Qiu Ling put on a pensive expression. "I guess there's no way that old bastard would give it back."
Xiang Yong refrained from saying anything but his expression turned a little more strained. Wasn't the person behind the king right now an ascended deity? Regardless of how you looked at it, that was still a god! What if he told the Heavenly Emperor about this? Or maybe the God of War? After all, Leng Jin Yu seemed to have to do with him.
Qiu Ling didn't care about that at all. He had been badmouthing the Heavenly Emperor for a long time already. He had even dared to do so in front of the Heavenly Empress. Why wouldn't he dare to do so in front of a person that he felt to be on his own side?
Thus he just continued to think about the matter at hand. "Well, even if the phoenix feather isn't there, there should be other things." He was pretty sure of that. After all, prior to meeting Jing He, he had spent quite a bit of his time hunting for stuff so he wouldn't need to stay in the dragon king's palace. And bringing something back always gave him a good excuse for why he had been gone for so long. It was much preferable compared to just vanishing without a good excuse because this way, nobody would be there to nag him.
Xiang Yong nodded and looked through the book, going to the next shelf to check on that item. As a result, he once again found himself in front of a gap. He furrowed his brows and looked back at the transmission stone. "Your Majesty, I'm afraid this is even more serious than I thought. This item is gone as well."
Qiu Ling raised his brows in response. "That one too?" It wouldn't have been him who took it without notifying anybody, would it? He tried to remember but couldn't come up with when he had gone to the treasury the last time.
If he took something, it should have been for Jing He. And he really couldn't remember that he had given him anything that would be beneficial for nourishing the soul. And why should he? Back then, he hadn't known that Jing He's soul was injured as well. In fact, at that time, it hadn't yet been injured, had it?
Thinking of that, Qiu Ling couldn't help but feel that this was a bit serious. It was one thing if he as the king just went to take some stuff but it was a different thing if somebody else went there without anybody noticing. "We should see if there's anything else missing. Contact me when you find out."
"Yes, your Majesty." Xiang Yong nodded but before he could say anything else, Qiu Ling had already cut the connection. Xiang Yong sighed, shook his head and then went through the book, checking one item after the other.
Meanwhile, Qiu Ling lowered the transmission stone and pondered for a moment before he looked up at Leng Jin Yu. "Do you think it was Xin Lan?" This was the only person he could think of. Since there was the matter with Jinde, he would have a reason to search for items that were able to heal one's soul.
On the other hand, he was also in a position where people wouldn't dare to ask after his matters. If he said he needed something from the treasury, he could even go up and ask someone to retrieve it for him. People would expect that he had been given his consent. And even if Xin Lan didn't do that, he had the strength to get into the treasury and out of it without being noticed. That did make him the most likely suspect.
Leng Jin Yu slowly nodded. "That might be. It's hard to say though. He has known that Jinde is alive for quite some time by now. I think that if he intended to take anything from the dragon realm's treasury, he would've done so quite some time ago already. But so far, he hasn't come here to give anything to Jinde. That makes it unlikely for it to be him, doesn't it?"
"Well, he couldn't get into this realm, could he?"
Before Leng Jin Yu could say anything, Jinde already piped up. "He can't get in without being let in but he can contact me. Since he knows that, why wouldn't he have told me? Anyway, I think Xin Lan would be too proud to just take things from the treasury. He would go out and hunt for them himself if he intended to do this."
"That's also true. Well, I guess I'll just leave that matter to Xiang Yong then."
The four of them fell quiet and Jinde finally turned to Fei Bai Mu. "That matter with the demon-hunting sects … Does your Jian Yi Sect intend to do anything about it?"
Fei Bai Mu nodded. "We have been discussing with some of the other sects for quite some time. In fact, he would have informed the other sects of our decisions very soon. I'm just afraid that the confrontation with the Chun Feng Sect afterward will be the toughest part."
Jinde nodded. "In that case, I guess it would be best to leave things to you. It would indeed be difficult for the dragons to get involved."
Qiu Ling pursed his lips. "You're just afraid they would spill the beans that you're here. But you won't be able to make me give up so easily. They hurt my beloved."
Jinde raised his brows. "They hurt him? Why don't I remember seeing that?"
"He was scared. That's almost the same as being hurt."
"Almost." Jinde went back to Leng Jin Yu and sat down next to him. "Anyway, you'd put them at risk if you send them over there. It's not something you'd want to see, is it?"
The look Qiu Ling gave him wasn't very reassuring. It really made Jinde wonder just why he had insisted that this person should follow onto his throne.