Oh. My. Fate?! (Bl, Volume 10, Part 1)

101 No Time Wasted

While the plan was good, it couldn't change that they needed to rely on the Fate's Scribe to access the scrolls of fate. As such, their progress slowed down by a lot. When the sun was about to go down, they still hadn't managed to go through all of the scrolls by a large margin and had to pack up for the day without getting closer to finding a solution.

An Bai left the Palace of Fate together with the senior official and couldn't help but close his eyes, covering them with his hands, when they stepped outside onto the road. He had really failed his king.

The senior official glanced at him, not sure whether he should say anything. Of course, the dragons would be worried about their king. In fact, never mind that, right now, they needed to bend the laws of the Nine Heavens for this person, he himself was also worried about what would happen if the dragon king didn't get any better. In any case, what he had said about the demon realm was true and with how matters stood, they could only hope that the dragon king would soon get better. Otherwise, they would be in a pinch.

"Adviser An Bai, please don't blame yourself. This matter, it will naturally take some time. But we've already managed to sort through all of the Jades of Love so we do know which scrolls of fate we need to look at. Now, it is only a matter of time until we will be able to find a solution."

An Bai lowered his hands and gave a faint smile, following the senior official down the road again. What he said was true to a degree. The Palace of Love had had the last chest with jades delivered, and the scribes had looked for the corresponding scrolls of fate, leaving only this one task ahead of them.

Unfortunately, there was something that the senior official had neglected to mention. "There may not be an answer to our problems in these scrolls. Then, we would have wasted valuable time for no gain at all. That is what I'm afraid of."

The senior official faintly furrowed his brows. "That could indeed be true. Although this might not be much of a consolation for adviser An Bai but I believe that I have learned a great deal from this.

"The God of Justice mentioned that under the light of what has happened with the crown prince's trial and Longjun's involvement, we might need to change some of the laws to fit our new understanding of the situation. Hearing what others have experienced has led me to believe even more so that this is the case. So even if this can't help with your king's situation, it will at the very least help other dragons in the future."

An Bai nodded but couldn't help but look up at the sky, watching the stars that were already out in the open. "I know that nothing we do here is completely wasted. In any case, I am a scholar. Just finding out more about the lives of the gods and even our own race is something that would usually delight me. It is just that I fear that we might not have enough time for anything else and that has me worried. I also don't see a way to speed things up."

The senior official nodded and glanced back over his shoulder toward the Palace of Fate. "We could probably ask the scribes to write a copy of the scrolls. It is just that I believe that to really figure something out, this will need both a dragon and a god to take a look at them. After all, the details might be important here and I personally think that this might be the best avenue we have for finding a solution so I don't want to risk anything. If adviser An Bai thinks differently about this though, then that would be my suggestion."

An Bai considered for a moment but finally shook his head. "Most people at the Court of Justice are already holed up in the Tower of Wisdom, looking for answers there. The same is true for the half-bloods of our realm. At most, I could ask for some of our dragon scholars to come here and support us. But the more eyes there are on this issue, the more of a problem it might become.

"In any case, we should hurry back home now. I'll contact adviser Xiang Yong to hear how things are over at the palace. There is a small chance that His Majesty's issue might settle on its own. In any case, last night was the first one after what happened. It could be that, by now, he had time to come to terms with matters. I doubt it but there is a chance. We will know more tomorrow morning."

The senior official nodded. "I will not hold you back then. If you do need help, say so though. In any case, we're allies. Despite any differences we might have had in the past, nobody in the Nine Heavens wants Longjun to find a bad end. We all understand how much that would devastate the dragons and also that it would be a huge loss to us as well."

An Bai inclined his head and the two of them bid farewell, each of them hurrying back to their own place.

An Bai checked whether the half-bloods had returned and seeing that they were indeed in but hadn't encountered any problems for the hours he had been gone since his last visit at the Tower of Wisdom, he went to his own room, sitting down at the table and immediately taking out his transmission stone.

Xiang Yong only needed a moment to accept. At that time, he was sitting at the desk in his study, looking every bit as tired as An Bai. "Have you had any luck yet?"

An Bai shook his head. "No, we looked through all the Jades of Love but didn't find a definitive answer in there. Now, we've gathered the corresponding scrolls of fate and are working through them one by one together with the Fate's Scribe. So far, there was nothing but there is still hope. How are things on your side?"

Xiang Yong faintly furrowed his brows. "I'm not quite sure what to say to that. His Majesty seems ... calm. Considering the circumstances, that might be good or maybe he's just pushing the matter away over the day. We'll see how things go. In any case, both Fu Min and Fu Heng are currently at his side to check on him and His Majesty actually switched rooms with them so he is right next door to those two."

An Bai smiled faintly. "One of these days, we will have to come up with a way to call them."

Xiang Yong couldn't help but chuckle. "We definitely have to but everything I can come up with seems odd. Just not quite fitting, you know? I almost wish the truth would come out but I guess that would just be one more disaster added to our already ongoing issues. Anyway, it's late. You should go to sleep. Tomorrow, there will be a lot to do."

An Bai nodded. "Looking at your face, the same goes for you as well. Make sure you don't tire yourself out. Right now, there is only you, Fu Min, and Fu Heng to take care of His Majesty. That means that every second or at least every third night, you'll have to stay up. I'm not sure for how long that will be sustainable but you definitely need to get some rest while you can."

Xiang Yong nodded and the two of them bid farewell, indeed both going to bed despite feeling apprehensive about whatever news would reach them the next morning, just like everyone embroiled in these matters did.