Chapter 303: Senior brother, take charge of the overall situation
Ye Anping gazed at Liang Zhu calmly, wanting to confirm whether he was indeed the unnamed guard who had rescued the second princess, despite it not affecting his plans. He still desired a genuine connection with Liang Zhu.
Upon their first meeting, he had perceived Liang Zhu as a rather aloof assassin, nothing more. However, encountering him at Chilong Mansion revealed another side to this cold killer — that of a father.
Ye Anping wasn’t one for socializing, but he genuinely wished to befriend Liang Zhu.
“Brother Liang, during the Heavenly Sacrifice for the Second Princess, a guard switched the real Emperor’s Sect Second Princess and fled the Central Domain with her. Was that person you?” Ye Anping asked.
Liang Zhu narrowed his eyes slightly, interrupting, “Lao Liu, where did you hear about this?”
“I heard about it,” Ye Anping replied faintly.
“Haha…” Liang Zhu chuckled coldly, assessing his sixth brother before stating, “Everyone who knew about this in the Central Domain is dead. Heavenly Execution Court eradicated all involved in the Heavenly Sacrifice to keep the news sealed.”
“Are you that person?” Ye Anping inquired.
Liang Zhu shook his head, observing the six cultivators attempting to escape around the alchemy furnace. Swiftly, he pointed his sword, using thunder techniques to incinerate them on the spot.
“If you already know, why ask me?” Liang Zhu questioned.
“I just wanted to confirm,” Ye Anping replied, palms up. “I’m not all-knowing. Although I know a lot, it’s only a rough idea.”
Huh…
Liang Zhu exhaled lightly. “Indeed, Ahting is the second princess of the Emperor Sect. I escaped with her from the Central Domain.”
“So… how did you save her?” Ye Anping inquired further.
“It was the second princess’s personal maid who found me. She handed me a dead baby and asked me to exchange the baby girl with Ahting, and I agreed,” Liang Zhu explained.
“A dead baby!” Ye Anping questioned.
“Yes… I don’t know where the dead baby came from, but I can guess,” Liang Zhu replied, a tinge of sorrow flashing in his eyes. “It was likely orchestrated by the empress. Only she and the Emperor of the Central Domain knew I was responsible for escorting the second princess to the altar.”
This was a detail that Ye Anping hadn’t known. He raised his chin, pondering for a moment. There wasn’t much storyline in the game concerning the Emperor and Empress of the Central Domain. After the Emperor’s demise at the end of the Emperor Sect incident, it seemed that the Emperor and Empress had left the Central Territory for an unknown destination.
However, if this plot were to develop…
The Empress probably went to find the second princess, and in the end, she likely found the unnamed guard and worked with him to raise the grown-up second princess…
At this thought, Ye Anping blinked and raised his eyebrows.
“Haha… Brother Liang, it seems that Ahting will gain another mother this year,” He remarked.
Liang Zhu didn’t follow his train of thought and raised an eyebrow in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s nothing,” Ye Anping shrugged. “It’s getting late. My junior sister and the others are probably getting impatient.”
Liang Zhu watched as Ye Anping headed towards the entrance, then followed suit. After contemplating, he asked, “What did you come to the Central Domain for?”
“If I didn’t come, some old woman would come back and slap my ass,” Ye Anping replied cryptically.
“Old woman!” Liang Zhu queried, puzzled.
“Who?” He pressed further.
“It’s a secret. As for why I came to the Central Domain?” Ye Anping pondered for a moment before deadpanning, “Rebellion!”
“Rebellion! Do you intend to go against the Emperor of the Central Domain? He’s a Void Realm cultivator,” Liang Zhu exclaimed, surprised.
Ye Anping glanced at him, saying, “How can I dare challenge the Emperor of the Central Domain? I’m just a regular cultivator with two spiritual roots.”
“But there’s assistance.”
“Helper!”
“Yeah.”
Liang Zhu frowned, wondering where he found such a powerful ally to confront a void cultivator.
“Who!”
“Demon Emperor, Hu Mu.”
Liang Zhu’s eyes widened. “Who?”
“A testy vixen, must I spell it out?”
Liang Zhu was speechless, but after a moment, he understood. He sneered and said, “Seems like the deaths of the second, third, fourth, and fifth brothers weren’t in vain.”
Ye Anping glanced at Liang Zhu, sensing some underlying reproach, but chose to ignore it, continuing out of the cave.
As they emerged from the cave, the scenery outside was a welcome change from the oppressive atmosphere. The waterfall amidst the bamboo grove was a far cry from the stifling alchemy room inside the cave.
Ye Anping took in a deep breath of fresh air. Just as he was about to move on, he heard the faint chime of the bell in his storage pouch.
Chime chime~~
He was a little helpless as he looked around, but there were no signs of anyone, just waterfalls, rocks, and some weeds and shrubs.
Liang Zhu saw Ye Anping suddenly scanning the surroundings and asked, “What’s wrong? Is someone there?”
“Thief Immortal! She must have overheard everything,” Ye Anping replied, then cleared his throat and called out loudly, “Miss Thief Immortal, care to join us for a chat!”
Unfortunately, there was no response, only the incessant tinkling of the star-returning bell. Since Su Wan’er didn’t show up, he didn’t insist. After all, she would continue pretending to be Miss Su and follow them on the road after hearing what he had just said to Liang Zhu.
Liang Zhu’s expression eased a bit after seeing the scenery of the bamboo forest. After walking awhile, he asked, “What do I do next?”
Ye Anping paused, concerned that Su Wan’er might still be eavesdropping. He looked around and then motioned for Liang Zhu to squat down.
Liang Zhu complied, asking, “What?”
“After we return to Tainan City, you return to the Emperor Sect and have the female cultivator who was with us, the one in the early stage of core formation, sent to the heavenly prison in Tainan City.”
“Um!”
“When the time comes, blame her for the death of the governor named Jianghe. Then you will have two achievements. One is to catch the criminal who killed the governor, and the other is to catch the Thief Immortal. After that, you can see the deputy commander of the Heavenly Execution Court.”
“Then!”
“Tell him what you saw and heard in Yuan Quan Town, and he will figure out what to do. That man is an upright official. He is the only person in a high position in the Heavenly Execution Court who does not know about the alchemy room.”
Liang Zhu listened to this, furrowing his brow slightly, and combining it with what Ye Anping said about the demon clan, he roughly guessed what he wanted to do.
“You’re thinking…”
Ye Anping continued, “Well when the demon clan is approaching Tianan, I need someone to open the door and invite the demon emperor to enter the city. And when the Emperor of the Central Domain is dying, I also need him to lead the Heavenly Execution Court to suppress the Tian’an Soul Formation. Let an old lady slap the Emperor of Central Domain’s face without worries.”
“…Old lady!”
Ye Anping nodded, but after some consideration, he advised, “I’ll just call her old lady. Don’t call her that. She should be arriving at Tianan City soon. You should see her when you return to the Emperor Sect.”
“…”
“Remember, don’t call her old lady in front of her.”
…
