“The King requests your presence.”
A voice came from beneath the stairs.
Su Sheng picked up his staff and descended with Luo Ren.
Upon arriving at the Ape King’s residence, Su Sheng looked up. Before him were two ancient trees intertwined and suspended upside down from the sky. The house was built precisely at the point where the trees merged, stable and secure, several times more spacious than the other nearby treehouses.
However, the branches and leaves had already turned yellow, appearing as though they hadn’t been tended to for a long time.
Several apes above looked worried. Upon seeing Su Sheng, they quickly lowered a vine ladder and whispered:
“Your Holiness, the King has been waiting for you for a long time.”
Su Sheng nodded and climbed up the vine ladder.
Luo Ren followed closely behind.
Upon seeing Fu Tansi, Su Sheng finally understood why the apes had looked so grief-stricken.
Fu Tansi appeared aged, his eyes cloudy. When he turned his head in their direction, there was even a slight unnaturalness to the movement.
At his age, he shouldn’t have been this old.
“Your Holiness.” Fu Tansi nodded slightly in his direction. “How fortunate that you could come to see me. Please forgive my inability to bow due to my physical condition.”
“It’s fine.” Su Sheng sighed. “You used a forbidden magic that you shouldn’t have. Your body has been pushed too far and is nearly spent.”
Fu Tansi coughed twice, straining to open his eyes wider to see more clearly. “I know, of course I know. Those wretched bandits… Ah, may I ask what brings Your Holiness here this time?”
Su Sheng tilted his head and said, “Please step outside for a moment.”
Luo Ren’s expression visibly froze for an instant. After scrutinizing the two with a searching gaze for a while, he managed to maintain a smile and asked, “Norton, is there something I cannot know?”
“Luo Ren, Fu Tansi and I have some private matters to discuss. Please leave.” Su Sheng furrowed his brow, impatiently patting his sleeve, his tone clearly displeased.
Beside them, Fu Tansi chuckled, trying to smooth things over. “It seems your friend cares deeply for you.”
The wooden window ledge snapped with a sharp crack under Luo Ren’s grip. He still maintained a proper smile and said, “Very well, very well.” Then he stepped out.
Luo Ren stood outside the door, feeling extremely displeased.
The nearby soldiers kept chattering incessantly in his ears. He wanted to kill them all, after all, for him, this was a commonplace matter. But in the end, thinking of the person inside the room, the magic that had just gathered at his fingertips was forcefully extinguished.
Several ape soldiers stood nearby, whispering.
“Why is it so cold? Did you feel that?”
“It was indeed a bit cold just now. Strange, it’s clearly summer.”
Luo Ren’s expression remained unchanged, and he unceremoniously drove away the surrounding soldiers on the grounds that “the Saint’s conversation must not be eavesdropped on.”
The surroundings suddenly quieted down, and now the intermittent conversation from inside inevitably reached Luo Ren’s ears.
Words like “find someone” and “characteristics” put him on high alert. The Demon King’s mind began to wander, uncontrollably weaving a story in his head.
Norton was “looking for someone,” and that person was “important” and possessed “three characteristics.”
So the Demon King’s mind automatically conjured up a scene, in a freezing, snowy landscape, the weak and pitiable Norton was saved by someone. In Norton’s remaining memories, that person was extremely “important” and possessed “three distinct traits.” And now, Norton was searching for this person.
A wave of intense displeasure and jealousy surged from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. The Demon King pondered how he could ruin this for him.
Ah, he had an idea. The Demon King smiled.
Turning his back, he snapped his fingers, and an order was dispatched to the seven demonic city-states.
The content of the order was, spare no effort to gather information about Norton Similias’s past, and ensure that detailed information about the “three distinct traits” was uncovered.
And once found, eliminate anyone who matched those “three distinct traits” directly.
With that, the Abyss began to boil.
However, the person involved, Su Sheng, remained completely unaware of all this.
The conversation inside the room went like this,
Su Sheng said, “Please close your eyes.”
Fu Tansi complied, closing his eyes, but couldn’t help asking, “Your Highness, what are you…”
A small, intricate black cube-shaped device appeared out of thin air in Su Sheng’s hand, scanning Fu Tansi from head to toe. After a moment, a large, bright red “X” appeared on the device’s screen.
Su Sheng’s tense body relaxed, and disappointment flickered in his eyes.
Not him.
“I’m looking for a very important person.”
Fu Tansi seemed intrigued and asked, “What kind of person?”
“Someone with three distinct traits.”
Fu Tansi inquired, “Can you tell me what they are?”
Su Sheng refused, then said, “I’ve already examined your body. Earlier, my…”
He paused before continuing, “…friend gave me a leaf of Silver Star Orchid. Perhaps it can help you.”
He said the word “friend” somewhat awkwardly, and his fingertips trembled slightly after speaking.
Although Silver Star Orchid grows deep in the Abyss, its effects are numerous, with its primary functions being detoxification and extending lifespan.
Fu Tansi’s expression turned to astonishment, but not because there was hope for his own treatment. Instead, he was shocked by Su Sheng’s recent experiences. His voice suddenly grew louder: “Silver Star Orchid! So you’ve already been to the Abyss? Even ventured as far as the vicinity of Spire Castle?”
Seeing Su Sheng remain silent, Fu Tansi’s gaze grew complex. After a moment, he murmured, “Yes, yes. Only someone like you could accomplish such a thing.”
A faint sigh escaped him.
Fu Tansi lamented, “It’s a pity I’m old now and can no longer be as reckless as I once was. Otherwise, I’d definitely join you on an adventure.”
Su Sheng offered a faint smile as well, though it vanished almost as quickly as it appeared.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Su Sheng emerged from the room. Seeing Luo Ren leaning unhappily against the fence, staring intently at the spot where he had come out, Su Sheng paused mid-step. An inexplicable sense of guilt washed over him.
It felt as though he had done something to wrong him.
Su Sheng found this sudden thought somewhat unsettling.
Frowning, he suppressed the feeling before asking, “Have you been standing here the whole time?”
What he really wanted to ask was, “Have you been watching this whole time?”
“Finished talking?” Luo Ren asked with a smile, his hands clasped behind his back, as if the person who had been so angry earlier that he snapped a piece of wood wasn’t him.
Su Sheng replied, “Yes.”
He felt somewhat uneasy.
After turning his head and giving a light cough, he said, “The matter here is settled. Let’s go.”
Luo Ren followed behind, his smile fading into indifference. His eyes were icy cold, reflecting only the indulgence of a controller toward the overstepping actions of the controlled.
Perhaps there was also a hint of jealousy, one that even he himself had yet to realize.