The Lion looked at Alex with a doubtful expression. "How do I trust that you were sent by Lord Bai?" he asked. "Do you have any proof?"
"Proof?" Alex asked. "Was what you saw just now not proof enough? You saw Lord Bai himself."
The lion hesitated when he heard that. He couldn't argue against those words, but it simply felt wrong. Bai Jingshen was said to have died 5 millennia ago. If others were to be trusted, it was even said that he had tried to conquer the Central Continent.
However, there was an unspoken belief in the family that it was a lie. Zhu Xiongwei never knew why they trusted him so much, but they did and so did he.
Still, that didn't mean that he hadn't died. Hearing that he had come back was just too much for him to believe.
He wanted to believe that he had truly come back, but he needed to make sure he wasn't being lied to by someone that just now tried to steal from his deceased uncle's mansion.
"I need more proof," the lion said.
Alex thought for a bit and pulled out a talisman. "This was given to me by Bai Jingshen and his concubine, Ren Xiao, mother of Bai Meirong. Look at it," he said.
The lion looked at the talisman and was surprised to see information from over 5 thousand years ago, something that only those people would know about.
Even so, this wasn't much of a proof.
"I need something more concrete," the lion said. "You tried to sneak into my uncle's house for something. I can let you go if you worked under lord Bai's orders, but you will need to give me hard evidence."
Alex frowned. He didn't want to give him strong evidence just like that, but it seemed there wasn't much choice for him in this matter.
"Alright," Alex said. "I will give you the evidence you want. But, before I show it to you, you must make an oath to not speak of what you see to anyone else. Also, you will not attack me or my beasts."
"I already killed your mouse," the lion said.
"Doesn't matter. Make the oath," Alex said.
"Fine, I swear it," the Lion said. "I will not speak of anything I see here to a single human, beast, or plant. I will also not attack you or any beasts you have, as long as the evidence you bring forth explains well why you tried to sneak into my Uncle's mansion."
Alex felt the world stir a bit as the oath landed. He went over the words of the oath and after finding nothing that could be a loophole, he called out the proof.
Pearl appeared, still in his black fur because of the pill.
The lion looked at Pearl with a confused look. "What is this?" he asked. "Is this your evidence?"
"Wait a second," Alex said and brought out another pill that he gave to Pearl.
Pearl ate the pill and immediately, the effects of his previous pill were countered, washing away the blackness of his fur and bringing back the golden color of his eyes.
His fur turned entirely white, and with golden eyes, he looked so very similar to his mother in the portrait that they saw in the mansion.
The lion's eyes slowly widened. "What… what is this? Who is this?" he asked, a shocked expression clear in his eyes.
"This is Pearl," Alex said. "He is Shi Meiyong's son. He and I were sent here by Bai Jingshen to find out what happened to his mother that lead to her death and avenge it if we can."
The lion's expression disappeared when he heard all those information as if he had to process it all. The rest of the information was too much to begin with, but one stood out more than everything else.
"What… what do you mean when you say that you came here to avenge his mother's death?" the lion asked.
"Exactly what it sounds like," Alex said. "We came to find out who was involved in killing her and how it even came to be."
"But… but… you said his mother is Shi Meiyong. You said his mother is sister Meiyong!" the lion shouted.
"Yes," Alex said, a little confused. "What of it?"
"But that would mean… sister Meiyong is dead," the lion said. "Are you saying sister Meiyong is dead?"
"Oh," Alex's face softened a little. "Were you not aware of her death?"
"You're lying!" the lion shouted, his voice containing a force that attacked everything around him.
Alex quickly brought out his blood armor and blocked the attack. He was about to get ready for a fight when he realized he wasn't being attacked at all.
It was just the lion's way of coping with the news. Had it really been an attack, he would've died because of the oath.
"Swear it!" the lion asked him. "Swear that you're telling the truth. That he is sister Meiyong's son and that she is dead. I do not believe it."
"She is," Alex said. "I swear I am not lying. Pearl's mother, Shi Meiyong died in the Western Continent 50 years ago."
Feeling the oath settle onto Alex, the lion couldn't help but feel devastated. "She… she's really dead. Sister Meiyong is dead." His voice cracked as he spoke. His eyes began tearing up before he started crying all out.
Alex didn't know what to do at all after seeing the lion cry like that. The sound of sadness in his voice was overwhelming to both him and Pearl.
Pearl stepped closer to the lion and stood in front of him before speaking. "Were you close with my mother?" he asked the crying lion.
"Sister Meiyong took care of me when I was just a little cub. She… she's taught me everything I know. She took care of me ever since my mother died," the lion said. "She… she can't be dead. How… how did she die?"
"I don't know," Pearl said. "That's what I am here to find out. My great grandfather sent me and him to find out about the truth behind mother's death and possibly avenge her death if we can."
"Your… great grandfather?" the Lion looked at Pearl.
"Bai Jingshen," Pearl said.
The Lion's eyes went wide for a moment. "Is he… really back?" he asked.
"Yes," Pearl said.
"Then… why isn't he here?" the Lion asked. "Why hasn't he come to visit his family or avenge their death if he knows about it already?"
"He tried to," Alex said. "But he couldn't come."
"Couldn't?" the Lion asked.
"His oath wouldn't allow him to come here at all," Alex said.
"What oath?" the Lion asked angrily.
"The oath that makes him unable to visit another Heavenly Beast's land in his or her absence," Alex said.
"So?" the Lion asked. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"So, Bai Jingshen can't come here because the Azure Dragon is no longer here," he said.
"Huh?" the lion looked at Alex. "His majesty hasn't gone anywhere. He's still in his realm."
Alex's eyes narrowed. "Do you… not know?" he asked, quite surprised.
"Not know what?" the Lion asked.
"The Azure Dragon, Qing Tianchui… is already dead."
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