Chapter 375: Chapter 371: Celestial Monarch’s Mansion
’Chu Yanwu’s ancestor must have sworn a Blood Oath to someone, and Lin Hao just happens to be that person’s descendant.’
’This had to be the truth.’
’How else could Chu Yanwu have submitted so meekly and so quickly?’
Once she understood the reason, Yunxi’s heart sank.
Lin Hao had openly let her in on the secret, which clearly meant he had no intention of letting her go.
The thought of Lin Hao making her a maid made Yunxi’s face instantly turn pale.
Just then, her eyes met Lin Hao’s, and she saw him staring at her with a smirk.
Yunxi shuddered inwardly.
"Old Chu, quickly, bring out the wine buried underground. Then, prepare a large, comfortable bed and a fine zither for me." After glancing at her, Lin Hao personally stepped forward to help the still-kneeling Chu Yanwu to his feet and then gave his orders.
"Yes, this old servant will see to it at once. Please wait a moment, Master." Chu Yanwu immediately slipped into his role, humbling himself.
As Chu Yanwu departed, Yunxi bit her red lip, her face a mask of misery.
’She, a dignified princess, was really going to be reduced to being Lin Hao’s maid.’
She remembered how, before they even entered Flame Heaven City, Lin Hao had said he wanted to lie on a comfortable bed, savoring exquisite wine while listening to her play the zither. Back then, she had dismissed it as a fool’s fantasy. Now, it looked like his fantasy was about to become a reality.
"Little maid, why the long face?" Lin Hao said, waving his hand in disgust. "Hurry up and go get cleaned up."
Yunxi bit down hard but, without a word, turned and walked away.
She hadn’t bathed in two days, which was unthinkable for someone who cherished cleanliness. For the sake of a bath, she couldn’t be bothered to argue with Lin Hao now.
The thought of using this as a chance to escape the mansion flashed through Yunxi’s mind, but she quickly abandoned it.
’There’s something strange about this mansion. Besides, if Lin Hao was confident enough to let me go off on my own, he must be certain that I can’t escape.’
After Chu Yanwu and Yunxi had left one after the other, only Lin Hao and the Turtle Egg remained in the front courtyard.
At that moment, the Turtle Egg, which had been silent until now, suddenly asked, "Kid, what’s your relationship with Chu Tiandu?"
"No relationship," Lin Hao answered calmly.
Lin Hao wasn’t surprised that the Turtle Egg knew of Chu Tiandu, or that it had guessed this mansion was connected to him.
After all, the Turtle Egg had met Emperor Hongtian, so it was no surprise that it knew about Chu Tiandu.
"That kid was once the Sect Leader of the Heaven-Stepping Sect. You must have learned about him in the Heaven-Stepping Sect’s Scripture Pavilion. I gotta say, your luck is just heaven-defying. This mansion must be a place that kid built to find medicine for that woman of his." Without any prompting from Lin Hao, the Turtle Egg had already arrived at its own clever conclusion.
Lin Hao nearly laughed out loud at the Turtle Egg’s dead-serious expression. Though he was inwardly gloating, he maintained a straight face and nodded seriously.
However, while the Turtle Egg had been wrong about everything else, its last sentence was spot on.
To cure that princess, Chu Tiandu had traveled the entire continent, and traces of his journey had naturally been left in the Mo Yun Kingdom.
Thousands of years ago, the mansion they now stood in was originally a great mountain. Because there was a place of extreme heat within the mountain that happened to have a therapeutic effect on the princess, Chu Tiandu carved open the mountain, creating the Celestial Monarch’s Mansion.
Some of Chu Tiandu’s belongings were still left in the mansion’s depths.
This was also the main reason why Lin Hao chose to enter the Mo Yun Kingdom at this time.
He was only at the Eighth Layer of the Elemental Realm. With the Mo Yun Kingdom sending out Martial Artists below the Fifth Layer of the Soul Gathering Realm after him, he would never reach the capital, no matter how heaven-defying his abilities were.
But with this mansion, things were different.
This was the source of Lin Hao’s confidence.
"Wait here. I’m going to get cleaned up, and then I’ll treat you to a drink." Lin Hao hadn’t washed in several days either. Now, he finally relaxed completely, ready to enjoy himself for a while.
"Go on, go on," the Turtle Egg said magnanimously, telling Lin Hao to hurry.
In reality, the Turtle Egg was already itching to go rummaging through the mansion.
’A mansion that’s been around for thousands of years? It’d be a crime if there wasn’t some good stuff inside.’
’Besides, Chu Tiandu built this mansion to find medicine. Maybe there’s treasure underground.’
Lin Hao naturally knew what the Turtle Egg was plotting, but he wasn’t worried.
There was no Spirit Medicine here for the Turtle Egg to ruin.
Lin Hao entered the mansion, and after several twists and turns, he went into a room.
To Lin Hao, this mansion was just like his own home. Because even after several thousand years and countless new owners, no one had dared to touch a single blade of grass or twig that Chu Tiandu had established.
Behind this mansion was a natural hot spring, one even better than the renamed spring at the Danling Sect.
Lin Hao headed straight for that hot spring.
Hundreds of meters from the hot spring, Lin Hao suddenly stopped, his expression a little strange.
"’This girl’s got a knack for finding things. To think she found this place,’ Lin Hao muttered, halting in his tracks."
Lin Hao’s Spiritual Sense was astonishingly sharp; he had detected someone in the hot spring. And the only person who would be in the hot spring at this time could be Yunxi.
Although Yunxi was beautiful, Lin Hao’s heart was unstirred.
But Lin Hao waited, and a full half-hour passed.
’It seems she has no intention of coming out unless I make a sound.’
At this thought, Lin Hao coughed twice.
From the other side, a startled cry rang out. A moment later, Yunxi appeared in Lin Hao’s line of sight.
"You... you lecher!" Yunxi seethed upon seeing Lin Hao, grinding her teeth in anger.
"With a figure like yours, there’s nothing worth looking at," Lin Hao said, his eyes flicking to a certain part of her body as he walked straight past her.
Yunxi froze. Her gaze followed the path of his, and the color drained from her face.
Hearing the cough while she was bathing, Yunxi had rushed out without even drying off. As a result, the front of her clothes was soaked, clinging to her chest and revealing its contours.
Yunxi’s eyes reddened, and tears nearly fell.
"Lin Hao, I, Yunxi, swear I will make sure you never return to Cangnan!" Taking a deep breath, Yunxi raised her head to the heavens and made her vow...
Ten minutes later, a completely refreshed Lin Hao walked out from the hot spring. Chu Yanwu was already waiting outside.
"Master," Chu Yanwu said respectfully upon seeing Lin Hao. "Everything you requested has been prepared. I will take you there now."
For some reason, ever since their roles had been reversed, Chu Yanwu felt an inexplicable pressure when facing this young man, whose cultivation level was far below his own.
Just a single glance from the young man was enough to make his heart tremble with fear.
In the past, this would have been completely unimaginable.
And yet, at this moment, Chu Yanwu felt nothing wrong with this situation at all.
If anyone else from Flame Heaven City were to witness this scene, their jaws would surely drop in shock.
Unfortunately, no one knew what was happening inside this mansion.
At this time, led by Chu Yanwu, Lin Hao arrived at a pavilion.
In the center of the pavilion, a large bed had been placed.
Beside the bed were several jars of wine. In front of it hung a partition of sheer gauze, and behind the screen was a zither. At this moment, Yunxi was sitting upright behind it.
The circumstances left her no choice. Though Yunxi hated Lin Hao to death, she had no option but to obey his will.
