Meanwhile, Ye Yang and An Bai reached the palace the people from the dragon realm had been allocated by the gods. Some of the half-bloods were currently gathered in the hall, talking amongst themselves. They were still trying to figure out what to do, with only some of them having come to a conclusion.

Ye Yang glanced at them but not seeing any familiar faces, he didn’t pay further attention and simply followed An Bai to his room.

An Bai motioned at the table and even took the time to pour him a cup of tea. “Thank you for taking the time to come and inform me about the Son of Heaven’s return, Mojun. Although you truly didn’t need to do so personally.”

Ye Yang looked at him, a faint smile in his eyes. He knew An Bai wasn’t necessarily happy to see him but this was one of the few chances he’d get. How could he let it slip away? “Few people in my realm know about this. The one who spotted him informed a guard in the closest city who reached out to Lin Shi, the woman who could be considered my right hand. She checked that the information was true and then directly informed me. Apart from the four of us, nobody knows unless they overheard any of these conversations, and I intend to keep it this way.”

An Bai finally nodded. Even if Ye Yang hadn’t directly said it, this also meant that apart from Lin Shi, there wouldn’t have been anyone who could have informed him so it made sense to come personally. “Is that all the information you have about this?”

Ye Yang shook his head. “Everything pertaining to how he was found. Apart from that, I can also tell you the impression he gave both Lin Shi and me. He wasn’t really … communicative so I can’t say what happened before we found him. Maybe he will share this with your king himself or maybe he won’t. In the latter case, maybe what I say can be used to figure out more. I am sure your king will want to know what exactly has happened.”

An Bai nodded and motioned for Ye Yang to go ahead. He himself didn’t say anything, never interrupting until Ye Yang had mentioned every detail he could remember. Finally, he hummed faintly. “I see.”

Ye Yang picked up the cup of tea that had gone cold and warmed it up with his magic before taking a sip. “I haven’t had time to speak with Lin Shi in detail but I doubt she knows more. If she does, I will send her to the dragon realm. She was stopped by the guards here when she came so I’d rather prevent a repeat of that.”

An Bai nodded again but he didn’t think that there was anything else they needed to know either. For one, Ye Yang had provided news of everything that could be seen at a glance and he didn’t think His Highness would speak to that woman if she didn’t speak to Ye Yang himself. No, if he hadn’t mentioned anything yet, then unrelated people had no chance of knowing and only their king could maybe coax it out of him.

“Thank you very much for taking the trouble to both bring him back and inform us of this matter. The dragon realm will express its gratitude for this favor as soon as possible.”

Ye Yang looked at An Bai over the edge of the cup and hummed but didn’t speak. This ought to be done, although he didn’t really need anything of theirs. The only thing he was interested in … “How have you been doing recently?”

An Bai looked at him, his gaze immediately turning vigilant again. He hadn’t forgotten Ye Yang’s previous behavior. Just because this person behaved like a gentleman for five minutes, he wouldn’t truly put down his guard. “I’ve been very well, Mojun. Thank you for your concern.”

Ye Yang hummed again and continued to sip his tea. Those words sounded fake, just a platitude to get him off his back. Well, he shouldn’t have expected anything else. He should probably be happy that this was the response as well. If An Bai’s reaction was anything else, he might have more trouble staying away in the future, and that … would help nobody.

He drank the rest of the tea and finally put down the cup, raising his gaze to those striking blue eyes. “Things have been busy in the demon realm lately so I can’t stay here longer. Thank you for taking the time to see me. I …” I really wanted to see you. The thought shot through his mind but once again, he didn’t dare to utter it.

“I know the relationship between our races has been strained for a long time but I hope that this can change in the future. I intend to … turn my people back into something respectable at least, even if I can’t make up for what we have lost. You can rest assured that until I manage to achieve at least part of this goal, I won’t let any of them bother you.

“If I do send somebody over, it is probably for a good reason so I’d be indebted to you if you at least saw them and listened to what they have to say. If it is nonsense, you can still throw them out afterward.” He got to his feet before An Bai had the time to say anything, unwilling to listen to any niceties from him. He simply looked at him again, committing this moment to memory.

He didn’t know when he would see An Bai again but he knew that even when he did, it wouldn’t change a thing. The gods and the dragons, they had no idea how lucky they were. Even though the curse had made their life difficult, at least it was one worth living. When it came to his own people, he sometimes wondered if the same held true.

“Goodbye, Adviser An Bai.” This meeting, it would probably be the only one for a long, long time.