When they finally arrived at the Scribe's palace Xin Lan went up to the guards to announce their arrival. Qiu Ling watched him curiously. He had only ever experienced Xin Lan's stony or condescending side. Seeing him so formal was kind of strange. Had he been like that when he was on official duty for the old geezer? Truly too astounding! Well, he didn't care as long as this got him some help with freeing his beloved.
Qiu Ling silently followed behind when the guard led them to the study of the Fate's Scribe. Maybe it would work if he let Xin Lan do the talking? After all, it wasn't him asking then …
Shun Tao looked up from the scroll of fate in his hands. Seeing Xin Lan his expression lit up and he even got up to greet him. "Senior Xin! What a nice sur—" He froze when he saw the person trailing behind Xin Lan and the delight on his face immediately vanished. "Longjun, you've come, too."
"Mn." Qiu Ling smiled but didn't say anything. He'd really like to see just how that Xin Lan would get the Fate's Scribe to help them.
Shun Tao sighed and turned back to Xin Lan. "Senior Xin, you wouldn't have come here on behalf of Longjun to ask for my help, would you? In regard to the issue with the ascended deity, I can't help. This concerns the future of our race. I can't arbitrarily do something that might bring harm to us."
Xin Lan nodded. "I understand. The Fate's Scribe doesn't need to worry. I haven't come here for that. Might you have some time to listen?"
"Sure. Why don't you take a seat?" Shun Tao hurriedly motioned at the chair in front of his desk and then looked at Qiu Ling. This person was troublesome but he was the dragon king, after all, the leader of their ally against the demons. Shouldn't he offer him a seat too?
Shun Tao suppressed a sigh and went to the door, waving a servant over to get another chair before he returned to the study. "I'm sorry for letting you wait. I wasn't expecting any visitors today."
"Don't worry. I know I came at quite the inopportune time." Xin Lan's gaze brushed Qiu Ling's figure but he didn't say anything about him. "This is important though so I couldn't wait."
"Then please don't hold back. Just tell me what it is you need from me. If it's something I'm able to do, then I'll naturally help you."
Qiu Ling looked from Shun Tao to Xin Lan and back. Whoa! Was this the advantage of being old? While he was rudely complimented out Xin Lan was asked to stay and talk about his troubles? This was so unfair! This guy was just some old dragon while he was the son-in-law of the Heavenly Emperor! Shouldn't the gods want to help him instead?
Qiu Ling grumbled a bit but Xin Lan ignored him.
"This is a bit tricky. You might know that I haven't been in the dragon realm for several thousand years."
"Indeed. Many actually wondered if … maybe something might have happened to Senior Xin."
"Mn. There was nothing that could be done about that. The past years I've been working on a mission the … previous king gave me."
"Longjun … Jinde?" Shun Tao blinked. He wasn't that old yet and the previous dragon king was someone he hadn't actually seen. Not in person, at least. Considering how popular he had been back then there naturally were a lot of depictions of him still circling around.
Xin Lan nodded. "Yes. I'm not at liberty to say too much about the content of that mission but it has to do with the demon realm. It seems like demon king Jian Heng had some longterm plans and since the current demon king is his son it is quite possible that he might be continuing these plans. His recent actions are quite worrying if one considers this backstory."
"That …" Shun Tao's lips moved but no sound came out. He really didn't know how to answer this. "Shouldn't you rather talk with the Heavenly Emperor about this?"
"Mn. I'll do that. That is also why I asked the current Longjun to assist me with this. But first of all, we need some more tangible information. I happened upon some clue recently that might answer a lot of questions but I wasn't able to follow it any further. This is where I think the Fate's Scribe might be able to help us."
"What might that clue be?"
"A person of mixed descent. Human, god, and demon. As far as I have been able to find out that person was part of a human sect that is known as the Hei Dian Sect today." He glanced at Qiu Ling meaningfully.
Qiu Ling straightened up. He certainly wouldn't have thought that Xin Lan's great plan was to spew a lot of nonsense in front of the Fate's Scribe to find out what he wanted. Thinking about it, it made a lot of sense though. Why else would that guy help them? Well, he didn't mind as long as he could free Jing He.
"Uh, since I was in the Hei Dian Sect before I know a bit. Their current Grandmaster is that bastard's uncle but he's not really on good terms with him. He said that person was some ancestor of theirs from ancient times." He stopped talking and got himself a dissatisfied look from Xin Lan.
What? He had said everything he knew! Why was this guy still not content?
Shun Tao looked back at Xin Lan. "So, Senior Xin wants me to …"
"To have a look at your scrolls of fate. That person's heritage is quite unique but that person might still count as mortal or even if not then the godly part of that person should make a trial necessary. As such there should be a scroll of fate detailing that person's life. I want to ask the Fate's Scribe to please look for it. Any information you can provide about that person's life or any children that person left could be useful for finding out more about the demons' plans."
Shun Tao nodded grimly. "If it might help to spare our two races from danger, then I will naturally assist Senior Xin in finding out more!" He straightened his shoulders and stood up with righteous indignation at the demons' sinister plans written on his face.
Qiu Ling really wanted to laugh. This guy probably never would have thought that this highly respected senior of his was scamming him right now.