Vol 8 Chapter 262 – Gu Dan already has a new King

Name:The Dragon's Flower Author:chocolily
chocolily

XH 262 - Gu Dan already has a new King

When Long Zhu was invited into Wugui Mingzhi's visiting room, Feng Jiu and Qiang Laohu had already arrived and gathered in a room.

Long Zhu was astonished at Feng Jiu's unexpected presence, which could be seen when he missed a step, but quickly got over his surprise.

"If you would have waited, I could have brought you along." Feng Jiu laughed lightly.

Removing his traveling cloak, Long Zhu took a seat beside Wugui Mingzhi, who poured a cup of warm tea for him.

After saying a brief 'thank you' to Wugui Mingzhi, Long Zhu answered Feng Jiu, "I do not know when you would wake up, but apparently I have underestimated you."

"That you did," Feng Jiu chuckled, not offended at Long Zhu's conjecture.

Being the celestial beast's vassal, Feng Jiu has the perk of traveling around in just a blink of an eye, similar to the art of teleportation. The other vassals of other celestial beasts could do it too. But the only condition for the skill to activate was that place must be where they went to before.

"Vermillion bird itself reached out to speak to me and so I assume it's a piece of important news that needs to be known by others quickly and to plan what we should do next," Long Zhu explained.

"I know." Feng Jiu smiled to tell him that she did not mind it, and was thankful for his willingness to act quickly.

Among them, only Long Zhu was not a vassal of a celestial beast. He was willing to be Azure Dragon's next vassal, for the sake of protecting the Guilin Kingdom, but the dragon knew that his intention was noble, but his heart was not entirely willing.

Fortunately, the Azure Dragon received a message from the Creator, that a suitable vassal will appear in the future and it saved Long Zhu from being tied up with a burden that was not his fate.

The other vassals had told Long Zhu he could leave the demon gate matters to them, and focus on his life as a prince, but he refused. Even if his strength was immeasurable to the other vassals, he still wished to help as much as he could.

"The White Tiger told me that the demon is not in the Bai Hu Kingdom." Qiang Laohu grumbled, unsatisfied.

"Black turtle says the same, the demon is not in the Xuanwu Kingdom," Wugui Mingzhi added.

"I have sent a missive to my eighth brother to ask Azure Dragon about this." He was still waiting for Heise's reply.

"The demon would not possibly hide in the Guilin Kingdom, as long as she knew she could be sensed by the celestial beasts," Wugui Mingzhi said, but secretly hoped the demon did not know about this quirk and quickly got caught so that they can settle the potential threat quickly.

The star had told him the longer the demon was on loose, the closer the disastrous star will be towards the other stars. The disastrous star had almost completely swallowed the star known as Liu Chu Chu and showed signs of greediness to swallow other bright stars around it.

"If that demon isn't in the Four Kingdom, where is she?" Qiang Laohu scratched his head. "The gate is right in the middle of the Four Kingdom, but my men did not see any newcomers around the place."

"Gu Dan country is also in the middle of the Four Kingdom."

Qiang Laohu stopped rubbing his head and stared at Long Zhu. "You think she is hiding in Gu Dan?"

Although the Four Kingdoms were linked by a large bridge, built close to one another, they did not occupy all the space, such as the center. Those lands that the Four Kingdoms had not occupied were not under their jurisdiction and the celestial beasts' influence could not reach those lands.

"She might have taken over the country by force, now that they are missing a King."

"That will buy us some time to think of a plan to invade Gu Dan." Qiang Laohu managed to find a fortune in the news of misfortune. "Those water balls you have... could they deal with the poisonous fog around Gu Dan?"

"I have not tested-"

"Hello everyone."

It was thanks to Heise without showing any intention to launch an attack that he was saved from being attacked for startling everyone in the room.

Heise grinned at their shocked expression, not at all scared that he would be mistakenly killed for surprising them. "It's my first time meeting the vassals of the three celestial beasts. I'm Azure Dragon's vassal, the 21st Emperor of Guilin, Long Ming."

Feng Jiu was the first to correct her expression and introduced herself. "Vermillion bird's vassal, Feng Jiu, the niece of Zhu Que Kingdom's Emperor. It's a pleasure to finally meet the youngest Emperor of Guilin."

"I get to be the youngest Emperor because of my lazy Imperial elder brothers," Heise sighed, pitying himself.

"How could that be. They must have known you will be the better Emperor than them. You proved that you did not fail their expectation and also surpassed their high expectation," Feng Jiu praised charmingly.

"I'm Qiang Laohu, a vassal of the White Tiger and the Crown Prince of Bai Hu Kingdom," Qiang Laohu introduced himself, cutting in the conversation.

"My name is Wugui Mingzhi, a vassal of the Black turtle. I'm the next in line to the throne of Xuanwu Kingdom," Wugui Mingzhi inserted a self-introduction before Qiang Laohu got angry over what the Emperor of Guilin might reply to his introduction.

The young Guilin Emperor arched his eyebrows in amusement with unconcealed mischief, the type that Qiang Laohu was not one well equipped to handle in a conversation. Bai Hu royalty was known for their bravery and strength, not their well-versed in politics or smooth-talking.

Long Zhu decided to calm down the stirring atmosphere. "Eighth brother, are you here because of my message?" Long Zhu inquired.

"One of the reasons. I think a written message takes too much time to communicate, so I decided to come to you directly. Azure Dragon is very useful!"

Feng Jiu's eyes widened in surprise. "You are able to use the traveling technique already?"

She herself needed years before she could master the traveling technique. Vermillion bird could directly transport her with its power, but right after the travel, Feng Jiu always ended with severe nausea and headache.

It was the same condition for Wugui Mingzhu and Qiang Laohu and that motivated them to quickly master the art themselves without relying on their celestial beasts.

She could see that Long Ming had not used Azure Dragon to travel here unless he was such a great actor that he could hide the symptoms that well!

"But even so, you should not be able to come here when you have not been here before," Qiang Laohu commented suspiciously.

"I haven't," Heise admitted. "But Azure Dragon did." Azure Dragon had been to the Xuanwu Kingdom before its land started to flourish. "I have already learned the traveling technique. It's quite easy to learn."

Qiang Laohu's self-confidence had started to recover once Heise revealed that he was here thanks to Azure Dragon, but got immediately crushed by his next sentence. With how talented Long Ming was, it was no wonder why the Guilin Kingdom could strive well under his command at such a young age!

"Guilin Emperor is truly talented." Wugui Mingzhi smiled. Long Ming's star was the brightest among them and his eyes stung just by catching a glimpse of it.

Long Zhu wondered if it had got to do with what Xiao Hua had said about Heise's body being a cheat. A golden body, with numerous luck and talent, which was the World Spirit's compensation for pulling Heise to its world.

"Just average, nothing much to boast about. It's all thanks to my officials and family that patiently helped me," Heise said modestly, but his smile did not diminish even a bit but grew brighter. "About the demon, Azure Dragon said she's not in the Guilin Kingdom."

"She might really be in Gu Dan country." Long Zhu narrowed his eyes and tapped his fingers on his lap.

"Gu Dan is the second reason why I'm here," Heise voiced out, his grin disappeared. "Gu Dan already has a new King."

Long Zhu's guess was right on point. Fu Chou was indeed at the Gu Dan country.

A middle-aged man with a round, bald head smiled at Fu Chou until his eyes could not be seen. "How may I address you, miss...?"

Everyone in Gu Dan already knew the woman before them was not Liu Chu Chu, their previous King's lover, but someone dangerous that possessed the body. They do not dare to slight her, or their lives will be gone.

"Fu Chou."

The bald man smiled even wider. "Miss Fu, may I assume that for you being here, it means you need our help?"

Fu Chou, with an impassive face and blank eyes, turned to the bald man. "You want the spring water."

Unlike the previous manic expression when she faced Jing Ke, she was quiet and much like an introvert. It was because there was nothing here that interested her to arouse her fervor. She was only here to hide and gather time to fully regain her power.

The bald man laughed in a friendly manner. "I'm glad Miss Fu understands. What do you think of this exchange?"

"I will accept."

"I'm glad to hear that. But Miss Fu, may I ask a rude question?" Fu Chou stared at him, and her action was enough to tell the bald man that she was willing to listen. "Do you have the means to turn us into demons, just like you?"

That question apparently surprised Fu Chou that her eyes were no longer cloudy. "Why would you want that?"

Shen Ruyi had chosen to offer her soul to get the power to kill the Jing clan after her daughter was pushed into the pond. Being a demon gave her time and opportunity to find and reunite with her daughter again.

The bald man no longer smiled and Fu Chou could finally see his eyes, which was as green as other Gu Dan clansmen.

"We are aware of your plans, Miss Fu, after you have graciously informed us of your intention. Us being demons will be beneficial to your plans."

"You just don't want to die."

At Fu Chou's words that bluntly voiced out their fears, the new Gu Dan King smiled. "We want a place in the new world."