gatekeeper forces me back," the woman said helplessly, shaking her head.
Evan thought for a moment and replied, "Alright, once I bring him up, where should I find you?"
"How about here in an hour?" the woman suggested after thinking for a moment.
Evan nodded, then said goodbye to the woman. They each went their separate ways. Evan went to the gatekeeper, registered his departure, and headed down. Once below, he went straight to the innkeeper.
Seeing Evan in his black Elite Palace robes, the innkeeper was overjoyed. "You're finally back!" he exclaimed.
"Innkeeper, how have you been lately?" Evan asked with a smile.
"Of course I'm well! Especially after hearing you got into Elite Palace—I was so excited for days I couldn't eat, just thrilled out of my mind," the innkeeper said, beaming.
"Thank you, Innkeeper. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be where I am today," Evan said, grateful.
The innkeeper chuckled, "That's all your own ability. I didn't do much."
"You're really modest, Innkeeper," Evan replied with a smile.
"Kid, tell me, what brings you down here today?" the innkeeper asked curiously.
"I'm here to find someone," Evan replied.
"Who?" the innkeeper asked.
"Little Zach," Evan answered.
Hearing the name, the innkeeper hesitated. Evan sensed something was off, so he pressed for details. It turned out that after Evan escorted Little Zach down, only a few months later, people from above came and took him away again.
When Evan heard this news, he quickly said goodbye to the innkeeper and went back up, found the gatekeeper, and asked, "Do you remember if anyone brought a child up here about ten years ago?"
"Ten years ago? There are so many people coming and going, I really can't remember," the gatekeeper replied, shaking his head.
Now Evan was troubled—no one knew where Little Zach had gone. He could only return to tell the woman and see if she had any clues. Around their agreed meeting time, the woman appeared. When she saw Evan alone, she exclaimed, "Where is he?"
Evan told her everything that had happened. Hearing his story, the woman's face was filled with sadness, and she even shed two tears, murmuring, "It's over... it's over."
"Do you know who brought him up?" Evan, worried about Little Zach, asked.
The woman wiped away her tears and said, "There's only one person who has a problem with him."
"Who?" Evan asked curiously.
"The Right Palace Lord of Soul-Heaven Palace," the woman sighed.
"Right Palace Lord? Who is that?" Evan had never heard such a strange title before, but anyone called 'Palace Lord' must be important.
"He's one of the powerful figures who runs Soul-Heaven Palace," the woman replied helplessly.
Curious, Evan asked what was really going on. The woman explained: she had been captured by the Right Palace Lord and was kept under guard.
After hearing her explanation, Evan guessed that it must have been the Right Palace Lord's people who brought Little Zach up. As for whether he was alive, Evan couldn't be sure, but he had to find out. So he asked the woman, "Where do the Right Palace Lord's subordinates usually operate?"
"Over there," the woman pointed to the place she had emerged from earlier—the area Evan's divine sense couldn't penetrate.
Evan nodded. "Go back for now. Leave the rest to me."
"Can you help me find Little Zach?" the woman asked, tears streaming down her face.
Evan was surprised that even souls could shed so many tears, but this wasn't the time to discuss it. He replied, "I don't know if I can, but I'll do my best."
"Thank you," the woman said gratefully.
Evan watched as the woman left, heartbroken. After she was gone, he started toward that area.
"Whatever happens, I'll go in and take a look." Evan decided to step inside. As he entered, he found himself in a place similar to his own quarters, but here, divine sense was completely cut off from the outside.
Just as Evan took a few steps, a six-stripe black-clothed guard appeared. "Are you from Elite Hall?"
Evan’s clothes clearly marked him as Elite Hall, so he nodded and said, "Yes, that's right."
"What are you doing here?" the black-robed man asked.
"I'm looking for a friend. Do you know if he's here?" Evan asked.
"Your friend? Who?" the man asked, curious.
Evan thought for a moment, then handed over Little Zach’s portrait. When the man saw it, he muttered, "He's your friend?"
"Yeah, we knew each other before. I heard he’s here as a guest, and since I had some free time, I wanted to chat with him," Evan said with a smile.
"That kid’s not exactly honest. How did you end up knowing a kid like him?" the man asked, curious.
"We used to play together," Evan replied with a smile.
"Don’t say I didn’t warn you—keep your distance. The Right Palace Lord doesn’t like anyone hanging out with him," the man cautioned.
"Brother, as you can see, I don’t have many friends here. Could you let me in to chat with him?" Evan said, clearly testing if Little Zach was still alive.
The reply shocked him. The man said, "Come, I’ll take you in. But you only get half an hour—after that, you must leave. This is already a big favor for you as someone from Elite Hall. When you get powerful someday, don’t forget to look after me."
Evan hadn’t expected there’d be connections here, nor that the man was already scheming for the future. Thankfully he was from Elite Hall—otherwise, seeing Little Zach would’ve been nearly impossible. He also knew Little Zach was at least safe for now.
Getting confirmation that Little Zach was safe, Evan felt reassured and smiled, "I definitely won’t forget you."
"That’s good to hear. Let’s go," the man said with a smile.
So the man led Evan through several twists and turns to an isolated room, which had its own gatekeeper.
The black-robed man told the gatekeeper, "This is my brother, here to visit someone."
The gatekeeper nodded. He noticed Evan was from Elite Hall and didn’t dare offend him.
Evan hadn’t expected to become someone’s ‘brother’ so quickly. He sighed inwardly, "Well, that’s life."
The door opened. Aside from a few small windows letting in faint light, the room was shrouded in darkness. Evan followed the man in, noticing many small, separate bedrooms. Seeing all the detainees, Evan could hardly imagine what kind of person the Right Palace Lord was, imprisoning so many people.