Chapter 405: Leave Directly After Responsibilities Are Over
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
“Humph, do you think that the world revolves around you and everyone must do what you want them to do?”
“Of course not!” Zhou Bao and Elder Chen arrived at the front of the bedchamber. Zhou Bao walked up to the transparent s.p.a.ce Rampart and ran his hands over it as if he was searching for something. As he touched it, he said, “But there is no other choice. You know I’m the most powerful person now and also the one who is most likely to change the situation here. Besides, my wife is pregnant. Anyway, I can’t let her down at this time. So this world will inevitably revolve around me!”
“Why do you trust people such as Grand Tutor so much? If they are the ones who initiated this matter and then threaten you with Princess Qingyang, what will you do?”
“G.o.d knows!” Zhou Bao smiled. “If they really did it and use my wife as a means to threaten me, actually, I have no choice but to do everything according to their will. I will be humiliated and my wife will be disappointed. She will get angry and curse me for a few days!”
Zhou Bao’s voice sounded indifferent, but Elder Chen could sense a chilly undertone to it.
“Well, here it is!” Before Elder Chen could say anything more, Zhou Bao suddenly uttered a cry of surprise. He felt a strong suction pulling at him, and then his body was involuntarily drawn to the bedchamber.
His body flew rapidly and crashed into the s.p.a.ce Rampart that surrounded the imperial palace. It seemed that he was on a suicidal course.
“Oh no—!” he exclaimed. Just as he was about to collide with the st.u.r.dy s.p.a.ce Rampart and he imagined that his head would split open like a ripe watermelon, the situation suddenly changed.
The tough s.p.a.ce Rampart seemed to ripple like a wave. Then he felt himself stepping into the Rampart. That feeling was similar to that of being pulled into a body of water, but it was not so cold. He was suddenly plunged into chaos. It seemed like a very long while before a sudden light came into his eyes and the scene in the bedchamber unfolded before his eyes.
“Ah!” Sensing something, Yan Yuntian, with a white and drawn face, suddenly turned around, only to see Zhou Bao and Elder Chen coming out of the s.p.a.ce Rampart.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, are you all right? I beg your forgiveness for being late, Your Majesty!” Elder Chen rushed to Yan Yuntian’s side without regard for anything else.
“Are you tired of living?” Seeing the state Yan Yuntian was in, Zhou Bao sensed that there was something amiss and pulled Elder Chen back.
The situation in the bedchamber was quite bizarre. Yan Yuntian sat cross-legged on the ground and held Luo Xuehuan’s corpse in his arms with Gang Qi surging around him. Over his head floated an ancient character that blocked the white light column in the sky and forcibly created a s.p.a.ce that was less than 10 feet high in the bedchamber.
“It seems that you are in trouble!” Upon feeling the obscure atmosphere, Zhou Bao smiled and slowly walked up to Yan Yuntian, saying, “Are you being poisoned?”
“Yes, it’s a strange kind of poison and I’m afraid that I can’t hold on much longer!” Yan Yuntian sighed and added, “However, I have no more regrets in this lifetime because I am able to die with Xuehuan!”
“Come on, Your Majesty, it’s useless to put on such a brave front. I’m here to rescue you!” Zhou Bao smiled. Although Yan Yuntian looked embarra.s.sed, Zhou Bao’s intention was not to force him to admit his mistake. After all, this had nothing to do with him. He would be able to fulfill his promise to Yan Yunfei as long as he got Yan Yuntian out of this mess.
“You managed to gain access into this place despite it being under such a tight blockade, so I guess the people around the world really underestimated you!”
“That will be the best. The more they overestimate me, the more fl.u.s.tered I will be!” Zhou Bao chuckled and the cyan light glittered around him. Then, a blast of Yang Qi permeated the entire s.p.a.ce.
“Pure Yang Celestial Device? Do you have another Pure Yang Celestial Device?” When Yan Yuntian felt the Pure Yang Qi, he looked quite surprised. Soon afterward, he saw the cyan light swirling around his Gang Qi like a breath of fresh air. Just as the light poured into his Gang Qi, the obscure power that had mixed with his Gang Qi suddenly disappeared without a trace, and at the same time, his strength was restored to its fullest in a flash.
The talisman over his head suddenly glittered and shone with a regal brilliance, pus.h.i.+ng the white light column to a height of more than 10 feet.
“Don’t waste your energy. I can bring you all out. But before that, you’d better let me take a look at the Queen’s body!”
Yan Yuntian’s expression suddenly changed. Zhou Bao’s words sounded quite abrupt. But when he thought that the reason why he was there, trapped and unable to move a muscle, had something to do with Luo Xuehan’s corpse, he did not get mad but sighed gently and let Zhou Bao walk up to him to check on the body.
Zhou Bao felt aggrieved as he noticed that Yan Yuntian was displeased. If it were not for his wife, he would not be at all willing to inspect a corpse. After all, he was not a legal medical expert!
However, he did not do anything to the Queen’s corpse. He approached the corpse and carefully observed her face, murmuring, “Oh, it’s really a curse!”
Zhou Bao pa.s.sed his hand over Luo Xuehuan’s head. Suddenly, he caught hold of a wisp of smoke from the place between Luo Xuehuan’s eyebrows. It seemed to be alive. After being caught by Zhou Bao, it dispersed suddenly and tried to get away. However, it could not escape from the fist-sized circle enclosing it.
“It is a well-thought scheme, Your Majesty. Without me, I’m afraid that you would have died this time!” Zhou Bao held out his index finger and suddenly a soul vortex glittering with mysterious brilliance appeared in the fist-sized s.p.a.ce, encircling the faint fog and dispersing it totally.
Zhou Bao had executed a Divine Sense called Soul Cutting.
The curse was one that affected the spirit directly and it harbored the essence of the spirit. In a certain sense, it was equal to an Evil Spirit. The Soul Cutting Skill was its nemesis.
On seeing that Zhou Bao was able to remove the curse from Luo Xuehuan’s corpse so easily, Elder Chen could not stop his canthus from twitching.
“d.a.m.n! Didn’t those idiots say that this kind of curse is foolproof and no one could ever break it? How is it that this guy was able to eliminate it so easily?”
He had actually misunderstood the spellcaster. The reason why Zhou Bao could eliminate the curse so easily and quickly was because Luo Xuehuan was already dead, and thus, the power of the curse had weakened considerably. If Luo Xuehuan was still alive, Zhou Bao would not have dared to use the Soul-cutting Skill because if that was the case, Luo Xuehuan’s soul would have been shredded instantly.
“Let’s go. Let’s not waste any more time here. It’s just a bedchamber!” After removing the curse, Zhou Bao looked up at Yan Yuntian and said gently.
Yan Yuntian nodded in agreement and replied, “Yes, it’s just a bedchamber. Zhou Bao, I owe you my life this time!”
“Haha, it doesn’t matter. Yunfei already gave a life back to me. That is more valuable than yours!”
“What?” For a moment, Yan Yuntian did not understand what he was talking about.
“Your Majesty, Princess Qingyang is pregnant!” Standing aside, Elder Chen seized this opportunity and answered him.
“Yunfei is pregnant?” Yan Yuntian was dumbfounded. Later, he forced himself to smile and said, “Well, I guess I’d better offer my congratulations!”
“The same to you, haha!”
“Humph, I don’t see anything worthy of congratulations! Having too many sons is not necessarily a good thing. I don’t know which b.a.s.t.a.r.d did this deed today!” The killing intent revealed in Yan Yuntian’s eyes made him look very ferocious.
“No matter who did that, you can investigate it after you get out of here. We’d better get out now!” Zhou Bao did not want to face the murderous intent of this Human Emperor.
“Fine!” Yan Yuntian nodded in agreement and held Luo Xuehuan’s corpse tightly in his arms. None of them spoke another word. Elder Chen stood beside Yan Yuntian, who stood in front of Zhou Bao. At this moment, the big character over Yan Yuntian’s head became brighter. When they had all vanished from the bedchamber, the white light column then touched the ground for the first time.
“Boom!”
The imperial palace together with the entire Western Capital shook violently. However, all of these were none of Zhou Bao’s business. Since he had rescued Yan Yuntian, his mission was accomplished.
“G.o.d bless His Majesty! G.o.d bless His Majesty!”
Just as they showed up safely outside the bedchamber, Elder Chen immediately shouted out loudly. Since he had no martial arts skill and no Internal Qi, he just yelled with all his might. However, his yell set off a big uproar in the entire imperial palace.
Behind him, the Queen’s bedchamber together with the white light column in the sky disappeared, leaving no trace behind.
It was raining buckets in the Western Capital, as if the sky had sprung a leak. Standing on the huge ground outside the bedchamber, Yan Yuntian held on to Luo Xuehuan’s corpse with the golden Gang Qi encircling him. No one knew what was going on his mind.
With the exception of Zhou Bao, no one dared to bother him now. However, Zhou Bao was not in the least concerned about him. In the side chamber, his pregnant wife was waiting for him.
He rushed towards the side chamber as he exited the bedchamber. With Grand Tutor standing in front of the door to guard his wife, nothing dangerous would happen. Upon seeing Zhou Bao running towards him, Grand Tutor was greatly relieved and made an unusual gesture. He saluted Zhou Bao, and then said, “Your Excellency, luckily, I lived up to my promise!”
Zhou Bao smiled and pointed in the direction behind him, showing that he had managed to get Yan Yuntian out.
The two went in the opposite direction with Zhou Bao entering the side chamber and Grand Tutor rus.h.i.+ng to the bedchamber. Yan Yunfei looked better now. As soon as she saw Zhou Bao coming, a mixed feeling of delight and worry appeared on her face.
“Zhou Bao…!”
“Don’t worry, it’s all right!” Zhou Bao came up to her bed and supported her gently. Again, he sent a blast of Yang Oi to her and said, “We shall bid farewell to your father and return to the northwest region when he recovers his spirits!”
“Go back? Now?” Yan Yunfei was surprised. With some hesitation, she glanced at Zhou Bao and asked, “Why? My mother…!”
“You’re pregnant now and Western Capital is not safe!” said Zhou Bao. Although his voice was gentle, his words contained an incontrovertible power.
“But…!”
“No more buts. This matter is becoming too troublesome. It may involve your brothers. I am guessing you don’t want to stay here and witness your father and his sons fighting against each other.”
“Father and son? What do you mean?” Never having encountered such a situation before, Yan Yunfei looked so astonished with her mouth agape. She again began to worry about her father.
“Well, since that’s the case, the following mess is inevitable. We can’t stay here any longer. You can go to sleep now. When you wake up, we’ll bid farewell to your father. We must return to the Wuyang Region as soon as possible!” As Zhou Bao spoke these words, a faint fragrance wafted from his fingers. Upon inhaling it, Yan Yunfei felt sleepy instantly.
It was the Anesthetic Pill!
Zhou Bao had bought this prescription from an out of luck person many years ago and it had saved his life. As time pa.s.sed, he found its power became more and more amazing. Both the Anesthetic Pill and Drowsy Drug had strong hypnotic effects, and at the same time could also calm the mind. Therefore, wherever he went, he would bring some pills with him and take some whenever he was fretful and needed to calm himself down. Never did he expect that he would have to use it on his wife.
However, it was the only option he had in order to let her have a rest at this time because of her delicate condition.
After Yan Yunfei had fallen asleep, Zhou Bao stayed in the side chamber all the time. Although he was invited several times, he refused all invitations.
He was determined to avoid getting involved in this mess. Since his own affairs had not been settled yet, he was not in the mood to help Yan Yuntian. After Yan Yunfei woke up, he would accompany her to bid farewell to Yan Yuntian. Yan Yuntian supported their departure as well because Zhou Bao was too powerful and he did not know what was in Zhou Bao’s mind. If Zhou Bao were to stay at Western Capital, it would not be good for him, so it was better to send him away. He was convinced that even without the presence of an expert like Zhou Bao, he would still be able to control the situation even though this time around, he had been tricked by someone. He believed that this would be the last time. Since then, he had become much more alert and no one would be able to trick him so easily again.
Yan Yunfei was unwilling to leave in a hurry, but since both Zhou Bao and Yan Yuntian seemed so determined, she had nothing to say. Thus, she just bowed to Luo Xuehuan’s corpse several times and left with Zhou Bao.
As soon as Zhou Bao left, the situation at Western Capital and the entire Jin Dynasty underwent a great change and a great drama started unfolding.
However, all these things had nothing to do with Zhou Bao and neither was he keen to be involved.
“Haha, finally, we are home. d.a.m.n! How could such a blunder take place in Western Capital? It really freaked me out!” Zhou Bao’s journey back took lesser time than the journey going to Western Capital. Now, since Yan Yunfei was pregnant, he had to do everything very cautiously.
“Zhou Bao, my mother is dead and my father was attacked by an a.s.sa.s.sin, but we just left him to be on his own, so I think…!”
“Yunfei, do not belittle your father. It’s just that someone has plotted against him this time. When he is better prepared, he will surely be able to take control of the situation at Western Capital!”
Zhou Bao said gently, “I will be of no use to him even if I stay there. On the contrary, he will be distracted because he has to be on guard against me. In this way, he cannot do anything at will!”
“Why does he need to be on his guard with you? You can help him!”
“Your father practices the Way of the Emperor, so it is in his nature not to trust anyone. His priority is to have control over everything. Since I am so powerful that he cannot control me, even though I saved him, he would never be at ease if I were to remain there. And that is the reason why I left. Hence, our leaving is good for your father. In that case, he can focus all his energy on handling this matter!” As he spoke, he gently caressed Yan Yunfei’s belly and added, “Furthermore, even if he had asked me to stay there, I would not have agreed to his request. I’m sure that it is safer in the northwest region. The situation at West Capital is too chaotic especially with so many complex influences intermingling with each other. I’m afraid that I cannot protect you there!”
“But you mentioned that perhaps my father and brothers would fight against each other, I…!”
“The struggles between the father and sons, the monarch and his subjects are very common, even from long before. You were born into an imperial family, so I guess you must be familiar with this kind of thing!”
“Of course I am. But I didn’t expect that it would happen to me. My father is so aggressive and mighty, how could anyone dare to make him a target?” Yan Yunfei looked very sad.
“Forget it. Don’t think too much about it. The only thing you need to do now is to have plenty of rest. Do you understand?” Zhou Bao gently pacified her and continued, “Even if your father finds out who the initiator is, it’s no big deal, because I can go to Western Capital again and bring him here. I don’t believe that your father will actually come here and ask me to hand over your brother to him. If he does, I’ll kick his a.s.s!”
“Don’t be rude to my father!” Hearing Zhou Bao’s words, Yan Yunfei was annoyed and scolded him.
“Fine, fine, fine. I won’t be rude to him. Have some porridge and then take a rest. Don’t bother yourself with all of this!”
“Ok!” Yan Yunfei nodded in agreement and ate the porridge in Zhou Bao’s hands obediently.
…
“Congratulations, Your Excellency!”
Zhou Bao did not intentionally conceal the news that Yan Yunfei was pregnant. Word got out and soon all the people in the Wuyang Region went wild with excitement, especially his subordinates such as Jiang Xiao and w.a.n.g Cheng. They all came to congratulate him. Since the establishment of the Wuyang Region, the only happy event since then had been Zhou Bao’s marriage. Now, Yan Yunfei was pregnant, without a doubt, it would be another important and happy event. Even if Zhou Bao wanted to keep a low profile, his subordinates definitely would not be willing to do so.
Apart from his subordinates, his relatives would not agree to do so either. These days, with the development of the Wuyang Region, some of the Zhou’s family estates in Qingyang Market had gradually moved to the Wuyang Region. Qingyang Market was good and was near their ancestral land as well, but in the final a.n.a.lysis, it did not belong to them. However, the Wuyang Region now totally belonged to the Zhou’s and it was also their future foundation. Although Old Zhou was not a highly educated person, he knew how to make a choice when encountering a situation like this.
The Zhou’s were poor in the early days and did not have many relatives at that time. Since Zhou Bao had become famous and powerful, more and more relatives had come out of the woodwork. Presently, the Zhou’s had a huge tribe near Qingyang Market. On the Wuyang Region, there were also a bunch of relatives belonging to the Zhou’s.
Zhou Bao could not be bothered with these affairs. He handed the matter over to Jiang Xiao and w.a.n.g Cheng and asked them to treat these people equally.
That was easy to say, however, how could Jiang Xiao treat them equally since they were Zhou Bao’s relatives?
Therefore, in the Wuyang Region, people belonging to the Zhou family were taken good care of. If they were doing business here, they did not need to pay taxes and they all had high standings. However, no one dared to misbehave or create problems just because they were related to Zhou Bao. Since Zhou Bao had killed a bully, his uncle, in the presence of all the inhabitants of the Wuyang Region, no one had the guts to act irrationally from then on.
However, except for this matter, people in the Wuyang Region really treated the Zhou’s very well because they all appreciated Zhou Bao. Now, since Yan Yunfei was pregnant, regardless of the s.e.x of the baby, the next heir of the Wuyang Region was guaranteed. This was good news for the Zhou’s because it involved them personally. They needed to celebrate it either publicly or privately.
Hence, some elders of the Zhou’s came to visit Zhou Bao early the next morning after his return. On the third day, the surrounding territory also got the news and sent some men to congratulate him. Everyone knew that he already was the dominator of the northwest region, and before long, the Wuyang Region would dominate the entire northwest region. Therefore, of course, it was better to ingratiate themselves with Zhou Bao earlier.
In fact, aside from the lords of the northwest region, many sects in Jin, including the Tian Long Taoism, Mingyi School, southern Sect of Flame, and most well-known families all sent their emissaries to the Wuyang Region to congratulate Zhou Bao after they received this news. Over the next few days, they came in a continuous stream.
Zhou Bao had never expected this situation to happen.
“Oh, no, it’s really troublesome!”
Watching the gifts that piling up like a hill, Zhou Bao smiled bitterly. His stay at Lord Mansion was limited because he was required to go to Borderline Mountain.
Although his presence was required only three months later, he still needed some time to head to Borderline Mountain from here. Furthermore, he had to prepare for the journey as well, so how could he possibly entertain these people?
However, no matter how reluctant he felt, he had no other choice. Since they came all the way here to congratulate him, if he did not entertain them, they would feel humiliated. He could neglect other people but not people from the Tian Long Taoism, Immortal Palace, and Divine Wind Palace.
Yes, even the Immortal Palace and Divine Wind Palace had sent their men over to congratulate him.
The man sent over by the Immortal Palace was Moon Deer of Extended Net. Of course, his presence was nothing but a show. Recently, he had been in the Wuyang Region all the time. The reason why he appeared before the public in this way was that the Immortal Palace was not willing to reveal their relations.h.i.+p with Zhou Bao. However, the one that came from the Divine Wind Palace was Li VII.
The Third Supervisor of School of Five Virtues, Li VII.
He came here with two purposes; one was to congratulate Zhou Bao, and the other was to get ready for a trip to Borderline Mountain three months later to pursue Ye Qingtian.
The quest to pursue Ye Qingtian was led by Divine Wind Palace with other influences joining in. But in the final a.n.a.lysis, the most powerful one was Zhou Bao. Restricted by the agreement reached by the Four Eastern Regions and Three Western Regions, listed immortals were not allowed to cross each other’s borders at will. That was to say, the men who were sent to pursue Ye Qingtian this time were all experts below the Mysterious Realm.