The Heavenly Emperor's lips parted but just when he was but one step short of uttering the command, the infuriating voice of his so-called son-in-law sounded and interrupted him.
"Eh? Uncle-in-law, is that you?" Qiu Ling's tense mood finally lifted. "How great! With all three of you there, we can definitely find someone fast!"
Bai Fen was too shaken to answer her son-in-law right now. The Heavenly Emperor Rong Su was secretly annoyed. This guy had managed to lose his son and now he still made a mess with his interruption!
The only one who actually paid attention to what exactly Qiu Ling had said was Qiang Yan. He knelt down beside his sister and shoved his face in the scope of the transmission stone. "Longjun, what's your meaning, ah?" He hadn't said 'find Jing He' but instead talked about finding 'someone'. This had to have another meaning!
"Mn, uncle-in-law, those guards probably told you about the array already, didn't they?"
"Array?" Qiang Yan frowned and looked at the guard opposite him.
The man froze. He didn't know anything about an array!
Qiang Yan turned back to Qiu Ling's pale apparition and shook his head. "No, I haven't been informed yet. I only know that Jing He vanished. What do you know about that?"
Qiu Ling frowned. "A while back that bastard Jin Ling came over to the Hei Dian Sect where I was staying with Jing He. Luckily, he didn't see him but he must still have found out something. When we left the sect someone actually gave a Jade Gathering Beast to Jing He. Naturally, he didn't know what it was and didn't guard against it at all. I noticed in time but just when I tried to grab the thing and destroy it I was attacked by someone. The Jade Gathering Beast was still killed in the end but there was an explosion and after that Jing He and that guy were gone."
Qiang Yan frowned. "Jade Gathering Beast?" He felt a chill run down his back. That was … too vicious!
Never mind those mortals who had no idea that Jade Gathering Beasts would devour every kind of energy, a god in his trial period was the one who would suffer the most should he encounter one of them. Jade Gathering Beasts were, after all, attracted by energy and the stronger and purer the energy was the more they would want to devour it. In comparison to a mortal soul, an immortal one like Jing He's was a delicacy for such a creature.
Bai Fen's hands holding the transmission stone shook. "Jade Gathering Beast? But it didn't …"
"No, don't worry, mother-in-law. I noticed in time. It didn't have an opportunity to do anything to Jing He. It's just …" Qiu Ling's expression grew solemn. "All of that occurred at a place where a secret realm was supposed to open. Because of the explosion, it closed immediately but before that, it seems that that man dragged Jing He inside. So now, they're trapped in that secret realm together."
"He's trapped with a demon?!" Bai Fen's voice had grown shrill. "Where is that? Rong Su, we have to send someone immediately!" She grabbed her husband's arm and shook him.
This was even worse than Jing He being held in the demon realm! At least there they would have some understanding of where Jing He could be and how they could proceed. But now he was trapped with an unknown person in an unknown realm. Who could tell her for sure how this would end?
The Heavenly Emperor nodded. He also felt that sending people over was a must. He turned to his brother-in-law but before he could give a command, he was once again interrupted by his son-in-law. Was this guy doing it on purpose?
"Yes, mother-in-law is right! Please send someone over as soon as possible, father-in-law! I already asked our dragon race's An Bai to take a look at the array but he couldn't figure it out. Even when we asked one of the guards you left behind he also didn't notice anything. We definitely need someone who knows a lot about arrays!"
"Arrays?" Bai Fen repeated that word and looked at her husband and brother. Could somebody tell her what her son-in-law was talking about?
"Mn!" Qiu Ling scrunched up his face. "I asked that human master and he said that the secret realm would only open on its own but I don't believe him. There's an enormous formation drawn on the ground. It's obvious that this has something to do with the opening of the secret realm. The only problem is that the humans have arrays that are different from ours. An Bai said he'd need time to figure it out but I'm not sure how long that would be. We can't wait for him to finish! Don't you think so, too?"
This time all four of them were of the same opinion. Nobody wanted to see Jing He trapped for longer than absolutely necessary if the one imprisoned with him was a demon.
Rong Su stroked his beard. "We have quite a few people who are proficient in that area. Let's just send all of them to help."
Bai Fen instantly nodded. "Yes, ah, let's send someone to inform them right away." She pleadingly looked at her husband. Why couldn't he hurry up, ah? Their son was in danger! "Ah! I'll do it myself!"
She leaped to her feet and ran out, grabbing the next servant she saw. She rattled down a list of names that frightened the poor guy into speechlessness. "These people are to immediately convene at the Heavenly Emperor's study!"
"Yes, Heavenly Empress!" The servant bowed and hurried away, afraid that she would remember another bigwig for him to call. Really, his heart would probably stop beating if he had to do that!
Meanwhile, Bai Fen didn't return to the study. Instead, she hurried to another palace in the Nine Heaven's capital. The guards at the door looked at her with a dumbfounded expression and even forgot to greet her.
Bai Fen ignored their lack of manners. She had something else to do. Now, nothing was more important than her beloved son. "Bring me to the Fate's Scribe, Shun Tao."