"How is what you're doing any different from hurting me and Yuqiao?"

"No!" Huashan cried, shaking her head, "Chen Hao, listen to me, actually Qian Feng..."

"Huashan, don't say anything!" Chen Hao raised his hand to interrupt Huashan, "Huashan, I find it very hard to trust what you say now! I came to ask you because there are a few things I don't understand and want to ask you about."

"Chen Hao..." Huashan looked at Chen Hao with tearful eyes, his cold expression making her feel chill and despair.

A moment later, Chen Hao took out the Nether King's World-Slaying Blade and then used it to cut the chains binding Huashan.

At this time, the soldiers who had been on guard finally reacted, and a group of them surrounded them.

"Lord Chen, Family Leader Zhao has ordered us to keep a close watch on her. Please don't make things difficult for us!" a soldier said, and although his words were very polite, his tone and expression were the exact opposite, cold as if making an accusation.

"She's just a girl who can't even truss a chicken, having you watch her is completely enough, why must you bind her hands and feet?" said Chen Hao.

"This…" The soldier was at a loss for words, then exchanged glances with a few soldiers beside him before they retreated to their original positions.

Given Chen Hao's current reputation in the Netherworld, they did not want to offend such an influential figure. Moreover, it was foreseeable that if the Fourth Generation Underworld King regained power, Chen Hao's status would certainly be on par with Zhao Chong's. To offend Chen Hao over such a trivial matter was undoubtedly to ask for trouble.

"Huashan," Chen Hao said earnestly, "this is all I can do to help you now. I'm not sure whether you are friend or foe. But I hope that your unwillingness to see me die in the Dust Realm was genuine."

"Of course it was real!" Huashan's tears flowed uncontrollably, "For me, Chen Hao, you are the dearest person to me in this world, I am definitely your friend. One day, you'll realize that I've always been your friend!"

Chen Hao smiled bitterly. He remembered what Ye Yuqiao had cautioned him about—"You must be vigilant and not treat her as the same Huashan you remembered from before."

He coughed once, and the whole person became extremely sober, asking, "Huashan, you've been living inside a painting scroll since birth, so how did you come to know Qian Feng?"

"It was my father and mother's wish. On the night before I left the painting, they quietly told me to find a way to get to the Netherworld and then to find Qian Feng, saying that Qian Feng would take good care of me. After I left the painting, you arranged for me to enter the Zhao Residence in the Netherworld, and I secretly went to meet Qian Feng. When Qian Feng learned I was staying in the Zhao Residence, he showed no intention of taking me to the Qian Mansion to live and take care of me, but instead, he wanted me to stay in the Zhao Residence to gather information."

"But why would you do this for him? Haven't we treated you well? Were you bullied after arriving at the Zhao Residence?" Chen Hao asked, his tone a bit angry.

"No! You all treated me very well, and I had a good stay at the Zhao Residence. But my parents wanted me to follow Qian Feng's orders—Qian Feng was once my father's life-saver!"

Chen Hao took a deep breath, feeling a mix of emotions.

"So Qian Feng knew early on that Yuqiao had gone to the mortal world, to be by my side. Hence, from that time, he stopped sending people to the mortal world to deal with me, and instead, began to deploy everything secretly. He had expected that the Netherworld would face this situation soon," Chen Hao said while pondering.

Realizing that Qian Feng had a firm grasp on everything about him and Ye Yuqiao from early on, he shivered internally, finding Qian Feng to be very frightening.

Although he had never met Qian Feng in person, Chen Hao already imagined him to be someone deeply cunning and deviously sly.

"Actually, about Qian Feng he..." Huashan stopped mid-sentence. Because Chen Hao no longer believed her words, her explanations would not only fail to win his trust, but might lead to deeper misunderstandings.

"Don't mention Qian Feng anymore!" Chen Hao said with a look of disgust.

Lin Huashan "Hmm"ed softly, looking at Chen Hao very calmly.

After a brief silence, Chen Hao spoke again, "Huashan, there's something I can't figure out. If you were already rescued by Qian Feng's people a few days ago, why did you come back to find me?"

"Do you still remember what I told you, about the woman who could transform into a phoenix?"

Chen Hao nodded, his brow furrowed deeply, "Zhao Chong said he didn't recognize that woman."

Lin Huashan let out two cold laughs, her eyes filled with contempt.

"Not only Niu Tou and Ma Mian, but also the Zhou Family Clan Leader Zhou Ke were there at the time, not just them, almost everyone saw that woman. Zhao Chong even dared to say he doesn't recognize her. It seems they have conspired to deceive you, treating you like... like..."

"Like a fool!" After hesitating for a moment, Lin Huashan finally blurted it out.

"You're saying Niu Tou, Ma Mian, and everyone else saw that woman, but they all deceived me and Yuqiao!" Chen Hao laughed, finding it ridiculous, "I've never doubted Niu Tou and Ma Mian's loyalty to Yuqiao, nor Zhao Chong, though I don't like that stoic face."

"Not deceiving you and Yuqiao, just deceiving you!"

Chen Hao scoffed, feeling very amused.

"Are you saying Yuqiao is also in on the deception with them? Huashan, your fabrication is really a bit too much!"

Lin Huashan sighed, her face showing a helpless expression.

"I know this is hard for you to accept!" Lin Huashan said, "That day in the Dust Realm there was something I didn't get a chance to finish saying. I feel that the woman who transformed into a phoenix looks very much, very much like Yuqiao!"

"I'm at a loss for words!" Chen Hao exclaimed, scratching his head frantically, looking somewhat exasperated.

"Like that time I was captured by King Nanlin and taken to the Netherworld, it was the woman who transformed into a phoenix that saved me. Do you know where Yuqiao was at that time? She was in the mortal world, dealing with the Snake King with my other two companions! If I hadn't returned to the mortal world in time, she would have probably been bitten to death by the Snake King!"

The more Chen Hao spoke, the more agitated he became, unable to bear Lin Huashan's absurd claims.

"Chen Hao, although my idea is absurd, it is truly what I think. Is it possible that there is another Yuqiao in this world, like, say, Yuqiao's twin sister, or maybe..."

Lin Huashan had intended to suggest another soul form of Yuqiao, such as her Yin Soul, but before she could finish, Chen Hao interrupted, "Enough, I really can't listen anymore!"

Having said that, Chen Hao turned around and left the Seal Barrier like a shot.

At this moment, inside the tent at the mountain peak, Ye Yuqiao, who was sitting on the bed monitoring Chen Hao and Lin Huashan's conversation through the Nether King's Heart, suddenly opened her eyes.

The tent was chillingly cold, yet her forehead was tense and breaking out in a sweat. After panting for a few breaths, she murmured to herself, "Thank goodness Chen Hao didn't believe her words!"

It wasn't long before Chen Hao returned to the tent.

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