Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Upon hearing that there was food, Jiang Lan was very cooperative.
But Ying Qiao asked several questions in succession, such as “Who are you?”, “What’s your name?”, “How did you get here?”, “Do you still recognize me?”…
He knew nothing about any of the questions, and could only shake his head or stare innocently at Ying Qiao with his eyes wide open.
Perhaps sensing that Ying Qiao’s expression was not very satisfied, he kicked his ear with his hind paw, hummed twice guiltily, and secretly glanced at Ying Qiao’s hand.
Although he was mentally prepared, Ying Qiao’s expression was still somewhat heavy when he saw the boy’s bewildered and clueless look. However, when he saw the boy peeking around, trying to get the gems, that heaviness was replaced by a wry smile.
“Reward.”
Ying Qiao rewarded him with two gems. Seeing that his eyes were squinting as he ate, he couldn’t help but reach out and scratch his chin.
Jiang Lan ate happily and showed no resistance to his actions. Instead, he nuzzled him affectionately and made pleasant gurgling sounds.
Seeing him like this, Ying Qiao inexplicably recalled the rumors about Taotie that he had heard before.
Legend had it that the Taotie was ravenous and would eat anything, and was also ferocious and violent. But now Jiang Lan remembered nothing, only his instinct remained, but he was clearly easy to coax; give him some food and he’ll follow you. Where does this ferocity and violence come from?
Ying Qiao stroked his adorable boyfriend again, and under his longing gaze, he carefully put away the storage bag and continued asking questions.
This time, he didn’t ask about what happened before, but instead asked about Jiang Lan’s experiences after entering the small world.
Fortunately, Jiang Lan still remembered what happened in the small world. Under the temptation of food, he answered almost everything Ying Qiao asked.
Because of his amnesia, he had difficulty describing many things accurately, but Ying Qiao still managed to extract several important pieces of information from his words.
—Jiang Lan lost his memory after waking up in the small world. At that time, there was another demon with him. According to Jiang Lan’s description, Ying Qiao suspected that the demon with Jiang Lan was Ya Zi.
Besides Ya Zi, Jiang Lan also described a giant whose meat was very hard to eat, with a bull’s head and six arms, each arm holding a different weapon.
When talking about the giant, Jiang Lan was particularly proud, saying that after they fought a few battles, he ate the giant.
Ying Qiao’s brows furrowed more and more as he listened. The giant with a bull’s head and six arms was so powerful that even Jiang Lan had difficulty dealing with him. He could only think of Chi You.
He just couldn’t figure out what the origin of Chi You in the small world was.
He had accompanied Geng Chen to the mortal realm to support the Yellow Emperor, and was quite familiar with Chi You. He was present when Chi You was defeated and killed, and was certain that Chi You’s soul and spirit had been completely destroyed. The Yellow Emperor would never allow him to have a chance to make a comeback. Chi You’s strength was so formidable that even he, along with the Yellow Emperor and many other great demons, could only barely kill him, let alone Jiang Lan.
Although Chi You in the small world was also very powerful, his strength was ultimately no match for Jiang Lan, which was enough to illustrate the problem.
Could it be a fake product created by the Qian Sect in an attempt to break through the barrier between heaven and earth?
Ying Qiao lowered his eyes in thought, finding it quite plausible. They had previously speculated that only the reincarnation of Chi You could break through the barrier between heaven and earth for the Qian Sect. Now that an imposter had appeared in the small world, it proved their guess was correct.
What Ying Qiao couldn’t understand was why the Qian faction would hide the counterfeit in the small world and then go to such lengths to lure Jiang Lan out with Ya Zi.
It couldn’t just be to deliver takeout to Jiang Lan.
Ying Qiao pieced together the events from beginning to end, but many key pieces of information were missing, making it impossible to deduce the Qian faction’s plan.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and looked at Jiang Lan, whose tail was wagging back and forth: “Was your injury also caused by that giant?”
Jiang Lan withdrew his paw that was reaching for his storage bag, scratched his ear in an attempt to cover up the truth, and howled that it was another red monster that bit him.
“?”
Ying Qiao’s eyes flickered slightly: “Another one?”
Jiang Lan nodded, trying hard to describe Jiang Chi’s appearance, but his mind was blank and his vocabulary was too small. He was so anxious that he scratched his head but still couldn’t explain it clearly.
Finally, he started howling randomly, mentioning red monsters, red-clad men with snake tails, and even a giant cauldron…
Ying Qiao was trying to visualize his description when he was suddenly taken aback when he heard him mention a cauldron: “What kind of cauldron?”
Jiang Lan frowned and thought for a long time, only vaguely remembering that he originally wanted to bite Jiang Chi, but after he pounced on him, a red-clothed man with a snake tail suddenly appeared in the sky. He was struggling with which one to eat first when a large cauldron suddenly overturned and covered him…
After that… after that, Jiang Lan didn’t remember anything. He only knew that he was extremely hungry and searched everywhere for something to eat, but no matter what he ate, he couldn’t get rid of the hunger.
As she thought about it, Jiang Lan touched his stomach again, feeling hungry again.
He nudged Ying Qiao and eagerly reached for the storage bag containing the gems.
Ying Qiao initially thought he was just being coquettish and begging for food, and wanted to finish the business first. However, he saw that the man’s movements were getting bigger and bigger, and he kept making low, anxious roars.
He then realized something was wrong, quickly opened the storage bag, and took out several fire crystals for him.
Jiang Lan wolfed down the food, and his anxious emotions finally calmed down. He returned to his previous lazy demeanor and affectionately touched Ying Qiao with his paws.
Ying Qiao looked at him with deep eyes, his mind replaying Jiang Lan’s words.
Jiang Lan said: A huge cauldron covered him.
Ying Qiao didn’t even need to guess; this large cauldron was definitely the one that had suddenly disappeared, Geng Chen.
He secretly escaped from the Demon Management Bureau, but arrived at the small world before them, accompanied by a red-clad man with a snake tail…
This man in red could not possibly be an accomplice found by Geng Chen. Geng Chen would not even reveal anything about matters concerning ancient times to him and Ji Xian, let alone to anyone else.
This man in red was most likely someone Geng Chen deliberately targeted to trick. Involving ancient secrets, appearing in the small world at this time, and being schemed against by Geng Chen… the only one who fit this description was the Qian Sect, who were still active today.
Moreover, it was highly likely to be the Qian Emperor, the one from the Qian faction who had never shown his face.
Unfortunately, Jiang Lan’s description was too general and vague. There were more than one or two great demons with snake tails in ancient times, and Ying Qiao could not deduce the identity of the man in red for a while.
He sat down cross-legged beside Jiang Lan, patted his strong front paws, and gestured for him to lie down and rest.
Jiang Lan obediently lay down beside him, his head facing him, his tail coiled around him from behind, his two ruby-like eyes half-open and half-closed, his gaze fixed on the storage pouch at his waist.
Ying Qiao patted him lightly on the head and said sternly, “Go to sleep.”
Jiang Lan grumbled twice in protest, then closed his eyes and fell asleep, resting his head on his paws.
Seeing this, Ying Qiao finally calmed down and pondered the current situation.
Geng Chen carried them away and, through some unknown means, approached the man in red and infiltrated the small world. Taking advantage of the chaos of the fight, he trapped Jiang Lan, the demon beast fighting Jiang Lan, and the man in red inside the cauldron. This action could not have been unfounded; it was likely something Geng Chen had planned for a long time.
Ying Qiao drew three circles on the ground with a twig, representing Jiang Lan and the other two. He then drew a large circle around the three of them, which represented the Nine Cauldrons, symbolized by Geng Chen.
Nine Cauldrons… Nine Cauldrons…
Ying Qiao used a twig to draw lines connecting the people. Something vaguely flashed through his mind. He tapped the circle representing the red monster with the twig and suddenly realized that he had overlooked a very important person— Jiang Chi.
The Qian faction had been searching for the Nine Cauldrons for a long time and had been targeting Jiang Chi. They even took advantage of his unpreparedness to capture Jiang Chi and bring him to Yunnan Province…
Prior to this, the Qian faction had also devised a plan to lure Jiang Lan to Yunnan Province.
There must be a connection between the Nine Cauldrons, Jiang Chi, and Jiang Lan, and their relationship was crucial to the Qian faction’s plan.
Geng Chen, who had been sleeping in the Nine Cauldrons for thousands of years, must have known something, which was why he voluntarily delivered himself into the hands of the Qian faction.
Then, unexpectedly, he set off a red-clad man who might be Qian Emperor.
With his key insights unlocked, Ying Qiao’s thinking became increasingly clear.
Therefore, the red demon beast fighting with Jiang Lan was likely Jiang Chi. Considering that Geng Chen was not surprised at all after regaining his memories, Ying Qiao’s guess gradually took shape.
He used a branch to make a heavy thud on Geng Chen’s circle, a cold smile playing on his lips— this situation was very likely something Geng Chen had planned long ago. As for how long he had been planning, it might have been after he regained consciousness, or it might have been… when he died, all the plans were already in their early stages, just waiting for him to awaken from the Nine Cauldrons.
Such a classic case of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind[1]; Ying Qiao almost wanted to applaud Geng Chen: what a brilliant scheme, what great patience!
Ying Qiao let out a cold laugh, looking at the silent mountains and forests outside, already having a way to break the deadlock in his heart.
He glanced down at Jiang Lan, who was fast asleep, and temporarily suppressed his anger by closing his eyes to rest.
….
The night seemed exceptionally long. Jiang Lan woke up groggily from hunger. He rubbed his stomach and sat up, only to find that his stomach, which had just eaten gemstones, was churning again. The spasmodic pain in his stomach made him anxious, and even his gentle eyes turned bloodshot.
He was panting heavily, turning his head to look at Ying Qiao, his eyes filled with nothing but longing for food.
Upon waking up to the noise, Ying Qiao opened his eyes and was met with Jiang Lan’s wide-open mouth.
Ying Qiao could even count how many teeth he had.
He calmly leaned back, reached out and pulled out a handful of gems, stuffing them into the man’s mouth, and asked in a low voice, “Hungry again?”
Jiang Lan crunched on the gemstone, relieving her burning hunger, and then crawled over with a whimper, looking obedient and well-behaved: “Aww!”
I’m hungry.
Ying Qiao stood up, took off the storage bag, put all the gems inside into the storage ring Jiang Lan was wearing, patted his corner, and said gently, “Let’s go, I’ll take you out to eat something delicious.”
He smiled, but a cold glint appeared in his eyes.
Once he got out of the illusion, he would definitely drag Geng Chen out and soak him in monster milk for three days and three nights.
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[1] “The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind” is a classic Chinese proverb (螳螂捕蟬，黃雀在後) that warns against focusing so hard on an immediate gain or target that you fail to see the hidden dangers or threats closing in behind you.
