After a whole night of sleep, Fan Lin woke to dozens of calls.
'Hmm, Leng Yaozhu's been persistent. Did something happen?'
Ignoring Qiangu Dongfeng's missed calls and messages, Leng Yaozhu's incessant calling caught his attention because she had called him 17 times in the span of three hours and it was during the night.
"What happened?"
Fan Lin called her.
{You are finally free now?}
Leng Yaozhu's rapsy voice came down like thunder through his soul communicator. Yun Ming could be heard snickering from the side.
Was she angry?
Yes.
"Yeah, I am free now. Why are you angry? Did something happen?"
Fan Lin casually asked a series of questions. Unfazed was he to her anger because fear of her wasn't something he has in him.
'How can you be fearful of her?'
{Qiangu Dongfeng had given you the ownership of the Land in the North West... and asked for support from the Pagoda for your Four Word Battle Armour, with him providing the materials for four of the pieces. The entirety of the Spirit Pagoda has been asking for answers from me. What are you both playing?}
Leng Yaozhu questioned his intentions.
"Nothing."
{You are not lying.}
"Have I ever lied to you. No, I haven't."
{The Elders are in an uproar. They wonder if you are playing all the sides.}
Leng Yaozhu explained the situation in a simple way.
It was known to all the Elders that Qiangu Dongfeng had tried to poach Fan Lin and would most likely try again even after their vehement protest to it.
Now all of a sudden, and completely out of nowhere, Qiangu Dongfeng had given, not sold but given, the 30000 sqkms of land to Fan Lin as an appreciative gift for his work.
[Generosity!]
To which, our Fan Lin had said nothing and that's where the problem begins.
It was known to all, since no one was hiding it, that Leng Yaozhu had personally visited Fan Lin, along with Fan Lin giving his support and prayers to Gu Yue's 'Future endeavours'.
It was really apparent that Leng Yaozhu had been successful in getting Fan Lin to her side and that Fan Lin was now tied to the Gu Yue faction.
Out of nowhere though, Qiangu Dongfeng had not just given him the land, but also four pieces worth of material for the Four Word Battle Armour and refused to elaborate anything except it's for his future.
The only good thing for the Elders out of this was the underlying news that Fan Lin was getting ready for his Fourth Battle Armour upgrade.
As many would have guessed, the moment the news was out, all of them went to the person who should know Fan Lin's thought, having said to have an amiable relation with him, but who is to tell them that Leng Yaozhu was just as confused as them.
To the Elders, Fan Lin and Qiangu Dongfeng were supposed to have little to no communication in the past months.
Where did things change then? Why was Fan Lin silent? Why was Leng Yaozhu avoiding the topic? What was Yun Ming doing with her in the Southern Lands? Where had Fan Lin gone?
What about the land? Why does Fan Lin want the land in North west for particular? This was his third time already.
What about the Battle Armour? What deal did they make that Qiangu Dongfeng was being 'generous' in his helping? Add in the rumours that Fan Lin wanted to replant the Starduo Forest.
What is the world was actually going on?
One at a time then.
Leng Yaozhu knew the plan but Fan Lin had told her nothing about this. So handling the Elders as best as she could, she promised to give an answer once she reached Fan Lin.
As for Fan Lin, he was nowhere to be found. His Princess clothes indeed had the benefits of having no tracking devices and unlike common sense would have suggested, he hadn't changed them, nor did they get dirty.
The Spirit Pagoda could still easily find him if they ran a simple feed check but finding him didn't give them any answers to his mind.
It did give them his location though but knowing his speed and habit of hopping from one place to another, they truly wonder on why he had calmed down and spending lots of his time in just one place.
But as previously mentioned, knowing where he was did nothing to the questions in their mind and him shutting off his soul communicator was another problem.
There were lots of questions and no actual idea on where to even begin tackling them from.
"I asked him for the land. The Four Word Battle Armour materials was my price for the information though, I wasn't sure if he would made it public cuz it would cause more questions for him but this works fine for me. Makes my job easier actually."
{You didn't tell me about the land. Why do you even need the land for? And the materials?}
"You and Yun Ming going to check the place or something?"
{What?}
"Nothing actually. You will know when the time comes. Why were you calling me though?"
{Don't play a fool now? What do I answer to the Elders? They want to know if you and Qiangu Dongfeng had something secretive going on.}
{More than that though, they are far more excited on whether you are having your Four Word Battle Armour this year or not and whether you need something.}
"Tell them, there's nothing going on between us. It was just a mutual cooperation for replanting the land in the Bright city at the beginning. That was our deal and President just required some time to gather the stuff. Also, I still haven't received all the materials yet."
"So there is no need to worry on my relations to the President. I support you at the moment. That's final.
"As for the Battle Armour, I lack the ingredients and the appointment with the Heavenly Blacksmith, hence I will either have it by the month or I won't have it until the end of my life."
"Lastly, ignore the land. I haven't thought of anything to do with it. No matter what I create there, the sandbugs are going to destroy them anyways. I have to find a way to deal with them first before thinking about anything else."
"How about the rumours? You spread it."
{We did. Qiangu Dongfeng had even contacted me to ask about the authenticity of the subject to which I said that you are quite persistent in wanting to replant the Starduo Forest as your last project and had even talked with the Seagod Pavilion about it.}
"That was excellent of you. I didn't even tell you that and you did it. Good job, Yaozhu. Good job. Now you can return. Take Yun Ming as well. You work here is done."
{No. I am not going anywhere . I still need to see for myself how things turn out. Yun Ming says he will leave though. He wants you to drop him off and then pick him later with his family.}
"I am not his cab. Ask him to buy a Flying car for his family."
{Please Little Lin. It would take a long while if I were to go by myself. How about this? I will grant you the 'fake' Starduo Forest replantation permission from the Seagod Pavilion, meaning you would have the permission from both the Shrek and Tang Sect, for your cab services. The deal stays though.} [Yun Ming]
{You are not to even touch a single leaf of the Starduo Forest much less wander anywhere around it. No suspicious activities from you at all. What do you say? Do we have a deal?}
"You have access to the Heavenly Blacksmith. What would it take to fix me an appointment this month? Just a fake one."
{I presume we have a deal then. As for your Heavenly Blacksmith appointment, I don't know if he is free or not. If there is already an appointment booked then I don't think he will book one, even if it's a lie.}
"He is free. Just resting and enjoying his life. Get me the appointment."
{What would we get for this favour?}
"I have a lot to offer. Choose for yourself."
{From what though/ Uh-huh.} [Yun Ming/Leng Yaozhu]
"Well for beginners, you wanna know what Na Er likes to eat when hungry or would you like to know about Qiangu Dongfeng's new experiment facilities in the south, even the Southern Corps don't know this; or would you trade in for information regarding the Evil Soul Masters hideout in the Skyorder city."
"How about the info regarding the corruption in the Federation. Wargod Temples juicy secrets or do you want to know about Tang Sect."
"I can even throw in an extra and gather the Evil Soul Masters for you to wipe. Let's call it All black. Just like the night of the new moon. Now what would you choose, Yun Ming?"
{... If I was Qiangu Dongfeng, I would have tortured you to get all the information you possess. I will choose the Evil Soul Masters, the rest are things we have decided to not involve ourselves with. Can you tell me about Na Er though?}
"If you were Qiangu Dongfeng and onto my life, I would have sucked your dry till nothing remains."
{Your phrasing hasn't improved one bit. I would take that as a no then.}
"..."
"Your mind is the dirty one. And you should have listened to Leng Yaozhu when she was stopped you."
{Are you that scary?} [Yun Ming]
"No. People just drown in the convenience that I offer."
{Is that a bad thing?}
"Ask yourself that when the time comes. I hope you don't have to. Where do I have to pick you? And when."
{An hour later. Also give me your soul communicator address, how else I am going to call you later?}
"Ask Leng Yaozhu to pass it to you. I will see you later then."
{Where are you?} [Leng Yaozhu]
"Moonrock city."
{You are still wearing your Princess dress.}
"...It's female attire."
{Why does he wear those clothes though?} [Yun Ming]
{I don't know} [Leng Yaozhu]
"Should I cut the call?"
{No. This is a message as the collective thought of the Elders: If you need anything be it resources, land or wealth, feel free to ask the Spirit Pagoda for it and we will try our best to provide for you. Do not worry about cultivation resources. The Spirit Pagoda has your back for the cultivation time that you are losing.}
"Thanks I guess."
{What are you going to do next?} [Leng Yaozhu]
"Play the victim."