Chapter 180: Hold On, Imperial Advisor! I, the Emperor, Have Recovered 17

Chapter 180: Hold On, National Preceptor! I'm Cured (17)

After delivering the clothes, Lin Huaiqing showed no sign of leaving. Qin Hanyue, on the other hand, was starting to get antsy.

Lin Huaiqing didn't want to leave, and he couldn't exactly kick the guy out.

"National Preceptor, actually, there's one more thing I came here for. Could you take me to tour your bedchamber?" He was mainly after the section sealed off by the barrier—that's where all the good stuff was.

Qin Hanyue's cheeks flushed a little. He wondered why Lin Huaiqing would suddenly make such a request. Could it be...

"Of course, Your Majesty. Please follow me."

Lin Huaiqing was still a bit surprised he'd gotten into Qin Hanyue's most private room so easily.

The room was packed with all sorts of treasures. At this moment, Lin Huaiqing, the emperor, was like a country bumpkin in a palace of wonders—looking left and right, touching everything, picking out spiritual artifacts that suited him.

"A spirit sword?!" Hadn't he used a sword in his past life?

Lin Huaiqing excitedly dashed over to the rack and tried to pull it out.

But the blade didn't budge. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't draw it out even a fraction of an inch.

No good—this one wasn't meant for him. Time to look at something else.

Soon, a long saber caught his eye. It sat on a weapon stand, blade gleaming, radiating a chilling killing intent.

It looked cool, sure, but the problem was it was impractical. Unless a spiritual artifact was spiritually bonded to its owner, it couldn't be stored in the spiritual sea.

Back when he was the Immortal Venerable, his life-bound spirit sword, Shuofeng, had been the perfect artifact—one the original owner had spent nearly a hundred years searching for.

Now he didn't have that luxury. If he couldn't store the artifact, he'd have to carry it everywhere. He couldn't exactly show up to court with a long saber strapped to his back.

Anyone who dares to rebel, I'll chop 'em down!

Sounded awesome, but it just wasn't practical for his current situation.

After looking around Qin Hanyue's room, Lin Huaiqing finally spotted a magical artifact he liked.

It was a folding fan. The ribs were made of a special material, with sharp, sturdy tips that could double as a weapon.

It also held spiritual energy. While it wasn't quite a holy artifact, it was still top-tier among spiritual tools.

Best of all, it was easy to carry around without raising suspicion. And when it got hot, he could just use it to fan himself.

The more Lin Huaiqing looked at it, the more he wanted it.

"Qin Hanyue, this fan of yours is pretty nice. If you don't mind, how about giving it to me?" Lin Huaiqing said, shameless as ever.

Qin Hanyue had already stopped caring about whatever Lin Huaiqing had picked up.

But when he saw that Lin Huaiqing was holding that particular folding fan, he immediately stepped forward and snatched it away.

"Don't touch that, Your Majesty! This fan is not for you."

Qin Hanyue didn't explain why he couldn't touch it. He was acting weird, and his words were weird too.

Was he just being stingy about it?

"Fine, then I'll buy it from you. Name your price. As long as it's not ridiculous, I won't haggle."

"It's not about money. This fan is off-limits, period. Besides, Your Majesty isn't a cultivator—what would you even do with a magical artifact?"

Lin Huaiqing was clearly stunned. He hadn't expected Qin Hanyue couldn't even see his cultivation level. Or maybe he just didn't think the Foundation Establishment Stage was worth paying attention to.

Good thing he couldn't see it!

"Why are you so stingy? It's just a spiritual artifact! You have so many in this room—what's the harm in giving me one? And here I was, giving you clothes. What a cheapskate!"

As Lin Huaiqing grumbled, he watched Qin Hanyue's expression, only to see the man's eyes turn red, his breathing grow ragged, and his gaze lock onto him without a word.

That look gave him a bad feeling.

Was it really that big a deal? Just because he asked for something, the guy's eyes turned red with anger?

No matter what he said, Qin Hanyue refused to hand over the fan, and his behavior got weirder and weirder.

Seeing that, Lin Huaiqing had no choice but to leave empty-handed.

Only after Lin Huaiqing was completely out of the bedchamber did Qin Hanyue finally let out a relieved sigh and collapse weakly onto the floor.

Under his loose Daoist robe, the huge, fluffy white fox tail no longer had to be hidden, and it hung down naturally.

The tip of the tail swayed now and then, as if complaining about being stuffed in his clothes all day.

That's right—he was a demon. A fox demon who had cultivated to the Hua Zhen Realm, just one step away from ascending and facing tribulation.

Two hundred years was just his age since taking human form. Before that, he'd been a fox for a hundred years.

And the most vulnerable time for a demon was the annual mating season. Even someone as powerful as him would weaken into a fox demon barely able to hold his human form.

He'd kept this hidden for so many years. Every year at this time, he'd set up his strongest barrier in his own territory and ride out the mating season alone.

But this time, he hadn't expected Lin Huaiqing to come to him. Originally, he'd planned to chase Lin Huaiqing away.

But seeing him standing at the entrance, holding the clothes he'd brought as a gift, obediently waiting for him to open up...

He'd inexplicably dropped the life-saving barrier and let him in.

After leaving the gates of Penglai Pavilion, Lin Huaiqing spat toward the door:

"Pah! What a phony—calling himself National Preceptor! Acting all generous, saying I could take whatever I wanted, and then he won't even give up a lousy fan!"

What a rotten day!

Fine, forget it! He had money—what couldn't he buy? Worst case, he'd have Xiao Xuan get him a better one from the cultivation world, ten thousand times better than that one!

Speak of the devil. The moment Lin Huaiqing returned to his bedchamber, there was Xiao Xuan, waiting.

"So? Did you get the stuff?"

Xiao Xuan nodded and pulled a bottle of pills out of his robes.

"Great! Thanks for the hard work. I'll give you two days off—go get some real rest." As a boss, Lin Huaiqing definitely wasn't the type to overwork his employees.

He had no idea how his shadow guards rotated shifts, but he just wanted to treat Xiao Xuan well and give him some time off.

"Master, this subordinate doesn't need any rest."

"What are you talking about? Who doesn't need rest?"

Could it be... is it possible...

Does Xiao Xuan not even have a place of his own to rest?

"Then where do you usually sleep?"

"In trees, on rooftops. Basically, anywhere high up where I can always keep an eye on what's happening around my master."

Lin Huaiqing was completely stunned.

That's insane! There's no way that's humane!

"Starting today, when you're on night duty, you can rest on the couch in the outer hall. As for your other shadow guard brothers, I'll have Yan Weiquan find you all places to stay."

"How can that work? If you do that, how will your safety be guaranteed?"

At this point, he had already reached the Foundation Establishment stage and could set up his own barrier. If anyone tried to breach it, he'd notice right away.

But he didn't need to explain all that to Xiao Xuan.

"In short, my word is law. Are you going to defy me?"