Tell Him the Truth?

Xin Lan coldly watched the two of them from the shadows. He could imagine just what type of deal Jin Ling had made with that guy. Well, if it was just that he was supposed to help Jin Ling stay on the throne, then it wasn't a problem. In fact, he would be happy if that was the case. After all, this Ye Yang definitely was a strong backer. It was precisely the type of thing that Jin Ling would need to stay in his position and not risk any harm. Just alone with this, he would be able to return to Jinde and put his mind at ease.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem as if that was what Jin Ling was really interested in. No, his mind was obviously somewhere completely different. Despite what was going on in the demon realm, Jin Ling still only cared about what was going on with Jinde. It really was maddening.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do. There wasn't any chance to ever make Jin Ling change his stance on this matter. He could only hope that he wouldn't be able to find a way to get to Jinde until he was fully healed. Afterward, Jinde would be able to deal with him on his own even though he wouldn't like that confrontation.

Thinking of that, Xin Lan finally sighed and then left without the two demons in the hall ever noticing him. Then, he returned to the Yun Zou Sect to report what he had found out to his Master, finally letting Jinde calm down and focus on his recovery again.

Meanwhile, things weren't over in the demon realm yet. After assuring Jin Ling that he would definitely be able to fulfill his part of the deal, Ye Yang went down to the dungeon in a good mood.

He still believed what he had told Jin Ling: He definitely felt that An Bai was slowly getting softer toward him. That hard stance he had shown in the beginning … It definitely couldn't be kept up for long anymore. Just a few more days and they would at least be able to hold a first conversation instead of just him doing all the talking.

In a happy mood, Ye Yang walked down the corridor and then went down the staircase and into the dungeon. For today, he had brought another special book with him that he believed would make this dragon reconsider his previous choice some more. He already reached for his spatial ring when he turned around the corner only to find the cell were An Bai had been imprisoned until now empty.

Ye Yang stopped in his tracks and stared at the empty cell blankly. This … What had happened? Jin Ling certainly wouldn't have asked to have him brought somewhere else before he managed to get anything out of him. So just why wasn't this dragon where he should be? He turned to one of the guards at the side and raised his brows.

The man tensed and then stiffly bowed to Ye Yang, his back covered in cold sweat. "Somebody came and took him away earlier."

Ye Yang raised his brows further. "Somebody came? Who?"

The guard didn't quite know how to answer that. Anyway, things had been complicated and if he told the truth, he'd be implicated as well. He could only twist things around a bit. "That … I didn't know the person but he said that His Majesty had asked for the dragon to be brought over."

Ye Yang stared at him, his mind churning. No, even if he said that, he didn't believe that Jin Ling would have done that. Even if he had, he would've told him so. "What did the person say was their name?"

The guard's expression turned blank when he tried to remember. He couldn't come up with anything though and had to turn to the person that was standing a few steps away. "What did that person who came here on His Majesty's order say they were called?"

The other guard frowned as if trying to remember but also couldn't come up with anything.

Ye Yang narrowed his eyes at the two of them. "So you want to tell me that somebody came and told you that the demon king asked to see the dragon he had imprisoned here and you just let the person go with them? Even though you didn't know who the person was, even though they never introduced themselves, and even though you knew that I was coming here every day on the order of our king to see the dragon?"

The guards gulped and then lowered their heads. At that moment, they had simply acted and given information because the person asked. They hadn't thought so much. Since His Majesty had asked, they thought it was the right thing to do. But now that Ye Yang said it, they also realized that this didn't make any sense. It seemed that they had done something really wrong.

While they did realize that, they still felt bad inside. It was one thing to anger Ye Yang. While he wouldn't be happy about what they had done, they would at most have them beaten up or — if he was anxious enough about this matter with the dragon — he might even just scold them and then forget about it. On the other hand, the person who had come to retrieve the dragon had seemed much more violent. If they hadn't done as they had been asked to, they might be dead by now.

Speaking of which … One of the guards turned back to Ye Yang, a light glinting in his eyes. "Two of the guards haven't returned for today's shift. I think that they might've come to a bad end at the hands of that person. They were the ones who took the dragon away."

Ye Yang furrowed his brows. He could imagine that this was the case. Whoever it was that had taken An Bai, they definitely hadn't had any good intentions with this. Naturally, they wouldn't want somebody who knew had found out that they weren't going to bring him to Jin Ling to stay around. Well, at least that left him with a clue. "Alright, I will investigate that."

The guards nodded and told him the names of the two demons that hadn't returned. When he left, one of them couldn't help but turn to the other.

"Why haven't you told him the whole truth?"

The first guard raised his brows. "Tell him the whole truth? Are you nuts? If he finds out what really happened, do you honestly believe that we would be left alive? After all, we all turned a blind eye to the situation and let him take the dragon way. Isn't it better to say that it was the person who pretended to be sent by His Majesty? Anyway, you should stop thinking about it. It's good that we go away this lightly. Let's hope he forgets about us while he investigates."

The other guard nodded slowly, feeling that that really was true. Anyway, it was good that things hadn't turned too ugly just now. He should probably just follow this guy's lead and then, nothing would happen to him.