Chapter 2398: A Humble Home Brightened

Come to Cloud Country so many times, and it always felt like sneaking around.

At first, I was worried that Zhuang Gao Xian would discover I still had a younger sister, and she was hidden in Lingxiao Pavilion. Later, I was worried about a certain person who often didn't follow martial ethics, often bullying the weak with the strong, like that old man in white who pretended to be young, worried he'd suddenly fly out and kick me during a chat.

Meeting Ye Qing Yu always felt like a clandestine meeting between spies.

In this pure place, this peaceful homeland, I was always on tenterhooks. It was truly… exhilarating – no, difficult!

As an elder brother, I had to ask for permission just to see my younger sister! Who could I complain to about this?

The tyranny of Cloud Country was outrageous.

Fortunately, from now on, my heart and liver can finally settle back into their original places. That will be no more.

Today, I pay my respects to the mountain dweller—

True Monarch Jiang Wang!

I've already reached the Hegemon Country level, where you can see the monarch without kneeling.

A small Cloud Country, of course, can also be grand and imposing.

A small Lingxiao Pavilion Master, naturally also...

"Cough, cough, cough!"

A continuous cough brought the square's clamor to a halt and also cut off the private conversations.

The Ye Pavilion Master, handsome and extraordinary in his fluttering white robes, walked slowly with his hands behind his back, like a king inspecting his domain. His sword-like eyebrows were clearly tinged with coldness, and his star-like eyes shone with a chilling light. But there was a smile on his lips.

A polite and cold smile.

A broken smile.

A smile that made people panic.

"Haha, what are you all gathered around here for? It's actually quite lively! Even on my big birthday every year, it's never this crowded. I woke up, dazed, and stumbled into my own funeral – how, you're usually not diligent, are you here to fulfill filial piety this time?"

Ye Pavilion Master told an unfunny joke, grinning, his teeth looking like they hid sword light!

The Lingxiao Pavilion disciples on the square looked left and right, not daring to leave just like that, nor daring to continue gathering.

The group's awkwardness diluted the individual awkwardness.

Jiang Wang habitually wanted to slip away, his energy already gathered in his feet, but suddenly remembered that he was actually a True Monarch. So he stood firm, leisurely turned his gaze, and looked confidently at the approaching person.

It had been a long time since he had seen Ye Pavilion Master, he wondered if his style was still the same.

Ye Lingxiao followed the crowd that parted for him and walked closer. It seemed as if he only saw Jiang Wang at this moment. He widened his eyes in surprise and feigned astonishment: "Isn't this the famous 'Heavenly Dao Deep Sea Roamer, Ten Thousand Realms Torrent Ferryman,' True Monarch Jiang Wang?"

Jiang Wang was slightly taken aback, then immediately cupped his hands in a bow: "So it's the 'Horizontal Push Various Countries Invincible Hand, Ten Thousand Ancient Human World Most Heroic,' face to face! I have also long admired your great name!"

Ye Lingxiao grinned.

Jiang Wang also laughed.

Wasn't this matching of names good enough? What more could you say, old Mister Ye?

Ye Lingxiao suddenly dropped his smile, turned his head, and sternly rebuked his disciples: "You ignorant things! What are you doing gathered here? With disheveled hair and dirty faces, how can you welcome guests? Did you burn incense? Did you bathe? Do you know who this is?! He is the number one great hero of the human race! An unparalleled heavenly pride!"

He was extremely angry, his spittle flew everywhere, and he felt wronged for Jiang Wang: "How can you be like this? There's no music, no dance, not even a single fresh flower! What is True Monarch Jiang's identity, what is his status, do I need to say more?! He deigns to come to Cloud Country, how can you be so negligent!! Spread this out, how will the world view us? They'll think my Lingxiao Pavilion has no etiquette, that I, Ye, can't manage you!"

For a time, only the heartbroken cry of the great Pavilion Master Ye echoed.

Even the thunder that could destroy the world was no more shocking than this sound.

Suddenly, the birds and beasts on the square scattered.

Only then did Ye Pavilion Master turn back, and again cupped his hands towards Jiang Wang, his eyes full of eagerness, his face full of seriousness, and bowed heavily: "True Monarch Jiang deigns to come here, my humble sect is truly honored! I, Ye, have been fortunate for three lives!"

Jiang Wang's expression, from confident composure to restless fidgeting, only took a single breath.

True Monarch Jiang, with lightning speed, supported Ye Pavilion Master's arm, preventing him from bowing, and then bowed his entire body, deliberately lowering his head lower than Ye Xiao Hua, and said in a panic: "Pavilion Master Ye! Great Hero Ye! Uncle Ye! Please don't do this, you're embarrassing me to death!"

Ye Pavilion Master strained to bow down, Jiang Wang strained to support him up, the two squeezed each other until their faces were red and their ears were hot.

The youngest True Monarch in history was now sweating profusely, begging for mercy repeatedly: "Uncle, speak nicely! If I have offended you in any way, been impolite in any way, it's all because I'm crude and rude, I don't understand etiquette, and I truly have no ill intentions. Please be magnanimous, please, please don't do this!"

After bowing for a while without success, the great Pavilion Master Ye stopped bowing, suddenly straightened his body, looked with some disdain at the wrinkled sleeve grabbed by Jiang Wang, raised his hand, and elegantly brushed it off: "True Monarch Jiang, what are you saying? Are you estranged? You are so precious, with such status, how could you possibly offend a humble person like me?"

Jiang Wang diligently helped him smooth his sleeve, then backed away, continuously bowing: "Uncle Ye, you are a respected elder, I am a humble person. All the problems between us are my fault, absolutely none of them are yours. Before, I was young and didn't understand, I offended you a lot, I apologize to you today! Please forgive me! Let's talk like before, you should hit when you should, you should scold when you should. This way, I, the junior, truly cannot bear it!"

"Sigh!" Ye Pavilion Master let out a long sigh: "So many years have passed, An An has grown into a big girl. To say someone is young and doesn't understand, in the entire Lingxiao Secret Land, there's only one now – Mirror Ru, right? Mirror Ru!"

The little girl who had earlier struggled out of Jiang An An's embrace, took her short legs and ran back.

She wore a small floral jacket, her face rosy. Originally she had run over in response to Ye Pavilion Master's call, but when she saw Jiang Wang, she opened her arms again: "Uncle Jiang, hug!"

At such a young age, she herself didn't understand how to fawn on the powerful.

She just... felt close to Jiang Wang.

This closeness didn't come out of thin air.

Her name was Fu Mirror Ru.

She was the daughter of the deceased former Supervising Minister of Zhuang Country… Fu Bao Song.

Fu Bao Song gave his daughter this name because he wanted her to always hold a mirror to herself, to reflect on her words and deeds, to be a pure and proper person, to be the same inside and out.

Only a stubborn person like Fu Bao Song would give his daughter such a name.

Only to his daughter would he have such expectations.

The Elder Council, led by Zhang Ren, were orthodox Daoist cultivators. They usually cultivated good karma and would not engage in meaningless cruel acts, they did not exterminate Fu Bao Song's entire family.

Killing Fu Bao Song was only to completely overthrow the Qiming New Policy, and they needed to chop down such a banner – the others couldn't be killed…

Only Fu Bao Song was killed.

The letter Zhang Ren wrote to the officials handling the matter contained these words – "Fu Bao Song's crime is his alone, do not harm his family."

But Fu Bao Song had clean hands, only married one wife, and both his parents died when he was a child. There weren't many people in his entire mansion, and he had no family to speak of.

His wife, two months after Fu Bao Song was punished, finally couldn't bear it and died for love, leaving behind only an orphaned girl who was still not sensible, and was later sent to an orphanage.

After Jiang Wang received the news, he brought the girl back. He originally planned to raise her in the White Jade Capital Tavern, but Ye Qing Yu said that a tavern was no place for a child, and there was no one in the entire White Jade Capital who could take good care of a child… so he sent her to Lingxiao Pavilion.

The dignified Great Hero Ye, who had to look after a child for Jiang, was somewhat annoyed. It was understandable that he wanted to vent.

He called little Mirror Ru over, his meaning very clear – you have the nerve to say you are young and don't understand?

Are you four and a half years old?

Jiang Wang only pretended not to understand the eyes of Hero Ye, hugged little Mirror Ru in his arms, and said softly: "Mirror Ru, are you a sensible little child?"

Fu Mirror Ru nodded vigorously.

Jiang Wang was experienced in coaxing children: "But your Pavilion Master Grandpa says you are young and don't understand, Uncle is not convinced for you."

Fu Mirror Ru immediately puffed out her mouth.

Ye Lingxiao glared with angry eyes.

This boy really treats everyone the same! He reported Jiang An An before, then Ye Qing Yu, and now he's reporting little Mirror Ru to me, and he even dares to do it face to face!

Jiang Wang said unhurriedly: "Then if your Pavilion Master Grandpa is angry, does a sensible little child want to coax him?"

Little Mirror Ru thought for a moment, twisted her body, and opened her arms to Ye Lingxiao in Jiang Wang's embrace: "Grandpa Ye, hug."

Her voice was extremely soft and sticky, her tone not very stable, "Grandpa Ye" sounded like "Night night night."

Hero Ye was fearless in his life, only unable to bear a little girl looking pitifully at him. Because he also had a daughter.

To turn a dashing and elegant handsome man into a hideous hunchbacked middle-aged person, only one step is needed – let him shoulder family responsibility.

The happy and carefree Ye Xiao Hua of his youth, is now the father and mother, raising little Ye Qing Yu alone.

Later, he watched his closed-door disciple Jiang An An grow up, teaching her to read and write, teaching her to practice Dao.

Now Fu Mirror Ru, he doesn't keep by his side. There are nannies in the pavilion specifically to take care of her, and usually Jiang An An and Song Qing Zhi play with her.

But such a small baby, with pitiful eyes, wanting a hug tearfully, how could Great Hero Ye bear it?

He hugged the child with a kind face, then glared fiercely at Jiang Wang again—

Where is he?

The great Pavilion Master Ye's knife-like eyes scanned for a while, only just catching up with the target, but that boy had already appeared on another cloud platform, chatting and laughing with Ye Qing Yu as they walked far away.

Those sharp, knife-like eyes full of killing intent instantly dissipated.

It was as if a person full of vitality had instantly reached the end of their life.

Inside a "certain inn" in Cloud Country, a white-haired old man leaned back in a recliner, trying to open his aging eyes, as if he wanted to see something clearly, but they were becoming increasingly cloudy and bewildered.

As a representative of the Cloud Upper Firm's inn business, relying on Cloud Country's unique geography and political advantage, and based on the firm's world foundation, with "fair price" as the core selling point, the "certain inn" expanded very rapidly.

Now it has branches in various countries around the world, and the next development is to expand city by city in some larger countries.

Just in terms of its worldwide scale, it has the momentum to catch up with the Three Points Fragrance Building.

Cloud Country is the location of the "certain inn" headquarters, and the inns built here are naturally all of the highest specifications. The room layout is very elegant, even with artificial mountains shrouded in mist indoors. And pushing open the window, one can see the sea of clouds.

A graceful figure of a woman, wearing a mask with no features, walked in from the room next door. She stood still in front of the white-haired old man, not saying a word.

Beside the recliner, there was a black wood shrine placed on the ground, and in front of the shrine lay an old yellow dog.

It could be said that all their family property was with them.

The old yellow dog's eyelids drooped, its long dog ears hung on the ground, seemingly seeing nothing and hearing nothing.

The white-haired old man on the recliner was dazed for a while, wanting to sleep but ultimately unable to.

"What was I originally... planning to do?" He asked slightly bewildered.

The woman wearing the mask looked at him without emotion, turned and walked to the window, pushed it open, saw the changing sea of clouds outside, and chuckled: "Leaving No Return Valley, crossing mountains and ridges, surely it's not just to look at the scenery?"

"Perhaps... not. Indeed, it shouldn't be." The white-haired old man asked: "Then why did we come here?"

"You planned to kill me here." The woman in the mask said softly: "This is a good grave."

"Not right." The white-haired old man shook his head: "I remember you. Swallow."

In his bewildered, almost senile state, he was quite serious: "I would kill anyone but you."

This should have been an expression of value.

But "Swallow" acted as if she had heard the most vicious curse in the world and screamed sharply: "Yan Chun Hui! You won't die a good death! You deserve to be cut into a thousand pieces, you should never transcend! You should just watch with wide open eyes as all your relatives die one by one in front of you. Die in front of you time after time!!!"

"Ah! Ah! Ah!!"

The Unmask Demon pulled out a short sword with a sawtooth blade, chopped and smashed wildly in the room, almost mad: "You should die! You should die! You should die!! Why aren't you dead, why am I still not dead?!"

But not a sound was transmitted.

All the struggles in this life, all like now, were powerless and useless.

"Swallow." Yan Chun Hui was not stimulated in the slightest, but rather looked at Swallow with pity and called her in a warm voice.

"Swallow." By the time he called her for the second time, Yan Chun Hui had already forgotten Swallow's pain, and his voice had become calm.

"Let's go home." He said: "It's not too comfortable sleeping here. I'm not used to it."

"Okay. Let's go home." Swallow suppressed the emotion in her eyes. She stepped forward, supported Yan Chun Hui, wanting to help him up: "Everything will be alright, let's go home. That's the best ending."

Yan Chun Hui swayed as he stood up.

"Can't go back!" The old yellow dog, who had always pretended to be deaf and mute, suddenly barked.

"Dead dog! Shut up!" Swallow kicked it directly. At the moment it was about to hit its body, a bone knife popped out from the arch of her foot, suddenly revealing a cold light.

The old yellow dog bit the black shrine in its mouth, and darted away. Its mouth was already busy, but its voice still rang out: "No Return Valley no longer exists! Gong Sun Bu Hai, Jiang Wang, Li Yi, three True Monarchs joined forces to kill their way into No Return Valley, we would have been slaughtered if we left one step later! How can we still go back?"

It also didn't want to make a sound at this time. But if it went silent again, it was afraid it would truly become a dead dog.

This stinky woman Swallow really wanted to die, and she still wanted to bring the old thing to die with her.

The problem is…

Can you exile me first?

Better to be a stray dog in the human world than to be a guard dog for the Yan family!

"Jiang Wang!"

"I remember—"

Among the names of several True Monarchs, that was the one the white-haired old man heard most clearly.

His cloudy gaze suddenly cleared, and in an instant, an indescribable sharpness was born.

At this moment, he was the Yan Chun Hui who had climbed to the top against the era!

He said calmly: "He completely surpasses Feng Qi."

"He wants to kill me."

Thank you to book friend "Lost xjh" for becoming the alliance leader of this book! This is for the 803rd alliance of Red Heart Patrol Heaven!

Thank you to book friend "Shen A Yao" for becoming the alliance leader of this book! This is for the 804th alliance of Red Heart Patrol Heaven! (An old reader who just opened the book, long time no see)