Lazer looked back at her tears, wondering if she was hurt.

“Are you okay?”

She shook her head silently.

“Relax, it is okay now,” he reassured her as they walked further. Nevertheless, their pace began to slow.

“How did you find me?” She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and raised a gentle smile.

“It was a good thing that you left marks along the way and luckily… I found the necklace you deliberately dropped on the crossroad, which enabled me to determine which team of tents you were with. I reached where you last stopped and ran into some human slaves who heard your signals, which allowed me to find out where you were.”

She did not expect the signals that she had left to work. It seemed that Shaquille was not as alert as she had imagined.

She wanted to ask him if he was pleased with how she did, but there was a more important question at hand.

“Teacher, how do we go back?”

Lazer was quiet for a few seconds. He then turned his head and looked at her sincerely. She had rarely seen him look this gentle and warm, she could not look away.

“You still want to go back?” He clenched her hand tightly, as if he was worried that she might run away.

“Where else would we be going if not to the Juan family?” She was dumbfounded, pondering if he had something else planned.

“I have everything planned. You can leave tonight. Just follow me, do not ask questions.”

“Teacher, I do not understand… you used to always explain everything to me before…”

“Do not call me ‘teacher’.” There was a sense of unhappiness in his voice. “After going through so much, do you still want to go back to die? At this rate, you will not live before the end of the throne war.”

“Are you angry at me?"

She began to feel that something was wrong.

The Lazer she knew would not have pulled her away like this. He also would not leave things explained, let alone show irritability. Why wouldn’t he bring her back to the Juan family? Especially at a critical time like this?

“I am not angry at you. I just realized that it makes no sense to play this make-believe game in the Juan family anymore. Something always happens to you when I drop my guard for a second. This was not…” he said impatiently before pausing, trying to keep your voice calm. “This was not what I wanted to see. So I decided that it is better that you leave now.”

She was stunned, not knowing what was going on now. He had become a different person overnight. His tone was completely different from usual, and he had lost his cool.

“Leave the Juan family? Me and you, or… just me?”

“At least I need to make sure that you can spend the rest of your life safely. As for what happens to me… Do not worry about it, I will take care of it myself.” His voice was still warm and his facial expressions differed from the usual rebuke. He was begging her to do what he said, which made him look vulnerable and helpless. “Do you understand? No. 3. I am trying to help you.”

Something was up.

Everything he had been doing up to this point was different—Was he trying to help her, or her him? Was the person in front of her really her teacher?

This thought crossed her mind, but she dared not say it. She quietly withdrew her hand.