Chapter 615 - The Outskirts of the Capital

Seeing the Fate's Scribe and Xin Lan walk into the hall, the Heavenly Emperor couldn't help but frown. Don't tell him something had happened again! Couldn't there be even a week without trouble? It hadn't even been a month since his son went on his trial and so many things had already gone wrong!

Ah, just how much longer would this trial take? A human life shouldn't be that long but his son had even started to cultivate. What if he actually cultivated until ascension? Something like that would take tens of thousands of years! Then he'd have to wait several years until his precious son would return home!

"Your Majesty." The Fate's Scribe nodded at the Heavenly Emperor and motioned to Xin Lan. "Senior Xin Lan came to ask for our assistance regarding a mission." Shun Tao glanced over at the person next to him. "Maybe Senior Xin Lan would like to tell the Heavenly Emperor about it himself?"

Xin Lan nodded. He wasn't worried that the Heavenly Emperor wouldn't allow them to use the River of Forgetfulness to find out more about Xiang Yu. After all, he himself also had an interest in this. "Actually, this is about your son. His Majesty informed me that he was taken captive by a fallen god. I managed to find out some basic information about him but still lack more detailed knowledge about his life to ascertain where he currently is. I had thought of taking a look at the scroll of fate from his trial in the mortal world and find out more about his life here in the Nine Heavens by utilizing the River of Forgetfulness. The former will take a lot of time and will likely not yield as much information and possibly not the one we need. So I'd first like to see if we can gain the necessary information from the river."

The Heavenly Emperor sighed. "So Longjun as informed Senior Xin Lan. That's at least something."

"Mn. So would Your Majesty allow that?"

The Heavenly Emperor turned to the Fate's Scribe. "Of course! Why didn't you bring him there immediately?"

Shun Tao wanted to cry. Why? Because this Senior Xin Lan hadn't told him that this was about the Son of Heaven! Had he known that the fallen god he spoke about had kidnapped their crown prince, then naturally, he would have hurried over to the River of Forgetfulness immediately! Unfortunately, this detail hadn't been mentioned somehow.

He cleared his throat and forced himself to smile. "Using the River of Forgetfulness isn't a small matter so I thought Your Majesty should know about it. Naturally, I'll bring him there right away now that Your Majesty has been informed."

Xin Lan turned around and walked to the door without waiting for the Heavenly Emperor's answer. He shouldn't waste time on useless things. The sooner he found out more about that Xiang Yu, the sooner he could tell Qiu Ling about it. And then … then he could find out how to free his Master from the worry about Jin Ling. His Master would finally be able to find happiness.

Shun Tao stared at the back of the person that made him come here in the first place and now just left him in front of the Heavenly Emperor. He really wanted to curse him! Unfortunately, he also knew that the Heavenly Emperor was on that Senior Xin Lan's side right now. He sighed and turned to the Heavenly Emperor again. "Then I'll bring Senior Xin Lan over there. I'll report as soon as we finish."

"Mn. Hurry, don't keep Senior Xin Lan waiting. This matter is important."

Shun Tao nodded and hurried after Xin Lan who had already walked down the steps in front of the palace. "The River of Forgetfulness is in the outskirts of the capital."

Xin Lan nodded. He knew. Whether it was the Tree of Love, the River of Forgetfulness or any of the other things coming from the High Heavens, he knew about them. And not just for the things in the Nine Heavens. The heritage of the dragon and demon realms weren't unknown to him either. After all, he had seen a lot of these things before they started to change and the person who was responsible for the way his life developed was also up there. Naturally, he had paid more attention.

Shun Tao and Xin Lan made their way over to the outskirts. The capital of the Nine Heavens wasn't surrounded by a wall like most of the human capitals were. Instead, it naturally faded into the surroundings. In fact, it was hard to tell whether the houses that were furthest away from the heart of the capital were actually still part of the city or already little isles by themselves.

Xin Lan glanced at them as they passed by. The ones living here were the trueborn gods that didn't have a high position or had a family that had once held one like that of Yin Lin Lin. Instead, they were those with old families that didn't have power but wealth. Their houses weren't much smaller than some of the palaces in the middle of the capital and the gardens surrounding them could almost compare to those of Jing He even though they might lack in the diversity of plants. Ah, this was probably the part of the Nine Heavens that displayed the faults of the gods the best. This haughtiness was what had made Tian curse them back then. Well, it seemed they hadn't learned their lesson yet. Maybe someday, there would be another curse awaiting them.

Shun Tao cleared his throat and motioned ahead. "That is the valley where the River of Forgetfulness is closest to the capital. I suggest we go there."

"Mn." Xin Lan nodded and followed him the last bit of the way. This was where it would be decided whether he could help his Master or not. If he couldn't, then he could only hope he'd be lucky and run into that fallen god by chance. But sometimes there had been years between the times he saw them so he wouldn't want to bet on it. No, it was still best if he managed to accomplish his task now.