63. Departure
“Xinyao?”
Qiu Shui looked at her worriedly.
Shangguan Long had no reason to lie.
So, if he said Xinyao wasn’t his daughter, it must be true. He wouldn’t deceive Master at this point.
Initially, when Gong Yiling told Lu Xinyao about this, the girl was filled with confusion and disbelief.
So they had staged that scene, hoping Shangguan Long would reveal the truth himself.
“My father… is really a demonic spirit…”
“Being a demonic spirit isn’t a bad thing,” Qiu Shui comforted her. “It’s much better than having that arrogant man as a father.”
Lu Xinyao’s earlier frustration dissipated.
—She’s right. If my father is a demonic spirit, I don’t have to worry about Master fighting him.
Meanwhile…
Having obtained what she wanted, Gong Yiling’s next move was simple.
“Honestly,” she looked at Shangguan Long, who still seemed confident, or rather, stubborn. “You never offered to submit. I admire your courage.”
“But…”
Gong Yiling walked over to him and pushed him into the canyon.
—She had already decided how to deal with him.
Strictly speaking, she couldn’t kill him directly. If she wanted to truly punish him…
She would use his most prized possession against him.
“Aaaaaaaaaah!!!!!”
Shangguan Long screamed as he fell, his imperial aura gone.
Although his cultivation wasn’t sealed, and he was even planning a surprise attack, he hadn’t anticipated this.
By the time he landed in the dragon vein, it was too late.
The powerful energy of the dragon vein began devouring his luck, the luck of an emperor.
And no matter how he struggled, it was futile. His cultivation was suppressed by the dragon’s roars echoing within the dragon vein.
“I… I’ll kill you!!!”
“If you can, then try.”
Miss Gong looked down at his plight from the cliff edge.
Well, it wasn’t that bad. Losing luck wasn’t painful. Others wouldn’t even know what was happening, thinking they would gain something.
Only Shangguan Long understood the true meaning of this.
“Just stay here and enjoy yourself.”
After watching for a while, Miss Gong lost interest. She retrieved Qiu Shui’s stockings and left, returning to where Qiu Shui and Lu Xinyao were hiding.
“Done.” Gong Yiling twirled the treasure scroll in her hand, smiling confidently at the two girls. “I’ve drained his luck. Let him keep the memory.”
“Now, it’s Xinyao’s, or rather, Shangguan Ziyuan’s, turn.”
Hearing Master address her so seriously, Lu Xinyao blinked, puzzled. “What is it?”
“You know your true parentage now. What do you want to do?”
“What do I…”
Gong Yiling patted her head, gently rubbing her fox ears—so soft, she couldn’t resist.
But Lu Xinyao’s ears and hair were now the same purplish-red color. What was going on earlier?
“Ahem… I mean, now that you know the truth, what are you going to do?”
“Your parents were practically driven to death by him. He even planned to fake your death and take you as a concubine. I’ve only punished him for his recent actions, but for his past deeds, death isn’t enough.”
Lu Xinyao frowned, her lips pursed. “If he dies… what will happen to the Heartflame Empire?”
“An emperor is just a replaceable label,”
The modern socialist youth declared.
“If he dies, there are plenty of others in the Shangguan family who can replace him. Even… you.”
“But I’m not a member of the Shangguan family…”
Gong Yiling smiled, her eyes narrowing slightly. “Besides you and your father, the only one who knows the truth is probably the Grand Elder.”
“If you want to be the Empress, I’ll help you. A mere Heartflame Empire is nothing.”
Ah… no, wait.
Wasn’t that a bit too much?
Although the Heartflame Empire did seem easy to handle, haha.
“But Master, you’re just—”
See? Even Qiu Shui was confused.
“Anyway,”
Miss Gong quickly patted Qiu Shui’s shoulder, stopping her question. “I’ve been setting things up here for a while. Cleaning up is easy.”
“If… you want it.”
Her eyes gleamed with unwavering determination.
As if, as long as Xinyao agreed, she would become the undisputed heir to the throne.
“I do.”
“Good.”
Gong Yiling smiled and patted her head, then changed back into her original attire and returned to the starting point with the two girls.
There should have been other people there, but now it was empty… no, there was one person, a demonic spirit.
“How long will that guy suffer in the dragon vein?” Gong Yiling asked.
“If no one intervenes, after his luck is completely drained, the dragon vein will force-feed him dragon essence, slowly transforming him into something neither human nor dragon.”
The demonic spirit looked at Lu Xinyao, his eyes filled with love, but he didn’t approach.
Yes.
He still didn’t reveal his identity as her father, letting her believe he was dead.
Partly because he knew his hands were stained with blood and didn’t want to burden his daughter with his sins.
And partly because he himself had betrayed his clan’s rules, the blood oath’s backlash leaving him with little time left. Why add to her pain?
“Good, I need him alive.” Gong Yiling sneered. “He should die in the right place, not within the sacred dragon vein.”
“After you leave, what do you plan to do?”
“Xinyao wants to be the Empress of the Heartflame Empire.” Gong Yiling looked into the spirit’s eyes. “To rule the world. That’s her dream.”
The demonic spirit seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he just moved his lips silently.
He didn’t want his daughter to ascend that blood-soaked throne, becoming what he feared most.
But then he thought, she had a good master and friend now. Even if she became Empress, she wouldn’t become like Shangguan Long.
He smiled and turned away.
“The passage above is still open. You can leave. I’ll help the others escape.”
“Thank you.”
Gong Yiling turned to leave with the two girls.
Just then, Lu Xinyao bowed deeply to the demonic spirit. “Thank you.”
She didn’t know why she suddenly did that.
—If she didn’t, she would probably regret it someday.
The demonic spirit froze, resisting the urge to turn around. He said in a raspy voice, “No, thank you (Gong Yiling). Please take care of her.”
