Wayfarer

Chapter 115: Croak the Frank

"Emperor Wei did help me with many tasks, but I repaid him in kind," Blue Lantern replied primly.

The Red Emperor glared at Blue Lantern, a hint of malevolence in her fiery eyes.

"I know you begrudge me for not securing Emperor Wei's revival, but I owed him not. What's more, I was bound by ancient pact. He could count only on himself," Blue Lantern added.

The Red Emperor snorted.

She turned away from Blue Lantern and looked toward the crowd.

"And you must be Bai Ruoyi's successor," the Red Emperor murmured, appraising the Lady Arclight.

Xiao Nanfeng immediately introduced the Red Emperor to the Lady Arclight.

"I am Arclight, Your Majesty!" The Lady Arclight bowed.

"Bai Ruoyi's personality and force of will might be weak, but her eyes are as good as ever, I see," the Red Emperor commented.

She turned toward Emperor Wei's coffin, then fell silent for a long moment. "Nanfeng, Yu'er, please bury my corpse with my consort's."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the two cultivators chorused.

Xiao Nanfeng walked up to Emperor Wei's coffin and gently pushed open its lid, revealing his corpse within. Though it had remained in the coffin for a millennium, it hadn't decayed or deteriorated, and it looked as though he were merely sleeping.

Yu'er retrieved the Red Emperor's corpse from her storage pendant and very carefully placed it to the side of Emperor Wei.

The Lady Arclight revealed yet another copper coffin, within which was the corpse of Empress Bai Ruoyi.

"Your Majesty, Empress Bai also requested that I bury her corpse with that of Emperor Wei," the Lady Arclight explained, bowing once more.

The Red Emperor glanced at Bai Ruoyi's corpse. She turned slightly away, not saying anything—but not objecting, either.

"Go on, Elder," Xiao Nanfeng whispered.

The Lady Arclight nodded, then carefully retrieved Bai Ruoyi's corpse from the coffin and placed it on the other side of Emperor Wei.

Emperor Wei lay with his two empresses by either side of him in formal repose.

"Replace the lid," the Red Emperor commanded, her eyes closed, emotions welling out of her.

With a snick, Xiao Nanfeng slowly covered the coffin lid.

The Red Emperor touched the copper coffin with a hint of disappointment. She turned to Xiao Nanfeng. "Nanfeng, store our bodies securely. Once we leave this realm, bury us again somewhere."

"Your Majesty, do you have any requirements as to where?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"As long as it's not within this hidden realm. Blue Lantern can sense anything within it, and I have no intention of having him disturb me ever again," Hong Xi sighed.

Blue Lantern remained silent not far away, ignoring the Red Emperor's criticism.

Xiao Nanfeng, however, blinked in understanding. The Red Emperor seemed to be trying to hint at something to him.

"Of course, Your Majesty. I will endeavor to take good care of your physical bodies." Xiao Nanfeng bowed deeply, then stored the coffin in his storage ring.

"Yu'er," the Red Emperor continued.

"Yes, Master!" Yu'er bowed.

"Head to the divine domain with them," the Red Emperor instructed.

"Ah?" Yu'er gasped in surprise.

"The draconic aether in your dantian cannot be stored for too long. Within two months, you must distill it. By that point, you will have reached Spiritsong, and Blue Lantern would force you into the divine domain then. Rather than head there alone, better that you accompany Arclight and these two toad spirits."

"Must I, Master?" Yu'er seemed somewhat unwilling.

"Such has been the rule for a millennium. You must go; Blue Lantern will not remain still otherwise. Some did refuse in the past, before they died mysteriously."

Everyone turned to Blue Lantern, who remained silent.

"Yes, Master," Yu'er replied, frowning.

"Your Majesty? May I accompany them to the divine domain?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"You? The draconic aether sealed in your body is insufficient for a Spiritsong advancement, I should think. You would be but a burden," the Red Emperor evaluated. "If you want to head to the divine domain, you must be a Spiritsong-realm cultivator in order to protect yourself. Of course, if you reach Lunar Deluge with your spiritual cultivation, that too would be sufficient. Your spiritual power is vast, but I don't believe the majority is yours."

Xiao Nanfeng nodded. "I understand, Your Majesty. I thank you for your pointers."

The Red Emperor gazed at the crowd before focusing on the serpent behind Blue Lantern. She smirked. "Little loach, you'll have no future with Blue Lantern. He might sell you off one of these days."

The serpent's head was stiff. Only then did it understand the Red Emperor's identity. Although she was growing weaker as she waned, it hardly dared to contradict her.

"You must be j-joking, Your Majesty," the serpent finally replied awkwardly.

"Let me advise you. Following Nanfeng would be far better than following Blue Lantern."

The serpent froze. Was the Red Emperor getting muddled in her old age? Me, following that brat? I want to kill him!

"Red Emperor, your spiritual power has largely dissipated. It's time to depart," Blue Lantern said calmly.

The Red Emperor waved her hand, sending the dragon-quelling spike floating in the air to Xiao Nanfeng's hands.

"Keep this dragon-quelling spike. Give the one in my tomb to Blue Lantern. That's the one promised to him by my consort. Don't mistake one for the other," the Red Emperor warned.

Xiao Nanfeng nodded, then handed one dragon-quelling spike to Blue Lantern.

Blue Lantern simultaneously retrieved a small bottle, which he held out to the Red Emperor's unspooling avatar. She didn't resist; her spiritual matter flowed into the bottle.

"So she's just like any other old spirit, isn't she? I wouldn't have been so shocked if I had known!" the serpent immediately remarked.

"The Red Emperor is not someone you can disparage," Blue Lantern replied coldly.

The serpent immediately shut its mouth.

Blue Lantern then turned to the Lady Arclight. "It's time for you to head to the divine domain."

"Elder, may I make them a farewell banquet?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

Blue Lantern didn't object. He turned to the serpent. "Once they're finished with their meal, you'll escort them to the divine domain."

"Ah? Me?" The serpent was surprised by the sudden command.

Blue Lantern vanished in a cloud of black smoke, leaving the serpent and Xiao Nanfeng behind.

The serpent immediately stiffened up. It threatened, "Don't you dare do anything to me! If you do, Master Blue Lantern will hold you accountable. I-I'll wait for you all outside!"

It quickly rushed out of the cave.

"Croak, Warble, go hunt down some spirits. I'll make you something good to eat," Xiao Nanfeng promised.

"Of course, of course! Warble, let's go!" Croak was drooling as it happily dragged its mate out of the tunnels.

Xiao Nanfeng, the Lady Arclight, and Yu'er also headed outside.

By a nearby stream, Xiao Nanfeng began to prepare the spiritbeast meat he had stockpiled. Croak and Warble quickly returned with large spiritbeasts that they had hunted down, then cleaned them under Xiao Nanfeng's supervision.

Not long later, Xiao Nanfeng had finished preparing a variety of roast meat. Croak quickly handed Warble a roasted golden crow.

"Taste it, Warble. I wasn't lying to you. This is tasty, isn't it?" Croak croaked.

Warble ate a bite with some skepticism—and then its eyes opened wide as flavor exploded in its mouth. It swallowed up the whole roasted crow in one gulp.

"No, not like that! That's too wasteful. Do it slowly, or you'll finish eating too fast!" Croak cried.

"Hand me yours," Warble commanded.

Croak: ...

Was Warble really going to steal its share? It hadn't even had a bite! Even so, it didn't dare refuse. With tears in its eyes, it passed its roasted golden crow to Warble, then hurriedly found another serving of roast meat.

Meanwhile, Xiao Nanfeng passed the two women the roasted crow king that he had just finished preparing.

Yu'er and the Lady Arclight both enjoyed the meal, but for some reason, both of them were behaving in a rather reserved fashion. They ate daintily, one small bite at a time.

The two women had a pleasant chat, but each seemed to be preoccupied. Their beauty was stunning.

"Elder, do you have more of these jade tablets with Taoist scriptures recorded in them?" Xiao Nanfeng asked, pulling out the jade tablet that she had given him once upon a time.

"Aren't the thousand scriptures in there enough for you?" the Lady Arclight asked.

"I've already memorized them all," Xiao Nanfeng replied, smiling.

"What?" The Lady Arclight was stunned.

"When did you do that, Nanfeng?" Yu'er was equally astonished.

"It's what I did whenever I had free time. I've finished them all, but I'd like to read more such scriptures, Elder. Please lend me more if you have any."

Nine jade tablets appeared in the Lady Arclight's palm. "The Vault of Scriptures boasts 48,000 Taoist scriptures. Disciples below Spiritsong are given access only to copies on parchment, but those elders at Spiritsong and above are provided with these tablets. Each contains a thousand scriptures."

"Nanfeng, you aren't going to memorize these 9,000 scriptures, are you?" Yu'er frowned in concern.

"Perusing them will help me advance my spiritual cultivation more quickly. I might be able to come find you both in the divine domain soon enough," Xiao Nanfeng replied, smiling.

"Have you already reached late-stage Stellar Lake?" the Lady Arclight asked in surprise.

"Your rate of spiritual cultivation really is remarkable!" Yu'er added.

"Even so, it won't amount to anything until I get to Lunar Deluge," Xiao Nanfeng replied. "I'll do my best to keep searching for the whereabouts of the senior disciples. The two of you should take these two dragon-quelling spikes. Keep them close to you: if you encounter any danger, you can use these to request assistance from Blue Lantern. Protect yourself at all costs, even if it means you have to give up on an opportunity." Xiao Nanfeng held one spike out toward each of them.

The two women considered Xiao Nanfeng before nodding.

"Croak, Warble?" Xiao Nanfeng looked toward the two toad spirits.

"What's the matter?" Croak's face was wretched.

It was halfway through eating its roasted centipede when Warble snatched that away, too. Not only had Warble eaten its own share, it had even consumed the majority of Croak's share, too. Croak was furious, but it didn't dare to get angry at its mate.

"Nanfeng, is there any more roast meat?" Warble asked, drooling.

The two toad spirits were eyeing the roasted crow king that Nanfeng and the two women were sharing.

"Can you really eat that much in one go?" Xiao Nanfeng gave them a strange look. They had already eaten over twenty Ascension-realm spirits! Were they still not satisfied?

"I can keep going," Warble replied firmly.

Croak pouted. It had only eaten three of the twenty; Warble had eaten all the rest!

"Protect my elder and senior sister during their trip to the divine domain, will you? When you return, I'll make as much roast meat for you as you want," Xiao Nanfeng promised.

"As I want?" Warble's eyes lit up as its drooling intensified.

"Don't worry! Warble and I will protect your two wives," Croak replied bluntly.

Xiao Nanfeng: ...

The Lady Arclight and Yu'er both glared at Croak until it ducked its head.

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