Chapter 425: Opening the Hidden Version

"Can you handle it?"

"Yes." Fu Shanyue immediately drew out some of the ominous energy from her body and then placed her inside Fu Shanji's carriage.

Inside the carriage was a long box, or rather, a coffin, equipped with a magic array. With a slight adjustment, it could essentially isolate the girl from the outside world.

Seeing that his master had changed, the lowly slave eagerly served tea and water, attending to Fu Shanyue and Taozi very diligently.

He Lingchuan saw him eating in a corner, away from the firelight—it looked like a bowl of gruel. Everyone else was sitting, but he could only squat or kneel.

"Hey," he called out to the man and tossed him an apple.

The slave didn't bite into the apple immediately. He first glanced at the Chiyan man's expression, and only after seeing the latter's indifferent disregard did he bow three times to He Lingchuan. Then he took the apple, retreated into the shadows, and began gnawing on it.

The sound was much like a mouse.

A Chiyan man saw this and chuckled to He Lingchuan, "Don't pity his appearance. This fellow personally killed his wife and one daughter back home."

After the caravan had settled down, the moon was already setting in the west. Everyone seized the opportunity to rest, as tomorrow's journey was still long. Of course, sentries were still posted this time.

He Lingchuan also decided not to sleep, closing his eyes to regulate his breathing.

He didn't know how much time had passed when there was a soft *clang*, a low hum from his precious saber's sheath. Then, a nearby sentry let out a soft exclamation of surprise. He Lingchuan quickly opened his eyes.

The illusion had appeared again!

The moonlight was as abundant now as it had been an hour ago. Under He Lingchuan's gaze, the ancient city from over two hundred years ago reappeared.

But unlike last time, it was silent and still.

Shadows flickered on the city gate, and soldiers with long spears walked back and forth, observing the surroundings, but they didn't need to fight bravely. Below the city gate, it was quiet, with no vast army of Lingxu covering the mountains.

There was no smoke, no crying, no barrage of spears and arrows, and no towering flames.

Thousand Stars City, like the people of today, was peacefully bathed in the moonlight.

What was going on?

From the opposite carriage, the curtain was lifted, and Fu Shanyue stealthily jumped down, quietly asking He Lingchuan, "Hey, want to go take another look?"

With so much happening tonight, he couldn't just fall asleep soundly. His newly subjugated subordinates had originally served Fu Shanji. Who knew if any loyal and devoted individuals might take it into their heads to assassinate him?

"Let's go." He Lingchuan agreed readily. Anyway, the eyeball spider assigned to monitor the camp hadn't been retrieved yet, so he might as well let it continue its service.

At this moment, Second Boss Shi also heard the sentry's voice, rubbed his eyes, and sat up. He looked outside, wide-eyed: "W-what's going on? Why is the illusion different from before?"

"You haven't seen this scene before?"

Second Boss Shi rubbed the back of his head: "I heard the illusion only had one scene, the one with all the fighting. But this… this quiet Thousand Stars City, I don't think I've ever heard anyone mention it."

Had a new scene been unlocked? He Lingchuan grew even more excited.

However, Second Boss Shi was extremely tired and unwilling to explore further, only wanting to lie down and sleep soundly.

So, the two still energetic men greeted the camp sentries and lightly and agilely walked deeper into the illusion.

The city in the illusion was exceptionally quiet, as if it were deep night. Only two or three stray cats could be seen on the deserted roads. He Lingchuan even heard the chirping of crickets, unsure if it was from the illusion or reality.

It was hard to distinguish between true and false.

Ever since acquiring the fragment of the Precious Tree King's branch, the Soul-Absorbing Mirror had been in seclusion. After hundreds of years without food or drink, it had suddenly received the Emperor's Nectar and the Juluo tree branch within half a month, all highly nourishing. It felt a bit overstuffed and needed to digest. Otherwise, He Lingchuan wouldn't know how many exclamations he would have heard from it tonight.

This city was too vast and quiet. In which direction should they explore?

Fu Shanyue thought for a moment: "The creation of such natural illusions depends on the occasional alignment of time and place. There might not be any significant cause and effect; perhaps this is just a very ordinary day in Thousand Stars City."

He pointed to the damp ground: "Look, it just rained in the city too, and there's a bright moon in the sky, which perfectly matches the weather we encountered tonight."

He Lingchuan, however, let out a sound of surprise: "The moonlight is so strong, why are the stars in the east also shining?"

Usually, a bright moon means few stars. Tonight's moonlight illuminated the land, making the mortal world seem like daytime, and all the stars in the sky dimmed. Except for one bright star in the east, which sparkled with purple light. It didn't compete with the moonlight, yet the moonlight couldn't hide its presence.

He Lingchuan hadn't studied astrology, but this star was indeed unusually bright.

Hearing his prompt, Fu Shanyue also looked up: "Why is the Tianluo Star shining?"

"This is called Tianluo Star?"

"You don't know?" Fu Shanyue expressed surprise at his ignorance. "The Tianluo Star is the tenth star of the Big Dipper. It's usually dim and hard to see with the naked eye, only brightening on rare occasions."

"Rare occasions?"

"I think it's usually after autumn each year, continuing until early spring the following year." Fu Shanyue looked up at the star. "It's not even August yet, so why is it shining? And, was it shining earlier tonight?"

He Lingchuan shrugged: "I don't recall." He had so many other things to look at; why would he bother observing celestial phenomena?

Like this right in front of him—"Huh?"

He Lingchuan quickly approached a high wall and reached out to touch the pattern on it. This pattern was too familiar. He had seen it countless times on the south gate wall of Panlong City in his dreams—it was a Black Flood Dragon!

Although behind the south gate of Panlong City there was a colossal sculpture, here it was merely a pattern, like a magic array, and even the dragon's head was drawn in a somewhat chibi style. Yet, He Lingchuan was certain it was the Black Flood Dragon!

The sudden appearance of this pattern shocked He Lingchuan more than the illusion itself, because it implied a connection between Thousand Stars City and Panlong City.

These two cities, one in Beijia and one in Xiluo, separated by tens of thousands of miles, why did they both have the Black Flood Dragon totem?

Typically, on such prominent main roads and official walls, guardian spirit beasts of the nation were carved or painted. For example, Xiluo's guardian spirit beast was the Golden Ox, which was originally placed at Panlong City's south gate, only later changed to the Black Flood Dragon by Zhong Shengguang's order.

But the problem was, Xiluo's Golden Ox was a real entity, tangible and visible, guarding the capital in peacetime and released to fight enemies during war. But what about the Black Flood Dragon?

He Lingchuan had entered and exited the Panlong dream realm so many times, yet he had never seen the Black Flood Dragon itself appear? The Black Flood Dragon in the ruin illusion didn't count; that was Zhong Shengguang's residual soul using its image.

He Lingchuan had even asked many people, including Hu Min and Xiao Maoliang, but no one had ever personally seen the Black Flood Dragon. If that was the case, why did Panlong City erect a statue for it? Even more absurdly, Thousand Stars City, tens of thousands of miles away, did the same!

As one of the original twelve great demon nations, Yuan State wouldn't establish guardian spirit beasts like human nations did. Here, demons ran rampant, and powerful ones became high officials. Who would care to be some spirit beast? It would be a self-demotion! Even with "guardian" in front of the title, it wouldn't suffice.

Therefore, Thousand Stars City depicting the Black Flood Dragon on its walls was, in itself, a strange act.

He Lingchuan turned to look at Fu Shanyue, who also had a bewildered expression. Clearly, this guy's knowledge of Yuan State two hundred years ago wasn't much more extensive than He Lingchuan's.

The two continued their search and, sure enough, found the Black Flood Dragon pattern outside an official residence. This time, it was a brick carving, with the dragon's head protruding outwards and the workmanship extremely detailed.

Beneath the brick carving, a brick was placed, and on top of it sat an incense burner with two burnt-out incense sticks inside. The common people were also worshipping it.

During their previous entry into the Thousand Stars City illusion, there was nothing but scorched earth and raging fires everywhere. Who would have noticed patterns on the walls? Or perhaps they had long been destroyed by war. This time, he finally saw it clearly.

Fu Shanyue also stared intently at it, muttering, "Where have I seen this?"

"You've seen it?" He Lingchuan immediately pressed, "Where?"

"I saw it in my father's study when I was a child, probably in a few books?" Fu Shanyue let out a soft *hiss*. "It was a long time ago; I can't remember clearly."

"Hmph. So unreliable."

"Anyway, it was... no, it was in secret archives."

"Oh?" He Lingchuan's interest was piqued. "How old were you then?"

"Seven, eight?"

"How did you know that's what it was?" So precocious.

"My father's study had two rooms, an outer and an inner one. The outer room is not important, but the inner room contained things that were not meant to be shown, including books, scrolls, letters, and various miscellaneous objects," Fu Shanyue recalled. "I remember a palace servant cleaning the imperial study who accidentally knocked down two books. When picking them up, they carelessly flipped through a couple of pages, and then their head was cut off."

It wasn't surprising that the Chiyan King, being knowledgeable and long-lived, would have secrets in his study.

He Lingchuan looked at the dragon head in front of him: "It's taboo in your father's kingdom, yet here it's seen everywhere in the streets? King Yuan's stance is truly resolute, leaving himself no way out."

Another mystery was added.

"Just ahead is the Imperial City." He straightened up, looking at the tall palace walls and the pointed roofs of buildings nearby, muttering, "As it turns out, we're still heading towards the Imperial City."

He couldn't explain why, but it felt as if he were being guided by some unseen force.

"Since we're already here, let's take a look."

The two walked several dozen more paces. Just as they were about to enter the palace gate guarded by soldiers, a carriage turned the corner from the street, its lanterns emitting a faint yellow glow in the night.

The carriage was modest, but the horses were excellent.

The carriage drove up to the dismounting stone outside the palace gate and stopped. A robed scholar, about twenty years old, with a refined appearance and a mole between his eyebrows, alighted. He wasn't wearing official attire, but the guards recognized him: "By the King's order, Lord Shao is to proceed to the corner tower of the West Second Gate." After a pause, they added, "You are specially permitted to go by carriage."

Seeing only this one carriage in the middle of the night, He Lingchuan and his companion naturally decided to follow it.

The carriage didn't dare to move fast inside the palace. It drove west along the base of the wall, stopping after about fifteen minutes. This was the top corner of the Imperial City. By moonlight, He Lingchuan and his companion saw that a corner tower indeed stood atop the city wall, and it was a three-story structure.

Lord Shao alighted here and ascended the wall, going up the steps. He Lingchuan, meanwhile, looked around and noticed a tree about forty feet tall on the inner side of the high wall.