Join Iah, Lei, Nyima, Adela and their friends as they embark on a treasure hunt to uncover the secrets of the map found in the ancient ruins of Rios. But what they discover in Mina may lead them to regret ever finding the ancient tablet in the first...
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There was a time where I wanted to die. In fact, I would pursue it, but nothing I did worked. The blessing I received from the Dragon of the Center had become a curse for me. While my will to live was later restored, I never thought that I would actually feel the sensation of death like I had after Jianguo's sphere pierced my chest. Of a physical death, for in those dark years I was emotionally dead. The possibility that Iah could walk down a similar path as I did back was frightening.
I tried to stir awake when my nephew fought Jianguo, but my eyelids and the rest of my body simply wouldn't move.
Someone, save Iah, before it's too late.
"Uncle," Isa called out to me.
I opened my eyes and found myself in a bed with a scarlet canopy reminiscent of the rooms in the Phoenix Palace. This disorienting feeling as if I were on an island in the middle of void, I had to be in Xian's capital. The Celestial Palace to be exact.
"Isa, what happened to your cousin?" I asked.
She turned her head away and lowered her gaze.
My mouth widened. "D-do not tell me that he was taken over again..."
She shook her head. "No, at least, not exactly."
I furrowed my brow. "Explain yourself."
"Allow me to do so," Zhuang said as the door opened.
"Eli, you don't have to," Isa said, frowning.
He sighed. "This is the least that I can do after I allowed him to slip away."
I gasped. "Slip away? What happened to Iah?" I asked, sitting up.
Zhuang took a deep breath. "Iah went with Kagutsuchi."
I mouth dropped. "Kagutsuchi? The infant that Nagi killed?" My eyes shifted to the purple walls. How was he alive?
"We're as confused as you are, but yes," Isabel said, laughing nervously. "It seems that my mother's big bro is indeed alive, at least part of his conscious is."
I lowered my head. First Ratmir and now Kagutsuchi. Why did Iah attract such figures? Were they after his untapped potential? Well, considering Jianguo and Huan-Yue's interest in Ratmir, they probably sought the abysmal within him. On the other hand, Iah was a demi-god. Kagutsuchi would want to turn another deity toward his side.
"Let's go home," I said, sighing.
Isabel nodded. "Alright."
"That said, I think it's best that we don't tell the kids about this. Learning that we almost had Iah, but let him slip away would crush them."
Zhuang swung his hands behind his head and grinned. "Always thought you to be a strict and somewhat grouchy guy since becoming Emperor of Mina, but you're actually kind of nice. Not as jocular as before you were crowned, but still nice."
