202 Never Forget This Favour

"Son, we have only chosen to abuse our authority for your sake, knowing you have never asked anything of us before." The Jade Emperor sat back on the throne, removed the golden crown from his head and brushed his small fingers through his long dark hair.

A beautiful girl with aquamarine eyes and a matching pair of dragon horns had excitedly stepped forward and bowed in gratitude.

"Thank you, Father. This prince will never forget this favour!"

The Jade Emperor sighed remorsefully, tiredly placing his palm over his forehead. He, the ruler of all godly beings had countless concubines and plenty offspring, but as fate would have it, he was only blessed with two sons. The eldest son was the heir apparent, kind and righteous and filial, yet lacking the backbone and shrewdness which the younger brother possessed.

After numerous years of conflict between the siblings, the younger brother had chosen to leave the Heavens for thousands of years, vanishing without a single trace.

Yet now, all of a sudden, Long Tiang Feng, the prodigal son had finally reappeared and returned to the Jade Palace only to present his father with a very peculiar request; "Confine the Fox Lord to the Heavenly Realm."

The boy had even gone as far as to provide a valid reason to use as an excuse and informed him of Hong Meigui's escape from the Bai clan alongside the legendary monster, Taotie.

The Jade Emperor's eyebrows wrinkled into a frown as he addressed his unruly child, "Long Tiang Feng, are you now going to tell us why you made this absurd request?"

The bright-eyed girl tittered in delight, covering her grin with her sleeve, "That fox is after something I too am interested in, his presence irks me! Besides, he should have been punished for allowing that monster to flee."

The Jade Emperor raised a single eyebrow, knowing his son would never admit his true thoughts. The twinge of guilt he felt for not spoiling his youngest as much as he did his eldest child had prompted him to follow along with this ridiculous plan.

Still, he scolded the prancing girl, restraining the urge to smack his own child, "Foolish boy, the proper procedure would have been to send the Fox God out to seek Taotie, not confine him to the palace. Our reputation will be tarnished because of you!"

The beautiful dragon girl didn't seem to care at all for what her father had to say. She held a delicate hand to her chest and grew indignant for an entirely different reason, "Ah! Father, can't you see I'm a female? I'm called Xiong Mei from now on, alright? I'll see you soon with some good news!"

Xiong Mei stood by the dais, narrowing her sparkling eyes as she stared at the royal throne, she bowed down in respect while her appearance began to gradually shapeshift. Brilliant scales that were cold as ice and could rival the lustre of the shiniest stones graced the body of a humongous floating serpent instead of her.

The sublime dragon glided right out of the main doors, leaving behind a bewildered father at his wit's end, shaking his adolescent head while wondering what he had done to beget a child whose hobby was to change genders.

Worse yet, his foolish son's request had brought to light the revelation of an event he had tried to prevent from occurring since time immemorial.

That voice, those eyes… especially the awfully familiar malevolent aura which the Fox God had possessed…

There was no doubt about it, The Jade Emperor's worst fear had unwittingly came to pass.