If not for the fact that everyone had their own duties to attend to, they could have idled away here until the end of time.
Fortunately, everyone still retained the proper measure of reason. Seeing that it was getting late, they rose one after another to bid Senior Liao farewell, leaving the Yaoguang Minor World and returning to their respective posts.
Remembering that he had barely watered the Ten-Mile Peach Blossom Tree lately, Lin Xiao drew a bucket of water from the small mountain spring beneath Returning Garden Mountain Retreat. He then took out several spirit stones and made his way to the entrance of the mountain path.
Just as he was watering the Ten-Mile Peach Blossom Tree and feeding it spirit stones, he saw a figure emerge from the Path of Inquiry.
The moment he saw who it was, Lin Xiao broke into a smile.
“Well, Jiang He, you’re back!”
The newcomer was none other than Qin Jianghe.
As soon as he saw Lin Xiao, the previously expressionless Qin Jianghe immediately broke into a grin.
“Brother Xiao, you’re watering the Ten-Mile Peach Blossom Tree.”
Noticing the several storage pouches hanging from his waist, Lin Xiao finished watering the tree and set the wooden bucket aside before asking, “Looks like you made quite a haul this time. By the way, how are things with the campaign against the Huanyou Kingdom? Did you hear any news in the capital?”
At the mention of this, the smile on Qin Jianghe’s face faded slightly, and his tone grew more solemn.
“It began half a month ago. Perhaps the Huanyou Kingdom had spent all these years focusing its attention on the Jishi. Its armies were utterly unable to withstand the combined attacks of our country and several neighboring nations. By now, the fighting is more or less over.”
“As for the cultivators, some remnants of the former Huanyou Kingdom have emerged to help the various nations hunt down the fleeing imperial family and those sect cultivators who colluded with them.”
“Unfortunately, a cunning rabbit has three burrows. The Huanyou Kingdom is vast, and once the war broke out, quite a few of the Jishi’s remnants escaped amid the chaos. The alliance has made it clear that it intends to wipe out every last one of them, so the Huanyou Kingdom is still technically in a state of war.”
Lin Xiao was somewhat surprised.
“Remnants of the former Huanyou Kingdom?”
Qin Jianghe let out a long sigh and nodded.
“I only heard about it a few days ago. Several hundred years ago, the Huanyou Kingdom suffered an internal upheaval. The imperial family was driven out, and some sects that had maintained close ties with the imperial family were purged as well.”
“Although some of those people and parts of their traditions survived the new imperial family’s purge, their foundations were shaken. For hundreds of years, they had been struggling merely to survive under the new imperial family’s suppression and encirclement, let alone overthrow it. Now that they saw hope in the campaign alliance, they came over and pledged their allegiance.”
As he spoke, he seemed to recall something unexpected and continued, “And Brother Xiao, did you know this? For several hundred years, those remnants have also been protecting the descendants of the former imperial family. They actually asked the allied nations to return the Huanyou Kingdom to the former imperial family after the war ended.”
“At first, I thought the nations in the alliance would never agree. After all, the Huanyou Kingdom could now be considered their spoils of war, and they could simply divide it among themselves. But who would have thought that the allied nations would agree to the remnants’ and the former imperial family’s request? They didn’t even make any excessive demands or ask for much wealth. They only requested a token amount to offset the cost of the campaign. Don’t you find that strange?”
Lin Xiao was surprised as well.
“It is strange. Didn’t those sects object to the allied nations’ decision?”
He did not know about the sects in the other countries, but the three sects of the Pu Si Kingdom certainly would not agree to let a duck already in their beaks go so easily, would they? Surely they would take a good, hearty bite out of it.
Given the position of sects within their countries, their attitudes would certainly have a major influence on such a decision.
Qin Jianghe shook his head.
“I don’t know about that. Li Zhouxuan never mentioned it, and I haven’t heard of any sects trying to obstruct the decision.”
Hearing this, Lin Xiao frowned slightly and nodded.
“That is rather strange. Normally, given the Huanyou Kingdom’s current situation and its borders with several neighboring countries, it would be entirely possible for those countries to divide it among themselves. I never expected the allied nations to return it to the former imperial family so readily—and for the sects not to put up much resistance…”
He continued muttering to himself as he thought it over, gradually falling silent.
Qin Jianghe said nothing either, simply standing to the side and waiting for him.
Before long, Lin Xiao spoke again.
“Perhaps the imperial families and sects of these countries have some sort of connection. I suspect it may even be rooted in their shared history…”
Qin Jianghe nodded along.
“I think that’s very possible. I already found it strange that those sects agreed to the campaign against the Huanyou Kingdom so readily. Going by their usual behavior, I wouldn’t have been surprised if they had spent six months or even a year arguing back and forth. Yet not long after the imperial family issued the announcement, replies agreeing to the campaign came in from every sect.”
“Exactly. Their ancestors probably made some kind of agreement long ago. And I suspect it most likely had something to do with a major crisis they once faced together—or perhaps even the Jishi itself. By the way, how would you describe the relationship between these countries? Are they close?”
As he spoke, Lin Xiao continued pondering the matter.
Qin Jianghe mentally sorted through the various scattered bits of information he had gathered from the front lines of the war in the Huanyou Kingdom through special methods such as “money speaks louder than words.” Only then did he give Lin Xiao a relatively certain answer.
“They don’t seem very close. Their relationships with one another appear far more distant than their relationships with the sects within their own countries.”
After receiving his answer, Lin Xiao nodded.
“That confirms it. The countries aren’t particularly close, yet when this happened, they joined forces with remarkable speed. They were also extremely quick to return the Huanyou Kingdom to the former imperial family. It’s most likely because of some shared history between their ancestors.”
“But none of that has much to do with us. We only need to focus on running our own sect.”
With that, the topic came to an end. Lin Xiao had also finished watering the Ten-Mile Peach Blossom Tree, and Qin Jianghe had intended to return to the Finance Hall to deal with the spoils from this trip.
However, as he was about to leave, he seemed to think of something else. After hesitating for a moment, he finally called out to Lin Xiao, who was preparing to check what Little Luan had done to the shed.
“Brother Xiao, there’s something I heard, though I’m not sure whether it’s true. Apparently, an epidemic may have broken out in a remote region of the Huanyou Kingdom. However, it was only one piece of information buried among a large pile of reports, and I haven’t found any trace of it in the other messages.”
“Besides, I can’t be certain that the source was actually referring to an epidemic. All it said was that a small-scale infection might have occurred. The symptoms were somewhat unusual. Those infected felt cold all over. At first, their hair began to fall out. Then the nails on their fingers and toes came off, followed by their teeth. So far, no deaths have been reported.”
“And because there haven’t been many patients, and the area is so remote, no one has paid much attention to it. The matter was reported, but the report simply vanished without a response.”
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
