Ying Weishu reached into her storage and produced a wooden chest. She put the wooden chest on the sand below her and produced two talismans.
Her eyes shifted to Long Huan in the back and she looked a little conflicted at that moment. "Your Highness, His Majesty wishes for you to return to the Empire. Will you follow me?" she asked.
"No!" Long Huan stepped forward. "Tell Father that I do not wish to aid him in his atrocities."
The woman sighed. "Then I have a message to deliver to you as well," she said and threw the talisman in their direction.
Zhou Linfan moved forward and caught the talisman, quickly checking to make sure it was not something harmful. Once he confirmed that it was not a threat, he let Long Huan have it.
"And this one is for you, King Alex," the woman said, handing off the other talisman.
Alex took the talisman and quickly made sure it didn't instantly explode on him to kill him. But of course, it was just a simple talisman to carry on a message, just as the woman had claimed she had come for.
"Is this from the Dragon Emperor?" Alex asked the woman.
"They both are," the woman said. Suddenly, her improved upon power disappeared as the array behind her fell apart.
Everyone quickly looked to see what had happened, but it seemed to have been done at the woman's command.
The woman slowly smiled and said, "That is all from me for today." She quickly flew away from the beach, flying back into the ship. The rest of the 200 soldiers followed her back to the ship as well.
"My job here is done, so I will take my leave. I think we will meet again soon, King Alex."
The large ship then took to the skies and flew off into the ocean without waiting for anyone to check the message. That didn't bode right with Alex and the others.
"Your Majesty," Qiu Jianhong quickly walked up to Alex. "You shouldn't put yourself in danger like that. Why did you try to anger that woman? What if that woman attacked? You would've most likely died."
"I was testing her," Alex said as he turned back toward the elder. "I just needed to check if they were here to kill me or not."
"Putting yourself in danger accomplishes that in no way. Will you risk death just to check if they were here to kill you? Aren't you just asking to die?" the old man asked. "You might heal from being crippled, but your healing should still have a limit."
Alex turned to the old man and gave a warm smile. "I know," Alex said. Then slowly, Alex's face distorted, appearing as though a haze. Then, from the haze showed up a blank face with no features at all.
In fact, the entire body dissolved into nothing and Alex was nowhere to be seen. All that remained was a puppet with Whisker on top of it, holding onto a talisman.
Qiu Jianhong and the other 3 elders took a step back in surprise. "Huh? What is going on?" one of them asked.
"I know not to put myself at risk," Alex's voice came out of the talisman, clear and loud. "That's why I let the puppet approach her instead of myself."
"I'm not stupid enough to get that close to a potential enemy," Alex's real voice emerged from the sky above them where he put away his invisibility technique and slowly drifted down to the ground.
"Your Majesty?" Qiu Jianhong and the other elders watched with slacked jaws. The other soldiers were the same as well.
"I… didn't sense anything," Hannah said with wide eyes.
"This kid… did he hide himself in space again," Zhou Linfan wondered. It was similar to the time back when the two soldiers had come upon him.
Long Huan had no idea what to say at all in the situation. He was sure he had scoured the area Alex had appeared out of nowhere from. Even if he had hidden, his aura should've at least been visible to the crowd.
Alex landed on the sand and pet Whisker's head. "Good job," he said. "You're getting better at mimicking me."
"Hehe," Whisker gave a silly smile and jumped onto Alex's shoulders. Alex took the talisman from the Immortal Puppet's arms and put the puppet into his Soul Space.
"Oh, so you weren't in danger?" Qiu Jianhong asked. "You should have let us know earlier. When did you even switch?"
"I've been practicing to quickly switch with my doppelganger," Alex said. "I'm glad it works."
"It… surely does," the old man said.
"Your Majesty," Liang Shufen called out.
Alex and the rest turned toward her, only to realize she was pointing at the chest on the sand. "I can't see what is inside."
Alex turned back around and his senses landed on the chest in front of him even was a little surprised to see his spiritual sense unable to enter the wooden chest.
"Heavenly Silkworm's threads?" he asked. That was the only thing he knew that could stop one's senses from seeing into objects. He recognized the wood itself to be from a somewhat ordinary tree, so that was not it.
"Must be," Liang Shufen said. "Let me open it. Your Majesty, stay back just in case."
Alex didn't bother arguing and moved back. He had the talisman to read while they worked to see what was inside.
Alex sent his senses into the talisman and heard the message that spoke directly into his mind. It was the Dragon Emperor's voice.
"My congratulations for surviving. I was afraid you would die, and thus our trade would be rendered incomplete. I have been looking forward to our final trade and how it will help me create Pill Clouds at will."
"Since you've survived, you should be returning to me soon enough. If my idiot son hasn't decided to return by that time, bring the sword along with you. You can use it in our trade."
"I know you will come for the trade, but I do not know if you will bring the sword. Just to be certain, I have decided to send the gift along with this message. I hope it will work to persuade you."
"Unless you want even better gifts in the future, you will bring my sword."
"I'll see you soon."
Alex frowned. "Gift?" he looked at the chest in front of him.
Liang Shufen was still looking around just in case there was some sort of danger to the chest, but no matter how much she looked, she couldn't see anything.
"Unlock it," Alex said with a somber face. "There is no danger." He was sure of it.
"But Your Majesty, I—"
"It's from the Dragon Emperor, he won't risk killing me just yet. Open it," Alex said.
Liang Shufen frowned and nodded. She undid the two wooden latch in front of the chest and slowly lifted the lid of the chest.
She had only partially opened it when immediately a thick scent of blood filled the breeze. Everyone froze in their track and looked at the chest.
Alex felt his heart beat faster. He feared that he knew what the gift was.
