"I know I was wrong."
Chongming looked at Dianyu, and a jade token gradually appeared in his palm.
When Yaohua saw this token, her eyes widened in surprise.
"This is a Celestial Realm token. With this, you can pass through the Heavenly Gate. Go to the Cangling Hall first, and they will arrange a place for you."
"Thank you, Your Excellency."
Dianyu left the palace gate. The clan chief and his wife looked at her dejectedly. They didn't retract their gazes until her white figure gradually disappeared on the steps.
"We are really unable to repay Your Excellency's great kindness." Qihua ordered someone to present a treasure box. "This is a string from the Fuji Qin left by our ancestors. It's a humble gift. We hope Your Excellency will accept it."
The string from the Fuji Qin?
It was said that the Fuji Qin belonged to the phoenix ancestor. Back then, with this Qin, she fought against the Nine - Heavens Demons and beheaded 100,000 demon lords on the Wilderness Plain. Unfortunately, after that great battle, the Fuji Qin disappeared without a trace. The ancestor searched for it for several years but failed. She still sighed with regret on her deathbed.
Unexpectedly, the Fuji Qin was scattered everywhere.
Yaohua couldn't help but feel envious.
This was something left by the ancestor!
Chongming, who originally wanted to decline the gift, saw her greedy face and a hint of a smile flashed across his eyes.
"In that case, thank you, Clan Chief."
Chongming accepted the string. Yaohua was already ten years old this year. It was time to prepare her natal weapon.
As soon as Qihua and his wife left, Yaohua immediately rushed over.
"Master, let me have a look. That's the ancestor's weapon!"
She tugged at Chongming's sleeve and almost got into it.
Chongming coughed lightly and smoothed out the wrinkled sleeve. His expression became slightly serious. "What a careless girl!"
But his tone was full of indulgence.
He turned over his hand, and a translucent silver - white string appeared in his palm.
Just one glance made Yaohua's heart tremble. She instantly fell in love with this string.
She subconsciously reached out her hand. Just as she was about to touch it, she suddenly felt a strong pressure. Her breath caught in her throat, and she couldn't help but take a step back.
Seeing her pitiful look of being forced back while looking longingly at the string, Chongming pursed his lips and smiled, then put away the string.
"Your current cultivation is not enough to touch it."
Disappointment almost overflowed from her eyes. Yaohua looked extremely aggrieved.
It was indeed the ancestor's string.
It was really hard to bear the feeling of being able to see but not touch. Yaohua secretly swore that she must work hard on her cultivation and be worthy of this string as soon as possible.
"Master, what did Uncle Qihua say to you just now?" Remembering the important matter, Yaohua temporarily put aside the matter of the string and looked at Chongming curiously.
Master was so generous that he gave Dianyu the token that could allow one to enter and exit the Heavenly Gate at will. There must be something that Qihua and his wife had said to him.
"Qihua said that more than half of the Pheasant Clan members have turned into demons."
How could this be possible?
There were so many people in the Pheasant Clan. If more than half of them had turned into demons, it would be a formidable demon army!
Dianyu had said that the clan chief and his wife had turned into demons, and the seal in her hand was the evidence of the clan chief's demonic cultivation.
"Bad!" Yaohua just realized that although they had saved Dianyu, she hadn't given the seal to Chongming. "Master, Sister Dianyu has that seal with her. What if she is in danger?"
"Yaohua, you should know that she didn't give the seal to me."
Master, who was always calm, had a bottomless look in his eyes. There seemed to be something more in his words.
"Does Master mean that there is something wrong with Sister Dianyu?"
Yaohua asked tentatively, but Master's expression remained normal, showing no signs at all.
She recalled Dianyu's words and deeds, combined with the actions of the clan chief and his wife. Slowly, many doubts rose in her heart.
After nightfall, a cold wind suddenly blew.
Yaohua sneezed violently. Just as she was about to close the window, she suddenly saw Dianyu standing under a tree not far away. She was leaning against the tree trunk, slightly bending down.
Wasn't she supposed to have left? Why did she come back?
Just then, Dianyu turned around. When she saw Yaohua, her eyes seemed to light up, but then they dimmed again.
Yaohua couldn't help but walk over. "Sister Dianyu, why did you come back?"
As soon as she asked, she saw blood oozing from the place where the other girl was covering her waist.
"You're injured!"
As soon as she exclaimed, the smell of blood hit her face. Dianyu covered her mouth. "Go back to the room first."
Yaohua slowly used her spiritual power to heal the wound on her waist. "Sister Dianyu, this wound looks like it was scratched by some claws."
Dianyu was the one that Master had clearly intended to send to the Celestial Realm, and he had even given her the Celestial Realm token. Who on earth dared to hurt her like this?
"Who else could it be?" Dianyu suddenly looked up. There seemed to be a burning fire in her autumn - like pupils. "They pretended to send me away, but they wanted to intercept me on the way and take the seal on me."
"Would they do such a thing?" Yaohua didn't believe it. To thank Master, Qihua had even taken out the string from the Fuji Qin. What good would it do them to intercept Dianyu?
"They want the seal in my hand." Dianyu pursed her lips. "Yaohua, would you be willing to give this to His Excellency Chongming for me?"
Seeing her take out the seal, Yaohua immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe she had thought wrong. Since Dianyu had given this to her, there couldn't be anything wrong with her.
"I will surely live up to your trust."
"In that case, I can rest assured. But the token His Excellency gave me was also snatched away by my father." Dianyu looked sad. "I'm afraid I've let your good intentions down this time."
Everyone in the Celestial Realm only had one Celestial Realm token, and each token had the owner's name on it. It was no small matter that Dianyu had lost Master's token. Yaohua immediately became worried.
"Sister Dianyu, don't be in a hurry. The clan chief won't break into this place without permission. You should rest here first. This thing is of great importance. I'll give it to Master first."
"After I get better, I'll go and plead guilty to His Excellency." Dianyu looked full of shame.
Yaohua rushed into Chongming's room in a hurry.
"Master, something's wrong!"
Chongming had been in meditation. Hearing the sound, he slowly opened his eyes.
He had just been woken up, and there was still a hint of daze in his eyes, like mist lingering on the mountainside. Yaohua stared at him blankly and forgot what she was going to say for a moment.
The mist dissipated, and Chongming rubbed his forehead. "What's the matter?"
Only then did Yaohua come to her senses. She stretched out her hand. "Master, this is what Sister Dianyu just gave me." She paused. "She's injured. She said it was done by the clan chief, and the Celestial Realm token you gave her was also snatched away."
Chongming nodded slightly, like a dragonfly skimming the water. "It doesn't matter."
Saying so, he took the seal. His expression was a bit strange.
Was there something else about this seal?
"Master, is there something abnormal?"
Chongming shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Where is Dianyu now?"
"She's resting in my room." Yaohua hesitated. "Master, should we go and ask the clan chief for the token back?"
Chongming put the seal on the table without touching it. Hearing this, he shook his head. "Just let the token go. It won't cause any trouble anyway."
"But what if someone uses Master's token to sneak into the Celestial Realm?"