In the capital of the Long kingdom, Xin Lan entered Zhong Gang's restaurant. He ignored the servant at the door and just walked up to the second floor on his own, pushing the door to the room where Qiu Ling was currently talking to Xiang Yong.
Bai Mu leaped to his feet when the door opened and raised his hands, prepared to defend himself if this was someone from the Chun Feng Sect or one of those countless other 'righteous' places.
Xin Lan raised his brows and silently walked over to the table, sitting down as if this was the normal thing to do. He looked at the dishes on the table and picked up the pair of chopsticks that Leng Jin Yu hadn't used, helping himself to a part of the duck that was the specialty of the restaurant. He tsked after just the first bite. He hadn't eaten in a long time. How come now that he had the chance to do so the food in front of him was cold?
Xin Lan put the chopsticks down with a sigh and looked up at Bai Mu. "Do you know somebody called Xiang Yu?"
"Xiang Yu?" Bai Mu frowned. "No, why —"
"A fallen god living in the demon realm."
"The demon —"
"He was affiliated with someone who looked quite similar to you."
This time Bai Mu didn't try to speak up. Looking at the person in front of him more closely, this obviously wasn't someone from a righteous sect. He gave off a dangerous feeling. In fact, this feeling was very familiar. He seemed to be the one who had helped to save him from the Chun Feng Sect's dungeon. Back then, he had still been weak from his time under the influence of those stones. He hadn't paid too much attention to the people that helped him. The only reason he had recognized Qiu Ling that fast was that he had been surprised that somebody who obviously wasn't immune to the traps in that dungeon either would force himself so much just to save him. It had made quite an impression on him despite his own condition.
Xin Lan didn't bother with Bai Mu's strange expression and just went on to explain. "I can't be sure about their exact relationship but it's likely they were close, maybe married."
Qiu Ling popped up next to him. "That fallen god if married?"
"His husband was likely a demon and had a brother that also looked similar to him even though the similarity would only be obvious at second glance."
Bai Mu chuckled. "Big families aren't strange in the demon realm. You could even say that everyone is related."
"I know that but unions with a god should be something that's seldom seen. Even more so if that god fell later on."
"That's true. There aren't many gods that would enter the demon realm. It would be stupid."
"Then who was that stupid fallen god married to? You should know. It has to be someone from your family."
Bai Mu sighed. "That person might be related to my family but I myself haven't spent much time in the demon realm. I don't know much about them."
"Then what do you know?"
Bai Mu sighed. "I only know that my demon blood came from my mother's father. Her mother was part god, part human and he had affairs with all kinds of people. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a trueborn god among them."
"Is there any way to find out?"
Bai Mu raised his brows and looked at the person that had sat down next to Xin Lan. "He said he'd let me meet my father. He might know more."
"The God of War?"
"I don't know about any God of War but my father, Feng Jian Hao, would have known more about my mother's family than I. You can ask him if he contacts us."
Xin Lan nodded. "When will that be?"
"I wouldn't know."
Xin Lan turned to Qiu Ling and raised his brows.
"What are you looking at me for? I don't know either! Mother-in-law already went to contact him but you also know about the time difference. It's only been a few … minutes in the Nine Heavens. Who knows? Uncle-in-law might con—"
Qiu Ling stopped. Eh? He pulled his transmission stone out of his spatial ring and grinned. The stone was pulsing with white light. "See this? That has to be him!" He imbued his own spiritual energy and wanted to greet him but the person looking back at him wasn't Qiang Yan. "Eh? Old geezer, why are you —"
"Ma—!" Xin Lan gulped. "Your Majesty, why … Your soul!"
Jinde laughed. "Don't worry about it, Xin Lan. Leng Jin Yu is the one who is using his energy."
"Ah. So it was like that." Xin Lan calmed down and nodded. "Then what did you want?"
"Oh, it's nothing much. Just that I wrote down every pill that might be able to achieve what you want. Unfortunately … I might not be able to refine them as I am now."
Bai Mu furrowed his brows. He couldn't see the person's face from his side of the table but his voice was clear enough. Did this mean … they knew a way to save Nie Huang but couldn't follow it? How could fate be this cruel? Giving him hope for a moment only to smash it to pieces the very next. This truly …
"Eh, then we should see that we can heal your soul as soon as possible."
Jinde furrowed his brows. "Brat, do you think I would still be like this if it was that easy? I've found out all I can about souls and there are ways to restore it but … not many. At least there are almost none that would allow me to do so right away. I've spent several tenths of thousands of year at the bottom of a lake to restore it far enough to live without the threat of facing death every single day. What do you think how many more years I'd need to spend there to heal fully?"
Qiu Ling raised his brows. "Quite a few?"
"You don't say."