Chapter 899: Encounter

As the rugged man, clad in leopard-print beast hide, emerged from Zhu Yan's residence, someone was already waiting outside. It was Shan Gou, Du Gangzong's subordinate. Upon seeing Commander Bao emerge, Shan Gou immediately approached him.

“Commander Bao, what did the King say?”

Commander Bao looked back at the residence and whispered.

“The King doesn't seem too keen on pursuing the matter of the Earth God anymore, but he still wants me to go to Duiku Peak to investigate.”

Shan Gou immediately broke into a smile that crinkled his entire face.

“That's wonderful! Commander Bao, if you go to Duiku Peak, I'll make sure you're well entertained and completely satisfied!”

“Hehehe, that's thoughtful of you! Let's go.”

Commander Bao, who had been stern-faced, also smiled as he heard Shan Gou's words.

“Yes, yes, Commander Bao, please!”

The two demons quickly conjured a demonic wind and flew towards Duiku Peak. However, this location was deep within the Southern Wilderness Mountains, and Duiku Peak was still a considerable distance away. Even though Commander Bao was a powerful demon with significant cultivation, it still took them several days of flying with Shan Gou to reach Duiku Peak.

Duiku Peak offered various rare and exotic items not found in the Southern Wilderness Mountains, and one could also hear news from all corners of the world there. Naturally, it also boasted luxurious entertainment venues not present in the Southern Wilderness, which could make some people forget to leave. Compared to all this, abiding by Duiku Peak's rules became trivial.

Upon their arrival at Duiku Peak, Shan Gou and Commander Bao were personally welcomed and entertained by Du Gangzong. He personally took Commander Bao around Duiku Peak to enjoy its various pleasures. Duiku Peak offered all the decadent amusements found in the human world, and here they could be enjoyed in an even more extravagant manner.

Bathed in such sugary delights and soft comforts, Commander Bao, although not forgetting Zhu Yan's instructions, was no longer inclined to trouble Du Gangzong. It was even less likely that he would return to Kuinan Prefecture City.

However, while Du Gangzong was resting easy, they were unaware that their King, Zhu Yan, had already left the Southern Wilderness Mountains and personally traveled to the territory of the Xia Yong Dynasty.

Zhu Yan did not descend into Kuinan Prefecture City. He merely paused briefly while flying over Kuinan City to observe. Then, with a wave of his hand, a wisp of incense smoke from the direction of the Earth God Temple was drawn into his grasp.

Zhu Yan sniffed the incense smoke in his hand, a frown creasing his brow. He parted his lips and gently blew, and the wisp of incense smoke flew out. However, this smoke did not return to the idol in the Earth God Temple; instead, it darted haphazardly throughout Kuinan Prefecture City.

Sometimes it was in the south of the city, sometimes in the north, sometimes in the alleys, sometimes in the market. But it lingered most frequently between the Li family mansion and the Nichen Temple.

“This is interesting. Why does this Earth God keep running around these places? The Li family mansion, and a monk temple?”

If Ji Yuan were here and saw Zhu Yan's method, he would surely marvel at the myriad wondrous techniques in the world. Zhu Yan did not divine the origin of the magic coin, nor did he deduce the heavenly secret of why the Earth God obtained it. He merely investigated the Earth God's movements over a considerable period, and not even through divination.

Just by observing the repeated back-and-forth trajectory of the incense smoke, Zhu Yan knew, without asking anything, that Nichen Temple and the Li family mansion held something special. Although it might be unrelated to the Earth God receiving the magic coin, it was definitely strongly connected to the Earth God. Furthermore, considering when the magic coin was obtained, a connection between the two seemed more probable.

At that moment, a golden light flickered in Zhu Yan's demonic eyes. After blinking, he first looked towards the dilapidated Nichen Temple. He could see a gentle Buddhist glow and hear the chanting of a few monks within the temple. Other than that, there was nothing unusual. Had it not been for the Earth God's previous movements, Zhu Yan likely wouldn't have given it much thought, considering it at most a devout temple of mortals.

When he looked towards Li Feng's location, apart from discerning that the family residing in the mansion was wealthy and influential, he could not discern anything particularly special either.

However, Zhu Yan smiled. The Earth God's trajectory was evident, but what followed appeared completely normal. Therefore, this very normalcy was the greatest anomaly.

Zhu Yan reached behind his ear and pulled out a single sweat hair, gleaming with a white luster. Then he puffed out his cheeks slightly.

“Hoo…”

A gust of wind blew, and the sweat hair transformed into a mosquito in the breeze. It followed the wind and flew into Kuinan Prefecture City, swiftly circling the city, especially around the Li family mansion and Nichen Temple. A moment later, it returned to Zhu Yan's hand.

“Buzz, buzz, buzz… buzz, buzz, buzz…”

The buzzing of the mosquito continued incessantly. At this moment, Zhu Yan's ears seemed to be filled with all kinds of sounds: various discussions and gossip, as well as quarrels and clamor.

“The young master of the Li family mansion went to the capital?”

Zhu Yan squinted, looking at the Earth God Temple. The Earth God's trajectory of movement seemed to indicate that after the young master of the Li family mansion departed, the Earth God remained largely immobile within the temple for a long time.

Zhu Yan did not linger long over Kuinan Prefecture City. He didn't even descend into Kuinan City. After retrieving the sweat hair, he flew directly north.

In Kuinan Prefecture City, when the mosquito had flown by earlier, Jinjia in the blacksmith's shop had a faint premonition. He emerged from the shop, carrying a large iron hammer, and looked up at a certain spot in the sky. Unfortunately, the sky was clear and calm, and he detected no abnormalities.

After leaving Kuinan Prefecture City, Zhu Yan's journey was no longer smooth sailing. This was because the young master of the Li family's travel route was quite vague. However, he was not anxious. After all, the young master of the Li family was ultimately heading to the capital, and the capital of the Xia Yong Dynasty was not entirely unfamiliar to Zhu Yan.

Ji Yuan did not help the Li family's carriages accelerate. He simply rode in the carriage with Zuo Wuji and Li Feng towards the capital. With the four carriages traveling lightly and encountering no delays, they arrived outside the capital of the Xia Yong Dynasty in just over a month.

In fact, throughout that month, Ji Yuan would occasionally perform divinations. Although he couldn't get any clear results, from the first half of the journey, he always had an ineffable, lingering feeling. Yet, the entire month-long journey was peaceful and uneventful.

“Mr. Ji, Senior Zuo, look! It's the capital! The city walls are so majestic!”

Li Feng had already instructed his servants to roll up the front curtains of the carriage. Upon seeing the distant outer walls of the capital, he cried out in excitement.

Zuo Wuji smiled from the side.

“Heh, it's alright, I suppose. If you were to see the capital city of my Great Zhen, you would understand that no other grand city in the world surpasses it.”

Ji Yuan smiled but said nothing. In reality, although the Great Zhen capital was much grander than the Xia Yong capital, it wasn't unrivaled globally. Not to mention, the capitals of the Tianbao Imperial Dynasty in Yunzhou and the Daxiu Imperial Dynasty in Hengzhou surpassed the Great Zhen capital by a considerable margin.

However, that was only temporary. Ji Yuan already knew that the Great Zhen capital was planning a new round of expansion. They would extend another grand outer wall beyond the existing ones. Once completed, it was estimated that few other human cities in the world could compare to the Great Zhen capital.

“Quick, quick, let's take a tour of the capital first!”

“Young Master, the Master instructed us to go directly to the official residence… Mr. Ji, what do you think…”

Li Feng's words put the servants in a difficult position. They looked pleadingly at Ji Yuan, as they had gotten along well during this period, and their young master was very obedient to Mr. Ji.

The servants occasionally thought of the immortal named Ji from before, but it was clear that he had little to do with this Mr. Ji.

“Alright, don't make things difficult for them. Let's go see your father first. It's proper etiquette for a son.”

“Oh…”

Li Feng stopped his fussing. The carriages headed directly for Li Ping's official residence after entering the city. Of course, half a day earlier, a servant had disembarked midway and rushed ahead to the capital to inform Li Ping.

As the nation's capital, the city was quite bustling, far more boisterous than any city they had passed on their journey. Li Feng peered around from the carriage, his eyes overwhelmed by the sights. However, he grew nervous as they approached Li Ping's official residence.

To Li Feng's surprise, Li Ping, his father, was actually waiting outside the official residence to greet his son.

As the carriages approached, Li Ping smiled and gestured towards them, speaking to the two people beside him.

“Hehehe, this is my son Li Feng's carriage. If the two immortal masters would grace him with their presence, my son would surely be delighted!”

As he spoke, Li Ping strode towards the slowly stopping carriages. Li Feng also pulled aside the curtain and stepped down. He looked at Li Ping with a mix of apprehension and excitement, then respectfully bowed.

“Your son greets Father!”

“Come, come, quickly pay your respects to these two immortal masters. One of them is your future master!”

Li Feng looked at the two smiling figures not far behind Li Ping. One was an elderly man with an ethereal demeanor and a ruddy complexion. The other had a short white beard and white hair, resembling a martial artist more than an immortal.

“Li Feng greets the two immortal masters!”

Li Feng bowed to both of them again, and the old man then chuckled merrily.

“Hahahaha, no need for such formalities. I've been in high spirits lately, and seeing Young Master Li today only enhances it. Truly, a fine talent and a precious gem. What do you think, Fellow Daoist Zhu?”

Zhu Yan looked at Li Feng for a moment, his smile fading. Then his gaze shifted from Li Feng to what was behind him. From the carriage there, Zuo Wuji and Ji Yuan were successively alighting. This caused Zhu Yan's eyes to widen and gleam, and the smile on his face grew even broader.