While Xiang Yong went to deliver the message, Qiu Ling unhurriedly walked back to his own chambers and jumped back onto the beam. Mn, now as for the second part of his plan …
He picked up the brush and smeared down another few lines of text. Mn, very good! Now, he only had to deliver this and wait for the results.
He threw the message into his spatial ring, picked up the ink and brush and jumped down, discarding both of them on a table before running out again. This time, he rushed into An Bai's study. Facing the table … he blinked. Where was An Bai? Wasn't he normally here?
He looked around but couldn't find him anywhere. Qiu Ling pondered and his expression fell. Oh no! He had completely forgotten that An Bai was still imprisoned in the demon realm!
What was he supposed to do now? Go and free An Bai? But what if Qiang Wei came to see An Bai and he hadn't brought him back yet? Wouldn't his whole plan be ruined then?! What should he do now? Qiu Ling looked around to find some kind of inspiration. Maybe he could have somebody else pretend to be An Bai? But who should he ask? That guy looked so damned handsome. Nobody would believe it was An Bai.
Qiu Ling frowned. This guy! He was totally destroying his plan! This had to be on purpose! He probably wanted him to take a really long time to free Jing He so that he could go and blame him afterward. Argh, this guy was certainly still after his beloved! But he wouldn't let him take advantage of the situation! No, he would find a solution to this problem. Since An Bai was out … he would just tell Qiang Wei so!
He wanted to sit down on An Bai's chair but froze. Wait! If he stayed here, then whoever Jin Ling had sent to spy on him would also stay here! Ah, but he also couldn't go. Even if he left a message, who knew if the spy wouldn't come and search for it, thus exposing his great plan? No, he couldn't let that happen!
Ah, but even if he didn't let that happen and stayed and somehow made Qiang Wei read the message he had left, then there was still nobody who could divert the spy's attention!
Mn? Qiu Ling tilted his head. Wait! Wasn't there still him? Why couldn't he just stay here, leave a message for Qiang Wei, send him away and then follow him and the spy and then kill the spy while they were on the way? Ah, but what if the spy followed him instead of Qiang Wei? After all, he was much more important and way more handsome than Qiang Wei. If he had to decide, he'd also rather follow himself than that guy. Mn, he needed someone who could follow him to make sure no spy followed him!
Qiu Ling whipped out a transmission stone and imbued his spiritual energy.
Not far from the Nine Heavens, Xiang Yong stopped mid-flight and took out the transmission stone his king had given him, looking at it in confusion. Could it be his king had forgotten some instructions? He imbued his own energy and the image of Qiu Ling was projected above the stone. "Your Maje—"
"After you've given the messages to Qiang Wei, you have to wait a while and then follow him to the dragon realm, alright?"
"Ah … Sure?"
"Mn, and then you'll follow me! Make sure nobody else is following me. If somebody does, just kill them. No need for any questions."
"Alright."
"That's all. Continue then."
The connection was cut just like that, leaving Xiang Yong wondering just what had happened. Whatever his king was planning, it seemed to get more mysterious by the second. In the end, he shrugged his shoulders and continued on toward the Nine Heavens.
Contrary to the way his king normally entered, Xiang Yong stopped at the gates and told the guards his reason for coming over before proceeding to the crown prince's palace. He even took the time to greet the two heavenly guards standing in front of the door before going in.
He nodded at Yi Zan and Qiang Wei and took out the first note. "His Majesty sent me to deliver this." He handed it to Qiang Wei and stepped back to let him read it alone. With how secretive His Majesty had behaved, this probably wasn't something he should know about.
Qiang Wei raised his brows and unfurled the note. The message … made him frown. He turned to Yi Zan. "I'm supposed to go to the dragon realm to meet up with An Bai while Xiang Yong takes up my position here. Why didn't he just use the transmission stone?"
Yi Zan shook his head. He had no idea either.
Xiang Yong frowned. "That doesn't make sense. He just contacted me to give me another assignment after I delivered the message."
"Ah, right!" Qiang Wei waved the message. "Do you have another one? He wrote I'm supposed to deliver it."
Xiang Yong nodded and took out the other message. "He said not to read it."
"Mn. Alright." Qiang Wei took the note and put it into his sleeve. "Then … I should go to the dragon realm now?"
"Wait!" Xiang Yong took out his transmission stone. "Let me try and reach His Majesty first. I want to know what I'm supposed to do. That other order seemed rather important as well."
Qiang Wei nodded and the three dragons waited until the displeased image of Qiu Ling was projected above the transmission stone.
"What? Don't tell me you didn't understand what I said before."
Xiang Yong didn't react to the accusation in Qiu Ling's voice and concentrated on the facts. "That's not it, Your Majesty. Qiang Wei just told me that I'm supposed to guard His Highness in his place. Are you sure it's alright to have only Yi Zan stay with him?"
Qiu Ling's eyes widened. Shit! He had completely forgotten about that!