Chapter 25: A Few Laps Around the Ruins |
[Feb. 24th, 2019] . . .
The clamor of broken voices kept assaulting Shěn Lí’s mind. She tried plugging her ears then shutting her senses, but nothing worked. The voices still dug through like a knife stabbing away at her sanity.
“Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut. Up!” yelled Shěn Lí unable to take it any longer.
“Kill. . . ” It was just that one word ruthlessly repeated over and over again, its tone an alternation between sharp and muffled. Shěn Lí’s pupils turned a murky red, the color of dark blood. She rose forward, brandishing her weapon as though she was in a battlefield fighting an enemy in close combat.
Intense heat burned in her chest and rose to her eyes, and made them an even darker shade of red. Suddenly, a chill swept through her heart and invaded every limb and bone in her body, eventually extinguishing the heated flames. A palm gently stroked her hair, the warmth and heat were comforting like the rays of the sun on a cold day.
“Ai, how is it you’re so violent?”
Violent? Wasn’t she, when in the middle of that courtyard, already exercising a lot of restraint?
“Shěn Lí!” Xíng Zhǐ called out sharply trying to wake her up.
All she saw at first was darkness, but gradually Xíng Zhǐ’s snow white robe appeared in her vision. She looked at it confused for a moment before looking around and trying to regain her bearings. With knitted brow she asked, “This. . . is this the Ruins?”
“You. . . Immortal High God, why are you still here? The seal?”
Xíng Zhǐ didn’t mince words. “It’s been restored, but mending all the seals recently took a lot of energy. I became careless and the monsters used the opportunity to break through my defenses. Somehow or other I ended up caught in one of their spells. I was unable to break away because the miasma has gotten so dense over the years of accumulation. Since I was unable to break away, I thought I’d take a stroll until I recovered enough to leave.”
Randomly stroll around a place as dangerous as this? A place filled with monster beasts? A place filled with miasma? Who randomly strolled around like that?!
Shěn Lí wanted to ask if he was wounded, but after his comment, she felt her worries were unfounded.
Xíng Zhǐ laughed lightly as he looked at Shěn Lí. “Is Your Highness also interested in a stroll?”
Shěn Lí smote her forehead at the ridiculousness of it. “No, I’m not. I – ,” she abruptly stopped. “I was patrolling the area with the troops. I was passing by here when a strange force dragged me in.”
“Oh?!” Xíng Zhǐ propped his chin on his hand thoughtfully. “How unexpected that they’d be able to pull Your Highness in. This group of monster beasts are more fascinating than expected!”
Fascinating?! This kind of thing was fascinating to him?!
Shěn Lí silently eyed Xíng Zhǐ before speaking. “Does Immortal High God have a way of getting out of here? Please share. I must return to the Imperial Palace tomorrow. If, by this morning I’m still missing, everyone will surely think. . . ” She sighed. “They will surely think I’m trying to escape from the marriage again. There will be some confusion.”
“I can’t leave right now.” Xíng Zhǐ turned his head in her direction as he spoke. He didn’t pause, but continued walking forward with complete confidence in the pitch darkness – a darkness where one couldn’t even discern up from down, never mind left from right.
Shěn Lí walked behind, anxiously following the sound of his footsteps. “Immortal High God, please stop joking. I’m serious. I don’t know how time flows here, or how many days have passed since I was pulled in, but we, both of us, need to leave. General Shàng Běi may have already withdrawn the troops. They may be marching back to the capital as we speak! And he will report that I fled the marriage – again! I will surely be punished!” Shěn Lí acknowledged that the circumstances looked bad, and that punishment was inevitable, but even the most accepting person would feel aggrieved!
Xíng Zhǐ turned around and sternly said, “Do you think I’m lying? Not taking this seriously?”
Shěn Lí, equally stern, replied. “It’s not called lying when a god does it, is it?”
Xíng Zhǐ’s expression grew somber. “I am serious when I say I can not leave.”
“Do you find it that amusing to provoke me?”
“Amusing?” The visibly bulging veins on Shěn Lí’s head made Xíng Zhǐ smile. He stopped walking and softly said, “Does Your Highness think I get amusement from deceiving Your Highness?”
“Don't you?!” Shěn Lí accused. “That you didn’t know the path up. That the water repellent spell would fail if I released your hand. Weren’t those all lies?!”
Xíng Zhǐ laughed but immediately replied with, “Well when put that way. . . But all those things, weren’t they to purify the miasma in your body? Honestly, helping Your Highness is quite a thankless job.”
Shěn Lí sucked in a deep breath to check the fire in her heart before saying, “Many thanks for Immortal High God Xíng Zhǐ’s grace in saving this king. Now can we leave here?”
Xíng Zhǐ sighed. He just couldn’t convince this girl. He held his arm out and pulled the sleeve back, showing a severely mangled arm with numerous bite marks all over. Shěn Lí stared in horror as black tendrils of miasma seeped out of the wound. She stumbled back, barely able to catch her breath. She raised her eyes and looked at Xíng Zhǐ.
He shook his head as he hid his arm back under his sleeve. “See? I was trying not to frighten Your Highness.”
“This. . . this is. . . ”
“As I said, I was attacked while I was in the middle of restoring the fire seal. The monsters managed to get in a few bites while I was distracted. They think that weakening me will weaken the seal. What they don’t know is the seal is already complete. Even if I perish here, the seal won’t fade. Not for another millennium anyways.
There is a powerful seal in the Ruins, but just the one by itself, even if powered by a god like me, isn’t going to last forever. So, I made a second seal outside the Ruins, powered by the five elements, to supplement it. This second seal essentially acts as a redundancy. But for it to work, the two seals needed to be connected somehow. That’s why I placed the fire seal inside the Ruins. It acts as a conduit fusing my seal in the Ruins and the seal of the five elements together, essentially like a strong weave. It would take a lot of effort and time to break either seals, allowing those guarding it time to react, should something happen.”
Shěn Lí listened to the explanation, amazed at the complexity.
“Using a second seal that’s powered by the natural world is also more stable and enduring. But nature’s energy is not inexhaustible. After a millennium, even this kind of energy will need to be replenished. I returned to provide that support. This way the spiritual energy of the land will continue to strengthen the seals.
Nature’s power can be relied on again now that the fire seal has been restored. The strength of the ley lines will keep the miasma contained.” Xíng Yún gestured to his arm. “So, while this wound is healing, I can’t leave. Your Highness on the other hand . . .
The miasma in your body from before has been purified, but more gathered since your entry into the Ruins. The Demon race isn’t capable of purifying miasma, so it’s easy for your people to be contaminated by it. The seal won’t let Your Highness out because of the new miasma that’s clinging to your body now. And with this injury on my arm, I can’t forcefully expel it. So for now . . .”
Basically, they wouldn’t be able to leave until Xíng Zhǐ’s arm healed. Shěn Lí wrinkled her brow. “This injury . . . how long will it take to heal?”
“Soon, maybe two more laps around the Ruins.” He stopped talking and stared at Shěn Lí, a big smile on his face as he realized something. “Don’t worry. If we’re late in leaving I’ll go with you to see the Demon emperor, and we can set the record straight together. You won’t be wrongly accused of running away.” He tried to placate her and raised his hand as though to pat her on the head, but at the last second changed course, patting her on the shoulder instead.
Shěn Lí watched as he withdrew his hand and walked away. She tried to restrain herself, but in the end, she couldn’t stop from asking the question in her heart. “Immortal High God . . . is it possible. . . that when an immortal high god sleeps for a day, that god incarnates and lives an entire lifetime as a mortal?”
Xíng Zhǐ stopped. “It’s possible.” He sensed she wasn’t following him anymore so he turned around. “Why?”
Shěn Lí gave him a hard stare before laughing at herself. It rang with self-mockery. “Nothing. Never mind. Sometimes the things Immortal High God does remind me of a friend I had.”
“Oh! Is that so?” Xíng Zhǐ turned around and resumed walking again, saying over his shoulder, “It’s incredibly rare for someone to resemble me.”
“Exactly! Right?!”
The silence after her words stretched out filling the space between them. Xíng Zhǐ continued walking like he didn’t intend to stop anytime soon. Finally he said, “Azure Sky king, It’s not good to be too persistent.”
Shěn Lí hung her head down. “Shěn Lí thanks Immortal High God for sharing this wisdom.” She fell back behind him and followed the sound of his footsteps, however, this proved an unwise move. With nothing around but monotonous darkness, her attention inevitably returned to Xíng Zhǐ’s movements in front of her. The only things serving as a distraction to the tedious walk were the way his hair bounced with every step he took and the way his robes swayed as he moved.
Out of the blue Xíng Zhǐ asked, “Your Highness fled the arranged marriage before. May I know why?”
The topic immediately made Shěn Lí wrinkle her brow and grimace in displeasure. “Immortal High God wants to know why I would try to escape marriage from a good-for-nothing philanderer? First, despite being the Immortal emperor’s 33rd grandson, he hasn’t achieved a single military merit deserving of mention. Second, in the thousand years he’s lived he hasn’t deigned to hold a single position in public office or participate in politics in any way. Third, the time he should spend learning, he spends chasing skirts! Someone like that only knows how to cause trouble! Had he been my grandson, I would have cut him down to size ages ago!”
Her fiery righteousness surprised Xíng Zhǐ so much he had to cover his mouth to hide his smile. “Lord Fú Róng is not that unbearable. Surely he’s capable of doing more than just pursuing female companionship . . .”
Shěn Lí’s rage burned even hotter at that. “Regardless of what he can or can not do, the point is he and I are strangers. Why is there any talk of marriage at all?! If it weren’t for Immortal High God’s attempt to play matchmaker, this king wouldn’t have to deal with this mess! That's right! This king must ask. Why did Immortal High God arrange such a marriage?!”
“Because . . .” Xíng Zhǐ could only helplessly say, “I thought it would be a good match. . . haha.”
. . .“Ah . . .achoo!” A naked Fú Róng was luxuriating in a rose petal laden bath at the Heavenly Temple when he was hit by a fit of sneezing.
His attendant immediately handed him a towel and prostrated before asking “My Lord, is the water too cold?”
Fú Róng waved his hand. “Get me a snack.”
After prostrating on the ground, the attendant got up to leave and do as commanded. The door was unceremoniously slammed open from the other side just as he neared it, causing him to stumble back in surprise and those incoming to tumble forward in a ball of tangled arms and legs.
They quickly righted themselves and staggered forward breathlessly yelling, “My Lord! My Lord!”
Fú Róng instantly chided them. “Stop! Don’t bring your filthy unwashed bodies into my bath!”
The attendants were forced to prostrate on the ground outside the bathing area while giving their news. “My Lord! Word just came from the Ruins. The monsters that broke through has been decapitated by the Azure Sky king! They say Her Highness’s eyes were red. She used the spear, given by the Immortal emperor, to pierce straight through the humungous beast! And! And then afterwards she speared its flesh and ate its meat! She ate the entire body! And drank all the blood!”
Fú Róng’s own blood drained from his face. He quickly grabbed his clothes, dressed and stepped barefoot out from behind the screen. He reached down and grabbed an attendant by the collar and shrilly asked, “Seriously?!”
“Yes! Absolutely!”
“Pre – prepare preparations! This lord is unwilling! This lord will meet with the emperor!”
Fú Róng later ran to the emperor and bawled his eyes out for half a day, begging and pleading that he didn’t want to die. The emperor, unable to stand it anymore, ordered an attendant to drag Fú Róng back to his own residence.
Fú Róng tossed and turn the entire night. Finally fed up, he bolted upright and yanked the covers off. “I can't take it!” Muttering to himself he said, “I’m going to the Demon realm to take a look for myself! Otherwise. . . otherwise on the night of our nuptials . . . unprepared . . . I’ll surely die a tragic death.”
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