Regarding the deaths of Zhou Yong and Zhou Kuang, the Xuantian Sect swept the matter under the rug. After all, what Zhou Yong had done was utterly intolerable to both gods and men. To deal with this, the sect specially held a meeting, and in the end, it was decided not to pursue the matter further, so the affair simply faded into nothingness.
Xiao Muyu remained quite happy.
Jiang Tianlin kept cultivating, striving to boost his strength as quickly as possible. There was still the Emperor to deal with, and that Emperor possessed the cultivation of the Seventh Layer of Dao-Entering Realm. He just wondered if Ye Feng had gone to the capital to find the Emperor yet.
In the black market, there was no official authority, which was why Jiang Tianlin had acted so boldly.
However, everywhere else was monitored by the Emperor's subordinate Patrol Bureau, whose leader was the Emperor's personal head eunuch, Yang Shan.
Therefore, Jiang Tianlin decided to make a trip back to the capital to check on his adoptive father's family. This would also be his very first time returning home in this lifetime.
Tales branch off in different directions, each unfolding on its own.
Our toyed-with Son of Destiny, Ye Feng, had already arrived in the capital. After pondering for the past few days, he decided to make a direct move against the Emperor. That's right, the Son of Destiny was just that confident!
In reality, he had immense confidence in the lingering spirit residing within his body.
Yet the lingering spirit was extremely displeased.
However, no matter how displeased the lingering spirit was, there was nothing she could do. Her little life was grasped tightly in Ye Feng's hands; if she didn't want to die, she had to solve problems for Ye Feng.
"Xiao Xinxue, we strike tonight!" Ye Feng couldn't even bring himself to call her master anymore.
"Alright!"
Night fell.
Ye Feng slipped into the imperial city without a sound.
In less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick, he had reached the imperial palace and located the Emperor's whereabouts.
Right at that moment, however, an accident occurred.
"Who's there?" a duck-like voice demanded.
"Huh? Spotted? Then let's attack!" Ye Feng deeply understood the principle that striking first gains the advantage, while striking later suffers disaster.
Without any hesitation, Ye Feng immediately made his move. His actual cultivation was only at the Fourth Layer of Awakening Realm, while this eunuch was none other than Yang Shan, an expert at the Sixth Layer of Dao-Entering Realm.
Therefore, when Ye Feng attacked, Yang Shan simply didn't deign to look at him, blocking the blow with a single hand.
Ye Feng was shocked. Didn't the imperial palace only have the Emperor as an expert? Where had this other powerhouse suddenly come from?
The two exchanged a single blow, and Ye Feng was sent flying, coughing up blood.
He glared viciously at the eunuch and demanded, "You dead eunuch, who are you?"
Upon hearing this, the eunuch opposite him didn't get angry at all; instead, he replied very calmly, "This humble servant is Yang Shan, the Grand Eunuch of the Inner Palace."
"Grand Eunuch?" Ye Feng didn't care at all.
He immediately asked Xiao Xinxue to help him.
Then, Xiao Xinxue's spiritual power poured into him, causing his cultivation to skyrocket by leaps and bounds, shooting straight to the Eighth Layer of Dao-Entering Realm.
Yang Shan noticed this abnormality in him.
He asked, "Senior, who might you be, and why are you helping this person?"
Xiao Xinxue completely ignored him.
"..."
"Fine then, don't blame me." With that, Yang Shan unleashed his strongest technique—Ah—Purple Qi Coming from the East. He transformed his entire body's spiritual power into swords, with each spiritual sword possessing different functions and attributes.
This move made even Xiao Xinxue sense danger, and she said, "Ye Feng, let's get out of here quickly. This person is very strong."
"Hmph! You truly are useless. I'm not leaving. If I don't kill this dog of an Emperor, I am not leaving."
"..." Xiao Xinxue was left speechless. This Ye Feng always possessed a baffling, ungrounded self-confidence, infuriating her to the point of almost blowing a gasket several times.
"Fine then, go ahead. I'm not going to throw my life away this time."
"You?!" Ye Feng was about to die of anger. This woman always dropped the ball at the critical moment. Clearly, he was already at the Eighth Layer of Dao-Entering Realm, so how could he possibly still not be able to defeat this dead eunuch who was only at the Sixth Layer of Dao-Entering Realm?
Xiao Xinxue had nothing to say. It was true that your superficial strength was at the Eighth Layer of Dao-Entering Realm, but you couldn't possibly be foolish enough to think you could actually unleash the full power of the Eighth Layer of Dao-Entering Realm, could you?
Right at that moment, the spiritual swords closed in. Ye Feng hurriedly used his spirit sword to parry, but how could a spiritual sword from a Sixth Layer of Dao-Entering Realm expert be blocked by his mere Fourth Layer of Awakening Realm cultivation?
He simply couldn't block it.
"Pfft!" Ye Feng coughed up another mouthful of blood, his face turning even uglier. All of this happened because Xiao Xinxue had actually withdrawn her spiritual power at the critical moment; otherwise, he wouldn't have ended up in such a pathetic state.
This time, he genuinely wanted to flee, but how could Yang Shan allow him to leave?
"Spirit-Binding Art, go!"
"What is this? Let me go!"
"..." Yang Shan looked at him as if he were an idiot.
At that instant, a streak of lightning suddenly cleaved down from the sky, giving everyone nearby a start.
Yang Shan, seemingly anticipating this, pointed a finger at the lightning.
The lightning dissolved in an instant.
By this time, Ye Feng had also vanished without a trace.
Yang Shan smiled faintly and walked away.
Moments later, Ye Feng emerged from the side looking battered and disheveled. He had taken advantage of the lightning strike earlier to break free from his restraints and hide.
"Oh? Well, hello there!" Yang Shan suddenly appeared before him.
"You..."
"I think we can have a nice chat now, don't you?" Yang Shan said with a smile.
At that moment, Ye Feng felt a chill run through his entire body.
As for Xiao Xinxue, she had managed to escape. During the fight, her ring had fallen off, allowing her to get away.
Meanwhile, Jiang Tianlin had already arrived at the gates of the imperial city.
Right at that moment, the System sounded. Without needing to guess, the System's multiple-choice questions were back again:
'Ding! A mission is now available. The lingering spirit Xiao Xinxue, belonging to the Son of Destiny Ye Feng, has been discovered. Please make a choice:
First, take in Xiao Xinxue. Reward: Divine Concealment Art.
Second, kill Xiao Xinxue. Reward: Black Qilin Robe.
Third, ignore her and let her leave. Reward: Random.'
"Well, another choice? This time it's out of three."
"Someone from Ye Feng's side?"
"Interesting!"
"I choose three, ignore her and let her leave."
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the mission. Reward: a rattle-drum."
Upon hearing this reward, he was dumbfounded.
"A… a rattle-drum?! System, you must have made a mistake, right?"
"Nope! Wishing the host a pleasant playtime!"
"..."
Just as he was speechless and plotting to scam the System next time, Xiao Xinxue took the initiative to approach him.
"I recognize you!" she said slowly.
"???" He had deliberately let her go, so why on earth had she chased after him?
"Is there something you need?"
"I want to follow you, is that alright?"
"No!" he refused flatly.
"..." Considering she was the former Lingyun Medical Emperor in her past life, countless people had begged to take her as their master, yet this brat had actually refused her. She refused to accept this.
"Really, I'm doing this for your own good. Ye Feng is the Son of Destiny, right? But I am not the Son of Destiny."
"You know Ye Feng is the Son of Destiny?"
"Naturally," he said. "But I am not. You don't need to follow me; go find the next Son of Destiny."
At this point, Yang Shan had already arrived.
Right then, the System sounded once more. Needless to say, the System's multiple-choice questions had returned:
'Ding! A mission is now available. Please make a choice:
First, avoid Yang Shan. Reward: Divine Concealment Art.
Second, go see the Emperor right now. Reward: Black Qilin Robe.
Third, leave immediately. Reward: Random.
Fourth, go see Princess Luoxue right now. Reward: Qiankun Moyuan Sword.'
"Oh, another choice? This time it's out of four."
"Hmm? Looking at these four options, every single one of them seems pretty dangerous. Could the affairs of our Northern Pacification Prince's Estate be related to Princess Luoxue, though?"
However, since Yang Shan had already arrived, avoiding him was out of the question. He could only take things as they came and deal with them step by step.
"This humble servant pays respects to the Heir of the Northern Pacification Prince's Estate!"
"Heh, Grand Eunuch Yang, you arrived really quickly! It seems His Majesty the Emperor holds rather enthusiastic feelings toward our Northern Pacification Prince's Estate!"
"This humble servant doesn't quite understand what the Heir means." Yang Shan caught sight of Xiao Xinxue and immediately asked, "I wonder if the Heir is acquainted with this young woman?"
"I don't know her, but she's latched onto me. Why don't you go ahead and take the trouble, Grand Eunuch Yang, to drag her into your Patrol Bureau's soul prison?"
"..." Xiao Xinxue was speechless. What had she become? Some kind of commodity? And an unwanted one at that?
Yang Shan pondered for a moment, stepped forward, and said in a low voice to Jiang Tianlin, "I see this woman still has a bit of capability. Why not let her follow the Heir? That way she can also protect the Heir's family. What does the Heir think?"
"??? What are you trying to do?"
"Sharing the ruler's burdens!"
"Grand Eunuch Yang, please wait a moment. I heard from my adoptive father that he hasn't seen Princess Luoxue lately, so I wanted to ask you—do you know the situation regarding Princess Luoxue?"
Yang Shan had just been about to leave when he suddenly heard this question. He paused for a fraction of a second before replying, "This humble servant does not know."
"Truly do not know?"
"Naturally!"
"Then many thanks, Grand Eunuch Yang." Grand Eunuch Yang's brief hesitation just now made him understand: clues were hidden within the System's options. That being the case, it seemed the key to breaking the deadlock with the Emperor lay with Princess Luoxue. It appeared that Grand Eunuch Yang telling him to take in this lingering spirit had a hidden purpose after all; perhaps this lingering spirit could actually help him.
Grand Eunuch Yang waved his hand dismissively, implying that such a trivial matter was not worth mentioning. Yet to Jiang Tianlin in this lifetime, this was the most important thing of all—he had to protect his adoptive father's family, show them filial piety, and care for them through their old age.
"System, can I reselect my answer for the first multiple-choice question?"
"No!" the System refused flatly.
"Alright then, for the second multiple-choice question, can I answer it in a couple of days?"
"Yes!"
"Good!" He had finally obtained a satisfactory answer.
"Alright, everyone back to your posts!" Yang Shan commanded.
The men from the Patrol Bureau withdrew.
Watching Yang Shan's retreating back, Jiang Tianlin muttered to himself in his heart, "The Grand Eunuch of the Inner Palace is truly no simple character!"
Pushing those thoughts aside, he prepared to leave. Before departing, he glanced at Ye Feng and smiled at him, earning himself a fierce glare from Ye Feng.
"Alright, I'm heading back to the Prince's Estate. You can come along with me too. From now on, call me Young Master. By the way, what's your name?"
"Understood, Young Master! My name is Xiao Xinxue!"
"Xiao Xinxue, what a fine name! Let's go. Adoptive father, adoptive mother, I have returned!"
"It's just... why do I suddenly feel that strange sense of dread as I draw closer to home, almost not daring to ask about the people inside?" he thought to himself.