The Heavenly Emperor and Qiu Ling both turned to Qiang Yan to look at him with shock.
"Who would have thought!"
"You never said anything."
Qiang Yan cleared his throat. "That was a trial and it's long in the past. Why would I have talked about it? So, what about her?"
The Heavenly Emperor turned to Xin Lan. "Senior Xin, what exactly is it that you'd like to know?"
Xin Lan cupped his fists in front of Qiang Yan. "I appreciate that the God of War shares this story with us. It probably isn't easy to talk about this. We don't know exactly what the plan of the demons is so in theory every information could be important. For now what concerns me most is if you know whether that woman is still alive now or has some other living family? And if yes, do you have any idea where we could find either her or her family members?"
"Huan Yin is dead. Back then we … we were cultivating immortality." He laughed and shook his head. Back then he must have made as much trouble for the Fate's Scribe as Jing He's reincarnation was causing right now. "We wanted to ascend together but the only one who made it was me. Huan Yin must have fallen due to the lightning tribulation."
Shun Tao looked away. Did he really have to talk about it? Why did he feel like that would bring even more trouble?
"Then her family?"
"I don't know much about that. She rarely talked about them. As far as I know, her mother should have been partly-human and partly-god while her father was a full-blooded demon. The two of them had two children together, both girls, and there were a bunch of other children her father had with other women. But that is all I know. As for whether any of them is still alive … I'm afraid I can't help with that either."
Xin Lan frowned slightly. Ah, this wasn't good. Mixed raced children were quite rare, especially in such a combination. If they didn't manage to find either that Huan Yin or her sister they probably wouldn't have any chance to open the array. After all, where else were they supposed to find another person with such blood? Having two of them was already rare enough!
The Heavenly Emperor looked at Xin Lan. "Senior Xin, does that help you?"
"No, I'm afraid this means that that clue won't lead anywhere. I still thank you for your help." He cupped his fists again and slightly turned around to signal Qiu Ling to leave together with him.
Before he could do anything else the Fate's Scribe cleared his throat. "Uhm, there is actually … I know something that might be of help to you. It's just …" He looked at Qiang Yan and gulped. Maybe he should have told him back then? But that wasn't really his task, was it? It had just been a trial anyway.
"What does the Fate's Scribe know?" Xin Lan turned back, clenching his hands. He didn't like that man but his master wanted to see him again. He couldn't allow the secret realm to remain shut. He had to open it one way or the other.
"Well, that woman … she didn't die back then."
Qiang Yan raised his brows. "What? That can't be. We both tried to ascend and she fell back while I already … Why wouldn't she have come to the Nine Heavens if she did ascend?"
Shun Tao squirmed on the spot. "She didn't ascend either."
"Fate's Scribe!" The Heavenly Emperor struck the armrest of his throne and frowned. "Stop dilly-dallying and tell us what happened!"
"This … I'm sorry, God of War. You've also heard it. His Majesty ordered me to say it and the situation is special. Normally, I certainly wouldn't want to talk about your private matters like this.
The thing is back then Huan Yin couldn't ascend. Not because she lacked the strength to do so but because there are limitations to the ascension of mortals. For example, only the person that suffered through the tribulations can ascend. The person can't carry anyone with her."
Qiang Yan frowned. "What's that supposed to mean? There was only us. Why would Huan Yin even try to take somebody else with her?"
Shun Tao coughed. "Well, she was pregnant at that time."
"She … What?"
"She was pregnant. So, technically speaking, she carried a child with her which made her unable to ascend. She could have done so after giving birth but … Maybe she couldn't bring herself to leave the child. I don't know about that. Since Huan Yin wasn't mortal there is no scroll of fate for her. I can't check what happened to her after your trial ended. I only know that when Feng Jian Hao ascended he left behind a pregnant woman."
"So I … I might have a child somewhere out there?"
The Heavenly Emperor coughed. "God of War, don't get this wrong. It's not your child. It's the child of the mortal you were in your trial. That has long passed and most likely that child will be dead anyway. You were mortal and that woman was partly-human. The child was certainly mortal itself. It has probably long died."
"Mn. Your Majesty is probably right." Qiang Yan said so but he definitely didn't look as if he could just push the thought aside.
In fact, he really couldn't. As he had told his nephew once he had really loved Huan Yin. Had she managed to ascend back then he probably would have asked her to marry him despite the fact that she had some demon blood. He hadn't cared about that. Knowing that she hadn't been able to ascend because she had been with his child … It unexpectedly made his heart throb painfully even after all this time.
Why? Just why had he ascended that bit before her? He should have held back until he could be certain that she would be able to ascend. Some years more or less … What did it matter? Unfortunately, it was already too late now. It had been too late for a long time already.
Qiang Yan sighed. "Then, does this help you, Senior Xin?" If this could at least help against the demons, then it wouldn't have been all in vain.
Xin Lan narrowed his eyes. The God of War had been a human so the general composition of the blood would be the same for mother and child even though it varied a little in regard to the size of the parts.
"I think it might. But … to make sure we would have to find that child or at least make sure whether or not it's still alive."