Chapter 71

Zong Zi Xiao was not exaggerating; after the Wuji Palace imposed a curfew, it was difficult to enter or leave without the permission of Emperor Zong. Zong Zi Heng was now under house arrest and unaware of the outside world, and one day seems like a year.

One late night, Zong Zi Heng was tossing and turning in bed when he suddenly heard a faint movement inside the house. He alertly lifted the covers and grabbed his sword from the bed with one hand. When he followed the sound and looked, he saw a small figure on the ground covered with the silvery-white moonlight.

It was very small, less than the size of a palm.

"... Brother Xu?" Zong Zi Heng lowered his voice and asked uncertainly.

The tiny person abruptly changed back into a normal person, it was none other than Xu Zhi Nan.

Xu Zhi Nan put Gong Shu Ju into his qiankun bag, made a "shhh" gesture, closed the window tightly, and used his spiritual energy to check the surroundings to make sure no one was around before returning to Zong Zi Heng's bedside.

Zong Zi Heng said excitedly, "Is this how you got in?"

"I can't get in at all without this." Xu Zhi Nan said, "Don’t know what the emperor is afraid of, the whole Wuji Palace is now enclosed so tightly. You're grounded, right?"

"They say it’s to let me recuperate from my injuries, but in fact, I am indeed not allowed to go out."

"How are your injuries?"

"It's fine."

"I heard that Li Bu Yu gave you the True Element Jade Practitioner Pill."

"Mn."

"He can only get one of these immortal pills a year." Xu Zhi Nan was more or less puzzled. He had never heard Zong Zi Heng say that he had any friendship with the Wuliang Sect, but everyone knew that the Wuliang Sect was the Empress's family.

"I’ve saved him before, it was really nothing much, but he’s always wanted to return the favor." Zong Zi Heng looked at Xu Zhi Nan, "How is it outside? Is it very chaotic?"

"Chaotic, very chaotic." Xu Zhi Nan said gruffly, "The entire immortal cultivation world is in a state of anxiety."

"Yan Shu, Lu Zhao Feng, no news at all?"

"A patriarch level cultivator who can paint his face as someone else and holding onto the Chasing Mountain Whip, a magical weapon of this type of level, unless he comes out on his own, who can find him?"

Zong Zi Heng wrinkled his brows deeply.

"You didn't tell anyone about what happened in the underground palace, did you?"

Zong Zi Heng said bitterly, "All the people I have seen since I woke up are people I want to hide from."

"Meng Sheng and I didn't reveal half a word either. The matter is far more involved than we thought." Xu Zhi Nan stared straight into Zong Zi Heng's eyes, "Have you prepared for this?"

Zong Zi Heng secretly tightened his grip on the corner of his quilt. He understood the deeper meaning of these words, but was afraid that in his entire life, he would not be able to prepare himself for his own father's desire to harm him.

There was a look of pity between Xu Zhi Nan's eyebrows, "It has been nearly three hundred years since the Daming Zong clan unified the immortal cultivation world. For three hundred years, there has been no war in Jiuzhou, but beneath this calm there is a dark tide, and perhaps a huge wave will rise to the skies soon."

"What is exactly going on outside?"

"Hua Jun Cheng killed all seventeen disciples of the Wuyun Sect who followed Yan Shu to the Jiaolong assembly."

Zong Zi Heng's expression was stagnant.

"Not only that, the Huaying Sect also demanded that the Wuyun Sect hand over all the cultivators from Yan Shu's faction. Liu Zheng, who is now temporarily in charge of the sect, wants to break ties with Yan Shu, but he does not agree to liquidate his sect's disciples according to the Huaying Sect's standards. The Huaying Sect accuses the Wuyun Sect of being a cult specializing in stealing cores and owes the Huaying Sect two lives. If this continues, the two sects will probably go to war."

"How will my father mediate?"

"The emperor clearly favors the Wuyun Sect, but the Huaying Sect's resentment is so deep that it seems impossible to reconcile at the moment."

Zong Zi Heng felt his head start to hurt again.

"Zi Heng, you tell me." Xu Zhi Nan's voice was as calm as water, "Is it true that the emperor colluded with Yan Shu and ate my junior brother's core?"

Zong Zi Heng did not dare to look at Xu Zhi Nan's eyes, "I don't know."

"Did the emperor really want your core?"

"I don't know!" Zong Zi Heng roared deeply. He really did not know what to believe. As an official, he still had a faint but undying hope in his heart that everything was a conspiracy by Lu Zhao Feng. So he dared not tell Xu Zhi Nan about his uncle. Knowing that if he did, at least in Xu Zhi Nan's eyes, it would be confirmation of everything.

"I've thought about it a lot over the past few days. Everything, from beginning to end, I've come to understand that we've unintentionally been involved in a conspiracy. A conspiracy that points directly at the most powerful people in Jiuzhou. You, me, Yan Zhi, and many, many others are just a bunch of pond fish that are suffering."

"What you mean is ..."

"What Yan Shu said must not be believed to the fullest, but about his past history, I have sent people to check it out in the past few days, and there is almost no discrepancy. According to what he said that day, and what he did, I think you should have guessed his ultimate purpose."

Zong Zi Heng nodded stiffly.

"He wants Ninth Highness to be Emperor Zong, and to him, the best revenge would be nothing more than that."

"I will never let him use Zi Xiao." Zong Zi Heng said with hatred, "I can't let him ruin Zi Xiao."

"It's already too late." Xu Zhi Nan said, "If he hadn't exposed his identity in front of you, then his plan would still be going on in the shadows, but not anymore."

"But I won't tell anyone." Zong Zi Heng stared straight at Xu Zhi Nan, "You and Flying Plume Ambassador have also promised me that you won't tell anyone."

"Zi Heng, you are deceiving yourself and others." Xu Zhi Nan said nonchalantly, "Yes, Meng Sheng and I promised you that we would never go back on our word. But even if all three of us don't say anything, Lu Zhao Feng will do something sooner or later, and one day, the whole world will know about Ninth Highness's birth."

"..."

"If you really want to protect Ninth Highness, you should prepare early. Once this matter is exposed, Ninth Highness will be thrown into the whirlpool, and by then, you will be unable to protect yourself, let alone ..."

"No matter what happens." Zong Zi Heng's gaze was steadfast, "Even if I put my life on the line, I will still protect my brother."

Xu Zhi Nan said softly, "Lu Zhao Feng wants to take your core for Ninth Highness to eat."

"I know."

"If Ninth Highness knew the truth, what would he do? Have you thought about it?"

"He would stay with me." Zong Zi Heng said without hesitation, "Even if Lu Zhao Feng was his biological father, he would not betray me."

Xu Zhi Nan looked at Zong Zi Heng for a long time and sighed darkly, "It is a great blessing among misfortunes that Ninth Highness has you as his big brother."

"He has not done anything wrong. His immortal journey is boundless. The adults’ resentment and disputes, how can he get dragged into it innocently?”

"Ninth Highness is indeed innocent, but unfortunately he cannot think of only himself."

Zong Zi Heng was speechless.

The two of them remained silent for a while before Xu Zhi Nan added, "I have come here today to ask you for that explanation."

"I understand."

"Do you want to know if the emperor has taken the human cores or not?"

Zong Zi Heng's heart tightened, "Could it be that you have a way to confirm this?"

"There is a way." Xu Zhi Nan's gaze grew colder, "I learned something from Chen Xing Yong. If the emperor had really eaten Yan Zhi's Core, he would have some abilities that only those who cultivate the Yuanyang technique would have."

"Seriously?"

Xu Zhi Nan nodded, "As long as one eats the human core, one will be able to acquire some of the cultivation and abilities of the owner of the golden core, but the world's cultivators are mainly sword cultivators, and being the same sword cultivator, eating the human core will only raise one's spiritual cultivation and will not make any other noticeable difference. Only the Yuanyang technique is different. It can change one's body."

"I saw no obvious change in Father's appearance."

"It's not in the outer appearance." Xu Zhi Nan stretched out his arms and rolled up the sleeves on each side, revealing two small arms that were just as long and robust, but the two arms had different shades of skin tone.

It dawned on Zong Zi Heng, "You mean ..."

"Yan Zhi has cultivated to the point where he can regenerate his flesh. If the emperor has eaten his core, he should possess such an ability." Xu Zhi Nan looked at Zong Zi Heng and said, "This is the only way I can think of at the moment."

"Do you want me to go to ..." Zong Zi Heng turned his face away, "Under the universal sky, who can hurt the Human Emperor? Not to mention that he is my father."

"It is indeed difficult to verify." Xu Zhi Nan said lightly, "I will not ask you to defy filial piety. I will figure it out myself."

Zong Zi Heng was shocked, "Brother Xu, what do you want to do?"

"It doesn't really need to be a very serious injury, just a small one will do, and if the wound heals much faster than normal, it must also be due to the merits of the Yuanyang technique."

"Brother Xu, don't be impulsive, this is too risky!"

Xu Zhi Nan looked at Zong Zi Heng, his eyes were like cold autumn rain that could pierce a person completely: "Are you worried about me, or about your father?"

Zong Zi Heng was dumbfounded.

"How he treats your mother and you is known to everyone in the world. Although I'm not sure how much of what Yan Shu said is true and how much is not, I'm not surprised that he really wants to dig up your core."

Zong Zi Heng's face became paler and paler.

It turned out that even outsiders thought this way.

"I will never let my Chunyang Sect disciples die for nothing. He, as a Human Emperor and the Son of Heaven, cannot stop me from seeking justice for my junior brother." Xu Zhi Nan looked at Zong Zi Heng, "If the emperor is really a demonic cultivator who eats human cores, as Yan Shu said, will you still defend him?"

Zong Zi Heng's eyes were red, like a small beast that had been driven to the brink of extinction.

"The Son of Heaven commits the same crime as the common people. If he is a Human Emperor but commits the evil deeds of a demon cultivator, he is not worthy of being a Human Emperor, right?"

Zong Zi Heng's mind was in turmoil as he thought of almost losing his life in Gutuo Town, of his uncle, and of what Zong Ming He had done to his mother and himself in the past.

Xu Zhi Nan suddenly stood up, then knelt on one knee in front of Zong Zi Heng.

Zong Zi Heng paled, "Brother Xu, what are you doing?"

"Your Highness, do you remember what I once said?" Xu Zhi Nan refused to get up as he looked up at Zong Zi Heng, "I see that there is only one way out of this matter to return peace to the immortal cultivation world. Jiuzhou needs a benevolent and upright common master, and there is no one more suitable and righteous than Your Highness."

"Brother Xu, get up, these words cannot be ..."

"Why not?" Xu Zhi Nan's gaze shone, "Meng Sheng thinks the same as I do. As the eldest prince, you are highly gifted and young, and with the support of Chunyang Sect and Cangyu Sect, who else would be suitable to take the throne of Human Emperor other than you?"

"I ..."

Xu Zhi Nan said in a stern voice, "Don't you understand? You can only protect Ninth Highness if you become the Human Emperor!"

Zong Zi Heng froze on the spot, and his blood seemed to freeze at this moment.

Years later, when Zong Zi Heng looked back on his short life, he saw a pair of fatalistic hands in the darkness, pushing him into the abyss.

 

 ----

PS: end of volume 2, 3^rd volume will be a roller coaster ride, hold on tight!

 

Edited on 31 Mar. 21 (Emzie)

 

 ←Previous Chapter                                                                                                 Next Chapter→