Yes, Xiang Mantang had been back from Kunlun Mountain for some time.
But he had yet to take Chen Qianqian's body for testing to see if she really was his sister, Xiang Yinxui.
It wasn't that he was too busy or had forgotten about it.
Rather...
He was intentionally avoiding it!
Just as he avoided the death of Mu Jinyu, he was also avoiding the death of Chen Qianqian, a girl who bore a striking resemblance to his own sister!
He was terrified that if the test results came back and Chen Qianqian turned out to be Xiang Yinxui, it would push him even further into despair.
It would mean that he truly killed his own sister whom he had been searching for, for many years.
As it was, he could still deceive himself and tell himself that he had only killed an assassin called by Shen Cangsheng, just a girl who happened to look somewhat like his sister.
He would rather deceive himself than seek out the truth.
After all, sometimes the truth is often more cruel and unbearable.
"Child, you really have suffered!"
Su Zijin knew that the person who suffered the most after bringing back Mu Jinyu's body from Kunlun Mountain was not them, nor Mu Jinyu, but Xiang Mantang.
They had only seen Mu Jinyu's corpse.
But Xiang Mantang had watched helplessly as his sister struck Mu Jinyu, and saw Mu Jinyu die before his very eyes.
And he himself had personally killed the sister he had been searching for over a decade!
No matter whether Chen Qianqian was Xiang Yinxui or not, that sense of despair was enough to make anyone crumble!
Placing herself in his position, if there was someone who looked very much like her husband constantly attacking their son, and she finally couldn't bear it and killed that person, but Mu Jinyu still didn't survive...
She would definitely break down and take her own life, rather than like Xiang Mantang, still thinking about revenge, still thinking about bringing Mu Jinyu back!
Therefore, Su Zijin came to terms with it, and the tiny bit of resentment towards Xiang Mantang that she might not even have noticed herself, completely dissipated.
Xiang Mantang managed a forced smile at Su Zijin, and seeing that she wasn't obsessing over it anymore, he excused himself and left.
Walking alone in the sanatorium, Xiang Mantang stepped out of the courtyard, then got into a car and ordered the Dragon King Hall official driving to head straight to the Dragon King Hall headquarters.
At the same time, he took out his phone and sent a message to the remaining three Sub-hall Masters, summoning them to the headquarters.
An hour later.
Inside a conference room at the Dragon King Hall's suburban headquarters.
Xiang Mantang sat in the main seat, scanning over Wu Shisan, Jian Ruyan, and Mu Hongchen seated below him, and began, "I suppose you've all heard about the recent events, haven't you?!"
"Hmm!"
The group responded softly.
Wu Shisan had a complicated look on his face.
Back then, after dealing with the Thousand-Year Profound Ice Coffin, when Xiang Mantang was questioning Mu Hongchen, and Di Yin along with Qin Qiaochu were bad-mouthing Xiang Mantang behind his back, he was also there.
He just didn't participate because he did not believe Xiang Mantang would do such a thing.
And with Xiang Mantang acting as the custodian of Dragon King Hall, even though he was unhappy, he did not wish to be like them, ready to tear Dragon King Hall apart.
Who knew that within just a few days, Qin Qiaochu and Di Yin would pay for their loose tongues with their lives!
Xiang Mantang stood up straight, pressing her hands on the wooden table, and said in a deep voice, "Their deaths were well deserved, and now with the Dragon King of Dragon King Hall asleep, two Sub-hall Masters have died, one has fled, leaving only the four of us..."
As she spoke, Xiang Mantang paused and then continued, "Only, among the Twenty-Eight Star Lords, there are not many that can be chosen to take up the position of Sub-hall Master. From the Jinyu Mantang that I currently control, I could pick out four experts at the peak of Energy Transformation, but I do not trust their loyalty, so I propose..."
"The seven Sub-Halls of Dragon King Hall will hereafter be changed to four, no longer divided according to the Big Dipper Seven Stars, but according to the Four Mythical Creatures."
"I myself am the head of the Big Dipper Seven Stars, Beidou Tianshu, so now I will still hold the Donghua Azure Wood Dragon Position, while Jian Ruyan will hold the West-most Metal White Tiger Position, Mu Hongchen will hold the Southern Bright Fire Vermilion Bird Position, and Wu Shisan will hold the Northern Ming water Xuanwu Position..."
Next, Xiang Mantang began to announce one by one. The duties and powers previously controlled by Di Yin, Qin Qiaochu, Shen Cangsheng, and others began to be divided up.
Even more serious was the fact that some of the power in Wu Shisan's hands was also taken away and given to Jian Ruyan and others.
Wu Shisan felt extremely dissatisfied in his heart!
After all, when there were Seven Sub-Halls, he was the Hall Master of Tianxuan Hall, with a status only slightly lower than Xiang Mantang's, and as for Jian Ruyan's change from the seventh-ranked Beidou Yao Guang to the White Tiger General, they were relatively close, so he didn't have much to say about it.
But why should Mu Hongchen, originally ranked fifth, rise to the third?
This caused him, who was originally ranked second among the Seven Sub-Halls, to be reduced to the bottom in the new ranking, and he also handed over a lot of his power and influence.
And what was even more important, Xuanwu was a turtle!
He didn't want to be a turtle.
Therefore, just as Xiang Mantang was about to finish, Wu Shisan finally couldn't resist speaking up to raise an objection.
"I can hand over the power I hold, but I... do not want to hold the Northern Ming Water Xuanwu Position!"
Upon hearing this, Xiang Mantang looked at Wu Shisan, her expression unchanged.
Wu Shisan was different from Di Yin and the others; he wasn't directly parachuted into the Dragon King Hall but was raised by the Old Dragon King, so in theory, he could be trusted.
However, he had been quite close to Di Yin and others recently, so Xiang Mantang thought it over and in the end decided not to kill him, but she also couldn't let him continue to hold an important position.
Xiang Mantang then asked, "Then, which position do you want to hold?"
Wu Shisan shifted his gaze, scanning between Jian Ruyan and Mu Hongchen, and finally looked at Jian Ruyan, saying in a deep voice, "The White Tiger governs killing, and among the four Sub-hall Masters, my strength is second only to you, the Dragon King. Therefore, it should be me who holds this position, and I won't deal with trivial matters anymore; from now on, I will only be responsible for killing!"
In his heart, he secretly deduced that Xiang Mantang's reform was probably because she didn't want to openly assume the role of the Tiance True Dragon, so she changed the division of Sub-Halls to become the Azure Wood Dragon – after all, a dragon is still a dragon.
Others would naturally call her the Dragon King!
And since he himself was addressing her as the Dragon King and handing over his power, she should agree to his request.
Before Xiang Mantang could speak, Jian Ruyan said in a cold voice, "Do you really think your strength is second only to the Dragon King? Then let's try it out!"
"Clang!"
In the midst of speaking, Jian Ruyan drew her sword from its sheath, the cold frost on the blade glinting, sending shivers down one's spine.
"If you can beat me, the position of the White Tiger General is yours for the taking!"
"But if you lose, you will obediently take up your role as the Xuanwu General!"
"Hmm?" Xiang Mantang listened to Jian Ruyan saying this, and without even bothering to tell them to stop calling her Dragon King, she said directly to Jian Ruyan, "There's no need for that; if the arrangement I made isn't followed, I'll just find someone else!"
Her thought was that if Wu Shisan didn't want to be the Xuanwu General, then it was just as well, she could promote the Jiaomu Star Lord to the position of Xuanwu General!
Jian Ruyan, hearing Xiang Mantang's words, gave no face at all, saying harshly, "No need! I want to win people over with conviction!"
She wouldn't give up the position of the White Tiger General arranged for her by Xiang Mantang and intended to take up the role justifiably!