Chapter 222: Don't Be Stubborn
Hao Ren helped Zhao Yanzi to the sofa before dialing Su Han's number.
After several rings, the call was finally connected.
"What?" Su Han's cold voice came through the phone.
"Zi's sick. Can I take her to your place?" Hao Ren didn't waste time on greetings.
"Ok," Su Han gave him an emotionless answer. Obviously, sickness was not a big deal to her.
Having enlisted help from Su Han, Hao Ren draped a coat over Zhao Yanzi's shoulders before dragging her out of the house.
They took a taxi to the luxurious Flower City Complex. Hao Ren walked Zhao Yanzi to Su Han's door and rang the doorbell.
In her pale grey floral pajamas, Su Han opened the door.
Hao Ren helped Zhao Yanzi into Su Han's warm room and relaxed instantly.
"Could you get her some warm water? I'll go buy some medicine to help with her fever," Hao Ren said to Su Han after helping Zhao Yanzi to the sofa
"Medicine? Why not feed her two Essence Replenishment Pills?" Su Han asked before taking out two pale pink pills from her ring.
"Will they work?" Hao Ren looked at her doubtfully.
"I don't know." Su Han shook her head.
Hao Ren was speechless. After a second of silence, he said, "Just get her some water."
Then, he hurried to the door. "Where is the pharmacy around here?"
He regretted asking the moment he opened his mouth. Sure enough, from Su Han's confused look, he knew that she also had no clue.
Hao Ren walked out to find a pharmacy. Since Zi was not willing to go to a hospital, he would buy her some medicine. If her fever didn't decrease by midnight, he would take her to the hospital then.
It was now evening, and the sky had darkened. The huge Nine Dragon Palace still hovered in the sky.
Not familiar with the neighborhood, Hao Ren had to ask around before he found a pharmacy on a side street.
He bought some common medicine for cold and fever before hurrying back to Su Han's apartment.
The usually lively Zhao Yanzi was lying on the sofa with half-closed eyes, spiritless. Hao Ren opened the package of the pills and fed her the medicine with a glass of water.
Su Han stood beside them, observing and learning. Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi came to her home and interrupted her cultivation, but she couldn't turn them away when Zhao Yanzi was sick.
After taking medicine, Zhao Yanzi began to doze off. She hadn't learned to take care of herself; she should have taken sick leave when she felt ill.
"Do you have a spare room?" Hao Ren turned to ask Su Han.
"The spare room is a workout room without a bed. Zi can sleep in my room," Su Han said.
"Ok!" Hao Ren bent down and carried Zhao Yanzi to Su Han's bedroom.
"I'm fine..." Zhao Yanzi murmured in her sleep.
Her flushed face and thick eyelashes made her look adorable and pitiful.
Tonight, her parents were both absent. Hao Ren wondered what would happen if she had been left at home alone. With a little pat on her forehead, he placed her onto Su Han's big bed and tucked her in.
He walked out of the room and found that Su Han was looking at him with a strange expression.
"What?" Hao Ren asked.
"Nothing." Su Han smiled slightly. "I just found out that you do care for her."
"She has never been sick before. After this fever, she will get a taste of being sick," Hao Ren said.
In her pale grey floral pajamas, Su Han leaned her head to one side and pondered. However, she had never been sick and couldn't imagine what sickness felt like.
"Without her Dragon Core, Zi has become a mortal girl. If you return the Dragon Core to her, she won't be sick again," not able to imagine the feeling of sickness, Su Han commented.
"Yeah." Hao Ren nodded. Although it was purely an accident that he swallowed Zhao Yanzi's Dragon Core, Zi's life energy had decreased by half without her Dragon Core, and she had become as weak as a mortal. From this perspective, Hao Ren had a responsibility to take good care of her.
Looking back into the bedroom, he saw that Zhao Yanzi was still asleep.
Su Han looked at Hao Ren and asked, "What's your answer to my plan from this morning?"
"I can't give you an answer right now," Hao Ren said. In fact, he wanted to consult with Zhao Guang and Zhao Hongyu about Su Han's plan tonight; but unexpectedly, they were not home, and Zi got sick.
"But the Nine Dragon Palace seems to be in the sky above East Ocean City," Hao Ren said after a moment of consideration. Since he could see it, he was sure that Su Han had seen it too.
"The reappearance of the Nine Dragon Palace in the mortal world will make people restless. After each opening, the Nine Dragon Palace would drop from Fifth Heaven to First Heaven. However, no one can predict where it will appear; maybe on a prairie, on a mountain valley, or above an ocean. This time, it has appeared in the sky above East Ocean City. It seems that the city is now under the spotlight," Su Han said.
Hao Ren frowned and guessed that the important thing the Lu sisters wanted to tell him was related to the Nine Dragon Palace since everyone with cultivation power could see the huge palace above East Ocean City.
"Did you say that you could enter the Nine Dragon Palace?" Hao Ren asked her.
"Right! In fact, many cultivators beside me can use their techniques to break through the defense array formations of the Nine Dragon Palace temporarily and enter the palace by force. This time, its appearance above East Ocean City spared me the trouble from using the intelligence network of the Inspectors to locate it," Su Han said.
"But you will need a guide after breaking into the Nine Dragon Palace, right?" Hao Ren continued.
"Yes. The Four Ocean Dragon Palaces have direct control of the Nine Dragon Palace and keep its information as a top secret. Maybe the top-level people in the Inspector System possess the full information about the Nine Dragon Palace, but I, an ordinary Inspector, can't get the map of the palace," Su Han said slowly.
Hao Ren thought for a while and asked, "I'm from East Ocean. Are you asking me to betray East Ocean by pulling me into your scheme?"
"If you don't want to go, I'll find other people to go with me, though I trust you more. Besides, do you really think the other three Oceans will not make a move while the Nine Dragon Palace is in the mortal world?" Su Han stared at Hao Ren, and her tone was even and gentle.
Hao Ren thought about it and realized that she was right. The cultivation world was generally peaceful under the watch of the Inspectors. But in the face of opportunities, no party would back off.
The eight young elites from the Four Ocean Dragon Palaces were in fact scouts. The real competition started when the Nine Dragon Palace entered the mortal world!
Zhao Guang had asked Hao Ren about every detail he had gathered about the Nine Dragon Palace because East Ocean would organize their most powerful cultivators and break into the palace!
As to the battles inside the Nine Dragon Palace, it was beyond the range of responsibilities of the Inspectors.
"If I go with you, will it be only the two of us?" Hao Ren asked.
"Quality over quantity. Lu Linlin and Lu Lili can join us. If necessary, I'll get another person into our group. Five people will have better odds of winning. As to East Ocean, I don't know about their plans, but I don't think they will let you join their group." Su Han's expression turned from cold to earnest.
"When do you plan to enter?" Hao Ren asked.
"Next week. The Nine Dragon Palace stays in the mortal world only for two weeks before returning to the void. Next week is the moment when the Nine Dragon Palace has the weakest defense, and we can break into it more easily," Su Han said.
Hao Ren nodded but didn't tell her if he would join her. Even if he didn't go with her, Su Han would find other people to do the job.
The room was quiet and cozy. Hao Ren stood up quietly and walked into Su Han's bedroom, finding that Zhao Yanzi was still soundly asleep.
He placed his hand on her forehead and found that it was not as hot as before. Feeling a bit relieved, he picked up the quilt she had kicked off and tucked it around her before walking out of the bedroom.
Su Han sat in the living room and quietly watched what Hao Ren was doing.
"Sickness isn't a bad thing if the sick people can get such attention," she thought to herself.
"Oh, another thing. Today, when I went to Zhao Yanzi's school, I saw Zeng Yitao in LingZhao High School," Hao Ren told Su Han when he returned to the living room
"I know about this." Su Han nodded, but she didn't say anything else.
Hao Ren thought that Zeng Yitao had two purposes. One was that Zeng Yitao would have more opportunities to get close to Zhao Yanzi. The other and more important reason was that West Ocean could use the excuse of protecting the Crown Prince and move people of West Ocean into East Ocean City. It was a strategic move that meant to test the water.
East Ocean and West Ocean had not become public enemies yet, and the fact that the Crown Prince of West Ocean came to study in East Ocean City seemed to be a friendly gesture. If the East Ocean Dragon Clan interfered with the decision of the Crown Prince of West Ocean, it would reflect poorly on East Ocean.
Besides, if Zeng Yitao stayed here, he could find an opportunity to get back his Natal Dharma Treasure.
At this thought, Hao Ren took out the long spear he grabbed from Zeng Yitao from his hidden space. When the spear came out, Little White also came out since it was biting onto the spear.
It rolled on the carpet before jumping onto the sofa, hiding behind Hao Ren. It was instinctively fearful of Su Han who was a Qian-level Master.
The spear was no longer golden; it had faded into a silver color. The five coiling dragons on the body of the spear looked fierce with their claws and fangs.
Hao Ren transferred some Nature Essence into his hand. The moment his hand touched the spear, it turned from silver to gold, emitting a powerful pressure.
Hao Ren increased the Nature Essence in his hand, and the spear began to hum and buzz while its entire body turned into a dazzling golden color. The tip of the spear shook slightly as if it was ready to stab enemies at any moment.
Whoosh! Hao Ren slashed it out in the living room.