“I naturally have my ways.” Lin Zhan played with the jade cup in his hand. He said with deep meaning in his eyes, “Of course, I also hope this information isn’t true. The West Phoenix Monarch’s cultivation is much higher than either of ours. Furthermore, Ling Chigu is the top person in the Northern border. Even if he later became a corpse puppet, he’s still a force to be reckoned with if he gets his entire soul back. If the two of them truly decided to side with Yan Huaizhen right now, I’m afraid it won’t be good for you and me.”
You Ming refuted, “You and me? Since when did you and I have such a good relationship that we can wear the same pair of pants? This Venerable remembers that there are still two degrees of relations separating East Empress and me; we’re not so familiar with each other.”
Lin Zhan tutted. “Don’t be so formal. After all, we’re about to be in-laws.”
Lin Zhan added, “After all, I’ve helped you raise your son for so many years, so you should at least let me taste some of the sweetness.”
You Ming immediately frowned. “Even if I’m grateful to you, I still can’t possibly sell my son!”
Yan Zhonghua swept a glance at You Ming. “Ah Hen’s matter can be discussed later.”
He turned to Lin Zhan. “The West Phoenix Monarch was destined to be a ruler from the day of his birth. Not even my Father Emperor could make him bow down and serve as a subject. In the years during his rule, the West Land was almost on equal footing with the Royal Heavenly Capital. He would never serve a king who lives on the border.”
Lin Zhan replied, “I don’t know the specific reason. Emperor Xuan’s forces still fall short of the forces stationed at the Northern border, so the attention he gives the Northern border naturally can’t compare to that of Your Highness King Ye. I’m just telling you the news. As for whether you guys decide to investigate or how to investigate, that’s beyond my reach.”
Yan Zhonghua narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Lin Zhan. “If this matter is true, then I owe the East Sovereign a favor.”
Lin Zhan was very satisfied. “You’re truly frank and straightforward.”
Yan Zhonghua changed the subject, “Even so, I will never agree to casually promise Ah Hen to Lin Xuanzhi as his wife. Even if they will become Dao companions, they should still be on equal footing.”
Lin Zhan said calmly, “You’re looking down on me too much. Am I the kind of person who takes advantage of kindness?”
You Ming side-eyed him. “You’re not? Perhaps I remembered wrong. At the monster-hunting banquet back then, just because you accidentally did the East Sovereign a small favor, who was the one who wanted him to repay that favor with his own body? And the East Sovereign is repaying this favor for almost a lifetime.”
Lin Zhan was not ashamed of being exposed. Instead, he spoke with a calm face, “There’s a mistake in your words.”
You Ming snorted coldly. “Where?”
What he said was the truth. Back then, many disciples of the noble clans and sects who participated in the monster-hunting banquet personally witnessed Lin Zhan’s shamelessness. It was simply unique in the world — extremely rare.
Lin Zhan said seriously, “You should take out the word ‘almost’, and then it would be perfect.”
You Ming, “…”
Pardon me, I accidentally forgot that this person is more shameless than I thought.
Lin Zhan smiled and stood with his hands behind his back, looking distinguished and accomplished. However, his words were even more distinguished.
“You don’t have to worry about Ah Hen’s future being affected if he and Huarong become Dao companions and make the Daoist sects unhappy. I can guarantee that if there really is such a day, then my East Land will never have any disobedient intent in the next thousand years and will willingly bow to the Yan family and the Royal Heavenly Capital.”
Both You Ming and Yan Zhonghua were surprised at these words.
Speaking of the resentment between the Yan and Xuan families, it could be traced back to thousands of years ago. In short, the Yan family’s throne was snatched from the Xuan family’s hands, so there was still some illegitimacy involved after all, and many top-ranking successors had repeatedly appeared in the Xuan family. Generations of East Sovereigns had been eyeing the throne, and under the surface-level submission, they were eager to try and win the throne.
This was especially true when the prophecy of the first heir fell onto the eldest son of Xuan Wushe. Although Yan Zhonghua didn’t have any chance with the throne, he’d still never want to see the position fall to the Xuan family. The winner was called a king, and the loser was called a bandit. After Xuan Lou died back then, Yan Chi killed countless people from the Xuan clan. The Yan family wanted to avoid the path that has proved ill-advised — this had nothing to do with the relationship between Xuan Wushe and Yan Zhonghua.
But now, Lin Zhan actually said such words, just for Lin Xuanzhi?
You Ming looked at Lin Zhan in shock. “Are you kidding?”
Lin Zhan said, “Whether I’m kidding or not, you’ll know when you ask my family’s Wushe. In any case, the words are here, and this is the East Land’s attitude, so you won’t have as many worries for the future.”
“I have another question.” You Ming tried to restrain himself but ultimately couldn’t. He asked, “Is Lin Xuanzhi your illegitimate son? Or is he the adulterer you raised behind Xuan Wushe’s back?”
Lin Zhan said, “Neither.”
“Then did your brain go crazy, to use the country as a betrothal gift?” You Ming was in disbelief.
“Perhaps I might have a bigger plot,” Lin Zhan said. To prevent You Ming from asking even more outrageous questions, Lin Zhan found an excuse to leave quickly and disappeared in a hurry.
However, although he left, the news he brought made You Ming and Yan Zhonghua fall into contemplation.
You Ming pondered, “Feng Jingyu has never interfered in the dispute over the Crown Prince’s position. Moreover, his West Land is about to become the Yue clan’s domain right now. He has left for so long. Now that he’s returned, shouldn’t he go to the West Land first? Why would he go to the Northern border to interfere in the Crown Prince selection?”
You Ming rubbed his chin and continued thoughtfully, “In the past few years, he’s been searching for Ling Chigu’s souls and spirits all over the Five Continents. I wonder if he’s found them all.”
Yan Zhonghua commented, “You seem to have a good relationship with him.”
You Ming sighed. “The men of today are sadly degenerated ah. Feng Jingyu pays more attention to his lover than his friends. It’s not like you didn’t know this. Ever since he fell in love with Ling Chigu, he had already thrown me, his old friend, to the back of his mind.”
Yan Zhonghua, “…”
You Ming changed the subject, “We can assume that there won’t be results from the Dragon Tomb Holy Land too soon. Instead of waiting in this boring place, why don’t we tour the Northern border? You’ve lived for many years, but you haven’t been to the Northern border before, right? The scenery there is nice. I’m familiar with it. How about letting me show you the way as we go sightseeing?”
Yan Zhonghua naturally knew what he meant. It’s just that their purpose in coming to the North Land this time was for Yan Tianhen. “Is it really okay to just leave Ah Hen here?”
“He’s already become someone else’s wife. Naturally, his husband needs to protect him.” You Ming raised his eyebrows and shrugged. “The Dragon Palace is really boring. Let’s go now.”
You Ming, who wanted to know more about Feng Jingyu’s situation, really couldn’t stay here for even a second longer. His actions decisively followed his words. It was just like how he was in secluded cultivation and was about to make a breakthrough, but when he heard that Yan Tianhen became someone’s “wife”, he abandoned his breakthrough without another word and pulled Yan Zhonghua along to come to the North Land and demand an explanation.
Now that he’d made up his mind to tour the Northern border, he no longer entertained any misgivings and immediately packed his belongings, going back on the road with Yan Zhonghua.
So when Yan Tianhen came back to look for his parents, he learned from Zhuo Yan that they had already left.
Yan Tianhen stood in the chaotic winds, looking like a small, frost-beaten cabbage.
They truly are my biological parents ah.
A few days later, just two days before entering the Dragon Tomb Holy Land, a team of guards from the Longyao clan suddenly opened the courtyard door to Hai Kuanglang and Zhan Fengting’s residence.
Hai Kuanglang opened the door and looked at the serious guards. “What’s the matter?”
The guard captain was a trusted subject who answered directly to the Dragon Emperor.
He first saluted, then said, “Following the Holy Maiden’s orders, we have come to search for her stolen item.”
Hai Kuanglang’s expression didn’t look too good. “Did I hear you right? She lost something, but she actually wants to search my room. What’s the matter with her?”
The guard captain replied, “Please calm down. The Holy Maiden lost a very important item. If it’s stolen, it may bring harm to the entire dragon clan. Not only Icy Cliff Residence, but even the princes’ house had been searched.”
Zhan Fengting also came out with some clothing draped over his shoulders. He stood beside Hai Kuanglang and asked, “What was stolen?”
When the guard captain saw Zhan Fengting, he took a quick glance. Panic flashed through his eyes but quickly disappeared. He cupped his hands respectfully and answered, “It’s a complete map of the Dragon Tomb Holy Land. It was originally made by the Holy Maiden and placed with her personal belongings, but it went missing this morning.”
Hai Kuanglang said in surprise, “She actually figured out the entire layout of the Dragon Tomb Holy Land. She’s not simple.”
Zhan Fengting, however, smiled slightly. “I was in the house with Shidi all night yesterday. We never left or heard anything. However, since you have to search everything, then I won’t make trouble for you guys.”
The guard captain hurriedly said, “Many thanks. I’ve bothered you.”
The guard captain took two trusted aides and quickly entered the courtyard, rushing into their house. Before Hai Kuanglang could even get angry, that guard captain had already come out again. After apologizing repeatedly, he took those guards and left in a hurry, as though he was escaping from a fire.
Hai Kuanglang couldn’t even get angry anymore. He couldn’t help laughing. “This inspection is perhaps a little too careless. It looks like he was just going through a mere formality. I don’t know who he’s trying to fool.”
“Who knows? In any case, they didn’t act too discourteously.” Zhan Fengting gave a light smile and pulled Hai Kuanglang, who was standing at the door. “It’s still early. We still have time to sleep for some more.”
“Since I have a beauty accompanying me, sleeping is naturally good.”
“……”
In the end, the lost Dragon Tomb map was never found. Longyao Yizhu couldn’t do anything to that bastard besides gnashing her teeth hatefully, so she could only leave it alone.
After the brief interlude with the lost map, the day arrived when everyone would enter the Dragon Tomb Holy Land. Lin Xuanzhi and the others were waiting outside the Dragon Tomb for the Dragon Emperor and the Longyao clan to offer sacrifices to Heaven so that they could open the entrance to the Dragon Tomb and allow everyone to enter.
The entrance of the Dragon Tomb was inside a jagged pile of rocks. When it wasn’t opened, it looked like a random burial mound. Once the entrance opened, one would see a nebula and black hole spinning overhead. After entering, there was an entirely separate space.
The dragon clan’s worship of Heaven lasted for a long time. They chanted the ancient mantras of the Longyao clan, which was inherited from within their bloodline. Other species couldn’t understand it at all.
Yan Tianhen felt a little bored, so he stood in the crowd and whispered to Lin Xuanzhi, “Dage, the Longyao clan really has a lot of successors.”
He roughly counted around a hundred people.
If you add those who were brought along to back them up and help them win the Crown Prince’s position, there would be 300 or 400 people. Looking at them all standing together, it was quite a scary sight.
Hai Kuanglang was near them. He heard Yan Tianhen’s words and curled his lips. “Don’t be fooled by the number of people entering. After the Crown Prince is selected, there won’t be many who can leave.”
