After leaving the Blood Clan’s forbidden land.
Shen Yuan gazed at the ruins buried by the yellow sands in the distance, complex and obscure emotions flashing through his eyes. Slender and jade-like, his palm conjured strands of crimson flas. The fire soared into the sky, transforming into phantom images of fire foxes, spiraling endlessly as loyal guardians, silently watching over this forgotten ancient site.
He turned to leave, yet his steps halted.
Looking back, he saw Shen Tang, hand in hand, still staring dumbly in that direction, her feet seemingly nailed to the ground, motionless.
He reached out, gently covering her brow and eyes, bending down to whisper by her ear, speaking in a tone that was half-teasing, half-serious, "Still thinking about him?"
Grasping her hand, pressing it to his heart, he cast down a gaze filled with affection, tinged with faint grievance, "Xiao Tang’er, watching your female weep for another male, Brother Li will surely get jealous."
Shen Tang snapped back to reality, her cheeks slightly flushed, she softly defended, "I wasn’t... and it’s not exactly longing either..."
She could not pinpoint the reason, but felt inexplicably stifled inside, as if sothing was obstructing her heart.
Clearly, killing Necro and reclaiming the rebel army had been her goal all along. Yet, now that the day had arrived, her heart felt hollow, heavy, and inexplicably uncomfortable.
"Really?" Shen Li gently wiped the dampness from the corner of her eye, watching her reddened eyes, he spoke with a mix of helplessness and indulgence, "Xiao Tang’er, since when did you learn to lie? You never used to deceive before."
Only then did Shen Tang belatedly notice the moistening in her eyes, suddenly at a loss for words, "I..."
Shen Li pulled her into his embrace, his fingers softly stroking through her cloud-like soft long hair, his voice tender as water, "Don’t explain yourself to . If you’re really sad, just cry it out, I won’t laugh at you. Keeping emotions bottled up is the most unbearable feeling."
"Treat like a chest, throw all your bad feelings... all to , alright?"
Shen Tang softly sniffled, her voice tinged with a thick, wet nasal tone.
Shen Li’s gaze beca even more pitying.
Thinking of Necro, he was indeed soone both hateful, pitiful, and pitiable.
While he lived, Shen Tang never had feelings for him.
But at the mont of his death—
Perhaps even Shen Tang herself hadn’t realized, a faint spark of emotion flickered within her heart.
Not necessarily love, perhaps sympathy, perhaps pity, or maybe even more complex feelings. In any case, Necro had ultimately claid a small corner in her heart, as he had wished.
Shen Tang tightly embraced Shen Li’s waist, burying her face in his chest, quietly staying for a while, ultimately not shedding tears. She composed herself, looking up to give him a smile, "Let’s go!"
Presently, Shen Tang was no longer the simple, carefree girl she once was. As the ruler of a nation, the most crucial lesson was learning to control one’s emotions.
No matter what happened, she could quickly adjust herself to face the next unknown journey.
Shen Li gently stroked her still-moist eye corner, looking at her like this, a pang of ache unfolded in his heart. But in the end, he said nothing else, only gently smiling and nodding, "Alright, as you wish."
On the return journey, Shen Tang did not imdiately have the system teleport her back.
Shen Li returned to his true form and carried her, the two walking back leisurely, admiring the surrounding scenery and people with a unique sense of pleasure.
Ever since taming the rebel army, the rebel territory had officially been incorporated into the Night Glow Empire’s domain.
In just one night, the territory of the Night Glow Empire doubled, rivaling the Yiyuan Empire, Eternal Winter Empire, and Yunding Empire, the three top empires on the continent.
However, the newly reclaid land was chaotic, requiring a redivision into administrative districts. Shen Tang had already dispatched relevant officials and personnel for governance.
"The Blood Clan matters have also co to a close." Shen Tang shrugged, relaxedly hugging the Fire Fox’s neck, burying her head in his fluffy neck fur. The fur was clean and smooth, without impurities, carrying an indescribable alluring fragrance.
Since Shen Li returned to the Yiyuan Empire, the two hadn’t enjoyed such ease and leisure together for a long ti, reminding Shen Tang of the past days in the polluted lands.
Though that period was a painful, bleak low point for the original owner, for her, it was the beginning of a new life.
There was confusion, sadness, pain, but more so warmth, joy, and anticipation for the future.
At that ti, Shen Tang only thought about how to survive each day, how to improve the beast husbands’ affection, without worrying about anything else. In retrospect, those days were actually quite simple and pleasant.
Shen Tang hugged Shen Li’s neck, closing her eyes, as quietly as if she had fallen asleep.
Shen Li also slowed his pace, the ten fluffy, slender fire-red fox tails gently closing together behind him, resembling a retracted flower bud from afar, gently enveloping his beloved female, fearful she might accidentally fall.
Shen Tang felt the furry touch brushing past her hair, her eyes opened slightly, her nose a bit itchy, though not enough to sneeze.
She hadn’t truly fallen asleep, just pondered over many things, "Though matters with the Blood Clan have co to an end, it’s a pity we didn’t get any useful information from the Blood Clan’s forbidden land this ti..."
She spoke with a hint of regret and frustration, "I had hoped to find a clue to the Blood Clan’s whereabouts in their prophecy book, but unfortunately, I couldn’t understand the text."
Shen Li suddenly interjected, "Not necessarily entirely without clues. I seem to have seen the ancient text in that prophecy book before."
Shen Tang imdiately perked up, shifting upwards, looking at him in surprise, "You recognize those characters?"
The small female’s breath lightly brushed against his ear, causing the sharp fox ears to quiver. He smiled, "I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed~ I don’t know their aning, but in my mory, I seem to recall seeing similar characters."
Shen Tang listened as he continued, "If I rember correctly, I saw my father writing similar characters in his study when I was young."
"...Your father? The Late Emperor Ji Jin? How could he be connected to the Blood Clan?" Shen Tang exclaid in surprise.
"Indeed, my father was a pure Nine-tailed Fox Clan mber, how could he be linked to the Blood Clan, let alone be familiar with their ancient text?" Shen Li narrowed his long, beautiful fox eyes, nodding in agreent, "So, he must have learned it from soone else."
Who could this person be?
To have mastered an outer clan’s script to such a degree, it must have been soone close to him.
Shen Li thought of his early-deceased and mysterious mother.
Shen Li slowly halted, "Tangtang, it seems I need to go back and search for what my father left behind."
Although his mysteriously deceased mother left nothing behind, not even a photo or portrait, making it impossible to guess her identity or origin.
But as the Late Emperor, Ji Jin indeed left many relics.
Ailing since birth, Ji Jin loved penmanship and literary arts, indulging in poetic romance. During his bedridden years, he wrote nurous books.
Of various genres.
Later, so of those books beca burial offerings left in the Imperial Palace, the rest stored within the palace’s Book Collection Pavilion.
Shen Li had rarely stayed in the palace over the years, so he never had the chance to thoroughly peruse them. It seems now he must return and search diligently, perhaps finding a relevant clue.
Shen Tang also discerned the implications in his words and blurted out, "I’ll go back with you!"
"Sure, nothing I’d want more." Shen Li suddenly transford back into human form, pulling her into his arms, smiling like he’d gotten his way, "Anyway, Lu Xiao and the others are watching over things here for you, you can co relax at my place."
"Besides, I seem to have also understood so of the Blood Clan’s murals, later tonight... we can have a long talk."
Shen Tang, "!!!"
She couldn’t help but feel she’d fallen for this sly fox’s tricks again!
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