The shock caused by Li Tianlan’s returning to Zhongzhou State had not subsided. On the contrary, as time went on, the atmosphere became more and more stifling in the Special Warfare System of Zhongzhou State.
All the topics about Li Tianlan became more and more popular. With his return, the coming events cast their shadows before them in Zhongzhou State.
All this was neither because of Li Tianlan’s strength nor his aptitude.
But it was because of his identity.
And it was just because of his identity.
He was the heir of the Li family, Li Honghe’s grandson.
This identity was like a mirror. Standing in Zhongzhou State, he could reflect the superficial foundation of Kunlun City, many doubts of treason case, meaningful silence of Wang family of Beihai, and firm stand of Sigh City over these years.
It was an embarrassing thing.
Kunlun City did not want to see Li Tianlan appear, because they climbed to their current position by stepping on the remains of Li family. So, they instinctively treated anyone of Li family as a threat.
Wang family of Beihai was unwilling to see Li Tianlan appear because they had already proved the correctness of their silence over these years.
More than 20 years ago, Wang family of Beihai and Li family jointly supported Southeast Group.
But now, Wang family of Beihai was supreme in the Southeast Group.
Therefore, Li Tianlan’s appearance was also a threat to the Wang family of Beihai.
But now, Li Tianlan was well known in the Dark World. Meanwhile, he was the Young Governor of Sigh City.
If he died in Changdao, it would be a perfect ending.
However, he was not dead now.
After he resurrected by a miracle, Wang family of Beihai and Sigh City got into an awkward situation because of his identity. Nobody wanted to act rashly and blindly.
Then, Li family began to live for themselves.
Li Tianlan was still the Young Governor of Sigh City.
The most important thing was that Li Tianlan became the hero of Special Warfare System in Zhongzhou State.
Wang family of Beihai and Kunlun City were ready for action, but they did not take action.
Li Tianlan did not move either.
Therefore, the atmosphere of Special Warfare System in Zhongzhou State became tenser and tenser.
Not many people knew his current state. Their impression of him always stayed at the last moment of the final battle of Changdao. In that state, he controlled the resources of Sigh City and the residual light of the Li family. It was still far away from Kunlun City and Wang family of Beihai, but he had the fight-to-the-finish power at least.
Everyone was waiting for Li Tianlan to move.
As long as he did so, the most significant turmoil in the Imperial Special Warfare System over the past two decades was about to kick off.
Li Tianlan was indeed moving.
The so-called movement was nothing more than that he was not sitting at the lake but casually strolling in the East Emperor Palace.
With a signboard of Han Yue Palace above the door, the East Emperor Palace was small in size, nearly 33 acres. However, it was delicately structured with flowers and trees, pavilions, terraces, and towers well-arranged. Li Tianlan strolled all day, and his change was more and more apparent.
Everyone could feel this change.
Li Tianlan became more and more ordinary. The quietness of his inner peace began to disappear. He in a white walked among the flowers and plants, as drifting as a speck of dust. He was so silent that everyone almost ignored him.
His temperament was more illusory than the day before. He stood there and could be seen by anyone, but they could not concentrate on him.
It was vague and illusory.
He was still thinking and trying. He was uncertain that his change was good or bad. However, he could be sure that it would be okay as long as there were changes.
It had been half a month since he returned from Sky Academy.
Li Tianlan was not getting any better. The roads before him were increasing so that he did not know which one was correct. After thinking, testing, and choosing, he was still calm without any anxiety.
Time slowly passed.
Early autumn slowly passed.
When the Mid-Autumn Festival was near, he stayed in East Emperor Palace. Xu Chu, who occasionally went to Sky Academy, found Li Tianlan. He was affectedly bashful.
Li Tianlan seemed to become mild. Looking at Xu Chu’s look, he could not help but tease, “Brother Xu, what’s going on here? Why are you so shy? Your figure has nothing to do with this word.”
Xu Chu scratched his head. His figure was tall and robust. He was like a giant in front of Li Tianlan, who stood in an illusion and was increasingly invisible.
“Young Master… Aunt Bai wants to see you, and now she is on the way…”
Xu Chu hesitated and said in a low voice.
“Aunt Bai?”
Li Tianlan did not respond for a while.
Before he came back, a continuous stream of visitors came to the East Emperor Palace. But since his return, all the visitors had disappeared. It indicated that his presence made waves in Zhongzhou State. Li Tianlan did not care, and he thought it was good to be quiet. Now he heard Xu Chu mention such a name, and he was subconsciously dazed.
“Secretary Bai Qingqian. Young Master, it was Aunt Bai that let me come to your side.”
Xu Chu whispered.
Bai Qingqian was… the leader of Guanzhong Province, a legendary woman in the political circle of Zhongzhou State, and hardcore of Giant Group of Zhongzhou State.
Li Tianlan’s mouth twitched.
For him, Aunt Bai’s most important identity was Marshal Dongcheng Wudi’s wife and Dongcheng Rushi’s mother.
Li Tianlan remembered the marriage contract that he had subconsciously forgotten and suddenly had a headache.
Even so, since she had come, he had to see her. He looked at Xu Chu and asked, “Where is she?”
In the bleak and cold autumn wind in the morning, he turned about and said slowly, “Go and meet her with me.”
“She’s almost here.”
Xu Chu followed Li Tianlan and said in a low voice, “When Aunt Bai called me, she was about 10 kilometers away from here.”
Li Tianlan nodded and walked to the door.
“Where is Tianlan going?”
Another voice rang behind them.
Ning Qiancheng came over. Compared with Xu Chu, he was straightforward. “I just received a call form the Marshal. He wanted to come and sit. He’s almost here.”
Although there was more than one marshal in Zhongzhou State, the marshal that Ning Qiancheng mentioned was only one.
Li Tianlan looked at odd-looking Xu Chu and then Ning Qiancheng. He could not bear but ask, “Does Marshal come alone?”
“Yes.”
Ning Qiancheng said casually, “The Marshal has a meeting in Youzhou at night, so he wants to visit you in advance.”
Li Tianlan and Xu Chu looked at each other in speechless despair.
Dongcheng Wudi.
Bai Qingqian.
How did the couple come over at the same time?
Did they make an appointment in advance?
Li Tianlan once again remembered his marriage with Dongcheng Rushi. He only felt stressful and waved his hand helplessly, saying, “Go, let’s go to meet them. Where is Senior Yu?”
“Grandpa went out with Qingyan.”
Ning Qiancheng called so naturally. Now he was sleeping with Yu Qingyan in one room under Yu Donglai’s nose, and thus it could be seen that he had consented in their relationship.
Li Tianlan nodded, narrowed his eyes, and went straight to the entrance of East Emperor Palace.
He had never contacted his mother-in-law-to-be Bai Qingqian, so he did not know her purpose in coming.
However, Dongcheng Wudi’s arrival made him realize something.
It had been one month since he appeared in Sky Academy. Although he was living a sort of secluded life in East Emperor Palace, the outside world was doomed to be unquiet. Now Dongcheng Wudi came here, so there was basically a defined result about some debates in the outside world.
Li Tianlan had no expression on his face.
He was clear that it would not be good for him or East Emperor Palace.
“Did the Marshal say anything on the phone?”
Li Tianlan suddenly asked.
“No.”
Ning Qiancheng walked beside him and shook his head, casually saying, “I can guess, mostly for your marriage with Rushi.”
“So, the Marshal and Secretary Bai come together?”
Li Tianlan smiled wryly.
“Madam is here too?”
Ning Qiancheng was surprised. Dongcheng Wudi and Bai Qingqian met each other. Obviously, Ning Qiancheng did not know if it was coincident or deliberate.
“Gee… They will force you to air your opinions. Tianlan, what exactly are your plans?”
“I have no plans.”
Li Tianlan spoke frankly.
Grandpa said that Dongcheng Clan was trustworthy.
But Li Tianlan did not know if he should trust Dongcheng Rushi.
On the night when he performed a scout task with Dongcheng Rushi in Changdao, Li Tianlan was not sure if Dongcheng Rushi wanted to kill him after they got exposed. However, he ensured that when it all came to an end in Changdao, the lady in white, who pierced her heart with one stroke, also hung a crystal red dagger at her side.
He was confused about these things.
Since he could not figure them out, he had no plan.
Wherever they were, the couple was senior figures. Although Li Tianlan had no hard feelings, he was unamused by their presence here.
Three people came to the front door of East Emperor Palace in silence. They looked at the smooth and clean road outside the door.
The road was quiet. Occasionally, some yellow leaves fell on the ground with the wind, making a subtle sound.
At the entrance of East Emperor Palace, security guards recruited by Wang Yuetong from labor market began to change shifts.
As if he felt something, Li Tianlan turned back instinctively.
In his sight, two ordinary-looking security guards took over the guard on duty and walked into the duty room.
One was tall, and the other was short. One was fat while the other was thin.
As if they were aware of his gaze, they nodded to Li Tianlan, revealing a somewhat flattering smile.
It was a bit funny that the plump security guard cocked his hat when he raised his hand in salute.
Li Tianlan did not laugh. His eyes instantly became limpid and profound. He looked extremely strange.
At this moment, he seemed to disappear completely. There was only a pair of eyes that could see through everything.
“What’s the matter?”
Ning Qiancheng noticed Li Tianlan’s movement. He followed his gaze and saw two security guards walking into the duty room.
Ning Qiancheng could not help but laugh. “Yuetong is an awful fool. She fell into a trap. I’ve investigated these security guards. They are 12 persons in total, and Yuetong hired all from the labor market. They boasted that they were retired from special forces. Yuetong believed them. But actually? Only one or two are retired from special forces. And another one served in a third-class force. The other nine are ordinary people.”
“I asked Houlong to investigate their unknown background. They neither had problems nor bad records, so I didn’t tell Yuetong and keep them all. Until now, Yuetong did not know what happened. How could there be so many retired special forces in the labor market?”
Li Tianlan gently raised his mouth, and his eyes gradually calmed down.
“Labor Market?”
He asked softly.
“Well.”
Ning Qiancheng nodded casually and looked at Li Tianlan. He suddenly frowned and asked, “What’s wrong? Is there any problem?”
Li Tianlan smiled and didn’t say anything.
Problem?
It was not just a problem.
He went straight to the Invincible Realm in Changdao and resurrected in Zhongzhou State. And now, he accomplished nothing in martial arts. After his resurrection, he had inconceivably acute perception.
The two security guards on duty last night had no problem.
But when the two security guards who changed shifts came over, Li Tianlan instinctively felt a somewhat subtle and strong sense of pressure.
It was not hostility and killing intent but a natural sense of pressure.
They hid so well.
Li Tianlan even thought that he could hardly feel the sense of pressure when facing them if he had not gone to Changdao or he was of Thunder-shocking Realm.
However, he felt such a strong sense of pressure from the two security guards through the acute perception after his resurrection.
Wang Yuetong recruited them from the labor market.
In the whole Dark World, when did the experts at the peak of Thunder-shocking Realm reduce to do security guards for making a living?
Moreover, there were two such experts.
Who could afford such advanced security guards?
Li Tianlan suddenly laughed.
He found that the security guards of East Emperor Palace recruited by Wang Yuetong were not only dubious but also funny.
