Chapter 414: Dread Omen Approaches |
Immortal Yuan Ling frowned as he studied the many lines of text and images projected by the jade pendant before him.
They were fresh reports from across the territory of Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain, all about abnormal movements of people heading from the Grand Void Spiritual Axis toward Sentinel Silence in recent days, as well as suspicious phenomena that had occurred on and around the Grand Void Spiritual Axis after the “Demon-Suppressing Tower out of control” incident.
Immortal Yuan He stood nearby, his expression equally grave as he watched the illusory projection hanging in the air, and a hazy phantom floated behind him. It seemed to be a great beast hiding its form, lazily curled beside its master.
“Judging by reports from everywhere, a great many people have indeed suddenly set out for the frontier in the last few days, nearly twenty percent more than normal traffic,” Immortal Yuan Ling said in a low voice, “and while we cannot assert that all of them are influenced by Yun Qing Zi, there must be cases like Ling Long and Shang An among them.”
“We have stopped everyone we could. As for the civilian spirit-ships that must dock and transfer on the planets around Sentinel Silence, I have already notified the local administration to hold their passengers temporarily under the pretexts of route risk or facility malfunction,” Immortal Yuan He said slowly, “they are carefully checking the passengers on those ships now. If anything turns up, word should come soon.”
“Good,” Immortal Yuan Ling nodded lightly, “fortunately Sentinel Silence is remote. Most routes cannot reach it directly. Ordinary civil spirit-ships must transfer on planets such as Yaomen and Shiting, unlike the extradimensional ship Hotel which can go straight through. That has bought us a great deal of time to respond.”
“Even so, some arrived before we reacted,” Immortal Yuan He sighed, “we were a little slow after all. I do not know how many victims like Ling Long and Shang An are already trapped on Sentinel Silence at this very moment.”
Immortal Yuan Ling stroked his beard and said: “Xuan Che and his group have other critical tasks and must not act rashly. The situation on Sentinel Silence itself is unknown. Even the disciples on watch there, or the Star Wardens, may have been affected by Yun Qing Zi. In the worst case, the entire planet could be compromised.
“I have redeployed disciples from the nearest Yaomen Star to go over. They will assist Xuan Che and also track the ‘travelers’ listed as possibly influenced by Yun Qing Zi. We cannot allow Yun Qing Zi’s power to grow any further.
As he spoke, a rush of air split sounded outside the hall, and a figure whose whole body was mechanically driven, indistinguishable from an automaton, strode in. It was Immortal Qian Ji.
“Yuan Ling, I have everything arranged on my end,” Immortal Qian Ji called out loudly even from far away, “the Woyun Ten Halls and Hengxu have locked down all routes to Sentinel Silence. For the portion outside your Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain control zone, unless another ‘Fellow Daoist Yu’ opens a gate, not even a fly will be able to approach Sentinel Silence…”
Immortal Qian Ji suddenly paused, jerked his head up to look at Immortal Yuan He, and, under the latter’s slightly startled gaze, asked cautiously: “…you do not have flies on your mountain that can shatter the void, do you?”
Immortal Yuan He’s face went green as he snapped: “No.”
“Good,” Immortal Qian Ji exhaled, then continued, “Immortal Maiden Yun Yao of the Yaolan Sect has just replied. She will have a batch of materials sent over shortly concerning a century of survey and mining on Sentinel Silence. Nethergloom Valley will also send early development records for Sentinel Silence. If Yun Qing Zi has indeed been lurking on Sentinel Silence for a millennium, there may be traces left in those records.”
Hearing Immortal Qian Ji’s words, Immortal Yuan Ling finally relaxed a fraction and nodded slowly.
Among the five great sects on the Grand Void Spiritual Axis, the Yaolan Sect and Nethergloom Valley are the most adept at mining and off-world development. Although the mining industry of Sentinel Silence has declined today, several hundred years ago that planet was dotted with mines and garrison-towns established by these two sects. In fact, of the twelve giant refining towers that pierce the clouds around today’s Mo City, eight were constructed by the Yaolan Sect.
These two sects hold vast data on Sentinel Silence’s geology, environment, and development history. Their willingness to share it now stems in part from the trust and consensus built over years of five-sect co-governance. At the same time, it is clear they too feel the pressure brought by the matter of Yun Qing Zi.
Immortal Yuan Ling’s expression remained solemn. His gaze passed over Immortal Qian Ji, through the palace roof and the grand array dome over Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain, as if he were looking toward the boundless starry sky beyond the planet.
An intangible, formless sense of dangerous dread hung over the Grand Void Spiritual Axis. It could not be seen or touched, yet in the spiritual senses of cultivators, the unease that shadow cast had grown as dense as ink, as if it meant to swallow the entire planet.
He could not name it, but he felt that a single maddened Yun Qing Zi alone could not cast so strange a shadow, nor would a pack of sinister heretics suffice.
If he could feel it, then the sect masters of the other four great sects should have sensed it as well.
[What exactly is that thing?]
…
Colossal demon-suppressing stone pillars stood in the vast cavern beneath the earth. Currents of the planet’s ley lines crisscrossed and ringed the walls, streaming soundlessly through the air above. Chains, newly reinforced and refined with spiritual power, swayed faintly and rasped with a steady clatter, and within that frictional rattle a giant stone sphere with a terrifying “visage” lazily rolled its body and looked toward a corner of the grotto.
A bizarre great serpent with seven heads was coiled around a nearby stone pillar. Thin demon-binding cords, far finer than the chains wrapped around the Dread Omen Wandering Star, were looped around its body, and it was snoring in deep sleep.
The stone sphere slowly split its mouth. Jagged stone fangs opened with a scrape as it rose into the air. The two hollow pits where its “eyes” should have been seemed to reflect chaotic shadow. It drifted in front of the serpent, bared its teeth at the latter, and deliberately jingled its chains.
The great serpent startled awake. All seven heads opened their eyes at once, fourteen pupils reflecting the horrific appearance of the Dread Omen Wandering Star.
“Ah crap, ah oof, arf, awooo!”
In an instant the serpent loosed a jumble of shrieks that three or five ordinary people together could not produce. It sprang off the stone pillar in a flash, but its many heads yanked in different directions at once, the dog head especially not on the same wavelength as the others, so it managed to tie itself into a knot before it could flee and wobbled in place, rolling in a tangle of chains.
The Dread Omen Wandering Star let out a rasping, frightening laugh.
“Are you sick in the head, scaring a protected species like me,” the Serpent Princess shoved one head out from the coil and glared at the stone sphere, “I’m unlucky enough to be exiled down here already, okay.”
“I am curious how you were ‘exiled’ to the bottom layer,” the Dread Omen Wandering Star drifted lazily to the Serpent Princess and looked down on this weak and low creature in its eyes, “by your abilities, you do not merit suppression on this humble level. Besides, look at these pillars around you. Even when you nap coiled on them, they hardly react.”
“Because that old thief Yuan He was settling a private score,” the Serpent Princess immediately cursed at full volume, “that festering mongrel old Daoist. I only cursed him a few times on the way in and he happened to hear me, then he threw me straight down here and said I needed to reflect. Reflect my ass. Was what I said really that awful? I didn’t even say the worst of it.”
The Dread Omen Wandering Star listened to her tirade, yet its horrific face showed nothing a human mind could parse as emotion. After a long moment, a hoarse voice crawled from between its uneven fangs: “I suspect you asked to come down here.”
Several of the Serpent Princess’s heads sank back into the snake ball at once: “W-why would you say that?”
“You often cursed Yuan He before. Sometimes I could hear you swearing even down here. He would not throw you down for that alone unless you asked him to.”
“Me, ask him? Ask him for what…” The Serpent Princess flushed red, but under the empty, dreadful gaze of the Dread Omen Wandering Star her eyes slipped aside and she muttered, “Fine, it’s mostly because I was afraid they’d beat me to death up there. A few idiots think they were caught because I ratted at the end, and they said if I hadn’t told on them they would have escaped the mountain.”
“Did you inform on them?”
“I did.”
For the first time, the Dread Omen Wandering Star understood what humans meant by being speechless.
“What else could I do,” the Serpent Princess said righteously, “with the situation then, only an idiot wouldn’t bow their head. The old Daoists of Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain are truly vicious. I personally saw that old thief Yuan He set up a huge cauldron at the foot of the mountain, true Samadhi fire beneath and a five-spice spicy beef-tallow broth inside. When they caught fleeing beasts, they tossed them in. Some sliced into pieces and thrown, some tied into butterfly knots and thrown, some flattened, crosshatched, and then thrown in… was that snitching? That was reading the times correctly while helping others read the times.”
She ranted on and on, her curses stitched together with nonsense from her muddled brains of unknown origin. After a while she suddenly stopped, as if the one cursing had not been herself, and grew very calm. She eyed the “stone sphere” before her with caution and asked: “Why did you suddenly come to chat with me?”
“Boredom, and curiosity,” the Dread Omen Wandering Star slowly split its mouth as if smiling, “listen well, little creature. A Dread Omen is about to descend upon this planet. I can feel it. The long-awaited day of release draws near. I always enjoy observing how so-called intelligent species react during such times. And you are an interesting specimen.”
The Serpent Princess stared blankly at the enormous stone sphere floating before her. After a long moment she slowly widened her eyes and said: “So what?”
The Dread Omen Wandering Star: “…”
A moment later, the stone sphere spun and drifted upward. It stopped at the threshold where the demon-suppressing chains and pillars would begin to react violently and shouted up toward the cavern above: “Yuan Ling, Yuan He, whoever’s there, take this idiot away at once. Send down something with a brain. Do you hear me? Something with a brain.”
No one answered it.
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