"Do you have any enemies out for revenge?"
Lily Bai shook her head. "Nope."
"Are you poisoned? Sick?"
"Not that either," Lily Bai replied.
"Then why are you supposed to die? There has to be some clue! If you just throw this at me with no explanation, how am I supposed to save you?"
"Well... we're not that precise. We only know for sure when the danger actually shows up," Lily Bai said.
Tanya Quinn turned the Windfeather Token in her hand, her eyes glinting with calculation. After a long pause, she said, "Here's the deal: If you help me with one thing, then for the next two days at the Guardian Drake Lord's estate, you can stay by my side. Whatever danger comes, I'll handle it for you!"
"What do you need?" Lily Bai asked.
"I hear you Rune Masters are good at Spirit Tracking. I want you to help me find someone," the Phoenix Lord said.
"That’s easy!" Lily Bai said. "But I’ll need something from that person—hair, or at least some clothing, or something they’ve kept close."
"Of course, I've got plenty of that!"
"Perfect! Thank you, Divine Lord, for saving my life!"
"It's no big deal!"
So, that day, Lily Bai stayed by the Phoenix Divine Lord’s side.
Quite a few people came with the Phoenix Divine Lord.
But the only ones truly close to her were two Divine Attendants and a single young man.
The young man kept sneaking glances at Lily Bai, but didn’t dare say a word to her. His flustered look was exactly like Mia Quinn’s.
The Phoenix Divine Lord introduced him, saying he was her elder sister’s son, named Harvey Quinn.
"Is he Mia Quinn’s older brother?" Lily Bai asked.
"Mm-hmm," Tanya Quinn replied.
"Greetings, Warden." Lily Bai saluted Harvey Quinn.
Harvey Quinn dodged away as if he’d been burned.
Lily Bai guessed it was all because of her face.
Everyone who saw her face had a different reaction—never quite the same.
The next day, she and Nine Li followed their master and arrived at the banquet hall just before or after Tanya Quinn’s group.
It was Lily Bai’s first time attending such a grand Divine Race banquet.
She and Nine Li sat in the farthest corner, doing their best to blend in and not be noticed.
But people kept sneaking glances at her anyway.
She felt like even if she hid inside a salt jar, someone would dig her out just to stare at her Lucy Luan–lookalike face.
"Lord Faustin, you’re here too?" Leo Li’s family arrived and spotted them.
"Yes!" Lord Faustin replied. "I've come to pay my respects to Young Lord Adrian Drake."
Leo Li didn’t look pleased.
Wasn’t she supposed to die?
She even said she’d die at the Sigil Sect.
Yet now she’d run off to a banquet in Drake Abyss!
Still, with so many people around, he kept his composure and took his family to their seats.
Just before the banquet began, a large group from the Radiant Domain arrived as well.
Lily Bai nibbled on a dried celestial fruit, craning her neck to see.
She wondered if Luna Lian and Ryan Lu would show up.
As she stared, her mouth slowly dropped open, and the dried fruit fell right out.
Leading the group was a man dressed in white.
He was like a god from the Ninth Heaven, gentle as the moon, his aura transcendent and his eyes full of warmth—so handsome he hardly seemed real.
Lily Bai had truly never seen a man like this before.
"Dad, who is that?" Nine Li, though a boy, was so stunned he looked as if he'd lost his soul.
"That’s the Qilin Divine Lord," Lord Faustin said.
In Lily Bai’s mind, the Qilin Divine Lord should have been a kindly uncle with a gentle smile.
She never imagined...
...he’d look like this.
Too bad only one member of the Lu family showed up.
That was Quentin Lian.