Translator: DragonRider
“Stop stuttering and finish your sentence,” said Yuwen Jin on the side. As he noticed that the old man was gaping at Ji Yanlai, his eyes roved and he added, “You see? This is our astrologist. He’s a real professional. He pointed us in the right direction without even glancing at the stars. That means he’s better than you, right?”
Yuwen Jin had some time ago perceived that there was something unusual about Ji Yanlai, and he knew Ji Yanlai must be from uncommon background, but Yuwen Tong and the others refused to disclose any details about it, so Yuwen Jin pretended not to notice and had not asked any questions about it. And now, since this geriatric was so surprised to see Ji Yanlai, Yuwen Jin decided to use Ji Yanlai to sound the old man out.
Unexpectedly, the old man was not angry at all. On the contrary, he instantly adopted a respectful attitude and, bowing slightly, said, “Yes, yes, of course. This gentleman is no doubt better than me. I cannot hold a candle to him. By comparing me to this master, you’re giving me credit I don’t deserve, General.”
Yuwen Jin, ” … ”
This was weird. Why did this old man give in so easily?
Ling Zhang and the others also looked at the old man, and even the King of the South Ocean was somewhat astonished, as though not having bargained on the old man being so humble in front of Ji Yanlai.
Ji Yanlai, who was now the focus of attention, looked at the old man placidly. It was a few moments before he said, “So you’re a descendant of a stargazer who migrated east in earlier times.”
The astrologist bowed lower. “So you’ve come to know my origins. I’m sorry for my ancestors’ deeds.”
Ji Yanlai said, “I’m not going to hold you responsible for what happened in the past, and there’s no need for you to feel ashamed. I came to this island for something important. If you have any useful information, tell us right away. I don’t have time for such hypocritical exchange of courtesies.”
Ji Yanlai put it bluntly, but the astrologist did not dare contradict him. After a glance at the king, he said to Ji Yanlai, “To be honest, we don’t know much about it either. All Wei Dong told you last night was true. This is our first time traveling through the city to this side.”
“You should have got some information from those pirates you encountered, seeing as you have a guide who’s a native of that mini-state near the South Ocean,” said Ji Yanlai, looking at him.
The astrologist surreptitiously raised his head and stole a glance at Ji Yanlai but promptly lowered his head again as his eyes met Ji Yanlai’s. “We did captured a couple of pirates, but they didn’t provide much useful information. In fact, the only useful message we got from them is that the palace in the center of this city is very dangerous. They said that there’re monsters in there that eat people, that anybody who ventures into it will end up being eaten. They would rather die than go to that palace. We wanted them to lead the way for us, but they wouldn’t budge an inch, so we had to kill them eventually.”
The others frowned slightly at these words. They were dead?
At this time, the king came to realize something. Having observed that the astrologist was very respectful to Ji Yanlai, he asked tentatively, “May I ask who this gentleman is?”
Yuwen Tong slightly shook his head at him, unwilling to give an answer to the question.
The king briefly narrowed his eyes, which then quickly roved for a moment, and then he immediately changed his attitude and said, “Our astrologist is telling the truth. Our original plan was to enter the city yesterday afternoon, but those pirates refused to be cooperative and scared my men with those absurd, exaggerated stories, which was why we had to delay it until today.”
Ling Zhang had a thoughtful look on his face. It seemed that those captured pirates had died pretty violent deaths, and that was why the Fangcun soldiers were having misgivings about going to the palace.
What did the midmost palace house exactly? Why had those pirates been that afraid?
“Didn’t some pirates flee into the city? Why were they unafraid?” Yuwen Tong inquired of the King of the South Ocean.
The king replied shamefacedly, “Actually, those people didn’t flee into the city. We forced them into it. Those pirates were captured by my men. No matter how hard we tired to scare them into entering the city, they refused to be budged. It was after we killed some of them that the rest got frightened and followed the orders. I did that only because their attitude struck me as very strange. I felt that the palace was not the only place they were afraid of. They seemed to be frightened of entering the city. Alas. I only did what I had to do.”
The others’ countenance remained unchanged. They all knew better than to believe the king’s claim that he had only done what he had had to do.
“And then?” Yuwen Tong asked.
Maybe because he had been affected by the astrologist’s attitude, the king was very cooperative this time, answering every question he was asked. “And then we heard noises coming from this place. At that time we didn’t know that those pirates were already dead. It was after Wei Dong told me about it that I came to know they had died. If only Your Majesty had taken a couple of them prisoner. Now we have no way to find any clues.”
Yuwen Tong said, “We killed them because they had all lost their minds.”
The king was shocked. “How’s that possible? They were fine when entering the city.”
“When did they enter the city?”
The king told him. Yuwen Tong looked at those beside him.
All the others’ faces changed slightly. When they had encountered the band of pirates, the latter had been in the city for only two hours, but all of them had gone crazy already.
“Wait. Your Majesty, are you saying that those pirates went crazy after being in the city for merely two hours?” asked the king.
“Exactly,” replied Yuwen Tong.
The king swiveled his head around to look at the men he had brought with him. “But I led them through the city, and we didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.”
“Oh, my goodness. This place is so dangerous,” exclaimed the prince, seeming to be scared by the thought of what could have happened to them during the trip they had just made.
“You traveled through the city without pausing?” Ji Xiaocong asked him.
The prince immediately answered with a smile, “Yeah. Our astrologist led the way for us. It was a safe trip.”
Ji Xiaocong gave an “Oh” of dawning comprehension before he shifted his gaze to the astrologist.
All the others, ” … ”
The king did not seem to feel that his son had let slip anything. “Indeed. Our astrologist is quite capable,” he said.
But the astrologist said, “I don’t deserve such compliment, I’m afraid. There’s a real master here, and I don’t dare make pretence to being an expert.”
The others’ eyes immediately moved to Ji Yanlai.
Ji Yanlai said, “If that’s the case, it would seem those pirates, who had no guide, went somewhere they were not supposed to go after entering the city.”
Ling Zhang and the others, having seen what the band of crazy pirates and those eccentric men had been like, all looked at Wei Dong behind the king after hearing these words.
“Did Wei Dong have a guide as well after he entered the city last night?”
Wei Dong was taken aback as he noticed all the others look at him. “I didn’t. I just heard some noises and then spotted those freaks. I followed them all the way to your camp. On my way back, I was anxious to deliver His Majesty’s message to our king, so I didn’t wander around … My goodness. Does this mean I escaped death unawares?”
“Did you approach the palace in the center?”
Wei Dong thought back for a moment. “No. I heard some noises the moment I entered the city. At first I thought it was those pirates, but then I found that it was that band of maniacs. They were heading in this direction. My lightness skills are not bad and I believed that I would be able to escape if things went south, so I shadowed them here to take a look. On my way back I took a shortcut, which was why I did not get close to that palace. Are you saying that there’s something fishy about that palace?”
“I can’t say for sure, but we’ll find out when we get there,” said Ji Yanlai, becoming somewhat impatient. “There’s no point wasting time in this place. Let’s go there directly and take a look. I’ll give you guys a heads-up if there’s danger coming.”
Ling Zhang and the others were here to help Ji Yanlai rescue his father. Despite those remarks Ji Yanlai had made last night, their objective was still unchanged and very clear.
“Then let’s go there together, all of us,” said Yuwen Tong.
…
That lofty palace appeared less spooky during daytime than it did at night, but as they approached it, Ling Zhang still felt somewhat uncomfortable. It was as if something in his blood was being summoned, rendering him faintly restless and uneasy. He had no choice but to secretly mobilize his internal energy to suppress these negative emotions and keep his cool.
Yuwen Tong, who was very observant, immediately turned his head to look at him. “You’re feeling uncomfortable?”
Ling Zhang, not inclined to worry him, shook his head. “No. I’m just heightening my five senses so that I can sense approaching danger in time.”
Ling Zhang had a special pedigree, and the internal-energy cultivation method he had adopted could help enhance the Force of Blood in him. Whenever he mobilized his internal energy, his five senses would be heightened, and the Force of Blood in him would naturally be enhanced as well. Yuwen Tong knew about this, so he nodded. “You must tell me if you don’t feel well.”
“I understand,” said Ling Zhang.
They gradually approached the palace. When they entered the last area, Ling Zhang perceptively sensed the wind was changing direction, that the sky instantly became leaden, and there was a peculiar, nauseous smell in the air.
Before he could say anything, Ji Yanlai cautioned, “Wait. Everybody stop.”
The others looked at him.
“There’s a large-scale Formation in this place. I think it’s an Illusion Formation,” said Ji Yanlai.
An Illusion Formation?
“There’s something queer about the wind, the smell and the sky,” said Ling Zhang.
Ji Yanlai said, “This is an Illusion Formation meant to hoodwink intruders. Even I nearly fell prey to it … ”
Ji Yanlai frowned, and so did Ling Zhang and all the others. Barely any large-scale Formations could stay unchanged after so many years like the one consisting of stone statues outside the city. An Illusion Formation, in particular, required frequent maintenance. In other words, this Illusion Formation had been deployed not long ago.
Ji Yanlai’s father was probably the only person on this island who was capable of deploying a Formation which Ling Zhang and Ji Yanlai could not detect until they approached it.
Ji Yanlai appeared grave. “You guys stay put.”
Then he instructed the couple of elders of the Millennium Pavilion, “Undo this Formation.”
Ji Yin joined them. The elders, all of whom were Formation masters, quickly scattered with the guards of the Millennium Pavilion.
“Will we be able to undo this Formation?” Ling Zhang was somewhat apprehensive.
Ji Yanlai said, “This Formation is not flawless. Otherwise we wouldn’t have detected its existence immediately after entering it. There is a way out.”
On hearing this, Ling Zhang gave it some thought. “Maybe the one who deployed this Formation predicted who would come here.”
Ji Yanlai’s countenance which had been calm all along changed briefly and with that he sighed, “I wonder why the hell he made so much trouble for me.”
Ling Zhang teased him, “This at least means he’s not in danger, that you don’t have to worry too much about him.”
Ji Yanlai shook his head. “It’s not his safety that I’m worried about. What worries me is that the mess he left behind might be too much for me to clean up.”
Ling Zhang kept having this feeling that the father-son relations between Ji Yanlai and his old man seemed to be different from what he had imagined, or different from common father-son relations.
“My father is a kidult. You’ll see when you meet him,” said Ji Yanlai somewhat resignedly, as though knowing what Ling Zhang was thinking about.
A kidult? Ling Zhang blinked his eyes. “Tha–That doesn’t sound too bad.”
Ji Yanlai flicked him an odd glance. “You’re too young.”
Ling Zhang, ” … ”
