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The Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch’s hair fluttered about, and his cold, sinister eyes were filled with terror.
Indeed, he was terrified, but his fear was mixed with disbelief.
Impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
The reason he had such a strong reaction was what Ye Zichen had just said.
“Uncle Lan? Who’s ‘Uncle Lan’?”
The Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch glared hideously at Ye Zichen. He was no longer concerned about why his domain had left his control. All he wanted to know was just which “Uncle Lan” Ye Zichen was talking to!
Because, deep in his heart, he still vaguely recalled his time as a young snake and the elder who’d saved him when he was on the verge of death, who’d raised him as if he were his own son. The old man’s name was….
Qing Lan.
“Who’s Uncle Lan? You ought to know full well, right?” Ye Zichen smiled indifferently, and as the Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch watched in uncontrollable terror, a puff of green smoke appeared in the elementally-charged air.
The smoke was like a patch of fog, and suddenly, it was as if the three of them were standing in the mist.
A tall yet gaunt figure was dimly discernible through the mists. Standing only a few dozen meters away, the Yao Monarch froze and stared intently at the indistinct figure. He didn’t know why, but this gaunt figure overlapped with the man in his memories, the man he couldn’t forget no matter how hard he tried.
Then, the mist-shrouded man said…. “You’ve grown up, little one.”
“Die!” Before the words even left his lips, the Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch blurred into a shadow and charged into the fog.
When Ye Zichen saw this, his heart shook, but before he could even worry…
“Scram!” A thunderous shout emerged from the mists, dispersing them somewhat.
Then, the Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch was sent flying right back out of the mist.
As he flew, he hacked up blood, drawing a red arc in the air. It splattered against the ground, while the monarch himself slammed into a stone pillar, spreading cracks across it. Between the Thousand-Faced Monarch’s flight and his wounds, Ye Zichen could sense the explosive power of the one who’d shouted.
“Wah!” Gu Luolin covered her mouth in shock. As the monarch went flying, she sensed a powerful wind ripping the surrounding space apart.
She’d never seen such power in her life; not even her father was necessarily that strong.
In her memories, her parents and grandfather were the strongest people in the world. She was right, too.
The Gu Family’s three half-step transcendents had established the Gu Family’s lofty position in the Three Realms.
But that display of power gave Gu Luolin the sense that, whoever this was, they were a bit tougher than even her dad. Gu Luolin instinctively rejected the idea and looked to see who it was…
She wasn’t bragging when she said that, while she might not be personally acquainted with every expert in the Upper Three Realms on her father’s level, she had at least seen them before. That included the liches, too.
“You’d dare hurt Brother Lan? It seems you’re looking to die!” Just as Gu Luolin attempted to see who’d thrown that punch, another comparable roar emerged from the mists.
Then, a massive, burly figure charged out, his arms thicker than Gu Luolin’s waist. He was massive, over three meters tall, and when he stepped forward, the ground sunk and cracked beneath his feet. He borrowed this power to charge ahead, like a tank operating at full horsepower, and slammed right into the Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch with all this might.
“Eeh…!” Gu Luolin turned, unable to speak. She dared not look at the Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch, who was surely a meat pancake by now.
But it wasn’t actually as serious as she thought; whatever else you might say about him, the Thousand-Faced Monarch was a peak-level expert in the Upper Three Realms, not just some small fry.
Although the fist he’d just taken left him injured, when danger reared its head, he still reacted in a timely manner.
However, his hastily assembled barrier could only slow the “armored tank” that was Cang Xiong. The sound of cracking bones rung out, and the already injured Thousand-Faced Monarch coughed up mouthful after mouthful of blood.
“You’re quite stubborn, little snake. Still alive after all that? Take another punch, then!” A huge, muscular hand seized the Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch by the neck. The monarch had been thin to begin with, and in comparison with the hulking giant, he looked like a little chicken.
The giant’s hands practically covered his entire head. Fists the size of sand-backs locked onto his skull and were just about to…
“Cang Xiong, come back!”
The command was soft and casual, but in response, the giant’s fist came to a screeching halt half an inch from the Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch’s head, narrowly avoiding shatering it. Even so, the winds the fist stirred up pushed into the monarch’s head, contorting his face.
The fist’s winds also picked up scattered stones, sending them flying and embedding them in the nearby walls.
“Hmph.” The hulking giant snorted, then flung the Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch to the ground. Then, he turned and walked back into the mists without so much as a second look.
The misty fog gradually started to recede, and an amiable middle-aged man emerged.
These two were the yao great emperors Ye Zichen had met on the fourth layer of the Yao-Sealing Pagoda, Qing Lan and Cang Xiong.
“Young Friend Ye, leave this to me and Cang Xiong. You go on and search for your fortune. If I’m not mistaken, what you’re looking for is down the tunnel to the right.” Qing Lan stood tehre, hands behind his back, with the air of an immortal of legend.
Cang Xiong then turned around and stared with his huge, ox-like eyes. He glanced at Ye Zichen, then raised three fingers.
This was no promise; when Ye Zichen saw this, he gently shook his head. He clearly knew what Cang Xiong’s gesture meant.
Instantly, Cang Xiong’s three fingers became too, but Ye Zichen still shook his head.
Before Cang Xiong could explode, Ye Zichen turned and cupped his fist at Qing Lan. “Uncle Lan, I’m sorry to trouble you.”
“Not at all. I ought to thank you for letting me out.”
Ye Zichen made no attempt at idle conversation. He tugged Gu Luolin and dashed off to the right. To his surprise, as they left, Gu Luolin’s gaze never left Qing Lan; she really wanted to see his face, but Ye Zichen insisted on dragging her off, and Qing Lan didn’t turn around.
“Blasted, greedy tyrant!” Cang Xiong watched Ye Zichen disappear. He cursed viciously, while Qing Lan’s lips carried a hint of a smile. It seemed he was always smiling; perhaps he was born that way. He always looked amiable and peaceful.
“But that’s what’s clever about him,” said Qing Lan, as if arguing on Ye Zichen’s behalf. He took a greedy breath of the surrounding air, then said, “It’s really been far too long since I was last outside. I practically forgot how the outside tastes.”
“Boss, this isn’t really ‘outside.’ We’re inside the Transcendent Mausoleum.”
“Close enough!” Qing Lan seemed perfectly casual about it; he didn’t linger on the topic.
Then, he sighed, and silently fixed his gaze on the Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch, who’d practically been flattened into a peice of paper by now. His eyes filled with unprecedented benevolence.
He wasn’t worried that the Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch would die; he’d instructed Cang Xiong before this.
He trusted Cang Xiong; even when he was furious, he kept his strength under control.
The yao monarch’s bones were shattered, and the force of the punch had left huge cracks even in his skull. No one could recover from such injuries, but they hadn’t really taken the Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch’s life.
As he lay there, the Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch floated back up, and the skin that had once belonged to Gou Monan sloughed off his body. His body gradually filled out, and by the time his sunk-in face recovered, an entirely different face than before greeted Qing Lan and Cang Xiong.
Was this the Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch’s true face, or just another piece of his collection? No one knew. Or rather, no one in the Three Realms, not even the liches, knew what he really looked like.
No!
Perhaps there was one person left who’d know!
And that was….
“Is this a show of respect for me? You’re actually using your real face for this.” Qing Lan said with a burst of cheery laughter.
The one who knew the Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch’s true face was none other than Qing Lan; he was the one who’d saved him. Back before the monarch was a monarch, they’d lived together for hundreds of years.
“Why are you here?” The Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch didn’t answer Qing Lan’s question. Instead, he stared intently and asked a question of his own.
He already had no mental energy left for Ye Zichen and Gu Luolin; he didn’t care that they’d gone to where the fortune he covered was. All he wanted was to understand one thing: why had Qing Lan appeared here? Who was the Qing Lan he’d devoured?
“Hey, pipsqueak! Watch your tongue. Boss Qing Lan treated you as if you were his own son. Your complete lack of gratitude is one thing, but you’re still talking like that now that you’ve been reunited? It seems your Uncle Cang Xiong didn’t hit you hard enough. Will another two fists satisfy your hunger?”
Cang Xiong clenched his fists, and the Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch’s pupils constricted, but he still turned to look at Qing Lan.
“Why? Why are you here?”
“I never would have guessed that that half-dead little green snake would grow up to be so powerful,” said Qing Lan with a cool laugh. “My Young Friend Ye said that you’re a Yao Monarch now. I’m happy for you!”
“I said, why are you here!” The Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch shouted hoarsely. “I devoured you! Your skin is still in my collection, yet here you are, standing before me. Why…”
“It seems my death has troubled you. I apologize for never explaining this to you clearly, but tens of thousands of years ago, the one who took care of you was my avatar,” said Qing Lan. “At the time, I was shackled from head to toe. To break free, I split my soul into ten thousand wisps. The me you met was just one of many.”
“Oh…” The Thousand-Faced Yao Monarch nodded. “Then why appear before me now? Are you going to kill me and get your revenge?”
“Punk, don’t you think a bit too highly of yourself? There’s no need for Brother Lan to dirty his hands with you. Your uncle Cang Xiong will beat you back into your mother’s womb in a single punch, got it?” roared Cang Xiong.
The monarch didn’t back down at all. He just stared intently at Qing Lan.
He’d already gotten the explanation he’d been after… A soul fragment? The thing he’d swallowed then had been nothing but a fragment.
Thinking about it, it was ridiculous. Here he was, a glorious Yao Monarch, a top expert of his generation, yet he’d agonized over a mere wisp of soul for tens of thousands of years.
It wasn’t worth it! It really, really wasn’t worth it!