Chapter 34

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

She was eighteen years old, after being married and losing her husband, she could finally get a little freedom and come here to look for him… Yecheng gathers half of the sharks in Yunhuang and is a place that Yuan often talked about, it is said that he came to the Red King’s Mansion from Yecheng in the old days. So, there was a good chance that he might return here after he left, right? She had travelled thousands of miles from the Western Wasteland to this place, if she was lucky, she might get the chance to bump into him.

Before setting out, she had made a silent wish in front of the altar of the gods. But she got this far into the journey, there was still no trace of him.

“Nanny, starting tomorrow, I’m going to go around Yecheng,” Zhu Yan lifted her hand and gently stroked the pendant she wore close to her body, a faint sadness enveloping her cheerful brows, “I’m going to look for a certain person… If I also fail to find him in Yecheng, then there’s really nothing I can do any more, than resign to fate.”

As Grandma Sheng watched her from a side, she too could not help but sigh. Yes, she knew what was in this child’s mind.

Three years ago, when she saw such a sorrowful look on the noble girl’s face, she knew that the young princess she had brought up with her own hands was no longer a child, that she had something on her mind and could no longer be as carefree as she had been in her childhood.

However, Princess… do you know what kind of a person that shark, really is? You are still young, growing up in a small world, you have not seen yet the world for what it really is. So, you still don’t understand whether the person you like is an imaginary vision or a real person, right?

The Governor’s Residence in Yecheng.

At lunchtime, the quiet courtyard was empty except for the chirping of spring birds, the breeze floating the scent of flowers under the veranda, and a small snow-white bird standing on a high golden silk shelf with its head hanging down, dozing.

“The restoration soldiers who were captured the day before yesterday have been tortured in prison,” Bai Fenglin said in a low voice as he sealed the tea cup in his hand and spoke to the man sitting in front of him, “all the punishments have been used, but not a single confession has been made – alas, those restoration soldiers are not even flesh and blood.”

The opposite side of the room was empty, except for a tight beaded curtain hanging low to the ground. Behind the curtain, a shadow was sitting in silence.

“That’s rather stoic.” The man behind the curtain said indifferently.

Bai Fenglin sighed and said, “Those sharks, I guess they died once when they had their bodies broken and their legs split, and have suffered what ordinary people could never endure, so they are not afraid of death at all, are they? After a day and a night of torture, they were already crippled and their tongues were all gnawed off, but they didn’t say a word.”

“Even if their tongues are broken, they will still not be allowed not to confess.” The man behind the curtain smiled faintly, “Bring the shark in the lead to me later, and I will naturally have a way to make him talk.”

“Yes.” Bai Fenglin knew what the other person was capable of, “Arrangements will be made immediately.”

“Who is the leader of the Restoration Army?” The man behind the curtain whispered, one word at a time, “This man must be found at all costs!”

“…” Bai Fenglin had rarely heard such intensity in the other person’s unperturbed tone, and could not help but gasp involuntarily as he laughed, “Brother Ying is a Great Master from outside this world, how is it that you are also so interested in the Restoration Army? It’s my luck – they’ve been making a lot of ruckus lately, and it’s been unsettling for Yecheng.”

“It’s not only about Yecheng,” the man behind the curtain whispered, his voice icy cold, “The fire that started in the wilderness will go up in flames in the future if it’s not extinguished early!”

“The entire Yunhuang?” Bai Fenglin paused in shock, greatly disbelieving but unable to refute the other man’s opinion, he could only laugh, “The Restoration Army has been established for so many years, and those sharks have not been able to make any gimmicks even after tossing them back and forth. Brother Ying is overly worried, right?”

The person behind the curtain simply said faintly, “The man of the world is short-sighted.”

“…” At the sudden mockery, Bai Fenglin’s long, narrow eyes flashed with a cold light, but he suppressed his anger and said with a smile, “You are right. I am just a commoner in the mundane world, how can my knowledge be compared to that of the Great Priest?”

“That’ s good to know.” The man behind the curtain actually nodded along without saying a single polite word.

Bai Fenglin always knew that this person had a cold and arrogant personality, solitary and did not know how to socialize at all. The hand holding the folding fan tightened slightly, and it was only with great difficulty that he could hold back his anger and said with a smile, “Two days ago, I brought over the roster of all the shark slaves in Yecheng as instructed – I wonder how many of them Brother Ying has seen? If there is anything I can do for you, just ask.”

“I’ve already finished reading it,” the person behind the curtain said lightly, raising slightly his finger. An invisible force instantly rolled up the curtain, and a large pile of brief scrolls floated out like a small mountain, stopping neatly in front of the Governor of Yecheng, “You can take it back!”

With the curtain rolled up, the slanting sun of a spring afternoon shone on a distinguished, cold face.

Dressed in a magnificent white robe, the Great Priest of Jiuyi Mountain was sitting behind the heavy curtain, his eyebrows as handsome as a carved sculpture, and his gaze as cold and solemn as a stone.

On a draped golden shelf was resting a heavenly snow-white bird with four crimson eyes and an umbrella at its side – the branch of the rose on the umbrella was in a sinuous bloom, echoing the rose family crest on the coat of the governor of Yecheng across the room.

That, is the emblem of the White Clan.

His own father, the current White King, and Shi Ying’s mother, the deceased Empress Bai Yan, were siblings from the same mother. In other words, the two of them were actually sharing a quarter of the same blood and are first degree cousins – but why is it that every time he sees this Great Priest of Jiuyi Mountain, he feels that the other one is out of reach?

He knew that this amazing cousin was supposed to be the Crown Prince of Kongsang, the Emperor of Yunhuang. But because of his mother, he was not liked by the Bei Mian Emperor and was expelled from the capital of the Jialan Empire shortly after birth and sent to the temple to become a Divine Priest.

And the Imperial son, Shi Yu, who was born of the Green Concubine, took his place.

“The firstborn child born from the Queen of the White Clan, was actually deposed and expelled? Despicable… despicable!” At one point, the White King was drunk and murmured the words in his heart to his son, “Feng Lin, you need to be closer to your cousin… you know? He, he is the rightful emperor! That little brat from the Green Clan is nothing! Sooner or later, we’ll…”

He respectfully accepted the order, “Yes, Father.”

Yes. Even if he was not appointed Crown Prince, he was now a Great Divine Priest of the Jiuyi Temple and would inevitably inherit the position of Grand Master in the future, becoming a figure above all others in Kongsang – a cousin whom he could not afford to disregard.

Therefore, when this man, who was supposed to be at the Jiuyi Temple, suddenly came to Yecheng in secret and made a series of strange requests, he listened to all of them without questioning him for a moment. What’s more, the Great Priest even offered to help him deal with the Restoration Army that was making a fierce commotion in the city, which was even more to his liking.

“The information you gave me is complete, covering the roster of all the shark slaves bought and sold in Yecheng over the last three hundred years.” Shi Ying said lightly, “It’s a pity that I’ve read it twice from the top to bottom, but I’ve had no luck – there are 273,691 shark slaves on the register, and none of them is the one I’m looking for.”

“…” Bai Fenglin didn’t expect him to finish reading this massive amount of information in just two days, and couldn’t help but gasped in awe – such amazing reading ability and memory, well beyond that of a normal person, did he also obtain it by practicing the magic cultivation?

He stared for a moment and couldn’t help but ask, “Are you sure that the shark you’re looking for is in Yecheng right now?”

“Yes.” Shi Ying replied faintly, in a single word.

When he was saying yes, no one would dare to question it.

Bai Fenglin frowned as he looked at the mountain of information and said, “It’s impossible… Yecheng wouldn’t dare to have anyone breeding shark slaves privately! Have you seen the roster of sharks over at the Dragon Slayers? There are still some ownerless sharks there that have just been caught from the sea, not broken and not being auctioned yet.”

“I have seen it.” Shi Ying said coldly, “None of them either.”

Bai Fenglin frowned, “What was that shark’s name?”

“I don’t know.” Shi Ying’s tone was calm and soft, “Not knowing either the name or the gender, let alone the age or exact location.”

Bai Fenglin was shocked – how could he possibly search for him? He didn’t even know his gender or age!

“But what I do know is this: He had initially stayed in Yecheng, then went to the Western Wasteland, and was most recently seen in Susa Haru.” Shi Ying said faintly, “And now, he should have returned to Yecheng – the place where he was born.”

“…” Bai Fenglin couldn’t help but ask, “Where did you learned all this?”

“Stargazing. Unlike the tiny, mere mortal beings, the ones who can influence an era, their destiny is written in the stars.” Shi Ying gazed at the piles of volumes of information, and for the first time, respect crept into his tone, “When I perceived that wave of returning evil rising from the Blue Sea, I chased after him with all my might for three whole years. Unfortunately, every time I missed him…”

Is he who cannot be traced even by the Great Priest a phantom?

Bai Fenglin looked at the volumes and slowly understood: “You read all the information and found that all the sharks on here don’t fit the trajectory you mentioned above?”

“Yes.” Shi Ying faintly said, “He is not on this list.”

“And where could he possibly be? The lists of all the sharks in Yecheng is all up here!” Bai Fenglin pondered hard, and suddenly slapped his folding fan and exclaimed, “Could it be… that he is, after all, in the Restoration Army?!”

Yes, as things stand now, if the person is in Yecheng but not on the slave roster, then he must be only between the sharks in the Restoration Army!

Shi Ying nodded, “That’s the most likely possibility.”

“No wonder you’re helping me clear out the Restoration Army! You were tracking down that certain person?” Bai Fenglin suddenly realized, “Alright, I will immediately go and instruct my men to hand over all those Restoration Army captives to you for handling.”

“As soon as possible.” With a slight movement of his fingers, the curtain that had been rolled up, dropped with a “swish”, hiding his face again in the shadows.

That meant that the conversation was over and he was ready to go.

The Governor of Yecheng also stood up courteously and waited for his retirement. However, after walking a few steps, as if remembering something, he suddenly turned back and smiled, “By the way, a few days ago outside Yecheng, I met Zhu Yan, the Princess of the Red Clan – it turns out that she has followed the Red King here.”

“Oh?” Shi Ying said nonchalantly, “Is that so?”

Loved my translation? Buy me a coffee! Scan on Click the image.

Thank you for your generosity!💖

NOTE: This translation belongs to me. It is prohibited to copy / Re-translate / Re-distribute my translations without my prior permission. Thank you.

Like this:Like Loading...

Related