“… What?” the Lion asked, unsure if he heard Alex right.

“The Azure Dragon is not in his realm,” Alex repeated. “He’s actually dead already.”

“That’s… that’s not possible,” the Lion said. “Its the Azure Dragon. Why would he be dead? How could he even die?”

“I don’t know why,” Alex said. “But… it happened around the same time Pearl’s mother died, and the same time senior Guyong seemed to have died. That also somehow happens to be at the same time as when the entire Beast Paradise closed itself.”

“I’m sure you remember the 3 lightning strikes from around the same time as well before your Uncle died,” Alex said. 

“As long as you can confirm that the lightning strikes didn’t happen here but around where the Azure Dragon lived, then I’m sure that lightning strike must have been a Heavenly Judgment lightning that killed the Azure Dragon.”

“It…” the Lion’s eyes went wide. “It really did come from his Majesty’s general direction all those years ago. Did that really kill his Majesty?”

“We assume so,” Pearl said.

“Is… is that lightning strike responsible for my sister’s death as well? That’s surely not the case.”

“While the cause of deaths may not have happened at the same time, there are just too many coincidences for the events to not be related,” Pearl said. “Uncle Xiongwei, please help us find Mother’s murderer and bring her to justice.”

The lion looked at Pearl with a strange look. Hearing the words ‘uncle’ from the White Tiger was not something he had expected at all.

“You really are sister Meiyong’s son, huh?” the Lion said petting Pearl with his paw. He seemed incredibly happy to see his nephew whom he never knew existed.

While he did not replace his sister in heart, it did lessen the pain knowing that while she had died, she had left someone behind that he could care for.

“I didn’t realize she had ever even found a husband. Is your father one of his Majesty’s servants too?” the lion asked.

“Father?” Pearl asked, feeling ever so strange. He cared about his mother so much and wanted to avenge her death just that much as well. Yet, he never thought about his father at all.

It wasn’t just him; no one around him brought up his father either. Bai Jingshen never said anything about his father and neither did Alex.

“I… do not know who my father is,” Pearl said in the end.

The lion paused for a moment. “You don’t know who your father is?” he asked. “How old were you when it all happened?”

“Young enough that I don’t remember my mother either,” Pearl said. “I barely remembered a fragment of a memory just a few years ago, and that’s it.”

“Dear god!” the lion exclaimed. “You must’ve been very young then.”

The lion looked at Pearl and then Alex and finally took a deep breath. “Fine, come with me. I’ll see how I can help you all. If possible, I want to take part in killing the person that was involved in my sister’s death if that was a murder and not a normal death.”

“Thank you,” Alex said and followed the Lion back to the Colony that he was so far away from.

“Go back to your own thing, everyone,” the lion said. “It was a misunderstanding.”

The many beasts that were waiting to see what was going to happen between the two of them were somewhat disappointed to see that nothing came out of that fight.

They left, and Alex was taken back to the mansion.

“Where’s my nephew?” the Lion asked after not seeing him.

“Inside his beast space,” Alex said. “He’s bonded to me, so he stays there for the most part.”

“Let him out then,” the Lion said.

Alex shook his head. “I won’t bring him out where so many beasts can see him. His mother’s enemies exist in this continent, so I have to be extra careful,” he said.

The Lion landed inside the mansion and Alex walked in. 

“You’re safe to bring him out now,” the lion said.

Alex nodded and brought out Pearl once again. Pearl looked around, trying to make sense of where he was.

The Lion walked to the end of the hallway, arriving at the large hall where he sat. He gestured for both Alex and Pearl to sit as well.

Once the two were seated, the lion spoke.

“So you two are certain sister Meiyong was murdered and didn’t just die on her own?” the lion asked.

“Pearl’s mother was halfway to her death, bloody, with a sword stuck to her body when I found her. She was also in the Western Continent, the entire realm away from where she should’ve been. So, I’m sure that she was murdered and didn’t just die,” Alex said.

“The Western Continent…” the Lion thought. 

“Do you have any idea who the murderers might be?” the Lion asked. “We can ask the beasts in his Majesty’s realm if you don’t know.”

“We… have a general idea of who is responsible,” Alex said. “Just not who exactly or in what capacity.”

“Who?” the Lion asked curiously.

“The Azure Imperium,” Alex said. “I’m afraid the ones involved must be the Emperor of the Eastern Continent and his people. I haven’t confirmed if he was involved directly or not, but that seems like the safest conclusion to draw from the situation.”

“Same for the Azure Dragon, just because he is associated with the Azure Imperium in some way,” Alex said. “Although, the more I’m staying here, the more I’m confused about how the Azure Dragon’s death could be related to Pearl’s mother dying.”

“Actually…  that makes perfect sense,” the Lion said. “After all, sister Meiyong was amongst the few chosen ones that were sent to take care of his Majesty while he was sick.”

“Huh?” both Alex and Pearl spoke up at the same time.

“Mother was chosen to take care of the Azure Dragon?” Pearl asked.

“Wait, was that why she went missing over 3 thousand years ago?” Alex asked.

The lion nodded. “I only found out later on, but because his majesty was wounded during his fight in the Central continent, he needed servants to take care of him. Sister Meiyong volunteered to help him, alongside many other beasts.”

“They were all meant to stay with his Majesty for the next 4 thousand years until it was time for him to safely leave this realm,” the lion said. “That must have been where she met your father as well, and where you were born.”

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“Wait!” Alex realized something. “Do you think it is possible that we can search for  the other servants from the Azure Dragon’s secret realm and ask them these questions?”

“You can try,” the lion said. “Unfortunately, I cannot help you with this task.”

“Hmm?” Alex looked at him. “Why not?”

“The Beast Paradise was closed off to never open up again for a long time. If I, a leader, were to freely move in and out, it would be a breach of trust between our region and the empire. As such, for that thing in particular, I will have to stay out of it.”

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