Free Web NovelChapter 165: Chapter 165: Where is Xing Luoye?
Xing Luoguang paused when Yue Yue suddenly mentioned his brother, a trace of confusion appearing in his usually calm eyes as he looked down at her.
"Why are you asking about Luoye?" he asked quietly, clearly surprised by her sudden interest in someone she rarely spoke about willingly.
Yue Yue froze for a heartbeat, realizing she had asked too directly, and quickly forced a small, awkward laugh to cover her mistake.
"Ah... nothing," she said lightly. "I just realized that he isn’t here tonight. If he finds out you took me out, he’d definitely be angry."
She tried to sound casual, though her heart was beating much faster than she wanted to admit.
Xing Luoguang studied her for a few seconds before a faint, knowing smile appeared on his lips under the glow of the floating lights.
"Yes," he replied calmly. "He would definitely be angry."
His gaze shifted briefly to the lively streets around them, where vendors shouted and lanterns swayed in the warm night breeze.
"That’s also one of the reasons I brought you out at night," he added, his tone relaxed yet slightly meaningful.
Yue Yue blinked and tilted her head. "So... he must be at home, right?" she asked carefully, trying to sound indifferent.
Xing Luoguang nodded without hesitation. "He should be."
Yue Yue lowered her gaze, but inside her mind the system mission was flashing repeatedly like a warning she could not ignore.
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That meant only one thing... Xing Luoye was definitely not peacefully resting at home like his brother claimed.
"Let’s go back," she suddenly said, her voice a little quicker than before. "We’ve been out for quite a while already."
Xing Luoguang looked slightly surprised. "You don’t want to walk a little longer?" he asked gently.
She shook her head with a small smile. "It’s fine. We can come again another day."
In truth, she simply wanted to return as soon as possible and confirm the uneasy feeling growing inside her chest.
Something was wrong, and she could not ignore it any longer.
The two of them quietly left the lively night market and soon returned to the silent residence under the dim moonlight.
When they reached her balcony, Xing Luoguang lifted her effortlessly and stepped into her room with steady, graceful movements.
He placed her down carefully as if she were something fragile, his touch unusually gentle compared to his calm demeanor.
"You should rest," he said softly, though his attention already seemed elsewhere.
Instead of stepping fully inside, he turned slightly toward the balcony again, his expression darker and more serious than before.
"I need to go out for a while," he said in a calm tone that felt too deliberate.
Yue Yue’s heart tightened immediately. "Go out? Now?" she asked, sensing something hidden beneath his composure.
He nodded lightly. "There’s something I need to check."
He avoided looking at her directly, and that was when Yue Yue understood that he had not told her the truth earlier.
Xing Luoye was not at home, and Xing Luoguang must have sensed his brother’s absence the moment they returned.
Before he could leap down from the balcony again, Yue Yue quickly reached out and grabbed his sleeve firmly.
"Wait," she said, her voice soft but urgent.
He paused mid-step and looked back at her. "What happened?" he asked quietly.
She met his gaze steadily. "Is it about Luoye?" she asked. "Are you going to find him?"
His eyes flickered faintly, but he did not answer right away.
He had indeed sensed that his brother was not in the residence, and there was only one place Luoye would go when he disappeared like this.
Their father’s resting place.
A faint worry appeared in his usually calm eyes, though he did not want to take Yue Yue to such a heavy and sorrowful place.
"It’s nothing," he said softly. "You should sleep. I’ll be back soon."
He gently tried to pull his sleeve from her grasp, but Yue Yue held on even tighter.
"Take me with you," she said firmly, her voice carrying unexpected determination.
Xing Luoguang was stunned and looked down at her small hand clutching his robe with stubborn resolve.
"Why?" he asked, genuinely unable to understand her sudden insistence.
Yue Yue hesitated, unable to tell him about the system or explain why she suddenly cared so much.
But she knew the mission would not appear without reason, and her heart felt strangely uneasy thinking of something happening to Xing Luoye.
"Just tell me," she insisted softly. "If it’s about him... I want to go too."
Xing Luoguang studied her face carefully, confused by her concern for someone who had often treated her coldly and suspiciously.
Luoye had never been gentle toward her, sometimes even harsh, so he could not understand why she wanted to find him.
Yet when she looked at him with that stubborn and determined expression, he found himself unable to refuse her request.
After a brief silence, he sighed quietly as if giving in to something inevitable.
"Hold tight," he said.
Before she could respond, he wrapped an arm securely around her waist and leapt down from the balcony in one smooth motion.
The wind rushed past them as they descended swiftly through the night air, the city lights glowing faintly below.
Yue Yue instinctively clutched his robe tightly, though this time she forced herself to keep her eyes slightly open.
From above, the city looked distant and small, its lantern lights flickering like scattered stars beneath the dark sky.
Xing Luoguang’s expression was serious and focused, already certain of their destination.
He knew exactly where he was going. He knew where he could find his brother. And it was toward the place where their father rested.
And his brother was most likely drowning in painful memories once again.
He could not understand why his brother had gone there. Did something happen once again?
Wait, did he actually see him with Yue Yue? Is that why he was upset? Xing Luoguang sighed.
How could he make his brother understand that Yue Yue is not like other females from the empire?
