Eighty-eight: Traveling Together

The party had arrived at a remote stretch of sea between the two cities and set up a ward before beginning to discuss their next plan.

Han Su’s injuries were not serious. Shortly after leaving the city lord’s residence, the thunder of gold attached to her golden core had successfully absorbed the thirty-two purple bolts for her own use. Moreover, because she had repeatedly repaired and strengthened her meridians before, the hidden damage left behind was also not severe. Traveling on was no longer something Rong Ling needed to support her through.

They all stopped. Han Su, embarrassed, asked Rong Ling to set her down. Huai Yin glanced at her with concern, but then Su Yun came over in displeasure and blocked his view. After that, he never looked her way again.

“What we are going to now is a ruin I found by searching through my clan’s records. There may be a clan leader sleeping within it, one who was also the ruler of the Fuhai Realm tens of thousands of years ago.”

Huai Yin paused there. Aside from Rong Ling, everyone else was visibly startled; they exchanged glances, excitement and curiosity written plainly on their faces.

“When you say sleeping, what do you mean?” Rong Ling was the first to ask.

“We do not know. The clan records are vague as well. They only roughly indicate the clan leader’s resting place and offer no real detail. But I heard from the city lord just now that decades ago, he sensed a fluctuation of spiritual power there. Though it quickly fell silent, it is quite possible that the realm ruler did not perish at all, but instead fell into a deep sleep.”

“If she is not the one you seek, and we happen to wake her...” Su Yun asked, her worry evident.

“Then it is very possible none of us will escape.” Huai Yin’s expression grew grave. This was already his final hope.

“If she is the one I seek, then she should be able to keep everyone safe. If she is not, then there may be tremendous danger. It depends on whether you have the courage to investigate it. If you are willing to go together, then stay, and we can discuss our course of action. If you do not wish to risk it, you may leave on your own. We are still friends; perhaps fate will bring us together again in the future.”

None of them spoke immediately, but Han Su felt a little troubled in her heart.

She was certain Rong Ling would go. This realm ruler was most likely the Ming Lady Rong Ling was searching for. But if Huai Yin was searching for her too, then could the Ming Lady be Huai Yin’s mother?

Whether to help Rong Ling or Huai Yin, she was willing to go.

What pained her was that Huai Yin, once so free and unrestrained, so noble and proud, had now begun to speak in that deliberately polished, businesslike tone, treating others like old brothers and close comrades. She did not know how much she had missed; old friends had simply changed, little by little, until they were no longer the same.

“I am willing to go.” As expected, Rong Ling was the first to state his decision.

“So am I.” Han Su followed his lead.

Ji Yan looked somewhat bewildered, but quickly came back to himself. “I am willing to go as well.”

Huai Yin looked very pleased. He glanced at Su Yun and said, “Then let us discuss the plan.”

Though Su Yun had not voiced an opinion, anyone could tell from her eyes that wherever she accompanied Huai Yin, she would go without hesitation. There was no need to ask her separately.

“This jade talisman contains the location of the ruin recorded by City Lord You, as well as the formation surrounding it. Everyone should take a look first.”

Huai Yin handed the jade talisman to the other four. One by one, they pressed it to the center of their brows and read the information within.

“I believe everyone has some understanding of the situation by now. Next we should divide the work. Why not each introduce what we are best at? I shall begin.”

“I am not skilled with formations, but I am good at creating illusions, and my offensive power is decent enough.” Huai Yin introduced himself first. Su Yun followed immediately after. “I’m not good with formations either, but I can handle physical labor.”

“I’m not as proficient in formations as Sister Jiang, but I have read more books and know more things.” Ji Yan was no longer as dazed as before when he spoke.

“Rong Ling and I both know a little about formations,” Han Su had not yet had time to speak before he included them both. He had always been modest, so he mentioned only formations.

“In that case, let Daoist Pei and Han Su handle the formations, Daoist Ji assist from the side, and Su Yun and I take care of the rest. How does that sound?”

None of them objected, so they chose a direction, broke the ward, and moved forward separately.

Huai Yin led the way. Su Yun kept close behind him with all her strength, and though slightly slower, she did not fall too far back. Ji Yan, meanwhile, returned to that dazed, contemplative look and followed behind them; even so, he did not lag far behind.

Rong Ling brought up the rear, carefully supporting Han Su.

Though Han Su’s injuries were not severe, they still affected her speed. Seeing that the others were all moving extremely fast, she found it hard to ask them to wait, and could only endure it by force. But Rong Ling kept a thread of attention on her at all times, and how could he fail to see that she was pushing herself? At once he stepped forward, took her hand, and brought her along.

Thus they proceeded without haste or pause, yet always maintained the same distance from the others.

The farther ahead Huai Yin went, the more alarmed he became. From the very first time he met Rong Ling, he knew the man could not be merely at the Golden Core stage. This man, who called himself Pei and immediately warned him that Han Su was in danger within Youluo City...

Although he had initially half-believed and half-doubted him, their several conversations on the road had convinced him that the man bore not the slightest malice. His cultivation was also completely unreadable, subtle and unfathomable.

At the time, Huai Yin had also rushed forward at full speed, thinking he would leave Rong Ling behind. Yet despite falling slightly behind him, the other man had remained at exactly the same distance no matter how Huai Yin sped up or slowed down; not a hair’s breadth was off! Even Huai Yin himself could not maintain such perfect spacing. This could only mean the man was either naturally extraordinarily swift, or his cultivation was too deep to fathom.

Later, in the city lord’s residence, when Han Su was in danger, it had seemed as though Huai Yin himself had stepped forward to block that sword intent talisman. But when he swept his sleeve, he realized the pressure was minimal; the talisman had already been mostly neutralized by the Golden Core cultivator surnamed Pei, who had shielded Han Su from behind!

And now, in such a sea, he was still able to keep such speed while carrying Han Su. His cultivation must truly be extraordinarily high. Who knew what sort of expert he was.

And the way he protected Han Su... could he be an elder of her family?

Yet within that protection there was also an intimacy. Or perhaps he was...

Soon, they arrived at the stretch of sea described by City Lord You. Without the coordinates, no matter how they searched, they would never have found it.

It was a dead sea.

As the name suggested, no plant life or living creature existed there. Even sea folk would require exceptionally fine water-warding pearls to move within it. Worse still, the region was naturally covered by an illusion formation.

Thanks to Huai Yin’s innate talent, they had painstakingly bypassed several whirlpools and avoided multiple dead-sea pits before reaching the entrance to the ruin. One could imagine how tiny the odds were of being traced here by City Lord You.

The closer they got, the more Rong Ling could confirm that this was indeed the burial place Ming Ji had once described.

Back then, they had all grown weary of immortality. There was not a shred of joy in that endless life, so they often drank together for companionship. Once, after getting drunk, Ming Ji had said, “If one day I end this life, I will choose a dead sea region in the Fuhai Realm and build a grand palace there. Every brick, every stone, every blade of grass, every tree in that hall shall be carved from my favorite crystals.

“The palace does not need to be large, only big enough to hold me. Too large, and I would feel lonely.

“The formations outside must not be too clever. What if I wanted to leave someday and could not break them?

“So it would be best to wrap it in layer upon layer of illusion, so that by instinct alone, I could find my way out.

...”

If so, then was Ming Ji truly inside? Was she still alive? And this little heavenly fox, being half-demon and looking so much like Ming Ji, could he be her son with Xuan Ting?

And Ji Yan, with his thunder spiritual root... somehow he felt familiar as well. If it were him, what would happen when he saw Ming Ji?

As Rong Ling pondered in such strange and wandering fashion, Ji Yan himself was not feeling well either.

Ever since his birth, it had seemed as though he carried memories from two lifetimes.

Though he did not know who he had been in his previous life, many things seemed to come to him innately, as if he had been born knowing them. His cultivation rose very quickly, and he understood an extraordinary number of things. Yet he was certain he had never studied those things before; it was as though he could speak of them the first time he saw them.

He worried greatly that this abnormal condition might be the result of some ancient monster seizing his body, so he did not dare reveal too much. If people discovered it, he did not know what the outcome would be.

Thus he could only force himself to keep his impulses tightly compressed, again and again and again. He must not let his cultivation rise too quickly, must not speak too quickly or reveal too much, lest someone notice.

That was why, when he had long since been able to form his core, he stubbornly delayed until after seeing Han Su successfully do so before daring to follow suit.

Though cautious by nature, he also had one fatal weakness: he loved wine.

He liked to drink every kind of wine, and found every kind difficult to resist.

That was why he preferred to travel with female cultivators; the chance of drinking was a little lower, so he would not find himself unable to stop once he began.

The very first time he saw Han Su, he felt familiar with her. She carried a sort of familiar scent—not from having seen her before, but from the misty sense of a past life. That feeling was not pleasant: familiar yet strange, and every time he seemed on the verge of remembering something, a great mass of fog would surge up and cover it again.

But he could not make out exactly what it was, so he simply followed her at every moment, hoping to unravel the mystery sooner and suffer less because of it.

Later, he met Huai Yin, Rong Ling, Su Yun...

His sense of it only grew stronger. He had a powerful premonition that this exploration of the ruin would be the chance to solve the mystery that had troubled him for decades.

That ruin also seemed to be beckoning to him again and again. He felt that he absolutely had to see it. There must be something there of immense importance to him.

Leaving aside the many thoughts churning in the others’ minds, the ruin was already right before them.

Han Su and Rong Ling stepped forward to examine the formations carefully.

Unexpectedly, they proved rather simple. It did not take much time before they had entered.

This was...

Han Su stared in shock, eyes wide, at the little world before her. Wasn't this the crystal palace she had seen at the bottom of the sea in the Stone Control Realm?