137. Peach, Plum, And Pear
.
The case of the missing Peach was met with skepticism at first.
"Didn't the Feng family eat their words the last time?"
"Dui! They even apologized to the Yan family! How shameful!"
"Why are they making noise again?"
However, people began to waver after Feng Yuexia, their future empress, knelt in tears before the Sky Emperor.
"It wasn't a 'Millennia old' Peach at all -! Mother and I simply called it that, because it was immensely powerful... That peach-!" She bowed her head to the floor.
"I poured most of my essence into it! It was cultivated by me as a gift for my future child... The future prince!" She sobbed tearfully before Tianlong and the Sky Emperor. "I don't want to harm my cousin, but she has swallowed something so precious!"
Indeed after searching the Magpie records, there was no longer any mention of the Millennia Peach, and the records now held mention of a peach which had appeared two hundred years ago, placed in the treasury by Feng Yuexia.
All this led everyone to believe this Peach was the source of Yan Liwei's brilliant appearance, unnatural aura, and sudden power, leading to hateful reprimands from most of Sky Realm.
However, the Sky Emperor still refused to act against Yan Liwei or the Yan family.
"What you've presented is an accusation." He coldly informed the Feng family. "Provide clear evidence, or do not offend the Yan family any longer!!"
The Feng family slinked away in anger.
But part of their aim had been achieved.
Most immortals believed the accusations, deciding that the Sky Emperor was playing favourites, sparing Yan Liwei because of his fondness for Yin Xiaolong.
Meanwhile, a few prominent female immortals who had failed in past attempts to trap Yin Xiaolong, were using this as a way to blacken Yan Liwei's name, and were even seeking her out to make her pay.
Which greatly enraged Bailong... nearly beyond reason.
"Hao. They really won't cry until they see the coffin." He scowled. "Since the feng family insists on being shameless, then I can only act accordingly!"
The Sky Emperor's words protected Liwei from outright harm, but that did not mean immortals wouldn't secretly try to harm her...
So Bailong tried convincing Liwei to hide on Mount Caoyang, the mountain he had bought.
The mountain held many dangers, but at the top, he had built a small paradise, adding his own traps and arrays along the mountain.
"The Fox Queen and Princess are quite powerful, and I've offended them in the past." He told Liwei. "They are one of those fanning the flames right now and might harm you to get at me, so hide there for now..."
But Liwei shook her head. "Caoyang is the marital home you've prepared for us, right?" She smiled at the slight reddening of his ears. "I won't let them turn such a precious place into a cage!
"So let them come... I was just thinking things have been too peaceful to test my techniques!"
"Hao!" Bailong grinned.
Given Liwei's progress, most attackers should indeed be the ones worried! And as for the Fox Queen and Princess, he had long planted a seal to alert him if Liwei was in any mortal danger.
"Weiwei, you can go as crazy as you want during this time!" He said, tugging her into a hug. "It doesn't matter who you offend... The Sky Emperor and I will take care of them!"
"Uhm!" Liwei nodded against his chest, sincerely taking his words to heart...
...because within the next two years, several powerful immortals indeed sought Liwei out to make trouble, assuming she was still the trash of the Yan family.
But each ended up leaving bruised and battered, with a clear lesson:
"Immortal Yan Liwei is not to be trifled with!"
This only grew Yan Liwei's own popularity as some of her defeated opponents were close to Grand Immortal level (Universal tier)! This meant she had long crossed into the Saint tier, silently becoming a High Immortal, and was already approaching the Universal Tier!
Meanwhile, Bailong returned to Sky Palace, expecting Tianlong's annoyance or disapproval.
But surprisingly, he was greeted with several gourds of Berry wine!
"Heh, I love A-Xia (Feng Yuexia), but I'm not without reason!" Tianlong had said, handing him a gourd. "Father is not wrong... There is no evidence, so I won't blindly take A-Xia's side in this, and nor will I persecute Yan Liwei in any way."
Assured by Tianlong's words, Bailong poured himself into work.
To all, he had resumed his life without further mention of Liwei, but before the year ran out, something amusing happened...
It was revealed that the plum Bailong and Fei Yun had stolen to heal Tianlong, had been buried directly beneath a beautiful golden tree which held a tiny bit of the late Empress's essence.
Unknown to the friends, the plum had been feeding the tree's roots, making it bloom golden, and the Emperor often went there to ponder, spending endless days in his late wife's presence.
Imagine his rage when he discovered the beautiful golden tree was now a regular tree, slowly withering from the sudden absence of the plum.
He had upturned almost all of Central Sky Realm to find the culprit, making immortals wonder what this plum was, but then Fei Yun's old Jade token was found there in the garden...
The Sky Emperor flew into a rage, demanding answers, and Bailong quickly claimed responsibility as promised.
But Tianlong quickly jumped in. "Father! It was me! It was the plum that healed me!"
"No! It was me!" Fei Yun jumped in as well. "Isn't that my jade token?! I lost it after the plum was stolen!"
"Heh!" Bailong jumped back in. "Who else but me can find and unearth such a precious fruit?!"
The three bounced it between themselves, only further enraging an already emotional Sky Emperor, and in the end, he had used a lightning whip to flay them all to an inch of their lives, leaving them with injuries that healed only after a year of bed rest and recovery!
Forlorn, the Emperor had returned to the tree, intending to feed it his own essence, but he was startled to find it golden again!
Upon further inspections, he found a formation which gathered natural yin energy into the ground, feeding the tree's roots. Someone had clearly placed this formation here after the plum was stolen, which explained why the tree hadn't withered until recently.
But that sly individual had likely tampered with the formation so it would halt feeding the tree, making it temporarily wither.
Andthen that same fiend had likely placed a certain token there as well...
The Sky Emperor fisted his hands in mild annoyance. He could only think of one person with such ability...
"Yin Xiaolong! So you always knew what the plum was guarding!!"
.
.
A year later...
Once the dust had settled, once the Sky Emperor's rage had simmered down, once he was calm enough to realize that the gains far outweighed the losses, and his son Tianlong was now being praised as a shining genius...
Only then did Bailong dare show his face in Sky Palace!
"Sky Emperor!"
Bailong clasped his fists, thumbs linked, and bowed deeply.
The Sky Emperor merely lifted an eyebrow. "Hmph. You knew very well what that plum was guarding. Do you deny it?"
"To deny it would be foolish," Bailong replied smoothly, bowing again.
"You are wise above all others. Please forgive me... I borrowed your hand to expose the plum's existence and its true power. If I acted alone, no one would have taken it seriously. But if the Sky Emperor nearly overturns Sky Realm for it...? No one would doubt its importance!"
"You-!"
"I'm sorry! I underestimated how furious it would make you. If I had known, I would have approached you directly."
The Sky Emperor let out a long sigh. "I can guess your intentions. That plum is related to the Millennia Peach, is it not? You wanted the world to know that the Peach was not something Feng Yuexia could create. You also wanted to clear Yan Liwei's name.
But how could you go so far as to hurt your own friends to achieve this?"
Bailong bowed once more. "That was never my intention."
He hesitated, then continued, "During my recent investigations, I discovered several more immortals carrying the strange reversal token."
"Before the incident, I found nearly thirty such tokens within the Floral Realm and the Bird Clan alone." Bailong sighed. "That discovery made me question how A-Yun - Fei Yun - and I first met, especially since he is connected to both clans."
The Sky Emperor narrowed his eyes. "So you planted his token there?"
"No," Bailong shook his head. "I returned it.
"He truly did leave it behind. I merely found it very quickly. I wanted to test his loyalty, and see whether he would step forward if I claimed responsibility, and I already knew A-Tian would intervene... but I miscalculated." He shot the Sky Emperor a repentant look.
"I- I didn't think you'd still go so far if A-Tian intervened!!"
"You-!" The Sky Emperor slammed his sleeve.
"Ehehe, forgive me, forgive me!" Bailong bowed repeatedly, then straightened and extended his hand. "To make amends, I offer you an old document. It should help you resolve a long-standing problem."
A scroll appeared in his palm and drifted gently toward the Sky Emperor.
The scroll bore the seal of the Previous Emperor. With a wave of his hand, the Sky Emperor unrolled it, and lines of golden script - written in his father's own hand - rose into the air between them.
The scroll recorded three fruits.
A Peach. A Plum. A Pear.
Three immensely powerful fruits, all born from the same ancient tree, each over a millennia old.
The Previous Sky Emperor had kept the Plum for himself - the very same plum Bailong and Fei Yun had stolen.
He had given the Pear to the War Hall shortly after the Demon King fell, to replenish Sky Realm's military strength.
And because a Golden Phoenix was predicted to be born within the Bird Clan, the Peach had been sent as a gift to secure their loyalty!
Zhurong Haotian, current Sky Emperor of Sky Realm, sent Bailong an impressed look.
"Hao! You've found clear evidence of the Feng family's lies!" With the scroll, the real Peach's existence was proven, tying its origin directly to the plum and pear, and since he himself had made such a grand deal over the plum, no one would doubt the power and importance of all three fruits!
Bailong simply beamed at him, his dimples flashing.
He had long suspected that the Sky Emperor's plum shared the same origin as the Peach. But the Feng family had destroyed all library records related to the Millennia Peach.
So Bailong had turned to the sealed archives instead...
The scroll sat unnoticed in the archives for endless years, but with his divine eye appraisal system, he located every single mention of the word 'peach' or 'plum', and had found it!
The Sky Emperor wore the most satisfied smile Bailong had ever seen on him, as this document would indeed help him vent against the Feng family!
The tiny document held immense power...
First, the Magpie King, who also bore the strange token, would have to explain why this gifted Peach was absent from both their ledgers and the Bird Treasury.
Second, if Feng Yuexia claimed to have created the only Peach on record, then the Feng family and the Magpies would have to produce the real Millennia Peach.
Most importantly, now that it was known all three fruits came from the same source, Tianlong's or the War Deity's auras could be used to trace who had consumed the Peach!
Bailong smirked. 'Hmph. They should have stayed still when they had the chance!'
.