"What? General Duan is dead?"
The Princess was shocked as she heard what had happened. She couldn't believe that the General was dead. It was the first time she was hearing it.
Even her father had only just found out.
"Yeah. Glaze killed him right in front of my eyes," Long Chen replied.
"Wait! Why would you be accessed if Glaze killed him? Why are you worrying?" Mimi asked, wondering about Long Chen's concern.
"It's because Western General had taken me with him. As far as the world knows, only I was with him. Overall, many complicated things happen, all at once. I had no choice but to escape for my life," Long Chen explained vaguely.
"Moreover, I just don't want to face the punishment or trial for what I didn't do. I'd much rather leave in peace," he added. "So, can you give me the map?"
"No! I know you're innocent! I'll talk to my father for you. He isn't that stubborn or blindsided. He would certainly see that you weren't wrong," Mimi pointed out.
"Is that so?" Long Chen asked, sighing. "You're forgetting one thing, Mimi. You are forgetting my strength. You know I'm almost as strong as your Western General since you saw me fight. Do you think your father won't be able to see that?"
"Just imagine, a person who is as strong as your General was alone with him. Who will believe that I didn't kill your General? Also, I hid my strength to take part in the scholarship event. That in itself will be suspicious."
" A stranger who was awfully strong came to the Royal City for the first time, hid his strength to win a scholarship so he could enter the Royal Palace? Who wouldn't think that I had ulterior motives? No one will trust me, honestly!" Long Chen declared
"This... Now that you put it like that, it does weaken your case in front of my father. But I know why you did all that. I know you're innocent. I can protect you!" Mimi insisted.
"I'm sorry, but I don't want to be protected by you. I just don't want to take the risk. What if you aren't able to protect me? It's easier and faster to just run away, isn't it?" Long Chen asked.
"Come on! Please try to understand!"
"Alright! I won't say anything. I won't take you before my father. But just know, if you run away, you'll always have that title of Glaze. Not only my father but many more people would be after you. Glaze is hated by a lot of people!' Mimi reminded Long Chen.
"I am fine with that. One day, I'll return with the real Glaze and prove my innocence. But until then, I can't stop living my life," Long Chen answered.
"Come on, lady, don't be stubborn like that. Just give us the maps!" Snake Monarch also chimed in.
"Fine. Just wait a minute. I'll get dressed and be right back," Mimi let out before she left.
After a few minutes, she returned completely dressed.
She sat right beside Long Chen and brought out a few scrolls from her storage ring.
"These are the maps. They encompass the entire Immortal World. They're in great detail, so they'll be of use to you. And these scrolls contain the information about the Clan that you want to go after. It has all the information that our Western Empire has on them."
"Thank you so much. This would help a lot," Long Chen said, picking up the scrolls. He kept them all in his pocket. "I'll leave now."
"Will you ever return?" Mimi asked as she saw Long Chen standing up.
"Of course. Why won't I return?" Long Chen asked, shaking his head.
"Will you meet me when you come back?" Mimi asked.
"Meeting you isn't that hard either. I can just come up to your bedroom. I promise next time I come here; I won't forget to meet you," Long Chen told Mimi.
"Tha-"
Mimi started speaking something, but before she could finish even her first word, she saw Long Chen disappear.
As Long Chen disappeared, Mimi also signed deeply. She sat on the bed, looking down.
Soon, there was a knock on her door.
Standing up, she opened the door.
She noticed one of the Royal Guards standing at the entrance.
"Yes?"
"Your Highness, His Majesty has called for you."
"I'll be right there."
Mimi left her room and walked to the Royal Chamber only to find it filled. All the ministers were already there, and that wasn't all. Even all the Royal Heirs were present. It seemed like something important was taking place.
Mimi couldn't help but sigh as she looked around. She already had an idea what it was about. If what she heard was right, then it was about the death of the Western General.
Just as she had expected, the Emperor declared about the death of the Western General.
The Death of the Western General came as a shock to all the ministers. Even the Princes were in disbelief. The only one who had any ideas was Princess Mimi. Even she pretended to be shocked.
"Who did it?! Who was able to kill the General?" One of the ministers asked.
"That's right, father. Who was able to kill him? How could it happen? I don't understand at all! He was so strong!"
"Did another Emperor kill him? Are we at war?"
"From what I know so far, Glaze killed him," Western Emperor declared.
"Glaze? That thief?" A Prince asked.
"That's right. The thief who robbed our Treasury last night killed General Duan. We underestimated him a lot. We thought that he was just a thief, but it turns out that the reason he was a good thief is because he was a powerful cultivator as well." The Emperor declared.
"Not only that. He was actually someone cunning as well. He pretended to be weak to take part in the scholarship test so he could enter the Royal Palace! He fooled everyone!" He added.
"Huh? He took part in the scholarship test? Really?" The Second Prince asked, stunned. He had conducted that test himself. To think that Glaze was there?
"Who was he?" He asked.
The Emperor gestured for his men to disturb the posters. All the posters were distributed to the ministers and the heirs.
Mimi opened the poster to find Long Chen's face there. He was right about something. All the blame was actually coming on his head. Moreover, hiding his strength in the scholarship test worked against him.
"This young man is Glaze?" Second Prince asked, stunned.
"That's right. He's Glaze," The Emperor replied.
"General Duan had already found his identity. He also told the Royal captain that this guy was Glaze and that he was going to investigate more," he added. "After that, he was alone with this guy. And now he is dead. I think that doesn't leave anything to imagination! This is Glaze!"
"But father, isn't it possible that it's a misunderstanding? Maybe he later found out that this guy wasn't Glaze? And then the General left. It is also possible that real Glaze thought this was the perfect opportunity to clear his name by blaming someone else?"
"He knew that blame was on this guy, so he just killed Western General so a situation like this would occur. Now we will chase this innocent guy, and Glaze will roam free. Isn't it possible?' Mimi asked, suggesting an alternate theory depending on what Long Chen had told her.
"That's highly unlikely. Too many coincidences needed to happen simultaneously for that situation to occur. Moreover, the hotel staff watched General Duan leaving with this guy on his beast. Only the beast returned. General Duan is dead, and this guy is missing. It's just too obvious. He is Glaze!"
The Emperor refuses to listen to Mimi. Instead, he continued with what he was saying.
"Back to the topic, now we know who Glaze is! I want these posters in the Empire, everywhere. Whoever has the information of Glaze should give us that information. Also, the security of the Royal Palace should be increased!"
...
Many things were changing in the Royal Palace of Western Empire. Long Chen neither cared about those changes nor was he there to find out about them.
Instead, he was sitting on top of the Snake Monarch, who was flying at his best speed towards the Northern Empire.
He wanted to kill any and every person that was responsible for the destruction of the Snake Monarch's home to help the little guy.
In any case, he didn't have any other option but to wait for the appearance of the Blood Dragon Emperor as that was when he could kill all the Emperors. Until then, he was free to do anything he wanted. He didn't need to do anything else.
He didn't need to bother about meeting the Emperors. All he needed to do was kill the clan that killed the family of Snake Monarch and leave.