This made King Guilong instantly abandon many of his original thoughts, a lot of things he wanted to say were put aside for now—he wanted to get this matter clear first.

Wen Yan blinked, sharply sensing where the problem was as well.

Combining the hints, he more or less understood: stuff like sharing the same family name, not drowning in water, building temples—probably none of that really mattered much.

Just as he thought, these things were nothing but icing on the cake, not the real point.

Because he'd lived in Nanwu County for several years, he knew full well—if you have ability, then your family name is a natural bond among kin, but if you lack ability, at most you just run into those well-off relatives at ancestor-worship events.

The real reason today's conversation was going smoothly was simply that he had kept his word that day and really cleaned the Stone Archway in the middle of the night.

Maybe it was because at that time, thanks to the Scorching Sun Blessing on the Stone Archway, some aura had rubbed off on him.

After his thoughts turned quickly, Wen Yan just honestly told the truth.

"Right at the very center of Virtue City, there's a Stone Archway. I heard from an elder that it was bestowed by the Dragon Mother, built to protect the people."

"That elder of mine spent his whole life cleaning and caring for that Stone Archway, and even last year he was still at it."

"This year, that elder passed away, and the responsibility fell on my shoulders."

"Earlier this year, I found a night to go clean and maintain that Stone Archway myself."

"Virtue City's center?"

"Yes, dead center, right where four major avenues cross, smack dab in the middle of the intersection—and it's exactly three feet, three inches, three above street level."

King Guilong fell silent for quite a while. He really hadn't known these things, nor had he ever heard anyone mention them.

If it's three inches below the curb, that's the fate of being trampled by countless feet. If it's more than three feet lower than the street, that's eternal damnation.

But raised over three feet, three inches, three at the corner of the main intersection on the street, that means it receives worship day and night.

This level of status is much higher than simply building a temple.

Because even with a temple, there's no guarantee the whole city comes to pay respects.

Only at the heart of the main streets, the four avenues' intersection, right there, can you be sure the whole city has worshipped there at some point.

King Guilong, just hearing this—without even needing to see it—knew that Stone Archway must be his mother's.

In his heart, within the West River water system, aside from his mother, even he himself would never be worthy of that honor.

And since Wen Yan could pick up even a trace of aura, that proved two things.

One, his mother must quite like Wen Yan, or she wouldn't have blessed him.

Two, even after all these years and changes, his mother was still deeply respected locally.

And, it also meant there was hope for his mother's revival.

This filled King Guilong with pure delight—happier even than if he'd built his own temple.

Even though back in the day he'd been the one to get the most beatings, his mother had always doted on him most. Of course he hoped that, after the Spiritual Qi Resurgence, he could see his mother again.

After hearing Wen Yan's explanation, King Guilong immediately gained a natural fondness for the people of Virtue City. Year after year of continual ritual worship—maybe that's how this hope survived.

But to pull this off right in the heart of the city, the Scorching Sun Department must have played a part, right?

Thinking of this, King Guilong wasn't quite as annoyed at the Scorching Sun Department anymore—like, went from absolutely annoyed to just normal-annoyed.

As for Wen Yan, he shifted from totally average in his eyes, to just a little more pleasant to look at.

After all, if his mother thought Wen Yan was decent, it wouldn't be right for him to think otherwise.

"Does Mother still have a temple?"

"She always has. Every year it's repaired and maintained, and on the Dragon Mother's birthday, lots and lots of people come to worship from all directions. Some even return specially from beyond the Divine Land."

Seeing King Guilong's reaction, Wen Yan picked things to say that he knew King Guilong would want to hear.

Sure enough, it was clear even to Wen Yan—King Guilong's eyes shone with joy, and even the air of pressure around him eased up a lot.

They chatted with King Guilong about the Dragon Mother for over half an hour, still not getting to any other business yet.

When the conversation had about run its course and King Guilong was obviously in a good mood, he finally looked at Wen Yan.

"So, tell me, what are you mainly here for this time? Are you representing the Scorching Sun Department?"

"No, no, no, I'm not with the Scorching Sun Department."

"Then what do you want? And if you're worried about what I'm going to do—don't be."

"Back in the day, my mother always protected the common people. Now, with her Archway still standing in Virtue City and her temple still kept up, of course I wouldn't do anything outrageous."

"As for last time, me stopping the Goddess's ascension—that wasn't to go against the Goddess. I have no beef with her."

"I actually admire her character a lot."

"It's just that I couldn't stand the way that Scorching Sun Department dog of a leader was acting."

"Wasn't he making it obvious he was targeting us of the Water Clan? If I didn't at least make a show of it, wouldn't everyone think we're easy to bully?"

Wen Yan's eyes lit up, and he nodded enthusiastically.

"Ah, exactly! If I could have beaten that bastard Cai, I wouldn't have stopped at just spraying his face in public. My senior brother has a temper—he smacked him in front of everyone, sent him flying dozens of yards."

"Oh? Such a hero exists? What's his name?"

"Qin Kun, from Fuyu Mountain."

"Hey, Fuyu Mountain's produced another tough guy! Good, very good. A pity I didn't get to see it for myself."

"I'll ask around, see if anyone got it on video. If someone did, next time I'll bring it for you to watch—and video is..."

"I get it. It's that thing on your phones, where you can see images, right?"

"Right, exactly. I'll ask around later, see if any brave soul caught Cai getting smacked on camera."

"Ha ha..." King Guilong couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Wen Yan laughed as well. Cai Heizi—the more I roast him, the happier I get; there's no end to the ways I can roast him.

As for whether anyone actually got that beating on video—probably not.

But whatever, anything else aside, for a thing like video—if modern tech says it exists, then it definitely exists.

Besides, I bet dear Minister Cai, if he knew him getting beaten on camera would make King Guilong this happy, he wouldn't mind either.

Once the mood was all friendly, Wen Yan finally got to the main point.

"Here's the thing, I accidentally ran into a broken Ghost Servant earlier, found out a bit of something, so I specifically came here for that."

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