Chapter 37 He just doesn't have a kind face.
The old ancestor was determined to die.
Bai Yanxing was filled with conflicting thoughts, while Duan Jiuyou was single-minded.
She felt that Bai Yanxing was showing compassion for her, an old minister, perhaps out of genuine concern, or perhaps out of helplessness. She had seen too many emperors who indulged her, so Bai Yanxing's concern was not unusual to her.
It's not normal for a younger person to care for and feel sorry for an elder who is injured.
So he composed himself, put on a new look, and "repaid" Bai Yanxing.
"Your Majesty's consideration for this old minister is truly touching!"
As soon as Bai Yanxing came to his senses, he saw Duan Jiuyou looking extremely grateful. He knew she was lively and her mind was wandering, but was she really that moved? Bai Yanxing didn't see it. The emphasis on the word "old minister" only made their relationship seem too distant.
He disliked her acting like a subject in front of him when no one was around, but since they were indeed in a ruler-subject relationship, he simply ignored her and continued Duan Jiuyou's earlier question: "Why do you fawn over Yan Kuo?"
Duan Jiuyou just said he wouldn't cause trouble for Yan Kuo, as if he had something to ask of him?
Jiuyou didn't hide anything from Bai Yanxing and said directly, "I want the Fuling Pill from his palace. This pill, after being dissolved by the Heavenly River Water, plus the Centipede, Ronghe Grass, and Horned Lotus, and then tempered in Laozi's Furnace for forty-nine days, can be refined into the Immortal-Severing Powder. I plan to go into seclusion to refine the medicine and poison myself, and now I only need this one Fuling Pill."
Duan Jiuyou was a seasoned veteran, mixing truth with lies, and Bai Yanxing had no suspicions.
Firstly, she always acts on a whim, and secondly, she thinks about dying every day.
He couldn't stop her, but it was definitely not an easy task for Duan Jiuyou to get the Fuling Pill from Yan Kuo.
He asked Jiuyou, "How do you plan to get the Fuling Pill from Yan Kuo?"
Duan Jiuyou replied without batting an eye, "I hadn't figured out how to ask for it before, but now that he's stabbed me, and I didn't fight back at all, shouldn't he compensate me with some pills?"
Bai Yanxing said, "So that's why you didn't fight back?"
Duan Jiuyou asked seriously, "Do you think he'll give it to me?"
Bai Yanxing shook his head and said, "No."
"Why?"
"It's clearly an attempt to extort money. Are you planning to have Yan Kuo unleash another hail of arrows in front of Longsheng Hall?"
Duan Jiuyou shamelessly said, "Wouldn't it be enough if the Emperor just gave it a push?"
Bai Yanxing didn't say anything, and continued to use the medicine spoon, which was covered in ointment, to "patch up" the "hole" in Duan Jiuyou's hand.
He has a sense of shame; he would never commit such a sin.
Duan Jiuyou moved his fingers dejectedly, clearly not wanting him to apply it anymore.
Bai Yanxing is such a sensitive person; you can tell her impatience just by looking at her fingers.
Her wounds didn't hurt or itch, but he insisted on applying medicine to her. Before the medicine on the back of her hand was even fully applied, the bloody hole in her palm had already begun to heal.
"There has to be a legitimate reason for this," Bai Yanxing sighed.
After the "hole" was almost filled, he wrapped her with gauze, saying as he bandaged her, "If you bring back the Green Bamboo Vine from Yanshan, I will give you the Poria Pill as a reward."
"Flaming Mountain Green Bamboo Vine?"
The morning court session was so lively that it overshadowed the matter. Bai Yanxing told Duan Jiuyou about the Zhaozhao City incident, and the more she listened, the more alarmed she became.
She hadn't expected that Zhao Zhao City would cause such a commotion after she left with Di Jiang. Her emotions were in turmoil until Bai Yanxing said that the barrier was destroyed by Xiao Siji, which calmed her down.
Bai Yanxing said, "That child didn't know that the Heart-Gathering Lotus was the key to the formation. He picked two Heart-Gathering Lotuses when he left the riverbank. Now that we need to help Du Heng repair the barrier, we must pick two more Green Bamboo Vine to form the formation and plant them in the river to maintain the stability of the barrier."
However, Bai Yanxing still had questions about this matter. He opened a square box and took out two icy blue shards that looked like glass.
He said, "I went to Zhaozhao City and brought back two fragments of the barrier. One of them is dark blue, which is the normal color when the barrier is intact. The other is light in color and the wall is thinner than normal, as if it was smashed during the restoration process."
This led him to imagine a possibility—the barrier of Zhaozhao City had been damaged once before, and that person had repaired it in order not to alert Du Heng. The Four Seasons Flower Picking happened after that person left, and by some twist of fate, it covered up the traces of the initial damage.
Duan Jiuyou took one of the fragments.
She naturally knew that the barrier had been repaired, but the more she tried to conceal it, the more suspicious it would become. It was better to follow Bai Yanxing's logic.
"So Your Majesty suspects that this barrier was broken once before?"
Bai Yanxing nodded with a complicated expression and said, "But within these Three Realms, who has such ability? Even a god-level cultivator cannot completely restore the barrier set up by the ancient emperors in a short time, unless..."
Duan Jiuyou was also feeling uneasy. There was a plate of peach blossom pastries on the table. Duan Jiuyou stretched out his arm, grabbed a piece, and took a bite. He casually said, "Unless what?"
She had a habit of having tea and snacks in the Earthly Rest Palace, so Bai Yanxing specially prepared some. Seeing that she liked them, he pushed them closer to her before continuing.
"Unless the Emperor is still alive."
"The Imperial Territory?" This answer was simply a fantasy. Duan Jiuyou said without any emotion, "The Zhanlu Blade can shatter souls and break spirits. Apart from not being able to kill me, any god or demon in this world that is hit in a vital spot by it will have no chance of survival."
This is indeed true. Zhanlu is the foremost of the ancient divine swords, known as the "slaughter of life." Even the fierce god Yanpo, who wreaked havoc on the three realms, died under Zhanlu, not to mention Dijiang, whose heart was pierced by Zhanlu.
“I also think it’s impossible.” This was also what Bai Yanxing couldn’t understand the most. “But apart from him, there really is no other possibility. Everyone says that the Wilderness Clan is good at offensive spells, but few people know that their lord’s lineage is even more skilled in repair methods. All things return to their origin, and the Formless Formation can break and repair. Di Jiang is extremely accomplished in this area. Repairing a barrier like Zhao Zhao City is a piece of cake for him. If I had half of his talent, I wouldn’t have needed you to go to Flame Mountain to get some Jade Bamboo Vine.”
Di Jiang was able to repair the barrier to its original state without the support of the array core, but Bai Yanxing had to rely on external forces to reshape the array core in order to weave the array.
Duan Jiuyou asked curiously, "Why do you praise him like that?"
The two were once fierce rivals, and their two clans were irreconcilable enemies. Under normal circumstances, shouldn't we belittle the enemy country as insignificant and unworthy of fighting them?
Bai Yanxing smiled helplessly: "That's just the way it is. His magical cultivation is indeed superior to mine. Why can't we agree with that?"
Duan Jiuyou had never heard any emperor speak so fairly about his opponent. Bai Yanxing spoke so casually that it inspired a sense of respect.
Only now did Duan Jiuyou take a serious look at Bai Yanxing again.
She realized that she hadn't seen him for quite some time. The last time they met was on the cloud chair at Mount Dixi, when she told him she was going to die. His expression was helpless and calm, just like it was now.
The atmosphere in the Heavenly Realm was peaceful and serene, and the Grand Palace was solemn and dignified. The lord of such a world should naturally wear a pure white imperial robe and look down peacefully and quietly over his country and his subjects.
Bai Yanxing's eyes held compassion, and a magnanimous heart that could embrace the world and its people.
What would it be like if this person were to sit on the throne as the emperor? Duan Jiuyou briefly imagined the scene.
His posture would certainly not be as upright as Bai Yanxing's. He was a free and easy person, and would probably prop his head up with his hand, lie on his side in the main hall, and leisurely listen to people report on their experiences from various places.
He was young, yet possessed an imposing aura like that of a cold mountain. Clad in a black robe, he appeared both intense and serene, his indifferent and stern face revealing a life-or-death power in his eyes. You feared his authority because of his presence, but he might very well summon you to his palace simply to eavesdrop on gossip from the Three Realms.
—He just doesn't have a kind face! If there were even a hint of kindness in his eyes, she wouldn't have chosen Bai Yanxing without hesitation on the day of the coup.
While inwardly grumbling, Duan Jiuyou said to Bai Yanxing, "Let alone the possibility that Di Jiang is still alive, even if he is, why would he appear in Zhaozhao City, and why would he break the city's barrier and then repair it?"
These questions, which defy common sense, are indeed perplexing when the answers are unknown.
Bai Yanxing's eyes were filled with even greater confusion.
It's already highly unlikely that Di Jiang is alive. If he were alive, would he have gone to Zhao Zhao City to break the barrier and then repair it?
He pictured the scene in his mind, and it certainly didn't fit the style of an emperor, unless he had gone mad.
The reason he told Duan Jiuyou about this was because Di Jiang was killed by her own hands.
In the war between the two races, Duan Jiuyou was chosen by Heaven. He was the emperor she personally selected and witnessed the demise of the Emperor's primordial spirit. Bai Yanxing had no reason to doubt Duan Jiuyou.
Duan Jiuyou knew that Bai Yanxing trusted her, but she was not at ease.
She had been wondering where the 20% of her merit and spiritual power had gone, but now that Xiao Siji had suddenly grown up and the barrier of Zhaozhao City had been broken, it meant that the 20% of spiritual power had fallen on Xiao Siji and Liu Tianshi.
If this spiritual power can wash away the previous Forgetfulness Curse, then there will be two more people who know about her and Di Jiang's trip to Zhaozhao City.
We need to find them both as soon as possible!
Duan Jiuyou was secretly anxious. He threw the remaining peach blossom pastry into his mouth and asked, "Wasn't the barrier broken because the Four Seasons Demon accidentally plucked the Heart-Gathering Lotus? If it had been broken before, then one of the Heart-Gathering Lotuses must have been picked. Whether Little Four Seasons picked one or two, we will naturally find out once we find Four Seasons."
Bai Yanxing hummed in agreement, examining the fragments of the barrier as he said, "We've found her. The peach blossom pastry you ate was made by her."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com