275 Forbidden Area (1/2)
”Well, putting aside my dream of becoming a pirate, it seems that the lot of you have a very interesting plan to enter the forbidden area of the Garden of Shadows?” The King smirked as she spoke, her eyes glistening with excitement as she leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed over her chest.
Xue Wei frowned when he heard her question. He had not expected that she was eavesdropping on their previous conversation; however with her current attitude, it did not seem like she had any intention of stopping them.
”That is right,” Xue Wei admitted with a nod of his head. ”We went to the ninth floor of the Soul Tower today and saw some rather unsettling things.” He continued, ”these things gave us an idea of what might be hidden within the forbidden area, and we would like to enter it to make sure whether or not we are correct.”
”Ah, you saw the creepy blood marks and scratches.” The King nodded her head as she heard Xue Wei's words. ”As a matter of fact, I have been to the ninth floor once too and saw the walls being filled with bloody scratches while I was there, it was definitely a gruesome sight.”
”I too had an idea that perhaps the daily ten missing people had something to do with the Soul Tower, but every time I tried to investigate it, I was stopped. I had also wanted to enter the forbidden area, but they were quite alert around me, and I never got the chance to enter before the old King died and I was forced to drop out of the academy and take over his job.”
Xue Wei pondered on her words for a moment, and then he made a decision. ”Do you want to come with us?” he asked as he looked at the King with a hesitant expression on his face.
Truth was that he was not trusting a lot of people here at Yan Dalu. As the King had said, it was hard to determine who was actually interested in fixing this mystery that was shrouding the continent, and who was involved in it.
But when he looked at the King, he had a sense of kinship. It felt as if the King was just like him—curious about what was going on. She seemed to be the same kind of person as him too; a kind of person who dreamt of one thing but was forced to become something she did not wish for because of outer influences.
Xue Wei did not feel any kind of romantic attachment towards her, but he innately felt as if they were friends who had known each other for many years already.
The King was surprised when she heard the offer Xue Wei came out with, and her eyes shone with happiness and excitement.
She looked behind her at the darkness outside the house, contemplating the pros and cons of the offer.
”I have a few hours before they notice that I left the palace,” the King muttered to herself. ”A few hours should be enough to deal with the forbidden area! Let us go!”
Having agreed, the group of five were already prepared so they started moving out from the courtyard, and towards the forbidden area immediately.
Although the academy was rather bustling at all hours of the day, the space around the forbidden area was usually empty as there was nothing here nor was it on the path towards much else.
A few people would come here out of curiosity every now and then, or couples would walk past while being intimate, but when they arrived, no one appeared to be there.
Looking around, Xue Wei noticed that the forbidden area was behind a large wall. There was also a massive closed gate blocking their entrance.
There were no guards around the walls nor the gate—which appeared to be quite securely locked too. Surveying the obstruction, Xue Wei considered that since everyone within the academy were cultivators of primarily Spiritual Energy, their physical strength would be quite limited, so they simply would not have the power to jump above the wall usually, thus making an effective deterrent.
Things were different for the group of friends, however. All of them, excluding Bai Tianyi and the King, were cultivating Qi, making it a simple feat for them to jump to the top of the walls and drop down on the other side.
Hei Gou had the highest rank and strength among them, so he quickly grasped the King around her waist. ”Pardon me,” he said casually before his legs crouched and moments after, a great force was propelling them both upwards, soaring through the air before landing surprisingly gracefully on the top of the wall.
Seeing Hei Gou taking action, the others did not waste time either. Lin Xiao grasped Bai Tianyi's collar and jumped to the top of the wall, closely followed by Xue Wei.
As they landed on the top of the wall, they quickly glanced around themselves, only to notice the silence and tranquility was the same as it usually was. No one seemed to have noticed anything, so they quickly jumped down on the opposite side of the wall before anyone had a chance to see them so exposed.
There were no formations to protect the Forbidden Area; neither were there guards or traps. Everything seemed far too easy.
As they quietly landed on the ground, Xue Wei once more looked around, surveying the courtyard. He sniffed the air to see whether or not he could smell any blood or the scent of death, but the only scent that wafted into his nose was the scent of peach blossoms.
The entire side of the road they had landed on had a breathtaking row of peach trees, all of them blossoming, their beautiful petals elegantly fluttering to the floor, looking very much like snow descending from the skies above.
The scenery was beautiful, with the silver moonlight lighting up the road in front of them, and the slightly cold rays of light shining against the petals carpeting the ground.
Many petals had been left on the ground, all of them seemingly untouched by humanity. There were no signs of any kind of human activity within the forbidden area, even the houses that were hidden behind the peach trees seemed as if they had been left to their own devices for many many years already, most of them even appeared to be crumbling to ruins.
Looking around, Xue Wei frowned. He had his spiritual energy spread wide to try and keep an eye on every movement around him, but it was as if an invisible power was blocking his own.