Entering Heaven Dou City, Two Investigation Reports

The next morning, Lin Li saw Ning Yang and his six guards at the city gate.

With no other luggage, it was only natural for someone of Ning Yang's status to have a Storage Soul Tool.

"Brother Lin, sorry to have kept you waiting."

"I just woke up, too."

After exchanging pleasantries, the two walked off together.

When Ning Yang came out, he had brought along another horse for Lin Li to ride.

Nearby, the Bearded Boss once again stared in astonishment at Ning Yang, who was chatting with Lin Li.

If he had not seen wrongly, those were the clothes of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, right?

How did this young brother of his manage to know people wherever he went?

This was also Lin Li's first time riding a horse. Fortunately, his physical fitness was good, and the horse had a docile temperament, so he did not make a fool of himself.

As they traveled together, Ning Yang took the opportunity to tell Lin Li about the various forces in Heaven Dou City, as well as the things he needed to watch out for.

Although he did not live in Heaven Dou City, he knew the place extremely well.

"Once we're in the city, you only need to watch out for the few Princes and Imperial Princes I just told you about, as well as the Nine Hearts Ye Family and Dugu Manor. Other than that, there's nothing else."

Lin Li mostly understood why he needed to be wary of these forces. Apart from the Nine Hearts Ye Family, he could be said to know quite a bit about the others.

The Nine Hearts Begonia Martial Soul of this family was passed down through only one person in each generation. Its support abilities were different from those of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda: one specialized in healing, while the other focused on amplification. Therefore, Lin Li truly could not say which was stronger or weaker. He could only say that each had its own strengths.

"Although only two people from their family can possess the Martial Soul at the same time, Old Master Ye Renxin did good deeds and accumulated virtue in his early years. As a result, many people from the previous and even the generation before that have rallied around the Ye Family. Their strength is far from weak."

After introducing these families, Ning Yang brought up the last person in Heaven Dou City—and the one they could least afford to provoke:

"Once you enter the city, be extremely careful of Crown Prince Xue Qinghe. He is Father's disciple. He looks like he doesn't have much of a scheming mind, but everyone who has offended him has disappeared."

Xue Qinghe? Wasn't that Qian Renxue?

The moment Lin Li thought of that name, the figure he had seen in Star Dou Forest before appeared in his mind, along with that special Martial Soul resonance.

"Before Xue Qinghe became Crown Prince, the Second Imperial Prince and Third Imperial Prince repeatedly opposed him. Moreover, before the two Imperial Princes died, Xue Qinghe, who had often opposed them, made no move at all. He was so clean that it looked as if he had deliberately cleared himself of any connection."

"There is one more thing..."

At this point, Ning Yang glanced around, then leaned closer to Lin Li and said:

"According to the rumors, Crown Prince Xue Qinghe doesn't like women. He likes men!"

"!"

Lin Li looked shocked. Could even something like this become a rumor?

"Someone as handsome as Brother Lin should be careful." Seeing Lin Li's expression, Ning Yang thought he was interested and continued:

"The position of Crown Princess has been vacant for years, and the Crown Prince has never shown interest in women, no matter the occasion. So..."

She was a woman. It would be strange if she liked women, wouldn't it?!

Although he kept complaining inwardly, Lin Li still appropriately displayed a shocked expression on the surface.

So Qian Renxue had not only become foolish after ending her disguise. She had been somewhat foolish even before that.

She might have studied many schemes and stratagems, but she did not understand men. Even if she kept a Crown Princess as a canary in a cage, it would not really matter. No one would pay attention to a consort hidden away in the depths of the palace.

In this era, unless women became Soul Masters, their status was still far below that of men. This was because of the difference in labor.

As long as there was no second productive force, women's status would remain this way. Cultivation offered another path, but it also hindered the development of technology and obstructed the birth of a second productive force.

Seven Treasure City was extremely close to Heaven Dou City. In less than half a day, the group arrived at Heaven Dou City.

When they parted, Lin Li handed the letter he had written the previous night to the Bearded Boss, reminding him to be careful in the city and to spend money to resolve problems rather than stubbornly fight them out.

The Bearded Boss certainly knew these things, but Lin Li still felt compelled to say them.

Not long after Lin Li and the others entered the city, two investigation reports were separately delivered to the Crown Prince's Residence and Spirit Hall.

Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, Crown Prince's Residence.

"Your Highness, there is news about the person in the portrait. He entered the city not long ago."

Xue Qinghe, who had been reading nearby, walked over to the messenger and took the report, which recorded when Lin Li had entered the city, whom he had come with, and where he had gone.

"Very good. You may leave."

After the servant left, Xue Qinghe returned to his seat and unfolded the report.

Ever since the first time she had seen that boy, Qian Renxue had been curious about him. She had even specially ordered someone to look through the Martial Soul awakening reports to see whether there was anyone called Mahoraga.

Only after investigating did she learn that one of the awakening reports kept by Spirit Hall each year was missing—the report from Nuoding City, from the year Lin Li had awakened his Martial Soul.

It was perfectly normal for an awakening report to go missing. After all, all kinds of accidents could happen along the way.

But losing an entire city's report was simply too much. The matter had also enraged Bibi Dong.

It was far too obvious. Someone had deliberately done this to conceal something!

The awakening reports were sent to Spirit Hall merely as backups. Normally, no one looked at them. Anyone with decent talent had already been reported separately, which was why this matter had gone unnoticed.

The only thing Qian Renxue found strange was that after Bibi Dong sent people to Nuoding City, she had strictly forbidden anyone from investigating information about the city. Qian Renxue had no idea why.

Unable to obtain the information she wanted and unable to suppress her curiosity, Qian Renxue had ordered people to watch for Lin Li's arrival in Heaven Dou City while also sending others to Nuoding City to investigate the situation.

Qian Renxue was extremely curious about the information her good elder sister—who was actually her mother—wanted to conceal.

After reading the report, Qian Renxue casually tossed it into the furnace beside her.

"Looks like the people from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect have also set their sights on my prey..."

Spirit Hall.

After receiving the news, Bibi Dong said nothing. She merely ordered her people to continue keeping watch.

Bibi Dong understood Qian Renxue's pride extremely well.

For someone whom Qian Renxue was willing to investigate even at the cost of asking Bibi Dong to relinquish her authority, Bibi Dong could not possibly ignore the matter.

Once she investigated, she learned about the Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang in Nuoding City. She also learned that he had taken on a disciple named Tang San, whose Martial Soul was the useless Martial Soul Blue Silver Grass.

Knowing what her former lover was planning, Bibi Dong chose not to interfere. Instead, she continued to seal away the information.

As for the person Qian Renxue was watching, Bibi Dong did not investigate him.

She was completely uninterested.

What truly concerned Bibi Dong was that Qian Renxue was actually investigating a man!

Regardless of the reason, regardless of what kind of connection they might have, and regardless of what they might become in the end, Bibi Dong knew that she only needed to keep an eye on Qian Renxue.

Whether he was a genius or a good-for-nothing, whether he was a master of theory or a disciple of a great sect, if Qian Renxue showed even the slightest bit of genuine feeling toward him, Bibi Dong would snuff it out.

As for the reason?

The moment she thought of the feelings that had been snuffed out within her, Bibi Dong could barely control the wicked thoughts influenced by the Rakshasa God. She could only desperately recall Yu Xiaogang's appearance from her memories in order to calm herself.

"The happiness I cannot have... the people of the Angel Clan can forget about having it, too!"