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"Why did you bring me here?" Rong Yi frowned at Yun Tianmo, looking mysterious, thinking he had something important to discuss, but it turned out he just brought her to a restaurant.
Yun Tianmo did not answer, merely gesturing for Rong Yi to enter.
"Master." The shopkeeper seemed surprised that Yun Tianmo arrived so quickly and hurriedly came out from behind the counter to greet him.
"Are the people here?" Yun Tianmo asked.
The shopkeeper was momentarily taken aback, glancing at Rong Yi with some surprise. Then he realized that since Master could ask in front of this person, he had nothing to worry about and nodded in response, "Two have arrived; the dishes have just been served."
It turned out the shopkeeper had already recognized who was in the private room on the second floor and had quickly sent a message to Yun Tianmo.
Afterward, without needing any instructions from Yun Tianmo, the shopkeeper bowed and led the way. However, he did not take Rong Yi and Yun Tianmo upstairs but instead exited through a back door. After a turn, he opened a small door. Behind it was a staircase leading downwards, looking dark and seemingly unused by anyone on ordinary days.
Swish—
The shopkeeper took out a fire stick and lit a torch on the wall, holding it in front of him to illuminate the staircase while Yun Tianmo closed the door behind them.
The staircase was not long and soon reached the bottom. After pushing open a wooden door, they entered a simple little room that contained nothing but a set of tables and chairs. The shopkeeper inserted the torch into the wall of the room and quickly wiped down the chairs with his sleeve, saying, "Master, please."
Yun Tianmo scanned the room briefly and nodded slightly, indicating for Rong Yi to sit as well.
"What are you up to..." Rong Yi was somewhat confused about what Yun Tianmo was planning. Just as she was about to ask for clarification, she faintly heard voices coming from nearby.
"Alright, since we are out today, let's not think too much. Let's first try the dishes here."
"You see, it really is the cuisine of Dream Nation, no wonder it's called Phoenix Flying Restaurant."
Immediately, a woman's sobbing could be heard.
"What is this?"
"Crown Prince of the Dream Kingdom."
Yun Tianmo snapped his fingers, and the Shopkeeper understood, bowing and stepping back.
"Nan Gong Yao has detained someone."
"So what?"
"It doesn't matter." Yun Tianmo glanced at Rong Yi and raised a finger to point upwards, "I came here today just to listen in."
——————————————
"Sister, please stop crying. Every time you cry, I..." Feng Chengxuan sighed helplessly, putting down his chopsticks and walking towards her, "How long are you going to torment me?"
Feng Tianjiao was held by Feng Chengxuan around her shoulders. She initially wanted to struggle, but Feng Chengxuan was simply too strong for her to break free. She could only say, "Elder Brother, please let go."
"No, I won't let go!" Feng Chengxuan suddenly became agitated, "Why do you always want me to let go? I am the Crown Prince of Dream Nation, why does everyone want me to let go? What makes me less than Old Five!"
"Elder Brother..." Feng Tianjiao was taken aback, forgetting to cry as she looked up at Feng Chengxuan in confusion, seemingly not understanding why he suddenly brought up Fifth Brother, "Please don't be so agitated; you're hurting me."
However, despite his usual affection for Feng Tianjiao, which made him take her words seriously, Feng Chengxuan seemed not to hear her and continued to be emotional, "The position of Sovereign in Dream Nation should rightfully belong to me, yet you all—Father, Uncle Wang, the other princes—you, and even you! Sister, I love you so much; why do you also help Old Five to persuade me?"
Feng Chengxuan grabbed Feng Tianjiao and shook her vigorously, his eyes red as he roared, "You think I'm stupid too, don't you? Otherwise, why would you remind me that Father can't possibly send someone to pick us up? Hahaha..."
Feng Chengxuan suddenly burst into a mad laugh. "Do you think I couldn't figure it out? I know, I know everything..."
Seeing the already crazed Feng Chengxuan, Feng Tianjiao began to feel scared. This was completely different from the obedient brother she knew. No matter what she said, it seemed useless. She wanted to call for help, but then she remembered they were in a tavern. Even if someone came to help, their identities would be exposed, leading to even more trouble.
So, the thought of calling for help had to be abandoned.
With tears of pain streaming down her face, Feng Tianjiao forced herself to think of a way to save herself or to awaken Feng Chengxuan from his madness.
"Big Brother... please listen to me, it's not what you think..." Feng Tianjiao's voice was almost drowned out by Feng Chengxuan's roar, sounding as faint as a mosquito.
Meanwhile, in the small room below—
"Feng Chengxuan is about to lose control," Rong Yi chuckled lightly, tapping his fingers on the table. "Are you just bringing me here to watch him go mad?"
Yun Tianmo wouldn't be that bored; he remained noncommittal in response to Rong Yi's question.
After a while, Feng Chengxuan seemed to calm down a bit, and Feng Tianjiao's voice faintly reached them...
"Big Brother, you've misunderstood me. Please let go of me; I didn't mean to speak up for Fifth Brother."
"You didn't?" Feng Chengxuan seemed skeptical. After asking several times, he sighed and said, "Hmph, you're lying to me. You are lying to me, aren't you?"
Feng Tianjiao shook her head vigorously, the hairpin on her head clattering with the movement. "Big Brother, please let go of me. Let's talk slowly, okay?"
Her voice trembled slightly; it was clear she was more than a little afraid. Even though she was facing her own brother, he had fallen into madness—who knew what someone like that might do? It was only natural for her to be scared.
"You're afraid of me? I've been so good to you, I love you so much, and yet you're afraid of me?" Feng Chengxuan had just released his grip when he noticed something was off with Feng Tianjiao's expression, and immediately tightened his hold on her again. "Don't you love me? Don't you really love me?"
At that moment, Feng Tianjiao felt like crying without tears. She had just started to regain her composure, and now it seemed like he was about to go crazy again. She hurriedly explained, "How could that be, big brother? I love you too..."
"You love me too?" Feng Chengxuan looked at Feng Tianjiao with a somewhat dazed expression, his eyes filled with hope, doubt, and confusion. "You love me, yes, you should love me. You belong to me. Once I ascend to the Sovereign's throne, no one can stop us..."
Then he burst into wild laughter.
——————————————
"What exactly do you want to do?" Rong Yi stood in front of the small wooden door, looking at Yun Tianmo who was blocking his way.
Yun Tianmo shrugged and said, "Why rush to leave? Just listen a little longer..."
"There's nothing worth listening to, just some unpleasant things." Rong Yi pushed past Yun Tianmo and tried to walk outside.
Yun Tianmo stood behind Rong Yi, watching his back, and calmly said, "Is it that you don't want to hear it, unwilling to hear it, afraid to hear it, or reluctant to hear it?"
Rong Yi suddenly turned around sharply, his gaze piercing as he looked at Yun Tianmo as if he didn't recognize this disciple of his. "What did you say?"
The sounds from upstairs continued to drift down, but at that moment both of them had lost the desire to continue listening.
Yun Tianmo stepped forward and closed the small wooden door again. Turning to face Rong Yi, he said, "Reality is always cruel."
Rong Yi quietly observed Yun Tianmo. He was trying to guess what his disciple's purpose was today and what he had discovered...
"Forget it." Rong Yi sighed and turned back toward the chair but did not sit down. Instead, he leaned on the table with both hands, facing away from Yun Tianmo and asked, "How much do you know?"
"Not much," Yun Tianmo replied, "but not too little either."
Not too little, huh?
Rong Yi's body stiffened for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure, straightened up, and crossed his arms casually as he said, "In that case, go ahead and tell me."
"The Dream Kingdom Ruler doesn't originally have the surname Feng. No, it should be said that he has the surname Feng because someone wanted him to become the Sovereign of the Dream Nation. In other words, the Dream Nation was not conquered by the Phoenix Clan; they merely reaped the fruits of someone else's labor," Yun Tianmo began to explain slowly.
"The Dream Nation has always had a hidden national master who has served loyally for a hundred years, alleviating the Sovereign's burdens. It is precisely because of the existence of this national master that no matter how incompetent the Sovereigns of the Dream Nation were throughout history, the nation could still stand strong. Unfortunately, a national master is still just a national master. Over time, the Sovereigns' respect for the national master diminished more and more, and there were even instances where the Sovereign and the national master were at odds. Yet even so, the national master never betrayed the Dream Nation."
"The Three Great Empires were originally evenly matched in strength, but who would have thought that so many incompetent Sovereigns would emerge in the Dream Nation that even the national master's efforts could not reverse the decline?"
"Finally, in this generation, the national master gave up on the Dream Kingdom Ruler and abandoned the Dream Nation..."
As Yun Tianmo's words fell, a dead silence enveloped the small room. Rong Yi remained in his original posture without moving, as if his soul had left his body.
There was no longer any sound coming from upstairs; presumably, everyone had already left.
"When did you find out?" Rong Yi's voice sounded somewhat hoarse, as if it had been squeezed out from his throat. Compared to his usual clear and pleasant voice, it was almost like a voice from hell.
"Not long ago," Yun Tianmo slowly walked towards Rong Yi. "Do you want to hear more?"
As teacher and student, Yun Tianmo felt reluctant to be so direct; however, some matters needed to be clarified before their competition. Otherwise, any minor detail could ruin years of careful planning. Moreover, Rong Yi played an extremely important role in this scheme; this was no trivial matter, so he had no choice but to proceed this way.
Rong Yi raised his hand to stop him and said, "No need to say more."
How could he not know what Yun Tianmo was talking about? He just never expected it to be brought up so directly and never imagined that the so-called curse actually existed.
He let out a light sigh and gestured for Yun Tianmo to sit down before slowly speaking, "You deliberately brought me here to listen to the conversation between these siblings. What kind of answer do you hope to get from me?"
Yun Tianmo did not sit down; instead, he stood in front of Rong Yi, looking into his eyes with determination. "Will you intervene?"
Rong Yi did not expect his disciple to look at him with such intensity one day, leaving him momentarily speechless.
"If it were in the past, I would dare to take the risk. But now, things are different." Yun Tianmo ignored Rong Yi's unusual reaction and continued, "If the fish die and the net breaks, it’s no big deal. If I am alone, what is there to fear? But if I fail, what will happen to Little Woman?"
At these words, Rong Yi's body shook, and he took half a step forward, leaning in to ask, "You ask me not for yourself, but for…"
"That's right. She is more important than my life!" Yun Tianmo looked directly into Rong Yi's eyes, conveying his resolve.
"What if I say..."
Thud—
Yun Tianmo bent his legs and knelt down right in front of Rong Yi, which startled Rong Yi. "What are you doing?"
"This kneel represents the bond between master and disciple," Yun Tianmo said as he looked up at Rong Yi.
Rong Yi understood that this kneel meant much more than just the bond between them. It represented that if he were to intervene in the competition and secretly support Dream Nation, then this disciple would essentially be lost. Moreover, it was possible that they would face a life-and-death battle before the competition even began—a battle that would discard all ease.
"I never expected... I never expected this day would come..." Rong Yi looked up at the dark ceiling, illuminated only by small flickers of light.
"You may rise." Rong Yi turned away, not wanting to see Yun Tianmo kneeling before him. "Things are not as bad as you think."
"Since we separated them back then, we knew this day would eventually come..."
Rong Yi fell into a memory, one that was long, long ago. At that time, there were no Three Great Empires, and the Yuhai Continent had no family with the surname Feng, only a family with the surname Rong. After the Bai Clan underwent a great change, the Rong Clan was also affected. To preserve their family heritage, they decided to split off a branch and change their surname, establishing the Dream Nation, while the Rong Clan remained in the background as national advisors, protecting this newly emerged Phoenix Clan for generations.
"Those legends are not entirely false; at least the curse legend passed down in the Rong Clan is indeed closely related to Alien Manifestation," Rong Yi seemed to age significantly in an instant, his back no longer as straight as before.
"So the national advisor left Dream Nation not because of the Sovereign's incompetence, but because of Alien Star and the curse legend?" Yun Tianmo pressed on. "If that's the case, you won't..."
"Of course not," Rong Yi chuckled lightly, turning to look at Yun Tianmo. His eyes held less reluctance and heartache, replaced by calmness and relief. "Since I have distanced myself from the Rong Clan, their mission has nothing to do with me. Moreover, this generation's national advisor is my own sibling; he has given it up, so why would I interfere?"
Yun Tianmo realized that Rong Yi had truly let go this time, rather than hiding or suppressing his feelings as before. He felt relieved and chuckled lightly, "As expected of my master."
Rong Yi smiled and nodded. "And you are indeed worthy of being my disciple." His gaze then swept over the dust on Yun Tianmo's knees, a strange smile curling at the corners of his mouth.
"Hmph..."
The proud Yun Tianmo decided to completely forget about kneeling earlier; such an emotional act was absolutely not something he would do—absolutely! No way!
But the person behind him who laughed heartily constantly reminded him that there was no turning back on this matter... (To be continued.)
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