1003 No Trace of Changes (2/2)

Qin Mu's heart jumped. He ignored him as he walked by him. Although he looked calm, his heart pounded in his chest.

Qin Mu steadily sat down and asked, ”Why are you here, Celestial Venerable Hao?”

Celestial Venerable Hao looked up and plainly said, ”Ming Ya sought you out, and you took him to the ancestral grounds. You two took a long time to come out. What were you two doing?”

'Ming Ya?'

Qin Mu was stunned, and he smiled. 'Ming Ya should be the Crown Prince of the East Palace's name. Now I know.'

He leisurely said, ”Crown Prince Ming Ya is the descendant of Celestial Emperor, so it's fine for him to go to the ancestral grounds. Celestial Venerable Hao, we are both Celestial Venerables, do I have to report everything I do to you?”

Celestial Venerable Hao gave a humph and said, ”Don't forget how you lot only climbed to your positions with my help! Which one of you could have fought against Celestial Venerable Yun, Celestial Venerable Ling, and Celestial Venerable Yue? It's because of me that you lot could reach the precious position of Celestial Venerable, that you lot could obtain the power you have now!”

Qin Mu smiled. ”And it's because of you that the Grand Emperor became one of the ten Celestial Venerables and a great hidden threat. Celestial Venerable Hao, you may be powerful, but I'm not a pushover. Don't talk to me in that arrogant tone!”

Celestial Venerable Hao looked at him while clutching his fists. Qin Mu tried very hard to overcome his fear and look back at him.

Celestial Venerable Hao loosened his fists and plainly said, ”You believe Qin Mu about the Grand Emperor being among us? He was trying to divide us, to get us to fight amongst ourselves. While it's indeed unexpected that he came out of the Great Void alive, he's not exactly truthful. He hid a lot of things from us.”

Qin Mu leaned on Celestial Emperor's throne and lazily said, ”While he's not exactly truthful, Celestial Venerable Huo and Celestial Venerable Xu should be back soon, right? When they get back, we will know whether Qin Mu's words are real or fake.”

Celestial Venerable Hao's gaze fell on the injuries on his legs. His pupils contracted as he said, ”Did you take Crown Prince Ming Ya there to use his blood to take the precious artifacts in the ancestral grounds? Those are mine and my family's things! You can't take them!”

Qin Mu playfully said, ”You seem to be very concerned about Crown Prince Ming Ya. Your relationship seems to go beyond that of brotherhood.”

Celestial Venerable Hao brushed his sleeves and left. His voice came from afar, saying, ”You better repair this body. Also, Crown Prince Ming Ya is my brother. If you dare do anything against him, I'll kill you regardless of which Celestial Venerable you are!”

Qin Mu gave a furious humph, only relaxing after seeing him leave. He sat on the Emperor's Throne as if he was paralyzed.

'Celestial Venerable Hao's relationship with Crown Prince Ming Ya is abnormal. The latter seems to be more like his son than his brother…'

Celestial Emperor's forehead cracked open, and Qin Mu flew out, visibly perplexed as he thought, 'The relationships in the royal family are chaotic! I can't stay in this corporeal body anymore despite how exciting it was, or I'll eventually get busted! I have to leave this Hall of Nourishment immediately!'

He shook his body and morphed into a maid before walking out of the hall.

As soon as he walked out, he saw Celestial Venerable Hong walking towards him. He was wearing extremely wide robes with large sleeves.

He looked like a kind elder in those white robes of his that had loose sleeves. His facial hair was white too. He treated everyone kindly.

”Little girl, is the emperor inside?” Celestial Venerable Hong smiled.

”To answer Celestial Venerable, he is still inside,” Qin Mu submissively said.

Celestial Venerable Hong waved his sleeves and walked inside.

Qin Mu immediately picked up his pace. He went to the corner of the long corridor and changed himself into a swimming snake. He went into the bushes to reach the pool in front. He entered the water and became a large koi, swimming in the river parallel to the chambers of concubines.

He swam to the imperial garden and became a green frog. He went ashore and became a civet cat after reaching the back of a tree. He walked alongside the edges of the palace walls before jumping on them to go through the halls.

Soon, the civet cat that was Qin Mu jumped down into the shadows beneath the wall.

A black figure crept in the shadows of the wall as it kept itself near the ground. Qin Mu only walked out of the shadows to walk towards his residence when he reached the outskirts of the Jade Capital.

In the Hall of Nourishment, Celestial Venerable Hong looked at Celestial Emperor's corporeal body, frowning. It had injuries all over its legs. He couldn't help but shake his head. 'These guys, they don't know how to treat things well. After all, this body is the face of the celestial heavens… Who piloted this corporeal body to the ancestral grounds… Wait! That maid just now had something off about her! There couldn't have been only one maid serving Celestial Emperor's corporeal body!'

His consciousness burst forth and surrounded the Hall of Nourishment to look for clues and inconsistencies to find the maid.

His consciousness was powerful, and it caused a great disturbance. Instantly, other consciousnesses burst forth from far away, collided with his!

Lightning and thunder struck all around the Hall of Nourishment. The thunder rumbled. It was clearly a peculiarity caused by the collision of several Celestial Venerables' consciousnesses!

Celestial Venerable Hong retracted his consciousness and laughed. ”My Dao friends, do you all think that I'm the Grand Emperor? Is that why you probe me in such a way? We have always been brothers and sisters. When did we become so paranoid and suspicious of one another?”

The consciousnesses in the air were dispersed, and calmness was restored.

Celestial Venerable Hong frowned and thought, 'That suspicious maid probably escaped due to their delay. She was the one who piloted the corporeal body to the ancestral grounds. Her sneakiness could only suggest that the ancestral grounds are…'

He hastily left the Hall of Nourishment and moved towards Celestial Emperor's birthplace.

When Celestial Venerable Hong got there, he saw Celestial Venerable Hao, Celestial Venerable Gong, Celestial Venerable Qiang, Celestial Venerable Yan, and the others there too.

Their expressions were serious and solemn as they gazed at the bunch of light formed by the Great Dao purple light. In it, one part of the eggshell was gone.

”Who took it?”

Celestial Venerable Hao coldly said, ”If you hand it over now, I can forgive you!”