In the dragon realm, Leng Jin Yu sighed deeply. "I never would have thought I'd say this but it seems there are actually people in the dragon realm that are harder to deal with than their king."
Xiang Yong's eyes narrowed. "Oh? It's certainly the first time I've heard something like this. Even we dragons don't always think that it is easy to get along with His Majesty."
Leng Jin Yu smiled. "I never said it was easy. You're just making things much more difficult for me. Is it really so important why your king trusts me?"
Xiang Yong nodded. "Immensely so. After all, an ascended deity is not a trueborn god. Aren't there demonic sects in the human realm? Who can say for sure that you haven't been a disciple of one of them? They are also able to ascend, aren't they? It's just that rather than ascended deities that join the Nine Heavens, they'd be much more likely to join the demons. So maybe … you were sent over by them with some secret task I don't know about. Wouldn't it be careless of me to just let you pass?"
Leng Jin Yu nodded. That was certainly true. Just being an ascended deity wasn't really a reassurance for anything. And since the God of War hadn't announced that he would be coming, this person would have to just believe his words. Or maybe … Leng Jin Yu nodded to the palace gates. "Why don't you send somebody to ask Bai Mu? He has seen me before. He shouldn't have any trouble identifying me. Wouldn't you know then?"
"I could do that. I'm rather curious to know just why you don't want to say what your relationship with His Majesty is though."
"Maybe there's nothing special and I'm afraid you won't believe me. Maybe it's really just that we worked together for a rather long time in the human realm."
"I don't believe that."
"Which is precisely why I'm asking you to call Bai Mu. Is that really a problem?"
Xiang Yong shook his head. "It is not. But what if I don't want to?"
Leng Jin Yu narrowed his eyes. "As far as I know one cannot tell apart a demon from a dragon either just by looking at them. Maybe you're not actually a dragon."
Xiang Yong merely smiled. "Are you insinuating I'm pretending to be somebody I'm not? Wouldn't the guards have noticed?"
"I could imagine that Longjun's advisers aren't known to everybody. At least not to the point where everyone would be familiar with what they look like. Anyway, you're making things needlessly difficult for me. If you have questions, you can ask your king. I will not divulge any secret."
Xiang Yong took another look at the person in front of him. He couldn't help but feel that something was odd about this person. There was something he wasn't telling him and he didn't like that feeling at all. Wasn't this just too convenient? Telling him to contact His Majesty when the couldn't contact him? Maybe all of this actually had to do with the demons. He hadn't thought so before but with how this person was behaving, he felt that it was getting more likely by the minute. "Then what if I try to reach him but can't? Wouldn't that be in favor of what I said before?"
Leng Jin Yu closed his eyes and sighed. They were going in circles here. "Fine. There's something your king knows about me that made him believe that I would never betray him. As for what exactly that is … I do not think I should tell anybody. That is something I'll leave up to him." Yes, rather than saying anything that involved Jinde, it was still much better to bring up the issue with Qiu Ling. Him being part of the dragon race in his past life wasn't completely impossible. It wasn't anything this man could prove or disprove but it was something he would be able to ask Qiu Ling about later. And since it was the truth … Well, he could only hope that this man would let up if he said this much.
"I cannot ask His Majesty now. Isn't it utterly convenient to bring up something like this and saying that you will not tell me just what exactly the reason is?"
"Even if I told you, you would have no way to make sure of it. Let me just say this: It has to do with my past life. Will this suffice now?"
Xiang Yong continued to look at him for a moment before finally giving a sigh. "Well, I guess this is better than nothing. I'll ask His Majesty about that later on." He turned around and walked into the palace, letting Leng Jin Yu trail behind him. He went directly to the room where Bai Mu was and knocked on the door. "Somebody came to see you. He said he was an ascended deity of the Nine Heavens. Would you mind having a look?"
Bai Mu opened the door and looked at Leng Jin Yu.
Xiang Yong motioned over. "How is it? Do you recognize him?"
Bai Mu nodded. "Oh, sure, you were the one that accompanied Qiu Ling to the capital. This was about your —"
Leng Jin Yu coughed, interrupting Bai Mu before he could mention Jinde. "Indeed. Qiu Ling should have given you his transmission stone, didn't he? It is slightly inconvenient not to be able to contact him so your father sent me to get the stone and bring it back to the Yun Zou Sect."
Bai Mu raised his brows but took out the stone and handed it over. "I was surprised when he said that he contacted you. But I guess I should've expected as much. You also knew about him being my father back then."
Leng Jin Yu nodded. "I have been in the Yun Zou Sect for quite a while. All of that was on your father's orders. Well, that is actually everything. Since my task here is finished, I should also return."
"Ah, wait!"
Leng Jin Yu closed his eyes and sighed. He just wanted to leave. He wanted to go and make sure that Jinde was alright. Why were people always holding him back? He still turned back and forced himself to smile. "What might be the matter?"
Bai Mu gave a wry smile. "You've helped me so much with this. About the thing with your lover …"
Leng Jin Yu shook his head. "I expected that this would take a while. Don't worry about it. Although … I really should go now. He's probably waiting already."
Bai Mu nodded. "Alright, then you'd better go. If there's anything I can help with …"
Leng Jin Yu shook his head. It was better not to get anyone else involved. Or well, to get others even further involved. "It's alright. I just … I just want to hurry home."
Bai Mu nodded and cupped his fists, bidding him farewell.
Leng Jin Yu nodded and then turned to Xiang Yong. "I hope your doubts have been cleared up now. Anyway, I really need to go now."
Xiang Yong nodded and gave him a smile. "I'm sorry for making things difficult for you. But you can probably understand that as one of His Majesty's advisers, I can't be careless with this."
Leng Jin Yu nodded, cupped his fists and turned away, leaving the palace.
Xiang Yong watched him leave and bid his farewell from Bai Mu. He couldn't help but think that something was still rather fishy about this. He took a look in both directions and finally followed Leng Jin Yu.