Chapter 11.1 (1/2)
Chapter 11: Messenger of the Departed Souls
She knows that the 'crucial secret'
she wants is buried in this place.
The island is a world of ice and snow.
The surface of the ocean is brushed white in the chilliness of winter.
The bone-chilling wind wraps remnants of ice and snow as it blows across the land.
“Finally……I am here……”
[West of Aslan Empire – Tiange]
Within the empty palace hall, underneath the black surface of the ground that is as smooth as a mirror, there are constant refractions of light swimming by like the fish from the depths of the ocean. Fleeting. Nether looks at the ground that resembles black crystals with a faint thoughtful smile hanging on his face.
“So worrisome.” Thalia stares at the countless strands of light flowing around beneath them. Standing from the couch and moving down with light steps, she raises her right hand, her fingers hanging naturally. A few s.h.i.+ning pieces of thin threads swim out from her fingertips like fish before diving into the translucent yet bottomless black ground. At a glance, her gaze is filled with a vacant look that is uniquely her. This expression is what terrifies people. Since she was a little girl, this was the expression that appeared in her eyes the first time a she saw a chicken. It is the murkiness of the heavens and earth colliding in a prehistoric blizzard, yet in this boundless vacancy, her gaze is also as sharp as a needle with the ability to detect anything and everything.
The corners of Nether's lip quivers as he scoffs in his heart: “Monster.”
“Before calling me a monster,” the blizzard in Thalia's eyes disperses gradually before her dark, s.h.i.+ning and alluring gaze returns. She flashes a subtle yet charming smile at Nether before lifting a hand to cover her mouth, “You should control your disciple, Shen Yin, first. She's the one that's about to become a monster.”
“What's wrong with Shen Yin?” Nether's gaze sharpens slowly.
“Oh, her,” A few strands of light leaps out from the dark ground and is absorbed quickly into Thalia's fingertips, “At this very moment, she's standing right on the body of the Immortal Lord. This little girl has a much too exaggerated opinion of her own abilities, much too curious. If this goes on, who knows how she's going to die.”
“Who isn't like this?” Nether stands up and wraps his cloak around his body, “Everyone wants to know all the secrets.”
“Of course, how fun, but if you're not careful, you'll pay with your life.” Thalia settles down. The faint smile on her face is still soul stirring; yet it resonates the shadows of a blade.
“You want to pa.s.s on a Red Alarm again? Rest for a while, will you? Just with those names you mentioned before, I'd have to spend much time dealing with them.” Nether turns back. His gaze is as cold as ice.
“I'm not the one giving the Red Alarms so there's no use for you to be unhappy.” Thalia flashes a sharp smile as she meets his gaze head on.
“Say whatever you want since you're the only person who can contact the Silver Priests recently. You're also the only one. I'll be leaving first. About Shen Yin……”
“I'll handle Shen Yin,” Thalia's expressions give out no hints of emotion. A faint smile still grazes her features. “Just in time, 'he' is also on the island. Since Shen Yin wants to know secrets, I will give it to her.”
[West of Aslan Empire - Surrounding waters of Rennes]
The waves are pushed forth by the surging typhoon towards the black cliffs. The explosions of water against the rocks are mixed with countless freezing shards of ice.
In a blink of an eye, it is already winter.
Shen Yin steps onto the island from the boat. Beneath her feet is silver snow. Further down is the frozen dirt of the ground. Shen Yin pulls the silver fox-fur robe tighter against her body as she surveys the land.
She knows that the 'crucial secret' she wants is buried in this place.
The island is a world of ice and snow. The surface of the ocean is brushed white in the chilliness of winter. The bone-chilling wind wraps remnants of ice and snow as it blows across the land.
“Finally……I am here……”
Shen Yin wraps the metal chain from the boat around a rock that looks like a beasts fangs before stabalising herself. Closing her eyes gently, she straightens her arms before her. Golden patterns appear on her hands, as she perceives the soul powers in her immediate surroundings. Soon after, she moves towards the heart of the island that is filled with wind and snow.
An inkling that only gets stronger as it calls out to her; her beat of her heart becomes more and more violent. The excitement of a secret that is about to be exposed fills her entire mind.
Her silhouette disappears in the dense blizzard.
She fails to realize that, a large metamorphic rock behind her seems to be moved as if it was breathing before becoming silent once again.
[West of Aslan Empire - Imperial capital Gelanerte]
When Qi Ling wakes up, dawn has just broken. The clear yet bright morning rays have the greenish tint of ice in the early morning of winter. Qi Ling huffs before s.h.i.+vering as he crawls out from his blankets. As he pulls on his clothes, he turns to ask Yin Chen who is staring unseeingly out the window: “Yin Chen, we've been here for three days. Where will we be heading now?”
“Probably the Heart in the Imperial Capital. I haven't brought you to meet the Silver Priests officially after bestowing you the seal. Also, since you haven't been to the Heart before, why not report back officially since we're already here.”
“What's the Heart? Sounds impressive.” Qi Ling finishes fiddling with his hands and moves to stand beside Yin Chen. Sneaking a glance at him, he says: “Yin Chen, I feel like I grew taller. Doesn't feel like you're much taller than me anymore.”
Yin Chen turns away coldly and narrows his eyes. A series of crackling sounds follow. However, it's not Qi Ling's mouth that's filled with shards of ice but Yin Chen's tongue being frozen into a large chunk of ice.
“Haha, Yin Chen, I'm smart right? I studied for a long time before I learned how to reflect a person's soul powers,” Qi Ling conveniently drapes an arm over Yin Chen's shoulder and moves closer to his face that resembles a perfect ice sculpture. He flashes a sly smile, “And so, you won't be able to make fun of me anymore.”
A sudden tender smile appears like melting snow onto Yin Chen's frosty face. As if the first moment of a flower blooming, it brings out a quiet but striking beauty. He smiles gently as he replies in his low voice: “Really?”
“Of course……uh, hold on, why can you still speak? Aren't you supposed to be……” When Qi Ling realizes that there is something wrong, he is already rendered immobile. From his feet to his fingertips to his face, everything has been wrapped into a solid chunk of ice, leaving only his dark eyes to blink sadly.
“Do you still think you're all that?” Yin Chen asks with a soft and gentle smile.
Qi Ling's reply is m.u.f.fled and so he can only rolls his large eyes around to represent “no!”
Qi Ling's eyes s.h.i.+ft from left to right even faster.
Yin Chen snorts before turning to look out the window again. The ice from Qi Ling's body shatters and clatters to the ground. He recovers from the cold and takes in a deep breath.
“Your expression just now was so despicable!” He thinks in his mind as he smiles respectfully at Yin Chen.
By the time Yin Chen and Qi Ling packed and went downstairs, Qi La and Tianshu Youhua were already at the exit. Even in the day, QI La looks like a sprite of the darkness cladded in a dark, magical robe. His exquisite, des.e.xed and beautiful face is as perfect as a diamond reflecting the rays of light. When Tianshu Youhua sees Qi Ling on the stairs, her expression lightens considerably.
Qi Ling looks around before asking Qi La: “Where is Lianquan and the rest?”
“They said they had something important to deal with in another place so they left first. They were heading to the island in the surrounding waters of Rennes, a place I had been to before, so I created a chess piece and let them go first.” After Qi La answered Qi Ling, he turns to face Yin Chen. An unreadable expression emerges on his face.
“The island in the surrounding waters of Rennes......” Yin Chen's gaze resembles a s.h.i.+ning blade underneath the sunlight.
Tianshu Yohua's expression hardens again. She lets out a mocking chuckle before addressing Qi Ling: “Where they want to go is their own business, why are you so concerned?”
Qi Ling doesn't get angry. Instead, he lets out a smile as bright as the sun with his teeth showing like the big boy he is, “I'm concerned about you too, you're alone right now, where are you planning to go? Why not come with us.”
“Who wants to go with all of you!” Tianshu Youhua huffs at Qi Ling, yet her elated expression betrays her words.
Yin Chen looks at them before ignoring them completely. Moving to stand before QI La, he says: “You're asking us to go to Tiange to find Thalia. What about yourself? Do you want to come with us or do you have somewhere else to be?”
“I may be heading back to the Relic of Youtuer to check on something. I felt that, when we left,” as if remembering something but at the same time not wanting to believe it, Qi La shakes his head, “Probably impossible.”
“I'll go with you.” Yin Chen stands opposing Qi la, his eyes narrowing underneath the suns.h.i.+ne.
“Hmm?” Qi La does not understand why Yin Chen said something like that.
“I need to confirm some things, and these things are related to the Relic of Youtuer,” Light surges in Yin Chen's irises, “Do you still remember Gelans.h.i.+?”
“The First Disciple alongside you, Disciple of the Earth, Gelans.h.i.+?” Qi La enquires.
“Yes. I suspect that he is not dead,” Yin Chen nods, his gaze is light the speckles of snow at dawn, “That he has always been in the Relic of Youtuer.”
[West of Aslan Empire - Surrounding waters of Rennes]
The rays of light of the early morning s.h.i.+ne on Shen Yin's face. Shen Yin wakes up and stands to survey her surroundings. The few low-leveled soul beats that had barged into the territory surrounding her are now chunks upon chunks of broken corpse. They are scattered on the ground and have been frozen. Shen Yin lifts the corners of her mouth lightly. She is quite confident of her own ward. Just like her soul beast Dreamweaver, she is always able to conjure a hunting web at any location. There are times when she feel like she is the soul beast within her, able to easily construct with her soul powers a formation of h.e.l.l that is full of murderous intents.
After getting rid of the silk-like web she had weaved last night, the ward held up by her soul powers disperses. She continues heading towards the centre of the island.