Just as Lew the Troll had been about to rejoice at the fact that he had finally reached his target, the directional pulsating blip on the mind-radar that the Archangel had left inside of him as a tracking method for the Blessed Child suddenly vanished. That had immediately sent the troll into a bout of panic since usually the disappearance of a tracking blip in such a way only meant one thing: the death of the monitored person.
The apparent death of the Blessed Child had immediately left Lew in a rather despondent and depressed state, as he had simply stopped in his tracks and laid down on the grass to stare at the sky. For almost half a day, he had truly thought that he had failed his protection Quest before it had even started.
Fortunately, his spirits had returned one day later, once he had accidentally discovered through his permanent connection with the Heavenly Library that the astral projection who belonged to the Blessed Child still kept running around the entire Library, seemingly looking for some specific types of spells and scrolls, and seemed rather unharmed.
As to why the tracker had stopped working, Lew had absolutely no idea, as only a Godly [Skill] or an Ancient Artefact capable of obscuring the powers of the Heavens could have produced such an effect.
Unfortunately, ever since the blip on the radar had vanished, Lew had been unable to track Trina, so he now had no idea in which direction the Blessed Child could be found anymore and was now basically lost in the middle of the boonies. Of course, he had kept going in the general direction where the tracker had formerly pointed towards, but without the constant refresh of the blip, a certain degree of deviation had occurred, which had basically caused him to overshoot his objective altogether.
After realizing his own mistake, he had then back-tracked his own footsteps to the exact spot where he had lost the signal and had gotten ready to try one more time. Of course, the entire mistake had resulted in him being lost inside the forest bushes for almost several days, and the whole thing was now finally getting on his nerves.
Just as Lew was about to take his anger upon some poor unsuspecting trees, the noise of a flying sword suddenly got picked up by his ears, which made him scrunch his eyes while staring at the entire blue sky to try and locate the source.
Fortunately, it looked that the rider of the sword had also seen and recognized him, and was now heading down towards his position.
"Senior Lew! Such an auspicious encounter!" *Cupped hands*
"Ah, Mr.Nobi from the Tai Clan! What an...unusual surprise!"
*Awkward silence*
*Crickets*
*Feet Shuffling*
*Even more Crickets*
"Sooo...Senior, what are you doing out here? When did you leave the Blue Mountain of Books Sect? I thought you never strayed too far away from your bridge."
*Even more Crickets and awkward pauses*
"Ugh...I hate to admit it, but I have been lost inside of these woods for a while now…"
"Oh, Heavens! How can a senior like yourself be lost? You must be joking!"
"Not lost as in “I don't know where I am on the world map”. Look, the truth is that after the Archangel himself appeared at the Blue Mountain of Books Sect, he tasked me with the duty of safeguarding a certain important person, but I have lost track of said person because of some unusual circumstances."
"That certain “person” wouldn't happen to be the so-called Blessed Child?"
"Yes, how did you know?"
"I figured as much...Well then, Senior, you are in luck! I think both of us are headed in the same direction, so you should probably follow after me."
"Ugh...I'm ashamed to admit it, but I do not possess a flying sword of my own at the moment. Back during the Demonic Siege at the Sect, I was forced to use all of my available armaments, so they all got broken, even my trusty old flying sword. I have been forced to walk on the ground thus far since none of the towns along the way had any blacksmiths that were high-enough in their craftsmanship to be able to fix my sword."
"That's alright, I think I have a spare one with me. Here, try this one out and see if it works for you…"
*Sword-Toss*
"You have my gratitude, Mr. Nobi. This one will do just fine. I am sorry that my own foolishness has led to this predicament, but it seems that the Heavens have not forgotten me and they have intersected your path with my own. Where are we headed, anyway?"
"I also have no actual idea, but I am currently headed towards the position of my Master the Emperor, and he is most certainly in the company of the Blessed Child which you are seeking."
"The Emperor, you say? When did that old Ming goat get his hands on the Blessed Child?"
"No, no, that's wrong, but I guess that there is no way you would have heard about it, seeing that you have been stuck inside of this forest for the last few days. All three of the Emperors from three Empires along with all of the Sect Masters of the most important Sects and their families have all recently died, when the Forbidden City suddenly blew up for some unknown reason. An Ancient Evil alarm got triggered, so they were all taking shelter inside of the Forbidden Palace when that unfortunate event occurred, which then claimed the lives of everybody present. It seems that the blast was so intense that it leveled all of the buildings and the trees for tens of miles around the epicenter."
”OH HEAVENS! That's terrible! Wait...soo...if the old Emperor is dead, then who is this new Emperor that you were talking about?"
"Of course, my Young Master Fung, the last surviving Male member of the Imperial family, and the rightful heir to the Ruby Throne!"
"Fung? That brawny Clan Tai's child that you always watched over? What's he got to do with anything?"
"HIS true name has always been Ming Fung, the 15'th Prince in line for the Ruby Throne. But seeing that his Father and all of his Brothers have all died together, it means that he is the last surviving male heir, as-in the actual Emperor by all given standards."
"Oooh, I see…So that's why you said that the Blessed Child is together with the Emperor, because that young weird girl always seems to be hanging in the company of the Tai boy. But if what you say is true, then things have become terribly complicated, and both of them might be in mortal danger! We must make haste and get to them as soon as possible, Mr. Nobi! Hurry, let's get on the swords and go fast!"
"Yes, Senior!"
>>
A few hours later, the small shape of a human village could now be spotted in the distance, so both of the Cultivators knew that they were fast approaching their intended destination. Still, as they got closer and closer to the entire village, weird structures began to appear within the eyesight of the Cultivators.
Interspersed at seemingly random locations around the village's wooden fence, gigantic cubes of 3 by 3 meters on all sides could be seen, and they all seemed to be made out of very closely knit wooden branches that had grown right out of the ground, and they all had the same color as the bark of the Weirdwood Tree.
On a closer examination, the weird living structures looked like they had been placed wherever a crack or a vulnerability had shown up inside one of the village's wooden walls, like some sort of a makeshift patch job that was now preventing any further intruders from climbing up through the gaps.
Why the hell that much security was required for such a small village, the two Cultivators still had no idea, but the muffled sounds of combat that suddenly became audible from the nearby Buddhist Temple immediately attracted their attention. Directing their flying swords to swoop over the large Buddhist temple, both of the Cultivators spotted an organized group of armed men that seemed to have barricaded themselves behind a wall of very large stones at the entrance of a staircase which led downwards into the ground, and were currently engaging in combat against a group of creatures that could only be described as Hellbound Demons which seemed to be working together with some sort of quadrupedal hound-sized creatures that appeared to be entirely devoid of any skin.
Still, in the eyes of the two hovering Cultivators, what came across quite as unusual was the incredible amount of calmness and accuracy that all of the heavily armed-and-armored villagers seemed to display, as they immediately proceeded to dispatch the wave of incoming Demons with clockwork precision like they had done this 1000 times before.
Immediately after all of the Demons and weird creatures had died, all of their bodies instantly got checked for loot, then swiftly got dragged away to a nearby smoldering funeral pyre which looked like it had burned away the flesh of thousands of Demons thus far.
Even stranger was the fact that the funeral pyre did not even seem to contain any wooden logs to fuel the flame, and was simply just using the heat from the disintegrating bodies of the Demons to keep itself alive while also burning away the carcasses of the weird quadrupedal creatures and causing all of the nearby atmosphere to be inundated with the strangely-pleasant smell of a weekend barbecue instead of the expected gag-inducing smell of burnt flesh.
But just as the two Cultivators were debating whether they should go down and ask what's going on, Lew suddenly spotted the bald shaved head of Lingfeng that was glinting in the sunlight, and almost fell off his sword from giggling. Therefore, both of them immediately directed their swords downwards and landed in front of the Windmage.
*Startled* "Eeep…!!! L...Lew? Nobi? Where the hell did you two arrive from? Have you been traveling together?" Lingfeng jumped up in a startled defensive stance at the couple's sudden appearance.
"Elder Lingfeng, this humble servant greets you once again, and would like to inquire about the whereabouts of my Young Master." Nobi cupped his hands together.
"Fung? He's at the Smithy building in the village; you can't miss it, it has an Anvil-and-Hammer sign hanging from the entrance."
"Then please excuse me, I must make haste and immediately go to His side."
"Ugh...sure?"
*Woosh*Sword takeoff sound*
…
"Soo...Lew...I haven't seen you in a while, eh? Have you lost weight? You look less rotund around the belly…"
"Lingfeng...You have some explaining to do...What the hell is all of this madness? And where the hell is the Blessed Child?" Lew pointed at the barricades.
"She is safe for now, but...oh brother...Where do I even begin? Actually, you should come inside, this is going to take a while for me to explain…" Lingfeng began rubbing his glabella.
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Down at the Smithy building inside of the village:
Suddenly out of nowhere, a man garbed in full black clothing appeared with a *POOF* noise, then instantly jumped down on his knees and began prostrating himself in a dogeza in front of the bearded young man in the backyard of the Smithy's house.
"Your Highness! This lowly servant has returned!"
"Ah! Nobi, my good man, you're finally back! It's good to see you again! Please, stand up, there is no reason for you to bow your head like that in front of me. You are my Guardian, Messenger, and Friend, not some sort of slave!" The young man rushed to the shadowy figure's side and tried to pick him up from the ground.
"No...I...cannot do that anymore! I…have some horrible news about your esteemed Father and the rest of your Brothers. There is no soft way for me to go about this, but I must inform you that everybody has suddenly died!"
"I know."
"Y...you do? Then you know that..."
"Yes. Is that the reason why you were delayed?"
"Well, when I first heard the news, I simply could not believe it, so I took a detour and I flew to the Forbidden City to confirm the whole situation personally. Oh, My Lord, so many tragic and pointless deaths happened down there! I have seen with my own two eyes the devastation left by that dreadful explosion, and it’s hard for me to put into words! I still can’t believe that all of the Emperors and the Sect Masters simply died down there just like that...Young Master, you need to be more conscientious about your own own position from now on! Because of that horrible tragedy, you are our last remaining hope, the only Heir to the Ruby Throne, the true Ming Emper*mhfff*"
"Shhh…!" The boy muffled the black man's mouth with his own hands. "Not a word about that to anyone! There are only a few living souls who know that I'm still alive, and we need to keep it that way for the moment! Look, we might actually know a lot more about that horrible explosion than anybody else on the continent, as we have been secretly keeping in touch with some “involved” parties from the outside. Come inside the house, and I'll tell you everything about it. But from now on, I don't want to hear anything related to “True Heir” or “Emperor” coming out of your mouth. For now, I am just Fungus, Monk-in-training, got it?
"Yes, Young M...ermm…*Coungh* F...Fungus."
"Good...you catch on pretty fast. Come, the others will want to see you as well."
After the two people went back inside of the house, Rheina the huntress held her breath for a couple of minutes longer before she finally turned totally purple from the strain and finally exhaled, dropping the cloak of invisibility which had been surrounding her until that very moment as she crashed on the shingles of the roof.
After splitting up with Jaden, she had been assigned to another Dungeon-delving team, and had gotten along splendidly with the veteran Guardsmen that had become her new teammates while also managing to level up a couple of times. Because of her new unhindered progress throughout the Dungeon, she had even unlocked a wonderful new stealth [Skill] which basically turned her invisible to all outside senses including smell or sound for as long as she held her breath, and the [Skill] had turned out to be an incredibly useful tool for setting up ambushes down in the Catacombs.
But after obtaining her new invisibility skill, she had suddenly thought that she could now get some vengeance against that silly Awakener girl, and steal some of HER clothes in return. Yet, just as she had been camping on top of the Smithy's rooftop while scouting out the premises, she had suddenly overheard that strange conversation between the black-clothed man and the bearded youngster, immensely heavy words which she now realized probably shouldn't have reached her ears.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"Oh Gods in heavens-above, what the hell did I just hear?" The huntress thought to herself while hugging her head and shivering like a leaf.
"An Emperor in our village? And all of the other Emperors and Sect Masters are DEAD? Those two guys did not seem to be joking at all! What the hell did I manage to get myself involved into?"
>>
Later in the day, Rheina was trying to drown the flood of thoughts that kept coming inside of her mind at the local tavern, but the booze-induced thought-suppression did not seem to be working very well.
Suddenly, Lord Jaden also took the seat next to her, and then began prying off his metal gauntlets that seemed to be painted in Demon blood, as he had returned from his Dungeon-delving duty.
After watching him for a couple of minutes while he was taking off his armor and ordering a drink, the huntress finally cracked under the pressure of her curiosity and began to ask him:
"Hey...Jaadeen...hey...hey...you're some sort of a noble, right? S...so you must know all about politics and Thrones and Emperors, right?"
"I'm not just “some sort” of a noble, you bumpkin, I am the son of the Magistrate, and the heir of the Xiaomai House that was chosen by the Ruby Throne to watch over these lands, which is a Great Honor!"
"Jyeaah...yeah...dat...Ruby Throne or whatevers, daz the Emperor's throne, right?"
"Well, yes...even the most stupid of commoners should know that…"
"Soo…what would happen if by some twist of fate the Mighty Emperor suddenly kicked the bucket? Just went...POOF and died?"
"Huh? Where's this coming from?"
"Just humor me…"
"Well, if the Emperor suddenly died, then the rights of succession would be observed and with the approval of the Noble Houses of the Inner Court, the Crown Prince would then inherit the position of Emperor and subsequently get crowned in front of the masses during a huge ceremony."
"A...an' s...supposed dat the Crown Prince died too?"
"Well, then the next person in line, probably a younger brother or even an uncle would become the next person to inherit the Crown. You would be surprised, but being a Crown Prince does not automatically guarantee that a certain person is going to be the next Emperor. Quite a lot of such Princelings die during the transition period due to the power struggles between the Noble Houses, conflicts which immediately always occur after the death of an Emperor. But seriously, why are you suddenly interested in such a thing?" Jaden narrowed his eyes.
"N...no reason...just some stray thoughts that keep on going through my head! Te-Hehehe!" *Headbop*
Of course, Jaden could immediately tell that Rheina was lying through her teeth, as he had a decently large experience with deceitful words because he had been exposed to them all throughout his entire childhood as a Noble's Scion. Therefore, after inviting her to a corner of the room and getting her tanked into a complete stupor, Jaden slowly pried away the secrets from the huntress' mouth before she finally passed out on the table.
After she went out-cold, Jaden immediately began thinking that if the facts she had overheard from the rooftop were indeed true, then the consequences could be earth-shattering! A lost heir to the Throne, and a rightful one at that, right here in the village? An Ancient Evil released for who-knows-what reasons and a mysterious group of people with powers unheard-of which suddenly appeared inside the proximity of the disaster-area immediately after the tragedy occurred?
Jaden did not know what to think about that anymore, but he had become certain of a single thing; if all of his assumptions were correct, then this stupid little village had suddenly become the new conflict-center of the entire Empire, and everything was about to get even worse than before!
Because indeed, Jaden, as a Noble Scion, had a whole lot better of an understanding about the struggles that occurred during an interregnum period, what vying for the position of Emperor actually entailed, and what sort of fighting should be expected between the Noble Houses before an actual victor emerged. Those fights usually came in the form of very ugly and very bloody conflicts between the Nobles that clashed with their full strength of arms, and the whole process usually took years.
And now, the supposedly “true” Emperor was hiding within his own territory and was even participating in the raids that went down into the Dungeon...Oh Gods in Heaven above, Jaden did not even want to think about what could happen anymore.
His entire House was currently in disarray as his Father, his Little Brother and most of the important retainers had all gone missing inside of the Dungeon, and he never even had the chance to go back home and report the disaster yet. In some twisted way, he was now glad that his Mother had passed away a couple of years ago due to "The Withering", otherwise she would have most certainly died of a broken heart right about now.
Still, as the news finally settled within his mind, Jayden began thinking that he should probably try and go back home to his Lord’s Estate, at least for a while, as it had become obvious even to his arrogant self after the many Dungeon-delving encounters that it would be nigh-impossible to find out the true fate of his family anytime soon, since the entire place was absolutely infested with Monsters and Demons and it would take months of continuous efforts, even if everybody kept working together, to clear a clean path to the lower levels, as everything inside of that place simply kept respawning over and over again.
The only viable option that he could think of at the moment was to go back home, gather all of his House's loyal troops and then bring them all back here, since he was absolutely certain that if any sort of a major conflict was going to occur, it would happen near, if not outright inside of the Dungeon itself.
He also started wondering whether that strange monk girl, the Awakener, would be able to do something to a larger number of troops, as converting thousands of people from normal folk to Awakened could indeed create an army capable of shattering any opposition, even if that opposition was an Ancient Evil.
But considering that she was able to awaken only about 10 people each day before getting exhausted, Jaden calculated that would take almost a year and a half to awaken all of the 5000+ men that he might be able to call under his banner, even if she were to actually do it each and every day. But nobody had that sort of time and resources on their hands, as fielding an army that large could only be done temporarily, since all of those people who made up the troops actually needed to be fed on a daily basis if they were to function properly as an attack group, not to mention armed and trained.
And that was already a complicated-enough of a problem, even if Jaden kept restraining himself to thinking only about the local resources. The number of troops that his House could muster wasn't even that great in the first place, as some of the neighboring provinces could even call upon 15000 or even 20000 people at a time, and in a clash between Noble powers, he would come out grabbing the short end of the stick without some allies to back him up. Heck, he did not even know why he thought that he needed to protect this new “legitimate” Emperor in the first place, but something inside of his gut told him that it was the right course of action, despite the obvious risks involved. His house had always been one of the most loyal ones to The Crown, and he wasn’t about to become a turncoat and soil the memory of all of his ancestors anytime soon.
An even more dreadful thought also came into Jaden’s mind, in the form of a large war between the Empires, where armies of hundreds of thousands would be fielded at the same time, and would then clash upon the bloodied fields of battle. Unfortunately, since all of the Emperors were now seemingly dead, that whole “scenario” had actually become an ugly possibility, one that Jaden could not outright dismiss, but feared all the same.
With all of those nasty thoughts rattling inside of his mind, Jaden paid for his drinks, grabbed all of his armors then went back to his room at the Inn and simply crashed from exhaustion, forgetting that Rheina had remained asleep on one of the tables and was currently copying the carved-decorations of a plate with her face.
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>>
Even though Jaden had been quite careful about the spread of information and had picked the farthest table away from anybody else before “milking the data” away from the huntress, the entire conversation had still been overheard by the innkeeper because of his [Eavesdropping] and [Rumor Mill] passive skills that he had gained during his auto-leveling days, as being a minor information broker was also a popular feature when it came to the general interactions that a tavern owner could have with his clients, especially with the law-enforcement or adventuring types.
Which is exactly how the entire spread of rumors began, as the innkeeper welcomed later in the day his close friend Shen, which was one of the Senior Guardsmen who was on duty at the Dungeon's entrance and was even part of one of the deep-delving teams.
"Shen, my dear friend, you look like you just dragged yourself out of Hell! Another round of Dungeon-delving, I assume?"
"Indeed... Second layer too…*ptew*. Those damn Demons and infernal creatures seem to be coming even out of the walls down in that place. Not to mention the reanimated skeletons...Man, those things keep on giving me nightmares each and every night. Fortunately, they are so very easy to smash apart, and the crunch of bones feels so awesome under the power of my mace, that I can smash them even in my dreams! I have to hand it to that new smith dude, he has quite some insane crafting skills, even if he sounds like somebody kicked him in the balls one too many times."
"That's because “he” is a female, you idiot! Dwarven women sometimes tend to have beards large-enough that a person would be able to confuse them for their male counterparts, but I can assure you that “down there”, you would be searching for the light at the end of the tunnel, instead of having a handshake with the snake, if you know what I mean."
"NO, SERIOUSLY? That's a woman? Even with those abs and pecs that could put more than three-quarters of our entire garrison to shame?"
"Well, she IS a blacksmith after all, you numbskull! She needs all of those muscles to perform her job properly! Have you ever seen her craft?"
"No, how could I? I have been stuck on guard duty at the Temple almost continuously. It's only during these last few days, as we finally managed to get some more fresh blood amongst the troops because of the Awakener, that I finally found enough time to take a breather."
"Well, I have no words that could describe what that dwarven lady is doing down there, except for “pure art”! I was fortunate enough to observe her entire crafting process when she ordered another one of my kegs of booze, then asked me to deliver it to her a day later. I have no idea what her liver is made out of, because my supply of ale has been quickly dwindling because of her. I swear it on the Gods, I think she would be able to put 20 of you down under the table before she even got tipsy."
"Well, NOW I know you're pulling my leg! Ain't nobody alive out there that would be able to handle such quantities of booze without killing themselves! Especially that horrible basement-made shlop which you dare to call an ale!"
"No human, most certainly! But she ain't human, she's a dwarf! From what I hear, they all got something different inside of their guts that allows them to process alcohol a whole lot better than most other races! My two cents to you my friend, don't ever get into a drinking contest against a dwarf! Especially that one!"
"Wasn't ever planning to. Sadly enough, I don't think I have enough leisure time to drink myself into a stupor yet. Too many of those infernal things are still coming up from the Dungeon all of the time, so we can't afford any mistakes. Even though all of those damn critters are easy enough to kill individually, it takes only a single mistake for somebody to die a horrible death. A single wild slash from one of those red demons is enough to cut a man's throat or poke an eye out, and that's not something that those abysmal healing skills which the combat Monks have begun practicing can take care of. Sure, they can mend some scars, abrasions and small lacerations, but that's about it.”
"You might be right about that, but there’s still that strange Awakener girl and our reliable ol’ Ping which would be able to take care of the more nasty stuff. I’ve even seen them take care of detached limbs, I swear it on my honor! They have been working together as of late, and I have heard only words of praise about them from all of the villagers that went to the Clinic."
"Yeah, well, that whole group of people who came into the village a while ago? They are all a bunch of weirdos if you ask me! All of them might be currently looking and behaving like some holy Monks, but all of my Guardsman instincts tell me that they are nothing of the sort."
"Hehe, you might actually be spot-on with that assumption…"
"What? What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm not supposed to tell anybody else, and you must swear that you are not going to leak this info to anybody else, but I have overheard quite some astounding news while keeping an ear on Lord Jaden, the lost Magistrate's son. Are you ready for this one? Because it's quite a doozy!"
"Sure, my lips are sealed!"
"So apparently, that group over there is not just some random rabble, but rather they are all some handpicked escorts that are supposed to keep one of the Ming's Dynasty Heir Princes hidden away from the eyes of the world for some unknown reason. Why so? Heck if I know, but it probably has to do with some of those Noble Houses’ squabbles. It’s always complicated to keep track of Imperial politics."
"NOO WAAAY! So one of them is an actual Prince? Isn't that like...higher in rank than even Lord Jaden himself?"
"Just a mere Prince? O-ho-ho, I wish it were that simple...but here's the REAL kicker! Apparently, our esteemed and Heavenly-Chosen Ruby Emperor has suddenly kicked the bucket together with all of the other Heir-Princes quite recently, so now our mysterious and exiled Prince is the ONLY one left alive, the SINGLE remaining Male Heir to the Throne!"
"Wait...but...if he's the only remaining Male Heir, then doesn't that simply mean that…*gulp*"
"...that he's the next legitimate Emperor? Well yes, that's obvious, isn't it?"
"OH GODS! OH SHIIIEEE…"
"I told you it's a doozy, didn't I?"
"So, which one of them is it? It's probably that fancy-pants lad that keeps drawing everything in sight, isn't it? He looks Prince-ish enough to me!"
"Actually, quite the contrary, I think it's the large fellow with the beard."
"Hah! You have to be kidding me! Fungus is the actual Emperor? If that's true, then I'm going to eat my one-week-old unwashed underwear!"
"You know the boy?"
"Yes, we fought together on the barricades and even inside of the Dungeon several times, so I got to know him. That guy doesn't have a single ounce of Nobility-Airs wafting away from him! Not to mention that he is constantly being hen-pecked and treated as an errand boy by that crazy Awakener girl! He is actually quite a reliable team-mate, very aware of his own surroundings, and one of the best damn Bowmen I have ever seen in my entire life, but I doubt that he is “Emperor” material."
"Well, take it or leave it, apparently that's the guy, so you should probably start kissing his ass from now on! Maybe you'll even get yourself promoted to Knight or something."
"Huh...you know, maybe I should…"
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>>
2 days later, at the same bar.
"Psst...so apparently...that's the Emperor himself…" Peasant number 1 whispered to Peasant number 2 and 3 while pointing at Fung who was having a drink in a corner of the tavern."
"Seriously? Fungus is THE Emperor? Then what the hell is he doing down here, in the middle of nowhere?"
"Well, apparently he was only a runaway Princeling until only a while ago, but suddenly all of the entire Imperial family seems to have died together in some unspeakable catastrophe, including his Father and all of his Brothers, so he is the only one left alive, which makes him the actual Emperor by the rightful line of succession."
*No...waaaay!!!*x2
"Mhmm...my brother's nephew's second cousin is a Guardsman up there at the Temple, and he assured me that it's all true. He even told me to get into the good graces of the fellow, just in case it all turns out to be true. I even bought him a drink a few days ago, and we had a nice long chat! He is nothing like one of them fancy Nobles! I mean, he is indeed well-cultured and well-spoken, so it’s obvious that he probably got raised into a household full of money, but he has always talked to me quite directly, almost like a merchant, instead of acting like some posh imperial Princeling that doesn't even know the length of his own nose. Gods above, if that's the actual REAL Emperor, then I would most definitely want to follow after him! He actually GETS us insignificant lowborn folk, and even seems to care!"
"Hah! Then, this all sounds like some sort of an Epic Saga in the making! I mean, think about it: the Banished Princeling becomes the rightful Emperor, and then vanquishes the Ancient Evil which has spawned from beneath the Earth with the help of his Merry Band of Companions and the aid of the villagers which he locally conscripted!"
"Hah! In your dreams! You should go pitch your idea to that bard Xibei though, he would most definitely appreciate it!"
"Aw c'mon, dun be like that! It could actually happen!"
"Are you insane? Even if he is indeed the Emperor, do you see any Gold-ranked Adventurer's teams or even higher anywhere inside of the village? I most certainly don't! There's only an old scribe, a bunch of weird kids, and an even weirder shemale dwarven blacksmith, but that's just about everything! There's nobody down here that's actually capable of handling an Ancient Monstrosity like the one lurking below the Temple."
"Ugh...now that you put it like that…"
"But...the girl has helped awaken quite a lot of people from the village...I mean, have you ever heard of such a thing occurring anywhere else in the entire world? I most certainly haven’t!"
"Who the hell is she anyway? She's most definitely somebody special!"
"Well, I was curious too, so I went and I directly asked Fungus all about her a few days ago over that beer, and you know what he told me? “She is my One and Only”. I thought at the time that it was just some random lovey-dovey crap spewing out from the mouth of a young man that is smitten with a girl, but what if it's more than that? My One and Only “WHAT”? I mean, if the boy is truly the Emperor as you say, then wouldn't that make the Awakener-girl his Empress? I mean, you have all probably seen how meek and hen-pecked he is by that girl at all times, and I see no Emperor that would be able to endure such a constant abuse, unless…"
"...unless she is already his Empress…"
"Aye, now you all see where I'm coming from…I mean, there is no way that just a simple commoner Monk girl would possess such extraordinary abilities that would allow her to Awaken all of the peasants inside of a village! She most certainly is from a lineage of some lofty Immortals, given how profound her knowledge of cultivation is…"
"Mhmm…definitely!" *Nod*
*Nod*
"No wonder that the boy cherishes her so much, and treats her like some precious object! She's basically his free ticket towards Immortality!"
"Meh... I don't know if it's just about that...to me, the boy simply looks like he is truly in love…"
"An' who says that both love and business can't go hand in hand?"
"Your ex-wife!"
"Screw you! That was a low blow!"
"Hahahaha!"
>>
Of course, it didn't take long for the rumors to spread all across the entire village, and now the words Emperor and Empress found themselves pasted across the lips of every person who partook in the [Rumor Mill], which was basically just about every person in the village, including the children.
The only people that seemed to remain oblivious about the entire thing had now become only the “new Monk group”, including Trina and Fung.
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