Love Flower Valley:
Gu Hai was busy patching the weakness of the Thorny Ritual Array.
By sending people to bring Huangfu Chaoge over, Granny Qing Hua had saved Gu Hai a lot of effort. Although Huangfu Chaoge had not come over yet, the chances of it happening were high.
To repay that, Gu Hai felt duty-bound to fix Love Flower Valley’s ritual array.
The east of the Thorny Ritual Array faced the sea. More accurately, it encompassed part of the sea. However, Gu Hai discovered that while the Thorny Ritual Array had many roots on land, there were not many roots in the sea, leaving a weakness there.
He worked quickly on fixing the ritual array with the love flower treants, progressing rapidly.
Long Wanqing followed behind Gu Hai, helping out.
However, Chu Chen stood on the Xiaoyue Secondary Residence’s floating island and watched coldly as Gu Hai fixed the ritual array. He did not help or say anything about it.
“Division Master Chu, why are you still here? Do you have more to work on?” Venerable Liu Nian suddenly appeared behind Chu Chen.
“I still have not gone through all the materials left by the previous hall master. After I do that, I will continue to look for clues. What’s wrong? Is Venerable Liu Nian trying to chase me away?” Chu Chen turned his head and looked at Venerable Liu Nian coldly.
Venerable Liu Nian shook his head and sighed, “Division Chu, we are all upset about the previous hall master’s death. However, Long Wanqing is the current hall master. I ask that you be more polite when you speak to her.”
“Are you lecturing me? Ha! I, Chu Chen, don’t need you to teach me how to do things. Humph!” Chu Chen snorted coldly while flinging out his sleeves and walking into a palace hall.
Venerable Liu Nian frowned slightly as he looked at Chu Chen.
On the other side, a loud sound rang out when evening arrived.
Boom!
A vast fog appeared out of nowhere.
“It’s done!” Gu Hai smiled widely.
“It’s finally done? This vast fog is a ritual array?” the surrounding treants marveled as they looked at the fog-covered sea.
Before Gu Hai could explain, a treant suddenly ran over.
“Mister Gu, Hall Master Long, Granny sent me to inform you that Huangfu Chaoge is here,” that treant said softly.
“Oh?” The eyes of Gu Hai and Long Wanqing lit up as they exchanged looks.
The two did not say anything more as they quickly followed that treant to the towering tree where Granny Qing Hua stayed.
Soon, the two arrived at Granny Qing Hua’s tree hole.
“Granny said to just enter when you arrive,” a treant said softly.
Gu Hai and Long Wanqing nodded before stepping into the tree hole.
Granny Qing Hua was drinking tea with a middle-aged man in the tree hole. When Gu Hai and Long Wanqing stepped in, Granny Qing Hua’s and the middle-aged man’s hands paused in midair, and they looked over.
The middle-aged man was none other than the Huangfu Chaoge whom Gu Hai saw not long ago.
“Gu Hai greets Mister Huangfu!” Gu Hai said with a slight bow.
However, Huangfu Chaoge kept staring at Long Wanqing when he saw her. Emotions instantly flooded his heart as his eyes turned slightly bloodshot.
“Long Wanqing greets Mister Huangfu!” Long Wanqing said while bowing slightly.
“Alright, alright. The two of you are being too polite. This humble one is Huangfu Chaoge.” Huangfu Chaoge bowed slightly to Gu Hai and Long Wanqing while feeling stupefied.
“Huangfu Chaoge is here. Go ahead and ask what you need to ask,” Granny Qing Hua said as she drank tea at the side.
“Many thanks, Granny!” Long Wanqing said gratefully.
“Looks similar. She looks very similar. She looks very similar to Xiaoyue.” Huangfu Chaoge’s eyes continued to redden.
“Mister Huangfu, very sorry for rudely calling you here. I have been searching for the reason for my mother’s death over the past few years. Thanks to Gu Hai’s help, I finally found you, so I came to disturb you,” Long Wanqing said.
“Oh?” Huangfu Chaoge looked at Gu Hai.
“We went to Silver Moon City first. After looking through a large amount of information, we found that my mother had two good friends who did not go to pay their respects after she died—you and He Shikang. We went to question He Shikang. Before he died, he mentioned your name,” Long Wanqing explained.
This startled Huangfu Chaoge somewhat. “That coward, He Shikang, died?”
“Yes. He committed suicide.” Long Wanqing nodded.
“Back then, we found one million zither puppets in the Silver Moon Sea. The officials got waylaid while transporting them to the capital. After that, He Shikang committed suicide,” Gu Hai added.
“Suicide? Hahaha! He should have died long ago. He waited so long to commit suicide? Humph!” Huangfu Chaoge snorted coldly.
“Mister Huangfu, how much do you know about my mother’s death?” Long Wanqing asked anxiously.
“Your mother’s death? Haha! It was Duke Lu Yang,” Huangfu Chaoge said sullenly.
“Ah?” Long Wanqing’s expression changed.
However, Gu Hai revealed calm and indifference, as though he had guessed this already.
“The last time Long Xiaoyue met me, she told me that if she died mysteriously, it would be Duke Lu Yang who killed her. That’s why I want revenge. I want revenge for Xiaoyue,” Huangfu Chaoge said with a ferocious expression.
“Duke Lu Yang wanted to kill my mother? That’s impossible, right? Why? For the dragon vein? However, Duke Lu Yang also has a dragon vein,” Long Wanqing exclaimed.
“What do you mean for the dragon vein? Duke Lu Yang is preparing to rebel. Back then, your mother found out but did not have any evidence, so she did not know how to report it. Unexpectedly, Duke Lu Yang found out and silenced her, preventing her from reporting him,” Huangfu Chaoge said hatefully.
“Rebel? Why? What evidence is there?” Long Wanqing exclaimed.
“Evidence? Haha! How can there be evidence? If there were evidence, would I need to tear up my alliance with the Qian Heavenly Dynasty? I would just have to send the evidence to the Qian Heavenly Dynasty’s heavenly court,” Huangfu Chaoge said hatefully.
“Rebelling? You mean that Duke Lu Yang is building up power, waiting for the right moment to rebel and scheme against the Qian Heavenly Dynasty?” Gu Hai frowned.
“That’s right. I know that he intends to rebel. Hence, he accused me of working with the enemy to betray the Qian Heavenly Dynasty. Then, he led his army over to suppress me. Hahaha!” Huangfu Chaoge sneered.
“However, that is not what we heard. We heard that you tore up the alliance with the Qian Heavenly Dynasty and allied with an imperial dynasty that is enemies with the Qian Heavenly Dynasty?” Gu Hai said, feeling puzzled.
“Are you joking? Hahaha! How could I ally with an imperial dynasty? There is indeed an imperial dynasty next to my Divine Foundation Royal Dynasty. However, suppose that imperial dynasty knew that Duke Lu Yang was rebelling. In that case, they would not only refuse to help me but would even support Duke Lu Yang in destroying the Divine Foundation Royal Dynasty. That is because they also want territory. If Duke Lu Yang rebels, they can take advantage of the chaos and attack the Qian Heavenly Dynasty as well. How could I possibly ally with them?” Huangfu Chaoge sneered.
“Duke Lu Yang killed my mother? That’s impossible! Duke Lu Yang is rebelling? How could he have the courage to do so? You are lying to me. You are definitely lying. You don’t even have any evidence.” Long Wanqing appeared confused.
Huangfu Chaoge shook his head and said, “That’s true. I do not have any evidence. I don’t even have any evidence on how Xiaoyue died. However, I believe Xiaoyue. I believe everything Xiaoyue said. Why did I not pay my respects to Xiaoyue? Could I even have gone? I would rather take revenge for Xiaoyue on the frontlines. That coward, He Shikang, was even more smitten than I was. Look at what happened in the end? He ended up Duke Lu Yang’s lackey. Humph! Those one million bronze statues? Back then, it was Xiaoyue, He Shikang, and I together who discovered them. Sending the dragons to guard the place? Doesn’t that already show Duke Lu Yang’s malicious intentions?”
“Gu Hai, tell me. Do you think Duke Lu Yang killed my mother?” Long Wanqing turned to Gu Hai anxiously.
Gu Hai remained silent. Naturally, he would not take Huangfu Chaoge’s word at face value. However, based on the information he had so far, Duke Lu Yang was the most likely murderer of Long Xiaoyue.
Gu Hai did not give a definite answer. Instead, he fell into deep thought.
“Oh, no! Oh, no! Things are bad! Granny! Granny! Duke Lu Yang’s army surrounded us outside the Thorny Ritual Array. There are many flying ships, soldiers, and dragons!” A treant suddenly ran over while shouting.
“What?” Granny Qing Hua’s expression changed.
“Duke Lu Yang surrounded this place?” Long Wanqing’s expression changed.
However, Huangfu Chaoge frowned. Then, he looked at Granny Qing Hua. Did Granny Qing Hua trick me?
No, it’s not Granny Qing Hua! Huangfu Chaoge rushed out of the tree hole and looked at the sky with a frown.
Outside the Thorny Ritual Array:
A large banner with a large “Lu” character on it flew on a humongous flying ship.
There were one hundred flying ships in the surroundings, hovering around the Thorny Ritual Array. Many soldiers stood on the flying ships, showing ferocious expressions as they looked at the ritual array.
Hundreds of dragons also flew in the sky. Moreover, there were thousands of flood dragons flying behind the dragons and thousands of baxia on the beach of the sea to the east.
“Roar!”
The dragons reared their heads and roared. Dark clouds immediately covered the place, and lightning flashed.
An intense, murderous aura blanketed the entire Thorny Ritual Array.
Duke Lu Yang sat on a throne on the flagship, propping his arms up on the armrests and looking at the Thorny Ritual Array coldly.
Army Breaker, Ao Shun, and various experts in strange attire stood by Duke Lu Yang. All of them coldly eyed the Thorny Ritual Array across them.
“In there?” Duke Lu Yang asked.
Army Breaker nodded and said, “Yes. According to our spy’s report, Huangfu Chaoge is indeed in there.”
“It’s one thing for him to turtle up in Divine Foundation City. To think that he so recklessly came out?” Duke Lu Yang sneered.
“There is a path to heaven for him, but he refused. Despite hell being closed off to him, he insisted on barging in. Huangfu Chaoge is simply seeking death!” Ao Shun scoffed.
“It’s probably for Long Wanqing, right? When Army Breaker said that Long Wanqing arrived ten days ago, I knew that Huangfu Chaoge would not be far from death. Haha! Indeed, he is a love-smitten fool. Long Xiaoyue has already been dead for years, yet he cannot forget her. To think that the daughter that she had with another man could lure him out. Haha! The Divine Foundation Royal Dynasty? Even this duke cannot understand how he established it. Humph!” Duke Lu Yang said coldly.
“Duke, this Thorny Ritual Array is quite problematic. Its toughness is secondary. Its poison is the true problem. If we try to forcefully break it, the thorns’ poison can turn into poison smoke and injure the soldiers,” Army Breaker said.
“There’s nothing problematic about this. All those in my way will die!” Duke Lu Yang said coldly.
“Army Breaker, you overthink. The Thorny Ritual Array? Ha! It is not really difficult. It has a fatal weakness!” Ao Shen said with a cold smile.
“Oh?”
“The east of the ritual array is where the sea is. That is the weakest part of the Thorny Ritual Array. My dragon race happens to have a diagram of the ritual array that Old Mister Guan Qi laid for Love Flower Valley back then. Here is a copy!” Ao Shun said with a cold smile.
