Chapter 688 (1/2)

Chapter 688: Are You Not A Man?

Translator: Udeze Editor: Udeze

The lamps in the tens of thousands of households in Shanghai were brightly lit as night fell. The resplendent colorful night was like showing a dreamlike fantasy of flourishing prosperity. The streets with their endless traffic and a long line of lamplights that resembled shining dragons, while the neighboring 40-story buildings willfully gave out warm currents in the chilling cold winter.

Tomson Villa.

The windows were all open, but the room itself was dim. Then, in the obscure night, a slender figure was sitting by the window on her knees, holding a yellowish book stitched with gold threads and reading it quietly.

“Five angles and six starlights. The stars are interconnected and yet the array formation is folded in layers to form the most mysterious Six Starlight Array. The center is the crux whereas the five visible stars form the gate…”

Under the dim moonlight shining on the yellowed paper, the Six Starlight Array pattern was drawn on it along with flying dragons and dancing phoenixes. If Tang Xiu was here, he would definitely be astounded, since the cluster of Six Starlight Array on the paper was exactly the same pattern he saw in the cave planted with herbs in the Kanas Longquan Swamp, where the Soul Tranquilizer Stone and solidified Dragon’s Eye were embedded on its ceiling.

Xue Yu closed her eyes as her slender fingers constantly moved. A special energy descended down from the sky and covered her. In her eyes, it seemed like the trajectory of the stars was revolving along with the blooming moonlight.

Puff…

A mouthful of blood spurted from her mouth. Her Mutton Fat Jade-like face seemed to break and turned pale, and a look of frustration and disappointment gradually appeared on her face.

“The Ancestress handed this Six Starlight Array chart to me and I’ve been studying it for a long time, but it’s a pity that I can’t solve the final profound mystery in it. I need to manifest my own value as a woman, as my value in his eyes is close to zero. I must crack this Six Starlight Array to help him open the portal to the Immortal Trove. Ancestress said that my opportunity is on him and that my life is tightly bound with his, for he is the only one able to accompany me in the thousands of years along the fate on the immortal path…”

Xue Yu’s expression gradually turned into tenacious. As she took a white silk handkerchief to wipe off the blood on the corner of her mouth, her eyes then returned to the yellowed book stitched with golden thread.

****

Shanghai, Jingding District.

Located in the Northwest part of Shanghai, the Classical Garden fully reflected the theme of “the beauty of nature”. The environment of the venue was beautiful with stacked rockeries, octagonal pavilions, winding bridges, and sparkling clear lakelets. Despite the pathways in the woods that were supposedly ingeniously constructed with machineries, the intricate application of the various landscaping techniques of imitation, adjustment, and separation of the spaces in the garden landscape created a multivariate and complicated scenery, either small or big sized, resulting in an artistic effect of an alternate and surreal landscape.

Through the folding of layers of hills and waters with gardens planted with flowers and trees, the Classical Garden was a classical architecture that depicted an enjoyable poetic and pictorial splendorous landscape in and of itself, creating an “urban forest” in which human and nature coexist in harmony in this bustling metropolis.

And exactly in this place was the Imperial Garden located!

Under the curtain of the night, all the lanes in the Imperial Garden were illuminated with big red lanterns, while the lingering fragrance of eaglewood incense lingered in the air. Dressed in floral plaque coat and feet with embroidered shoes were women scattered around in various small courtyards, holding trays and serving delicacies and delicious meals.

“Young Lord!”

Upon seeing the pale and solemn-looking Chu Yuan, everyone in the Imperial Garden would stop and greet him. Chu Yuan would have nodded and greeted them one by one if it was before, but he was in a hurry today, and his unusual expression made everyone baffled and confused.

In the center of the Imperial Garden, there was only a three-storied classical pavilion. The smell of Dragon Spittle Fragrance pervaded the air in every corner like an old woman with long white hair was there, caressing a three-footed gold ring and facing the meditation cattail hassock she previously sat on before.

Creak…

The wooden door was gently pushed open from the outside, as Chu Yuan entered the room in stride and then sat on the cattail hassock next to the old woman. His eyes were devoid of spirit, dragged away by his thoughts and seemed like a man whose soul was taken away.

The old woman turned her head and was surprised when she saw Chu Yuan’s expression. Her brows suddenly wrinkled slightly, hummed coldly and said, “Heart-fire Cleansing Mantra… ten times.”

Chu Yuan looked startled and then immediately lowered his head and closed his eyes.

Time passed by, and in the blink of an eye, half an hour had passed.

When Chu Yuan finished reciting the Heart-fire Cleansing Mantra in his heart, his eyes instantly opened. But this time, a radiant light flashed in them like a sharp blade.

“Did you have something bothering you inside?” The old woman eyes landed on the three-footed gold ring and asked with a calm tone.

Chu Yuan firmly nodded, “I went to visit Tang Xiu and confirmed that he was the one who killed Jin Sanchi and Jin Sijie. He also sent people to besiege all the sects under the Strange Doors and kill those eight Masters. I’ve also confirmed that he’s a typical cultivator and possess a very terrifying strength. The intelligence system of our Imperial Garden assigned 18 investigation teams to all parts of the country, and only 17 of them came back with intelligence reports. The team we lost contact with was the one that was assigned to investigate the force behind him.”

“You made a mistake.” The old woman shook her head and sighed.

“What did I do wrong?” Asked Chu Yuan with a confused expression.