Di Jun's Reprimand

Taiyi woke amid a burst of piercing pain.

It was not pain in any specific place. His entire body, inside and out, ached. His eyelids felt as heavy as lead, and after several attempts, he barely managed to open them a crack.

Everything before him was dark. Only a few faint rays of light filtered down through cracks in the rocks overhead, barely enough for him to see that he was still lying in that narrow crevice. The stone beneath him had been soaked in blood, cold and sticky, while the stench of blood forced its way into his nostrils. The right side of his body seemed to have gone numb, and even his left arm was too heavy to lift. Only the faint rise and fall of his chest proved that he was still breathing.

He had to move.

He could not lie here and wait for death. Those three Great Witches might still be searching nearby. Even if they were not, the scent of blood would sooner or later attract something else in these desolate mountains.

Gritting his teeth, he used his barely mobile left hand to support himself and slowly dragged himself out of the crevice. Every movement felt as though sandpaper were grinding between his bones, making golden stars burst before his eyes. His mouth was full of bloody foam, its sickly sweet taste enough to make him vomit.

He inched forward bit by bit until he reached the mouth of the crevice. By then, night had completely fallen. The moonlight was faint, casting a bleak white glow across the barren rocks.

Leaning against the rock wall, he panted for a long while before gathering enough strength to pull something from his tattered clothes—a crimson-gold jade token half the size of his palm, already covered in cracks. It was an emergency communication token for the Sun Palace. A trace of the True Sun Fire's origin aura was sealed within it; once crushed, Di Jun would be able to sense his approximate location.

It had originally been prepared for emergencies. He had not expected to actually use it.

Taiyi stared at the jade token for several seconds, then tightened his fingers slightly.

"Crack."

With a soft sound, the jade token shattered into several pieces. An extremely faint yet incomparably pure and scorching golden-red aura drifted out, circled once above his palm, then transformed into an almost imperceptible streak of light that shot into the sky and vanished into the night.

After doing that, he seemed to have exhausted the last of his strength. His head tilted to one side, and he passed out again.

When he woke again, the first thing he felt was warmth.

A familiar current of heat, carrying the unique warmth of the Sun Star, slowly seeped into his body through his back. Gentle yet firm, it worked through his ruined meridians, dispelling the bone-deep chill and baleful aura within him.

Taiyi struggled to open his eyes.

The first thing he saw was a vaulted ceiling embroidered with a Golden Crow circling the heavens. Familiar patterns, familiar colors—the Sun Palace, his bedchamber.

He was lying on a Warm Jade bed forged from fragments of the Sun Star's core, covered by a soft cloudsilk quilt. The lighting in the hall was gentle, and the air carried the faint fragrance of the Fusang Tree, along with... a suppressed fury like a volcano on the verge of eruption.

He laboriously shifted his gaze toward the bedside.

Di Jun sat there, dressed in bright yellow casual robes without a crown, his long hair simply tied behind his head. His back was ramrod straight, his hands resting on his knees, the knuckles slightly pale from the force of his grip. His usually majestic and calm face was utterly expressionless. Only his eyes—golden eyes that shared Taiyi's origin yet were deeper and more imposing—were fixed on him. Complex emotions churned in their depths: shock, lingering fear, anxiety, and a blazing rage that was almost impossible to suppress.

Neither brother spoke first.

The bedchamber was terrifyingly silent. Only the faint crackling of incense burning in the ten-thousand-year Warm Jade censer at the corner of the hall could be heard.

Taiyi moved his throat, intending to speak, but began coughing first. The cough tugged at wounds all over his body, making him furrow his brows as cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead.

Di Jun's hand clenched sharply on his knee, veins bulging across the back of it. Yet he still did not move or make a sound. He merely stared at Taiyi as if trying to confirm whether this battered, barely breathing man before him was truly the high-spirited and unruly younger brother he knew.

After coughing for quite some time, Taiyi finally calmed down somewhat, though another trace of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. He tugged at his lips, attempting a reassuring smile, but it looked even worse than crying.

"Big Brother..." His voice was terribly hoarse, like a broken bellows. "I... came back."

"You still know how to come back?!" Di Jun's voice suddenly rose, like thunder that had been suppressed for too long finally exploding. He shot to his feet, his tall figure casting an oppressive shadow across the hall. "Look at the state you're in! Huh?!"

He crossed to the bed in several strides, his finger nearly pointing at Taiyi's nose. His voice trembled slightly with agitation and rage. "You're covered in wounds! Your meridians are damaged! Your origin is unstable! Your aura is so mixed and chaotic that you look like... like what exactly?! Do you know, when that jade token of yours shattered, I..." He stopped, his chest heaving violently. The rest of his words seemed lodged in his throat, leaving only harsh, rapid breaths.

Taiyi watched him quietly without avoiding his gaze or arguing back. He could clearly see the flash of panic and lingering terror that nearly overflowed from the depths of Di Jun's eyes. It was not an act. Di Jun had truly been afraid.

Afraid that he had died.

"Was the matter at Pangu Hall your doing?" Di Jun took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his turbulent emotions. His voice returned to its hard, cold tone, though the tremor beneath it could not be concealed. "That bell toll that spread throughout the Great Wilderness—was that you?! Do you know what the situation outside is now?! The Witch Race has gone mad searching for you! Di Jiang even secretly sent word to several demon sages. The threats in his words... Do you know what a disaster you've caused?!"

The more he spoke, the angrier he became. He paced back and forth beside the bed, the sleeves of his bright yellow robe stirring waves of hot air. "You disappeared without saying a word! The people I sent to find you could not even catch a trace of you! Bai Ze divined for three days and nights, but the hexagrams were obscure. He only said, 'Change amid calamity, life and death hang by a thread'! I... I thought you really..."

He stopped again, then abruptly turned to stare at Taiyi. His voice dropped, carrying even greater weight. "Where did you go? What happened to these wounds, and that... chaotic aura all over you?"

There was questioning and reproach in his tone, but even more than that, concern he could not suppress and an urgent desire to know the truth.

Taiyi closed his eyes and took several breaths. His mind raced.

He could not tell the full truth. Not a single word about the system, the Heaven-Opening Axe Imprint, or the sign-in rewards could be revealed. But he could not lie completely either. Di Jun was no fool, especially with that shrewd old fox Bai Ze around.

He needed an explanation that was half true and half false, one that could hold up logically and move people emotionally.

When he opened his eyes again, much of the defiance and sharpness in them had faded, replaced by deep exhaustion and a trace of... barely perceptible regret and resolve.

"Yes, I went to Pangu Hall." His voice was low, but his admission was straightforward. "I carved the words too."

Di Jun's breathing caught sharply. Though he had already suspected it, hearing the confirmation with his own ears was still different. He opened his mouth, wanting to curse him, but upon seeing Taiyi's deathly pale face, he forcibly swallowed the words and squeezed out only a few through clenched teeth. "Why?"

"To scout it out." Taiyi met his gaze and spoke slowly. "Big Brother, the conflict between the Witch Race and the demon race cannot be avoided. Pangu Hall is the Witch Race's holy land, the foundation of their spirit. I wanted to know what exactly was there, how strong its defenses were, and whether there was... any opening to exploit."

"Nonsense!" Di Jun growled. "That is the Witch Race's nest! The Twelve Ancestral Witches are stationed there! You call that scouting? You went there to die!"

"But I didn't die." Taiyi tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Not only did I survive, I learned some things. Deep within Pangu Hall, there truly is residual essence from Pangu's heart. Its pressure is terrifying, but... it is not impregnable. At the very least, I went in and came back out."

Di Jun's gaze sharpened. "You saw it?"

"I only glanced at it from afar." Taiyi shook his head. "I didn't dare linger. I left behind a little 'mark' and fled. Then... that madwoman Xuan Ming chased me for over a thousand miles, forcing me all the way into the depths of the earth veins."

"Xuan Ming?!" Di Jun's expression became even uglier. "You escaped from her?"

"By luck." Taiyi coughed twice. "I was injured and hid in a place where the earth veins were thick with baleful aura. She could not find me for the moment. Later... I went to the Blood Sea."

"The Blood Sea? Old Ancestor Styx's territory?" Di Jun frowned deeply. "What did you go there for?"

"To test him." Taiyi's gaze was calm. "That old monster Styx has always hidden in the Blood Sea, building his own power. His attitude toward the conflict between the Witch Race and the demon race has remained ambiguous. I wanted to see what he was truly planning, and whether there was... any possibility of recruiting or using him."

"Are you insane?!" This time, Di Jun was truly both shocked and furious. "What kind of person is Styx? He's an old devil who has lived since the creation of the world! His mind is cunning, his methods vicious! You went to test him? Were you not afraid he would devour you until not even your bones remained?!"

"That is why I ended up with these injuries." Taiyi's tone carried just the right amount of self-mockery and helplessness. "Styx truly is not easy to deal with. He saw through my condition and tested me constantly with his words. He even wanted to form an alliance with me during the great calamity and, beyond that... inquire about the whereabouts of the Primordial Violet Qi."

"The Primordial Violet Qi?!" Di Jun's pupils contracted. "So he really is after it too!"

"I neither agreed nor refused. I only said I would consider it." Taiyi continued, "I stayed there for several days and used the Blood Sea's environment to barely stabilize some of my injuries. But I knew I could not remain there long, and Styx had no good intentions. So I found an opportunity and left."

"And then?" Di Jun pressed. "These new injuries, and the ambush on your way back..."

"Not long after I emerged from the teleportation formation, I encountered an ambush by three Great Witches in a dry riverbed." Taiyi's eyes turned cold. "They worked together seamlessly and struck viciously. They had clearly prepared in advance and were waiting specifically for me."

"Three Great Witches? Waiting specifically for you?" Di Jun's face darkened like water. "How did they know you would appear there?"

"That is what I cannot understand either." Taiyi slowly shook his head, meeting Di Jun's eyes. "Leaving the Blood Sea was a spur-of-the-moment decision. The route was chosen at random. Unless... someone leaked my whereabouts beforehand."

The air in the bedchamber instantly became frozen and heavy because of those words.

Di Jun stared fixedly at Taiyi. "Who do you suspect? Styx?"

"I don't know." Taiyi looked away toward the Golden Crow pattern on the ceiling. His voice carried deep exhaustion and a trace of barely perceptible confusion. "Perhaps Styx. Perhaps... the Witch Race has some tracking secret art we do not know about. Or perhaps I was simply unlucky."

He did not state it definitively. He could not directly accuse Styx, or he would seem too eager and arouse deeper suspicions from Di Jun. This kind of ambiguous suspicion, backed by reasonable speculation, was more convincing instead.

Di Jun fell silent. He sat down beside the bed again, his fingers unconsciously tapping against his knee, his brows knitted tightly. Clearly, Taiyi's words and the wounds on his body both confirmed some ominous possibility.

At that moment, faint footsteps sounded outside the bedchamber, followed by Bai Ze's gentle but clear voice. "Your Majesty, your servant Bai Ze requests an audience."

"Come in," Di Jun said in a deep voice.

The hall doors slid open soundlessly, and Bai Ze entered. He still looked refined and mild, holding a jade tablet with a calm expression. Yet there was a trace of travel-worn dust and solemnity between his brows. He first bowed to Di Jun, then looked at Taiyi on the bed. His gaze paused briefly on Taiyi's shocking wounds and chaotic aura, and a complicated emotion flickered through his eyes.

"Eastern Emperor Your Majesty," Bai Ze said with perfectly measured concern, "can your injuries still be stabilized?"

"I won't die," Taiyi replied flatly. "Thank you for your concern, Mister Bai Ze."

Bai Ze nodded slightly, then turned to Di Jun and took out a jade slip from his sleeve. "Your Majesty, I have compiled the matter you previously ordered me to investigate, as well as the Witch Race's movements over the past several days."

Di Jun accepted the jade slip and swept it with his divine sense. His expression grew increasingly grim. He handed it to Taiyi. "Take a look too."

Taiyi received it and sent his divine sense inside. The information in the jade slip was extensive but clearly organized:

First were the Witch Race's movements. After Pangu Hall was attacked, the Witch Race had indeed been enraged, but they had tightly sealed off news of it. However, the deployments of Witch Race tribes across various regions had noticeably increased, especially near Buzhou Mountain and several important resource sites. Di Jiang seemed to have issued a strict order, though its exact content was unknown.

Second was information regarding the Blood Sea. Old Ancestor Styx had indeed kept a low profile recently, and the Blood Sea's external passages appeared to have tightened as well. Through certain secret channels, Bai Ze had learned that several days ago, the Blood Sea experienced a brief abnormal energy fluctuation. Its direction vaguely pointed toward the outskirts of Buzhou Mountain, and the timing... was quite close to when Taiyi had been ambushed.

Last was information regarding the three Great Witches who had ambushed him. Based on the extremely faint location information sent back when Taiyi crushed the jade token, together with his knowledge of the distribution of experts among the Witch Race's major tribes, Bai Ze had deduced that the three likely came from three different medium-sized tribes, all of which had close ties with Di Jiang. Their simultaneous appearance in that desolate region was absolutely no coincidence.

At the end of the jade slip was Bai Ze's analysis. The wording was cautious, but the meaning was clear: there was a very high possibility that Eastern Emperor Your Majesty's whereabouts had been leaked. The source pointed either to the Blood Sea or to some special tracking method within the Witch Race. Both were possible, but the former was... slightly more suspicious.

Taiyi lowered the jade slip and looked at Bai Ze. This old fox truly was meticulous. Some of this information might have genuinely been investigated, while some of it... had probably been "reasonably" inferred and supplemented based on what Taiyi had just said. Naturally, the purpose was to make his story more believable and to remind Di Jun of a potential threat.

"Mister Bai Ze has worked hard." Taiyi spoke slowly. "It seems that although I barely escaped death on this trip, it was not without gain. At the very least... it made certain demons and monsters lurking in the shadows reveal a little of themselves."

Di Jun's expression remained grim, but the rage in his eyes had already been replaced by deep thought. He looked at Taiyi, then at Bai Ze. Only after a long while did he let out a heavy breath.

"Focus on recovering first." His voice to Taiyi had returned to its usual steadiness, though it carried several more degrees of unquestionable severity. "Without my permission, you are not to step even half a foot outside the Sun Palace! I will handle matters outside."

He then looked at Bai Ze. "Strengthen the guard around the Sun Star, especially surveillance in the direction of the Blood Sea. Also, continue monitoring the Witch Race's movements, particularly those of Di Jiang and the other Ancestral Witches."

"Your servant obeys," Bai Ze answered with a bow.

Di Jun gave Taiyi one final look. That gaze held reproach, lingering fear, concern, and the complicated responsibility of both an elder brother and a demon emperor. He said nothing further, turned, and strode from the bedchamber.

Bai Ze also took his leave afterward. Before departing, he gave Taiyi another long, meaningful look.

Only Taiyi remained in the bedchamber once more.

He lay on the Warm Jade bed, feeling the ceaseless gentle heat flowing up from beneath him and nourishing his damaged body. The hall had grown quiet. Only the sound of his own breathing remained, along with the faint movements of several powers within his body slowly adjusting and settling back into place beneath the soothing heat.

The exhaustion and pain on his face gradually faded. Those golden eyes became deep and calm again, like an ancient well without a ripple.

"Testing Styx... that reason should be enough." He murmured so softly that only he could hear it.

A well-intentioned lie could sometimes protect people better than the truth, and it could also... achieve its purpose more effectively.

He closed his eyes and began focusing on guiding the heat from the Sun Star's core to repair his battered body.

The road ahead was still long. His injuries needed healing, and the act... had to continue.