Shun Tao and Qiang Yan exchanged a glance and then went over to the Heavenly Emperor's palace. Just as they had imagined, Rong Su was anything but thrilled when he heard about the situation.
"Hmph. Why would I bother to help him? If he can't even defend himself against a few humans, then the dragons should thank us for helping them to get rid of him."
Qiang Yan repressed a sigh. "I don't think that they'd appreciate that."
"Well, then they should keep an eye on him themselves. Why should we do it?"
"Because they are our allies." And he happens to be the fiance of your son … Qiang Yan kept the latter to himself and only gave a strained smile. He had feared that this might happen but he had hoped that his brother-in-law would be willing to work through matters on account of the relationship between their races.
"Then tell them to pay attention to him. We're not doing it for them!"
Qiang Yan furrowed his brows. He really wanted to argue but he didn't even know where to start. His brother-in-law obviously wasn't willing to give in. "Well, if that's your final decision."
"It is! That guy can't expect to rely on us all the time!"
Qiang Yan raised his brows. When had Longjun ever relied on them? Normally, he was just doing whatever he wanted and didn't even care about their opinion. Well, reminding his brother-in-law of that surely wouldn't help the situation.
He sighed and nodded. "Very well, then we'd better not disturb you any longer." With that, he turned and pulled Shun Tao out of the palace, slowly accompanying him back to where they had come from. "What now?"
"Now, my hands are tied so you'll have to figure out another way."
Qiang Yan nodded slowly. "But what way?"
"Well, you can still go and inform the dragons."
"But what use will that be? They'd be in the same situation as him! And Longjun is the strongest fighter of his race. It's not as if they could help him. They might drag him down instead."
Shun Tao pursed his lips. "Not necessarily."
"Mn?"
"I mean if you go and notify the two that are currently guarding the crown prince's body, yes, they wouldn't be of much help. But doesn't the dragon race still have a senior Xin Lan? Even though Longjun is officially considered their strongest fighter, I'm pretty sure he'd still lose out to him."
Qiang Yan nodded. "That's true." But to be honest, who wouldn't? That Xin Lan was the only person alive who wasn't affected by the curse so his strength was off the charts in comparison to others. He simply didn't have a weakness like everyone else. Furthermore, he had lived for so long that the experience he had gained over time was probably more than all the Heavenly Guards together had. And even the current Longjun was a child to him.
Speaking of which … Legend had it that he had been a staunch supporter of the past dragon king. From the beginning of his reign until the very end, he had always been there. It had probably been one of the reasons why Longjun Jinde had been able to reign for so long.
Qiang Yan shook his head. No, what was he thinking? That man's appearance belied his strength. Even without Xin Lan, he likely would have been able to rule the dragon realm for so long. Xin Lan had just been an added advantage. After all, that Senior Xin Lan certainly wouldn't bow down to just anybody, would he? Since he had submitted to Longjun Jinde that was more than enough proof of how powerful Jinde actually was.
Anyway, now that Shun Tao reminded him, there was indeed the option to contact Xin Lan. He had helped Qiu Ling previously and he had been close to the previous Longjun so would probably want to help him as well. In fact, he might even know about him being alive. Even if he didn't … He might listen to him if Jinde told him not to interfere. It might still be a gamble overall but it was the one most likely to yield a satisfactory result. Since he didn't have any alternatives … he should give it a try.
That left only one question: Just where was Xin Lan right now? The last time he had seen him in the dragon realm. But who knew where he had gone by now? And with how elusive he was, he couldn't be sure that anybody would be able to tell him. But maybe if …
Qiang Yan's lips twitched and he turned back to Shun Tao, giving a nod. "Well, thank you for your help. I guess I'll try to find out where Senior Xin Lan is then."
"No problem. I wish you luck." Shun Tao nodded as well and then went alone back to his palace.
Qiang Yan made sure that nobody was around before he took out his transmission stone. As for the person he contacted …
Qiu Ling blinked his eyes. "Uncle-in-law, what is it?" He looked a little cross as if Qiang Yan had just disturbed him by something important.
The God of War's lips twitched. He could imagine just what kind of 'important thing' that would be. "There isn't much. I just have one question. If you can answer, I'll immediately leave you alone again."
"Then what is it?"
"Do you know where Senior Xin Lan is? Or how to contact him?"
Qiu Ling blinked his eyes again. "How would I know?"
"Then who does know?"
"The old geezer maybe?"
Qiang Yan sighed. "Then would you get him for me?"
Qiu Ling glanced at the person in his arms. "Does that still count as part of the first question?"
"You couldn't answer it, could you?"
Qiu Ling pursed his lips. "If you ask me, then 'I don't know' is also an answer." He still got up and kissed Jing Yi's temple. "You … just train a bit on your own. I'll be back in a minute."
Qiang Yan tried to ignore these two lovers. He really didn't have the patience for this!