145. Bitter Disappointment
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By nightfall, Bailong had taken Liwei back to Four Petal Garden and began a desperate attempt to force the black aura from her.
Herb after herb, pill after pill, and tonic after tonic... Liwei responded to none, and even the Pill which usually slowed the Black Aura's spread, was decimated with no effect.
All new attempts with Bailong's qi needles, or even his own aura were blocked by her natural phoenix defense.
Of course he couldn't use the Sunfire technique, because the owner of those flames was now the victim before him, and even if he could draw out her flames, they were now blacker than night.
The only way to control Liwei at all was to use his seal on her, shooting a jet of his own aura through her, but all that did was render her unconscious.
Too many eyes had witnessed Liwei's possession however, and with the fear over the Demon King's return, it wasn't long before Tianlong was pressured into summoning Yan Liwei to Sky Palace for observation.
In a desperate move, Bailong remembered how the War deity had drawn in and trapped the aura within himself...
This idea led Bailong to invent the Tri-Moon Formation... A powerful seal which could trap and hide anything from aura, to a being, or any item, erasing its trace completely.
...the same seal the Light Tiger would eventually use to hide her cub in a game of fate...
Bailong used this seal to trap and hide the Black Aura within Liwei, making it impossible for anyone to find. But powerful as the seal was, it was unstable, and the Black aura kept revealing the seal in its attempt to burst free.
And this is what made Bailong implant his own dragon pearl within Liwei to stabilize and reinforce the seal, erasing its trace completely.
Liwei awakened back to normal, and after Bailong explained the situation to her, she walked boldly into the Sky Throne Room, where all the deities and multiple Immortals waited to study her for any signs of the Black Aura.
But no sign could be found and she was released.
However, the peace did last out a single day.
It was clear that Yan Liwei had certainly been possessed by the Black Aura the previous day.
A full day had not passed, and yet the Black Aura was simply gone...?
More than a few Immortals believed Yan Liwei was still possessed, and were convinced that Bailong had hidden it in some way.
"Don't forget, he is the master of seals and formations!"
"First the snake clan, and now this -?! He's breeding demons!"
To worsen the situation, several others were seeing this as proof that Bailong had orchestrated the entire plague.
"Oh, now he suddenly remembers how to cure the Black Aura?!"
"He cured it in under a day!"
"I'm telling you, all this was deliberate from the start!"
Tianlong, though still a bit annoyed with Bailong, wasn't willing to take any serious action against him.
But with fear running rampant over the Demon King, most of the deities and immortals could no longer simply ignore these strings of rumours, and for once, even some circle members weren't sure whether to trust Bailong or Liwei.
Simply put, no one was willing to take chances, and it was being asked,
"Isn't it better to wrong one person, than to cast the entire world into darkness...?"
Bailong could read these changing tides and waves, so he quickly sought out Tianlong to explain.
But the Immortals now surrounding Tianlong had foreseen this.
"Your Majesty, you must not meet High Grand Immortal Yin alone!"
"Who is to say what would happen?!"
Fei Yun indignantly put them down. "Hao. A lot of you here wouldn't even dare speak in his presence, but you're saying so much now!" He turned to Tianlong.
"A-Tian, I'm sure I don't need to tell you, but A-Bai would NEVER harm you!"
However, the immortals easily turned Fei Yun's words against him.
"You yourself know High Grand Immortal Yin is well-feared... Isn't that because he holds immense power!"
"He could topple the Emperor without too much effort!"
"And besides, wouldn't everyone say you're playing favourites if you meet him now?!"
"How long will you let your reputation as the Sky Emperor be harmed by his actions?!"
Surprisingly, the Sky Empress appeared and spoke up for Bailong.
"It's a misunderstanding... I'm sure we're all misunderstanding High Grand Immortal Yin!" She was now heavily pregnant and waddled over to Tianlong's side with a desperate look in her eye.
"A-Tian, I think you should meet him!"
But Tianlong simply took her hand. "My dear, don't strain yourself so much!" Because of her past actions, Tianlong was convinced that Yuexia was only defending Bailong for his sake, and he said,
"Come, sit! Don't force yourself to defend that fellow... Of course I'll try to protect him, but the immortals are indeed making sense... It isn't just about my safety. Meeting him will indeed seem like favouritism.
"As the Sky Emperor, there is too much weight on my decisions and I can't play favourites! At this point, I won't meet him alone!"
"Right! Better safe than sorry!" One said.
"And besides, who even knows how High Grand Immortal Yin would act, now that his beloved wife is involved?!"
"Exactly! Won't he upturn Sky Realm for her sake...?!"
And so, Bailong's request to meet Tianlong was refused.
But with pressure mounting from the Immortals, Tianlong eventually summoned Bailong before the council of deities and Immortals to explain himself.
"High Grand Immortal Yin." One of the elder immortals began. "You are accused of harbouring treasonous intent, and breeding demonized individuals... Most of us know you, so we are convinced this is some mistake.
"But too much is at stake, and we must wrong you like this. What do you have to say?"
Bailong simply bowed in Tianlong's direction. "Sky Emperor." He addressed, and Tianlong scowled.
~"What did you expect?!"~ Fei Yun privately admonished. ~"You refused to see him and summoned him here like this. Besides, a familiar address might rile these people up and put you in a difficult spot. Even after everything, he's still considering your position."~
Tianlong let out a sigh, a sad expression briefly crossing his face.
"I don't know what it is I have done to be summoned like this." Bailong was saying. "I harbour no treasonous thoughts, and nor do I 'breed demonized individuals'."
"Hmph!" Grand Immortal Jin scoffed. "Do you deny that Immortal Yan Liwei, your wife, is possessed by the Black Aura?!"
"Yes! Admit it!" One of his followers yelled.
Bailong raised a brow. "The Black aura within Yan Liwei is gone. Wasn't she tested by you yourselves?"
"Nonsense! Who knows how you've hidden it!!" Another follower accused.
"And besides, are you admitting you always knew how to cure the plague?!"
Bailong's brows furrowed, but he maintained his calm. "It's almost amusing seeing you all scurry to find faults, but I won't accept such blatant injustice.
"The only reason I could eliminate the Black Aura this time is because I sacrificed my own dragon pearl to Yan Liwei!" He held out his wrist. "Come. You can check and see if my pearl is still within me. Then you can also confirm whether it's within Yan Liwei or not!"
"Hmph! How can we take your word for it?!"
"Forgive my saying, but that doesn't prove anything!"
"Exactly! How do we know if you didn't simply hand her your Pearl!"
"Yes, yes yes! Don't use your romantic acts to blind us here!"
"Exactly! First, the black aura swirls around Caoyang, a place where you're hiding the previous plague deity and breeding your snake army! And then your own wife is demonized!"
"The only way to prove anything before us all is to hand Immortal Yan Liwei and the entire Snake Clan over to us for a set time!"
"Right! That way, we would be able to study them over time, ensuring there is indeed no demon aura within them!"
Bailong's eyes narrowed to near slits, but Grand Immortal Jin quickly held up a hand.
"Please understand, High Grand Immortal Yin..." Grand Immortal Jin began. "It's not that we want to persecute you... It's just- with the Demon King's rise, we cannot be too careful!
"Don't worry, we'll take very good care of your wife and snake underlings..." He added with a sly, barely concealed smile which hid sharp nails within its depths. "So hand them over! Lest we think this 'Demon King' affair has something to do with you directly!"
Bailong could instantly sense the silent threat in Immortal Jin's words, and he was somehow certain he wouldn't ever see Liwei again if he made the mistake of handing her to this den of wolves!
But as usual, all Immortal Jin's followers rallied behind him, their faces wearing slightly evil smirks. And with the fear and uncertainty, the others, once on Bailong's side, turned away in discomfort.
The older ones like Old man Bao, had taken a back seat after Tianlong rose to the throne, and Immortal Kai Zhen and the War deity who would surely have been on Bailong's side, were somehow absent.
It was a trap from the start.
If he handed over Liwei and the Snake clan, they would torture her and every last one of them to control him, or they might even directly kill Liwei knowing it would shatter him.
And if he refused to hand then over, then he was a traitor, ignoring friendship and going against the Sky throne.
But knowing this didn't help his situation, and even if the world fell, he could never hand Liwei over to them, and nor would he abandon the innocent...
So he turned to Tianlong as a final hope.
~"A-Tian, do you also think I should hand Weiwei over to them...?"~
A silent moment passed in which a hurt expression crossed Tianlong's face.
But in a heartbreaking moment, he turned away from Bailong. ~"There's nothing I can do at this point... You've made too many enemies! However, I can promise to watch over Immortal Yan if you hand her over!"~
Fei Yun could guess the exchange between them, and he stepped forward, perhaps to say something.
But Tianlong shot him a warning look, making him fall silent.
Bailong wasn't sure what he expected, but it certainly wasn't this cold dismissal.
~"Hao. I'll pretend I fought all these enemies for myself..."~ He said, gritting his teeth against the bitter disappointment.
~"A-Bai! Please don't do anything you might regret!"~ Fei Yun implored, but Bailong simply straightened.
"You all seem to have decided I'm guilty in your hearts, so shouldn't you work hard to prove it? Or at least accuse me directly...? There's no need to lay down innocents on your path to reach me!
"Hmph!" He flung his sleeve, folding an arm behind his back. "I'd like to see who amongst you can make me hand innocent ones over to them!"
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