Lin Zhan took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down, “You’ve locked me in here, but you never show up or talk to me. Even when you do come here, you’d only press me down to do those kinds of things. What do you really want?”

　　The sovereign stared at him with a look of indifference, “Lin Zhan, I left you alone to reflect. What have you reflected on these days?”

　　Lin Zhan showed a self-deprecating smile, “That I shouldn’t have stolen the《Teal Lotus Nine Styles》.”

　　The sovereign lightly stated, “The《Teal Lotus Nine Styles》has been one of my family’s most important secret manuals. Ever since ancient times, those who covet it die.”

　　Lin Zhan gazed at him, “So are you going to kill me?”

　　The sovereign didn’t answer, but continued to ask in a flat voice, “What else?”

　　Lin Zhan cocked his head, “I shouldn’t have abandoned you halfway, patting my ass and running away after tricking you onto my bed.”

　　The sovereign calmly stared at him with a face that carefully concealed his secrets.

　　Lin Zhan felt that this high-ranking person probably didn’t like hearing such words so he added, “However, this shouldn’t be all my fault. Although it was wrong of me to leave without telling you, you’ve never really genuinely wanted me to be your Dao companion anyways. I also have enough self-awareness to know that I’m not worthy of the sovereign. Before the sovereign became completely disgusted with me, I left voluntarily and saved you the trouble of dealing with me yourself.”

　　Only now did an obvious smile appear on the sovereign’s face, but this smile was extremely cold–

　　“You’re the same as ever, aware of your limitations.”

　　Lin Zhan sighed, “Yes, I don’t have many strengths, but this one is outstanding.”

　　“Go on,” the sovereign airily spoke.

　　Lin Zhan, “…”

　　Say what?

　　Say your ass!

　　In any case, you won’t be satisfied no matter what I say!

　　You’re just deliberately looking for trouble!

　　You self-centered show-off!

　　Lin Zhan roasted him in his heart, full of displeasure. However, because of the strong impression and trauma that this man gave him for a long time, he didn’t dare reveal his complaints at all.

　　Instead, Lin Zhan showed a very helpless expression, “Sovereign, I admit that I’ve made many mistakes. If you want to investigate, I’m afraid you won’t be able to finish solving it in even three days and three nights. Also, I’ve thought about it carefully. All the mistakes I made before added up together are probably enough for me to die ten thousand times… It’s better for the sovereign to say how you want to punish me. I’ll take it all. If you want to sleep with me, I won’t resist. It’s just that I only have one life so do as you see fit.”

　　The sovereign looked at his demeanor, which resembled the saying ‘a dead pig isn’t afraid of boiling water’, and asked, “You’re not afraid of death?”

　　Lin Zhan stared at him, “I’m afraid of death and I also don’t want to die, but it’s not up to me to decide whether I die or not.”

　　The sovereign replied, “What if I really killed you?”

　　“Then I’ll beg you.” Lin Zhan revealed a miserable smile, “I’ll beg you to spare my life. As the saying goes, one day of being husband and wife is worth a hundred days of kindness. The sovereign and I have been married for hundreds of days and nights. Isn’t it worth sparing this insignificant life of mine that isn’t even worth mentioning?”

　　“One day of being husband and wife is worth a hundred days of kindness.” The sovereign seemed to have never heard of this sentence before. He repeated it slowly, his eyes slightly moving. “Lin Zhan, in your heart, have you ever treated me as your husband?”

　　Lin Zhan remained silent.

　　The sovereign’s chilly eyes seemed to freeze Lin Zhan on the spot, but his voice was deep and gentle, making one want to cry.

　　He always spoke and did things with such grace and gentleness. It seemed that there was nothing in this world that could cause even a tiny crack on his features, which seemed sculpted out of ice.

　　“Lin Zhan, I can let you go and also give you your freedom.”

　　Lin Zhan pursed his lip, waiting for him to speak his conditions.

　　The sovereign continued slowly, “I only need to know the location of the child you gave birth to behind my back.”

　　Lin Zhan instantly blanched and felt as if his blood was rushing towards the soles of the feet. His entire person seemed to be suffering from a heavy blow, everything crumbling around him.

　　“What child?” Lin Zhan tried to appear calm as he raised his neck, “I don’t understand what you’re talking about. I’m a man. How can I have your child? You must be dreaming.”

　　“You can choose not to say it,” The sovereign curled his lips up darkly, “but if one day he is found by this humble self, you will regret it — however, you can also gamble to see if this humble self can find him.”

　　With that, the sovereign turned and began to leave.

　　Lin Zhan watched the sovereign’s back as he walked away, shocked for a moment. Suddenly, he rushed towards him like crazy and fell to his knees on the ground.

　　He gripped his clothes tightly.

　　“Sovereign, sovereign!” Lin Zhan breathed harshly, his hands shaking violently, as he looked up at the man whose loftiness made him unattainable, “What exactly do you want? What do you really want? That child is innocent no matter what. All the mistakes are mine. Don’t look for him. I guarantee that he will not appear in front of you in this life. He will not become an obstacle to any of your children. I swear it to you–“

　　“Too late.” The sovereign did not turn back and only stopped walking, “I have sent the Thirteen Temple Guards to look for the royal heir.”

　　“The Thirteen Temple Guards?” Lin Zhan was stunned.

　　The Thirteen Temple Guards were the ghostly shadow guards famous throughout the Nine Lands, only ever appearing in legends because no one had ever seen their true faces — even in the northern battlefield, the Thirteen Temple Guards hid their faces with equipment, never showing any signs that could reveal themselves.

　　And one of the more famous things about the Thirteen Temple Guards was that their missions were always kill orders, and they never left any survivors, which was even more frightening.

　　This was comparable to the existence of the Royal Heavenly Capital’s Emperor’s Crow Assassins.

　　From generation to generation, they had served only one person — that was the Master of the Xuan clan, the Sovereign of the East kingdom in the Nine Lands.

　　Lin Zhan felt cold all over like he was stuck in an ice cave, and he could barely breathe.

　　“No, you can’t do this…” Lin Zhan sniffed, “He did nothing wrong. He is the most innocent person in the world.”

　　“Innocent? Did nothing wrong?” The sovereign acted as if he heard a funny joke, “Lin Zhan, have you only known this humble one for a day? I don’t need any reason to kill someone.”

　　Lin Zhan’s face turned ashen.

　　After a long time, he slowly loosened his grip on the sovereign’s clothing and then stood up, tottering.

　　Did the East Sovereign Xuan Wushe need a reason to kill someone?

　　No, he didn’t.

　　Lin Zhan had always been afraid of him because he held great power and was rational like a stone without any temperature.

　　Lin Zhan looked at his back for a moment and seemed to be in a trance, but he still whispered, “Yes, Wushe, you’ve always been like that. Human life is worthless to you, even if it’s your own son… how could I have forgotten this?”

　　The sovereign frowned slightly. Because he had his back turned on Lin Zhan, the other party couldn’t perceive his action.

　　“Then why did you bring me here?” Lin Zhan smiled bitterly and backed away two steps. “Could it be that this is how you want to torture me? Let me watch my son die in front of me? Imprison my freedom? Make me your puppet? Why do you have to go through such lengths — East Sovereign, if I were you, I would have thrown this bastard who dared to carry your Xuan clan heir behind your back into a place like the Blood Devil’s Cave and let him die of his own accord. Those blood demons sealed underground would directly bite this body full of gaping holes, tear this entire body apart, and completely turn him into a corpse of bones. It would be best if his soul scattered into nothingness and could never reincarnate. Only then will you have vented your hatred, right?”

　　The East Sovereign turned around and looked at Lin Zhan’s face, which was full of ridicule and sarcasm.

　　The East Sovereign narrowed his eyes. This action was almost the same as Lin Xuanzhi’s. However, his body was filled with endless frost and his natural dignity made people dare not meet his gaze.

　　Then the East Sovereign left.

　　Lin Zhan, “….”

　　Fuck, he just left?

　　Didn’t even bother to say a word and left just like that?

　　Then why did he say those words of compromise in order to advance forward?

　　Lin Zhan was confused for a moment. His mind was full of Who am I, Where am I, and What am I doing.

　　The East Sovereign was still that East Sovereign. No matter how many years had passed, he hated people playing tricks on him. What he despised the most was the drama of first crying, second causing a ruckus, and finally hanging oneself.

　　Looking at the shadow of the East Sovereign disappearing at the edge of the lotus sea mirage, Lin Zhan suddenly wiped his face and roared angrily to the other side, “I fuck your 18 generations of ancestors, Xuan Wushe, you big fucking idiot! You’re such a piece of shit who can’t get it up on the bed and your son has no chrysanthemum so he’s full of shit too. If you have the ability, then torment me instead of screwing Laozi, will you?! Damn it— no, that’s wrong, my son has a chrysanthemum, I’m talking about your other sons! Fuck!”

　　After he finished scolding, he felt alive and free.

　　Lin Zhan was so tired that he had lost his voice. He buried his face in his hands and sobbed for a bit before he eventually took a deep breath. After wiping his nose with the back of his hand, he moved from his squatting posture to standing with his legs bent.

　　However, when Lin Zhan turned around, his entire person didn’t feel well again.

　　Why was it that the guy who had already fucked off was unexpectedly standing less than three feet away from him? Such a big man standing there, how could Lin Zhan not even notice him — fuck, a high cultivation makes him so incredible, is that it?!

　　Lin Zhan thought about the words he cursed just now, and suddenly, he felt like he had nothing left to live for.

　　En. Good, very good. We don’t have to pretend anymore.

　　If you want money, I have none. If you want life, I have one right here. If you have the ability, why don’t you fucking kill me?

　　If worst comes to worst, one rotten life is lost. If you really dare to kill me, my son will return and kill you sooner or later.

　　Lin Zhan was full of dark thoughts.

　　Nothing that could be done about it. This wasn’t his fault. It was this fellow’s fault for having such high cultivation while standing behind others and eavesdropping unnoticed.

　　“You won’t put up a humble pretense anymore?” The East Sovereign asked.

　　“Oh, no more,” Lin Zhan looked at him expressionlessly, “I didn’t fully wake up just now. I almost forgot that Xuan Wushe is a fucking asshole. The more that people lower themselves to the level of worms in front of you, the more upset you become and wish to kill them directly. However, you also don’t like it when people don’t put you in their eyes and disobey you… Haha, Xuan Wushe, aren’t you amusing? Contradicting yourself to such an absurd degree; say, do you think there’s something wrong with your brain? I’m telling you, if you’re sick, you must treat it. Aren’t there physicians around you? It can’t be that you’re beyond saving?”

　　The East Sovereign looked at Lin Zhan displaying his sharp claws and mocking him. The depressed feelings that he’d been suppressing in his heart for who knows how long instantly dissipated a lot.

　　Apart from Lin Zhan, even his own mother didn’t dare speak to him like this.

　　Anyone who dared, except for Lin Zhan, had long been dead or had not yet been born.

　　But he just liked to watch Lin Zhan’s fur standing up in anger.

　　The East Sovereign stared at Lin Zhan for a while. He continued lightly only after he saw that the latter’s scalp was numb, “So you indeed gave birth to my child?”

　　Lin Zhan, “….”

　　Fuck your uncle, Xuan Wushe!

　　How dare you cheat your Grandpa Zhan!

　　The East Sovereign’s lips seemed to curl up, even though it looked like it didn’t move at all. “You don’t have to put on this expression of being cheated by this humble one. When this humble one found out that there was still a son wandering and living outside, he felt very amazed. I never imagined that you would be willing to have a child as a man—”

　　Lin Zhan continued to be expressionless, crossing his arms in front of his chest and staring coldly at the East Sovereign.

　　What’s wrong with Laozi having a son?

　　I didn’t intend to have you raise him anyway?

　　Did we eat your family’s rice?

　　Spend your family’s money?

　　You motherfucker!

　　The East Sovereign actually curled his lips this time. He stepped forward and reached out to hold Lin Zhan’s chin, “Lin Zhan, do you know what your biggest mistake is?”

　　—