Chapter 9 — The Abyssal King Returns

It took Diệp Uyên Thanh nearly a week to cross the path from U Minh Thiên Cung to the human world, having to go around many small, little-known spiritual gates to avoid the scrutiny of Shadow Guards who were patrolling heavily around the main paths. She disguised herself as a cloth merchant, carried an old wooden chest with precious documents hidden at the bottom, and went through each arduous journey with the determination of someone who had been waiting for this opportunity for seven long years.

Thanks to the secret communication network that Chu Bách Thành had quietly built over the years, she found a contact line with one of the old gods hiding at the border of the human world, who showed her the direction towards Lam Vũ Quốc, where rumors of residual magical power once caused a stir in the whole court.

When Diệp Uyên Thanh approached Vân Khê Trấn, she heard from the locals about a strange man and his young daughter who had just moved to live at the dojo of a young female warrior, who looked and spoke differently from the common people in the area. Her heart pounded. Even though she wasn't completely sure, she still decided to go to the place to verify.

That afternoon, when Bách Uyên was repairing the roof with a few disciples in the dojo, a middle-aged woman dressed simply like a long-distance trader walked up to the gate. Her eyes stayed on his face for a long time, to the point that Bách Uyên had to stop and turn to look back.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, not yet recognizing the woman in front of him.

Diệp Uyên Thanh knelt down on the spot, tears suddenly flowing out of her eyes. "Your Majesty! I never thought I would see you again one day!"

Bách Uyên was stunned, his whole body stiffened. That name, no one had called him that for seven years, made the past that was seemingly buried suddenly come back strongly. He quickly helped her up and pulled her into a hidden corner behind the warehouse to avoid outsiders. His voice trembled with both emotion and caution.

"Who are you? How do you know I'm here?"

"I am Diệp Uyên Thanh. I was in charge of the royal archives during His Majesty's reign," she replied, trying to suppress her emotions to keep her voice coherent. "I came all the way down here after hearing about the residual magic power discovered by Ảnh Vệ, believing that it was a sign that Your Majesty was still alive. I have important documents, directly related to the night the little princess was born, I hope Your Majesty will take a look," Bách Uyên immediately called Thục Di to listen together, knowing that this matter was closely related to his daughter's fate, and he no longer wanted to keep it a secret from the woman who had accompanied him through many dangers all this time. Diệp Uyên Thanh opened the wooden chest, took out an old and worn diary, and a few pages of her own notes.

"This is the diary of Princess Điền Nguyệt Hinh. I kept it for a long time before Cố Thanh Vũ ordered you to seal all her relics," she said, her hands trembling as she opened the yellowed pages. "And this is what I witnessed with my own eyes that fateful night."

Bách Uyên picked up the diary with trembling hands and immediately recognized the familiar handwriting of his deceased wife. He flipped through each page, reading Nguyệt Hinh's last confessions before going into labor, the worries and hopes she had for her soon-to-be-born child, until the last lines, with an unusually trembling pen, recorded that she felt a strange, scary presence, lurking around the delivery room in the last days of her pregnancy, but did not dare say it out loud for fear of being considered overly worried.

"She sensed something was wrong, and I didn't know it." Bách Uyên's voice choked, his hands tightened on the diary.

"And here, I would like to tell you what I witnessed with my own eyes," Diệp Uyên Thanh continued, her voice low and heavy. "The night the princess was in labor, I happened to have something to do and had to pass by the corridor near the delivery room. I saw Right Prime Minister Cố Thanh Vũ secretly leaving there at a very strange hour, when, according to common sense, no minister was allowed to go near that area. His face at that time had an expression that I had never seen on him before, both tense and as if he had just completed something important. I didn't dare to think too much at that time, until I heard that the princess suddenly froze. It spread out soon after."

Bách Uyên and Thục Di stood silently, each word of Diệp Uyên Thanh was like a knife cutting deep into the heart that had endured so much suffering for so many years. All the disparate pieces that he once suspected but never dared to confirm, now gradually fit together into a complete picture, more painful and cruel than anything he had ever imagined.

"What are you saying..." Bách Uyên asked, his voice trembling due to a fierce surge of anger. "Is Cố Thanh Vũ the one who poisoned Nguyệt Hinh, and placed a dark contract on my daughter?"

"I don't dare to say with absolute certainty, because at that time I could only witness so much." Diệp Uyên Thanh bowed her head. "But over the past seven years, the more I pondered, the more I believed that it was true. He was the only one with the motive, the ability to approach, and he was also the one who benefited the most from His Majesty's disappearance, when he appointed himself Regent, seizing all the royal power until today."

Thục Di put her hand on Bách Uyên's shoulder, feeling the intense trembling running throughout his body. She had never seen him reveal such intense anger, completely different from the calm, patient look he had always shown all this time.

"Bách Uyên, calm down," she said softly. "No matter how cruel the truth is, we need to keep a clear mind to find a way to cope, not let anger cloud our reason."

Bách Uyên took a deep breath, trying to suppress the anger boiling in his chest. He looked at Thục Di, his eyes gradually softening thanks to her calm presence, then turned to Diệp Uyên Thanh, his voice regaining some control.

"You're right, I need to calm down," he said. "But I also need to know more about the current situation at the court under his rule since then."

Diệp Uyên Thanh recounted in detail what had happened at U Minh Giới since the day he left - how Cố Thanh Vũ appointed himself Regent, how Chu Bách Thành was stripped of his military power and detained at the border, how Nhiếp Bách Khương, the only cousin in the royal family who dared to voice his doubts, was falsely accused of treason and imprisoned for many years in the dungeon under U Minh Thiên Cung. She also told about the miserable life of the common people under the iron hand of the brutal Regent, heavy taxes, and cruel purges targeting anyone suspected of loyalty to the old lineage.

Hearing this, Bách Uyên felt a burden of responsibility on his shoulders that was greater than the pain of losing his wife or the risk of losing his child. For seven years, he only thought about protecting his daughter, but forgot that his absence also left a power vacuum that caused a large world to suffer at the hands of evil people.

"I was wrong to only think about running away without thinking about the consequences for others," he said, his voice low and filled with torment.

"Your Majesty is not wrong," Diệp Uyên Thanh quickly said. "At that time, no one in the court had the ability to expose Cố Thanh Vũ. All evidence was vague. If His Majesty had stayed to confront her directly at that time, I'm afraid it would have only put the little princess in greater danger. Now, with the princess's diary and my testimony, at least we have a starting point to find justice."

Thục Di sat and listened to the entire story from beginning to end, a deep sympathy rose in her heart for the man she had gradually fallen in love with over the past time. She never imagined that behind the calm, somewhat clumsy appearance of a lost traveler, there was hidden such a great tragedy - a Supreme Lord who once stood above ten thousand people, now had to bear the pain of losing his wife, the risk of losing his children, and the responsibility of an entire world that was drowning in misery.

"So what are you going to do now?" She asked, her voice soft but filled with unwavering support.

"I need more time to think things through," Bách Uyên replied, his eyes looked towards Tiểu Yên who was sleeping soundly in the next room. "Returning to the Underworld at this time, when the contract still has no way to be completely resolved, is tantamount to sending my daughter to death. But staying here forever cannot solve the root of the problem. I need to find the Pure Spirit Clan's bloodline first, then consider confronting Cố Thanh Vũ." Diệp Uyên Thanh nodded in agreement, offering to stay in Vân Khê Trấn for a while to help, and at the same time find a way to secretly contact Chu Bách Thành to inform the situation and coordinate actions when the time was ripe. Chung Diệu Nga also commented, suggesting to use the jade pieces and notes collected from the ancient temple to continue searching for traces of that extinct tribe, who knew, maybe there were still some clues left in the area.

That night, under the small roof of Vân Khê Trấn, four people with different connections to the same tragedy discussed together until late, sketching out the first steps for a journey that they all knew would sooner or later lead them back to Netherworld, confronting head-on with the person who had robbed Bách Uyên of everything they had.