Chapter 253 - A Double-Edged Sword

In the Nine Heavens above, Fate's Scribe Shun Tao heaved a sigh of relief. He had just read how Hong Bao had been approached by Xiao Li. Thankfully, that girl seemed to have grown up a bit. At least, she hadn't gushed to him about everything and given the crown prince's identity away. It was alarming, though, that a demon or rather a half-blood had come this close to his Highness.

Speaking of that … Longjun's presence seemed like a double-edged sword. They should really be grateful for the fact that he stayed at the crown prince's side since he had managed to drive that demon away when he first turned up. Without him, that might have turned out differently.

But then again these mortals wouldn't have found out about Zhong Jing Yi's real identity if Longjun hadn't directly told them and then Hong Bao wouldn't be in the position where she actually could tell the demon something. Ah, knowing her it might just be a question of time until she started to trust him and divulged everything.

"Aiya, even though nothing happened yet it's still worrying. I should probably go and report to the Heavenly Emperor." Shun Tao said so but stayed seated, though. "Maybe I should go to the God of War instead." He frowned. "What is that Leng Jin Yu doing anyway? I haven't heard anything from him since he followed those two. It can't be that he ran into trouble, right? Or is he treating this as a vacation?" Shun Tao stood up and paced up and down.

This troublesome task seemed to get even more troublesome with time. The crown prince was already sixteen years old and even though he had managed to pass some minor trials there were no others in sight. On the contrary, he was especially happy thanks to Longjun. If those two indeed married … The only thing that might happen was that one of them would die of absolute bliss.

If things went on like this, then those two would soon finish that mission and return to the Yun Zou Sect and then Zhong Jing Yi would become an inner sect disciple. It wasn't hard to imagine what the next step would be: An inner sect disciple with at least a little bit of worth and one that was engaged to the most promising disciple of said sect, the Sect Master would need to be more than blind if he didn't try to help him further his cultivation!

In short: If he didn't do something soon, then his Highness' mortal reincarnation would indeed become immortal and someday ascend as a deity. And then their crown prince …

"Aiya! What should I do?" Shun Tao slid his fingers through his hair. He honestly felt like some strands were dropping out because of this couple. Hadn't the Heavenly Empress warned Longjun enough? What was this guy thinking?

He really needed to throw some trials at the crown prince but Longjun's presence was just too troublesome. It might not yield any results. But trying it might still be for the best. He just needed an opportunity …

Shun Tao sat back down at his desk and picked up Jing Yi's scroll of fate. Right now, the boy should be on his way to Grandmaster Shen's estate with the dragon king. Shun Tao scratched his head. With Longjun and Hong Bao around, this would probably end in chaos anyway. He just had to watch, prepare his ink and brush and strike as soon as an opportunity presented itself.

He read the last part that had appeared on the scroll. Those two had indeed accepted the invitation and gone there. Everything seemed ordinary. Shun Tao watched as the next part of Zhong Jing Yi's fate revealed itself, stroke by stroke.

Then, Shun Tao threw his brush away, leaped to his feet and ran outside. He came back at once, picked up the scroll he had forgotten to take and hurried over to the Heavenly Emperor's palace.

He didn't care for the guards and just barged right in, throwing himself to the ground. He even forgot to extend the customary greetings. "Your Majesty! Something bad happened!"

The Heavenly Emperor Rong Su had already guessed that something must have happened as soon as he saw Shun Tao's untypical behavior. He looked at his brother-in-law who stood next to him and gulped. "What happened to our son?"

Shun Tao winced. Ah, this Longjun! Could it be that he wouldn't be happy until he had completely destroyed him? "His mortal reincarnation was sent on a mission to one of the heretic sects together with Longjun. Besides the Sect Master, the most important person is their Grandmaster Shen An De who is part demon."

"What?!" The Heavenly Emperor leaped to his feet. "Qiang Yan, you have to send your people immediately! We definitely can't let Jing He stay there unguarded if demons are running rampant there."

The God of War looked at Shun Tao. "Did that Grandmaster try to attack his Highness?"

Shun Tao shook his head. "No. In fact, he just met him for the first time. But he had dealings with Longjun before and …" Shun Tao grimaced and lowered his head. "The dragon king told him about his Highness' identity!"

Rong Su and Qiang Yan exchanged a glance. They didn't like where this was going.

"I don't know what his plans were but that Grandmaster gave his Highness one of the fruits from the Beguiling Night Tree."

Rong Su sat down on his throne again. "The Beguiling Night Tree?" That was actually a tree they had in the Nine Heavens, too. All of the immortal realms had them and not just a few. They were only rare in the mortal realm. And they could only prove difficult for mortals. Unfortunately, his son was one of them right now.

Qiang Yan watched his brother-in-law's expression before turning back to Shun Tao. "Did his scroll of fate say anything about what he saw?"

Shun Tao opened the scroll with trembling fingers. He hadn't dared to read on back in his study. Just knowing that it was a fruit of the Beguiling Night Tree had shocked him enough. Now, he took a quick glance before hurriedly closing his eyes. This … didn't look good at all.