northernbook Chapter 332 Autonomous Decision
Chapter 332 Autonomous Decision
"Yunzhen, Yunzhen...are you listening?" Ji Anni asked nervously, clenching the stone.
"I'm listening... Your Majesty..." Yun Zhen finally spoke, "But I really didn't expect that you would tell the emperor the truth so easily. Have you ever thought about it carefully..."
Yun Zhen's tone gradually became serious. Although he had no intention of blaming Ji Anni, Ji Anni felt as if she had been severely reprimanded and felt uncomfortable from head to toe.
"Can't I just say it?" Ji Anni asked nervously, fearing that she would make a big mistake and put Yun Zhen in a difficult position.
Yun Zhen could tell from Ji Anni's worried tone that she was sad. He couldn't bear to make her sad again, so he said, "No, Madam, don't worry. In fact, I have been considering whether we need to find another helper. Because it is really difficult to send you back to your original world with just the strength of the two of us."
Although that helper may not necessarily be the emperor, things have come to this point. Instead of blaming Ji Anni for her recklessness, it is better to go with the flow.
"Yun Zhen, the emperor is on his way to the Xianke Pavilion. He probably wants to ask you for a way to rescue Zhao Ji."
Yun Zhen was not surprised at all and said calmly, "I understand."
Since the emperor already knew that Ji Anni had possessed Zhao Ji's body, he would definitely come to ask for clarification from Yun Zhen, one of the "culprits". Although Yun Zhen himself did not know the reason why Ji Anni traveled through time and Zhao Ji's specific whereabouts, he had to convince the emperor that he could save Zhao Ji. If the emperor felt that he was helpless in this matter, he would most likely seek help from the powerful Taoist Yuan Rong.
"Yun Zhen, there is one more thing I must tell you. Do you remember the cave in the forest outside the White Tiger Gate?"
This happened ten days ago. At that time, Ji Anni was abducted by Yan Niang. Yun Zhen and Taoist Yuan Rong chased to the mysterious cave, but were blocked outside by a golden seal of the Ghost King and could not get in. Finally, the cave collapsed, and when Ji Anni was about to be injured by the rubble, Yun Zhen suddenly broke through the seal of the Ghost King, came to Ji Anni's side, and protected Ji Anni's safety.
"Yun Zhen... The fox demon who kidnapped me was Yan Niang, and Yan Niang was a friend of the Fox Demon Goddess in the Demon Temple. The cave with the golden seal is where the Ghost King sleeps. And the Ghost King is the lover of the Fox Demon Goddess Xue Lan. The reason he sealed himself up was to wait for Xue Lan to return to him one day. The demonic aura of Xue Lan when her demon power awakens is the key to unlocking the seal of the Ghost King. But Xue Lan was ordered to be killed by Taizu decades ago, so the Ghost King has never woken up. But... but Xue Lan's descendants have returned to this palace."
Having said this, Ji Anni paused for a moment. She couldn't imagine what terrible things would happen in the future.
After entering the palace, the demonic aura of Zhao Ji and Prince Ming seemed to be gradually awakening. If one day they inherited Xue Lan's demonic power and truly transformed into fox demons, wouldn't the Ghost King wake up from his slumber?
"My Lady, what do you want to say? Who are Xue Lan's descendants?" Hearing this, Yun Zhen's nerves were tense. Even if Ji Anni didn't say anything, he could guess what was going to happen next.
"Yun Zhen..." Ji Anni took a deep breath and said word by word, "Xue Lan's descendant is Zhao Ji. Zhao Ji is the third generation fox demon, and Prince Ming is the fourth generation fox demon. That night when you almost unlocked the seal of the Demon Temple, Prince Ming and I both underwent changes in our bodies. If the seal of the Demon Temple was really unlocked by you, would Xue Lan's demonic power awaken in me or Prince Ming?"
This was what Ji Anni was most afraid of. She tried to say this in the clearest voice possible, and then quietly waited for Yun Zhen's reaction.
The other side of the sound stone was very quiet, so quiet that it seemed as if Yun Zhen had disappeared.
After the truth about Zhao Ji's life story was revealed, Yun Zhen finally connected several clues about the demon fox in the palace. Before this, although Yun Zhen himself had guessed that Zhao Ji was a demon, he did not expect that a little demon far away in Qi State would have such a deep relationship with the palace of Tianyou Holy Dynasty.
Recalling what he had seen and heard in the Ghost King's cave, he suddenly remembered what Taoist Yuan Rong had said. Taoist Yuan Rong had once said that to deal with the Ghost King, one needed to rely on the power of a fox demon.
Taoist Yuan Rong seemed to want to subdue this fox demon and use it as his shikigami to deal with the Ghost King.
Could it be that this fox demon that is said to be able to subdue the Ghost King... is the Fox Goddess who is sealed in the Demon Temple?
The mystery gradually became clear, and Ji Anni's words suddenly dispelled the thick fog that had previously blocked Yun Zhen's eyes.
Why did Yan Niang prevent Zhao Ji from entering the palace, why did Zhao Ji transform in the Demon-Suppressing Temple, why did Prince Ming suddenly become anorexic... Yun Zhen understood everything.
"Yun Zhen, I'm really scared... so scared..." Ji Anni's eyes felt sour, and she said in a trembling voice, "Prince Ming ate a snake the night before yesterday... Can you imagine? He bit a poisonous snake that crawled in from the window in his mouth until it died, and then he tore off the snake meat bit by bit and chewed it into pieces. It was really scary..."
Whenever Ji Annie recalled the terrible scene the night before, she was still frightened. She really didn't want to think about Prince Ming's golden eyes shining in the dark and his terrifying mouth stained with blood.
"Eat snakes?..." Yun Zhen murmured these two words, and his heartbeat suddenly quickened, proving that he could no longer maintain his previous calmness.
Eating snakes... Eating raw food, so this is the reason why Prince Ming has anorexia. It seems that the power of the fox sealed in the demon-suppressing temple has a much greater impact on Prince Ming than on Zhao Ji.
If Prince Ming's demonic power is not sealed quickly, he will probably find it difficult to maintain his human form.
"Yun Zhen, what should we do now? Even the rosary you gave to Prince Ming can no longer suppress the demonic power that has awakened in him... I'm afraid, I'm afraid that he will really become a man-eating monster... Yun Zhen, Furong told me that the reason why Xue Lan was ordered to be executed by Taizu was not only because Xue Lan was a fox demon, but also because she was responsible for several lives. Xue Lan is a... a man-eating fox demon. Yun Zhen, I don't want Prince Ming to become a man-eating monster..."
At this point, Ji Anni couldn't hold back any longer and sobbed. The salty tears slid down her cheeks and into her mouth. Only she could taste the bitterness and pain in them.
"My queen, don't be afraid first..." Yun Zhen only hated that he was not by Ji Anni's side and could not help her wipe away her tears. "Prince Ming will be fine, Prince Ming will be fine. As long as he is not allowed to get close to the Demon Suppression Temple, as long as the seal of the Demon Suppression Temple is not truly unlocked by me, the demon power in Prince Ming's body will not be fully awakened. My queen, believe me, the demon energy leaked from the Demon Suppression Temple has gradually dissipated, and as the demon energy dissipates, the various changes in Prince Ming's body will also disappear. My queen, aren't you the best proof? Haven't you returned to normal now and no longer revealed your original form? ... Prince Ming is still young, and it will take a little longer for him to fully recover than you, but as long as he doesn't get close to the Demon Suppression Temple, his changes will definitely not worsen..."
"As long as you don't get close to the Demon-Suppressing Temple..." Ji Anni repeated Yun Zhen's words in a low voice, as if she had realized something.
Now, the Demon Suppression Temple was simply a terrifying forbidden area and a death trap for her. Not only did she not dare to approach it, but even hearing the three words "Demon Suppression Temple" made her tremble with fear.
"My queen, I promise you that I will never touch the seal of the Demon-Suppressing Temple, okay?" Yun Zhen solemnly swore to Ji Annie.
“Yun Zhen, shouldn’t we tell Prince Ming that he is the descendant of a fox demon? Tell him about the harm that the Demon Suppression Temple may bring to him, and let him restrain himself and be more vigilant… Otherwise, I’m afraid that I will be careless, and I’m afraid that he will sneak up to the Demon Suppression Temple without me knowing…”
Ji Anni felt that Prince Ming was a sensible child who knew how to protect himself. If he knew that the Demon Temple would make the demon blood in his body boil, he would never go near it again.
"Your Majesty, this matter is up to you to decide. No matter what decision you make, I will protect you and Prince Ming with my life."
Yun Zhen's unconditional support gave Ji Anni new strength. Her previous anxiety and fear gradually dissipated with Yun Zhen's words.
She understood that the reason why Yun Zhen gave her the right to make her own decisions was to avoid causing her any psychological pressure and allow her to act according to her own ideas.
Yun really wanted to use this method to make up for the mistake of half-forcing and half-bewitching Ji Anni into entering the palace.
The reason why he brought Ji Anni into the palace was not to help her return home, but to complete his mission and find the monster lurking in the palace. To put it bluntly, he was only fulfilling his duties as a national teacher, not to help Ji Anni return to her family. However, as he got to know Ji Anni better, he gradually regretted his decision to bring Ji Anni into the palace.
Whenever he saw Ji Anni sad, he felt that he had hurt her badly. If he had not brought her into the palace, she would not have shed so many tears.
If he had known that the reason Yan Niang prevented Zhao Ji from returning to the palace was not to murder anyone but to avoid disaster, he would never have brought Zhao Ji into the palace.
It was precisely because Zhao Ji, who should not have entered the palace, entered the palace that the Demon Temple, the fox demon, the ghost king, the mutation, everything, all unfolded and rolled up a vortex...
After careful investigation, he suddenly realized: It turned out that Yan Niang was kind-hearted, and his rash behavior of bringing Zhao Ji into the palace was the real cause of all these disasters.