by Dragon King
As soon as Hao Ren finished speaking, Su Han walked out of her room in a silk robe.
She waved at Hao Ren and said, “Come over here.”
Just as Hao Ren expected, Su Han was cultivating in her room. She knew it was Hao Ren when hearing his voice.
“Senior Sister Su,” the four female cultivators slightly bowed toward Su Han.
“Go and get some rest.” Su Han waved them off and beckoned to Hao Ren and Xie Yujia.
Xie Yujia was dragged here by Hao Ren, so she had to follow him over.
As smart as she was, she figured out Hao Ren’s intention in a few seconds. He didn’t have time to come see Su Han during the day, so he had to pay her a visit at night. However, it would be inappropriate to visit a female’s bedroom at midnight, so he had to bring her along.
Su Han closed the door behind Hao Ren and Xie Yujia. Then, she sat down on her bed and asked, “What is the matter?”
Xie Yujia looked at Su Han carefully and realized that she seemed much healthier and livelier than last time. She knew that Su Han must have recovered from her injuries well.
Su Han turned to Xie Yujia and also realized why Hao Ren brought her along immediately.
Even if she didn’t think it was inappropriate for him to visit her alone at midnight, it was inevitable that the others would judge.
From this, one could tell how extraordinarily thoughtful Hao Ren was.
Su Han turned to Hao Ren slightly in her silk robe, and her long black hair looked like a waterfall.
“I didn’t have a chance to come over during the day, so I had to come here at night. I mainly wanted to tell you about this situation,” Hao Ren said straightforwardly, “There have been more and more human cultivators coming to First Heaven from Fifth Heaven and up lately. I caught two of them, and I let them go because I have mistaken them as dragon cultivators.”
“Um.” Su Han nodded. She thought to herself for a few seconds and said, “There have always been human cultivators probing around First Heaven. Actually, we would scout around Fifth Heaven as well from time to time. The human and dragon cultivators keep the boundaries, but periodic monitoring was necessary.”
“Has it only become frequent for the East Ocean City, or are all the cities like this?” Hao Ren asked.
He was an assisting inspector after all, and Su Han knew more information from the Dragon God Shrine.
“No special information has been received about other cities. It is probably because I am currently recovering in the East Ocean Dragon Palace, and there isn’t an official inspector guarding the East Ocean City. Thus, the human cultivators have increased the range and frequency of their inspections,” Su Han said after thinking for a bit with her head down.
She simply looked down slightly, and her black hair fell onto her lovely forehead. One simple move made her straight nose stand out and demonstrated her charm.
“Ok, I’ll patrol regularly. How should I deal with the human cultivators once I catch them?” Hao Ren continued.
He thought Su Han would only be recovering in the East Ocean Dragon Palace for a few days. However, she had decided to stay for a while. She hadn’t had a chance to discuss a lot of things with Hao Ren.
“You can just let them go. Or you could give them a little punishment,” Su Han said.
“I see,” Hao Ren nodded and said, “If there’s nothing else I need to know, I should head back.”
He knew that Su Han didn’t like to hear about nonsense, so it made sense for him to leave on his own before she kicked him out since he had nothing else to report.
“Wait for a second!” Su Han called out when Hao Ren turned around and walked to the door.
Hao Ren turned around to look at her.
Su Han looked a bit uneasy sitting at the side of her bed as Hao Ren looked at her. She felt an unusual coldness from Hao Ren and knew that he wasn’t in a good mood. But… she probably didn’t need to worry about his feelings…
After a moment of silence, she gritted her teeth and said, “I’m aware of what’s going on with you.”
Xie Yujia was confused as she stood beside Hao Ren.
Su Han pouted and continued since Hao Ren didn’t say anything, “My suggestion is to cope with changes by sticking to fundamental principles. It sure is a messy situation, and even I won’t be able to erase it for you. The West Ocean Dragon Clan is now a lot less powerful, but their reputation and influence are still here. The East Ocean Dragon Clan might choose to make minor sacrifices to safeguard major interest. It would be the most rational way to deal with things.”
Hao Ren nodded since his thoughts were the same as Su Han’s. Severing ties with him would indeed help the East Ocean Dragon Clan to stabilize itself in this chaos.
Xie Yujia stood in the room and blinked. She looked at Hao Ren then at Su Han.
After a few more seconds of silence, Su Han continued, “I also need to remind you that the Dragon God Shrine is paying attention to the situation. Let’s not talk about Little Daoist Zhen; even the Dragon God Shrine wouldn’t dare to offend him. Therefore, the core of this entire event is you.”
Su Han stared at Hao Ren and continued, “Although the Dragon God Shrine has its rules, it respects strength. The general examination of the Dragon God Shrine will be taking place soon. Let me put it this way. If you can successfully become an official inspector, the Dragon God Shrine sure will step out and protect you. But if you fail, your assisting inspector position will be withdrawn, and it will impact my position as well.”
Hao Ren didn’t mind the first half of what Su Han said, but her last sentence made his eyelid twitch.
“This incidence… will impact Su Han’s position as well?” he thought.
“What kind of impact?” Hao Ren asked.
“The lightest punishment would be transferring me out of the East Ocean City to some remote area like where Qin Shaoyang is at right now. The most severe punishment…” Su Han smiled helplessly and said, “You don’t need to know about it.”
323 Time Together
Hao Ren had no clue that this would affect Su Han. Since this was a family issue that should be kept inside the East Ocean Dragon Clan between him and Zhao Yanzi, it wouldn’t be fair to drag Su Han into it.
Su Han took him as her assistant in order to provide him with protection under another identity. But now… Hao Ren felt incredibly sorry for Su Han, who looked calm at the moment.
She offered him patient instructions and teachings when Hao Ren just started cultivating, and she never treated him poorly, let alone the fact that Su Han got injured from protecting him when they were pushed out of the Nine Dragon Palace by Qiu Niu.
Su Han smiled lightly when she saw Hao Ren’s gloomy face. “Don’t overthink this. Since I am in the Inspector System, I will accept the Dragon God Shrine’s decision.”
She looked so calm that it felt like she wouldn’t regret any of her decisions even if she were severely punished.
Xie Yujia wasn’t too familiar with Su Han, but she had always thought that Su Han was a great teacher. After several encounters, she now felt like Su Han was also a lovely person.
Xie Yujia was a bit sad after knowing that Su Han might get transferred to another city.
Of course, the people who would be the most devastated after knowing this would be the guys in the East Ocean University, especially Hao Ren’s roommates.
As a matter of fact, although Su Han didn’t drop in level from this her serious injury, her combat abilities were not as powerful as before. It would take her at least five or six years to recover from the incident. Otherwise, even the Dragon God Shrine wouldn’t want to punish a Qian-level inspector who was good at the job like Su Han.
“Ok, I will do my best in the Dragon God Shrine’s examinations,” Hao Ren said.
Although Su Han looked cold, she tried to protect him wherever she could. Hao Ren remembered her kindness, and it was now time for him to shield her from troubles and liabilities.
“The general e
xaminations of the Dragon God Shrine is not as easy as you might think…” Su Han smiled and said, shaking her head. However, she didn’t keep talking.
She didn’t think that Hao Ren could get a good placement with his strength, but she didn’t want to crush Hao Ren’s enthusiasm. In her opinion, Hao Ren’s current progress was already speedy and smooth.
“When does the examination start exactly?” Hao Ren asked.
“Technically, you have a month if you really plan to take the exams,” Su Han slowly looked up with her pretty eyes and said from the bedside.
“Ok!” Hao Ren gritted his teeth and nodded.
Su Han secretly sighed at how persistent Hao Ren was. The West Ocean Dragon Clan was determined to fight until death, and it was pulled all the forces together, becoming the key force in the fight against East Ocean.
It made the Dragon God Shrine nervous as well. And the Dragon God Shrine had to take some actions to calm the whole situation down. As Hao Ren’s boss, she would definitely have to go to Antarctica for a decade. She wouldn’t even be allowed to go back to the other continents during that time.
“You guys should head back if there’s nothing else,” Su Han looked at Hao Ren and Xie Yujia and said. Her tone was much softer than before. Maybe it was because of her mood, or it might have been due to Xie Yujia’s presence.
Hao Ren thought about the time and realized that they did spend quite a while in Su Han’s room. Therefore, he nodded and walked to the door. “Anyways, get better soon,” he said.
“Um.” Su Han nodded without showing any expression.
Xie Yujia didn’t say a word from the start to the end. She just felt like Su Han’s treatment of Hao Ren was somewhat special. After all, he completely ignored all other guys.
Hao Ren closed the door from the outside and led Xie Yujia out of the palace.
He didn’t care much about the inspector position. But since this involved Su Han, it was no longer an issue within the East Ocean Dragon Clan.
Xie Yujia followed Hao Ren to the front gate of the dragon palace deep in her own thoughts.
There were always some patrolling soldiers tailing them.
“Let Premier Xia know that I’ll pay him a visit some other day!” Hao Ren said to the general who was leading the patrolling soldiers. Then, he whipped out Little White and headed onto the land at a fast speed.
Premier Xia was the only one who had a personal friendship with Hao Ren in the entire dragon palace. Hao Ren decided not to bother him tonight since it was already midnight. However, if he had some questions about East Ocean that needed to be answered, Premier Xia would be the perfect person.
“Zhao Yanzi could start her cultivation again, and maybe the loss of her dragon core would no longer be a problem. I might just be an insignificant Fuma.” Hao Ren laughed at himself as he patted Little White’s neck with both hands.
Little White sped up immediately, dashing out of the ocean like a shooting star.
“What is going on? You never told me about it,” Xie Yujia opened her mouth and asked as she dragged onto Hao Ren’s shirt.
She was trying to suppress her curiosity and didn’t want to interfere with Hao Ren’s issues. However, she got more and more worried about Hao Ren after hearing all that.
“Nothing much. It’s just that Zhen Congming and I destroyed half of the West Ocean Dragon Palace a few days ago when I went out with him,” Hao Ren said.
“Ah?” Xie Yujia was surprised.
She had seen the East Ocean Dragon Palace; it was a giant city covering thousands of acres.
“How could Hao Ren tear down an equally large palace?” she thought.
Xie Yujia had always been a good kid except for the time she hung around Hao Ren when they were little.
However, she had never even burned down half a warehouse.
Boom! Little White, who sensed Hao Ren’s thoughts, lowered itself and kept flying above the ocean.
The ocean looked limitless under the moonlight.
Xie Yujia had never enjoyed a view like this before.
All of a sudden, she felt the ease of mind and treasured the beautiful scenery.
The waves reflected the silver light of the moon as they moved in order, similar to the scales of a fish.
The moon was bright in the sky, illuminating the ocean, and Hao Ren and Xie Yujia cherished their time together at this moment.
Flying closely above the ocean was even better than standing on the deck of a ship. They could thoroughly enjoy the vast and peaceful scenery quietly.
Xie Yujia secretly looked at Hao Ren’s face from the side.
It was a calm yet determined face which was 70% similar to her Little Older Brother’s naughty face. However, they had completely different expressions.
At the moment, Hao Ren’s lips pouted slightly as if he was trying to make up his mind. His eyes which looked into the distance showed that he was buried in his own thoughts.
She slightly leaned onto Hao Ren’s back and could hear his forceful heartbeat through his shirt.
Xie Yujia didn’t know if she was falling too hard for Hao Ren, but she discovered a lot of Hao Ren’s hidden talents and strength.
Hao Ren seemed to be very gentle, but he was very firm with his decisions. He didn’t want to bother anyone even if he had a lot on his mind. However, he would definitely share good things with everyone around him.
Being with Hao Ren gave Xie Yujia a strong sense of security.
Boom!
Little White lowered itself for half a meter, and its paws almost touched the water.
The strong airflow created by the fast speed made a lot of waves in the ocean.
Giant fishes that were swimming near the surface got sucked out of the ocean, and they kept rolling up and down in the air.
There was an endless ocean all around them!
“Come on, Little White. Let’s head back!” Hao Ren shouted.
Roar!
Little White roared as it suddenly flew forward, dashing into the reflection of the moon in the ocean.
Shoo… Little White flew toward their destination at a fast speed.
The East Ocean City slowly appeared in front of Hao Ren and Xie Yujia.
They arrived at the Hongji Square in just a moment, and Little White turned into its cute white puppy form.
After putting Little White back into the necklace, Hao Ren and Xie Yujia returned to the KTV room. They looked at the time and realized that it had only been half an hour!
Ma Lina was still singing, and the guys were cuddling up on the couch, sleeping.
“You are back?” Ma Lina put down the microphone as Xie Yujia and Hao Ren came in. She was a little bored already since she had just sung six songs.
She thought they only took a walk around the Hongji Square, but she could never imagine that they went to the East Ocean Dragon Palace and flew above the sea.
“Um, it’s a bit chilly, so we came back sooner,” Xie Yujia smiled as she sat beside Ma Lina.
If it weren’t for Hao Ren’s command to Little White, she actually wished that she could keep wandering over the ocean with Hao Ren until sunrise. It would have been nice to enjoy the spectacular sunrise over the endless sea.
“Sing a few songs, Yujia. Let me take a break,” Ma Lina grabbed her drink and chugged.
Xie Yujia was a little shy, but she sang a few songs lightly since the guys were all sleeping. Her voice was a lot better than Ma Lina’s, and the gentle voice put Huang Jianfeng and the other guys in a deeper sleep.
Before they realized, it was already six o’clock in the morning.
Both Hao Ren and Xie Yujia used their cultivation techniques to get rid of their sleepiness, so they seemed very energetic.
Zhou Liren sat up from Cao Ronghua’s body as he yawned. “Sh*t! You two didn’t sleep at all?”
That simple comment came out of his mouth with a weird hidden message.
Xie Yujia blushed as she circulated nature essence according to the Qi Refinement T
echnique. She pulled Ma Lina up, who was almost asleep, and said, “Hao Ren, we will be heading back now.”
“Um,” Hao Ren looked at her with his bright eyes and said, “Have something to eat before you go to class.”
Xie Yujia blushed again and nodded before dragging Ma Lina out of the room.
“I didn’t know that our former class president could be so cute. Our Brother Ren finally conquered her.” Zhou Liren raised his eyebrows at Hao Ren.
“Wipe your mouth and go to class. I still have something to do.” Hao Ren threw a pack of napkins at him and headed out in a rush.
LingZhao Middle School and LingZhao Elementary School were across the street from each other. Since there was only one hour before school started, Hao Ren wanted to meet up with Zhao Yanzi. In the meantime, he wanted to see if Zhen Congming was bullying everyone including his teachers in the modern school.
P.S. Please read the TL Note; important release time update.
324 Damn Uncle
Hao Ren took a bus to the gate of LingZhao Middle School at seven o’clock. He bought two sets of youtiao and a bottle of soy milk. Then, he had his breakfast as he watched the middle-schoolers go to school.
In Hao Ren’s memory, middle-schoolers were supposed to go to the school at about 7 AM, have the morning excises at 8 AM, and do the morning reading before the first class at 8:30 AM.
In fact, students in middle school were quite busy with four periods in the morning and four in the afternoon, going until 5:00 PM.
If the teachers gave them last minute class assignments or the students had cleaning duties, they would get home very late.
It was only a little past seven, and some hard-working girls had begun entering the school. Of course, there were a few boys who were also early, but Hao Ren suspected that they didn’t do their homework and thus arrived early to ‘borrow’ others’ to copy.
It was almost summer now, and the schoolgirls were all wearing skirts. It was a pretty picture of youth.
Hao Ren finished eating his youtiao and suddenly realized that he must look like a perverted man standing at the school gate while watching the school girls. Shortly, the school’s greeting team arrived and stood at the entrance.
