Chapter 993 - The Imperative He Followed

Hong Ai was stunned speechless when she saw the type of person Shun Tao actually was. Shen An De wasn't faring much better even though he at least didn't stare at him unabashedly and managed to lower his gaze and pick up his cup of tea in an attempt to dispel the awkwardness.

Well, he had always known that his sister-in-law was … unconventional. This was just once again proof of how special she actually was. They probably shouldn't have expected anything else. Well, not that it wasn't still a bit surprising considering that she had also fallen in love with Liu Cheng who was not that much older than her and could probably be described as handsome. Although … this man wasn't ugly either. Just … twice her age.

Shun Tao looked at the two people whose expression had turned somewhat queer, his brows furrowing slightly. Don't tell him that they might not know who he was talking about? But this was obviously the Grandmaster's palace that the Heavenly Empress had mentioned. Could it be that he had come to the wrong sect?

He looked around but he wasn't that clear about how the Hei Dian Sect was supposed to look. In the end, he could only speak up again. "Excuse me, but this is the Hei Dian Sect, isn't it? And this is the Grandmaster's palace?"

Shen An De pulled himself out of his musings when he heard Shun Tao's further questions. He finally motioned at the seat opposite them and gave a nod. "It is. I am Shen An De, the Grandmaster of the Hei Dian Sect. Why don't you have a seat first?"

Shun Tao wasn't quite sure what to make of this but he still went over and sat down. At the very least, this was better than awkwardly standing there at the door and waiting for them to explain everything.

Hong Ai also pulled herself out of her thoughts when Shun Tao sat down in front of them. Yes, this man was definitely not what she had expected but that was no reason to be rude. Anyway, they wanted his help. "Thank you for making the way here, Fate's Scribe."

Shun Tao raised his brows, surprised that this woman knew who he actually was. Could it be that they had something to do with this whole matter and Longjun wasn't just coincidentally staying here? Well, it would make sense. After all, there was no reason for Zhong Jing Yi to be in the Hei Dian Sect right now. "I was ordered by the Heavenly Empress to come and see Longjun. Might I ask where he is right now?"

Hong Ai and Shen An De exchanged a glance.

"He should be somewhere with his lover. Should we call them right now?" They could probably explain to him themselves but they weren't quite sure if it would go over that well. After all, they didn't know what exactly had happened between Hong Bao and this man. If they said the wrong thing … Who knew if he would still be willing to help? Maybe he would just leave before Hong Bao had seen him? Then all this trouble would have been for nothing.

Shun Tao nodded. "That would be for the best. I can't stay here for long." Even though the Heavenly Empress had told him to descend and do whatever it was that Longjun wanted from him, that didn't mean that the Heavenly Emperor would be understanding even a bit. He didn't have any illusions about that. Thus, he had to make sure that he was down here for the least possible amount of time. Waiting for Longjun definitely wasn't high on his priority list.

Hong Ai got up and gave the two of them a smile. "Very well. Since it's important, I'll go and look for him myself. If we sent one of the servants, who knew how long it would take until they managed to find him?"

Shen An De nodded, agreeing with his wife. "Very well, then I will entertain our guest for the time being."

He turned to Shun Tao when Hong Ai left, giving him another look. Anyway, regardless of what had happened in the Nine Heavens, Hong Bao had forgotten about it already, with the memories unable to be recovered forever as far as he knew. This man also didn't know why he was here so the matter probably wouldn't come up until Qiu Ling was back. As for anything else they should talk about …

"I hope this isn't making too much trouble for you. We couldn't help but overhear that you are actually not allowed to come to the mortal realm when Longjun contacted you."

Shun Tao gave a wry smile. So his ignoble situation was now actually known to several other people as well. Great. He already knew why he disliked Longjun so much. This guy was nothing but trouble for him! "Well, since this is an important matter that Longjun needs me for there was no other way than to make an exception."

Shen An De poured both of them a cup of tea, refraining from saying anything else. He knew very well just how much of an 'important matter' this was. He probably would've been able to help Qiu Ling in another way than lending out his wife's sword and had only made this kind of deal because of his selfish wishes of keeping Hong Ai happy.

He didn't care about somebody in the Nine Heavens or even the greater good. Maybe this was his demonic heritage speaking but he just was that type of person. Anyway, who could expect anything different from the Grandmaster of the greatest demonic sect currently in the mortal realm?

Whoever did should really check their understanding of the world. He could be nice if he wanted to but if it was against his own interests, why should he bother? That was just the imperative he followed.