268 Recount of Rumors (2/2)
”Then comes the 'Savage Beast Association,' this one is not large either, but it still holds a lot of power, and it is the only association that only accepts Primordial Beasts.
”Finally is the Snow Lotus Association. This association is rather weird. It does not try to participate in any of the different power struggles, so it is also neutral towards all the people joining. The only thing they advocate is complete loyalty towards the academy.
”The earthly and mortal associations do not matter, all of them are beneath our notice. Only the heavenly associations are of interest to us, and all core students are expected to join one of the heavenly associations.
”Now onto the capital; there are three major families: the Gu family, the Baili family, and the Yuan family.
”These three major families are known as the protectors of the continent. The Prime Minister comes from the Gu family while the Baili and the Yuan families each contain one of the Heavenly Generals of the continent.
”Whenever troubles arise, these generals will deal with all the physical problems with their immense power, while the prime minister will orchestrate the logistics and organization of it from behind. They are known as protectors because they do a great deal to protect the continent.
”Their descendants are all officials in court, and although they seem to be the best of friends on the outside, they are not as friendly as they might seem. Only when a foreign enemy appears will they actually work together.
”In the palace, there are seven factions, but there are three that are more important and stronger, as they are each supported by a major family.
”These seven factions each are controlled by one five-eyed expert. The King is not supported by any of the three major families, but she is the most talented of all the five-eyed experts, and thus she became the King. However, the three families are putting pressure on her to abdicate.”
”It seems that the continent is not as calm as they make it seem,” Xue Wei said contemplating. ”But all of this has nothing to do with us. We will not join any of the powers, all we will do is solve this mystery and then leave for the Demon Phoenix Continent.”
”You don't think that they might go back on their words if the King gets replaced?” Hei Gou was worried about this, but Xue Wei just shook his head.
”I have realized one thing from what you've said. There are many factions and powers within the capital and the royal court, but there is one power which none of them can afford to offend.”
”Who?” Lin Xiao was confused, but when he saw the snicker on Xue Wei's face, he understood. ”Right,” he nodded his head, ”none of them can afford to offend the Garden of Shadows.
”As long as we assist the Garden of Shadows, then we will have our ticket to the Demon Phoenix Continent.”
”What if they renege on their promise?” Hei Gou could not help but ask, causing Xue Wei to sigh.
”Currently we have no option other than to hope for them to keep their promise.” Xue Wei continued, ”if they really do not keep it, then we will just have to sneak on board the ship, and if even that is impossible, then we'll have no choice but to leave on our own and hope to reach some other continent eventually.”
”I really hope that they keep their word,” Hei Gou sighed. It was not that he wished to be a pessimist, but he had a hard time trusting people after experiencing the constant threat they had lived under back in Chang'an.
Xue Wei sighed and nodded his head, ”I hope so too; I have a feeling that it will work out. Still, to be allowed on board the ship that goes to the Demon Phoenix Continent, we need to make sure that we have solved this stupid mystery.
”What else have you found other than the factions?” Xue Wei asked with another sigh. Lin Xiao and Hei Gou told him everything they had heard, including the ten missing people a day, and the legend of the expert.
Xue Wei listened to all of it with interest; he even listened to the gossip about who was dating who with interest, about the information of the teachers, and the locations of the different buildings.
When they finished sharing everything they had learned over the past month, Xue Wei was quiet for a long time as he muddled over all the information.
He closed his eyes and tried to coalesce the turbulent thoughts that were now swirling within his mind. When he opened the eyes again, it felt like a ray of light shone within and a smile spread across his face.
”We should actually consider visiting this forbidden area,” Xue Wei said with a snicker on his lips, ”There has to be some sort of clue in the forbidden area, and even if there is no clue, then I still want to visit it just because it is forbidden.”
”How are we going to go about doing so?” Lin Xiao asked with a frown which just caused Xue Wei to smile.
”First we will ask the headmaster to allow us to go,” he responded. ”But the likelihood of him allowing us to go is very small, so we will sneak in one night when the rest of the academy is asleep.”
”I have walked past the forbidden area and there are no guards,” Lin Xiao said casually, ”I knew you were likely to be curious about it so I went past it a few times to take a look, but I never saw anything special about it.”
”I see,” Xue Wei pondered for some time for continuing, ”by the way, why are so many people gathered outside? What have you done to them to make them so interested in you?”
”We baited them with treasure,” Lin Xiao said softly, as if he was sharing a secret. ”First we offered pills, then we offered formations, and now we're offering some other pills. They were eager to get their hands on it, so now everyone is ready to jump at us whenever we walk outside.”
”Serves you right,” Bai Tianyi laughed, clearly taking joy in their self-made misfortune.