Chapter 401 - Infiltrating the Internal Sect (2/2)
The party of six reached the center of the flagstoned plaza when they saw a woman dressed in red coming their way. Her face was hard and cold like ice when Shen Qing and the sentry greeted her politely, “Lady Ambassador.”
The woman’s head dipped just a little, a perfunctory acknowledgment to her underlings. Then her gaze traveled to Xiao Chen and Su Lianyue, making them shudder a little. This was the same woman whom they had seen a few days ago!
The woman in red clearly recognized them as her penetrating stare bore into them. But she said nothing, veering off into another direction. In a hushed voice, Shen Qing hastened, “Let’s go.”
They continued until they came before the opened doors of a handsome hall with the bleak glows of candles flickering inside. At the doors stood four door wardens, each with the same deadpan expression of stone. One would have easily mistaken them for dead men. The sentry who had led the party went to one of them and reported concisely, “Orderlies of the Tai Yin Cavity with some Grudge Cauldrons.”
The door warden nodded curtly and Shen Qing led everyone into the hall where they waited. The two acolytes who came with them waited nervously, trying their best to not fidget and moved hardly an inch. It was their first visit here and they were terribly anxious. Xiao Chen sat down beside Shen Qing and put up an edgy expression himself.
Before long, an old, gnarly man managed up the steps and into the hall. A pair of dark-cloaked men followed behind him obediently. In long flowing robes and white beard and hairs streaming almost similarly under the dismal luminescence of the candles slowly melting to their deaths, his cheeks blushed with a rosy scarlet, an odd contrast from the rest of everyone else here.
“Elder Song,” Shen Qing scrambled to his feet and addressed the old man courteously. The two acolytes with them got up too and were about to speak but their words choked in their throats on second thought; lowly orderlies such as them should not be speaking to an Elder of the Internal Sect.
Elder Song merely nodded slightly. His presence alone was asphyxiating. Shen Qing dug from his sack and placed the black box containing the Cauldrons on the polished floors of the hall. Gently, he explained, “A hundred and thirty-seven years’ worth of grudge and malice here, Elder. Feel free to inspect them.”
Elder Song’s head dipped pompously. The two cloaked servants behind him came forth and made their count. When they were finished, Shen Qing reported, “So ends our delivery this time. But there is something else, Sir, that I’m afraid I’ll have to loiter here a little longer.” He paused and a thoughtful gleam flashed across his eyes.
Elder Song peered at him. Rules and protocols are strictly observed in the Corpse Refinery Sect. Acolytes of the External Sect visiting the Internal Sect on business could only stay for one night and one night only. Elder Song’s eyes wavered unsteadily in the lambent illumination and he asked, “Why?”
Shen Qing cleared his throat and shot a quick look at Xiao Chen, Su Lianyue and the two acolytes that came with them, muttering, “Off with you lot back to your quarters.”
Elder Song nodded knowingly and ordered one of the door wardens outside to lead the rest of the party to their temporary quarters. Xiao Chen exchanged a quick glance with Su Lianyue and said nothing as they followed the lead of the door warden away.
The temporary lodgings of the Corpse Refinery Sect were hardly the shabby or dingy-looking tenements that Xiao Chen expected. At the very least, it was a huge improvement from the wooden shed at the Chang Yin Cavity. The two acolytes of the Tai Yin Cavity shared a room while Xiao Chen and his companion shared another. Xiao Chen made full sure that the doors and windows were closed and the curtains completely drawn as soon as they went in, then they lighted the oil lamps to prevent setting off any unwanted suspicion.
Sue Lianyue cast a spell that erected a sound barrier and turned back to her own appearance. “Did you manage to remember the way back?” She whispered.
Xiao Chen nodded. Shen Qing would be staying here at least until tomorrow but he was sure that the rest of them would be expected to leave this place soon. But there was something strange about that Shen Qing that he could not quite shake off. Nevertheless, he was hardly concerned about having to leave this place; he could just as easily slip back in at night.
The days with Su Lianyue have made them close partners. Wearied by the day’s toiling, she went wordlessly to bed. She sat on the side of the bed as usual with Xiao Chen on the table. Just before the time struck nine, Xiao Chen blew out the flame on the lamp and the room went dark.
Everything outside was dead quiet by the next hour and the frigidness in the air only grew by the minute. Such was a night in the Summit of Mystics where one could never miss the gloomy nip that reeked only of death and decay. Another half-hour passed by swiftly and still, there was no sign of Shen Qing returning. Xiao Chen looked at his companion whose eyes were trained upon him in the dark. “Let’s listen to what they say,” Su Lianyue suggested and she disguised herself as Han Yu again.
Carefully, Xiao Chen allowed his Divine Sense to reach outside the room. He first made sure that everyone next door was asleep before he let the door ajar and let himself out quietly with Su Lianyue following behind. Then they vanished into the veil of night.
A frosty draft blew across the Summit as the pair flitted through the woods so quickly like an arrow. Under the shadows of the canopies of the forests, they traveled light-footed, leaving hardly any mark or sound while they expertly avoided any patrolling sentinels. Before long, they reached the expansive square and they signaled each other for silence and descended on the cold, paved stones of the quiet plaza which would have been empty if not for the four patrolling guards who noticed them.
“HALT! WHO’S THERE!”
Xiao Chen and Su Lianyue stopped in their tracks. Xiao Chen swiveled slowly, releasing his aura and demonstrating his powers of the Nascent Soul Realm as his icy stare held the four sentries in an invisible grip. None of them could resist a shiver of fear as a bead of cold sweat trickled down their heads.
“Where is Elder Song now?” Xiao Chen inquired with ice in his voice, sounding so imperious and imposing that none of the four dared to yelp a sound. Finally, one of them managed to muster enough courage to deflect the question by asking in a quivering tone, “B-but where are you two seniors from?”
“The Hall of Plenitude!” Su Lianyue boomed each syllable with a sonorous thunder. The faces of the four men went pale as Death as they trembled even more.