Chapter 17: Her Mouth Has Been Blessed

"Are you an idiot? You just said the words 'Blood Cloud Tower' out loud—how are you going to explain that?"

"Please, I just want to relax and enjoy my retirement. Can you stop causing me trouble?"

"Use your brain and control your mouth. Don't spout nonsense."

Xiao Tian looked at Zhong Ling before him, anger rising from nowhere.

Knowing she had nearly caused trouble, Zhong Ling obediently took the scolding without the slightest temper.

After all, she had been completely won over by Xiao Tian.

His heaven-defying strength and the image of him crushing the Blood Cloud Tower were deeply branded in her mind, impossible to erase.

From Xiao Tian, she experienced for the first time how satisfying it felt to solve problems by eliminating the problem itself!

"I know I was wrong. It won't happen again." Zhong Ling pressed her lips together, promising the Xiao Tian before her.

Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she gazed at him.

"..." Looking at this silly girl's expression, Xiao Tian sighed. "So what exactly do you want? Don't try to fool me with those lame excuses."

"Hah!" Taking a deep breath, Zhong Ling's expression turned solemn as she bowed to Xiao Tian. "Prince, please take me as your disciple. I want to become as strong as you."

Xiao Tian's mouth twitched. He turned and walked back with his hands behind his back, shaking his head repeatedly. "I don't understand cultivation. I can't teach you."

"How could that be? Prince, you're clearly so formidable—how could you not understand cultivation?" Zhong Ling didn't believe it and chased after Xiao Tian.

Xiao Tian shrugged. "I was just born lucky."

"Prince, I've grown up. I'm not a child anymore. Please don't brush me off like this!" Zhong Ling was somewhat annoyed.

Xiao Tian stopped, glanced at Zhong Ling, and sighed. "You grew up by trading your brain for it. What's there to be proud of?"

"Besides, I'm not brushing you off. I really can't teach you anything."

With that, Xiao Tian had already walked briskly back to the edge of the Imperial Garden and lazily collapsed back onto his reclining chair.

Zhong Ling pouted and returned to stand beside Xiao Tian. She didn't say anything, just silently stared at him without letting up.

"Little brat..." Xiao Tian snorted softly, continuing to watch his show while enjoying the palace maids' service.

Wonderful~

Watching this strange interaction between Xiao Tian and Zhong Ling, Liu Yan really couldn't understand it.

However, what truly troubled her was the possible threat from the Blood Cloud Tower.

Just as Liu Yan was anxious and the entire Great Yan Dynasty was somewhat worried—

Half a month passed just like that.

During this time, the Great Yan Dynasty hadn't suffered any harassment related to the Blood Cloud Tower.

And an extremely explosive piece of news was delivered to the Imperial City of the Great Yan Dynasty.

At the same time, on Qingyan Mountain—

Xiao Tian had once again left the palace and the city to go hiking on this mountain.

His main purpose was still to hunt the wild boar known as the Mountain King.

After eating the roasted meat last time, Xiao Tian truly couldn't forget that taste.

As the Commander of the Female Imperial Guard, Liu Yan naturally accompanied him as his escort once again.

"Commander!" At that moment, a Female Imperial Guard from the palace suddenly came running up the mountain.

Liu Yan, who had been guarding beside Xiao Tian, turned to look at her approaching subordinate, frowning. "If I remember correctly, you should be on duty in the palace. Why did you come here?"

"Commander, news from the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion—the number one assassin organization in the Southern Wildlands, the Blood Cloud Tower, has been completely annihilated by a mysterious expert."

"The King of Assassins Yun Zunlai, Heart-Devouring Ji Yu Yan, and Skull-Splitting Hand Huang Gang have all been confirmed dead, with corpses as proof."

"From now on, there is no more Blood Cloud Tower in the Southern Wildlands."

As the messenger finished speaking, Liu Yan's group of old subordinates all turned their heads to look over.

"I..." Under everyone's collective gaze, Liu Yan was speechless, momentarily stunned by this news.

For the past half month, she had been worried that the Blood Cloud Tower headquarters would make trouble for the Great Yan Dynasty.

And now she was being told the Blood Cloud Tower had been destroyed?

"Boss..." At this moment, the most talkative Female Imperial Guard beside her suddenly laughed. "Isn't this quite the coincidence?"

"Yeah, half a month ago you said it would be great if the Blood Cloud Tower was destroyed by some hidden expert, and then the Blood Cloud Tower really disappeared."

"It's like coincidence's mom opened the door and saw coincidence at the doorstep—coincidentally at home."

Just then, the messenger suddenly asked weakly, "Commander, when you said that, it wasn't seventeen days ago, was it?"

Everyone's expressions froze as they all looked at the messenger.

"It was indeed that day. Why?"

The messenger's expression became even more peculiar. "According to the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion's intelligence, the day the Blood Cloud Tower was destroyed was exactly the day the Commander said those words."

At this, the surroundings immediately fell silent.

"Boss!" Finally, someone broke the silence first. "Your mouth—has it been blessed?"

Liu Yan: "..."

After a long moment, Liu Yan silently walked to the side and sat on a protruding rock, taking off a piece of jade hanging from her neck and gently caressing it.

Liu Yan just looked at the jade like that. As she looked, her face was already wet with tears.

"Someone avenged you. That's wonderful..."

"Thank you, truly thank you."

"Thank you..."

Sitting there, Liu Yan kept touching the jade, tears flowing, continuously expressing her gratitude, never stopping.

Her old subordinates and the other Female Imperial Guards also had reddened eyes, silently watching her back.

On the other side, Xiao Tian, who was personally experiencing the joy of roasting meat, hummed a little tune without a care in the world, brushing sauce onto the golden-brown, crispy, oil-dripping skin.

"Prince, thank you." Zhong Ling, obediently crouching beside Xiao Tian with her arms around her legs, quietly spoke to him.

"That's because her mouth has been blessed. It has nothing to do with me. Don't spout nonsense." Xiao Tian's face darkened as he pointed at the roasted whole pig before him. "If you're so idle, go cut some meat for this prince."

"No fun." Zhong Ling pouted and got up to cut the meat.

Xiao Tian stood up with his hands behind his back. Turning to see Liu Yan sitting there, her back trembling continuously, he revealed a smile and whispered softly.

"You're welcome!"

Southern Wildlands, Blood Cloud Tower headquarters ruins—

A nearby shadow suddenly twisted, rising like a plume of black smoke, ultimately forming two figures that solidified.

One old, one young.

"Teacher, could it have been done by the Great Yan Dynasty?" Looking at the Blood Cloud Tower ruins before him, the young man's voice couldn't hide his shock.

The black-robed elder shook his head. "There are many suspects who could have destroyed the Blood Cloud Tower, but it definitely couldn't be the Great Yan Dynasty."

"To simultaneously annihilate both the Blood Cloud Tower branch in the Great Yan Dynasty and the assembled headquarters in a single day—"

"The Great Yan Dynasty doesn't have that capability."

"Let's go. Now that Zi Ruoyan is being held back by an old friend, this is our perfect opportunity."

As the black-robed elder's words fell, his and the young man's forms twisted again.

The shadow beneath their feet became like a swamp, causing them to slowly sink into it.

"Teacher, where are we going now? The Northern Frontier battlefield?"

"No, we're going to Qingyan Mountain!"

As the elder's voice fell, the two master and disciple vanished without a trace.