"Reporting to Miss, the King and Queen have gone out to visit friends. They left not long ago. As for the Crown Prince, he has been staying in the royal palace recently, flipping through various ancient records," the two maids answered respectfully.
"Gone out to visit friends?" Jing Xiao was stunned, her face showing a hint of suspicion.
She didn't remember her parents having any friends.
In all the years she had lived in the Jing Kingdom, she had never heard her parents mention such things.
Why would they choose this moment to visit friends? She instinctively felt this was an excuse and that they must have left for some other reason.
"Go to the royal palace and call my brother back."
After some thought, Jing Xiao ordered.
The two maids obeyed and left. The vast Jing Mansion was not short of people, but usually, there were only a few servants around.
As the mistress of the house, Jing Xiao, though she hadn't returned for years, was very familiar with everything in the mansion.
She then personally brewed tea for Gu Changge, while completely ignoring Ling Yuxian.
Ling Yuxian didn't mind either. She simply sat on a stone bench nearby, her beautiful eyes slightly closed, as if meditating.
Jing Xiao's parents were not simple in terms of strength. Though they weren't at the level of Palace Lord Ling Qiuchang of the Imperial Immortal Palace, they were still considered top-tier powerhouses within the entire Prime-Origin Civilization.
Their sudden departure at this time, leaving the Jing Mansion, was unexpected for her.
However, Ling Yuxian guessed that they had likely returned to the ancestral land of the Jing Clan.
It was probably related to the message Ling Qiuchang had sent them earlier. "If I had known this earlier, I should have come sooner. Perhaps I could have caught up with them," she thought, slightly shaking her head.
Gu Changge also sat on a stone bench, the aroma of tea wafting in the air. He took a sip and couldn't help but praise it.
Jing Xiao originally had a lot to say to him. Seeing that there was nothing urgent to attend to, she took the initiative to invite him for a stroll around the area.
Hearing this, Ling Yuxian, who had closed her eyes, immediately opened them and looked over.
She stared directly at Gu Changge, her eyes seemingly carrying a warning and a hint of something else.
Gu Changge, however, acted as if he didn't notice. Facing Jing Xiao's slightly expectant gaze, he nodded and smiled, "Since Junior Sister Jing Xiao has sincerely invited me, how could I refuse?"
This made Ling Yuxian let out a cold snort. She closed her eyes again, deciding it was better not to see and not to be annoyed.
She felt that Gu Changge hadn't taken their previous agreement to heart at all.
Did he think that finding the ancestral land of the Jing Clan meant he had found the Gate of Eternal Life?
Without the help of the Imperial Immortal Palace, he would never be able to retrieve the Gate of Eternal Life.
The Jing Mansion covered an area of only a few hundred miles, but it was maintained with great elegance. Ordinary cultivators might not notice anything special, but in the eyes of those with profound cultivation, every corner of it exuded extraordinary charm.
Divine rhythms intertwined, and colorful lights shimmered, forming a small blessed land.
Jing Xiao led Gu Changge around, sharing many interesting stories from her childhood.
At this moment, she seemed to have forgotten the words Ling Yuxian had said to her earlier.
Gu Changge also listened with a smile on his face.
He knew that Jing Xiao was saying all this to set the mood, preparing to ask him about the things she wanted to know.
In truth, to him, Jing Xiao no longer held much value.
It would be better to lay things out plainly to avoid wasting unnecessary emotions.
As for using this to stir up the relationship between her and Ling Yuxian, there wasn't much need for that either.
After guessing Ling Yuxian's origins, Gu Changge knew she posed little threat to him.
Her only use now was to help him confirm the location of the Imperial Immortal Palace's founder, thereby revealing where the Sixfold Abyss was sealed.
Ling Yuxian's misunderstanding of his identity was entirely accidental. Gu Changge hadn't expected her to think in that direction at the time.
Meanwhile, at the Scripture Pavilion in the capital of the Jing Kingdom.
Jing Xiang narrowed his eyes, looking at the increasingly high sun, his eyes flickering with anticipation.
"It seems that today I'll be able to learn many things. That voice promised yesterday to reveal some truths to me," he murmured in his heart.
After days of persistent questioning, the voice seemed to have grown impatient with him and finally revealed its identity yesterday.
It turned out that the voice was none other than the most ancient ancestor of the Jing family.
The moment he learned this truth, Jing Xiang was stunned, utterly shocked and horrified.
He could hardly believe that such an almost unbelievable thing had happened right before his eyes.
The most ancient ancestor of the Jing family?
…Seeking flowers…
No wonder he knew so much about the Jing family.
But why, as the ancient ancestor of the Jing family, did he hold so much resentment and anger toward the Jing family?
Whenever he mentioned the descendants of the Jing family, his tone was always cold and disdainful.
Moreover, it seemed that he was currently trapped and sealed somewhere.
These things seemed absurd and hard to comprehend to Jing Xiang, so he was eager to uncover all the secrets.
Now, even the curse on his body seemed unimportant.
Soon, it was noon. The familiar scorching sun once again filled the sky, hanging high above all living beings.
Jing Xiang once again felt that familiar sensation and took the initiative to communicate with the voice in his heart.
"You say you're the ancient ancestor of the Jing family, but why does it seem like you're trapped within the sun?"
"And why do you know so much about the curse on me? Does it have something to do with you?"
Jing Xiang threw all these questions at the voice.
Hearing this, the voice let out a resentful and mocking laugh, then said disdainfully, "Why is this ancestor trapped? You should ask those unworthy descendants of the Jing family. As for the curse on you… Hmph, why does this ancestor know? Because it was left behind by this ancestor back then. Who would have thought it would afflict an unlucky fool like you?"
These words left Jing Xiang completely stunned, unable to believe his ears.
Speaking of these matters, the voice grew even colder and more angry.
"This ancestor originally founded the Jing family with the intention of establishing an immortal and supreme force like the Imperial Immortal Palace. But who would have thought that some unworthy descendants, taking advantage of this ancestor's serious injuries after a battle with a great enemy and subsequent seclusion, would join forces to ambush me, attempting to seize this ancestor's body and refine the cultivation accumulated over countless years for their own use."
"This ancestor, who once stood above all others in the world, with countless heroes and geniuses bowing before me, never imagined that I would one day be schemed against by my own descendants. Not only was my body nearly destroyed, but I've also been sealed for countless years, reduced to a source of cultivation for them. How laughable, how laughable!"
A piece of ancient secrets was suddenly unveiled, bloodily presented before Jing Xiang's eyes.
He stood there, stunned, for a long time, unable to recover.