When he’d first discovered Consort Li’s true identity, he’d looked into it, but information about the vampire clan was even more mysterious than that of the Solitary Isle—essentially nothing more than legend, and no one had ever actually laid eyes on them.
Everything he knew about the vampire clan came solely from Consort Li’s own words.
Consort Li had told him the vampire clan’s castle stood in the deserts of Xijing. The clan’s lord had been missing for several thousand years, and the clan had always been guarded by two great envoys, left and right. The clan members moved only at night, their whereabouts strange and mysterious, never revealing themselves, disdaining to make either enemies or friends among mortals.
But over a thousand years ago, the two great envoys had turned on each other. The right envoy had drained all the blood from the left envoy, plunging her into a deep slumber.
The right envoy died, the left envoy slept, and from then on, the clan took it upon themselves to guard the sleeping left envoy, all entering a state of dormant hibernation, leaving only four great guardians to protect the castle.
Consort Li ranked in the upper-middle tier of the clan’s hierarchy, immune to death by sunlight. The dormancy period had greatly boosted her power, and she had awoken early, disliking the clan’s restrictive lifestyle, and had slipped away in secret.
Wasn’t the left envoy supposed to sleep for another thousand years? What news could the vampire clan possibly have at this point?
“Were you discovered?” Jun Buli asked, suspicious.
Consort Li immediately grew annoyed. “Don’t jinx it.”
This was, in fact, the thing she cared about most. The vampire clan’s rules were extremely numerous, with all manner of restrictions—especially their rigid hierarchy, a hundred times stricter than even the human imperial court.
From the blood lord, to the left and right envoys, to the ranked guardians, all the way down to the commoners—she couldn’t even remember all the different ranks. She only knew she belonged to the lowest tier of guardians, and even feeding on blood came with strict rules.
She had no intention of ever going back to that godforsaken, sunless place!
“So has the left envoy woken, or has the blood lord returned!” Jun Buli said dismissively—in his view, none of this seemed possible, and honestly, he wasn’t particularly concerned either way. He had no interest in getting entangled with the vampire clan. Having one Consort Li was more than enough for him.
But to his surprise, Consort Li nodded very seriously. “The left envoy might wake early.”
“What do you mean?” Jun Buli was startled. From what he understood, the vampire clan’s left envoy was no pushover—more precisely, she was a woman fiercer than a wolf!
Back then, she’d been able to drain every last drop of blood from the right envoy’s heart to strengthen herself—which gave some indication of just how formidable she was!
“I’m not entirely sure myself, but I’ve heard rumors. Over these past few years, more and more guardians ranked even higher than me have been waking up. Once they had enough manpower, the four great guardians began searching everywhere for a certain kind of blood, something called the Blood of the Five Elements. I’m not sure exactly what it’s used for, but I’d guess it’s connected to the left envoy somehow.”
“Blood of the Five Elements!”
Jun Buli sucked in a sharp breath. Those four words shocked him internally, though he said nothing aloud.
If he remembered correctly, the Eastern Qin royal bloodline—Xuanyuan Lige—had possessed the rare Five-Element body. Could it be that anyone with a Five-Element body also possessed Five-Element blood?
Consort Li hadn’t noticed Jun Buli’s odd reaction, continuing anxiously, “If the left envoy wakes up, things won’t look good.”
“Why do you say that?” Jun Buli asked seriously.
“I don’t know all the details myself, but I heard from the four great guardians that back then, the left and right envoys fought because they disagreed on something. I heard… I heard the left envoy didn’t like living in that dark, subterranean castle. She preferred… preferred…”
“Preferred what!” Jun Buli grew uneasy.
“Preferred the kind of grand palace the Xijing royal family has,” Consort Li said, pursing her lips timidly.
Such a preference could only mean one thing—she wanted to replace the Xijing royal family!
Jun Buli scoffed coldly. “She’s dreaming!”
“You should go find the Blood of the Five Elements yourself. Whatever you do, don’t let it fall into their hands, or else I won’t be able to stay free much longer either!” Consort Li said urgently.
“There’s no more Blood of the Five Elements left in this world,” Jun Buli said coldly.
“How do you know that?” Consort Li was puzzled.
“Because I’ve seen it. The Blood of the Five Elements was destroyed.”
Jun Buli sounded utterly certain, though in truth, he wasn’t quite so sure himself—he was simply saying it deliberately.
For one thing, he was being cautious in case Consort Li was saying this on purpose for some ulterior motive. For another, he knew perfectly well that Xuanyuan Lige had left no descendants, meaning that particular bloodline had been completely severed with his death.
Of course, Jun Buli wouldn’t take this lightly. As for the matter of the Blood of the Five Elements, he thought he’d better ask Meng Duo’er about it when he had the chance.
“That’s for the best. Heh, without the Blood of the Five Elements, the left envoy still has another thousand years before she can wake—I can enjoy myself freely for another thousand years!” Consort Li said cheerfully, her mood instantly brightening.
“Remember what I told you,” Jun Buli said coldly, and without lingering any further, turned and left.
For the next several days, Jun Buli seemed to deliberately avoid returning to Prince Yao’s manor, and the discussions he’d been having with Jun Beiyue about the military campaign against Nanzhao were put on hold as well.
After Situ Jing’er and Meng Duo’er left for Xijing, only the rather difficult Baili Xiaosheng remained at Prince Yao’s manor, occasionally visiting Ziqing, though she too was preparing to leave.
The once lively Prince Yao’s manor had suddenly fallen quiet. In truth, Ziqing wasn’t someone who craved liveliness by nature, but once she’d grown accustomed to the noise and bustle, the sudden silence left her genuinely unsettled.
Of course, at this point, she had no time to think about whether things were lively or not. Between the falling-out with her son and his prolonged absence over the past several days, her mood was far from good.
“Once the baby turns one month old, I’ll take you out for a walk,” Jun Beiyue comforted her. Having already let go, he needed to truly set his heart at ease, to feel free.
Compared to Ziqing, he felt considerably more at peace regarding Jun Buli.
“This little one is still too young. Maybe I really should go visit the Mobei town for a while,” Ziqing said flatly. Across the whole realm, aside from Prince Yao’s manor, Mobei Town was the place she missed most. The little frontier town now fully belonged to Da Zhou, serving as a garrison post in the empire’s northwest.
“No worries, once she turns one month, we’ll go. I’ll start arranging it now,” Jun Beiyue said. These days, his focus had shifted entirely to his wife and daughter—he was more than willing to leave all matters of state entirely to Jun Buli.
“The Nanzhao campaign is still unresolved though. Never mind, let’s forget it,” Ziqing said seriously. That was just how a mother was—no matter how fiercely she’d argued with her son, she still thought of his interests in everything.
“The Nanzhao war is no longer a major concern for him at this point. Let’s get things ready. Us going away for a while might actually be good for both of them,” Jun Beiyue said. His intention wasn’t just to ease Ziqing’s mood, but also to give their son the space to cool down and find a graceful way to bridge the gap between them.
Meanwhile, just as Ziqing and Jun Beiyue were discussing their travel plans, Baili Xiaosheng was preparing to leave too.
It was midday, the sun blazing overhead. Baili Xiaosheng was busy packing her things, while Guxi sat in the corridor as usual, though this time not dozing with his eyes half-closed as he often did—instead, he watched her bustling about, his handsome brow furrowed slightly.
A few days earlier, when Meng Duo’er had left, she’d already released the binding barrier on Shiliang. He knew this had been Baili Xiaosheng’s wish—if this girl was leaving, she surely intended to take Shiliang with her.