After Wei Jie revealed Bai Xiaosheng’s real name, Ye Zichen fell silent for a long time.
His expression was obviously unsightly. His brows were tightly knit, and yet, he also seemed to have anticipated this.
The Subordinate star, the Secretariat Star.
In the Outside, Han Nan, the Secretariat Star, had greeted him. That was why, upon his return, Ye Zichen asked about Bai Xiaosheng. In this era, he occupied Han Nan’s seat!
Now it seemed that….
Everything really was as he’d thought. At the very least, he wasn’t far off.
“Understood. You can go now.”
“Alright, I understand. You can return to your own affairs.” Ye Zichen waved Wei Jie away. Wei Jie faced the door, bowed deeply, and took his leave.
Ye Zichen pulled a box of cigarettes out of his pocket, put one in his mouth, then set the others on the table. A flame lit at his fingertip, lightning the cigarette. Soon, the dense scent of tobacco filled the room.
What a “pleasant” surprise!
Back in the Outside, Ye Zichen had sensed something wasn’t quite right.
He said he wanted to see the Minister of the Left in order to confirm his suspicions. Han Nan’s refusal had only increased his suspicions.
If they really wanted to trick him, couldn’t they just come up with a fake name?
Why did they insist on introducing themselves with their real names? Now that Ye Zichen was back in the Third Era, all he had to do was ask Bao Xiaosheng. He’d still gotten his answer, hadn’t he?
Could it be that the people of the First Era actually wanted him to know?
He didn’t get it.
But Ye Zichen was no tapeworm living in the Outsiders’ intestines; he couldn’t watch them all the time, and he had no idea what they were planning, nor did he have any way of finding out.
But what he did know for curtain was that if Han Nan was the Secretariat Star in both eras, the Minister of the Left ought to be the same person too.
Didn’t that mean their Master of the Stars…
He couldn’t keep thinking about this. Remember, their Master of the Stars had died!
Ye Zichen tossed his cigarette into the dirt and extinguished it. When Xiao Yumei saw this, she laughed. “You have these here, too?”
He turned and saw her playing with his box of cigarettes. Ye Zichen smiled and nodded, but he didn’t explain, nor did she ask. After a while, she put the box back onto the table.
“Can you really do it?” she asked, an obvious reference to what he’d said earlier.
“I can at least try. Didn’t you say that place was empty? If it’s vacant, I can just go ahead and buy it. You might not know this, but we have a powerful backer.”
“The Profound Pavilion? I already know.”
“You even know about that?”
“What do you think I’ve been doing up on the Divine Mountains all this time? I’ve spent roughly eighty percent of my waking hours searching for news of you!” she scolded him, scrunching her nose up in irritation. “Who is that kid you’re traveling with? She looks like a demon, but her eyes are so pure.”
“We ran into her on our way here. She’s a pitiful girl, so we brought her with us,” said Ye Zichen. He didn’t want to reveal too much of An Lu’s background.
Xiao Yumei nodded, her gaze suddenly distant. “If Tiantian were still around, she’d be about the same height by now.”
When she brought up their adopted daughter, Ye Zichen couldn’t help but think about her. The moment she first saw him, Tiantian rushed up to him, hugging him and calling him ‘Daddy!"
He would never have guessed….
“Who would have thought that kid was a goddess? And one with a proper godhead at that? The Goddess of War! I really never would have guessed,” Ye Zichen sighed in bewilderment.
“I know, right?” said Xiao Yumei, her expression carrying a hint of bitterness.
Although she wasn’t Tiantian’s biological mother, they’d been just as close as a biological family, if not closer. They’d once had no one to rely upon besides each other.
Yet in the end, they still separated.
“You and Chang’e came here because of Tiantian too, right?”
Xiao Yumei was still in poor spirits, so she responded with nothing but a nod.
He reached out and pulled her into his arms, then patted her on the back. She silently pressed against his shoulder, her eyes staring dead ahead as she whispered, “Do you think Tiantian’s doing alright?”
“She ought to be alright. She is, after all, the Goddess of War. It sounds like her status is rather high.”
The two of them leaned against the window for a while. Even now, in Xiao Yumei’s heart, she still saw Tiantian as her daughter, and she couldn’t help but worry.
A full hour went by, just like that, until Wei Jie rushed. He looked fl.u.s.tered, downright frantic, even. “Boss! The Great Sage and Yang Jian are fighting!”
…
The Great Sage hefted the Ruyi Jingu Bang, and his Fiery Eyes of Truth blazed with fierce light as he glowered at Yang Jiang.
When Ye Zichen and the others first arrived, the Great Sage wasn’t present.
Given the Xiao Family’s extreme distaste for Yao, Wei Jie was worried that if the Xiao Family saw the Great Sage and the yao servants Ye Zichen had left behind, the Xiao Family would attack. As such, Wei Jie arranged for temporary, alternative residences.
Just now, Wei Jie had gone to welcome Xiao Yan’s subordinates, and in the process, he sent word of Ye Zichen’s return to the Great Sage.
As soon as he got the news, the Great Sage hurried back, but he didn’t see Ye Zichen. Instead, he saw Yang Jian flirting with a group of Xiao Family women.
Without so much as a second thought, he whacked Yang Jian with all his might.
Fortunately, Yang Jian had fast reflexes. He instantly summoned his Erlang Lance and blocked the staff. Otherwise, given the strength of the Great Sage’s attack, even he might have died, or at least, been left crippled.
“I told you not to let me find you!” The Great Sage waved his Ruyi Jingu Bang in the air, his gaze so vicious, he seemed to want to eat Yang Jian alive. Flames burned in his eyes.
In comparison to the Great Sage’s domineering fury, Yang Jian was acting like a hoodlum. He was grinning, even though he’d just been the victim of a surprise attack. “It’s been so long since we last met, yet here you are, attacking me right off the bat. Don’t you think this’ll disrupt our brotherly harmony?”
“Who’s your brother?” The Great Sage roared, “I sent you so many messages, but you just played dead and ignored me.:
“What? Did that happen? Great Sage, when did you send me messages?” Yang Jian feigned confusion. Of course, if he really hadn’t received any messages, he would have taken his phone out as proof, but he made no effort to do that. Instead, he just grinned, as if he were cruisin’ for a bruisin’.
“Perhaps my phone just ran out of power. Can you please get your temper under control?”
The Great Sage glared at him.
“What? You want to fight, the way we did back in the Heavenly Court? I admit that back then, I wasn’t quite your match. I was just the slightest bit inferior...but now? I could defeat ten of you without so much as breaking a sweat!” Yang Jian curled his lips arrogantly.
“That so? Then how about you show me….?” The Great Sage swung his staff in a circle, stirring up winds that ripped up the stone tiles and scattered them.
Yang Jiang casually pushed the air ahead of him, and the tiles returned to their original locations. The Great Sage tried to attack, only for a hand to press gently on his shoulder.
“Let me go, bro! I have to teach that arrogant good for nothing a lesson!” said the Great Sage. He hefted his staff and tried to approach, only for Ye Zichen to pull him back.
He smiled bitterly at his old friend and said, “Great Sage, I’m afraid that now…. You’re no match for him.”
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