Chapter 415 - 220: Human Pillar and Sacrifice

Chapter 415: Chapter 220: Human Pillar and Sacrifice

Xi’er glanced at Feng Bei.

In fact, she was more shocked than anyone. She didn’t know the inside story, much less that Feng Bei’s relationship with Master Zheng had reached such a point. But she had personally witnessed Ye Weiyang’s hunt for Feng Bei. The fact that Feng Bei was now sitting safe and sound in the Zheng residence—that simple fact of "she’s okay"—was enough to send Xi’er’s mind racing, spawning countless speculations about the recent strangeness within Ye Weiyang.

"Right, you know about that incident too." Zheng Xiu tapped his head, silently cursing his own forgetfulness. A century of torment inside the painting had blurred many of his memories of the outside world. He only just then remembered that Yue Yan had also been present when Feng Bei was dragged into the Cannibal Painting. Thinking of this, Zheng Xiu explained with a smile, "Feng Bei is no longer Upper Three, as you well know. Now, Ye Weiyang and our Zheng Family are enemies."

His tone paused slightly before he added, "A life-or-death enmity."

With that one sentence, Zheng Xiu defined the relationship between the two sides, leaving no room for maneuver.

Feng Bei looked softly at the man she loved.

Zheng Xiu’s words instantly made Qing Shisan, Ji Hong’ou, and Pei Gaoya sit up straight.

Ji Hong’ou took a deep breath. "This... this is huge."

Qing Shisan gave a wry smile. "Master, you really know how to keep a secret."

Pei Gaoya rubbed his head. "And here I was, worried I had nothing to do lately."

Xi’er quickly pulled out the Ye Weiyang token from her waist, looking a little dumbfounded. "No wonder my Little Fatty," she was referring to the "black cat" issued by Ye Weiyang, "refused to come in no matter what when I arrived. It must have sensed the Master’s killing intent! So... should I go back or not?"

"MEOW!"

The orange cat nudged even more enthusiastically.

"Stop that."

Feng Bei didn’t dare pet the little orange cat, afraid she might accidentally pet it to death. She let out a habitual, soft rebuke, and the orange cat immediately quieted down.

Once her shock passed, Xi’er unreservedly poured out everything she had seen and heard recently.

The undercover agent had completely returned to her original side.

Everyone listened in silence.

When she finished, Zheng Xiu lowered his head in thought. "You’re saying that ever since that incident, the Night Lord hasn’t issued a single command? And then, after all the Ravens died, the Night Lord lost contact?"

"So Ye Weiyang is now just a shell of its former self, no longer handling supernatural cases?"

"And now, supernatural cases are happening frequently all over, but no one is dealing with them?"

"Even the Great Emperor can’t find the Night Lord?"

Zheng Xiu was no less surprised than Yue Yan.

He had thought that killing the Crow Fosterer would only blind the Night Lord, and nothing more. But he hadn’t expected that the Ravens were not only Zhu’s eyes, but also the medium through which Zhu issued commands.

’Now that the Crow Fosterer is dead and his eyes have been taken, has Zhu, who was always hiding behind the scenes, completely gone into hiding without a medium to communicate with Ye Weiyang?’

’What on earth is he planning?’

Zheng Xiu fell deep into thought.

The three giants of the Brotherhood, the four maids, the Monk, and Feng Bei were all completely baffled upon hearing this.

When Zheng Xiu had declared a fight to the death with Ye Weiyang, they had all thought war was imminent. Feng Bei, too, wanted to drag Zhu out from behind the curtain and settle the grudges from twenty, or even two hundred, years ago. But now, hearing that Zhu had completely hidden himself and Ye Weiyang’s operational structure had collapsed, their budding excitement felt like punching a fist into a wad of cotton—an incredibly frustrating feeling.

’Could it be...’

He had previously speculated that Zhu didn’t dare approach the Imperial City because there was a place deep beneath the Imperial Palace that was incredibly close to the Darkness—the very place where Gongsun Mo had created the Cannibal Painting a century ago. As the saying goes, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. The strangeness surrounding Ye Weiyang led Zheng Xiu to a grim conclusion.

"Old Yan, I have two things to trouble you with."

Zheng Xiu quickly laid out his arrangements. "First, forge a batch of swords for me. I’ll draw up the design for you later. Don’t look at me like that, I’m not planning a rebellion. The swords don’t need to be sharpened. If anyone from above asks, I will explain it myself."

"Second, please trouble yourself to dig some tunnels, Old Yan, to connect the entire city. But you must avoid the area near the Imperial Palace. As for the routes, I will also give them to you later."

Yan Jiji quickly agreed, his demeanor one of someone feeling both honored and overwhelmed.

Zheng Xiu closed his eyes and thought for a moment. "Also, arrange a time for me. I want to meet with Ximen Bei."

Zizi and the others took out paper and pen to take notes.

This was their job.

"Xi’er, you continue to monitor Ye Weiyang’s movements. If the Night Lord finds a new way to issue orders, notify me immediately."

Xi’er agreed with a pained expression.

’Great, I still have to go back to being an undercover agent.’

Whether it was the situation with the Royal Family or Ye Weiyang’s silence, everything was trending towards peace, as if all was going according to Zheng Xiu’s will. He wanted to stir up trouble but couldn’t; he wanted to fight but had no opponent. But it was precisely this strange "smoothness" that made Zheng Xiu feel increasingly uneasy.

Zhu had lived in the world for over a thousand years under various identities. Zheng Xiu didn’t believe that killing the Crow Fosterer would be enough to make Zhu abandon his grand plan of a "Centennial Grand Sacrifice." He preferred to believe that Zhu had another plan.

In fact, before he had interfered in the Baili Village incident, there was no Ye Weiyang and there were no Ravens in the world; everything was hidden in the shadows. The "great world change" caused by Zheng Xiu’s interference had merely brought these submerged, cryptic secrets to the surface for all to see.

"No, that’s not right." Zheng Xiu, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, suddenly snapped them open and glanced at Feng Bei.

’Two hundred years ago in Richan Valley, it was three Mystics becoming Human Pillars at the same time,’ he thought. ’But twenty years ago in the Ghostly Realm, that wasn’t necessarily the case. Was the Treasure King a Mystic? Was Wei Chen a Mystic? Feng Bei’s father, too? And on top of that, Feng Bei herself?’

’The numbers don’t seem to add up.’

’Feng Bei’s father wasn’t a Mystic!’ Zheng Xiu mentally compared Richan Valley from two hundred years ago with Baili Village from twenty years ago. ’If I think about it from the perspective of a "Ceremony"... and then consider the murals left behind in Richan Valley...’

Zheng Xiu had a realization. ’That’s it! Besides the Mystics, there also have to be "sacrifices"! Arturo was the sacrifice two hundred years ago! And Feng Bei’s father was the sacrifice twenty years ago!’

’Is it possible that the three Human Pillars used to suppress the Darkness don’t have to be created in the same place? That as long as it happens around the same time, but in different locations, it could still have the same effect?’

’Could it be that Zhu is planning to continue his arrangements elsewhere?’

Many thoughts surfaced in Zheng Xiu’s mind.

All of them were questions no one could answer.

The thousand-year-old Zhu was like a massive, elusive shadow looming over Zheng Xiu’s heart, filling him with unease.

After arranging a few more minor details, and thinking it over and over, Zheng Xiu decided to sneak into the Imperial Palace that night to investigate.

He wanted to find out what was left in that massive secret chamber beneath the Imperial Palace after the real Gongsun Mo had finished the Cannibal Painting.