Xu Qing had no way of hearing what the Captain was thinking. But he noticed the look in the Captain’s eyes, and it was quite familiar. It reminded him of the time back when Seven Blood Eyes had just established itself in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture, and they caught sight of Nethersprite flying along in some very luxurious clothing. The Captain had the same look in his eyes as when he looked at Nethersprite’s clothing back then. Showing off in front of the Captain would only result in attracting his attention. 1

Xu Qing shook his head. He was used to this sort of thing, and decided not to even say anything. What happened over the next few days with the Captain proved that Xu Qing’s speculations were correct….

The Captain had obviously taken a liking to the haircake. Perhaps he was just curious, or maybe he wanted to make a friend. Either way, the Captain snuck away to follow it around. On more than one occasion, he tried to get close to it.

“Hold on, Big Hairy. I only have half a month! I just know I’ll regret it for the rest of my life if I don’t at least say hi and get to know you a bit. There are a lot of Hairys in Revered Ancient, but you’re the most special of them all.”

Maybe it was because the Captain’s words didn’t seem sincere, or possibly it was the impure look in his eyes. Either way, before the Captain could ever get very close, light surrounded him and he disappeared as he was teleported away.

However, the Captain knew how to persevere. In fact, that was essentially the foundation of his crazy personality. Therefore, he just rushed back and picked up where he left off. This time, he made sure to call out a very warm greeting to ensure he didn’t come across as being malicious. In fact, to make himself seem even more sincere, he casually took out a peach and started eating it. After all, it was only when eating peaches that he could reveal the true tenderness in his heart.

“Hello there! You’re so very classy! That’s why I wanted to come over and get to know you!”

Swish!

The haircake zipped off, but not before teleporting the Captain away. 𝐟𝐫eewe𝚘ve𝐥.c𝚘𝚖

About two hours later, the Captain raced back, waving his hand the entire way. “Don’t run! Don’t you know that you bear a striking resemblance to an old friend of mine! My very best friend, actually. I—”

Swish!

He disappeared again. Seven days later after innumerable kind words, and the same amount of teleportations, Big Hairy finally took notice of the Captain. Suspicion glittered in its eyes as it let the Captain get within about 30 meters of it for the first time.

The Captain immediately started to get excited. It actually felt similar to how he had been able to slowly get closer and closer to Li Shitao. Trying very hard to seem tender and gentle, he munched on a peach, issued continuous words of pacification, and slowly tried to get even closer.

However, the haircake was clearly vigilant, as it sent light swirling around the Captain to teleport him away.

Suddenly feeling very anxious, the Captain said, “You dropped something, Big Hairy! I just want to give it back to you!”

Ignoring the distress it caused him, the Captain took out a small piece of Crimson Mother’s flesh, about the size of a fingernail. Holding it out, he inched forward. The moment that flesh was in the open, the haircake’s eyes went wide, and it let its guard down a bit. The Captain took advantage of that to get closer.

He tossed the little chunk of meat into the haircake’s mouth. Then, he pounced, reaching out to grab a handful of blue hairs. He yanked his hand back, and a ripping sound could be heard as several hundred pieces of hair ripped out. The haircake shivered, and blinding light spread out in all directions.

Even the clouds in the area were teleported away, as was the Captain. However, this was a bit different than anything from before, as the haircake didn’t go back to playing around after the teleportation. As soon as the teleportation completed, it rushed off in a very specific direction.

What followed over the next few days was that people in Extreme Peace County frequently saw a very shocking scene playing out in the sky. The haircake was surrounded by a sea of light as it chased a shadow figure. Whenever it caught up, it would open its mouth and start chewing, only to quickly realize it hadn’t caught the true form of its quarry. Looking angry, it would continue searching.

The same thing happened over and over again. The screams from the quarry echoed out far and wide.

When the Sea-Sealing County cultivators saw what was happening, strange expressions appeared on their faces. Ningyan and Wu Jianwu sighed, but didn’t seem very surprised. Plumdark didn’t pay any attention.

Xu Qing also sighed. Eventually, when it was nearing time to leave, he saw a blue worm wriggling in front of him.

“Was it worth it, Eldest Brother?”

The blue worm was about the size of a thumb, and it had the Captain’s head. It was, in fact, the Captain. And he looked very pleased with himself.

“Of course it was!” he said. “I’m fine. Totally fine! As I guessed, that haircake is actually female. It’s only natural she would have a bit of a temper. So I prepared a few clones for her to play around with. Considering what I acquired, it was totally worth it!

“Little Ah Qing, this teleportation portal is a complicated thing. Normally, the gaze of the broken face produces forbidden regions. For that gaze to turn something into a new life form is very rare. It’s almost like a child of the broken face! And that means it must have some of the broken face’s characteristics!

“Trust me, spending that bit of Crimson Mother’s flesh wasn’t a waste at all. Getting a handful of those hairs is extremely significant!”

“As long as you’re happy,” Xu Qing said. Not feeling inclined to pay any more attention, he closed his eyes and went back to meditating.

The Captain wriggled off to the side in worm form, where he lay and thought about how he would make use of the amazing hairs he had acquired.

The haircake continued to rampage for a few more days. It still seemed angry, but at the same time, it was getting close to time for it to sleep again. Although it wasn’t ready to give up, it had no choice but to return to Tranquil Sun Prefecture, drop back down to the ground, suck all of its hairs back up, and then turn back into an ordinary portal.

The time had come for Xu Qing and everyone else to leave. Keeping their guard up the entire time, they went to the portal, where light flared as the teleportation began. When that happened, the portal vibrated a few times, as if the sleeping haircake had sensed a familiar aura and wanted to wake up. Unfortunately, it couldn’t awaken. In the end, the teleportation light begrudgingly wrapped everyone up and sent them away.

The next leg of the journey involved taking multiple teleportations across multiple regions. There were some delays, but overall the journey went well. Three days after that long trek, they reached the last major teleportation portal in the last county.

This county was called Southtrust, and it was the closest administrative district to the Imperial Region. It was located in the Gray Sea Region.

There was a sea in the Gray Sea Region, but it was different from ordinary seas. In this region, there was a type of flying flower that was similar to a dandelion. During most parts of the year, they caused the ground to be covered with something that resembled gray cotton. It looked almost like a sea. That was how the place got its name. In some ways, it resembled the white wind in the Bitter Life Mountains, although it was fundamentally different.

When Xu Qing and everyone else appeared, it was in the peak season of the flying flowers, so everywhere they looked, gray cotton filled the sky and covered the land, creating a gray sea. It looked beautiful. However, to the people who lived in this area, it was actually a miserable disaster. If you breathed in that gray cotton, your life force would rapidly wither away. Therefore, the people who lived here had to constantly keep protective shields around them, or they had to dress in all-encompassing clothing.

As a result, the inhabitants of this region tended to be quiet and taciturn. Xu Qing and the others could sense that when they arrived.

This place was different than Extreme Peace County. The people here weren’t on guard like they’d been over there. What was more, they were much more scattered.

Actually, that trend wasn’t unique to Southtrust County. The further they got away from Sea-Sealing County, the less people seemed to be on guard. Apparently, the Holytide Region was so far away that word hadn’t spread very far; what rumors had reached this distance didn’t affect things very much.

Since Southtrust County was so close to the Imperial Region, it made sense that they had close ties to the imperial capital. In fact, there were even influential people from the capital who, having come out on the bottom politically, settled down there.

That wasn’t of much concern to Xu Qing and his traveling party. After leaving the teleportation portal, they planned to just wait until the portal was ready for use again, then finish the last leg of their journey. They were now one teleportation away from the Imperial Region.

We’ll be there soon. Xu Qing looked off into the endless grayness in the direction of the Imperial Region. This is the county where Huang Yan’s sister lives.

Xu Qing wasn’t even sure how to search for that sister. According to what Huang Yan told him, that feather would attract her attention and bring her to him.

After thinking about it for a time, Xu Qing looked around until he spotted Ningyan.

Ningyan looked different than he had in any other county. He seemed ill at ease, even nervous. Realizing Xu Qing was looking at him, he took a deep breath and walked over.

“Biggest Bro, I can sense the bloodline aura of my third sister…. She’s not trying to hide it. Presumably she’s sensed me as well.”

“Princess Anhai?” Xu Qing asked, thinking back to the imperial princess he had seen sitting next to Seventh Prince. 2

“I have an idea of why she’s here. There’s an elderly person here that she knows well. It’s her wet nurse, who was also the wet nurse of Fifth Prince. Because she and Fifth Prince did so well after they grew up, the emperor made special arrangements for their wet nurse to retire here, which is also her hometown.”

Even as Ningyan explained these things, a figure appeared, floating through the gray sea to appear in front of Xu Qing and his traveling party. She was a handmaiden with piercing eyes and a profound cultivation base. The first thing she did was glance at Li Yunshan and Plumdark. Then she looked at Xu Qing. Finally, she turned her attention to Ningyan.

Curtseying formally, she said, “Well met, Your Majesty Twelfth Prince. The princess is currently having a meal with Nanny Sun. When she sensed your aura, she arranged for me to invite you to join her.”

1. The Captain noticed Nethersprite’s clothing in chapter 273. ☜

2. Princess Anhai was introduced in the short arc that started in chapter 547.1. Going forward, she’s often referred to as Third Princess. However, for clarity’s sake, I’m going to refer to her (mostly) as Princess Anhai. Trust me, there’s going to be enough to keep track of in terms of numbers that doing it this way will make this a lot easier for you readers. ☜