Chapter 285 - The Fog World (1/2)

Jin Qichen turned a hair, shifting from terror into anger and slammed his fist into Na San’s face. Only what bothered me was, Na San was allowing himself to be beaten; the poor servant even tilted his face so that his master could get a better angle. But I could not stomach such abuse. So I got up, raised a foot, and shoved it at Jin Qichen’s waist, causing him to lose balance and fall.

Edelweiss looked equally perturbed herself. She drew nearer to Jin Qichen and was about to reciprocate the abuse he had inflicted on Na San, but Na San loped forward and wrapped his arms around her ankles, begging between chokes and sobs, “Please, My Lady! Mercy, please! His Highness has endured a terrible ordeal! Please, no more!” “All right, all right. Let go. It’s unsightly for you to be hugging my wife’s legs,” I muttered smilingly with a hand on his shoulder to calm him and Na San quickly released his hold.

I bent down and stared at Jin Qichen, whose eyes were filled with fright as he looked at us, “So, what’s wrong with you? Have you gone off the rails because of the shock?”

Prior to coming here, I had already wondered if Jin Qichen was being held here after he was taken, although I hardly expected him to make such an entrance. Between the Real and the Fog World, it was clear he had been kept here in the Real World but he had suffered a terrible shock. Something must have terrified him so greatly to cause him such psychological injury. And since we had encountered nothing, I could only surmise that the Fog World abounded with horrors that the Real World was devoid of and that could be the reason why Big Sister’s and the others’ climb to the top had to be a gritting struggle. This could also mean that Jin Qichen was held in the Fog World for some time before he came here.

Then I asked, “You said just now that you’ve been here for a night?” Jin Qichen bobbed his head furiously. “Then where were you before that?” I asked again, “Here too? You’ve been missing for a week.” The pretender prince shook his head in a bewildered manner, clearly oblivious of the facts. “I don’t know,” he sputtered, “It was nighttime when they brought me here. And it has been until you appear! So it’s a night, but a really long one!” And he succumbed to more tears.

Na San busied himself with consoling his lord and prince while I got up and discussed with Edelweiss, “So, there’re still things here that we’ve yet to understand. As far as Jin Qichen is concerned, he’s been here for barely one night. And it could be, otherwise he would have died after lasting for a week without food.” “But it has really been a week.” Edelweiss pointed out skeptically. I shook my head. That was all I could respond with until I make out everything.

But there was no point dwelling on that question. At least not now. I asked Jin Qichen again, “So what have these people done to you after you were taken?” Jin Qichen’s head sank, refusing to answer.

I crouched and looked deeply into his eye and I hissed, “You either tell me now, or you can stay here for as long as I like it!” That seemed to do the trick, Jin Qichen jerked and flinched and he grunted before he wailed, “All right, all right! I’ll speak! They know about me supplying information to you that they deemed it as a breach of our agreement and they sentenced me to die here! I’ve not seen them anymore since they threw me here! I’ve seen you, and Na San, and my parents too! But all of you wanted to kill me!”

“Ah, so it’s hallucinations?” I uttered under my breath, rubbing my chin. Edelweiss looked at me, nodding her head imperceptibly in agreement. “Help your prince to get up,” I instructed Na San, saying, “It’s time we rejoin Lin Feng and the others.” Na San nodded, lifted Jin Qichen to his feet, and put his arm over his shoulder and they began limping towards the elevator.

Behind them, I uttered hesitantly, “Urm… Na San. Actually, there’s no need for you to come with us now. You’ve found your prince. So you can keep yourself out of more trouble now.” I felt that Na San needed to risk his safety any more with us and I believed that he should be given the right to choose for himself.

Unexpectedly, Na San looked back, his misshapen face grinning at us. “I’d do nothing of the kind, Young Lordling. We Shamans owed greatly to the Wudaxians. The Wudaxians did not abandon us even after the fall of the Qing Dynasty and its emperors, continuing to shower us with their grace until now. And as the Young Lordling of one of the Wudaxian species, you are our benefactor and anyone of us owe you our implacable loyalty and steadfastness! I might only be useless and hardly consequential, even so, I only hope to be of service!”

The sudden outburst of gratitude left me stunned and speechless. It took me seconds before I could break into a gladden smile as I nodded. It seemed that I had underestimated Na San after all.