In the chat log, the Divine Arbiter had already expressed that she had other matters she needed to attend to. Ye Zichen’s fingers scrolled up and down, and he stared at the screen in a daze for quite some time.
His emotional fluctuations were huge, and he needed some time to digest.
After all, if people were always under enormous pressure, it would warp them!
To maintain a normal mental state, at times like this, he needed a little cheerful music to ease his nerves.
He opened his phone’s music app and found the song that had once taken China by storm, the song countless square-dancing aunties went mad over: “The Most Dazzling Folk Style.”
You are the most beautiful clouds in my horizon. Let me keep you in my heart.
Leisurely singing the most dazzling folk style, let love sweep away all dust.
The lyrics seemed to have a certain magic to them. When he heard it, Ye Zichen almost instinctively moved his limbs in sync with the beat.
In his movements was a certain inexplicable sentiment.
The nostalgia was overpowering!
How much time had passed since he was last in the Modern Realm? He’d been away for far too long, and he still didn’t know just when he’d make it back, or when he could live like an ordinary person again.
“It seems I worried for nothing.” Xiao Yumei’s voice rang out. Ye Zichen looked up, smiled, and turned off the music.
“And here I thought you were sulking in here. It turns out you’re in high spirits!”
“Haha…” Ye Zichen grinned. It seemed the music really had encouraged him; despite everything weighing him down, he could still smile radiantly.
Ye Zichen flipped over his hand and smiled at Xiao Yumei. “How about I play it a little longer? It might help you relieve some stress too.”
“Alright!”
The Most Dazzling Folk Style had quite the beat, and it echoed throughout the military guesthouse. For the duration of the son, both Ye Zichen and Xiao Yumei felt indescribably relaxed.
They played it a full ten times before Xiao Yumei laughed and turned off the music.
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s a time and place to relax, but our current situation isn’t it,” said Xiao Yumei, her gaze suddenly calm. She unlocked her phone, then pushed it over to Ye Zichen. A moment later, she said, “Su Liu’er went to the Outside.”
“That so?” Ye Zichen wasn’t particularly surprised by this. He could tell the difference between words Su Liu’er said in anger and words she actually meant.
When she announced her intentions to go Outside, her eyes revealed her determination.
“But you didn’t let her go on her own, right?” Ye Zichen asked just to be sure, but he trusted Xiao Yumei’s meticulousness.
“Yang Jian and the Great Sage went with her. I wanted to send Venerate Spirit Treasure with them too, but…”
“He was too lazy to get involved, right?” said Ye Zichen understandingly.
Xiao Yumei nodded, and Ye Zichen smiled. “Yang Jian and the Great Sage will be enough. If anything sudden or unexpected happens, they’ll be able to react accordingly. Besides, all three of them are imperial lords. Who knows? They might very well bring us a pleasant surprise upon their return.”
“A pleasant surprise?” Xiao Yumei muttered to herself, a hint of seriousness flashing across her face. “Do we really have to face those monsters in the future? Saying this out loud might displease you, but I… I’m honestly quite scared.”
The beast in the video was far too ferocious. That had been a team of a hundred scouts, led by three divine generals. The generals led a force of elite diviners and rulers. And yet, in just a hundred breaths of time, every last one of them was obliterated.
Although they couldn’t tell the extent of the beast’s strength from the video, they could gauge that…
It was so strong, even an imperial lord would struggle to match what it had done!
“If you’re afraid already, when the time comes and they invade the Third Era in earnest, you’ll only be in deeper despair.” In response to Xiao Yumei’s terror, Ye Zichen didn’t rebuke her, but he didn’t comfort her either.
Yes, she was a woman, but she was also an imperial lord.
And that wasn’t all: she was the vice alliance head of the Upheaval Alliance. She could show her weaknesses to Ye Zichen, but that was because she was his woman, and Ye Zichen was her support. But before all others, she was a lofty figure, an imperial lord and the vice alliance head. Her every word and deed influenced the alliance members’ confidence. Even if she was afraid, she had to fight back her terror. Only then could she instill her subordinates with confidence.
Ye Zichen trusted that Xiao Yumei knew all this already, so there was no need to go into it.
Xiao Yumei sighed and sat down, but at that moment, an elderly shadow drawn out by sunlight appeared within the meeting hall.
Ye Zichen and Xiao Yumei noticed the shadow on the ground, and when they glanced at the door…
“Alliance Head, Vice Alliance Head….”
“No need for that. Better to let me introduce myself to Alliance Head Ye myself.” Suddenly, several new figures appeared in the hall, as if out of nowhere. Among them were five young children, more like toddlers, as well as a loli-looking girl and a middle-aged man.
“You…” When Ye Zichen saw the five toddlers, he instantly frowned.
The five toddlers standing before him were none other than the five elemental essence spirits he’d met in the mausoleum. When Ye Zichen frowned, the wind essence spirit shrunk back fearfully, hiding behind the fire essence spirit.
Them aside, the loli was Gu Luolin. As for the middle-aged man, Ye Zichen had never seen or heard of him.
“You can head down.” Ye Zichen waved the alliance member away. The essence spirits looked a little nervous, while the middle-aged man carefully watched the alliance member leave without stepping into the meeting room.
“Nephew!” Without a second thought, Gu Luolin called out to Ye Zichen, then dashed up to him.
One look at Gu Luolin, and Xiao Yumei felt a headache coming on. Ever since coming to the Upheaval Alliance, this little princess had caused uproar everywhere she went; not even the chickens could sleep in peace. And yet, she was Ye Zichen’s senior, and Ye Zichen had told her in private that she was a member of the Gu Family.
Thus, even if Gu Luolin were even more troublesome than she already was, the alliance would just have to look the other way!
“Where’d you find the time to visit?”
“What, you don’t want me here?” Gu Luolin pouted her little lips. Then, she pointed to the middle-aged man just outside the door.
The man immediately entered. Gu Luolin then introduced him with great pride. “This is my father’s guard. You can call him….”
“Lan Tu, you can just call me Lan Tu.” The man smiled amiably, then pointed to the essence spirits. “Alliance Head Ye, it seems you really are acquainted with these spirits. Earlier, this humble one saw them lingering around Upheaval City, so I took it upon myself to bring them here to see you. You… I trust you won’t take offense!”
These words were, of course, mere pleasantries.
The moment Gu Luolin said Lan Tu was her father’s guard, she made his background perfectly clear.
He was a member of the Gu Family, and his status wasn’t low, either.
When members of other clans saw the Gu Family, or even just their servants, they had to treat them well, nevermind the Gu Family Head’s personal bodyguard.”
Lan Tu smiled, but just as he was about to continue, Ye Zichen’s eyes glinted coldly. “Why shouldn’t I take offense?”
