"Gege. ”
This sounded particularly clear and calm amidst the quiet atmosphere.
Bai Fanlu noticed that at the end of the red jade staff, which lifted his chin, was grabbed by Xiao Liu's hand. Then, he pushed it out by an inch, away from his face.
The other end of the staff was held in the hand of the person in the palanquin.
"Xiao Liu," Bai Fanlu whispered, implying that he should not be impulsive. The people surrounding them on both sides began to keep move and kept their distance for fear of being implicated.
However, Xiao Liu maintained his firm grasp on the staff. The youth had even subtly moved in front of Bai Fanlu and raised his other hand up in a protective manner to shield him.
Bai Fanlu couldn't see Xiao Liu's expression from his angle, so his gaze followed the long staff and peered into a corner of the veil which was raised at one corner. He could see the lower half of the man's face and the party’s thin lips seemed to curl into a playful smile.
Without waiting for him to speak, another soft voice came from behind the obscuring curtain.
"Let him go. ”
Then, the person who spoke coughed twice. They seemed to be sick, for it sounded hoarse. One could not distinguish if it belonged to a man or a woman.
However, to be able to sit next to the Yingzhou Governor, Bai Fanlu guessed that the person must be the merman, who was the wife of the governor—according to the people.
The staff was retracted directly without hesitation upon the person’s gentle words. As Xiao Liu was clutching it so tightly, he was caught off guard, and took a huge step forward at this. Bai Fanlu hurriedly grabbed him and prevented Xiao Liu from falling under the palanquin.
"Immortal gege, are you okay?" When they returned back to the crowd, Xiao Liu asked Bai Fanlu in a low voice.
Hearing this familiar address, Bai Fanlu understood that the youth called him ‘gege’ earlier to conceal his identity. He thought that Xiao Liu was indeed dumb and clumsy most of the time, but rather quick-witted at critical moments.
However, Bai Fanlu truly did not expect him to fearlessly stand in front of and protect him earlier.
Bai Fanlu shook his head, "Don't be so reckless next time. Did you forget that I'm stronger than you?”
Xiao Liu smiled embarrassedly, "Oh yes. I understand." But he still turned his head to protest, "But that man was jabbing you with his staff. I cannot bear it!"
Then, he leaned closer, stretched out his hand to touch Bai Fanlu's chin and said softly, "It's all red now...Does it hurt? Let me rub it for you.”
Bai Fanlu hurriedly caught his hand.
The people beside them all stared at their own feet and did not dare to breathe loudly. Bai Fanlu and Xiao Liu seemed to be the only ones talking into each other’s ears.
When Bai Fanlu raised his head, he first surveyed the reaction of others. Then, he noticed that the sedan was now a distance away. At that moment, the curtain at the back of the vehicle was slightly lifted by the wind.
Although he could only see a side profile, Bai Fanlu was certain that the person's gaze was fixed on him briefly.
Strangely enough, a single piece of news spread like wildfire across the streets and alleys of Yingzhou City. No one was selected as a sacrifice during the Parade of Offerings that day. It seemed that the governor and his wife were just touring the streets.
With the exception of the people beside Bai Fanlu, no one knew what happened nor the identity of the man in a white robe who was almost selected.
Yet, Bai Fanlu couldn't be at ease.
It was not just the touch of the Governor’s staff that disturbed him. The last look made by the person next to the Governor also made Bai Fanlu feel like he was sitting on pins and needles.
And it was far too odd. Why did he encounter this parade, which occurred at a highly irregular part of the day, as soon as he entered the city? Why did Wei Lin target him? It made no sense because they had never met!
Where did it go wrong?
Bai Fanlu inquired privately at the inn and found out that there were a total of ninety-eight sacrifices made before. Each time, one person would be captured and there had been ninety-eight people caught thus far.
He immediately associated this situation to the Ninety-Nine Corpse Formation in the novel.
The only difference from the novel was that when Yun Zhan and the others arrived here, the other party had performed ninety-nine sacrifices. Now, they were only at their ninety-eighth.
Just one sacrifice apart...A strong intuition told Bai Fanlu that if he didn't take any action, something major would befall them after tonight.
There was also Xiao Liu to consider. Bai Fanlu sensibly decided that in order not to involve that youth, he should not be too eager to dive into a battle. Instead, a better alternative was to leave Yingzhou City as quickly as possible, and wait for Yun Zhan to arrive before making further plans.
At this, Bai Fanlu abruptly realised that Xiao Liu was no longer by his side.
They were just out on the street together and Bai Fanlu merely stepped aside to make some enquiries. Xiao Liu, on the other hand, had quickly forgotten about his displeasure from before. He was casually strolling around, on the lookout for more novelties.
Bai Fanlu assumed that he must have been attracted by something amusing. As such, he turned back and searched, but still couldn't find him.
He recalled the last conversation between them. It was Xiao Liu vaguely asking him what he thought of an item and whether it looked good. Bai Fanlu responded that it wasn’t too shabby and Xiao Liu immediately declared that he would buy it for him.
A pearl! Bai Fanlu just remembered. He mentioned this when they passed by a pearl boutique.
Bai Fanlu hurriedly headed back to find him. There were no customers in the Pearl boutique. It was cold and quiet. Bai Fanlu was still wondering if he got the right place when the shopkeeper, who heard his footsteps, popped up half his head cautiously from behind the counter.
Seeing Bai Fanlu, he straightened his crooked hat and said, "What would this customer like to see? Our shop has..."
"My apologies, I would like to find out if a young man in grey clothes ever visited the store? He is about this tall.”
As soon as Bai Fanlu gestured an approximation of Xiao Liu’s height, the shopkeeper's face changed suddenly, "You-you are a friend of that young man?”
"What happened to him?" Bai Fanlu immediately realised that something was wrong.
"He-he was taken away by two officials. ”
"Officials In this context a term synonymous with guards/soldiers.?”
The shopkeeper noticed Bai Fanlu's expression and lowered his voice, "You are not a local, are you? That young man seemed like a foreigner too. Let me tell you, an ‘official’ works for the Governor...”
The Governor of Yingzhou? Why did he arrest Xiao Liu? Could it be because Xiao Liu offended him? He let the issue go on the surface but planned to exact revenge in private?
The shopkeeper continued, "Have you heard of the Parade of Offering? Each time the parade takes place, they will arrest someone. Yet, they did not select anyone today. It is likely that your friend…Haiz!"
Bai Fanlu knew all too well the meaning behind the shopkeeper’s sigh. The situation was fraught with grim possibilities. He could not comprehend and had to ask, "Didn’t he resist when they arrested him?”
At that time Bai Fanlu, who was not too far from him, would have seen him make even a slight movement and would immediately react. Xiao Liu has been peddling in the streets and was street smart. He shouldn't have been caught so easily.
"Will resistance help? We are all common folks..." The shopkeeper started muttering to himself as soon as he finished his sentence, "Now that you’ve mentioned it, he did not seem to resist them..."
Bai Fanlu gritted his teeth at this. He was most afraid that Xiao Liu deliberately did not fight back. That youth might not want him to find out.
What he was most worried about still happened.
The Yingzhou Governor’s Residence looked like any ordinary residence from the exterior. But as long as one looked up, he would find that the skies above this area of the East China Sea had formed an obvious watershed. The air current surrounding the building was thin yet heavy. As long as one stood in front of this building, he would feel inexplicably oppressed.
There were two guards at the gate. Bai Fanlu surveyed in secret for a while, and decided to leave for now.
Although it was not wise to barge in, it was also unacceptable to leave Xiao Liu alone.
Bai Fanlu thought of the outside village and recalled that he could enter the Governor’s Mansion from that secret passage. If he got lucky, Xiao Liu might be locked in the hidden prison.
Without further ado, Bai Fanlu decided to set off for the village immediately. Before that, he needed to send the blue bird to Yun Zhan.
Bai Fanlu was reluctant to see him, but an innocent was now implicated. If he could not manage alone, he could buy time to wait for Yun Zhan. This was at least a decent backup plan.
After the Parade of Offering, Yingzhou City’s gates were reopened at once. Bai Fanlu could easily depart the city and soon arrived at the village behind the mountain. This place was also the city’s public burial ground.
Despite its location in the extreme east, where the sunlight was the strongest, the area had a lingering chill to it all year round. It gave off a vastly similar feeling to the Governor’s Residence.
As soon as Bai Fanlu stepped into this place, he raised his vigilance by twelvefold.
According to the novel, the secret passage that connected to the rift where demonic energy emanated could be found under the twenty-fourth tombstone from the north end of the burial ground. It was an empty tomb without any inscriptions.
Bai Fanlu found the tombstone with ease. With one hand pressing down on it, he forcefully turned it. With a boom, a tunnel appeared at his feet.
The tunnel had been sealed off for a long time. As soon as it was opened, a waft of methane mixed with a horrid fishy gas rushed out.
Bai Fanlu hurriedly covered his nose and mouth. He waited for the white smoke to dissipate before he bent over and walked in.
As soon as he entered, the entrance of the secret passage was automatically shut. Although he knew that the mechanism could be opened from the inside, whatever he could see suddenly turned into darkness. Bai Fanlu couldn't help gulping as his heart pounded wildly.
There was no light along the secret path. Every step he took felt as if he was treading on semi-wet silt. Bai Fanlu drew a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and began to fumble forward.
There were no special mechanisms along this secret passage in the novel, but the network was intricate and complex. When the book’s Bai Fanlu and Yun Zhan escaped from the hidden prison, they lost their way here. Eventually, they found the demonic energy rift by following the sounds it made.
Bai Fanlu closed his eyes. He was in possession of sharp hearing and this was an easy feat for him.
There was an underground river passing under the rift. As such, there would inadvertently be sounds of moving water.
Bai Fanlu listened to the surroundings and walked on. When he finally reached a dead end, he reached for the wall with his hand, struck it and listened again. He eventually confirmed that the flowing current was on the opposite side.
He took a step back, placed his hand against the wall and conjured a ring of cold light from the centre of his palm. At this, a crack which started from below climbed upward like a cobweb. Then, silently, the wall shattered into dust.
The scene on the opposite side was no longer shrouded in darkness. This small cave was illuminated by what looked like a deep red slit on the innermost end of the cave.
The waters of the underground river were also dyed red by the light being emitted. It flowed slowly, like magma or perhaps more like the blood of a certain beast.
Compared to reading the book’s description, it was far more astounding to witness the spectacle in person. What Bai Fanlu felt was that the demonic energy rift resembled a living creature at first glance.
The slit on the stone wall, which looked like a scar, was seemingly the eyeball of this living creature. It was almost as if it was rolling and turning to spy on its visitors.
The closer Bai Fanlu got, the more he felt like he was being spied on by something. However, the surroundings were quiet, other than the sounds of the current surging, there was nothing else.
Crossing the river, Bai Fanlu walked to the rift. He had no time to hesitate and needed to activate the seal as soon as possible. Bai Fanlu intended to rescue Xiao Liu next. If he were successful here, he would stand a greater chance of victory against the Governor if he ever encountered him.
Bai Fanlu struck some hand seals, and an array containing a demon energy purification formation emerged in front of him.
Under the guidance of his will, the formation gradually materialised. The bright red scar-like slit flickered and dimmed. Finally, with a shwa!, a seal was engraved on the stone wall.
Boom, boom!...Loud noises emerged from underground and the earth underneath his feet began to tremble.
Bai Fanlu was ready, but the demon spirit did not appear. He only saw the light of the seal swiftly spinning in circles as the blood-red crack became increasingly distorted.
So...is this settled so quickly?!
Bai Fanlu didn't expect the seal to be completed so smoothly. The novel also described the same scene when the deed was done. However, Yun Zhan was sneak attacked by a demonic spirit when it happened. As such, Bai Fanlu had prepared himself for the same, but there was no movement.
Is it because of who he is?
Bai Fanlu vaguely felt that something was amiss.
Suddenly, something violently stirred within his abdomen—then came a heavy blow! Bai Fanlu gasped suddenly and without control, he knelt on one knee.
“…”
The discomfort became increasingly pronounced, and Bai Fanlu realised that a third power hidden in his body had emerged after being dormant for a long time.
If that power could be described as a little poisonous snake, then it was now a gigantic serpent slithering frantically, as if it could break out of Bai Fanlu’s body at any moment.
Bai Fanlu was dripping cold sweat as he curled up, while pressing down on his abdomen and knocked his forehead repeatedly against the ground. This position and action made him a little more comfortable and bought him a few minutes of clarity.
As he knocked, he could vividly sense some vibrations coming from the ground between his brows. Next, he heard a series of footsteps.
Someone was approaching!
I wonder who’s walking up on him, this is getting exciting. I can’t wait to see what happens next