News about Xie Jianyu’s disappearance spread like wildfire.
The entire Heavenly Realm was in havoc. The Golden Dragon Palace was especially chaotic. Day and night, groups of soldiers were dispatched to search the Heavenly Realm as well as the Human Realm for Xie Jianyu’s traces.
Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, they still failed to pick up a trace, let alone locate Xie Jianyu’s whereabouts.
After three days and three nights, the Heavenly Emperor started to grow suspicious about the circumstances of his second son’s disappearance.
"Jianshen, tell me the truth," he said on the fourth day when Xie Jianshen answered his summon. "Could it be that Jianyu ran away on his own accord?"
"No, Father, of course not!" Xie Jianshen answered automatically. "Why would you even think that?"
The Emperor rubbed at his eyes and let out a sigh as heavy as the burden that rested on his shoulders. Exhaustion and worries gnawed at his form, making him appear less majestic than usual.
"Jianyu is a refined swordsman with an advanced cultivation level. Is there even anyone who could do him harm? Or abduct him against his will?"
"Father, Little Yu is..."
The Emperor stopped Xie Jianshen’s words with a look.
"... a child. He is still very young. He has limited actual combat experience."
"So you insist that someone harmed him."
"Yes."
"Any clues, then?"
Xie Jianshen clenched his jaw.
His mind unwittingly flew to Wangshu. After that day, Wangshu was forcefully returned to Fuxi Palace and detained until Xie Jianyu returned safely.
Wangshu’s aggression toward Liu Wenyuan was a strong hint toward the omega’s involvement.
"Your face shows that you know something," the Emperor observed. "Speak."
"Father, on the same day Little Yu disappeared, Wangshu ran rampant in the Longjing Palace."
The Emperor sucked in a deep breath.
"... Zhang Zhiyuan, of all people?"
"No. Wangshu did not attack anyone from the Longjing Palace. The one he attacked was, eerily, Liu Wenyuan, the prince from Wuyang Palace."
The tense expression across the Emperor’s face relaxed slightly.
"Liu Wenyuan, the omega who was punished because his spirit companion injured Jianyu?" He recalled the small incident at the Eternal Spring Palace almost two years ago.
"Exactly that person."
"Jianshen, Liu Wenyuan is just an omega. A weak omega."
"Maybe he did not act alone," Xie Jianshen suggested. "Maybe he brought some cultivators from Wuyang Palace to subdue Little Yu."
"Why would he do that? Wuyang Palace has nothing to gain by getting rid of Jianyu."
"What about the Dragon Throne?" Xie Jianshen suggested.
The Emperor shook his head.
"It is too far-fetched of a theory. The person who will ascend the throne after my and Jianyu’s demise is yet to be determined."
The Emperor stroke his beard and sighed.
"Jianshen, don’t think too much about the culprit."
"The most important thing right now is to find Jianyu. If you are convinced that Wangshu knows something, maybe you should visit that horse. Read Jianyu’s latest calligraphy scrolls. Check who he has been hanging out with. I want results."
Xie Jianshen cupped his hands in front of his chest.
"Yes, Father."
True to his words, Xie Jianshen rode the cloud carriage to Fuxi Palace next.
In light of their master’s sudden disappearance, a gloomy atmosphere prevailed in Fuxi Palace.
Mingyu and Qingyun rushed out of the palace as soon as they saw a cloud carriage approaching.
"Your Maj... Oh. Your Highness, welcome to Fuxi Palace," Mingyu quickly changed her greeting when she saw that the person who came was not Xie Jianyu but Xie Jianshen.
"Where is Wangshu?" Xie Jianshen asked as soon as he got off the carriage.
"In... in his stable..."
"Your Highness, Wangshu is not doing well..."
In his stable, Wangshu stood by the opening. He kept staring into the distance, as if waiting for a long-lost person to come back soon.
"He refused to eat ever since he came back... he only agreed to drink water..."
Xie Jianshen sighed.
Wangshu neighed in acknowledgment when Xie Jianshen entered his stable.
"Wangshu, you must eat," Xie Jianshen coaxed the winged horse. "Little Yu loves you so much. He will want you to eat."
Tears fell from the horse’s eyes, forming rivulets across the glossy coat.
"Oh, Wangshu..."
Wangshu trotted to a corner of the stable and nuzzled a sack on the ground.
"Oh, no, you can’t!!" Mingyu cried out. She quickly pushed Wangshu’s face away from the sack. "You cannot eat that!"
Xie Jianshen furrowed his brows.
"What’s in the sack? If he wants to eat them, let him."
"No, Your Highness. Those apples are rotten. We wanted to throw them away, but he won’t let us. If he eats them, he is going to be sick!"
Rotten apples?
Xie Jianshen reached out to check out the rotten apples, but Wangshu neighed loudly.
"I won’t throw them away, I promise," Xie Jianshen said. "I just want to take a look. Wangshu, did Little Yu buy you these apples?"
Mingyu widened her eyes in surprise.
"So that’s why you don’t want us to throw them away! Master bought them for you..."
Mingyu started to cry.
"Master, please come back soon," she sobbed like a child. "We all miss you so..."
Xie Jianshen inspected the content of the sack.
There were only a bunch of rotten apples inside. But when he turned the sack over, he saw a few words written on top of the sack.
"Old Hao’s Fruit Stall, thank you very much, please come again!"
Xie Jianshen mumbled to himself.
Originally, Xie Jianyu planned to meditate in seclusion. For some reason, he stopped early and left his seclusion spot. Afterward, he took Wangshu to a nearby town and bought some apples for his beloved horse.
And then, he disappeared. Whatever happened to Xie Jianyu, happened in this very town.
"Wangshu, I need your help," Xie Jianshen decided. He lifted the sack off the ground and showed the horse the words on the sack.
"Take me to Old Hao’s Fruit Stall. Let us investigate Little Yu’s disappearance."