Chapter 813
Chapter 813
Zhang Chunhua’s memory was still stuck in the phase where she was Shen Lang’s enemy. Moreover, in her eyes, Shen Lang was so reckless that it wouldn't be strange for him to meet with such a great disaster. How could a narrow-minded and harsh monarch like Ning Yuanxian tolerate Shen Lang? Zhang Chunhua dropped her sarcastic tone and asked.
“What about Jin Mulan? Is she well?”
“She is well.”
“What on earth happened that made you come all the way out to sea to surrender to us?”
“It’s a long story.”
Zhang Chunhua spoke as if she wouldn't interrogate him further.
“Was it because you acted too recklessly, completely earning Ning Yuanxian's death sentence, that you met with such a great disaster? Besides, Crown Prince Ning Yi harbors wolfish ambitions for Jin Mulan, so he would have tolerated you even less.”
“Zhang Chunhua, let me ask you one thing.”
“Go ahead.”
“Who exactly is the Medusa Queen of the Witch Empire? Is it Qiu Yao’er?”
Zhang Chunhua fell into a brief silence. It was clear she didn't know how to answer for a moment. After a long while, she spoke.
“I still don’t know if that’s the case.”
The answer was just as Shen Lang had expected. It meant the Medusa Queen was originally Qiu Yao’er, but not anymore.
“Did she undergo such a great transformation in that ancient ruin?”
Zhang Chunhua nodded.
“That ancient ruin was an entire sunken island. How could she not undergo a great transformation there?”
She had single-handedly destroyed the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion’s exploration fleet; how could that not be a great transformation? This level of change was no longer just about reaching the pinnacle of martial arts; it was a complete nirvana, from the inside out.
“I wish to see the Medusa Queen.”
Zhang Chunhua shook her head.
“You can’t.”
Shen Lang was taken aback by her words.
“I don’t have that authority, and in fact, no one does. The Medusa Queen is in seclusion, and no one can disturb her.”
“The enemy has reached the city walls, and eighty percent of the Witch Empire has fallen, yet her seclusion cannot be disturbed?”
Zhang Chunhua nodded.
“That’s right.”
“Then… then tell me. Is she still human?”
Zhang Chunhua was once again wrapped in doubt, and only after a long while did she speak.
“Perhaps…”
That answer made Shen Lang’s hair stand on end again. What did ‘perhaps’ mean?
“Then, can I meet her child?”
“Follow me.”
***
The deeper they went into the palace, the colder Shen Lang’s body became, and the more his heart sank.
‘This can’t be happening.’
He tried to steady his mind, but it was no use. The place he was about to enter was a dust-free palace. This reminded Shen Lang of his other flesh and blood, Princess Xiying, his twin sister. As expected, upon entering, Shen Lang had to be purified several times and don layers of protective clothing before arriving at a small, pyramid-shaped palace. Even from a great distance, Shen Lang’s whole body trembled so much he couldn’t take a step forward. Even the strength drained from his limbs. Before his eyes, he could see a small child lying quietly on a jade bed.
Shen Lang took a deep breath, closed his eyes where he stood, and tried to summon strength back into his limbs. Zhang Chunhua supported Shen Lang as they walked to the jade bed. The child looked to be about five years old. She was the most beautiful little girl Shen Lang had ever seen. Shen Mi was also his treasured daughter, but her beauty was within the realm of normal. Shen Ye’s beauty was beyond normal perception, and the child before him was, like Shen Ye, abnormally beautiful. Carved from jade, her pristine white form was like a masterpiece bestowed by the heavens. She looked less like a real person and more like a Western doll, her skin as white and translucent as snow, looking as if it would tear with a single touch. But this child, like her great-aunt Princess Xiying, was so frail she seemed as if a single gust of wind could scatter her.
Shen Lang asked in a choked voice.
“What is the child’s name?”
“She has no surname. She’s called Yao Yao!”
The character ‘Yao’ also means ‘one’ and has the meaning of ‘small.’ Could Yao Yao be called Yiyi, or Xiaoxiao? Previously, when Shen Lang met Princess Xiying, he had felt a strong resonance in his bloodline even before touching her. Now, he felt an even stronger resonance, stronger even than what he felt with Shen Mi or Shen Ye. As soon as Shen Lang approached the child, he felt a paralysis run through his body, his very pores trembling, as if his whole being was about to melt. It was as if he could hear the beating of this child’s heart.
The pristine white child lying on the jade bed opened her eyes. In that instant, Shen Lang saw the stars in the sky, the sea, and a dreamlike gem in her eyes. Perhaps there was no girl in the world more beautiful than this child. After seeing Shen Lang, the child, with sleepy, hazy eyes, stretched out her small arms and immediately wrapped them around his neck. Shen Lang took the child’s soft, small body and held her in his arms.
“My treasure, Daddy’s little treasure. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!”
Shen Lang had neglected this child. Because he thought Qiu Yao’er was too strong, and since he had essentially just donated his seed, he thought the child born would have little to do with him. But it seemed this little treasure had suffered much since birth. That must be why she had to be in this dust-free palace now.
Zhang Chunhua was a bit dazed watching the scene. Because Princess Yao Yao had never allowed anyone but her mother to hold her. But now she was willingly being held by Shen Lang. Could it be that this child recognized Shen Lang as her father?
“My child, from today on, how about we call you Shen Yiyi?”
The child, still hugging Shen Lang’s neck, nodded lightly.
“Yiyi, go to sleep.”
Shen Lang said in a soft voice, and the child closed her eyes again, falling asleep in his arms.
“Has she been like this since she was born?”
Zhang Chunhua nodded.
“Yao Yao was extremely, extremely frail from birth. Her Majesty the Queen exhausted every method possible to sustain Yao Yao’s life until now.”
Shen Lang was reminded of Princess Xiying. She had suffered from dozens of illnesses, which was why she could never step outside her room and always had to stay in a dust-free chamber. Shen Lang could feel that this child was so frail, like a snowman made of snow, that she could melt and break apart at any moment.
“Does she spend most of her time in a deep sleep?”
Zhang Chunhua nodded.
“She has never seen the outside world?”
Zhang Chunhua nodded and said.
“If Yao Yao breathes in the outside air, she immediately starts coughing, develops a high fever, and enters a very dangerous state.”
Shen Lang couldn't help but hold the child in his arms tighter. Zhang Chunhua's words meant the child's immune system was severely compromised, making her incredibly susceptible to lung infections.
“And she can’t be exposed to sunlight. Her skin gets burned.”
Then she absolutely needed protection from ultraviolet rays. Shen Lang immediately thought of several treatment methods. He had to make the child healthy. At the very least, he had to make it so this child could play in the outside world and not spend every day lying in bed asleep. The child’s mother was an incredibly strong person, but as her father, he too had to protect his child.
***
“How many troops are there in the Queen’s City right now?”
“Thirty thousand?”
“What?”
Shen Lang exclaimed quietly. He couldn't believe it. The capital of the great Witch Empire had only thirty thousand defenders?
“Duke Russell’s army of two hundred and fifty thousand has captured Xiwa City. Duke Diphas’s army of over a hundred thousand has captured Dalong City, and the several hundred thousand allied forces of the Third Seirun Empire will soon be at our gates.”
“I know.”
“How can such a powerful Witch Empire have so few troops?”
“Actually… the Witch Empire isn’t an official title. The Medusa Queen never called herself a queen during her lifetime. Everything is just a name others have given her. The so-called Witch Empire is just a loose confederation of city-states that willingly pledged their loyalty to the Medusa Queen. We never sent out troops or officials; all the city-states are completely autonomous.”
“Does that mean, in a way, that the Witch Empire doesn’t exist?”
Zhang Chunhua nodded.
“If you were to say it exists, you would have to say the Medusa Queen is the Witch Empire, and the empire is the Medusa Queen. On her voyage here, she liberated every slave city-state she came across. That’s why the army following her grew larger and larger. Later, countless slaves and organizations broke away from their original masters and began to establish a new ruling system, all in the name of pledging loyalty to the Medusa Queen. Moreover, many nobles who held grudges against the Seirun Dynasty voluntarily abolished slavery after the Medusa Queen arrived and declared their allegiance to Her Majesty.”
“For example, like the former Bikin City or Xiwa City?”
“That’s right. So, we don’t even know how big the Witch Empire really is. Even when the Medusa Queen had the most people around her, it never exceeded thirty thousand. Half were Easterners, and the other half were slave warriors and Roland Clan warriors.”
‘No wonder, no wonder!’
So that was the background. No wonder Shen Lang couldn't find any official records about the Witch Empire. And on his way here, fierce battles were raging everywhere, but the city-states of the Witch Empire fought their own battles. Because they weren't a truly unified empire, but merely a loose alliance. Every city-state operated under the banner of loyalty to the Medusa Queen, and among them were liberated slaves, rising heroes, and even some pre-existing nobles of the Seirun Dynasty. But the only place the so-called Witch Empire truly controlled was this Queen’s City before him.
“Then tell me honestly. If Duke Russell’s army attacks, can you defend this place?”
Zhang Chunhua shook her head.
“We can’t. The Medusa Queen’s true elite force is only ten thousand strong. The other twenty thousand are just to make up the numbers.”
This was truly a damn mess.
“Then, how did you manage to conquer a territory of four million square kilometers in just a few years?”
“Four million square kilometers? On her way here, Her Majesty the Queen would attack any city-state with slaves, liberate all of them, and then leave. She continued like that all the way to the Queen’s City, where she finally stopped.”
What was this, like a bear picking corn? Picking it but not eating it, just tossing it aside; killing them but not ruling them. But this behavior fit Qiu Yao’er’s character. She never knew how to rule a country in the first place.
“Then how did you manage to defeat over a hundred city-states with just this many troops?”
“It was enough for the Medusa Queen to stand at the forefront and charge into the enemy lines. In her lifetime, she had no equal, so as long as she charged, we won. It was like that for every city. The Medusa Queen conquered them all with such ease.”
“By herself?”
Zhang Chunhua nodded.
“Probably.”
‘Th-this is insane! H-how absurdly powerful is she?’
The so-called Witch Empire was built entirely on her ridiculously invincible martial power. She had no civil or military officials under her, no departments to handle various affairs like a normal empire, and basically, nothing at all.