AEKMEM chapter 53

 

An Qiao’s eyes lit up immediately when he saw Chu Heng.

However, after realizing what he had done—

What a coincidence!

—An Qiao glanced at Chu Wen, who seemed a little guilty.

He remembered how Chu Wen’s personal terminal had just beeped, clearly indicating that a message had arrived. After finishing his task on the terminal screen, he had glanced at An Qiao somewhat guiltily.

Now, it seemed that Chu Wen had told Chu Heng about the message.

After being glanced at by An Qiao, Chu Wen felt even more guilty and silently shifted his feet, hiding less obviously behind Xiong Yi.

An Qiao’s gaze was terrifying, and he couldn’t bear it.

For the sake of this “surprise” “chance encounter” between his uncle and his partner, Chu Wen, the matchmaker had sacrificed far too much.

“It’s quite a coincidence,” An Qiao nodded, not exposing Chu Heng’s scheme.

“Right? I told you we were destined.” Chu Heng’s mood immediately improved upon receiving An Qiao’s confirmation that they were “destined.”

They were from different worlds yet were able to meet. What else could it be but destiny?

Not just fate, but a match made in heaven!

Thinking of this, Chu Heng’s smile grew even brighter. If he were a black dragon, he would be smugly wagging his tail.

Seeing Chu Heng like this, An Qiao felt suddenly mischievous and teased him: “You came out alone for a walk? You sure have plenty of free time.”

Chu Heng: “!”

At that moment, he realized that An Qiao had seen through his “chance encounter.”

But although An Qiao knew perfectly well, he didn’t expose him; he even teased him about it.

Chu Heng forced a smile and explained, “Actually, I knew you went out, Qiaoqiao. So, I thought I’d try my luck and see if I could run into you.”

“And I did.”

“Don’t you think we’re destined to meet?”

An Qiao: “… ”

Adding another “destined to meet”—was Chu Heng too fixated on this phrase?

“Yes, destined to meet.” An Qiao nodded in response, sounding somewhat helpless but not perfunctory.

Not far away, Chu Wen and Xiong Yi exchanged glances.

They seemed…no, they really had been forgotten by His Highness the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess.

When Chu Wen received Chu Heng’s message saying that he was coming to see An Qiao and surprise him, he knew that Chu Heng had taken a liking to An Qiao.

However, after witnessing Chu Heng’s affection for An Qiao firsthand and seeing their inseparable bond, Chu Wen realized just how deep their relationship truly was.

They were so close that they only saw each other, forming their own world and automatically ignoring and excluding everyone else.

Furthermore, Chu Wen felt that the image of Chu Heng—the towering, powerful, and domineering war god he had always held in his heart—was somewhat… shattered.

Seeing a Crown Prince who was completely different from his impression of him made it hard for Chu Wen to believe that this was truly the invincible, wise, and powerful Crown Prince he had admired.

This “chance encounter” seems too staged. Are You Highness sure the Crown Princess won’t notice?

Perhaps it’s just a playful gesture between the crown prince and Crown Princess, though. Crown Princess An Qiao clearly saw through it but didn’t expose him. Instead, he went along with the Crown Prince’s words, saying it was “destined.”

Isn’t this a classic case of a loving couple, each with their own intentions?

Just then, he heard An Qiao mention him: “These are Chu Wen and Xiong Yi, who took on the school assignment with me.”

“You should know Chu Wen. You might not have met Xiong Yi.”

Seeing Chu Heng’s gaze fall upon him, Chu Wen took a deep breath to suppress his excitement and tried to appear calm and reliable. He looked at Chu Heng and said, “Your Highness, good afternoon.”

Although his image of the Crown Prince as wise and powerful had slightly crumbled, he was still his most admired male god.

Although he usually called him “uncle” to show closeness, Chu Heng was actually his cousin uncle, a blood relation already somewhat distant. They had only met a few times and barely spoken, so they were far from close. He couldn’t even properly call him “uncle.”

Even Xiong Yi, a thick-browed, big-eyed, burly man with a good nature, was unusually nervous. “Your…Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”

“Hello,” Chu Heng greeted him with a slight nod.

He knew that An Qiao had accepted the “Search for the Elf” mission from the Empire’s First Military Academy.

When he learned that An Qiao had accepted the mission, Chu Heng was so shocked that he almost spat out his water.

An Qiao searching for “Elf”?

Searching for himself?

He had no idea what kind of twisted sense of humor made An Qiao actually accept this mission.

With An Qiao “infiltrating the enemy ranks,” the First Military Academy should never be able to find the Elf.

However, besides being shocked that An Qiao had accepted the mission to find the Elf, he couldn’t help but worry. More and more people were searching for the elf, and he was afraid An Qiao might accidentally expose his “elf” identity.

**

Emerald Lake got its name from the fact that, viewed from above, its vast expanse of azure water resembled a piece of jade.

Some areas of the lake were planted with lotus flowers, while others were left empty for boating and enjoying the scenery. Willows, bamboo, and flowers lined the lakeshore, and the lush vegetation formed dense groves that created a serene and beautiful landscape.

Chu Heng had only accompanied An Qiao for a short while when he reluctantly left due to urgent business.

An Qiao was somewhat disappointed.

However, he was concerned about how he appeared to others and had to maintain his composure, so he didn’t show his feelings on his face.

Chu Wen and Xiong Yi felt regretful but also secretly relieved.

Having His Highness the Crown Prince, Chu Heng, by their side was stressful!

An Qiao was about to tell them that they hadn’t seen an elf in Emerald Lake Park — truthfully, he hadn’t sensed any trace of the Demon King’s remnant soul — and suggest that they move to the next location.

Suddenly, he sensed something amiss nearby.

He slowly turned to Chu Wen and Xiong Yi and said, “The three of us will split up and search different areas of the park.”

“I’ll search that way.” He pointed in a certain direction, precisely where he sensed something was amiss.

“We’ll contact each other again later.”

Chu Wen was worried that An Qiao might encounter danger alone and not be able to handle it. However, since Chu Heng could leave without worry, he must have made arrangements to ensure An Qiao’s safety.

“All right,” said Chu Wen. He and Xiong Yi exchanged a glance and could only agree. “Be careful.”

An Qiao nodded. “You guys be careful, too.”

**

The Empire’s First Military Academy.

The prophetic teacher was engrossed in playing games in his office when he felt a headache coming on as the beaming principal entered with his assistant.

“Principal, I mean, even expediting the production of donkeys isn’t done like this! I tried everything yesterday: burning incense, bathing, and praying sincerely. Still, no prophecy. No matter how often you bother me, I still haven’t received any new prophecies about elves.”

This teacher’s prophetic abilities are incredibly unreliable. Only half of his ten prophecies might be accurate. He usually loses more star coins than he gains when he buys lottery tickets based on prophecies. In the game, relying on prophecies is less effective than relying on luck when drawing cards. He often laments, “What’s the point of this prophetic ability?”

Moreover, this ability is not something you can actively predict. It’s triggered passively, often resulting in inexplicable prophecies.

Because this ability is so unreliable, it’s ignored in urgent matters where mistakes are unacceptable.

This time, the prophecy said that elves would appear in Blue Star City and that those who saw them would be outstanding freshmen from the First Military Academy of the Empire.

To be honest, Professor Zhen, who had been misled repeatedly by his own ability, didn’t believe this prophecy.

However, the principal found it somewhat believable and sent the top three freshmen from the final exams to Blue Star City to try their luck.

The principal of the top military academy in the Empire is quite unreliable!

That’s not all. He practically never did anything productive; he just bothered the professor every day, bringing up the search for spirits, ostensibly to increase contact and trigger more prophecies about them.

“Don’t be so irritable, middle-aged man. I came here specifically to visit you. Look, I even brought you fruit,” the principal said with a smile, deliberately waving the fruit basket his assistant had brought to show his sincerity.

Teacher Zhen and the principal had been friends for years. How could Teacher Zhen not know that the principal was a ruthless, two-faced swindler?

He twitched his lips. “Mo Zhiyuan ranked fourth in the freshman final exams. Clearly, he is an excellent freshman. Why didn’t you agree to let him participate in the mission to Blue Star City and search for the Elf?”

It’s because the Mo family is always bothering him!

He was enjoying his holiday at home when the prophecy about the elves’ whereabouts—a largely unreliable prophecy—caused powerful figures to seek him out for information about it. He couldn’t refuse to meet with them, and his peaceful vacation was ruined.

Ultimately, he had no choice but to move to his office at the Imperial First Military Academy and use the academy’s reputation to keep unwanted visitors away.

Even so, some people were impossible to stop, like the Mo family.

The Mo family is not only the maternal family of the current empress, but they also control the Imperial Fifth Army Corps and collaborate with the Imperial First Military Academy. They cannot be ignored.

The Mo family bothered him for two reasons. First, they wanted to inquire about the Elf prophecy. Second, they wanted to express their dissatisfaction with his suggestion that only the top three students in the freshman final exams accept the mission to find the Elf in Blue Star City.

According to the Mo family, although their son, Mo Zhiyuan, was unlucky to rank fourth in the final exams, his actual strength far surpassed that of the third-place student! The prophecy only mentioned “outstanding freshmen,” not that it was a strict requirement to be in the top three of the final exams.

However, Teacher Zhen had never made such a suggestion. The principal, that smiling tiger, shifted the blame onto him.

The principal didn’t want to get too involved with the Mo family. He also felt that including both An Qiao, the Crown Princess, and Mo Zhiyuan, the Second Prince’s cousin, in the mission would create too much awkwardness between their opposing camps.

“I had no choice,” the principal chuckled. “If His Highness the Crown Prince knew I’d assigned his frail Crown Princess to the same mission as Mo Zhiyuan from the Mo family, he’d probably challenge me to a ‘sparring match’ in private.”

“These old bones of mine can’t handle that,” the principal replied.

Back during the freshmen’s final assessments, he and Chu Heng were both judges. At the time, Chu Heng had challenged a Mo family major general to a “sparring match.” Ostensibly, it was a sparring match, but in reality, it was Chu Heng unilaterally beating him up.

If Chu Heng, who “values his wife like his life,” found out that the mission he arranged caused An Qiao to be bullied by Mo Zhiyuan, who had been assigned to work with him, who knew if Chu Heng would actually come to a “sparring match”?

It was better to prevent this from happening in the first place.

Furthermore, the principal disliked Mo Zhiyuan’s dishonest, troublemaking, and excessively arrogant personality.

Most importantly, however, the principal favored Chu Heng to ultimately ascend to the throne.

In fact, except for those who had taken a stand early on when the second prince, Chu Feiyu, was still young and had already paid too great a price or those who had targeted the crown prince, Chu Heng, in the past and held grudges against him or those with unknown motives—anyone with vision would favor Chu Heng, the crown prince.

Teacher Zhen chuckled, fully aware of the principal’s ulterior motives.

“I heard the Mo family took Mo Zhiyuan to Blue Star City, too.”

The principal smiled. “That’s none of my business.”

Teacher Zhen stroked his chin. “I think it’s better to hope that His Highness the Crown Prince finds the elf than to hope that the top three freshmen find it.”

As he spoke, his eyes widened in astonishment and a look of utter disbelief spread across his face.

“What’s wrong?” the principal asked curiously.

“I… I think I received another prophecy…”

Intrigued by his expression, the principal asked expectantly, “What prophecy?”

Teacher Zhen, still somewhat dazed, stammered,
“The prophecy shows—”

“His Highness the Crown Prince is about to meet a real Elf.”

**

With his prophetic abilities, Teacher Zhen inadvertently revealed a new prophecy about the elf.

When the Second Prince, Chu Feiyu, heard the prophecy in his study, he forced a smile and maintained his impeccable demeanor. Inwardly, however, he was furious and nearly crushed the antique seal he was toying with.

“Second Prince, don’t be so hasty,” his sycophantic cousin, Mo Yubei, advised. “That man, Zhen, is only accurate 30% of the time. You know that, Second Prince.”

Chu Feiyu lowered his gaze, concealing the cold light in his eyes. His expression remained gentle. “What if this time it comes true?”

He was tired of being constantly overshadowed by Chu Heng!

He often wished that Chu Heng would stay on that garbage planet forever and never return to the capital.

Then, he would be the only prince—the prodigy who broke through to the 2S-level beastman at a young age, more outstanding than the other royal descendants eligible to compete for the position of crown prince. He would be the highly praised, widely anticipated imperial crown prince who would smoothly take the throne once his father abdicated.

If only Chu Heng weren’t surnamed Chu and weren’t a member of the royal family!

But Chu Heng was his half-brother and an even greater “prodigy,” whose talent and strength far surpassed his own.

Unable to confront Chu Heng directly, he resorted to underhanded tactics.

However, these low-level tactics had little effect on Chu Heng.

Chu Feiyu was certain that Chu Heng was responsible for Jun Yilian’s downfall. What insane things wouldn’t he do for his Crown Princess? Yet, there was no evidence proving that Chu Heng was the culprit.

Surely his father, Chu Zhengming, knew his son’s character well enough to guess that he did it. But even if he did, he didn’t react. Instead, he stirred up public opinion by bringing the story of Chu Zhenglong’s collusion with pirates to kidnap Chu Heng to light.

—He knew his father was satisfied with him as the heir.

Jealousy, resentment, bitterness…

But nothing could change.

His meddling in public opinion only resulted in Chu Heng turning the tables on him. Even now, some people suspect that he deliberately crippled Jun Yilian in his bid for the throne, setting a trap for Chu Heng.

How absurd!

He had originally hoped that, if Jun Yilian advanced to a 2S-rank elf, he could help improve his strength.

Chu Feiyu had also considered looking for the elf.

When the elf appeared in the Star Beast Forest, he planned to find it, cultivate a good relationship with it, and ask it to help him advance to a 3S-rank beastman. Only then would he be qualified to compete directly with Chu Heng.

If an elf stood by his side and supported him, his prestige in the empire would be even higher.

But he couldn’t find one!

After hearing a prophecy that there were elf in Blue Star City—though he didn’t know how reliable the prophecy was—he sent his trusted men to search for them.

Now, another prophecy has emerged: “His Highness the Crown Prince is about to meet the real Elf.”

Although the prophecy by Zhen is most likely unreliable, what if it’s true?

What if Chu Heng really did meet the elf? The prophecy said the elf was in Blue Star City, and Chu Heng is currently there.

If Chu Heng meets the elves and gains their support, then Chu Feiyu will have even less of a chance!

“Even if the prophecy is accurate and Chu Heng did meet the elf, so what?” Mo Yubei flattered Chu Feiyu. “Second Prince, do you think someone with Chu Heng’s cold, domineering, and arrogant personality would lower himself to please the elf?”

“Do you think beings as elegant, luminous, holy, and kind as the elves would befriend someone like Chu Heng, who has a fierce aura and murderous intent and is utterly boring?”

“I think the elf would appreciate someone as gentle and kind as you, Second Prince.”

Chu Feiyu slowly played with the antique seal in his hand, his face expressionless.

Although Mo Yubei’s words were an exaggeration, there was some truth to them.

Even if Chu Heng were to encounter an elf first, that wouldn’t necessarily mean he would befriend it first and gain its support first.

Befriending an elf and gaining its support takes time and effort. It’s not easy.

Would Chu Heng’s personality get along with the elf?

Thinking this, Chu Feiyu breathed a slight sigh of relief. If the elf appeared, he planned to find an opportunity to travel to Blue Star City and try to win it over personally.

**
In Emerald Lake Park, An Qiao was unaware of a new prophecy about the elf.

He walked toward the area where he sensed something was amiss.

The area was the park’s food stalls, which sold candied hawthorns, cotton candy, and toys for children. A large crowd had gathered there, especially children.

Suddenly, a young Beastman draped in a long black robe with unfocused pupils and dark circles under his eyes raised his hands and shouted, “The elf! It’s all the elf’s fault!”

The children, who had been happily eating and playing, were startled by his outburst.

“Is he crazy?” The parents who had brought their kids to the park frowned and pulled them away from him.

“What does this have to do with the elf? Isn’t he just someone whose life isn’t going well, praying for the elf’s blessing but not working hard, and then blaming the elf when life stays the same?”

“What a mess! There are all sorts of weirdos and lunatics out there.

“Let’s call the police, just in case something goes wrong.”

An Qiao was carefully investigating when the crazed young beastman suddenly burst into maniacal laughter. His body seemed to expand almost imperceptibly.

Wait?! Expand? Is he going to self-destruct?!

An Qiao’s eyelids twitched. He immediately used his mental energy to envelop the young beastman’s partially detonated power core and prevent the energy within from escaping.

If the young beastmen with considerable supernatural power were to self-destruct, the adults and children in the surrounding area would be in grave danger.

Instantly, the young beastman, whose supernatural core was shattered, collapsed unconscious.

Before An Qiao could react, an extremely fine wisp of a remnant soul, invisible to ordinary people, drifted out of the young beastman’s body and rapidly entered the nearest child.

This extremely fine wisp of a remnant soul carried a faint trace of magic and was likely one ten-millionth of the Demon King’s remnant soul.

Demons are adept at bewitching people’s hearts. Even a lingering remnant of the Demon King’s soul can influence a person’s thoughts but cannot easily change them. It only deepens and amplifies certain obsessions, leading them toward darkness.

The Demon King’s remnant soul chose this person specifically, causing him to shout the mistaken sentence, “It’s all the elf’s fault,” and then self-destruct.

What was the purpose?

Is it to ruin the elves’ good reputation in this world?

To incite the people to hate elves?

But would it really work? Even if it did, it wouldn’t seem to have any particular impact on him.

An Qiao couldn’t understand the Demon King’s remnant soul’s thinking either.

After all, the Demon King’s remnant soul wasn’t the real Demon King. Because it was a remnant soul, its rationality was affected, and certain obsessions deepened.

Perhaps the demonic body harbored such deep hatred at the time of its death that the remnant soul left behind by the Demon King intensified this obsession.

As he pondered this, An Qiao stopped past the child possessed by the remnant soul and turned to the child’s parent. “Your child is so cute, May I pat his head?”

The woman, who had been patiently comforting her sobbing daughter, who was quietly complaining of a headache, looked up at him.

Upon seeing An Qiao’s face, she was startled.

An Qiao had used his mental power to conceal himself. Passersby naturally ignored him, blurring his existence and thinking he was just an unrecognizable passerby.

Now, the woman saw An Qiao’s undisguised face.

“Of course,” she said, still somewhat dazed.

If an ordinary person had asked that, she might have been suspicious and wary. But the excessively beautiful face before her made it impossible to feel that way, and his eyes and demeanor didn’t seem malicious.

“Thank you,” he said.

Then, smiling, he knelt slightly in front of the little girl:

“Little girl, may I pat your head?”

“Y-yeah…yes…” the little girl replied, wiping away tears.

“Thank you, little girl.” An Qiao reached out and gently patted her head. Using his spiritual power, he peeled away and crushed the remnant soul possessing her.

The wisp of the unconscious remnant soul sensed danger and transferred to the little girl. It couldn’t transfer again for a short time. Furthermore, due to An Qiao’s precautions, escape was impossible.

Then, An Qiao used healing, light-attribute magic to treat the little girl.

The girl was too young, so the treatment had to be gentle. Close contact was the most effective method. That’s why An Qiao asked if he could touch her head.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

“All done,” said An Qiao, withdrawing his hand.

“Mommy, my head doesn’t hurt anymore,” the little girl asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.

“Really not?” The little girl’s mother hurriedly looked down to check her daughter’s condition.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore. It feels so good.”

Hearing this, the little girl’s mother suddenly realized something. When she went to check on An Qiao, he was already gone, and she could only see his back.

“Could that handsome young man have been an elf?” she murmured.

The little girl couldn’t quite hear her. “Mommy, you said that handsome brother was an elf? The elf from the bedtime story you told me?”

“Yes, he was an elf,” the little girl’s mother replied.

The little girl was still too young. Let’s just fulfill her fairy tale dream.

**

Chu Heng rushed back to handle urgent army matters, only to hear Jiang Qi excitedly enter his study.

“Your Highness, did you know? Teacher Zhen predicted that you will soon see a real elf!”

Chu Heng: “… ”

To be honest, I see the elf every day. And you’ve seen them quite a few times yourself.

“Is that so?” he said calmly, continuing to quickly handle other military affairs.

This way, when Qiao Qiao returns, he’ll have plenty of time to spend with him!

Even though he’s on leave and has two adjutants, Jiang Qi and Xue Luo, to share the workload, there are still so many official documents to review!

“Your Highness, aren’t you excited, surprised, or interested at all? That’s an elf! A real elf!” Jiang Qi asked.

Engrossed in military affairs, Chu Heng didn’t even lift his eyelids and calmly said, “This prophecy doesn’t sound very reliable.”

However, while it might seem unreliable, it also seemed somewhat reliable. Teacher Zhen from the Empire’s First Military Academy had predicted that An Qiao would be in Blue Star City, that the top three Imperial First Military Academy freshmen might find an elf, and that he would soon encounter a real elf in Blue Star City.

Another prophecy about the elf has been issued.

Teacher Zhen, with his prophetic abilities, is really good at causing trouble for him and An Qiao.

Both prophecies indicated that the elf could be found in Blue Star City. Now, even more people will likely come to Blue Star City in search of elves.

Chu Heng felt a slight headache just thinking about it.

“I think it’s quite reliable,” Jiang Qi said. “The first prophecy said the elf were in Blue Star City. Now, this one says, ‘Your Highness, you’re about to see real elf—you’re both in Blue Star City. Isn’t that pretty reliable?'”

“Why don’t you go out more often, Your Highness, and try your luck? Maybe you really will see an elf.”

“What do you think, Your Highness?”

“I don’t think so.” Chu Heng didn’t even flinch.

The elf was right beside him. He’d be a fool to go outside and look for one.

However, it would be nice to accompany Qiaoqiao for a stroll if he wanted to go outside.

**

After contacting Chu Wen and Xiong Yi and completing his “elf search” for a short while, An Qiao finished his tasks for the day and returned home.

Upon receiving news of An Qiao’s return, Chu Heng left his study and went to the living room to find him. He found An Qiao asleep at the table, his head resting on his arm. Only half of his flawlessly beautiful face was visible. His dark eyelashes drooped, exuding a serene and beautiful aura.

He stared at him for a while.

Suddenly, he wondered if he would catch a cold sleeping like that.

Judging by his even breathing, he seemed fast asleep. Could he have been too tired from being out all day?

Chu Heng tiptoed over.

When he reached the table where An Qiao was sleeping, he found that his face was even more captivating up close.

However, An Qiao wasn’t actually asleep. His strong sense of alertness instantly snapped him awake when Chu Heng approached.

However, Chu Heng’s unwavering stare made it awkward for him to suddenly “wake up.”

So he continued to “sleep.”

After feeling Chu Heng’s stare for quite some time, An Qiao couldn’t help but feel a little speechless.

Suddenly, Chu Heng bent slightly closer, drawing even closer to An Qiao.

An Qiao could feel the warmth of Chu Heng’s fingers almost touching his cheek.

But just before they touched, Chu Heng inexplicably withdrew his hand.

—When he was awake, Chu Heng would occasionally pinch his cheek or stroke his hair casually, but now he was behaving so obediently.

“So cowardly,” he thought, somewhat amused.

Chu Heng looked at An Qiao’s sleeping face and thought that the prophecy was truly unreliable. He had seen the elf long ago and saw him every day, yet they said he was “about to see a real elf.”

The thought of a ‘real elf’ brought back the image of An Qiao in his elf form that he had seen in the Star Beast Forest—that silver-haired, pointy-eared elf’s back.

He had only ever seen An Qiao’s elf form from afar. He had never seen him up close!

He wondered when he would see An Qiao in elf form again.

As he thought this and recalled the feel of touching An Qiao’s ears, his hand, which had just withdrawn from touching An Qiao’s cheek, began to itch with renewed desire.

Qiaoqiao seemed to be sleeping soundly. He probably wouldn’t wake up or notice.

He held his breath, bent down slightly, and reached out to An Qiao with extremely gentle movements. He touched An Qiao’s ear as if trying to touch a sweet dream without disturbing it.

Anqiao: “…”

Anqiao: “!!!”

An Qiao, who had been pretending to sleep, opened his eyes angrily.

He had already told him not to touch his ears again! Didn’t he know that touching an elf’s ears was indecent?

Earlier, he thought Chu Heng wanted to touch his cheek but didn’t dare, seeming a bit “obedient” and “cowardly.” Now, thinking about it, what cowardice? He was not at all a coward! He was incredibly bold!

 

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