How could this happen?!
How could she just vanish?!
The entire ruin has been cleared, but there’s not even a trace of Sweet Dumpling—not a body, not a drop of blood. That means nobody was hurt here…
Sweet Dumpling isn’t here?
Then where is Sweet Dumpling?
"Where is she? Where’s Sweet Dumpling?!" Rory’s gaze turned razor-sharp as he swept his eyes toward the shadow guards.
The shadow guards looked stunned, staring blankly at Rory: "Your Highness, we saw the princess go in."
"You really do deserve to die. But don’t think death solves everything." Rory’s eyes were bloodshot, killing intent radiating off him. Felix Fuller, Holden Cui, General Warren Yu, and Dominic Zhai arrived just in time to see Rory standing in the rubble like a god of slaughter…
"I—I don’t know." The shadow guard was completely dumbfounded. He swore the little princess went in, so why wasn’t she there?
"You don’t know? If you can’t protect the princess, what use are you to me?" This time, Rory’s killing intent was real…
"The princess is fine." Rory cut the four off, voice like steel, and ordered them to keep searching—dig three feet down if they had to, but bring Sweet Dumpling back. But nothing…
"Please, Your Highness, grant us death!" The shadow guards didn’t dare defend themselves and bowed their heads to accept their fate.
By now, they were sure something terrible had happened to Sweet Dumpling—but nobody dared guess what.
"You really do deserve to die. But don’t tell me you actually think death solves everything?" Rory’s eyes were bloodshot, killing intent radiating off him. Felix Fuller, Holden Cui, General Warren Yu, and Dominic Zhai arrived just in time to see Rory standing in the rubble like a living Slayer…
Even the four high-ranking ministers were scared out of their wits.
His Highness was looking more and more like His Majesty—just as ruthless, just as fierce.
Five days and nights—Rory didn’t sleep at all. When he was too exhausted, he’d just close his eyes for a second, then keep searching the palace and the Capital for any sign of Sweet Dumpling.
Something’s happened to Sweet Dumpling?
Actually, the very day Sweet Dumpling disappeared, Felix and the others had already sent riders racing north to tell Nolan and Serena what had happened.
What they didn’t know was that on the very day Sweet Dumpling went missing, something huge happened in Northlyn too—Simon Sun discovered the Phoenixfield Secret Realm had vanished.
"The princess is fine." Rory cut the four of them off, voice hard as steel, then ordered the search to continue—dig three feet down if they had to, but bring Sweet Dumpling back. But there was nothing…
The guards dug a hole in the ruins, but still found no trace of Sweet Dumpling. As the days passed, everyone grew more and more desperate…
By now, they were certain something terrible had happened to Sweet Dumpling—they just didn’t dare guess what.
But Rory refused to believe it. He stubbornly insisted Sweet Dumpling was alive, and kept searching—if he had to scour all Nine Provinces, he would bring her home…
"Sweet Dumpling, don’t scare your brother… Come out, please."
"Sweet Dumpling, stop playing, okay? Your brother can’t find you—come back, please, he’s really worried about you."
Five days and nights—Rory didn’t sleep at all. When he was too exhausted, he’d just close his eyes for a moment, then get up and keep searching the palace and Capital for any sign of Sweet Dumpling.
"If this keeps up, His Highness will destroy himself." Felix and the others couldn’t bear to watch, so when Rory let his guard down, they knocked him out and settled him back in the palace…
Actually, on the very day Sweet Dumpling disappeared, Felix and the others had already sent riders racing north to tell Nolan and Serena what had happened.
What they didn’t know was that on the day Sweet Dumpling went missing, something huge happened in Northlyn too—Simon Sun discovered that the Phoenixfield Secret Realm had vanished.
Before, everyone could still vaguely see the entrance to the Phoenixfield Secret Realm, shrouded in mist and clouds. But suddenly, the sky turned dark—heavy black clouds pressed down, as if the heavens were collapsing…
Just when they thought a storm was about to break, nothing happened. The only thing gone was the Phoenixfield Secret Realm…
It appeared out of nowhere, vanished just as suddenly—and everyone who entered the realm disappeared with it.
"What’s going on?" Nolan and Serena stood at the vanished Secret Realm’s site, utterly baffled.
This really was a world of miracles.
Nolan and Serena sent people searching everywhere and checked the site themselves, but there wasn’t a single trace—the Phoenixfield Secret Realm had vanished as if it had never existed.
If Simon Sun hadn’t walked out from inside, Serena would have thought it was all just a dream.
They searched Northlyn for days, but still found no sign of the Secret Realm. They asked the Phoenixfield elders, but even they didn’t know.
Only the Phoenixfield King knew the clan’s deepest secrets, but after the chaos of the Former Dynasty, almost all the Phoenixfield were slaughtered. The clan’s history was cut off—now, no one could possibly know the truth.
With the Secret Realm gone and the Phoenixfield clan’s secrets lost to outsiders, Nolan and Serena could only give up and prepare to return to the Capital.
Simon Sun and Ling Mo were planning to head back too—or rather, Serena was determined not to let Simon vanish for another three years, no matter what. She was bringing him home.
Before leaving, Nolan and Serena met with Titus of Lyndaria and Vivian Cui.
Titus refused to leave, planning to stay in Northlyn a while longer. Vivian, as always, would follow him wherever he went…
Nearly three years had passed, and Titus still hadn’t accepted Vivian—but he hadn’t rejected her either. They called themselves husband and wife, but acted more like companions on a journey.
Serena asked Titus about it, and his answer was still cold: "When she finally gets tired, she’ll leave." He still couldn’t trust Vivian, so he couldn’t accept her…
Serena sighed. It was Titus’s business, and she had no right to interfere. But she believed Vivian wouldn’t give up—Vivian had once said: unless she died, she would never leave Titus’s side.
Nolan and Serena said their goodbyes to Titus, then set off for the Capital. On the road, they kept discussing the Phoenixfield–Lan life-mark…
Back when Simon Sun first explained it, they didn’t think anything was off. But now that the Secret Realm had vanished, they started to realize that something about the life-mark didn’t add up…
"You’re not a direct Lan heir—does your brand even work? Is this whole ‘qi-luck link’ even real? If it is, why would the Former Dynasty emperor push Phoenixfield so hard? Was he trying to destroy his own country? And about borrowing lives—why would the Lan clan ever let the Phoenixfield heiress borrow their lives?"
The more Serena thought about it, the less sense it made…
"Why do I get the feeling Phoenixfield was tricked?" Serena suspected the Lan clan hadn’t told Phoenixfield the whole truth about the brand—there had to be something hidden.
The Lan clan would have to be crazy to hang a blade over their own heads…
Uh… for the Phoenixfield heiress, that brand really was a blade.
"I don’t know much about the brand—only that it’s a legacy between Phoenixfield and Lan, passed down through generations. Every emperor and Phoenixfield heiress bears the mark. For Lan, it’s a symbol of the heir; for Phoenixfield, it means you’re the true heiress." If it weren’t for that, Nolan wouldn’t have believed the Lan clan’s story. But now…
It seemed the brand wasn’t nearly as important to the Lan clan as everyone thought.
"Maybe the only one who knows the truth is Lady Min. Apart from her, I doubt anyone else does." Serena thought about it for a long time and finally gave up…
Too much time had passed, too many people had died back then. Fewer and fewer knew the secrets, and it was impossible to tell truth from lies.
"Fine, when we get back to the Capital, we’ll go visit the Imperial Mausoleum." Nolan wasn’t obsessed with the brand’s purpose—anyway, it was ending with him and Serena…
Still, Serena wanted answers, so she’d go ask. Besides, Lady Min didn’t dare play tricks anymore…
As Nolan and Serena headed back to the Capital, news of Sweet Dumpling’s disappearance was already on its way—just waiting for them to hear it…