Qiang Wei looked at An Bai worriedly. He was happy that he had taken him along, otherwise, he really wouldn’t know what to do now. He had no idea of what might be going on and really needed his help. But if even An Bai couldn’t figure this out … Just who were they to ask? Among His Majesty’s advisers, An Bai was definitely the one with the most comprehensive knowledge. He probably had the best chances of solving this problem.

An Bai sighed. "I’m not sure but I think I have an idea what this could be about."

"What is it?"

"Well, since both his body and his spiritual energy are alright, it should be something mental. The fact that this had to do with His Highness makes me think so even more. My best guess is that this might be about his inner self."

Qiang Wei widened his eyes, feeling that even though he didn’t like the thought, this was indeed an option.

Leng Jin Yu couldn’t help but look from one dragon to the other. "If I might ask … What exactly does that mean?"

An Bai turned back to him, a little surprised that he would ask. This wasn’t any restricted knowledge so he would have expected a god to know. Most likely, this person wasn’t trueborn but an ascended deity instead.

Well, since he asked he might as well explain to him. After all, just as he had said before, they were indebted to this person for telling them about what had happened to their king. This was a good opportunity to show their gratefulness.

"The inner self is a kind of representation of a person’s … well, the things that are important to them, their troubles, the demons of their past. It is a manifestation of their innermost feelings. I’m not quite sure if there is something comparable for humans."

Leng Jin Yu furrowed his brows and nodded slowly. "I guess you could liken it to a soulscape, the place one might enter when they’re confronted with inner demons in their cultivation. At that time, they would be confronted with their fears and only if they manage to overcome them on their own, would they be able to continue cultivating. Otherwise, their consciousness would be consumed by that fear and they would likely go insane."

An Bai nodded and glanced over at the body of their king. "Indeed. But it is a bit more complicated in this case, I’m afraid. We’re not quite sure what has caused this but it is possible that His Majesty was met with the disturbance of energy and injured because of that. That, in turn, might have caused him to recede into his subconscious to save himself at that moment. If that is the case, then he would emerge as soon as he’s healed. But if not …" He shook his head. "There’s no saying when he would wake up again. Naturally, that is a problem. The dragon race can’t be without our king."

Leng Jin Yu gave a curt nod. That was true. And it was especially true in this case when the king had reigned for a long time. If the dragons were suddenly told that their king was in a state where they didn’t know when he would be conscious again, it would certainly cause a panic. And then the demons would make use of the situation and attack. It really was dangerous. It was good that he had taken him back here immediately and only contacted the Fate’s Scribe. The fewer people knew of this, the better. "If this is indeed the case and it was not because of an injury, then what do you think might be the reason behind this?"

Qiang Wei couldn’t help but look at An Bai as well. Since he had mentioned His Highness, it was probably about that, wasn’t it?

"Well, I can only speculate. But what you just said about inner demons might be the truth. He was with His Highness before. Then there was a disturbance of the spiritual energy that might have caused chaos and destruction. He might have feared to get his beloved involved. That is a very serious thing to a dragon."

Leng Jin Yu nodded. "Zhong Jing Yi seemed rather out of sorts when we found him. It could be that that kind of reaction played a role in Longjun’s thoughts at the time. Anyway, if you know what caused it, is there any chance to help him?"

An Bai once again looked at the king, his expression complicated. "It is always best if the person is able to pull themselves out of it. Not only because it is less dangerous but also because things in one’s inner self shouldn’t be seen by anybody else. They are the things that make a person vulnerable. Finding out about these things … One shouldn’t be allowed to do that if one isn’t extremely close to the person in question. Even I as his visor would never dare to presume to enter His Majesty’s inner self.

"Furthermore, it is difficult to do so. The dragons are quite guarded when it comes to their souls. So even in this state, if somebody tried to enter his inner self, His Majesty might subconsciously attack that person. That is dangerous to both the person trying to help him and himself."

"And there’s no way around that?"

"Well, if the one to do it was a person that was very close to him so that he didn’t have his guard up against them …" Unfortunately, there wasn’t really such a person. Their king had always been rather withdrawn. Among his advisers, nobody was close enough to give this a try, not to speak of anybody else.

"What about His Highness?"

An Bai looked at Leng Jin Yu with a complicated expression. "Well …" It wasn’t that it was impossible but … He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea.

"They are very close, aren’t they? He should be able to do this without getting attacked."

"But he’s merely a human right now."

Qiang Wei looked at An Bai as well, his expression urgent. "But wouldn’t it to still be better if we at least give it a try? After all, we don’t know if His Majesty will wake up otherwise. And since this was probably caused by something that had to do with His Highness, with his chances to wake him up be even better?"

An Bai got up and paced up and down, turning his back to the other two and looking at their king’s body with a complicated expression. If he could, he wouldn’t let anybody enter the king’s inner self. He could imagine very well what kind of consequences that might bring. After all, what if the person in question saw something they shouldn’t?

Right now, the crown prince’s mortal reincarnation might not be able to understand anything. But after his trial, he would remember. And with how he knew crown prince Jing He, he would have no trouble at all to understand whatever he had seen in there. And then … What if that caused further problems? What if His Majesty’s wedding with the crown prince fell through? What then?

He would never forgive himself! After all, losing your lover was the worst thing that could happen to a dragon. If this was a possible consequence, then he was sure their king would rather not wake up at all if he had the choice.