GDK 719: Three Secret Chambers
Andre and Erebus seemed quite amused as they followed Han Shuo out, leaving Rugersey behind.
The two were very curious with Andrina who came with Han Shuo. They could not understand how this little girl could possess such tremendous strength. They were even more clueless as to why she would follow around Han Shuo so docilely. They were eager to learn the answers.
Outside the Kisa Residence, Andre and Erebus caught up to Han Shuo.
After having noticed Andre and Erebus, Han Shuo slowed down his footsteps and said smilingly, “Thank you for your Lordships’ assistance. Otherwise, I’m afraid I would have had trouble leaving the Kisa Residence!”
“Haha, with such a powerful expert by your side, even in an all-out fight, I doubt the House of Kisa would be able to do much!” Erebus said to Han Shuo and right away, his attention turned to Andrina who was wearing an unfriendly face. He asked puzzlingly, “Hello little girl, what energy was it that you use? I have never seen it before!”
Andrina shot a glare at Erebus and replied coldly, “None of your business!”
“Ahem, ahem…” Erebus felt rather embarrassed and forced a dry laugh.
Andre, who also intended to question Andrina, most sensibly chose not to ask after seeing how she responded to Erebus. Andre merely looked at Andrina with astonishment. Meanwhile, Andrina followed behind Han Shuo silently, completely ignoring the duo.
“Erm… Bryan, what happened today at the House of Kisa was strange, to say the least. That Gilco fella might have been employed by someone to tarnish your Celestial Pearl Pharmacy. You need to be careful,” Andre said in a grave manner after keeping silent for a moment.
“Yes, the incident was obviously schemed to harm me. But I have no idea who could be trying to get me,” Han Shuo nodded and replied. He too understood that this Gilco character would not have that much audacity to commit the act without some strong motivation. Besides, there were no grudges or animosity between them. It was impossible that Gilco would suddenly decide to set Han Shuo up for no reason.
“Have you offended anyone recently? Other than Avery, of course. Avery hasn’t been in the City of Shadows during the recent days and I have been monitoring the Fifth Corps. He likely has nothing to do with this matter,” Andre asked with his brows furrowed.
Han Shuo was startled and suddenly stopped walking. After carefully thinking for a while, someone popped into his mind. “I have been to the Godswamp Pharmacy to discuss doing business with their owner, Steiss, but we parted on bad terms. While inside their banquet hall filled with pharmacists, I had a quarrel with a pharmacist from Mirage City named Gu Li. Could it be her?”
“Gu Li of Mirage City?” Erebus softly cried out and shook his head. He explained, “Gu Li is rather queer in temperament and she is famous in Mirage City. However, I doubt she commands much of an influence over the City of Shadows.”
“Someone wants to tarnish the reputation of my Celestial Pearl Pharmacy. If that had succeeded, who would gain the most benefit in the City of Shadows?” Han Shuo creased his brows and softly mumbled to himself. He started to suspect Steiss of the Godswamp Pharmacy. Han Shuo did not have a favorable impression towards that person and felt that he was a scheming one.
“If something goes wrong with your medicines, the greatest beneficiaries ought to be other pharmacies in the city. Perhaps you haven’t been noticing but the appearance of your Celestial Pearl Pharmacy has affected business in other pharmacies, the Godswamp Pharmacy being the most severely hit!” Andre seemed to realize after listening to Han Shuo soliloquize.
Han Shuo’s heart was filled with even greater suspicion after hearing Andre’s words. After thinking for a bit, Han Shuo suddenly said smiled. “I guess I will have to trouble your Lordships. I believe someone as influential your Lordships will surely be able to find the person behind this.”
“Stop cajoling us, brat. I will pay attention to it!” Andre replied smilingly.
“Alright, now that this shenanigan is over, I shall return to my pharmacy,” Han Shuo knew that Andre would help him. But before departing, he asked, “By the way, how is Carmelita doing?”
“Don’t worry, she has awoken and is recovering well,” seeing that Han Shuo was concerned about Carmelita, the smile on Andre’s face became even warmer.
“Then I can truly be at ease, “ Han Shuo waved at the two and left with Andrina.
Andre and Erebus did not continue to walk with Han Shuo. After both Han Shuo and Andrina disappeared from their sights, Erebus remarked in a low voice, “Damn, that little girl is nothing simple. In a solo battle, even I do not have the certainty of defeating her!”
Andre nodded in agreement. “I did not discover her actual strength until today. Had the two of us not arrived there at the right time, Rugersey would have suffered a painful bashing!”
“What has me curious is this youngster called Bryan. Why would this little girl, as powerful as she is, be so meek to him? It even appeared as though the little girl only listens to him and no one else. Very strange indeed!” remarked the puzzled Erebus.
“The days ahead are long. We have all the time in the world to figure that out in the future. Fortunately, Bryan is leaning to our family clan. It’s probably not a bad thing to us if that little girl listens only to his instructions.” Andre thought for a moment and asked Erebus, “Have you discovered Avery’s whereabouts yet?”
“Not yet,” Erebus shook his head.
“Pay attention to the Godswamp Pharmacy. This incident relating to Bryan is very unusual,” said Andre.
“Understood, I will have my men keep on eye on the Godswamp Pharmacy… Have I mentioned that the medicines Bryan made are absolutely miraculous?” Erebus said smilingly. He seemed to be very invested in Han Shuo.
***
Han Shuo did not return to the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy. Instead, he went on a trip to verify his suspicion.
Hearing Andre’s reminder, Han Shuo suddenly realized that the emergence and rise of his Celestial Pearl Pharmacy had severely threatened the bottom lines of other pharmacies in the city. The Godswamp Pharmacy, as the largest pharmacy in the City of Shadows, was the most severely affected. It was only natural that they would take countermeasures.
Han Shuo thought that Steiss’ proposal to cooperate with him could be one of the countermeasures taken by the Godswamp Pharmacy. However, as he had declined the proposal right from the start, it was only to be expected that they might use tougher methods after the softer one had failed.
Han Shuo had an exceptional advantage when it came to doing detective work. Soon enough, he arrived near the Godswamp Pharmacy with Andrina. After locating a dark and hidden spot to conceal themselves, Han Shuo released demon generals to fly towards the Godswamp Pharmacy.
“What is that?” Andrina gasped. Her eyes glistened brightly and the incorporeal figures of the few demon generals were reflected in her eyes.
These demon generals that Cauldron Spirit refined could transform between material and immaterial states. Those demon generals were in an immaterial state when Han Shuo released them and only Han Shuo, who possessed a consciousness with extraordinary sensing power, could discover the presence of those demon generals in their incorporeal state. He was careless and forgot that Andrina beside him had mysterious strength.
The demon general rapidly flew away from the two. Andrina stared fixedly at Han Shuo and remarked with astonishment, “Those things came from inside your body, didn’t they? Don’t deny it, I have seen everything!”
“Erm….” Andrina’s questioning and piercing eyes gave Han Shuo a headache.
“What exactly are those things? They look spectacular! If it wasn’t for our close proximity, even I would have failed to notice it! How interesting. What exactly are they?” Andrina’s curiosity was greatly aroused. She questioned Han Shuo excitedly while constantly rocking his arm.
“They… they are a strange type of lifeform found on Profound Continent. They are used for scouting and spying,” Han Shuo explained. He thought to himself, I’ve got to be more careful around her next time. Her senses are so sharp!
“What a miraculous lifeform! They seem to be non-physical, as though made up purely of soul energy, and the energy even seemed quite strong! How is it that they were inside your body? Are you a strange lifeform as well?” Andrina pressed on with her questions.
“No, I’m just housing them using a type of container. When there’s trouble, I can draw them out to scout out for information. It’s that simple. No more questions, I’m in the middle of something!” Han Shuo hastily answered and closed his eyes and lips as though he was occupied.
The potential use of demon generals was not merely for scouting out information. They could be used in deploying formations, attack, assassination, and so on. The demon generals that Cauldron Spirit refined were all especially powerful and were primary helpers to Han Shuo. Of course, these were the secrets that Han Shuo kept to himself and would never divulge to Andrina.
Andrina, who wanted to ask even more questions, had no choice but to keep silent as she understood that Han Shuo did not want to explain any further. However, her curiosity grew even stronger and her gazes at Han Shuo were filled with amazement.
The Godswamp Pharmacy was the biggest pharmacy in the City of Shadows and naturally, they had set up boundaries around their premises. However, as the Godswamp Pharmacy was merely a pharmacy, even though they possessed extraordinary influence and power, they dared not to show it off in the City of Shadows. Hence, the boundaries around the structures were not particularly strong or powerful. The demon generals managed to intrude with ease.
The demon general moved around the Godswamp campus. They discovered rooms with complete sets of pharmaceutical tools and devices, countless busy pharmacists refining strange and exotic medicines, as well as some pharmacists in higher positions involved in heated discussions and debates.
Using the auditory senses of his demon generals, Han Shuo discovered that the pharmacists were merely discussing the arts of refining medicine. They did not talk about anything related to the incident at the House of Kisa. One of the demon generals discovered Gu Li of Mirage City. She was temporarily lodging in Godswamp Pharmacy to attend the pharmacist conference.
Having taken Gu Li as a suspect, Han Shuo carefully observed Gu Li’s every action using a demon general. He saw that Gu Li had a vexed face while flipping through a thick and heavy pharmacopeia while softly mumbling. After the demon general leaned closer to listen, Han Shuo nearly laughed out loud.
It turned out that Gu Li was flipping through the pharmacopeia to find the names of the medicinal ingredients Han Shuo mentioned to her at the banquet hall. These medicinal ingredients were not materials that people in this universe should know of. Even if they had discovered these ingredients, people in this universe would have different names for them. Han Shuo had spat those names out just to annoy Gu Li and did not expect that she would actually be so persistent.
From the number of books scattered all over the floor and her messy hair, Han Shuo knew that Gu Li had been searching for those ingredients for a long time.
“Grrhh!!!” Gu Li pulled her own hair out like a crazy woman. She screeched furiously, “He must have made it up! Impossible, If those ingredients exist, it’s impossible that I’ve never heard of them! Liar, he must be a liar!”
Han Shuo thought that after Gu Li was done with shouting, she would give up on her vain effort. But unexpectedly, after ranting for a while, she went on and grabbed an even thicker book and continued to flip through the book. She cursed Han Shuo in a low voice as she searched through the book.
Han Shuo was actually impressed and even admiring of her assiduous spirit. Although she may have issues in her character and personality, Han Shuo had to admit that her tireless dedication towards the art of refining medicine was admirable. It was no wonder that she was a pharmacist second to none in Mirage City.
It was also for this reason that Han Shuo immediately removed Gu Li from his list of suspects. A person like her who was madly immersed in refining medicine wouldn’t give that much thought in plotting and scheming. Besides, from the looks of it, Han Shuo reckoned that Gu Li had not left the room for a long time and therefore was most unlikely to execute crafty plots.
After eliminating Gu Li from his list, Han Shuo’s main suspect was now Steiss. However, after searching through the Godswamp Pharmacy with his demon generals, he still couldn’t find Steiss’ figure. Han Shuo found it strange.
After thinking for a moment, Han Shuo ordered his demon general to scatter further apart. This time, instead of searching in obvious places, they specifically looked in secluded regions where boundaries may be hidden.
Then, his demon generals detected three secret chambers with powerful boundaries around them. Of them, two of the boundaries had relatively weaker defensive power. After hesitating for a moment, Han Shuo carefully controlled the two most powerful demon generals to intrude the two barriers.
The intrusion went smoothly. They did not trigger any alarms or counterattacks from the boundaries. After the two demon generals silently entered the two secret chambers, Han Shuo was shocked by the scene he witnessed.
One of the secret chambers contained countless frozen organs. Most of the organs belonged to humans. They were all well-preserved. In the other secret chamber, Han Shuo found numerous basegods and a few lowgods imprisoned. There, several sinister pharmacists were forcing the prisoners to drink a medicine that was steaming with green smoke. One of the basegods transformed into a bloody puddle of green fluid after drinking it.
Han Shuo heart’s flipped and he was shaken by what he saw in those rooms. It was clear that what they were doing in those secret chambers was illegal. Forcefully experimenting with drugs, especially poisons on gods were prohibited in all dominions. Han Shuo did not expect that the Godswamp Pharmacy would actually disregard the law and commit such atrocious acts in the City of Shadows.
Having uncovered such enormous bombshells behind the two secret chambers, Han Shuo became very curious about what he would find in the secret chamber protected under boundaries that were even more powerful. In addition, Han Shuo started to suspect that the two from the House of Kisa had taken the poison made by the Godswamp Pharmacy which caused the adverse and fatal effects.
“What’s the matter?” Andrina’s voice suddenly sounded beside his ear.
Han Shuo opened his eyes and looked at Andrina beside him. After taking a deep breath, he forced a smile and said, “Noth- nothing…”
“You seem disgusted. You found something, didn’t you?” Andrina asked in a concerned manner.
“I will tell you later but don’t talk to me for now, “ Han Shuo replied and closed his eyes.
Han Shuo had no interest in getting involved with whatever illegal stuff the Godswamp Pharmacy was conducting. However, from the looks of it, it seemed very likely that the Godswamp Pharmacy had plotted the incident at the House of Kisa. Therefore, Han Shuo was determined to get to the bottom of it.
The most powerful demon general Han Shuo had arrived before the last secret chamber. The walls of the secret chamber were made using special materials and it had several types of boundaries that Han Shuo was not familiar with. Han Shuo did not have confidence in breaking through the boundaries and he was therefore hesitant.
We’ll probably be found out, but still, it’s worth a shot. Even if the break-in attempt is discovered, they won’t find me hiding here, Han Shuo reasoned in his mind.
Therefore, Han Shuo concentrated his attention and commanded the demon general to cross the boundary. The demon general proceeded forward through the wall carefully, slowly inching across the barrier.
After making his way two-thirds into the wall, a pulse of energy suddenly shot towards the demon general. Han Shuo’s heart jolted as he immediately realized that his demon general had been detected by the boundary. However, Han Shuo did not order it to retreat but on the contrary, commanded it to break through the barrier at the fastest speed possible, as noisy as it may.
Pop Pop Pop! a series of sharp and clear noise sounded from the ceiling of the secret chamber. The demon general had successfully broken through the barrier and arrived in the secret chamber.
That elderly man with a head of white hair and face as translucent as jade was giving instructions to Steiss who was crouching on the ground. Before he could finish his sentence, he detected the anomaly to the barrier and yelled right away, “–that Bryan fella must… Who is it?!”
Although the demon general did not hear the full sentence, just from the few words alone Han Shuo could be certain that the incident at the House of Kisa must be related to the two inside the secret chamber. Han Shuo did not have the demon general stay inside the room but commanded it to leave as the elderly man seemed to have detected the location of his demon general.
The demon general, having received Han Shuo’s command, rapidly retreated as soon as it entered the room. It retreated without fear of triggering the warning alarms of the barriers as it was already exposed.
Yet another round of ringing sounded from the barriers. The demon general successfully exited the barriers. The elderly man immediately got up from his seat to search for the intruder.
“Let’s leave!” Han Shuo grabbed Andrina and left while the Godswamp Pharmacy was in chaos.
The demon general flew towards the sky as soon as it exited the barriers. The elderly man seemed to have qualms and did not continue pursuing the demon general. He merely raised his head to look at the sky. His expression was unsightly.
