Chapter 69#

Who is It?#

Without an extra glance or excessive attention, Lu Yan merely scanned the chaotic crowd of demons indifferently. In an instant, the entire Three Desolate Mountains became so silent that a falling needle could be heard.

For a moment, Lihu stood dazed, a sentence suddenly flashing through his mind: Some people are born like the sun in the sky.

Cold sweat soaked Lihu’s back at some point; he trembled, feeling an impulse to kneel on the spot. But he still held on, his voice full of ruthlessness: “Impossible…”

“You’re not still waiting for your allies, are you?” Huangli sneered. “Do you really think the Azure Dragon and White Tiger tribes would cooperate with you? His Majesty was also the legitimate Young Lord of the Demon tribe back then; after years of accumulation, would he really have no power at all? Naive, dreaming of changing the world with methods like child’s play.”

As Huangli’s voice fell, a tiger’s roar suddenly resounded on the Three Desolate Mountains. A phantom of a white tiger leaped out of the divine palace, nodded slightly to Lu Yan, and stepped onto a demon. That demon was precisely an elder of the Fox tribe, one of the vanguards of this attack on the Three Desolate Mountains, who immediately spat blood and fell to the ground.

By now, what was there not to understand?

Any grand ambitions or myriad plots were but a joke, vulnerable and not even worthy of Lu Yan’s attention. It was laughable that he was still immersed in his wishful dreams, only now realizing he was merely a clown…

Lihu’s head was dizzy, he gritted his teeth hard, his eyes nearly splitting: “Lu Yan should clearly be in Chaoge right now… you planned this… you…”

Huangli didn’t care to say more to him. Since Lu Yan said to wrap it up, this farce had to end immediately. Lihu was the young master of the Fox tribe, and his identity still had some use, so his life could be spared for now. Huangli stepped forward to restrain him.

Lihu couldn’t resist and trembled with rage. He widened his eyes, still looking at Lu Yan’s figure on the heights with disbelief, and also looking at the person held tightly in Lu Yan’s arms.

That was a very familiar face. Was it Bai Heng, or the legendary Crown Prince of the Li Dynasty?

Suddenly thinking of something, Lihu laughed inexplicably, his eyes rimmed with red, his laughter sorrowful: “Where is Bai Heng? I understand now, Lu Yan discovered my plan long ago, didn’t he? That’s why he’s fine in Chaoge… Bai Heng was also his pawn, a pawn to deceive me… right? Hahahaha, I really thought he was deeply in love. How could I forget, he has always been the coldest and most heartless one… Poor Bai Heng and his sincere heart…”

Before he could finish, he was struck on the back of the neck by Huangli’s palm and fainted.

Huangli pursed her lips and ordered Lihu to be taken away and imprisoned. After doing all this, she looked at the surrounding chaos, ignoring the unbelievable curses or the tearful pleas for mercy, and also looked at Lu Yan.

His Majesty had originally planned to let the Fox tribe make a scene for a while before catching them all at once. but Huangli had suddenly received a transmission just now, telling them to handle all changes at the fastest speed and not allow anyone to disturb the Three Desolate Mountains.

Because His Majesty was bringing someone back—a very important, immensely cherished person.

Like Lihu, Huangli was also wondering about that question: Was the person Lu Yan brought back Bai Heng, or that Crown Prince of the Li Dynasty?

She bit her lip, thinking: if it’s the Crown Prince, then… what happened to Young Master Bai Heng?

Huangli had never seen the rumored brilliant Prince Heng, but she had seen the gentle and kind Young Master Bai Heng, and her heart inevitably leaned toward him. Her mood was heavy, worrying about Bai Heng’s situation, and she secretly wondered whether to go to His Majesty to probe for information.

*

The Fox tribe rebellion came suddenly and went swiftly, as fast as a dream. Within a day, the situation had turned upside down. The army soon controlled the demons who participated in the rebellion, and those who had ulterior motives were in a constant state of anxiety. The previously intense situation suddenly became as calm as a pool of stagnant water, beneath which countless undercurrents surged.

Things happened fast, and rumors spread just as quickly. There were many different versions of the causes and consequences. Among them, many demons mentioned Bai Heng.

“I heard that Young Master Bai Heng was very close to the young master of the Fox tribe,” some demons whispered privately, sighing. “I’m afraid he’ll be implicated this time too?”

“I heard that the day of the rebellion happened to be the day His Majesty accompanied him to Chaoge. How could there be such a coincidence? It’s said that this Young Master Bai Heng was in league with the Fox tribe.”

“Then he’s going to have a hard time this time. His Majesty’s temperament…”

“How come I heard that when His Majesty returned that day, the person he held in his arms looked exactly like Bai Heng?”

“…”

The topic soon veered back to the entanglement between Lu Yan, Bai Heng, and Yin Yuheng.

“I heard His Majesty was deeply in love with Prince Heng, and bringing back Young Master Bai was just to use him as a body double to save someone, never taking him to heart. This time, Young Master Bai was also unclearly involved with the Fox tribe; how could His Majesty be lenient? He’s likely doomed.”

“I’m just curious, who was the person His Majesty brought back that day?”

“Is Bai Heng still alive?”

During the time “Young Master Bai Heng” lived with the Demon tribe, although he wasn’t very keen on socializing, he was gentle by nature and had a likable aura, getting along well with the demons of the Three Desolate Mountains. Now that he was being discussed, everyone couldn’t help but sigh.

At the foot of the Three Desolate Mountains, Xue Ciling also heard the rumors and almost spat blood.

Since he last saw Yin Yuheng at the foot of the Three Desolate Mountains, he had not returned to the Demon Realm. Yin Yuheng told him to go, but how could he be willing to truly leave?

Even if he couldn’t see him, being a little closer to his Yuheng was good.

But now his Yuheng…

“How could Lu Yan treat you like this?” Xue Ciling curled up in pain. “I told you long ago, you can’t trust him…”

The person he wanted to hold in his palm and cherish and compensate was now in an unknown state of life and death, possibly even being tortured by Lu Yan. At the thought of this, Xue Ciling’s heart felt pierced, and even breathing was difficult.

For the countless time, he wondered: how could he have had the heart to send that person away back then?

Xue Ciling still had old wounds left by Lu Yan, and a few days ago he encountered the monthly breakout of demonic energy, which he had to endure head-on, so his body was currently weak. He suppressed the surging blood and the pain in his chest, thinking that even if he were to die and his Dao dissipate, he had to go up the Three Desolate Mountains once.

He would take Yuheng away from Lu Yan’s hands… at least, let him see Yuheng once and know that Yuheng was still alive.

The bitterness of losing Yin Yuheng made Xue Ciling’s life a living hell. During this time, Xue Ciling had been relying on the fragments of memories of his time with Yin Yuheng to barely endure the demonic energy breakouts. He murmured Yuheng’s name amidst the skin-tearing pain; under the daily torment, his longing grew heavy and finally became an obsession. To the current Xue Ciling, neither the Crown Prince of the Li Dynasty nor grand ambitions were as important as his Yuheng.

…

Yin Yuheng slept very deeply.

Lu Yan sat by the bed, holding Yin Yuheng’s wrist and wordlessly transferring spiritual energy to him. The surroundings were filled with the aura of the Golden Crow Divine Fire, very warm, and the sleeping youth’s furrowed brow relaxed slightly.

This was Yin Yuheng’s original body. After Yin Yuheng fell into a coma, his soul was automatically attracted back to its original form.

That puppet body was now empty and had once again become a soulless, dead object.

Lu Yan watched Yin Yuheng quietly without speaking. For a while, he didn’t dare to make a sound, nor did he dare to let his mind go blank and think about the past.

In the past, Yin Yuheng’s health wasn’t good either, and Lu Yan was used to taking care of this person, but this time was different from before.

Bright warm jade lamps were placed around, with long-burning red flames illuminating the curtains and veils. By this dim warm light, Lu Yan greedily yet restrainedly traced the features of the person before him and then lowered his head.

“A-Heng, I know you blame me in your heart and don’t want me to touch you,” Lu Yan’s hand holding Yin Yuheng’s trembled, and he said in a low, strained voice, “There’s really no choice; your soul is weak right now, and I must use the Golden Crow fire to help regulate it… Your royal brother and sister are also looking for a way to treat you. When you wake up and your body is well, if you don’t want me to touch you, I will definitely stay far away from you.”

After the truth came to light, as the Crown Prince of the Li Dynasty, Yin Yuheng should have stayed in Chaoge. But Yin Yuheng currently needed the Golden Crow aura to nourish his soul, and the place where the Golden Crow spiritual energy was most concentrated was the Three Desolate Mountains.

Therefore, amidst Yin Shaozhuo’s darkening face, Lu Yan brought Yin Yuheng back to the Demon tribe.

After returning to his original body, Yin Yuheng’s separated soul and spirits had not yet completely merged. coupled with the old spiritual vein injuries on the original body, the soul that had been nourished for a long time suddenly became weak again. Lu Yan became even more pained and self-reproachful, not daring to stop transferring spiritual energy to Yin Yuheng. He endured for two days without sleep or rest, his face ashen and his eyes bloodshot.

So much so that when Huangli came, she was startled by his appearance.

“Your Majesty.” Huangli bowed apprehensively and reported on the handling of the rebel remnants over the past few days. Lu Yan nodded, his eyes never leaving Yin Yuheng.

Huangli observed Lu Yan’s expression and after a long while hesitated and tested: “Your Majesty, how should this gentleman be addressed?”

Lu Yan was stunned, and after a moment of sluggishness, he said in a low voice: “Call him Your Highness.”

“Your Highness” naturally could only refer to that Crown Prince of the Li Dynasty.

Huangli thought to herself, it’s over. Young Master Bai Heng is truly gone.