Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Both the Yellow Emperor and Zhuanxu had passed away, and their thoughts at the time were unknown to later generations. They could only piece together the situation from fragmented clues.
Based on the clues they had already gathered: First, when the Yellow Emperor and Chi You were fighting a great battle at Zhuolu, people from the upper realms sent down to support the Yellow Emperor. Even Chi Songzi, who had always been at odds with the Yellow Emperor, sent his disciples down to help him.
In the Battle of Zhuolu, the Yellow Emperor’s side achieved a pyrrhic victory, with Chi You dying. Many demons who had assisted him in the mortal realm, including Ying Qiao, Geng Chen, Ji Xian, and Yuan Yin, remained in the mortal realm to recuperate due to excessive losses.
During this period, the Yellow Emperor abdicated in favor of Zhuanxu, who then continued the Yellow Emperor’s will and began secretly plotting the strategy of severing the connection between heaven and earth.
He ordered Zhong and Li to sever the path to heaven, blocking communication between the upper and lower realms. Many demons who had been cultivating in the lower realm were thus unable to return. At the same time, due to the disruption of communication between heaven and earth, the spiritual energy of the lower realm gradually dissipated. Some powerful demons attempted to reopen the path to heaven, but the Heavenly Dao unleashed punitive lightning, shattering the souls of the participating demons.
After that, no demon race member dared to openly attempt to find the path to heaven, but there were still many demon races that opposed Zhuanxu. A group of demon races led by Fuyou launched another war. As a result, Fuyou was defeated and crashed into Buzhou Mountain while fleeing, causing the sky to collapse and the earth to sink. The loss of spiritual energy intensified, which indirectly worsened the plight of the demon race. During this long period, countless great demons perished and disappeared into the world.
The Yellow Emperor, Zhuanxu, Nuwa, and others were among them.
Both the Yellow Emperor and Bai Ze said that severing the connection between heaven and earth was for the long-term benefit of the demon race.
According to Taotie, Zhuanxu was aware of his impending doom and had even been making arrangements for his funeral. However, Bai Ze, who knew the ways of the world and could avoid misfortune and seek good fortune, became deaf and blind, dull and confused, and was in a deep sleep for many years. The old Dragon King once told Bi Xi that Bai Ze had ended up like this because of the demon race.
Jiang Lan pieced together all the clues and came to a somewhat chilling guess.
He turned to look at Ying Qiao, opened his mouth as if to say something, but found himself unable to utter a word.
Unlike the Dragon Palace, which resided in the lower realm at the bottom of the sea, the Ying Long clan had always lived in the upper realm.
Most of Ying Qiao’s relatives and friends were thus in the Upper Realm.
Jiang Lan pursed his lips, swallowing back the guess that almost slipped out.
His guess was unfounded and may not be correct.
However, he remained silent, but Ying Qiao spoke for him: “The Upper Realm may have been destroyed long ago. Father sent Geng Chen to lead me and some of our clansmen down to the Lower Realm, perhaps not simply to help the Yellow Emperor…”
A more likely reason was that Bai Ze foresaw the destruction of the Upper Realm back then, so the Ying Long clan, and even other demon clans that knew the news, sent people down to the mortal realm to help the Yellow Emperor.
Only in this way could they explain why the Yellow Emperor and Zhuanxu insisted on severing the connection between heaven and earth, despite the immediate drawbacks; and only in this way could they explain why, after the path to heaven was cut off, there was no further news from the upper realm.
More importantly, Ying Qiao remembered what Geng Chen had once said to him.
At that time, Ying Qiao and Geng Chen were recuperating in the Southern Swamp. Upon learning that the Path to Heaven had been severed and they could no longer return to the Upper Realm, he was as furious as the other demons who had just heard the news. However, Geng Chen calmly stopped him and even smiled as he advised, “Your injuries haven’t healed yet, why are you going to join in the fun? Before I came down to the Lower Realm, I made an appointment with my elder brother for a return time. If we don’t return by then, they will naturally find a way to come down to pick us up. Instead of wasting time joining in the fun, you should focus on healing. I want to recover as soon as possible to go back and get married. Don’t cause any trouble.”
Geng Chen spoke with composure and certainty, and Ying Qiao believed him without question.
Later, Geng Chen’s injuries never fully healed. Ying Qiao pressed him to tell him when the time he had agreed with his father would arrive. Geng Chen then produced a letter from his father that he had communicated with using a secret method. The letter said that the upper realm was already trying to find a way down and had made progress. It told them not to worry and to focus on recovering.
As a result, before Geng Chen could recover from his injuries, he sensed that his time was coming to an end. Thus before dissipating, he merged his last wisp of dragon soul into the Nine Cauldrons to assist King Yu.
Ying Qiao never received a visitor from the upper realm.
He realized then that Geng Chen had been lying to him all along.
However, he only thought that Geng Chen did not want him to be enemies with the Yellow Emperor Zhuanxu, so he used a fake letter to appease him.
Looking back now, it seems as if Geng Chen knew something all along and kept it from him, doing everything he could to keep him in check and prevent him from getting involved in those things back then.
Otherwise, given his temperament, he would surely have been one of the demons who went to find the path to heaven to return to the upper realm back then.
Recalling Geng Chen’s smug, cheeky face, Ying Qiao ground his back teeth and lowered his eyes, saying, “I’ve had a suspicion for a long time since there has been no news from the Upper Realm all these years.”
Even though he hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, he still had a lingering hope.
But now that they had more and more information, and the conclusions they pointed to were becoming increasingly clear, if he still refused to admit it, he would only be deceiving himself.
“…” Jiang Lan opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say for a moment. He could only hold his hand and squeeze it gently.
Ying Qiao sensed his worry, squeezed his hand back slightly, and said, “It’s getting late, let’s go back first today. I’ll take Jiu Ding to the bureau again tomorrow.”
The original form of the Nine Cauldrons had been kept at the Demon Management Bureau for quite some time, and he usually didn’t think about it, but today it reminded him that Geng Chen might not be completely dead yet.
There will always be a chance to settle old scores and new grudges.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Lan could only nod and then got up to say goodbye to Taowu.
Aside from being asked a few questions at the beginning, Taowu just listened to their cryptic banter afterwards. He hadn’t cared about ancient times, and he was completely out of touch with current affairs. Even though Jiang Lan and Ying Qiao didn’t try to hide it from him, he still only understood bits and pieces.
Seeing their tacit understanding, he muttered sourly, “What are you two talking about? It’s been so long, what’s the point of investigating? If you ask me, just live in the present, what’s the past?”
Although he was down on his luck, he felt pretty good about things now.
There’s so much more to eat, drink, and have fun than before.
If things were this interesting in ancient times, he wouldn’t have had to do all sorts of evil deeds and cause trouble all day long.
Jiang Lan glanced at him and said with emotion, “It’s quite blissful to know nothing. You should stay here and work on your rehabilitation.”
With a little effort, you might actually pass the exam and get a government job, and there’s even a chance to stay and work at the detention center.
I guess Emperor Zhuanxu had the same mindset when he went to see him for the last time?
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have so casually left his son in a remote mountain cave to recover from his injuries and then slept for thousands of years.
Taowu: ???
His eyes widened, realizing that his and Taotie’s positions had been completely reversed.
He still remembered how he used to often sigh at the gluttonous monster that only knew how to eat, saying that foolish demons had fool’s luck.
All they do all day is eat, they have no worries about anything.
How wonderful!
Who knew that fortunes would turn around, and now it was Taotie who spoke like that to him.
Taowu flicked its tail and muttered in dissatisfaction, “Fine, fine, I won’t argue with you.”
With that, he raised his head and rushed out ahead of the two.
Two handsome male demons were waiting outside with snacks. As soon as he came out, they rushed over to serve him tea and water. Taowu gave them a perfunctory reply, then turned to look at Jiang Lan and said in a domineering manner, “Since you’re all leaving, I won’t keep you for a midnight snack.”
After saying that, he personally carried a large bag of snacks towards the prison area, with two handsome male demons following on either side of him.
Jiang Lan glanced at the Taowu’s increasingly round body and thought that the next time he saw it, it might be a ball.
He’ll probably be dragged out by his two underlings.
….
Jiang Lan and Ying Qiao went to the meeting room next door to pick up the little ones before going home together.
It was almost dawn, and Suan Ni was curled up asleep, held in Jiao Tu’s arms. While Jiang Chi walked beside Jiao Tu; although he didn’t complain of being sleepy, his eyes were red and swollen, clearly indicating that he had also stayed up very late.
Jiang Lan rubbed his head and said to Ying Qiao, “Let’s go straight to your house, it’s closer.”
Anyway, there was no one at home now. His eldest brother was at a hotel, and his fourth brother was busy taking care of his sister-in-law. They probably didn’t have time to care where he spent the night.
Ying Qiao then drove the car directly back to the villa.
Their return home was quite noisy. Jiu Ding heard the commotion and ran out in his pajamas to check. He saw Jiang Lan and the sleepy little ones, and quickly welcomed them in, taking Jiao Tu and the other two to wash up and rest.
The children’s rooms and changes of clothes were ready. After they settled in and rested, Jiang Lan and Ying Qiao went upstairs to wash up.
Jiang Lan went to the bathroom and filled the tub with water as if he knew the way well. When he was about to take a bath, he remembered that he hadn’t brought his pajamas, so he poked his head out to ask Ying Qiao to help him get them. But before he could even speak, he saw Ying Qiao standing on the unlit balcony, his back to him, looking unusually silent.
“…”
His open mouth immediately closed again.
After hesitating for a moment, he came out of the bathroom barefoot, deliberately making a lot of noise while looking for his pajamas. After pretending to search for a while, he called out to Ying Qiao, “Ying Qiao, where can I find my pajamas?”
Ying Qiao snapped out of his daze, turned around and went into the room to look for it in front of the wardrobe, and found it easily.
He raised an eyebrow slightly: “Isn’t this it?”
“How come I didn’t see it…” Jiang Lan feigned annoyance and exclaimed “Ah,” looking completely innocent: “Thanks to you.”
After saying that, he leaned forward and kissed him on the corner of his lips, saying with a smile, “This is a thank-you.”
He had just come out of the bathroom, wearing only a white short-sleeved shirt, the hem barely covering his upper thighs. His bare feet were on the carpet, and his toes were twitching involuntarily, clearly indicating that he was up to no good.
Ying Qiao’s eyes darkened, and he urged him to take a shower.
Jiang Lan took two hesitant steps, then turned to invite him, “I’m going to take a bath. The bathtub is big enough for two people to bathe together.”
Such a straightforward invitation— if Ying Qiao didn’t accept it, he would be unworthy of his dragon clan identity.
So he smirked as he walked toward Jiang Lan, unbuttoning his collar as he did so: “Let’s go together then, to save time.”
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