Zanxing and Gu Baiying exchanged glances, both looking somewhat uncomfortable. After all, asking for some flattering pamphlets praising the late ruler’s heroic deeds was truly meaningless.

As the ruler spoke, he began coughing again.

Seeing this, Zanxing thought for a moment and finally offered some polite words: “Now that the demon shark of Li’er Kingdom has not yet been found, Your Majesty is anxious, but you must also take care of your health.”

“It’s nothing serious.” The ruler smiled: “I’ve had this old ailment since birth. I heard that my father, the emperor, was the same way back then—when it was severe, he would cough up blood daily. Because of this, the palace storehouse has never lacked medicinal herbs. The herbs used by Senior Brother Rong are nothing significant.”

Zanxing looked at him. The ruler of Li’er Kingdom indeed appeared to lack any imposing presence, even seeming somewhat frail and delicate. She asked: “May I boldly ask, does Your Majesty resemble the late ruler in appearance?”

As if not expecting Zanxing to ask this, the ruler was stunned for a moment, then smiled. He said: “Indeed. I do look more like my father, the emperor.”

Zanxing had also seen Princess Lizhu before. Princess Lizhu appeared spirited and heroic, and despite her advanced age, she was still very vigorous. This ruler indeed bore no resemblance to Princess Lizhu whatsoever, like a walking medicine jar.

After chatting a bit more, the ruler had the morning meal cleared away, and Zanxing’s group left the main hall.

Rong Yu still had to return to care for his senior brother, so he departed first. Zanxing walked with Gu Baiying toward the courtyard, saying as they walked: “Master Uncle, don’t you find this somewhat strange?”

“How so?”

“Yesterday, we looked through eight volumes of demon shark case files in total, all remarkably similar, describing the late ruler as extraordinarily brave, like a strongman capable of lifting a thousand jin. And his final mutual destruction with the demon shark was also due to the shark being too cunning.” Zanxing faced Gu Baiying, walking backwards while calculating with him: “But today, listening to the ruler’s meaning, the late ruler’s health wasn’t good, and he often coughed up blood—he was a frail medicine jar.”

Gu Baiying raised his eyebrows, indicating for her to continue: “And then?”

“This is very contradictory,” Zanxing continued, “Do you remember the golden statue we saw by the sea? The late ruler on that statue was both handsome and brave, showing no sign of being sickly.”

“It’s common for royalty to beautify themselves.”

“A little exaggeration would naturally be fine, but for someone with a weak constitution to defeat a fierce demon shark shouldn’t be an easy task. How did the late ruler manage it? Just relying on the demon-slaying formation? But those pamphlets didn’t write anything about demon-slaying formations.” Zanxing said, “So I think there’s something wrong here.”

Just as she was speaking, her foot caught on a stone, and Zanxing stumbled, nearly falling. Gu Baiying grabbed her arm and steadied her, saying with disdain: “Can’t you walk properly?”

Zanxing steadied herself and smiled: “Alright, so Master Uncle, what do we do now?”

“Although you’re talking nonsense, I also think there’s something wrong with the late ruler.” Gu Baiying tugged at the corner of his mouth, his gaze dark and unclear: “So I’ve decided to personally search for clues.”

Zanxing asked: “What clues?”

“I’ve learned that the palace keeps records about each ruler stored in the Tianlu Pavilion. The demon shark records won’t reveal anything, but the late ruler’s records will surely contain some discoveries.”

“Tianlu Pavilion?” Zanxing shook her head: “I’ve heard of it too, but that place contains confidential information. Except for members of the royal family, outsiders definitely won’t be allowed in, even if we’re cultivators. The ruler won’t permit it.”

Gu Baiying snorted with laughter: “Who said I needed his permission?”

“Master Uncle means…”

“A cultivator who needs to think left and right about entering a mortal’s palace has no future—better quit cultivating early.” He walked forward on his own: “Whether it’s Tianlu Pavilion or Dilu Pavilion, I’ll enter if I want to.”

With that, he left Zanxing with a dashing silhouette.

Zanxing paused for a moment, then made a decisive decision and quickly followed.

……

Every royal family hides some secrets they don’t want outsiders to see.

After all, even rulers are essentially human. As long as they’re human, they make mistakes. Royal family members, to maintain their divine authority and image among the people, won’t let outsiders see their “erroneous” side.

And these “errors” might perhaps be found in the Tianlu Pavilion.

Li’er Kingdom’s Tianlu Pavilion looked somewhat like Taiyan Sect’s library, though not as large, much smaller. The ground floor of Tianlu Pavilion had guards in light armor standing watch. Gu Baiying cast an invisibility spell, concealing both his and Zanxing’s forms, and directly entered the pavilion.

Upon entering the pavilion, Zanxing was somewhat dumbfounded.

Li’er Kingdom’s royal records were all compiled in identical books of the same thickness. In other words, all the books looked the same, all neatly stacked on the bookshelves. Unlike the Taiyan Sect, where each volume had its cover with large characters on the spine showing the book’s title at a glance.

The books here must normally be managed by specialized servants. For strangers arriving at Tianlu Pavilion, facing these volumes that appeared indistinguishable, finding what they wanted would undoubtedly be like searching for a needle in a haystack. It might be manageable with a guide, but relying on oneself to search would probably take until nightfall without success.

Zanxing moved close to Gu Baiying’s side and whispered: “Master Uncle, these people setting up guards downstairs are completely unnecessary. Even if others got in, finding things wouldn’t be easy.” To examine these books one by one would likely take three to five days at a minimum. But they were entering the secret realm in just a few days. They originally came to Tianlu Pavilion to investigate the truth behind the demon shark case—they couldn’t delay here for several more days. After all, each day the culprit wasn’t found meant another girl in Li’er Kingdom would be killed.

Gu Baiying frowned deeply, probably not expecting Li’er Kingdom’s royal family to be so obsessive-compulsive. Unless someone was very familiar with this place, it would be impossible to find the correct location at a glance.

While deep in thought, the Qiankun Bag at Zanxing’s waist suddenly stirred restlessly. Before she could speak, Mimi had already jumped out from inside.

Mimi was a spirit beast that normally stayed close to Zanxing’s side. But it was simply too fat for Zanxing to carry, so sometimes she would casually toss it into the Qiankun Bag, treating it like a pet carrier.

At this moment, Mimi had probably been confined in the Qiankun Bag too long. It leaped onto the bookshelf, and the fat cat was also restless. After walking two steps, it knocked a volume of records off the shelf with one paw.

The volume nearly fell to the ground, but Zanxing caught it in one swift motion, breathing a long sigh of relief. Making noise would be troublesome if they were discovered.

She was about to put the volume back on the shelf when she suddenly noticed two characters written in the lower right corner of the record: Shengning.

Shengning was the late ruler’s honorific title.