"Oh! So that's how it is!" Bobby Bai grinned and stretched his arms toward Sean Shaw. "Brother-in-law, hug me!"
Sean reached out and picked him up, asking, "Are you having fun here?"
"Not at all!" Bobby Bai pouted. "My master doesn't like me anymore—he only likes the Divine Lord! Brother-in-law, take me away!"
Sean glanced at Tanya Quinn and Lord Noctis, who had already come out to greet them, and said with a smile, "I bet your master is just being strict with you!"
Bobby Bai sulked, "Mm!"
"That's exactly why your sister and I aren't worried," Sean said. "A strict master raises a great student. Stick with your master, we won't take you away."
"Huh? Sis?" Bobby Bai looked at Lily Bai.
Lily Bai smiled and shook her head. "But we can still take you to Drake Abyss to play."
Bobby Bai immediately brightened up and nodded enthusiastically.
Phoenix Divine Lord Tanya Quinn and Lord Noctis came out together, bowing to Sean: "Greetings, Crown Prince."
Sean quickly helped Tanya Quinn up. "It's not proper for a teacher to bow to her student!"
"Come in and have a seat first!" Tanya Quinn invited them inside, smiling. "Did you know, the Celestial Emperor had a secret—he only ever told me."
"Oh? What secret?" Lily Bai asked curiously.
"Back then, the old priest of Drake Abyss exhausted all his power to divine two lines. I only ever told you one."
"You mean... 'A Demon Emperor will arise from nowhere'?"
"That's right! There was another line: 'He will rule the Three Realms and Ten Wilds.' Put together, it's: 'A Demon Emperor will arise from nowhere and rule the Three Realms and Ten Wilds.'" Tanya Quinn said. "Ever since His Highness the Crown Prince came to me saying he might ascend soon, I've thought—fate really is wild!"
"Back then, the Celestial Emperor was so worried—he formed the Three-Realms Joint Army, kept watch over every realm, always imagining some monster would pop up and overthrow even the Three Divine Realms. He never dreamed it would turn out like this!"
Tanya Quinn meant it as a joke.
But no one laughed.
Lily Bai thought of the Celestial Emperor, her expression turning wistful.
Sean suddenly lowered his eyes and said, "If only he were here... that would be wonderful."
Tanya Quinn looked a bit embarrassed. "I was trying to lighten the mood, but I just ended up stirring up sad memories."
Sean shook his head. "It's not just sadness... I just miss him. I wonder... if he'll ever come back."
Tanya Quinn sighed.
"Maybe we can find him," Lord Noctis suddenly said.
"What?" All three of them looked at him.
"I've got a secret too—a secret only I know. Want to hear it?" Lord Noctis asked.
"What kind of secret could you have that even I don't know about?" Tanya Quinn teased, her eyes sparkling with mock annoyance.
She was practically pouting.
Lord Noctis looked nothing like a demon now—he was like a little angel, smiling softly. "It's a secret Emperor Ray Quinn told me."
"What secret? What secret?" Lily Bai pressed eagerly. "Come on, tell us!"
"Do you remember that door I dug up in the desert?" Lord Noctis asked.
"Of course!" Lily Bai's eyes widened. "What kind of door was that?"
"Before Emperor Ray Quinn left, he told me he'd figured out the way to leave the Lotus Realm for a vaster world. He called it: the Void Gate." Lord Noctis said, "I never saw it myself, but I've always felt that he and the Fiend Princess left through that Void Gate."