At that time, Xin Lan had arrived in front of the palace of the Fate's Scribe. He stared at the gate and furrowed his brow. Honestly, he never would have thought he'd be trying to find out more about a fallen god one day. But as long as this could save his Master from having to worry about Jin Ling …
He sighed and stepped up to the guards. "Xin Lan from the dragon race came to ask the Fate's Scribe for assistance."
Just like before, he was led inside and brought to the Fate's Scribe's study.
Shun Tao hurriedly got up when he saw who his guest was. "Senior Xin Lan …"
Xin Lan nodded. "I've come to ask for the Fate's Scribe's help with a mission. It concerns the fate of someone from the Nine Heavens."
Shun Tao motioned at the chair in front of his table. "Certainly. Please, have a seat."
Xin Lan didn't bother to sit down and instead walked to the door on the other side of the room, looking at the garden. What he wanted to know wasn't anything the Fate's Scribe would know just like that. He would need to consult the scrolls of fate or maybe even the river of forgetfulness. "The person I want to ask about was called Xiang Yu. He met a demon while on a trial in the mortal world and fell in love. After passing the trial, he followed him into the demon realm, they married but Xiang Yu finally fell. I want the Fate's Scribe to tell me more about him. Where did he come from? Which family did he belong to? What kind of trials did he face? And what happened in the demon realm that made him fall?"
Shun Tao didn't answer. He just stared at Xin Lan's back. This senior from the dragon race … He really was quite ambitious. Did he think finding out such things was easy?
Xin Lan furrowed his brows and turned around. "What?"
"That …" Shun Tao cleared his throat. "I can have a look at his scroll of fate and tell Senior Xin Lan about his trial but as for everything else …"
"Isn't the Fate's Scribe able to have a look at the river of forgetfulness? If the stories aren't wrong, you should be able to see a person's whole life in there. Regardless of whether that person is a mortal or immortal."
Shun Tao smiled wryly. "That's … possible … in theory."
"Oh? So you can't do it?"
The Fate's Scribe gritted his teeth when he saw Xin Lan raise his brows. With half his face being hidden behind the mask, it truly seemed too taunting. "It's not that I can't at all. But it's not such a simple thing."
"I spoke to the God of Love just now. He didn't mind taking a look at the leaves of the Tree of Love to help me ascertain the love fate of that fallen god."
Shun Tao smiled wryly in response. Wasn't this guy being unfair? "Senior Xin Lan, you wouldn't want to compare the Tree of Love with the River of Forgetfulness, would you? You should know even better than me that the latter is much older than the former and has a much narrower function. How could using them be compared to each other?"
Xin Lan harrumphed. "It's just something that came from the High Heavens and has been here for a long time. It's almost as if it was always just a part of the Nine Heavens. Is it really so hard just to take a look at the fate of one person? It's not like I asked you to climb to the High Heavens and ask Tian personally about it."
Shun Tao grimaced. Now he really felt like this person was taunting him. Unfortunately, he also seemed serious about wanting to know about that person's fate. He wouldn't get around this just by repeating how difficult it was. Maybe they could find some kind of compromise? He pondered and finally perked up. Right! Maybe it would be enough to find some kind of lead Xin Lan could use to investigate further? In that case, the scroll of fate might be enough!
Shun Tao cleared his throat and stepped closer. "Senior Xin Lan, I do understand that this is important to you but it really isn't as easy as you imagine. How about this? We can first look for that person's scroll of fate. Maybe the information inside will be enough then we won't have to use the River of Forgetfulness at all. If not … then we can still discuss this further."
Xin Lan continued to look at the garden and narrowed his eyes. He doubted that the scroll of fate would be enough. Then again Xiang Yu had met his husband there. It could be that there was a special place that connected them where he might go regularly.
He frowned. No. That wasn't right either. He might not know Xiang Yu that well but he obviously stayed in the demon realm most of the time. Even Jin Ling had said that he remained there because his husband had lived there. So it was unlikely for the scroll of fate to provide any information.
"I'm afraid … the scroll of fate will not contain what I need. It's a beginning but the information about his life as a god is much more important. Furthermore …" Xin Lan turned to the Fate's Scribe. "That Xiang Yu has been in the demon realm for several ten thousand years already. Finding his scroll of fate from his last trial …" He shook his head. "I'm afraid it won't be easy. And it will take time. Consulting the River of Forgetfulness should be much faster."
Shun Tao sighed. "I see there's no way to convince you otherwise. I can't decide this on my own though. You'll have to see the Heavenly Emperor with me."
Xin Lan nodded. "That's a given but I doubt he'll be against it." After all, this involved his son and even he had heard how much the Heavenly Emperor doted on him.
Seeing that Xin Lan wouldn't make things difficult in regards to asking the Heavenly Emperor's consent, Shun Tao heaved a sigh of relief and motioned to the door. "Let's go then. Senior Xin Lan seems to be in a hurry. We shouldn't draw things out needlessly."