Revalor lost his vigor, his hair shriveled as his eyes unfocused, staring to the ground. Arbane was a mess, but he did not lose his spirit just like his father. The moment Arbane heard the steps, he turned toward the source and his eyes glared at Tang Shaoyang. The gaze full of hatred directed toward Tang Shaoyang as his chain clanked to the ground and he got up, rushing toward the cell bars.

Bang!

Arbane punched the bar, in an attempt to break free from the cell to reach Tang Shaoyang. The man who ruined his family was right before him, and he wanted to kill that man. No, the original plan was to make Tang Shaoyang suffer just like his father suffered. He intended to kill all the women including his own aunt, just to make Tang Shaoyang suffer. That was what would happen if he and his father succeeded in their plan.

“You still dare to show your face, scumbag!”

Bang

Arbane’s body arched backward, flung to the wall as he coughed. He had lost his power, a single kick from Alton was enough to make him feel like he almost died. He lost his breathing for a moment.

Revalor raised his head after hearing the commotion. His gaze locked on Tang Shaoyang, but the old man did not have the same emotion as his second son. Maybe being locked for a few weeks in the dungeon made him realize how stupid his action was to kill his son.

“Are you here to laugh at me?” The hoarse voice echoed.

“Why would I? I don’t feel like I am winning or anything, and there’s nothing to laugh at,” Tang Shaoyang shook his head, “I just want to tell you that we are winning the battle against The Giteron Dynasty, The Federation of Allurion, and The Divine Church. We are in a truce right now.”

“Ah, so you come to mock me? You want to tell how strong you have become, is that why you come to this dirty dungeon?” Revalor smirked, “That’s what you will do. I know you very well”

“No, I want to tell you how stupid your plan was. Whether your plan succeeds or not, you will end up the same, locked in this dungeon,” Tang Shaoyang came closer to the cell, “I….” He paused and let out a sigh, “I don’t have the right to say anything…. This happened because of me, and I want to….” He did not finish his words. He wanted to say that “I want to apologize for what he has done”. That was what he wanted to say, but it sounded like he mocked Revalor since The Former Elven King was in jail.

Even though Revalor tried to revolt, that was his fault. He was the source of the problem, so he felt bad for disrespecting the man. Especially what Revalor had done for the Tang Empire.

“The Elven Kingdom will hold a Trial of Justice for the late King Virion. The Tang Empire will not interfere with the trial, and we will accept The Elven Kingdom’s decision regardless of the result of the trial. The trial will be held in a week from today.”

“Your youngest daughter, Alissa has become The Queen of The Elven Kingdom, and I promise to provide her with the help she needs. I also promise you that your bloodline will continue to rule the Elven Kingdom. The Tang Empire would not intervene in the Elven Kingdom’s internal affairs. That’s all that I want to say,” Tang Shaoyang turned around and left the dungeon.

Tang Shaoyang wanted to meet Revalor to bid farewell. He ended up doing something he hated the most to his own subordinate, and he still could not forgive himself for what he had done. However, he did not intend to let anyone know. If he had to suffer, he would suffer alone, getting tortured by his own guilt.

*** ***

The group left the dungeon, and Tang Shaoyang headed back to the main base because he was informed that his daughter had woken up. This would be the second interaction with his daughter, so he rushed up. However, he was stopped by Jasmine and Elin right in front of the door of his room. The two just came out and furrowed their eyebrows as they looked at Tang Shaoyang.

“You are not allowed to meet Xiulan right now. You must take a bath first! You are smelly, and there’s an unpleasant smell with you,” Elin reached his shoulder, and forcefully turned Tang Shaoyang to turn around, “Go clean yourself then you can meet our daughter!”

Tang Shaoyang sniffed his armpit and clothes. He did indeed smell, but not as bad as Elin said. However, he listened to them take a bath. It was funny that Jasmine and Elinova guarded the bathroom. He had a flash shower and ended up getting pushed back to the bathroom for the second time by the two women. They knew he would take a quick bath instead of cleaning himself properly.

Only after the second shower was he allowed to enter his own room to meet his daughter. He entered the room, and his daughter just finished her first meal. It seemed his daughter was quite sharp to notice him even though he came without making noise. The baby turned toward him as he entered the room. She opened her small lips, laughing while pointing her hand at him.

Tang Shaoyang froze, looking at the small creature in a daze. He ended up smiling, but he did not move closer, remaining at the door.

“What are you doing? Come here and carry her. Her mother needs to eat too,” Ava shook her head, smiling sillyly.

Tang Shaoyang snapped out and came onto the bed. He took her daughter into his arms, carefully. He did not really dare to move, leaning against the headboard, holding the little creature who tried to reach his face.

“Hoo, look at her cheeks. I want to take a nip,” He said it out, his intrusive thought. His daughter had a puffy cheek for sure, quite big in fact.

Ava just rolled her eyes, “Your body is too stiff. Relax, she might fall if you are too stiff,”

Tang Shaoyang followed the instruction, relaxing as he positioned himself next to Ava who reached out the bowl. Elin prepared Congee for Ava, a simple menu since she had nothing in the kitchen.

“Have you thought of her name?” Ava asked after taking the second spoon.

“Ah, yes. I almost forgot that I came here to tell you our daughter’s name,” Tang Shaoyang was taken over by his daughter’s cuteness that he forgot why he came, “Tang Xiulan. What do you think?”

“Tang Xiulan… Xiulan…” Ava muttered while nodding her head. It was unknown whether she was happy with the name or not.

“Do you not like it?” Tang Shaoyang asked since he was unsure of her response.

“It does not sound as bad as Wrath or Pride, but I can’t judge since I don’t know anything about your culture, you know? Is there meaning in her name?” Ava asked.

“Nope, there’s no special meaning in the name. I just like it because it’s beautiful,” Tang Shaoyang shook his head.

“That’s more like you,” Ava chuckled, “I mean I trust you to name our first daughter, so I am not going to complain. Maybe I can help you to name our second children after I learn more about your tradition and culture.”

Tang Shaoyang nodded, giving his index finger to Xiulan as the little creature tried to reach his face. She grabbed his index finger, holding it tight. He was bewildered that a baby less than one day could do this. From what he knew, babies less than a week could only cry, eat, poop, and sleep. Those were what the baby did in less than a week, at least to what he knew about.

“She has your eyes,” Ava said from the side. Tang Xiulan has the slit purple eyes.

“Wait, since when are your eyes red?” But then Ava was surprised to find out that Tang Shaoyang’s eyes changed. It was no longer purple, but crimson.

“It changed when I upgraded my bloodline in the Demi-God Rank’s trial,” Tang Shaoyang explained, “My bloodline is no longer Black Dragon, but Wicked Dragon. It’s three-headed… It’s actually a five-headed dragon. I can grow more heads each time I master a new energy.”

“It’s fortunate that Xiulan did not inherit my demon eye,” Tang Shaoyang’s left eye was black, which made him look scary, though the little creature was not afraid of him despite his black eye. It would look ugly if her daughter inherited the demon eye too, “From her eyes, it seems she will inherit my dragon bloodline.”

“I hope so. Your bloodline is much stronger than mine, after all,” Ava agreed. They had a small chat as Ava finished her food, and since they were talking about the battle, Tang Shaoyang brought up Revalor.

“Revalor and Arbane will face the Trial of Justice, and Alissa will lead the trial in eight days. That will be her debut as the Queen of the Elven Kingdom. But I wish for her not to take charge in the trial for her first duty as the Queen. Should we do something about it?” Even though Tang Shaoyang promised not to intervene, he was concerned for Alissa’s wellbeing. Her debut as the Queen would be delivering justice for her eldest brother to her father and second brother. That would be too cruel for Alissa, and he did not wish Alissa to break from that.