At noon the next day, two divine beings suddenly arrived outside the Dragon Palace deep in the East Sea.
Before long, the Dragon Lord of the East Sea and some of the palace's aquatic folk came to the front of the palace to meet the two Heavenly Gods, who had clearly come to demand an accounting.
The visitors were Lord of the Martial Star and White Robe. Both were slightly surprised that the Dragon Lord of the East Sea would appear in person. Ordinarily, they would have done no more than pass along a message.
But Feng Yan's stern expression was not simply because Heavenly Gods had come calling. This time, he was certain to lose face. He would never spare the Ji Household!
As soon as Feng Yan reached the front of the palace, the two Heavenly Gods cupped their hands in greeting.
"Greetings, Dragon Lord!"
Feng Yan dispensed with pleasantries and went straight to the point, though he still maintained a basic measure of restraint.
"You caught members of the Hong Household? Who? Where did you catch them, and what happened?"
Seeing the Dragon Lord of the East Sea's face as dark and still as deep water, White Robe and Lord of the Martial Star exchanged a glance. The former answered.
"We captured three flood dragons in all: Hong Tao, Hong Sheng, and Hong Xie, all sons of Hong Ye. They went to the Open Sun Canal to steal the Alchemy Furnace Yi Daozi left there and killed a divine being in the water. We have no wish to offend Dragonkind, but these three have committed crimes that cannot be lightly pardoned. The Imperial Lord ordered us to inform you and ask your opinion, Dragon Lord!"
The affair involving Hong Wei years ago had caused quite a stir.