Chapter 526 - 261: Envoy from the Northern Kingdom

Chapter 526: Chapter 261: Envoy from the Northern Kingdom

In the blink of an eye, golden September arrived.

A bleak autumn wind swept up withered yellow leaves, sending them spinning through the air. Lazy sunlight filtered through a thin veil of clouds, and the veins of the leaves reflected a brilliant golden light.

In the Red King Mansion, the lotuses in the pond had bloomed for a season. Now, the flowers had withered, and the leaves listlessly turned yellow. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

In the rear garden, Qing Shisan, a kerchief wrapped around his head, hummed a little tune with a pipe clenched between his teeth. He occasionally puffed out a smoke ring as he used a shower-head nozzle to water the brilliant yellow chrysanthemums, enjoying the simple bliss of a life in retirement.

The Disaster Prevention Bureau was now running smoothly. When Ye Weiyang had been paralyzed some time ago, a backlog of strange cases had piled up. Thanks to the Dawn Department working overtime all across the land, a large portion of them had finally been cleared.

「In the study.」

Zheng Xiu sighed, massaging his aching back as he reviewed the case files that had accumulated over the past few months since the Disaster Prevention Bureau began its operations.

Normally, these matters weren’t his responsibility. Lord Jiang Gaoyi, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice and secretary of the Disaster Prevention Bureau, always managed the bureau’s internal affairs with impeccable order. But ever since the incident in Lu Town, the omnipresent Zhu had left Zheng Xiu with a nagging sense of unease. He was trying to find any trace of Zhu’s involvement within these closed case files.

「That night in Lu Town.」

Zheng Xiu had managed to explain it away afterward.

After much thought, Zheng Xiu had confessed to Feng Bei that night: the four women had become Mystics—Orchid Mystics. After becoming Mystics, their Path had hit a bottleneck. Zheng Xiu had spent the entire night cultivating with them and had finally helped them break through it.

At the time, Feng Bei’s faint, unreadable smile made Zheng Xiu wonder if she had sensed there was more to the story, but she never asked any further questions.

The Lu Town incident had resulted in severe damage, and hundreds of local residents claimed to have seen monsters that night. The matter couldn’t be covered up. So, not long after his return from Lu Town, the Red King was summoned to the inner palace by a Holy Decree. The Great Emperor and the Red King spoke late into the night by candlelight.

The Great Emperor initially expressed his displeasure with the casualties in Lu Town. But when Zheng Xiu said he would cover all expenses for the town’s reconstruction, a happy smile spread across the Great Emperor’s face.

And why wouldn’t he be? It was a massive financial expenditure, and Zheng Xiu’s willingness to shoulder the burden voluntarily couldn’t have been better.

"It is always your Zheng Clan, resolving disasters and easing difficulties for my Daqian."

The Great Emperor remarked with a strange note of sentiment before they parted.

And with that, although the Lu Town affair left many questions unanswered, the matter was considered closed.

Not long after it was brought back, the Five Passes Divine Statue, which had been hidden in Yin Qingqing’s Time Demon Space, grew increasingly dry. The cracks on its surface lengthened until, one night, it shattered into countless fragments, becoming completely useless.

Afterward, when Zheng Xiu had a calm moment, he carefully pieced together the events of the case. Combining what he knew with the Orange Cat’s words, he found the implications terrifying.

First, there was the Wutong God.

The Five Passes Divine Statue did indeed possess a strange power. It acted as a "Medicinal Guide," causing ninety-nine young women to conceive. However, these fetuses were Lonely Yin Embryos, destined never to survive.

The resentment built up by these unborn fetuses served as a seed. From this ’resentment’ came ’desire,’ giving birth to the Nascent Soul.

From ’resentment’ came ’desire.’ The combined resentment of ninety-nine Lonely Yin Embryos gave birth to the Nascent Soul—the world’s most potent Spirit Medicine. And the one who made this equation balance was Zhu, through his machinations and a Ceremony that nearly summoned Darkness Creatures.

’What on earth is he trying to do?’

Zheng Xiu frowned, deep in thought. ’Could it be just as the cat said? That because he has crossed the Bund so many times, his physical body is decaying? Does he urgently need the wondrous medicine of the Nascent Soul to rejuvenate his flesh?’

Zheng Xiu suddenly froze. ’Wait a minute. In other words, Zhu isn’t truly achieving Immortality. He’s using various Miracle Techniques to sustain his life... and has lived for a thousand years?’

’He’s using other people’s lives... to extend his own!’

’If he’s hiding in the Bund, he’ll be even harder to find. I can’t just go running into the Bund to look for him for no reason. Besides, with so many Mystics in the world, how would I even know where he’s hiding?’

Since the Lu Town incident, Zheng Xiu had spent a month practicing repeatedly, and had finally mastered the technique of opening a Passage to the Bund.

Not only could he walk through the Bund as an Incarnation, but once he opened the Passage, anyone could enter.

The question was whether they could make it out alive.

The two most critical elements for maintaining the Passage were:

"Entrance" and "Exit."

He himself was the entrance. Without an "exit," he could only enter the [Prisoner]’s Bund. But if he used a Post Station as the "exit," he could open a Passage through the Bund that connected to the station.

It sounded like it worked on a similar principle to [Divine Travel], but having made the journey a few times, Zheng Xiu knew that while they appeared similar, they were fundamentally different.

’Strange, how am I becoming more and more like the Zhu of the past?’

Zheng Xiu’s thoughts wandered. Losing interest in the files, he closed the dossier in front of him and bowed his head in contemplation.

In the silence, a pair of fair, skillful hands began to gently knead Zheng Xiu’s shoulders.

Zheng Xiu didn’t need to turn around; he knew the person standing behind him was Feng Bei.

"You’re here?"

Zheng Xiu turned to look. Feng Bei’s long hair partially veiled her face as she smiled softly at him. He gently patted the back of her hand, a signal for her to stop, then rose and brushed her hair aside to gaze at her familiar face.

Feng Bei’s eyelashes trembled slightly as she closed her eyes.

Zheng Xiu leaned in.

Feng Bei subtly puckered her lips.

After a moment, Zheng Xiu pinched Feng Bei’s cheek in surprise. "Of course you have. You’re already healed."

When Feng Bei had returned from Lu Town, her body had been covered in burns. Now, her skin was as smooth as jade, completely recovered. ’Feels nice, too,’ he thought.

Feng Bei’s eyes snapped open, stunned by his words. A moment later, she turned her head away and huffed. "What’s it to you?"