Chapter 348: 348. How could I, Di Ao, possibly fail?

Di Ao was in a coma for half the night before regaining consciousness.

As soon as she awoke, she found herself still in the secret passage, with Qiao Sen nowhere to be seen, but a bizarre wall appeared before her.

Di Ao weakly propped herself up against the wall to stand, feeling as if she had been starved for days, weak and powerless.

“Hmm?”

After standing up, Di Ao realized that the body beneath her head was not her own, but a strange young body.

Upon inspection, Di Ao guessed that this body should belong to Emperor Qiao Zhi; the clothes were right, the physical characteristics were right, only the aged body had reverted to its youthful state.

If it weren’t for Qiao Sen’s body being forged with muscles of steel, Di Ao would have almost thought she had taken over Qiao Sen’s body.

Her memory only stayed on the part where she was shattered by the frenzied Qiao Sen, her head knocked to the ground, the rest a blur, unable to recall how she merged with Emperor Qiao Zhi’s body.

“Hehehehe hahaha!”

Not remembering did not stop Di Ao from feeling elated; she laughed while covering her face, her laughter moving from low and sinister to loud: “Qiao Sen, you didn’t think I’d survive, did you? How could I, Di Ao, fail, and I even took over your mother’s body. I really can’t wait to see your expression when you see this, hahaha!”

After venting her emotions with manic laughter, Di Ao quickly stopped, using her nails to scratch her skin open.

Seeing the skin quickly heal itself after being scratched open, Di Ao sighed in relief. Thankfully, the undying body was still intact; otherwise, wouldn’t all her efforts be in vain?

However, the injury and healing made Di Ao’s mind even more dizzy, her body weaker, mouth dry and craving desperately for something bloody and sweet to drink.

She leaned against the wall and walked over, picking up the Blood God Mask that had fallen to the ground, then staggered along the passage to leave.

Of the three secret passages, Di Ao chose the one leading out of the Capital, though she had no idea of the situation outside now, she dared not return to the Capital or the Imperial Palace to seek death.

She had long arranged a safe place and retreat outside the Capital. Once there, she could fly far away, then lie low and quietly gather strength.

Following the passage to the outside of the Capital, it was already dawn, the sky slightly bright.

Even though the sun had not yet risen, the dim light made Di Ao very uncomfortable.

She pushed herself to speed up, hurrying to her arranged safe spot.

The safe spot was a small cottage in the woods, cleverly disguised with thick foliage.

This place was a royal hunting ground, commoners dared not approach, and after Emperor Qiao Zhi fell ill, it became even more secluded, not a soul in sight, the perfect hiding spot.

Di Ao reached this place before sunrise, opened the door, and entered the cottage.

As soon as she entered, her actions froze.

After being refined into a Blood God Soldier by the Blood God Mask, Di Ao’s sensory perception became much sharper, especially for living creatures’ auras.

The moment she stepped inside, she sensed the aura of a living person in the cottage. The person was very well hidden. If it weren’t for her heightened sensitivity to living things, she might not have noticed.

However, seeing Di Ao stop suddenly, the other person realized they had been exposed and slowly emerged from their hiding spot.

“Lu Yu?!”

Di Ao looked at the person in shock, “Why are you here?”

Lu Yu was the only one among the ten royal enforcers who remained loyal to Di Ao, even after Di Ao’s downfall.

When Di Qingying started a rebellion, Di Ao took the chance to escape unwatched, Lu Yu disappeared along with her, but who knew he would appear in Di Ao’s safe house.

This house was arranged by Di Ao alone, without informing anyone.

Lu Yu being here indicated that he had been secretly tailing Di Ao, knowing of this place beforehand.

Lu Yu, standing by the door, chuckled, “Lord Di, to flee without a word, not even notifying your subordinate, truly chills my heart.”

Di Ao’s face turned ghastly. She had tested Lu Yu multiple times, never suspecting anything.

She thought that Lu Yu was genuinely loyal to her. She never guessed that he was the most deeply hidden traitor by her side.

Di Ao felt indignation as if her intelligence was insulted; she had deceived everyone, even flaunting in front of Qiao Sen, only to be deceived herself.

“Who sent you?”

Di Ao asked coldly, her mind racing, was it the True Mother God Sect, or Qiao Sen?

“Don’t worry, Lord Di, no one sent me.”

Lu Yu’s eyes fell on the Blood God Mask in Di Ao’s hand, revealing a covetous look, “So this is the Blood God Mask? It is truly impressive that Lord Di managed to snatch it from the True Mother God Sect’s jaws!”

A chill instantly crept into Di Ao’s heart, “How do you know about it?”

The Blood God Mask was known only to the emperors, perhaps to the True Mother God Sect as well, even Di Ao heard about it from an ancient book of the Di Family’s ancestor.

Wait!

Di Ao’s eyes flashed fiercely, “Did you snoop into my book?! Impossible, I burned it!”

Lu Yu clapped and nodded, “Lord Di, you are indeed clever, guessed it right away! Unfortunately, you know very little about the Cultivation World; quite a few spells can restore a book burned to ashes, and it happens that I know one of them.”

In fact, Emperor Qiao Zhi had two royal enforcers spy on Di Ao, one being Yang Suhua, the other Lu Yu.

The two weren’t subordinate to each other and didn’t know each other’s identities.

After Emperor Qiao Zhi was forced into hiding in the dungeon, Yang Suhua immediately contacted Qiao Sen, but Lu Yu did not.

Because while monitoring Di Ao, he discovered that she secretly burned a book at midnight, burying the ashes.

Lu Yu used a spell to restore the ashes, recovering only a portion, but enough to learn the Blood God Mask’s origin. He just didn’t know how to access the Imperial Palace Dungeon.

When Di Ao created this safe house, Lu Yu secretly tracked her. Her Foundation Establishment Realm was weak, she never realized she was being followed.

Last night, before Di Ao sneaked into the dungeon, Lu Yu lost her amidst the chaos, so he came here first to ambush. He wasn’t sure if she could succeed in snatching it from the True Mother God Sect, but she did.

Di Ao was now caught between a rock and a hard place, the rising sun behind, and a malicious Foundation Establishment master inside.

Lu Yu was no longer interested in exchanging words with Di Ao, he lunged at her, “Lord Di, just hand over the mask obediently.”

Di Ao, weak and powerless, was no match for Lu Yu, and was captured in a few moves.

“Hahaha, Blood God Soldier, afraid of sunlight, huh? Then bathe in the sun obediently.”

Lu Yu grasped Di Ao’s neck, pushing her outside the cottage, making her face the rising sun.

Di Ao struggled desperately, but couldn’t break free from Lu Yu’s iron grip.

The morning sunlight broke through the clouds, shining on the world.

Even before the sunlight hit her, Di Ao felt intense pain, death approaching, and a strong survival instinct made her roar.

Behind her, a vague humanoid shape formed, suddenly lunging and punching the defenseless Lu Yu back into the cottage.

Di Ao immediately followed, pressing down on Lu Yu, revealing two sharp fangs, biting into Lu Yu’s neck, and drinking voraciously.