His back habitually snapping straight, Jing Shui spoke in a strained voice, "Younger Brother Hao, I…I am well. Please convey my regrets to Imperial Father and Mother that I caused them distress."

Qinghe frowned. His friend sounded stiff and formal, his dull tone very unlike his usual spirited self. It seemed that Jing Shui only needed a single glimpse of a person from the imperial palace before he reverted to being the suppressed Crown Prince of the Xing Long Empire from before.

"I am afraid I cannot convey your words, Elder Brother Shui. I am sure that the Emperor and Empress would much rather hear your apologies from your own lips and in person. Why don't you come along and meet your parents? I'm sure they'd be overjoyed," Jing Hao spoke with barely hidden malice.

This Prince Hao was in fact the older of Jing Shui's two half-brothers and the most likely to become the next emperor, but only if Jing Shui stayed out of the picture.

By calling him to enter the palace again, Jing Hao's intention was clear as day. Firstly, he wanted to please the Emperor by bringing back his only legitimate son. Secondly, he wanted to draw Jing Shui out into the open and into his territory so that he could either scheme to discredit him completely or kill him off in secret.

But Jing Shui was unable to think about all that right now. Just the thought of the imperial palace was enough to make Jing Shui's face pale. He did not want to go back to that place. He did not want to return to being so constricted and constrained, the constant feeling of suffocation pus.h.i.+ng down upon him.

Jing Hao took great pleasure in seeing this youthful-looking older half-brother of his panicking, the terror obvious on his face.

Deciding to step in, Qinghe walked to stand in front of his friend, blocking him from that malicious gaze. "In that case, please discuss this with Brother Jing's parents before you send a formal invitation to the Golden Sun Sect. Brother Jing Shui is currently a disciple there," Qinghe spoke with a pleasant smile and a calm voice.

Startling out of his daze, Jing Shui called, "B-Brother Feng? Wh-Why are you…?" His friend already knew how he feared his past, so why would he tell his half-brother his location?!

His attention s.h.i.+fting to the person who had suddenly put himself in from of him, Jing Hao blinked in surprise. This person standing before him was truly an elegant and stunning beauty, exactly his younger half-brother's type!

Unlike with Jing Shui, Jing Hao's relations.h.i.+p with his younger half-brother was not bad despite them being borne of different concubine mothers. Jing Hao's lack of vigilance against him was because this younger half-brother was very incompetent and thus posed no threat to his position. Knowing his own lack of ability, this younger brother also strived to maintain a good relations.h.i.+p with his older half-brother, the both of them existing in relative harmony.

The younger half-brother was called Jing Rui and was extremely fond of playing with beautiful people. And since Qinghe never used his appearance changing talismans when visiting Yan Lin, he was currently wearing his true face.

One look at him and Jing Hao knew that his younger brother Jing Rui would be eager to have this person.

And Jing Hao hoped that if he got Jing Rui another plaything to occupy his time with, then not only would he feel more favorable towards his older half-brother, he would also stay locked inside his palace and not bother with court politics until he was done playing with his new toy, thus staying out of Jing Hao's way for a few more weeks.

No matter which way he looked, Jing Hao thought that it would be an excellent proposition for him.

But this beautiful man also looked very straight-laced and prim, his posture belying self-a.s.suredness. Jing Hao guessed that if he directly asked someone like this to become his younger brother's lover, then this person might not necessarily agree. So the best way would be to coax him into the palace along with Jing Shui to put down his guard, and then direct Jing Rui towards him.

Jing Hao was very satisfied with this plan.

And so, with an accommodating smile, Jing Hao spoke amiably to Qinghe, "I see, thank you for telling me! So Elder Brother Shui has been at the Golden Sun Sect all along. No wonder even the imperial guards were unable to find him that time. It also explains why Elder Brother looks so young."

Then turning to Jing Shui, he continued, "But it's time to stop playing with those monks or cultivators or whatever. All they know are petty tricks to make you seem young, that's all. Immortality and such things are simply scams that they use to lure you in and swindle you out of your money by squeezing you for donations. Elder Imperial Brother, it's time to come home again. Of course, you can bring along your friend as well." Jing Hao's eager gaze was fixed on Qinghe as he spoke this last sentence, unaware that Qinghe was one of these 'swindling' cultivators he'd spoken ill about just now.

Jing Shui was still set rigidly in place, unable to move. Things were happening too fast, everything sliding quickly in the wrong direction. It was all Jing Shui could do to hold himself together rather than turning around and fleeing to escape from this situation.

Qinghe spoke, replying to Jing Hao's hidden invitation, "Then I would like to come along for a visit as well. But I do have one condition."

Pleased that the invitation had been accepted so easily, Jing Hao eagerly asked, "What is it? If it is within this prince's abilities, then I shall definitely fulfill it!"

Smile stretching wider, Qinghe spoke, "I would like it if my lover could also come along with me. We are practically inseparable and I would hate for us to be apart. Can Your Highness arrange for him to accompany us?" Saying so, Qinghe pointed to the Wei Xiang who had been watching the goings-on with a sharply amused expression.

Jing Hao froze for a second before easily agreeing, "Of course! I'll take care of it."

Lover or whatever, all he'd need to do was kill him off after he entered the palace. After all, the imperial residence was his playground!

Or at least, that's what Jing Hao thought to himself conceitedly.

Since none of them were wearing their respective cultivator robes or uniform, Jing Hao did not realize that Wei Xiang was a Sentinel. If not, he'd never have been bold enough to invite him so easily. After all, the imperial palace and the imperial family itself were rife with rot and corruption. How could he be bold enough to willingly bring in a law enforcement officer?

Qinghe thanked his lucky stars that this Prince Hao seemed to greatly underestimate them. It was a good thing that none of them wore their official robes today, especially Wei Xiang.

At the back, Chen Xiande and Hei NingYu quietly watched the proceedings since they didn't know exactly what was going on. They only knew that Qinghe was scheming something yet again.

They almost felt sorry for this imperial family that was courting disaster, or rather, voluntarily inviting it to come in for a visit.

Not knowing this, Jing Hao felt quite pleased with himself as he got back into his carriage and spurred on the extravagant procession to keep moving forward.

As the line of carriages disappeared down the road, Jing Shui finally shook himself out of his horrified stupor.

Immediately turning to his betraying friend, Jing Shui began furiously, "Brother Feng, how could you―!"

Qinghe calmly interrupted him, "Tell me, how has it been working out for you till now?"

His tirade derailed so abruptly, Jing Shui sputtered, "You―! What…? What are you saying?"

Unperturbed, Qinghe repeated, "I asked you how it has been working out for you till now. After running from your past for so long, did you succeed in leaving it behind?"

Jing Shui blinked, unable to understand what his friend was trying to get at. "I…" he began before trailing off, not knowing what to say or how to continue.

As if having expected this reaction, Qinghe nodded. "It still haunts you, doesn't it? You still fear returning so much that you even dream and have nightmares about it."

Hearing his fears laid out like this, Jing Shui could only say ruefully, "Maybe I shouldn't have let you know about that."

Qinghe shook his head. "This won't do. No matter how long you wait, your fear doesn't seem like it's going to disappear on its own. And since staying away from it isn't working, you have to face it head-on."

Jing Shui flinched. He did not want to do it.

Sighing, Qinghe chided gently, "What are you afraid of? You won't be alone this time. Am I not coming with you? I won't let them do anything to you. Once we get there, if you feel that that place is unbearable enough that you have to leave, then I'll immediately bring you out. You are not bound to that place anymore."

Jing Shui lowered his head, not knowing what to say.

The fact that his friend was taking time to accompany him despite his busy schedule said a lot about how much importance he placed on Jing Shui, and having Qinghe along would truly make him feel better.

But the fear was still there. Jing Shui desperately didn't want to go back.

Qinghe observed his friend's expression with a thoughtful gaze. Then he softly cajoled, "If you cannot feel at ease with just me and Sentinel Wei, then why don't you invite Sect Master Wu as well?"

Jing Shui's head snapped up as he stuttered fl.u.s.teredly, "W-W-Why would you bring him up?! What makes you think I would feel better with him tagging along?!"

Blinking innocently, Qinghe asked in return, "Oh? Brother Jing, what's the matter? You look very red."

"I-I'm not…" Jing Shui felt like he was choking on the torrent of words that wanted to jump out of his throat to refute this observation.

Unheeding of his friend's difficulties in articulation, Qinghe continued, "I simply thought that since Sect Master Wu and you seem to be close, you would feel more at ease with him."

Jing Shui wanted to yell that they were not close, but stopped himself. What was there to rebut? He really was close with Wu Xiao, almost more so than with his own master. And he realized that the thought of having Wu Xiao with him felt rea.s.suring in a way that nothing else could compare to.

Reluctantly, Jing Shui conceded, "Well, I do think I'll feel better with him around, but…didn't you only ask invitations for three people? Or are you saying that you will leave your Sentinel Wei behind?"

Qinghe looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "So what if they only send three invites? If Sect Master Wu arrived with us, do you think they'd dare turn him away at the risk of angering you? They've finally gotten a chance to drag you back, so they will accommodate us as much as possible. Plus, showing up with an unexpected addition can catch them off-guard and will only be of benefit to us."

It need not be said that the second the imperial family heard of Jing Shui returning to visit with two of his friends, each of them would immediately begin plotting, their plans tailored around these three people. Having an unforeseen fourth person would naturally throw them off and render most of their carefully constructed schemes useless.

Shaking his head, Jing Shui recognized these points and realized that his friend was right. He was indeed being too anxious.

"But Brother Feng, what if they do succeed in keeping me behind? What if… What if they succeed in capturing me?"

Qinghe gave Jing Shui a strange look. "Brother Jing, we are cultivators, did you forget? Just what do you think can they do to restrain us? In addition, it seems that your family greatly looks down upon cultivators, so they shouldn't have many precautions, if any at all, against us."

"But still…" Jing Shui was yet unable to let go of his deeply entrenched fears.

Chuckling impishly, Qinghe continued to persuade, "Don't you see, Brother Jing? The way they are plainly looking down on us is only going to make toying with them so much more easier! We are cultivators who can bring down the skies and overturn the seas, and yet they think us some petty charlatans who use tricks to hustle people of money. Inviting us in and trying to target us despite having such a limited and flawed understanding of their enemies, I truly think them pitiful beyond compare. What is there to be afraid of?"

Blinking, Jing Shui realized that it was indeed true. It seemed that his mind was fogged too much by today's unexpected events for him to have such unreasonable doubts one after another.

The group slowly resumed walking in silence as Jing Shui pondered upon his predicament and his friend's words.

After a while, Chen Xiande unexpectedly broke the quiet as he asked, "I still don't understand, why do these people look down on cultivators to this extent? Have they not considered how detrimental underestimating us can be?"

Hei NingYu chuckled as he responded, "Little Sheep, think about it this way: The cultivators have rarely shown themselves out in the open these past few millennia. Even if we venture out into the mortal world, we don't exactly go around parading the fact that we are cultivators. In fact, we actually go to great lengths to hide our ident.i.ties, just like we're doing right now. As time pa.s.sed, the people naturally forgot our past acts of glory, pa.s.sing it off as exaggerated stories. After all, the lifespan of normal humans is short, their memory even shorter. It is inevitable that they would eventually forget our power and come to underestimate us like this."

Chen Xiande contemplated upon these words in thoughtful silence.

In this way, they eventually reached the small sect that was their destination, preparing to activate the transportation array to return to their respective sects.

Just as they were about to part, Qinghe said wryly to Jing Shui, "It seems that in these last few days, we have both been unexpectedly visited by people from our pasts."

Thinking back to when he'd brought Yan Lin to meet with Qinghe in the Heavenly Peak Sect, Jing Shui smiled at the irony. Then, activating the formation, he was transported back to the Golden Sun Sect.

Since Wei Xiang and Hei NingYu were currently staying with their respective lovers, they joined Qinghe and Chen Xiande in returning to the Heavenly Peak Sect.

Qinghe turned to Chen Xiande and asked amusedly, "Senior Brother, tell me, do you also have someone who will one day come visit you suddenly like this?"

Frowning in confusion, Chen Xiande asked, "What do you mean?"

Chuckling, Qinghe observed, "Of us three friends, aren't you the only one left without someone showing up from your past out of the blue?"

Chen Xiande looked startled and pleased as he asked, "Friends? You consider me your friend?"

Looking at him with befuddlement, Qinghe replied, "But of course. I'm sure that Brother Jing feels the same. Whatever made you doubt that? Or is it that you don't want to be considered the friend of two young brats like us?"

Feeling happy as he listened to Qinghe's teasing tone, Chen Xiande answered, "O-Of course that's not it. I wasn't sure, that's all."

"Then you can be sure now," Qinghe said simply.

Hei NingYu looked at his little sheep and saw that he seemed really happy at the simple acknowledgment. Smiling softly, he looped his hand around his lover's waist as he merrily dragged him back to his room.

Though Hei NingYu was staying together with Chen Xiande, they had barely fooled around. Chen Xiande instead insisted on spending most of his time cultivating and learning martial arts.

He didn't want to be caught unprepared ever again!

Last time when he had been captured by those people from Black Fang, he had caused his junior brother great trouble. He never wanted to encounter such a situation again where he was nothing but a burden. He wanted to be able to handle such matters on his own, and for that, he needed to cultivate more and gain more strength and expertise.

So Chen Xiande had diligently gone to the library every day and brought back books and scrolls to look through. Or sometimes he would go search out various Elders to consult on his martial arts.

Qinghe had also taken a lot of time to give him pointers about various things, often providing him with a variety of treasures and artifacts to help in his advancement. More often than not, Chen Xiande would be made to accompany him during these treasure-hunting excursions to improve his combat ability and to also let him gain some experience.

And no matter how strenuous or intense Qinghe's training became, Chen Xiande simply grit his teeth and pushed on, knowing that once he got through this, he would get stronger.

Watching all this from the sidelines, the disciples, Elders, and even the sect master of Heavenly Peak Sect all felt their impression of Chen Xiande growing better. Seeing him going through Qinghe's h.e.l.lish 'education', they even felt some respect for his fort.i.tude.

After all, this was the Junior Brother Feng he had once so openly scorned. For him to so sincerely accept that very same junior brother's rigorous training, he must have surely had a change of heart. It could even be considered as him repenting for his past doings.

And as they beheld his earnest and hardworking side that he had seldom shown before, the att.i.tude of the people of the sect towards Chen Xiande greatly improved.

Of course, all of this was exactly as Qinghe had planned. Things were proceeding precisely as he had predicted earlier while with Wei Xiang and the twins.

Seeing yet another of Qinghe's well-intentioned schemes coming to fruition, the twins and Wei Xiang could only sigh in admiration.

As they all spent their days in peace, time swiftly flew by.

On one particular day, Qinghe received a message from Jing Shui. It stated that their invitations had arrived, formally requesting Qinghe and Wei Xiang, along with Jing Shui, to come and visit the imperial palace of the Yong Dynasty, the current rulers of the Xing Long Empire.

Reading the message, Qinghe smiled.

He was just about done with helping one friend, and it would soon be time to lend a hand to the other.