Chapter 126: Conspiracy

Feng Yan and the children walked out of Wanggong and arrived inside the city.

Before them was night, and the tightly shut city gate.

At the moment they stepped out of the city gate, Feng Yan felt at ease; he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then let out a long sigh, and as he sighed, he opened his eyes.

"Originally there is nothing? Then why is there dust everywhere?" Feng Yan said softly, his words full of sorrow.

The children listened to Feng Yan's words, but they still could not understand.

One of the children asked Feng Yan: "You're leaving that girl in Wanggong like this—really no problem? Big brother, I'm a little scared."

Feng Yan nodded and replied to the child: "Don't worry, whether they will let her wake up is unknown, but we still have another place to go!"

"Where?"

"The place we went before—it made me feel uneasy, so we're going to demand an explanation." Feng Yan spoke of the place where he had previously met that boy, then headed northeast.

That seemingly endless, long night, riding on dark clouds, obscured the pure moonlight that belonged to the night, and made the delicate, shining gray disappear, leaving only a darkness deeper than gray.

The few of them then walked aimlessly with the night, reaching an alley, where Feng Yan sat directly on the ground, leaning against the wall and closed his eyes.

At that moment, he finally truly rested.

He felt all his doubts, all his memories, and the girl who had appeared in his dream, all vanish.

He felt much lighter, like a pure child freed from restraints, letting himself run wild on the grass.

Gradually, Feng Yan fell asleep.

Watching Feng Yan gradually fall asleep, the children also slowly relaxed, yet what frightened them were those individuals and their own torture devices.

Their bodies broke out in cold sweat, because they, too, were preparing to be sent there to be "educated" as the next batch.

Originally, their parents heard that sending their children here would give the children a good education, while also letting the parents experience the so‑called feeling of a prodigal son returning.

It satisfied the parents' hearts, and then the instructor also received a considerable fortune, bringing with it fame as well.

No parent knows what that so‑called instructor's teaching is like.

But after the children come out, they are all the same—exactly what the parents expected; the parents got what they wanted, so who would still care about what they themselves still wanted?

It's as if their original heart is missing—can you still expect them to be a whole person?

That place is one that destroys people's original hearts.

After the original heart is completely shattered, and then through what they consider deliberate piecing together, it becomes their ideal image in their hearts, and they also become the authoritative educators in their parents' minds.

Over time, they themselves become gods—of course, that's just them treating themselves as gods.

Because, in the children's hearts, they are demons.

Although that place is named an academy, to the children it is hell, and its people are demons.

The children voluntarily took on the task of guarding Feng Yan's sleep, standing straight and blocking the wind before him.

"Is this a repayment to our benefactor brother?" the children asked themselves softly, then mustered their spirits and continued to guard the sleeping person behind them.

Meanwhile, Jin Meng watched everything the children were doing and smiled.

"It seems this place is worse than my country," Jin Meng said, "that academy is truly a harmful place." He lowered his gaze to the adult beside him, speaking, and then caught sight of a familiar figure.

"Those two also came?" Jin Meng blinked, then, half‑disbelieving his own eyes, said uncertainly.

"Are these two here for the next thing? Then he should have arrived as well." Jin Meng said, thinking of Chen Hao.

Wang Tingwan and Yang Xin pondered, unsure whether they should enter, yet feeling a hint of curiosity about what lay inside; the hanging sign, because of the night, showed only the two characters "academy".

"Academy?" Wang Tingwan raised her head and read the two characters on the sign.

"This is where we cultivate the nation's elites; please stay the night, and tomorrow you'll see how our adults nurture the children." The effeminate one bowed and spoke with extreme flattery.

At that moment, Yang Xin also asked nothing more, merely nodded, then opened the gate and both entered the academy together.

After the gate creaked shut, Jin Meng no longer stared at it, disappearing into the night.

In that long night, the Imperial Physician in Wanggong busied himself with the girl Feng Yan had brought, while the King stood anxiously to one side, watching his Imperial Physician's busyness, his own mood also uneasy.

On one hand he was shocked by the combat power Feng Yan displayed; on the other, he grew more curious about the weapon in Feng Yan's hand.

But he feared more that the girl before him could not be pulled back from the Ghost Gate Pass, while also looking forward to seeing what expression the respected adventurer would have after she was rescued.

Likewise, the King wanted to use this as a bargaining chip to ask Feng Yan for help, requesting him to assist his countrymen in finding the royal weapon lost six hundred years ago in his own nation—the Axe of Power.

Therefore, before this, the girl must not die—at least, before Feng Yan completes his own plan.

"I hope the girl before me can wake up—at least, stay awake for about a year and a half." The King thought this, whether intentionally or not, and spoke those words.

The Imperial Physician pretended to have heard the King's muttering, then deliberately replied: "Your Majesty, there is indeed something that can make a person awaken and last a year and a half, but…"

The Imperial Physician said no more, he indicated with his eyes to the King; the King nodded, signaling his subordinates to withdraw, leaving only the elite guards of the royal household.

"But what?" the King asked.

"But it is to overdraft that girl's vitality as the price; possibly after that, she would have no chance of rescue." The Imperial Physician finished his earlier words and then waited for the King's order.

"Is that medicine hard to make?" the King stared at the Imperial Physician and asked again.

"Not difficult, it's right before our eyes." The Imperial Physician answered respectfully, then revealed a vicious smile and continued: "It's inside the academy in the city."

"Inside the academy—isn't that a place for educating children?" the King said, somewhat surprised, then asked.

"There, it is both the children's place of education and a secret location; because time was pressing, we didn't have time to report to Your Majesty, please punish us." Having said that, the Imperial Physician knelt directly, his head touching the ground.

The King did not react to this sudden scene, instead staying where he was; after he came to, he only saw the Imperial Physician kneeling on the ground, making a gesture of begging for punishment.

The King tried his best to recall what had just happened, finally grasped the gist, and tentatively asked the Imperial Physician: "Can you really make this girl wake up?"

"If I fail, I am willing to pay with my own life!" the Imperial Physician replied, then slammed his head hard on the ground.

The King nodded, accepting the Imperial Physician's statement.

Immediately he waved his hand; the guards who had been waiting for the King's order only heard him say: "You now, take this girl, go to the academy, find the person in charge, hurry and use the medicine—the sooner the better!"

"Yes!"

After the guards received the order and rushed to the academy, the King let out a slight breath and then softly told the Imperial Physician: "You've been busy these days; you should also rest well."

The Imperial Physician was about to decline, but seeing the King wave his hand, a heap of rewarded items sent by the servants below attracted him instantly, and he had no time for polite formalities.

Seeing the treasures before him, the imperial physician immediately knelt down, kowtowed again to thank his Majesty the King, then carried those items out of the Wanggong with a smile on his face.

As the imperial physician left the Wanggong with the treasures bestowed upon him, the king slowly made his way to the inner palace.

Seeing the palace eunuch beside him bring the woman he had chosen today, he smiled, about to enjoy intimacy on the bed, when suddenly a flash of white light split the sky!

Then came a booming thunder, and immediately a torrential downpour poured forth!

This thunder frightened the king so much he nearly collapsed, falling to the ground; the nearby palace eunuch sensed something wrong and rushed to support him.

After steadying himself, the king glanced at the woman, waved his hand, and decided to have them take her away, no longer to serve in his bed.

The king dismissed everyone, stood alone under the eaves, lifted his head to watch rainwater gather drop by drop on the roof tiles, then fall heavily to the ground, carving a small pit.

"Father, you once said that the people of the Lilliputian Kingdom were merely this little rain; though they might resist briefly, they would ultimately be drawn by the earth into the depths below—but Father, you were wrong." The king lifted his gaze to the sky, spread his hands, caught the rain, and as it flowed from his palms back to the ground, he finally understood the meaning of his father's deeds.

What his father did may seem foolish, but it is not without meaning.

The king nodded, then returned to the sleeping palace and closed the gate.

With a clap of startling thunder, Feng Yan jolted awake, opened his eyes, saw the children spontaneously guarding him, and felt a surge of emotion.

He slowly rose and asked the children, "Are you willing to destroy the most terrifying demon lair in your hearts?"