At this time, Queen Chi Yan was not in the Raging Waves Kingdom. She had gone to the Sky Temple to study higher-level martial arts.
So the person currently living in the Princess Residence was Duke Chi Ao.
This informant was soon brought before Chi Ao, also known as Ling Ao.
“Who are you?” Chi Ao said coldly. “Lift your hood.”
The man lifted his hood, but it was almost the same as if he had not lifted it. His face was utterly ordinary, with almost no distinctive features. He was simply an insignificant passer-by.
“Who are you?” Chi Ao asked again.
“You do not need to know who I am, Your Grace,” the informant said with a smile. “Where is Her Majesty the Queen?”
“She is not here,” Chi Ao said. “Telling me is the same thing.”
“That is impossible. I can only tell this secret to Her Majesty the Queen,” the informant said.
Chi Ao said, “Then wait. Her Majesty will not be back for another six months.”
The informant said, “Your Grace can take me to see Her Majesty.”
Chi Ao said, “You cannot go where she is, and neither can I.”
The informant said, “This matter is extremely urgent. It even concerns the lives of countless people. If the opportunity is missed, you will regret it beyond measure.”
Chi Ao said nothing. Instead, he continued sitting there quietly, even picking up his tea and calmly drinking it.
After quite some time, the informant said, “The World-Destroying Demon Emperor Suo Lun is not dead!”
As soon as these words were spoken, Chi Ao seemed to have been struck by lightning. He froze in place and instantly lost all ability to react.
“Crack…”
The cup in his hand was immediately crushed to pieces.
Then Chi Ao’s handsome face twitched repeatedly, revealing a strained cold smile. “Are you joking? Countless people clearly witnessed Suo Lun’s death. Even his corpse was burned to ashes.”
The informant sneered. “He has been resurrected in the Demon Clan territory, and he has risen rapidly. Not long ago, he personally led an army and defeated a million-man army from a Demon Banner territory. I believe it will not be long before he becomes the absolute ruler of more than a million square kilometres.”
There was no doubt that this informant had not been sent by Mengtuoluo.
From the Southern Wilderness to the human kingdom, unless one travelled through the Divine Dragon Temple, even an ordinary powerful warrior would need at least one or two months to make the journey.
Furthermore, the latest information this informant had obtained was that Lan Ling had just defeated Nai Shu’s million-man army, which was almost two months old.
Therefore, he must have travelled north from the Southern Wilderness more than a month ago.
So who exactly was this informant?
Why did he know that Lan Ling was Suo Lun?
“Lan Ling, the chief of the Flame Demon Tribe in the Rakshasa Clan territory of the Southern Wilderness, is the deceased World-Destroying Demon Emperor Suo Lun,” the informant sneered. “If you do not believe me, you can personally go to the Southern Wilderness and see for yourself. I believe you will recognise him at a glance. Although his body and face have changed, he still retains many traces of his former self.”
Chi Ao stared coldly at the informant before him. “Who exactly are you? Who are you working for?”
“Heh heh…” The informant gave a cold laugh.
Chi Ao said, “What do you want?”
“What I want is something you cannot give me.”
Chi Ao said, “Who else have you told this secret to?”
“Such an extremely confidential secret? Of course I have not told anyone.”
Chi Ao closed his eyes for a moment. After opening them again, he stood up and said, “I will give you ten thousand gold coins, whether you need them or not. You deserve them.”
With that, Chi Ao left.
After he left, a cold smile appeared at the corner of the informant’s mouth. He stood motionless where he was.
A moment later…
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
Eight powerful warriors from Ya Zhou rushed in at ghostly speed.
In just three seconds, the informant was torn into pieces.
…
Raging Waves Kingdom, royal capital Chi Du, inside a secret courtyard.
The pride of the Divine Dragon Temple, the direct disciple of the Sky Priest, Young Lord Huai Bingyi of Bazhou, was crouching on the ground, tending to the flowers in a flower bed.
A breeze blew past, causing the petals of the flowers before him to tremble slightly.
A grey shadow appeared in the courtyard and knelt before Huai Bingyi.
“How did it go?” Huai Bingyi asked.
“Chi Ao killed the informant,” the grey shadow said. “But whether he will tell Queen Chi Yan remains unknown.”
Then the grey shadow said, “Why can’t we simply send someone to tell Queen Chi Yan directly?”
Huai Bingyi shook his head.
The grey shadow said, “Should we send someone to the Southern Wilderness to eliminate Lan Ling?”
“Idiot!” Huai Bingyi rebuked coldly. “Who is our greatest enemy?”
The grey shadow immediately lowered his head. “Forgive me, Master. This servant was foolish.”
Huai Bingyi said, “When Suo Lun was killed back then, every faction of the Divine Dragon Temple sent people there. After Suo Lun died, the Divine Dragon Temple even held a grand celebration. Now, if someone reveals that Suo Lun is not actually dead, what do you think the result will be?”
The grey shadow said, “All the factions of the Divine Dragon Temple will praise you publicly, but in their hearts they will be extremely uncomfortable, feeling that you have made fools of all of them.”
Huai Bingyi said, “That slut Fu Lingxi needs the credit for discovering the Lord of the Demon Star. I do not. Understand?”
“Yes!” the grey shadow replied.
Huai Bingyi said, “Then do you know what Suo Lun, or rather this so-called Lan Ling, means to us right now?”
The grey shadow said, “A huge achievement.”
“Exactly!” Huai Bingyi said. “He is still not strong enough. He is not yet qualified to become the Divine Dragon Temple’s greatest threat. A pig has to be raised until it is big enough before it can be slaughtered, so…”
Huai Bingyi did not finish his sentence.
There was one secret he had never told anyone. He had known that Suo Lun was the World-Destroying Demon Emperor earlier than everyone else, at least much earlier than Fu Lingxi.
Back then, Suo Lun had been taken hostage to the Futu Island in the Western Sea by Princess Wanyuan of Ya Zhou. Princess Chi Yan had gone alone to rescue him, but had fallen victim to the Fallen Dream. She had gone from being cold and without desire to being cold but capable of desire, and had given herself to Lan Ling.
Afterwards, Huai Bingyi had sailed a great ship to Futu Island and brought Suo Lun and Chi Yan away.
At sea, Huai Bingyi spent several days and nights with Suo Lun. They played chess and played the zither together.
At that time, Huai Bingyi had already become fairly certain that Suo Lun was the Lord of the Demon Star.
Because Huai Bingyi’s brain had been modified. There should have been no one in this world with a more intelligent mind than his, at least when it came to chess, nobody could surpass him.
Yet Lan Ling had surpassed him.
That meant there was a problem.
Afterwards, Huai Bingyi secretly investigated Suo Lun’s life history, especially the fact that several years earlier, Suo Lun should have died in the Heavenly Demon Mountain Range, yet had somehow survived.
After coming back to life, he seemed to have completely become a different person, becoming extraordinarily wise and intelligent.
Countless signs indicated that Suo Lun should indeed be the Lord of the Demon Star.
However, Huai Bingyi still remained unmoved. Because, as he had said, he did not need this achievement. The current World-Destroying Demon Emperor was simply too weak.
The pig had to be fattened before being slaughtered.
However, he had never expected that Fu Lingxi, that despicable woman, would discover it ahead of him and impatiently expose the secret.
At that time, Huai Bingyi had truly been furious. It was like playing mahjong. Huai Bingyi had been desperately arranging his tiles, preparing for a huge winning hand, planning to win a million. Then Fu Lingxi got a good hand and impatiently went for a mediocre win, happily winning ten thousand, while completely wasting the excellent hand Huai Bingyi had been preparing.
However, he had never expected that the heavens would favour him.
Suo Lun had actually survived.
He had actually been resurrected and had established an enormous power base in the Southern Wilderness.
This truly was the blessing of heaven. How could Huai Bingyi bear to kill Lan Ling now?
He had to wait until Lan Ling became the Divine Dragon Temple’s greatest threat, then eliminate him in one stroke. In this way, he would become the pillar that saved the situation.
It could be said that the stronger Lan Ling became in the future, the greater Huai Bingyi’s contribution would be.
In Huai Bingyi’s heart, he even wanted to use Lan Ling to become the first leader of the Sky Temple.
Therefore, anyone who dared to kill Lan Ling now would become his mortal enemy.
“Keep Chi Ao under constant surveillance. Under no circumstances can you let him say a single word, especially to Ya Zhou or that slut Fu Lingxi. If you discover that he is about to reveal this secret, immediately destroy the region of his mind,” Huai Bingyi said.
The grey shadow said, “Yes!”
Huai Bingyi said, “The Sky Temple will give Chi Yan a short holiday and let her return to the Raging Waves Kingdom. Watch whether Chi Ao tells her. If Chi Ao does not report to Chi Yan within three days, erase Chi Ao’s memories as well. We will find another way and test Chi Yan again.”
“Yes!” the grey shadow said. “What if we discover that Chi Yan still has feelings for Suo Lun?”
Huai Bingyi’s gaze narrowed. He sighed and said, “Then I will not have so much time to waste on her.”
Then Huai Bingyi said, “Have the infiltrators continue to remain in the Southern Wilderness. Absolutely do not act rashly, and do not send any more information outside. Completely lie low.”
“Yes!” the grey shadow replied.
…
Lan Ling returned to the Flame Demon Banner territory with Yudie.
Everyone finally relaxed, and the hundreds of thousands of troops stationed between the Flame Demon Banner and Blue Demon Banner also withdrew.
If Lan Ling had not returned after three days, Black Curse and Kagan Chiyan would have led their army into the Blue Demon Banner territory and launched a massacre.
After returning to the Flame Demon Banner territory, Lan Ling still felt as though everything that had happened in Rakshasa City had been a dream.
Before this, he had always regarded Little Rakshasa King as his greatest enemy at present.
Yet he had never imagined that this Little Rakshasa King would actually become his greatest protector and loyal supporter.
However, calling him a loyal supporter was not entirely accurate, because he had no intention of worshipping Lan Ling.
He was loyal only to his own ideal. Since his life was coming to an end, he regarded Lan Ling as almost the only person capable of accomplishing his ideal.
After returning to Flame Demon City, Lan Ling was once again buried under countless tasks.
He did not know how many people were queuing to report to him.
Only after quite some time did Lan Ling remember something. Why had Yin Ji not appeared?
Her role should have been equivalent to Lan Ling’s chief assistant. Normally, she was always the first person to report work to him.
After asking, he received an answer that left him somewhat astonished.
Yin Ji was ill!
How could she possibly be ill? After all, there was a trace of his Demon Blood lineage inside her. Although, because of her own bloodline, even after receiving some of Lan Ling’s Demon Blood energy, she could not become immortal like Xie Li Khan and the Death Warriors.
But she should certainly have been immune to ordinary illnesses.
A Li’s health had originally never been particularly good, but after receiving some of Lan Ling’s Demon Blood, she had never fallen ill again.
Yet Yin Ji had actually become ill? Could it be an illness of the heart, or perhaps she was simply acting spoiled and throwing a tantrum?
However, when Lan Ling saw her, he immediately dismissed this thought.
Yin Ji was genuinely ill. Her face was pale and her breathing was weak.
She was not coughing and did not appear to be in pain. She was simply extremely weak.
“I do not know why. That night, I was working until late at night when suddenly a gust of wind blew in and extinguished the lamp. Everything went dark before my eyes, and then I lost consciousness,” Yin Ji said weakly.
Lan Ling nodded.
He reached out and touched Yin Ji’s forehead. She did not have a fever either.
“Seal Lan Yin’s room. Everything must remain exactly as it is. Do not let anyone enter or leave, and do not let anyone disturb the scene,” Lan Ling said.
“Yes!” Gou Li behind him replied.
…
Queen Chi Yan had been studying advanced martial arts at the Sky Temple for two months. She still had approximately another four months before her training period ended.
However, early that morning, her teacher unexpectedly said that she would be given a half-month holiday so that she could return to the Raging Waves Kingdom to handle state affairs.
Queen Chi Yan was slightly stunned. She then mounted a griffin and left the Sky Temple, returning to the Raging Waves Kingdom.
After returning to the royal capital Chi Du, she had countless government affairs to deal with, just like Lan Ling.
Although she had entrusted state affairs to the cabinet, some matters could only be decided by the king.
After signing countless memorials and meeting one minister after another, she worked for an entire day and night before finally getting a little rest late at night.
She lived in a palace at the top of Purple Jade Mountain. There was not a single person within several hundred metres.
She had always been very lonely, and she had always enjoyed this solitude.
She sat cross-legged on the bed and closed her beautiful eyes.
This was the very bed where her father, King Chi Bian, had died from illness. She had never changed it, nor had she even moved it.
To some extent, her father, King Chi Bian, had probably been angered to death by her.
When she killed Lan Ling, although King Chi Bian had neither seen nor heard it, he seemed to have sensed something inexplicably. His heart suddenly stopped, and he died suddenly.
Just as she was about to enter a meditative state, a eunuch outside suddenly said, “Your Majesty, Duke Chi Ao requests an audience.”
Chi Ao, her half-brother, had only just seen her during the day. Why had he come to request an audience in the middle of the night?
There must be something extremely important.
“Let him in!” Queen Chi Yan said.
“Yes!”
…
Fifteen minutes later, Duke Chi Ao, also known as Ling Ao, entered and knelt before Queen Chi Yan, bowing his head.
“Your Majesty, I pay my respects.”
“Is there something?” Chi Yan asked.
Chi Ao remained silent for a long time, as if making one final struggle.
Queen Chi Yan did not urge him. She simply waited quietly.
Chi Ao suddenly gritted his teeth and said, “A few days ago, an informant came to me and told me something shocking. I cannot determine whether it is true or false.”
Chi Yan said, “What is it?”
Chi Ao said, “He said that Suo Lun is not dead. He has been resurrected in the Southern Wilderness!” :::