188 Spirit Rhinoceros
From a few years ago, when Lin Ran went to see the empress as the winner of the Martial Arts Examination, he had known the empress for a few years.
Although the two of them did not interact much over the years, the two of them had been fighting side by side recently and had some understanding of each other.
Lin Ran knew that as the emperor of a country, the empress must have a lot of secrets that she couldn’t tell outsiders, so if she didn’t want to tell him, he naturally wouldn’t ask.
However, the situation this time was different. The empress insisted on entering the enemy’s territory. If anything happened, it would threaten the entire Heavenly Saint Dynasty!
Thinking of this, Lin Ran’s expression suddenly turned serious. He stared at the empress and asked in a low voice, “You know what the consequences of this will be, so I won’t waste my breath on that. Tell me, what’s your goal?”
!!
The empress still didn’t speak, so Lin Ran didn’t ask further. He flashed close and reached out to hold the empress’s hand. “If you don’t want to talk, don’t. I’ll send you back to the palace.”
“How dare you! Lin Ran, how dare you!”
The empress scolded, but her dignity as an emperor seemed to have lost its effect on Lin Ran. After saying that, she was pulled down from the pillar.
“Lin Ran! I’m not going back!”
The empress shouted and struggled with all her might, but she was too busy worrying about state affairs to cultivate. How could she be Lin Ran’s match?
Soon, Lin Ran escorted the empress to the door with one hand. Then, with a flash of white light, the black and white Yin-Yang Sword appeared in his hand. “This is your last chance. Are you going to tell me or not?”
“Lin Ran! You bastard!”
The empress gritted her teeth and cursed with a sobbing voice, “I’m the emperor! How can you treat me like this?!”
“This is for your own good.”
Lin Ran replied indifferently. As he spoke, he raised his hand and threw out the Yin-Yang Sword, preparing to set off on his sword.
When the empress saw the Yin-Yang Sword, she panicked. Her expression changed and she hurriedly shouted, “I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you!”
Clang—
The Yin-Yang Sword fell to the ground with a crisp sound. Lin Ran raised his hand and put it away. Then, he let go of the empress and said calmly, “Why didn’t you cooperate earlier? Tell me, what do you want?”
The empress staggered a few steps back and calmed down after walking away from the door. She glanced at Lin Ran and said with a dark expression, “Lin Ran, do you know you’re a bastard?!”
“My pleasure.”
Lin Ran pressed his right hand on his left shoulder and bowed with a cheeky smile. Then, the smile on his face suddenly disappeared. “Don’t waste time. Tell me or leave.”
The empress glared at Lin Ran again, then gritted her teeth and replied softly, “I’m going to look for my mother.”
“Mother?”
Lin Ran was stunned. He didn’t know much about the members of the royal family. He only knew that the empress’s mother seemed to be a general and was the only female general in the army since the establishment of the Heavenly Saint Dynasty.
The empress rubbed her red and swollen wrist and nodded. Her eyes were slightly red. It was unknown if it was because of the pain or if it was because her mother reminded her of something.
Seeing the empress like this, Lin Ran’s tone softened. “What happened to your mother? Was she kidnapped by someone from the Great Yong Dynasty?”
“I don’t know.”
The empress shook her head and looked past the door at the distant city wall. There was a hint of sadness in her eyes. “Back then, when the Great Yong Dynasty started the war, the Northern Garrison was forced to retreat. At the critical moment, Mother was ordered to lead troops to resist.”
“That war lasted for a full three months. In the end, the Great Yong Dynasty was defeated. The border of the Heavenly Saint Dynasty extended 300 miles north. This city wall was completed after that war, but when the soldiers returned victorious, my mother was nowhere to be seen.”
Lin Ran’s heart softened. He tried his best to comfort the empress. “Blades don’t show any mercy. This is unavoidable…”
“No, my mother is still alive. I have evidence.”
As the empress spoke, she reached into her pocket and took out a green jade hairpin. The surface of the hairpin was smooth. The entire hairpin was simple and elegant, and there was only a small iris carved at the end.
Lin Ran narrowed his eyes. “Is this the one I brought out of the secret area?”
The empress nodded slightly and gently stroked the hairpin with her fingertips as she introduced, “This hairpin is called the Spirit Rhinoceros. It looks like it’s made of jade, but it’s actually made of a beast horn called the Spirit Rhinoceros.”
“Spirit Rhinoceros always appears in pairs. If one dies, the other won’t survive either. People use their rhinoceros horns to make hairpins. The man and woman in love will each take one to show their loyalty.”
Lin Ran stroked his chin thoughtfully. “It sounds quite romantic, but it’s cruel to the Spirit Rhinoceros.”
The empress took a deep breath and did not reply. She paused for a moment before continuing, “The process of making a spiritual rhinoceros is extremely cruel. First, you have to capture a pair of adult Spirit Rhinoceros and tie them up face to face. Then, you have to kill them in the cruelest way.”
“After seeing their loved ones being killed with their own eyes, the resentment of the rhinoceros will invade the rhinoceros horn and make it into a rhinoceros hairpin.”
Lin Ran was speechless. Then, he smacked his lips with a complicated expression. “I don’t think it’s that romantic anymore.”
“I think so too.”
The empress nodded in agreement. “Because the process is too cruel, the Heavenly Saint Dynasty prohibited this hundreds of years ago.”
“This pair of rhinoceros was offered by an antique merchant. It might be the last pair of Spirit Rhinoceros in the Heavenly Saint Dynasty. The late emperor liked them very much, so he gave one to my mother. As for the other pair, it went missing after the late emperor died. Later, I found out that the late emperor might have personally taken it to the secret place before he died.”
Lin Ran asked, “You’ve already tried to contact your mother with it?”
“Yeah.”
The empress nodded and paused for a moment before continuing, “However, there are side effects to using the Spirit Rhinoceros. Because you have to completely immerse your mind in it, it’s very easy to be affected by resentment.”
“I’m afraid this is the real reason why the making of Spirit Rhinoceros is forbidden, right?”
Lin Ran sneered and mocked. Suddenly, his expression changed as he looked at the empress and probed, “When I was still in the secret place, you said that you used a very dangerous method to contact me… Did you use Spirit Rhinoceros?”
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