Yun Yun: What Ice Emperor? More Like the Face-Changing Emperor

"What did you call me!?"

Yun Yun clenched her delicate hands and looked at Lu Yuan with a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance.

"Yun'er." Lu Yuan lowered his head and calmly met her gaze. "After everything we've been through these past few days, you even said you wanted me to be your Dao companion. There's nothing wrong with calling you that, is there?"

Yun Yun was at a loss for words. At the time, she had been so ashamed that she had indeed thought making Lu Yuan her Dao companion was the best way to solve everything.

But she had also thought that, as both a Dou Huang expert and the Misty Cloud Sect Master, she could keep Lu Yuan completely under her thumb. In other words, she had only thought that way because she intended to make him her subordinate.

Now, however, Lu Yuan had obtained an unknown but powerful inheritance and possessed the strength of a Seven-Star Dou Wang at just sixteen.

Even if he was still weaker than her for the time being, he would surely catch up to her in the future, perhaps even surpass her.

She had been wrestling with whether to continue discussing the matter of becoming Dao companions with Lu Zhou.

"What, are you planning to go back on your word?" Lu Yuan bent down, picked Yun Yun up, and leaned close to whisper in her ear, "You also said that as long as you were weaker than me, you'd be content to be my pampered little wife. I remember it all."

"We've already been that intimate, and now you're thinking of falling for someone else?"

Yun Yun closed her eyes, unwilling to answer. "Let's go. I want to see how you persuade Queen Medusa to help you."

Lu Yuan chuckled and did not press Yun Yun for an answer. Holding her in his arms, he rose into the air.

A stream of invisible poisonous gas flew from his body and drifted on the wind in one direction, enveloping the Eight-Winged Black Serpent Emperor and Lu Man.

"Hm?" The Eight-Winged Black Serpent Emperor opened his eyes and drew a deep breath.

"What is it?" Lu Man turned to look.

"Nothing," Bai Ya replied. "My nose feels a little itchy."

"Hurry up and roast the meat. We'll leave as soon as we've eaten and get across the Tagor Desert as quickly as possible. That Queen Medusa is a madwoman. Best not to run into her."

A streak of light flashed across the sky like a meteor in the night.

More than half a day had passed since Lu Yuan caught up with the people from the Heavenly Snake Mansion.

By now, he had reached the Tagor Desert and arrived near a city on the border between the Jia Ma Empire and the Snake-People Tribe.

"Why did you suddenly change direction?" Yun Yun asked in confusion.

"We're going to Desert City." Moonlight reflected in Lu Yuan's dark eyes. "I suddenly remembered there's someone there we can bring along to help. Even without Queen Medusa, we can deal with the people from the Heavenly Snake Mansion. And when the time comes, it'll be easier to seek Queen Medusa's cooperation."

A thoughtful look flashed in Yun Yun's eyes. "To deal with a Dou Huang, we'd need at least a High-Rank Dou Wang to step in. I've never heard of an expert like that in Desert City."

"Of course you haven't, but the person is no stranger to you." Lu Yuan spotted the enormous outline of Desert City in the distance and accelerated again with a thought.

"Who?" Yun Yun asked curiously.

"You'll know when you see him. Come to think of it, he's in a situation similar to yours right now."

As they talked, Lu Yuan landed on Desert City's East Street with Yun Yun.

Night had fallen, and the street was growing quiet. The shops on either side were beginning to close one after another.

Lu Yuan and Yun Yun landed in a small alley, then emerged and joined the flow of people on the street. They stopped in front of a shop with a sign reading "Lu Trading Company."

They pushed the door open and went inside. A steward was dozing behind the counter, but he raised his head at the sound. "What would you two customers like to buy?"

"I have something to ask you." Lu Yuan took out the identity token that marked him as an executive.

The steward glanced at it, and his drowsiness vanished instantly. He stood and said obsequiously, "So it's a clan executive! I didn't know you were coming and failed to welcome you properly. What can I do for you?"

"Tell me where the map shops in the city are," Lu Yuan said bluntly.

"Map shops?" The shopkeeper was puzzled, but answered promptly. "There are several in the city, but the best one is the one closest to the trading company. It's at..."

The steward went on to describe the locations of several map shops and the basic details about them.

Having obtained the answer he wanted, Lu Yuan immediately left with Yun Yun.

Before long, they arrived at a shop that looked less lavish and ostentatious than the others, with a somewhat antiquated air about it. The sign above the door bore the words "Ancient Map."

An old man with wrinkles like deep furrows and a somewhat disheveled head of white hair was closing up. Seeing Lu Yuan and Yun Yun approach, he said indifferently, "It's closing time for today."

"If you two want to buy or commission a map, come back tomorrow."

Lu Yuan looked at the old man and gave a faint chuckle. "If we can't go inside today, we won't be coming back tomorrow, either."

The old man's hands paused. He looked up, and a glint flashed through his cloudy eyes before quickly disappearing. "That's your choice."

With that, he reached out to put the last door panel in place.

"In that case..." Lu Yuan took Yun Yun's hand and turned around, speaking unhurriedly. "Your Excellency Ice Emperor can just remain sealed and wait for some kind soul to help you refine a Pill of Breaking Adversity."

Bang!

The door panel flew straight out.

The old man abruptly strode forward, his previously somewhat cloudy gaze becoming exceptionally clear.

"You recognize me!?"

"Ice Emperor?" Yun Yun's expression had already changed.

The helper Lu Yuan had come to find was actually this man.

The Ice Emperor Hai Bodong, one of the Ten Great Experts of the Jia Ma Empire more than a decade ago, whom her teacher had mentioned several times.

His mastery of ice-attribute Dou Qi had reached an extraordinary level. Back then, he had reportedly been expected to attempt a breakthrough to Dou Zong, but later, for some unknown reason, he had suddenly vanished without a trace. Many said he had perished in some ruins, while others said he had gone to the distant Central Plains.

Who would have thought he had turned into this scruffy old man before them!?

"What difference does it make whether I recognize you or not? Weren't you closing up?" Lu Yuan did not even turn his head.

Hai Bodong's expression changed. After a moment's thought, he said, "This shop is indeed closed to customers, but it can still receive honored guests and friends."

"You two have such fine features. One look is enough to tell you're honored guests."

Lu Yuan chuckled. This Hai Bodong certainly knew when to bend and when to stand tall.

"Lead the way." Lu Yuan stopped messing with Hai Bodong's head and turned around with Yun Yun to enter his shop.

In the reception room at the back, Hai Bodong took out some treasured tea leaves and brewed a pot.

"May I ask your name, young friend?"

"I have lived here in seclusion for more than a decade, and no one knows my identity."

"How did you recognize me?"

Lu Yuan had no intention of trading empty courtesies with Hai Bodong. He said frankly, "Elder Hai, I come from the Lu Clan in Salt City. I can't tell you how I learned your identity; I have some methods of my own."

"I've taken the liberty of visiting because I'd like to make a deal with you, Senior."

"Oh, and this is my Dao companion, Yun Yun."

Yun Yun shot Lu Yuan a sidelong glance, a little bashful, but did not contradict him.

She secretly resolved that once her strength recovered, she would make Lu Yuan "pay."

"Yun Yun?" Hai Bodong studied her face carefully and nodded slightly. "I thought you looked familiar. So it's you."

"I met you once, before I fought Yun Shan at the peak of the Misty Cloud Sect back then."

"After all these years, you've broken through to Dou Huang, and the Misty Cloud Sect has been placed in your hands."

"That old fellow Yun Shan-is he dead yet?"