Roughly around 10 o'clock, Shang Wen and Lan Jingyi made it to Mt. Lan.
Lan Jingyi asked him to stay at the foot of the mountain as she intended to battle against the zheng to get back her daughter, but as the second prince insisted on following her due to worry about her safety, she decided to knock him out in case of an emergency.
Amara, the giant flying stingray, the Emperor's mount, made its way to the top of the mountain.
There, they have the zheng waiting in its original form. Looking at the five-tailed scarlet leopard, the 6-circle realm flying stingray was frightened and refused to make its landing.
But then, as the zheng spoke to it in a human tongue, not wanting to see Lan Jingyi getting carried by Shang Wen if the latter was a stepson, the king-grade beast reluctantly landed on the mountain but made sure to avoid the zheng's gaze.
Meanwhile, Shang Wen turned wary of the beast emperor. He felt like this opponent is far stronger than he imagined. He decided not to battle it but instead put his entire focus on how to quickly grab his mother and fly away without caring about Amara.
"Welcome to my abode, Lan Jingyi, and Shang Wen," greeted the zheng.
Lan Jingyi responded with a question, "Where is my daughter, Lan Ju?"
The zheng calmly replied, "First, pay your respects to your parents. Then, we shall talk."
Lan Jingyi started walking toward the gravesite. Just as Shang Wen was about to follow, the zheng looked at him, "Not you, Shang Wen. Outsiders aren't allowed in that sacred place."
"He is my son, Lan Ju," said Lan Jingyi without bothering to hide her anger.
The zheng shook his head, "But, he still doesn't have any ties with the Lan Sect. And neither had he any relations with the dead. He is an outsider in my view. You should be satisfied with the fact that I allowed your husband's mount and his son into this premises."
Lan Ju also didn't hide his disgust as he looked at Shang Wen and the beast. He doesn't like the imperial family, for whom Lan Jingyi chose to betray the wishes of her father.
"You…" Shang Wen clenched his fist but he controlled his emotions, knowing well that he is no match for the beast. Lan Jingyi told him to wait as she walked away.
Once Lan Jingyi was out of sight, the zheng then sat down in silence and closed his eyes.
Shang Wen also kept his mouth shut for a while until he couldn't bear it anymore and said, "I don't sense my sister anywhere on this mountain. I guess it must be behind the human who is helping you."
The zheng ignored his words and continued his nap.
Shang Wen then spoke, "On our way, I had a lot of time to think about your intentions behind this act. My mother is a mortal. My sister is too young and my brother has already awakened the Phoenix bloodline. He would probably become the Emperor someday. So, I highly doubt you want to use them to revive your fallen sect. So, what is it that you are truly after?"
Lan Ju continued to play deaf as if he didn't hear him.
But, Shang Wen didn't back down. He continued with his theory to confirm his suspicions. "I had this friend of mine. You can say he is like a brother and I don't have any reason to distrust his words. He says that the gold dragon of the Wuji sect has aligned itself with Feng Wu.
He also said that Feng Wu had contracted with this powerful demon, which was the one that attacked us and killed the Grand Secretariat. Now, you took this opportunity and abducted Shang Jiao.
A powerful beast like you doesn't need to work with a human unless he/she is your contractor. And you don't accept just anyone as your partner too. He must be related to this sect and should also have a high cultivation realm."
As Shang Wen was speaking out his own theory, something clicked in his head. "The gold dragon left Lu Zhen's side after the birthday event of Ouyang Zen. And Ouyang Zen's prime minister is Lan Jing, my mother's paternal uncle.
The Eastern Sun kingdom has the largest reserves of gold and a long war will bring down our economic conditions, forcing my father to take a loan. Now, everything fits.
Lan Jing is the one who is pulling the strings behind this entire situation, isn't he? He has the perfect reason to take revenge.
The Imperial Palace didn't send any help to Lan Sect during the dungeon break. In our defense, it is because we lack the strength to face it. But, in his view, we probably have betrayed him.
And my mother's marriage to the Emperor has probably escalated his anger. So, he waited for the opportunity to strike us down."
The zheng couldn't help but open his eyes and take another look at the second prince. "This…"
It's not because he was surprised about the analysis of the second prince but it is because his master told him the same thing that the imperial palace will come to a conclusion.
Mark intended to distract everyone's attention away from him by painting Lan Jing as the prime conspirator. Of course, by the time they investigated everything, they will figure out that Lan Jing has no role in this and they have been fooled all along by Mark.
But, it will be too late by then. Mark would have already finished his revenge.
Seeing the zheng look at him in surprise, Shang Wen more felt like he was right. Making a serious expression, he said, "No matter what you planned, I want to tell you that I will go to any extent to keep my family safe. If that involves selling my soul to a more powerful demon, I wouldn't hesitate to do so."
"Interesting." The zheng finally responded to him, seeing that his master's plan is working. "I can sense your sincerity when you said about protecting your family. Answer me, young warrior. What will do if your brothers turn against each other? Or if your mother or your sister turns against you?"
Shang Wen's face darkened. He didn't give an answer but instead asked him, "What are you planning to do?"
"Come back and ask me the same question when you were qualified to have a conversation with me, weakling," replied the zheng before he closed his eyes once again.
Shang Wen's pride was hurt by the zheng but he could only clench his fist and stay silent, not just because of the difference in their strength but it is also because of the fact that Lan Jingyi was still on the premises of the mountain and Shang Jiao's fate was at stake here.
***
Meanwhile, at Imperial Palace;
In the Emperor's chamber, Shang Fu was anxiously waiting for a message from his son. He was so concerned about the situation at Mt. Lan that he refused all the requests for meeting from various sect heads and clan lords to discuss the situation about the war.
As he was regretting not establishing a two-way communication talisman between him and his son, his thoughts were interrupted by his third son.
"Your Majesty, Sorry for the disturbance but there is someone here to meet you," said the third prince while standing outside of the room.
Shang Fu waved his hand, "I'm not in the mood to talk right now, Shang Wei. I will meet the guest in the evening."
"Your Majesty, he is a supreme being," said the prince, gaining his attention immediately.
"Eh?"
