Two treasure maps

Although Guo Xiu agreed to take Jiangshan to the Heavenly Palace, he was the king of Xiu Kingdom after all, so he naturally could not go on a business trip to the Heavenly Palace casually. He needed to arrange all the affairs of the former court and the harem of Xiu Kingdom before he could leave.

Originally, he announced that he was in seclusion in order to find out the reason why the spiritual energy in the Red Dragon Pond of Panshan Fairyland disappeared. Now he has come out of seclusion and dealt with all the recent memorials. Unexpectedly, this process took more than a month. During this period, two major events happened. One was that the spiritual energy in the Red Dragon Pond of Panshan Fairyland was recovering; the other was that the treasure map was exposed in the body of the granddaughter of former Mu Enbo. These two events delayed his steps to go to heaven.

In the side hall of the Xiuguo Yunhai Palace, Emperor Guo Xiu sat on a finely carved dragon throne inlaid with ivory and gems. His eyes were deep, as if he could see through everything in the world. The whole hall was filled with a solemn and mysterious atmosphere, as if every pillar and every floor tile carried a deep history and power.

Suddenly, a slight sound of footsteps broke the quiet atmosphere. A guard dressed in black walked in. He was agile and had a stern face, as if he had walked out of the darkness. In his hand was an unconscious woman. The woman's face was severely damaged, and she was wearing coarse clothes, looking extremely embarrassed.

The guard walked up to Guo Xiu, gently threw the woman to the ground, then knelt on one knee and respectfully greeted Emperor Xiu. Guo Xiu raised his eyes slightly, swept his gaze over the guard and the woman, and then said lightly: "Tell me about the situation."

The guard Chang Tianlong took a deep breath and began to report: "Your Majesty. After you and Miss Guo Lingli left Guojia Manor, Guo Yun began to make major changes in the manor. He sent away all the servants, guards, maids and old women for various reasons, leaving only 48 capable servants. Then, he carried out a comprehensive sweep of all the courtyards in the manor under the pretext of repairing Guojia Manor. However, they did not find any trace of the silver doll."

Chang Tianlong paused for a moment, as if he was organizing his thoughts. He continued, "Moreover, I discovered that their purpose was not just to find the silver doll. They seemed to be looking for a dragon ball, but they were just using the search for the silver doll as an excuse."

"Dragon Ball? What Dragon Ball?" A hint of doubt and interest flashed in Guo Xiu's eyes.

Chang Tianlong replied: "I don't know the specific situation yet, I only know that the Third Princess of the East China Sea spread the rumor that she lost a dragon ball in Guojiazhuang."

Guo Xiu sneered and said, "Did you say it was thrown in Guo Lingli's yard?"

Chang Tianlong nodded and said, "That should be the case. Although they didn't say it explicitly, they searched Guo Lingli's yard and even pulled out the winter jasmine flowers to see if they were hiding under the tree roots."

Hearing this, Guo Xiu frowned slightly, and a bad premonition surged in his heart. He said in a deep voice: "Donghai Yulong is very calculating, she wants to put Guo Lingli to death."

Chang Tianlong nodded and continued, "Not only that, I also heard that they have arranged for Guo Lingli's death. At first, Guo Yun disagreed, saying that Guo Lingli couldn't die yet. Later, I don't know how he was persuaded by Yun Xin, and he stopped talking about it. It is said that the condition for their exchange seems to be dragon blood."

"Dragon blood? The blood of the little red dragon?" Guo Xiu's tone was full of surprise and confusion.

Chang Tianlong said: "Guo Yun did not tell me the specific situation. I know all this because he accidentally revealed it when he was drunk."

Emperor Xiu Guo Xiu sat quietly on the dragon throne, his brows furrowed, as if he was thinking about the deeper meaning behind all this.

Where did Donghai Yulong's hostility towards Guo Lingli come from? From instigating those contracted guardians to deal with her, to Zhuyeqing's assassination of Jiangshan, but accidentally hurting Guo Lin, if Guo Lingli had not used the Beast Taming Bell, she would have killed Guo Lingli. At that time, she was looking at Guo Lingli and herself. Guo Lingli didn't feel anything, because she hadn't noticed the danger, but she saw Donghai Yulong's intentions clearly, so she activated the Beast Taming Bell almost at the same time as her.

He recalled Guo Lingli's amazing proficiency in controlling the beast-taming bell, and a bold guess came to his mind. Could it be that Guo Lingli really had the ability to go down to the bottomless red dragon pool and meet the little red dragon?

As soon as this thought flashed through his mind, Guo Xiu immediately shook his head and denied it. The disappearance of the spiritual energy at the bottom of the Red Dragon Pond was so strange. How could it be related to a mortal woman? However, he could not rule out this possibility. After all, Guo Lingli always seemed to have a mysterious power that made people unable to see through it.

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. Eliminating all the impossible factors, the remaining ones, no matter how unbelievable, must be the truth. Could it be that he really made a mistake this time? Guo Lingli, this seemingly ordinary woman, was actually the reason why the spiritual energy of the Red Dragon Pool disappeared? So, where is she now? Is she safe?

Guo Xiu gently rubbed his thumb, index finger, and middle finger in a circle, which was his habitual action when thinking. Suddenly, there was something in his hand, which was the beast-taming bell that was originally left on Guo Lingli's wrist. He gently swung it, and a childish voice came out of the bell: "Greetings to Emperor Xiu."

"Tell me, where is Guo Lingli now?" Guo Xiu asked in a deep voice.

"She...she went to the Tai Chi Palace on the twenty-sixth floor." The childish voice replied.

When these words came out, everyone present was shocked. The twenty-sixth heaven was where the gods lived. How could a mortal woman like Guo Lingli go there? Moreover, how could she still be alive?

Guo Xiu's heart was also in turmoil, but he tried to stay calm and continued to ask, "What's going on with the Red Dragon Pond? Has Guo Lingli ever seen the sinful dragon in it?"

"I have seen it, and I haven't seen it." The childish voice seemed a little confused.

"Speak nicely!" Guo Xiu was a little impatient.

“She said she had seen it, but it was in a dream. She said she had not seen it, but she herself had never been to the bottom of the Red Dragon Pond.” The spirit in the Beast Taming Bell explained.

Guo Xiu was slightly relieved when he heard this. At least, Guo Lingli did not really go down to the bottom of the Red Dragon Pool and face the little red dragon. But even so, she still had some connection with the disappearance of the spiritual energy of the Red Dragon Pool.

"Okay, go back to her." Guo Xiu said, and was about to return the Beast Taming Bell to Guo Lingli.

"Don't, don't..." The spirit of the weapon hurriedly stopped him, "I have lost contact with her."

"What's going on?" Guo Xiu frowned.

"She caught the eye of the Taiji Palace and was accepted as a jade maiden by the Taiji Palace. Even if the master doesn't call me back, they will cut off the connection between me and her." The spirit in the beast-taming bell explained.

"What's going on?" The more Guo Xiu listened, the more he felt that something was wrong.

The spirit of the weapon said straightforwardly: "She dug up the Gangfeng Well of the Taiji Palace and took out the spirit beads inside, and was detained by the Taiji Palace."

Guo Xiu was speechless when he heard this. This little girl is really capable of getting into trouble! It seems that this time he not only has to go to the Heavenly Palace on the 25th level, but also go to the Taiji Palace on the 26th level to redeem this little girl.