303: Chapter 303 His heart skipped a beat

Even the bedding on the bed where Su Chen had lain had not been folded.

The strange fragrance that used to be cloyingly sweet to the point of being unbearable, making one's bones feel soft, had vanished.

There were no ambiguous red veils fluttering in the wind.

And there was certainly no sign of that enchanting figure who was seductive to the bone and always liked to cling to him, calling him "Your Majesty."

The entire main hall of the Star-Plucking Tower was empty, desolate, and deathly still.

It was as if, ever since the day he left the Suochen Tower, this place had become a forgotten corner of time.

Even... those ten sleepless nights seemed to be nothing more than a hollow hallucination.

Staring at the deathly still hall before him, Su Chen's mind went blank.

Before entering the room, he had imagined all sorts of possibilities and potential responses.

Perhaps a violent storm of a shura field, or chains flying through the air to bind him tightly.

Or perhaps, the coquettish scolding of Su Daji, filled with both feigned anger and resentment.

But he never expected this. There was not a single trace of any living person here.

It was like a desolate, cold, and indifferent palace, forgotten for a thousand years.

Although he knew full well what kind of shura field he would face if Su Daji were here.

But now that he truly could not see her, his chest suddenly felt empty, as if a piece of flesh had been brutally gouged out with a blunt object.

That feeling was indescribable. It was stifling, heavy, and pressed down on him until he could barely breathe.

"Demon Concubine Su Daji?" He heard his own voice echoing in the main hall.

"Where are you?"

Zhuge Jinyu and the other five followed him into the hall, and upon seeing this scene, they were all stunned.

Ye Jingjun had initially gripped her sword tightly, but now she stood with her sword drawn, looking around in bewilderment, though her crimson eyes still vigilantly scanned every corner of the surroundings.

"Let me see if there is anyone here at all," Su Wanyue said softly.

Immediately after, her vast Mental Power spread from her as the center to every corner of the Star-Plucking Tower.

Three breaths later, the young girl shook her head. She retracted her Mental Power and looked at Su Chen.

"Brother... are you sure you didn't come to the wrong place?"

"In this building, let alone a Transcendent Heroic Spirit, it is impossible for there to even be a living bug or a moth."

Zhuge Jinyu frowned. "This is the core area of the Hall of Valor, much like my Wuhou Shrine. If Su Daji is not here right now, it is normal that there is no one else..."

"Then should we go back?"

They had originally intended to pick a fight, but now that the other party wasn't even here, there was no need for them to remain.

"Wait a moment," Su Chen raised his hand to stop her.

He forced himself to calm down, took a few deep breaths, and tried to find a reasonable explanation for the situation before him.

That was it, it had to be. Su Daji was the strongest Transcendent Heroic Spirit in the Great Xia and the guardian of the Central China Region.

With frequent disasters occurring on Blue Star and spatial rifts spreading everywhere, she must have been urgently dispatched, just like Jinyu and the others previously, to repair rifts and provide disaster relief.

After all, she was the Hall Master and bore heavy responsibilities; she couldn't just wander around like he did.

But he couldn't even convince himself with this reasoning.

If it were just a temporary departure, how could this Star-Plucking Tower, which she treasured as a precious jewel and wouldn't even allow a fly to enter, be left wide open without any defenses?

Just a moment ago, when the Fake White Snake Cult Leader was about to break into the tower, how could the formations she had personally set up be in a deactivated state, requiring him to manually trigger them?

"I... I will go upstairs and take a look." Su Chen heard himself say, his voice sounding distant and unlike his own.

"Little sister, her Mental Power might be even more impressive than yours; she might have already detected you coming and simply doesn't want to be found."

He sounded as if he were trying to convince others, but even more so, he was trying to convince himself.

Before the words had even faded, Su Chen had already turned and sprinted toward the spiral staircase leading to the roof.

His footsteps were somewhat chaotic, making hollow echoes as they struck the wooden steps.

Zhuge Jinyu and Ye Jingjun exchanged glances and followed in tacit agreement.

Su Wanyue, whose abilities had been inexplicably underestimated by her brother again, huffed, her pretty face full of dissatisfaction. But she still chose to follow closely behind.

The staircase was very long, spiraling upward as if it had no end.

The light and shadows faintly filtering into the stairwell solidified in the silence, died, and turned into specimens. It was like the embers left behind by ten days of warmth.

Su Chen ran very fast, so fast that his chest ached.

He was vividly recalling that morning ten days ago. The image of Su Daji holding his hand, walking up this same flight of stairs step by step.

On that day, Su Daji's fingertips were very cold. Her skirt brushed against the steps, making a rustling sound. She was humming an ancient tune he had never heard before, filled with deep sorrow.

What was that song called again? Right, "The Camellias Have Bloomed."

She said that people who love each other should argue occasionally, so that Heaven wouldn't separate them.

At the time, he only took it as a joke. It was just the usual, hard-to-discern flirtatiousness of this fox spirit.

Rushing onto the top platform, he pushed open the heavy wooden door. Daylight, mixed with the crisp mountain wind, surged in.

Su Chen stumbled into the Star-Gazing Platform, his eyes eagerly scanning every corner.

The white marble chair by the entrance was empty. Under the octagonal tower in the center of the roof, there was only the trace of wind blowing through.

By the white marble railing, the spot where she often leaned to look into the distance was empty.

The camellia bushes she had planted herself, saying she wanted to watch the flowers bloom to their end with him, were also empty.

Only the scattered petals remained, swirling in the wind in a panic, falling into the mud.

Nothing. She was nowhere.

Su Chen's heartbeat gradually calmed down, and he actually felt a bit more at ease.

See, she really wasn't here. She was so strong, so proud; how could anything happen to her?

She must have gone out to execute a mission; he must have been overthinking it.

In a few days, maybe tomorrow, she would return.

She would look at him with those fox eyes, half-smiling, and ask him in that lazy yet dangerous tone.

"My King, I haven't seen you for a few days, have you missed Demon Concubine Su Daji to the point of going crazy?"

He almost laughed out loud. Laughing at his own suspicion, laughing at how he had almost been scared by this empty building.

Just as Su Chen was preparing to turn and head downstairs, his gaze, in an inadvertent moment, swept over the familiar bench at the edge of the Star-Gazing Platform.

The bench where he and Su Daji had sat side by side that day, watching the starry sky and talking, before he teleported away.

On the seat, it seemed... there was something.

It was bulging, covered by a piece of bright red fabric. Under the daylight, it appeared so dazzling.

Su Chen's feet were nailed to the spot. His heart, at that instant, skipped an entire beat.

Time was infinitely elongated. The sound of the wind, the suppressed breathing of the six women behind him... all sounds faded away. Only the rumbling sound of his own blood rushing and crashing against his eardrums remained.