"I'm really looking forward to meeting him!"
I'm really looking forward to it too.
Ao Zhen's eyes were cold. For countless years, her power had not been enough to overthrow this old man, and because of her current status, the old man could not bypass the Elder Council to destroy her. Thus, the balance had been maintained.
But the other party knew in their heart that they would definitely make a move once they had the chance, and they also knew that the old man was the same!
So she was really hoping that Chen Qing could break through all of this, but unfortunately, she didn't get a single reply to the message she sent through the Divine Seal, and there were less than ten hours left until noon tomorrow.
Could that guy really be the turning point in his life?
Murong felt extremely nervous watching the father and daughter locked in a tense standoff.
Although she verbally expressed her absolute trust in Chen Qing, at this moment, not even knowing how he was taken away made her feel somewhat guilty.
Where did this guy go? Who took him away?
Whether it's Princess Xiao Mingyue, who has already settled the situation in the South Sea, or Ao Zhen, who is now firmly in a neutral position, they are all speculating about who took Chen Qing away, and they are also eager to know how far he can go.
But if they knew Chen Qing's current location, they would definitely abandon that idea.
Even Chen Qing didn't expect that at such a crucial moment, he would be taken to the East Sea!
What he didn't expect was the person who brought him here.
"Long time no see, old friend."
The voice was familiar, the face was familiar, but the person himself felt very unfamiliar to Chen Qing.
The person in front of Chen Qing had actually been missing for a long time; it was Wang Ye, who had insisted on returning to the capital despite his advice!
Chen Qing silently looked at the other person.
All their expressions were alike—gentle, humble, yet subtly sharp.
But there's one difference: Wang Ye doesn't possess that aloofness often associated with geniuses!
This is what I like most about Wang Ye.
Despite his exceptional talent and early success, he still possessed a pragmatic and passionate spirit.
In life-threatening situations, he would choose to trust others, entrusting his hopes for a way out to someone he had only known for a few days, someone who was somewhat naive and immature, but possessed the passionate spirit of youth.
But the person in front of me was different. Although he also had a gentle and humble look in his eyes, his inner aloofness kept people at a distance from the bottom of his heart.
Chen Qing had only ever seen this feeling in one person!
"It has been a long time." Chen Qing closed his eyes, took a breath, and suppressed the irritation in his heart. " Duke of Song!!"
"Oh? You recognized me so quickly?" The young man with Wang Ye's appearance smiled upon hearing this, seemingly unsurprised, and calmly said, "As expected of a chosen Reincarnator, you're quite something."
Chen Qing remained silent, his mind preoccupied with calculating Wang Ye's chances of survival.
But despite considering all the hypotheses, he still pessimistically concluded that the probability of Wang Ye still being alive was probably less than 10%!
"Could you tell me how you recognized me?"
"The power of the Evening Elephant is the strongest spatial technique among the Thirty-Six Heavenly Dipper Spells, and its Flying Star Technique is particularly troublesome. However, to use Flying Star within the barrier of the Four Seas Dragon Palace, one must not only have a sufficient understanding of the Dragon Palace's barrier but also possess Transcendent strength. What level is Wang Ye at? I've shared so many life-and-death experiences with him; how could I not know?"
"To live and die together?" Duke of Song nodded. "That child is quite lucky. He doesn't have many friends, just you and Yuchi Peng, but they are both rare and trustworthy people in this world."
"A person worth befriending?" Chen Qing looked at the other person. "You're still speaking like an elder to a junior. Can you please stop saying things like that? It disgusts me!"
"Oh?" Duke of Song immediately laughed, "In my memory, young friend, you have always been a sophisticated and self-serving person. Your tone now is quite different from your usual demeanor."
Chen Qing remained silent, trying her best to suppress the anger in her heart.
He had rarely been this angry since coming into this world; the last time was when his older brother was murdered.
The moment he confirmed it was the Duke of Song, he roughly guessed the whole story.
This guy is the mastermind behind Ziyue and her group!
The Thousand-Faced Fox, Painted Skin Mister, and Mr. Origami are all his pawns.
The whole scheme was designed to make him disappear from the public eye, and Wang Ye was the key piece in that game.
I was right when I guessed. Wang Ye, after being transformed by the Painted Skin, can no longer be considered the real Wang Ye!
That wooden puppet could hold Wang Ye's spirit, so it could naturally hold the spirit of the Duke of Song as well.
So when he and the Ghost Child broke into the Azure Dragon Mountain Cave to rescue people, the first thing they saw when they saw Wang Ye's eerie aura was not an illusion. At that time, Wang Ye was definitely not the real Wang Ye.
Then, in the same way, she used the Thousand-Faced Fox to divert attention. In the Yin-Yang Road, she deliberately provoked the emperor to have murderous intent, and then used this opportunity to fake her death and escape, before arranging everything.
He sensed something was wrong from the start. Was it really worth killing the Duke of Duke of Song to silence A Li, who was pregnant and had royal blood?
At first, I thought the logic made sense. After all, the royal bloodline had been broken. When the King of Qin King's mixed human and demon bloodline was exposed, he lost the hearts of the people. In order to ensure that his bloodline could continue the Xiao Household's throne, it was actually necessary to silence the Duke of Duke of Song.
After all, if the Xiao Household line were to end, the Duke of Song could still support the Lu Household for the sake of human stability.
At that time, the Lu Household's power was almost equal to that of the royal family, making them a perfect candidate to replace the Xiao Household on the throne.
Thinking about it this way, it seems plausible that the emperor had murderous intent at the time.
But the more Chen Qing read, the more she felt something was wrong!
Because after that, the emperor did not hesitate to make contact with the ancient forces. Since he had already decided to make contact with the ancient forces, the matter of succession was not important at all!
If that's the case, why insist on killing the Duke of Song?
Chen Qing's conclusion was that what the Duke of Song accidentally saw on the Yin-Yang Road was not A Li's pregnancy, but the emperor's secret collusion with the ancients, which is why he was silenced.
But now it seems I was wrong!
"You knew the emperor's secret from the very beginning, didn't you?"
"I suppose so," Duke of Song nodded with a smile.
Now that things have come to this, there's no need to hide it anymore.
"From the very beginning, you intended to sacrifice Wang Ye, didn't you?"
"I guess so."
Chen Qing nodded upon hearing this. "I have heard Wang Ye mention countless times that his family was poor and his whole family was killed by demons, but because of the Duke's intervention, his most tragic fate was changed. Now it seems that this is not the case. He should have had a good fate originally, but his life only became tragic after meeting you, Duke."
Since Wang Ye was a pawn from the very beginning, it's almost unnecessary to guess. The fact that Wang Ye's entire family was killed by demons, and that the Duke of Song happened to arrive to rescue them and carefully nurtured his only heir, was all part of the plan from the start, including the death of Wang Ye's entire family.
Chen Qing could tell from Wang Ye's extremely respectful tone that he truly regarded the Duke of Song as his father.
A life-saving grace, a second life-saving grace—no kindness in this world carries greater weight than this, but unfortunately, it's all fake.
"Master Duke of Song "
"Hmm?" Duke of Song looked at Chen Qing, a fellow who always had a carefree attitude, and for the first time, his eyes seemed to show intense emotions that a human being should have.
"I guarantee you'll die a horrible death!"
Here comes the third update. I've finally made up for all the missed updates. It was a bit tough this time, though, because August was really busy. I'm so sorry, hehe.
Next month shouldn't be so bad, after all, I only have 2,000 monthly votes, which means four extra chapters, so it should be quick.