Chapter 377: He Shou's Paintings

Xianyun Small Building.

He Shou finally saw the man he had been dreaming of; disregarding his image, He Shou rushed out from the building and enthusiastically ushered him inside.

"Your Highness, please, take a seat!"

He Shou looked Ren Yidao up and down, and only after confirming he was safe and sound did he let out a long sigh of relief, exclaiming: "Your Highness, this trip of yours had this poor Daoist sweating with anxiety!"

In He Shou's eyes, the Crown Prince was already his own pre-determined prize; he did not want any mishaps to occur.

He Shou even cherished Ren Yidao's body more than Ren Yidao himself did!

No, that is not quite accurate.

In He Shou's eyes, that was already a body belonging to him; Ren Yidao was merely the one keeping it safe for him.

Ren Yidao laughed, ignored He Shou's overly enthusiastic display, and cupped his hands in a salute.

"True Person, I have fortunately not failed your commission."

Ren Yidao took out the prepared Soul Returning Grass and handed it to He Shou.

"Although I encountered quite a few hardships and obstacles along the way, I was ultimately fortunate enough to obtain this stalk of Soul Returning Grass."

He Shou took the Soul Returning Grass and put it away without even checking it carefully, shaking his head as he said:

"Your Highness, that is where you are wrong; your safe return is the greatest stroke of fortune!"

He scrutinized Ren Yidao and asked with a pointed implication: "What kind of danger did you encounter on this journey?"

Ren Yidao's expression turned serious, as if wanting to say something, but when the words reached his lips, he merely shook his head and sighed: "This matter is hard to explain in a few words. True Person, you are a person who has transcended the world; there are too many entanglements involved, so it is best not to get mixed up in it."

"Hey! Your Highness, what kind of talk is that?"

He Shou flicked his horsetail whisk and said with feigned displeasure: "How could this poor Daoist be someone who fears death?"

"Furthermore, this poor Daoist bears some responsibility for Your Highness risking danger this time. If not for my proposal regarding the alchemy, Your Highness would not have gone out and would never have encountered such peril."

He had to figure out who was trying to harm the Crown Prince so that he wouldn't run into any snags when the time came to become Hu Shou.

"If Your Highness insists on not speaking, it will leave my Dao Heart unsettled; that would be the true harm to me."

He Shou spoke with reason and evidence, leaving Ren Yidao unable to find a reason to refuse him... although, in truth, he had never wanted to refuse from the very beginning.

Moved by his firm gaze, Ren Yidao nodded and said in a deep voice:

"Since you insist so strongly, True Person, I will tell you in detail. Could we find a quiet room?"

"Oh? Naturally, that is possible! Your Highness, please, this way."

He Shou's eyes lit up; he stood up to lead the way and brought Ren Yidao to his painting room.

Naturally, the painting room did not contain those semi-finished works with Ren Yidao's face, but rather hundreds of portraits of people, large and small, arranged in rows.

The variety of portraits was vast: men, women, the elderly, children, the beautiful, the ugly... all sorts were there, and each one was so lifelike it seemed as if they would step out of the scroll in the next second.

Upon entering, Ren Yidao was also taken aback; he subconsciously narrowed his eyes and scanned the room.

In less than half a breath, he had taken everything in, quickly regained his composure, turned his head, and asked He Shou:

"True Person, what are these?"

Seeing the wonder in the Crown Prince's eyes, He Shou stroked his beard with some pride and smiled modestly: "Hehe, these are works I have painted over the years. They are merely clumsy efforts not fit for the public eye, not worth mentioning."

"Clumsy efforts? True Person, you are truly humble!"

Ren Yidao shook his head, casually picked up a scroll to admire it closely, a strange gleam flashing in his eyes. "If someone with your level of attainment, True Person, calls these clumsy efforts, then I fear there are few painters in the world who could present anything at all."

"Not only is the brushwork excellent, but more importantly, every one of these paintings contains a Divine Soul; this point is far more difficult than mere technique."

For ordinary, mundane painters, "painting the form is easy, capturing the spirit is hard." To have a single painting containing a Divine Soul in one's lifetime is enough to make one famous throughout the world, and ten would be enough to leave one's name in history.

Yet in this small painting room, these hundreds of paintings could each be called a world-shaking masterpiece possessing a Divine Soul.

It is extremely difficult for an ordinary person to obtain even one, yet here with He Shou, there are over a hundred!

He Shou had intended to skip over this topic, but now his brows arched, and he asked curiously: "Oh? Listening to Your Highness, are you also someone who understands painting?"

"Me? I wouldn't say that; it's just that someone once taught me." Ren Yidao thought of the scenes where he used to pester Jian Xinxin with questions and smiled lightly.

Jian Xinxin's paintings could also be considered to contain a Divine Soul, but that was a shortcut achieved by splitting her own Divine Soul and hiding it within the scrolls.

And this... hehe.

"Let's not talk about that. True Person, are you certain no one can spy on this place?"

Ren Yidao did not explicitly state who he was guarding against, and He Shou understood, saying with certainty: "With this poor Daoist here, Your Highness may rest assured."

"Good, then I shall start from the beginning."

Ren Yidao sat down on a meditation cushion and began to recount the arduous journey of the five of them to He Shou.

"Everything went smoothly on the way to the Cave Abode; no accidents occurred, and we arrived at your Cave Abode, True Person, on the third day according to the instructions."

"But then the trouble started, True Person... your Cave Abode has been occupied by someone else."

He Shou: Hm? My Cave Abode has been occupied?

His brows twitched, and he asked curiously: "Who did this?"

"True Person, there is no need to be anxious; just listen to me tell it in detail."

Ren Yidao told He Shou not to worry, and like a storyteller, he drew out his tone:

"At first, we only thought it was a six-headed snake-lizard at the Void Refining Realm, so the five of us coordinated and fought it."

"We coordinated closely, our division of labor was clear, we were of one mind, worked in concert, and were united as a fortress..."

Ren Yidao gave full play to his ability to talk nonsense, using a silver tongue to embellish the cooperation of Luzhi and the others, while incidentally fabricating his own heroic deeds, painting the fierce battle between the five of them and the six-headed snake-lizard as a soul-stirring, world-shaking war.

In this battle, there was the camaraderie of fighting side-by-side, a young girl's secret crush, self-sacrifice for righteousness, fearlessness in the face of death, moments to bring tears, and moments to ignite the blood... never mind He Shou, even Ren Yidao felt his own blood boiling as he listened.

"... In the end, the five of us, despite being heavily injured, managed to kill that exotic beast with great difficulty."

"However, just as the five of us were cheering and celebrating, an unexpected turn of events occurred."

"That six-headed snake-lizard was merely a watchdog pushed to the front! The one occupying your Cave Abode, True Person, is actually a tree demon at the Wuxiang Realm!"

"We wanted to flee, but we couldn't escape at all; the moment that tree demon struck, it beat all five of us into critical condition."

Although Ren Yidao's expression was serious, He Shou could see a faint terror in his eyes, as well as despair over the desperate situation at the time.

This was very normal.

No matter how outstanding those few people were, being able to kill a Void Refinement Great Demon across realms, their own strength was merely at the Transformation Realm.

When facing a Wuxiang Realm Great Demon two major realms higher, there was simply no chance of victory.

"But at the final moment, I had a flash of inspiration and lied, claiming to be a disciple of the True Person, sent by my master's orders to retrieve medicine from the Cave Abode, and questioned her about occupying the Cave Abode."

After finishing, Ren Yidao cupped his hands with some embarrassment, "Desperate times call for desperate measures; the situation was critical at the time, so I had no choice, and I hope the True Person will not blame me."

He Shou naturally had no reason to blame him and signaled for him to continue; he was now somewhat curious about the subsequent developments.

"After I finished questioning her, that tree demon truly feared the True Person's reputation, let us go, and even invited me for a private conversation."

"She claimed that she had stumbled into the True Person's Cave Abode while being hunted by enemies and was merely borrowing the land to recover, with no intention of occupying it."

"At first, she thought we were enemies coming to find her, and in her haste, she accidentally injured us, but after things were clarified, she naturally would not act recklessly again."

Ren Yidao recounted the "facts" that he had already implanted into the minds of the four, Cang Lan and the others, during their repeated sparring sessions; even he was starting to believe it himself.

The previous whipping of Cang Lan and the others was partly for training, and partly to take the opportunity to modify their memories.

"After I informed her, she has already voluntarily left, so the True Person need not worry."

"Oh right, before leaving, that tree demon also gave me a wooden sword, asking me to hand it to the True Person after returning to Demon Emperor City."

Ren Yidao took out a simple wooden sword made of Mei Mu and offered it with both hands, handing it to He Shou.

"That tree demon consumed some medicinal herbs while recovering, and this is the compensation she gave the True Person."

A gift of thanks?

He Shou took the wooden sword and examined it up and down; it was indeed as the Prince had said, the aura on it came from a Wuxiang Realm tree demon, and the other party had specifically cleared her own Divine Soul imprint to apologize.

Although it could not be counted as a very precious gift, for a tree demon on the run, it was about the only thing she could bring out.

"This tree demon is still quite sensible." He Shou examined it for a while, then flipped his hand and put the wooden sword away; this Wuxiang Realm Mei Mu, although not as good as peach wood, was still a rare material.

"Besides this? Were there any other discoveries?"

Ren Yidao blinked, thought seriously for a moment, and then shook his head:

"Other discoveries? There were none; although that tree demon appeared kind, I did not dare to have too much interaction with her."

Yeah, I was afraid she would stab me.

If I hadn't been holding her spirit tablet, I would have already been stabbed... Good thing I'm witty.

He Shou observed Ren Yidao carefully for a long time, but in the end, he could not see any flaws, and he nodded slowly: "That is good."

After speaking, as if he had remembered something, he took a small jade sword from his bosom and handed it to Ren Yidao:

"Since this Daoist has taken a sword from you, I shall return a sword to you."

"Keep this Jade Sword on your person; if you encounter danger again, crush it, and this Daoist will arrive at the first moment."

"Your Highness, do not decline; this Daoist is only doing this for peace of mind."

Ren Yidao looked at the Jade Sword in his hand, raised an eyebrow, and finally accepted it with a light laugh.

"Since that is the case, then I thank the True Person here."

"If I encounter danger again, I will definitely seek help from the True Person."

Next time, definitely.

On the way from Xianyun Small Building to the Imperial Palace, Ren Yidao recalled He Shou's words upon leaving.

"This Daoist also knows a thing or two about the Dao of painting and calligraphy; if Your Highness does not mind, may I paint a portrait for you?"

Those paintings have problems.

This was Ren Yidao's first reaction upon entering that painting room.

In his perspective, those hundreds of scrolls were not paintings at all, but faces that had been peeled off!

Recalling the corpse of "True Person He" found in the secret chamber of the Cave Abode, it was hard for Ren Yidao not to make connections.

But at the time, Ren Yidao did not refuse; instead, he smiled gratefully and nodded immediately: "That is naturally fine; to have the True Person paint for me is my good fortune."

"However, let's make it next time; I must go to pay my respects to His Majesty."

"When the True Person has finished refining the Mending Heaven Pill, I will come to collect the pill, and then I will ask the True Person to paint, how about that?"

Although he had delayed it for a while, what to do when the time came was another new problem.

"The boat will naturally straighten when it reaches the bridge..."

"Right now, I have a more thorny matter to deal with."

After coming out from He Shou's place, Ren Yidao had been walking aimlessly; although he was generally heading toward the Imperial Palace, it seemed as if he might turn and head elsewhere at any moment.

And just as he was hesitating whether to go to Cang Lan's house to show his face first... he suddenly felt the space in front of him darken.

"Hm?"

Ren Yidao looked up subconsciously, and then saw a phantom giant hand reaching out from the direction of the Imperial Palace, rapidly closing in on him...

What the hell?

Ren Yidao instinctively wanted to run, but the next second he realized what this meant, so he stood his ground, standing there with a resolute expression, letting the giant hand sweep him away.

Leaving behind for everyone watching this place only a back view of someone heroically meeting their death...

When Ren Yidao's vision cleared, he had already appeared in the Imperial Palace again; he looked at the expressionless Huang Huang on the throne, smiled slightly, and bowed slightly.

"Greetings, Your Majesty the Demon Emperor."

Whoosh—

Hm?

The sound of wind?

Thud!

Only after a loud crash erupted from his back did Ren Yidao realize what had just happened.

Oh.

It wasn't that the wind was strong today.

It turns out I was the one who flew out!

Ren Yidao slowly stood up, looked toward the Demon Emperor high above, and asked with a smile:

"Your Majesty, what is the meaning of this?"

Huang Huang looked at Ren Yidao, who was completely unscathed, and was somewhat surprised by his sturdiness.

The attack she had just unleashed was calibrated to cause the previous Ren Yidao pain, but not to inflict serious injury.

Yet, this level of force was already insufficient for him as he was now.

"You betrayed me."

"Betrayal? Big sister, how could you say such a thing?"

Although he had crashed into the pillar of the great hall, Ren Yidao had not suffered a single injury; he stood up, brushed the dust off his body, and smiled.

"My loyalty to you, big sister, is something the mountains and rivers can witness, and the sun and moon can illuminate."

"Which treacherous official has been whispering slander? To think they would actually question my sincere Heart toward you, big sister?"

Huang Huang remained silent, then said coldly: "You told me yourself."

Ren Yidao blinked, as if he had heard a massive joke, and laughed in spite of himself:

"Me? Haha, then you have truly misunderstood me, big sister."

"How could I ever betray you?"

He straightened his clothes and continued to step forward, saying with a smile:

"Besides, even if I were to truly betray you... how could I possibly let you know?"

"Don't you agree that this is the logic?"

"All rebellions that make a loud scene are merely cries for help; true betrayal is always silent and soundless."

Huang Huang narrowed her eyes as she looked at him and asked coldly:

"If that is the case, then what is your purpose in doing these things?"

Purpose?

"Hmm, well, that would naturally be..."

Ren Yidao pondered seriously for a moment, slowly raised his head, and spoke firmly:

"For fun."