Chapter 1241: Trouble Forcibly Left Behind
To consolidate his position and prevent anyone from shaking his throne as Great Emperor, Luo Yao spared no effort, finally succeeding in having all nine of his Guardians appointed from among his most trusted confidants, orchestrating a sweeping reshuffle within the upper echelons of the Jingling Continent Underworld Office.
This approach was like a brave warrior severing his own arm—though it would incur some losses for him, and even the entire Jingling Continent Underworld Office, the benefits were equally self-evident. At the very least, he no longer had to constantly worry about his subordinates plotting against him as he had in the past.
As for whether these trusted confidants would betray him in the future for various reasons, he dared not make a definitive judgment. Such things were never absolute; perhaps one day such traitors would indeed emerge. However, for now, he saw no such signs.
Sometimes, for long-term considerations, taking such decisive action was quite necessary. It was precisely because Luo Yao understood this principle that he acted so unhesitatingly.
Yang Haoran was one of Luo Yao's trusted confidants, so this major reshuffle within the Jingling Continent Underworld Office naturally brought no negative impact upon him. On the contrary, due to Luo Yao's high regard for him, his standing within the Guardian collective of the Jingling Continent Underworld Office rose considerably.
With Ye Xianglan taking over the First District, and Yang Haoran having completely handled the matters entrusted to him by Luo Yao, there was naturally no need for him to remain in the First District. It wasn't his territory, and he had no desire to waste too much time there.
Ye Xianglan's attitude towards Yang Haoran had undergone a monumental change compared to before. She was exceedingly warm towards him, as if they had been close friends for many years. Before Yang Haoran departed the First District, Ye Xianglan hosted a grand banquet to bid him farewell and even prepared many unique local specialties from the First District as thank-you gifts.
Yang Haoran, naturally, graciously accepted these gifts. Although these items were mostly useless to him now, their uselessness to him didn't mean they were useless to his trusted subordinates. He certainly had no reason to refuse. And to Ye Xianglan herself, he returned an equal measure of enthusiasm. However, how much of their so-called warmth was genuine and how much was feigned was known only to themselves.
"Lord Emissary, that. . . that person has caused some more trouble recently."
Shui Ling spoke, her tone cautious and somewhat evasive, not fully articulating her words.
Yang Haoran leaned back in his chair, took a drag from his cigarette, his expression unchanged. This left Shui Ling, who had been closely observing his facial changes, utterly unable to discern Yang Haoran's current mood from his expression.
Even though there was no change on Yang Haoran's face, in his heart, he felt a degree of helplessness at that moment. He simply didn't show it in front of Shui Ling.
Yang Haoran only needed a moment's thought to immediately understand whom Shui Ling was referring to: it must be Zhong Siyu, that Blood-Clad Ghost King.
Originally, Zhong Siyu was severely injured and saved by Yang Haoran. Although this was an accident and not intentionally arranged by him, the fact remained that she was saved by him. Furthermore, after careful consideration at the time, he had no choice but to bring Zhong Siyu back to the Guardian District.
Upon returning to the Guardian District, Zhong Siyu wished to recuperate from her injuries with Yang Haoran and use the gains she had accumulated over a long period to break through to a new realm. Yang Haoran was initially reluctant to agree. After all, Zhong Siyu was not only a spectral being but also a powerful Blood-Clad Ghost King. If he were to keep Zhong Siyu in the Guardian District, he worried that the news might leak out and cause trouble, and he also worried that Zhong Siyu, this emotionally unstable Blood-Clad, would actively cause him trouble. Neither scenario would be good for him.
Therefore, at the time, he was somewhat unwilling to let Zhong Siyu stay. The reason he ultimately did was because Zhong Siyu indeed needed a quiet and safe place to heal and break through. Additionally, Yang Haoran didn't want to offend Zhong Siyu, this Blood-Clad Ghost King, and even had intentions of befriending her. Thus, he ultimately decided to let Zhong Siyu stay.
However, this so-called "staying," to Yang Haoran at the time, was only meant for Zhong Siyu's period of seclusion. Once Zhong Siyu emerged from seclusion, it would be best if she left on her own. If she didn't, he would have to find a way to make her leave. Even with the intention of befriending Zhong Siyu, he didn't dare keep a Blood-Clad Ghost King who could go berserk at any moment by his side. After all, Zhong Siyu was like a ticking time bomb; there was no telling when she might explode. Moreover, Zhong Siyu might not necessarily stay with him either.
Zhong Siyu's seclusion was very long, far exceeding Yang Haoran's expectations. It wasn't until a long time after the great war between the Underworld Office and the Spirit Mediums had concluded that Zhong Siyu emerged from her seclusion.
Having completed her seclusion, Zhong Siyu had indeed successfully advanced to late-stage Ghost King. However, she didn't immediately leave Yang Haoran's Guardian District. Instead, she found various excuses to shamelessly insist on staying with him: that Spirit Mediums had gone into hiding making prey hard to find, that her injuries hadn't fully recovered, that the outside world was too dangerous and she didn't want to go out and seek death, and so on.
Zhong Siyu had many reasons for not wanting to leave, but her excuses were truly laughable, so ridiculously flimsy that no one would take her poor reasons seriously, and Yang Haoran was naturally no exception.
Yang Haoran felt somewhat helpless about this. He tried various subtle ways to hint at Zhong Siyu leaving, but she simply wouldn't budge. He couldn't possibly resort to forceful means against Zhong Siyu; after all, Yang Haoran's current standing was, to some extent, linked to Zhong Siyu. So, unless absolutely necessary, he didn't want to act against her.
Moreover, given Zhong Siyu's late-stage Ghost King realm, and the fact that she was the strongest Blood-Clad among ghostly beings, dealing with her would be no simple matter. Yang Haoran wasn't confident he could subdue Zhong Siyu.
Besides these two reasons, there were naturally other contributing factors, but those were secondary; these two were the primary ones.
And so, Zhong Siyu successfully managed to latch onto Yang Haoran's Guardian District and didn't leave.
Yang Haoran was somewhat puzzled by this. He didn't understand why Zhong Siyu shamelessly insisted on staying with him. As for Zhong Siyu worrying about encountering danger upon leaving the Guardian District, Yang Haoran didn't quite believe it. After the great war, the New Beginning Realm had become much safer, and Zhong Siyu's strength was astonishing. While there weren't *no* people in this world who could threaten her life, they were few, so Zhong Siyu wouldn't necessarily be in danger even if she left the Guardian District.
Yang Haoran didn't quite believe Zhong Siyu was staying in the Guardian District because the outside world was too dangerous for her to leave. Compared to that possibility, he thought it more likely that Zhong Siyu wanted to gain something from him.
Of course, this "more likely" was only relative. Yang Haoran couldn't be sure that this was the reason for Zhong Siyu's persistent stay.
After Zhong Siyu stayed, Yang Haoran didn't dare let his guard down even a little. On one hand, he worried that Zhong Siyu would cause him trouble, and on the other, he wanted to figure out the true reason for her insistence on staying.
Although Yang Haoran had constantly been observing Zhong Siyu's actions, she had successively caused some trouble. For instance, a powerful ghostly entity discovered by one of Yang Haoran's Emissaries of Death was directly devoured by Zhong Siyu in a clear act of "black-on-black" predation. Or, for example, some inconsiderate Demon Hunter had provoked Zhong Siyu and was directly annihilated by her, and so on.
The series of troubles Zhong Siyu caused were neither big nor small, but fortunately, they were all within Yang Haoran's ability to handle. Thus, Yang Haoran properly dealt with all of them. Aside from giving him a few headaches, these incidents didn't cause him much loss. However, the purpose of Zhong Siyu's forceful stay, he still hadn't figured out to this day.
Now, hearing Shui Ling say that "that person" had caused trouble again, Yang Haoran paused for a moment, took a few more drags from his cigarette, and a faint smile finally appeared on his face. Then he asked Shui Ling,
"Heh heh, what kind of trouble has that little ancestor caused this time? Did she kill someone, or abscond with spoils?"
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