novelHidden Currents Surged
| ← Ch.025 | Ch.027 → |
Di Qing peered at the black-clothed man on the soft couch, weighing inwardly what the man had said to him."Wolf King, don't think I am a push-over. Let's wait and see how I will fix you later."
Xu Linghe was heading to the Emperor's Bedchamber— Palace of Green Longevity, which was located in the east of the Imperial City, serving as the Bedchamber for Qi Kingdom's Emperor. Xu Linghe flew over the wall and entered the palace. It looked gruesome in the darkness. Xu Linghe wiggled his spiritual fingers, and then several palace servants fell down correspondingly.
Being invisible in the Bedchamber, Xu Linghe looked around with great caution. The Emperor who was supposed to sleep in the Bedchamer disappeared now. So Xu Linghe got out of the Bedchamer and flitted to the imperial garden.
The spacious garden was rather silent without imperial guards' protection. Flying above the locus pond, Xu Linghe conjured a print with his hands and struck his Spirit Power sword to the surface of the water. Immediately, the water was split in half.
The water in the pond decreased gradually. When the pond bottom was uncovered, Xu Linghe caught sight of the iron bridge leading to the bottom. The iron bridge was weaved by black iron chains that intertwined with one another tightly.
The bridge looked steady in appearance but was hard to go through. Each black iron had certain mechanism. Any wrong step would result in the bridge to collapse suddenly, thus the person on the bridge would fall off to the bottom where sharp pricks were waiting to pierce the heart.
Xu Linghe leaped onto the bridge and walked to the bottom step by step, his fingers keeping making brands on the chains. If anything went wrong, he could not bear the pain of prick penetration as well. But when he walked no more than several steps, a gust of evil wind rose from the bottom.
Xu Linghe made himself invisible under the bridge and could only hear the constant noise on the bridge. Peeping through the black iron chain, Xu Linghe saw the Emperor hurry his way to the bottom and his fingers brush the mechanism to enter the secret passage on the bottom. Xu Linghe kept invisible and followed the Emperor to the depth of the hidden passage.
With each step, a devil would appear in the hidden passage and open the mechanism for the Emperor. Hiding in the darkness, Xu Linghe made spirit prints for each mechanism carefully for the sake that he could remember them more clearly.
Along the way, what surprised Xu Linghe was that there was not a human being in such underground palace, but all were demons and devils."Is the whole Imperial Palace being encroached by the devils?"
Xu Linghe felt uneasy at the thought, so he sped up to fly into the depth of the underground palace. But the Emperor stopped at the turning corner. Xu Linghe absorbed himself onto the top of the hidden passage. Then, a black iron door opened, and a boat-shape iron cage rose. The Emperor jumped into the iron cage.
Xu Linghe turned into a small insect and adhered to the cage. Below the iron cage was a bottomless abyss, where surging magma pounded on the rocks with flames splashing up over hundreds of feet high, and burning heatwave blew on the face. Some Sacred Beasts with long tails wielded their fire wings above the magma.
The Emperor flicked his fingers, and then the waving Beasts floated around the black iron cage. Immediately, a light smoke rose from the cage. The glow forced Xu Linghe to set up a spiritual defensive cover to separate himself from these beasts. Astoundingly, the Emperor dared to pet them while those fairies sucking magma's Spirit Power hovered above the Emperor's head. When the beasts' bodied turn blood red, the Emperor stretched his sucker-like fingers into the beasts body and took out Inner Elixer.
Watching the Emperor take in the Inner Elixer, Xu Linghe was stunned with cold sweats. The Emperor before him was obviously a hell messenger. Xu Linghe stood on the high black iron cage, the iron chains beneath his feet creaking. Spirit beasts whose Inner Elixer had been taken away by the Emperor disappeared in the flame. Xu Linghe was pretty sure that the Emperor was not a human but a monster now.
"Was the Emperor's mind controlled by Wolf King?" The black iron cage moved slowly to the opposite side. When it passed over the magmas, it slowed down gradually. The moment Xu Linghe thought it had arrived at the underground palace, the cage plummeted abruptly.
The hall was brightly lit. When the black iron cage stopped, Xu Linghe flew onto the palisades and observed the Emperor. Little demons were fazed by the sight of their Master, and the leading demon even upset the spirit pool, thick fluid spilled out all over the ground.
A bloody smell from afar drilled into his nose. Xu Linghe leaped to a higher place to take a clear look. The leading demon was kicked by the Emperor several meters away."Is there something that the Emperor wants in the Blood Pool? What are hidden in the Spirit Pool?"
Xu Linghe changed into a moth and darted to the Spirit Pool. Xu Linghe was astonished at what he saw. The Emperor in the Spirit Pool looked as if he had been sleeping, his grey hair blackened and his wrinkles smoothened under the nourishment of the Blood Pool.
Besides the Emperor, Di Qing, King of Jiangdu, was also fostered in the blood. Xu Linghe would have suspected his eyes if it had not been for himself to witness everything with his own eyes.
Who was the real Emperor of the Qi Kingdom? If Wolf King pretended to be the Emperor, where was the Emperor now? Apparently, the person in the Spirit Pool was just a puppet. Xu Linghe flew out of the depth of the underground palace. And then, what he saw shocked him a lot.
Tens of Spirit Pools were set in the whole underground palace, and all the ministers, including You Hu, shilang of the Ministry of War, were placed in the pools.
Looking along the pools, Xu Linghe found among all the Level One ministers, only his father, prime minister, was not there."Is this my father's scheme? To seize greater power by substituting the fake for the genuine?" Xu Linghe got more suspicious and began believing that it was done by his father. With his father's wisdom and ideas, it was eminently possible for his father to gain double benefit at the expense of some small sacrifices.
When Xu Linghe thought his father could not get away with it, he spotted a Sprite Pool in the corner. In the faint light, he could see his father's face. Watching this face similar to his father, Xu Linghe knew that it was just a monster fostered in the blood. And his father was possibly the player of this chess.
Apart from in the Spirit Pools, a number of souls were raised in the underground palace. The little demons suspending in the air were all on the wing. When screams and roars rang from the spirit pools, those raised souls were gathered to feed the monsters in the pools.
A dim footstep came from the distance. Xu Linghe hid in the corner to watch what was going on. The Emperor turned up finally, followed by Han Qianyi. Obviously, it was not wise to sneeze at Uncle Han. Only in a short month, he could find a new backer. Businessman was a businessman. What he pursued was to maximize his interest, even though he used to be close to Xu Linghe's father like brothers. At the thought, Xu Linghe's mouth curled at the corner. It seemed that Xu Linghe's father had bet on the wrong horse.
The Emperor put some fresh blood into the crystal pool, and Han Qianyi took out a trail of black hair from the perfume satchel and put it into the pool carefully. The Emperor used a silver needle to prick Han Qianyi's finger. Then several drops of blood flowed down Han's finger into the pool.
The Emperor closed his eyes and began casting spells. His fingers twirled, and the blood in the spirit pool boiled accordingly. Han Qianyi became extremely nervous at the sight, since in the light he knitted his eyebrows tightly with sweat all over. Xu Linghe could not distinguish between the true and wrong when seeing the Emperor conjuring. The blood in the Spirit Pool was steaming.
When a part of fair and soft skin emerged from the bloody water, Han Qianyi burst into tears with excitement. It flashed upon Xu Linghe that it was Uncle Han's dead wife named Hou Qing who could make Uncle Han so devoted. But Uncle Han was bound to suffer the wrath of heaven if he did it. Uncle Han had to regain his wife at the expense of his another beloved one. Had Uncle Han prepared for the consequence? The face of the beautiful Madam was finally sighted from the water, her silk-like inky hair trailing over her back. Only her naked back figure could reveal her unparalleled elegance and gorgeousness. Xu Linghe did not bother to take a look, and he could tell the woman's look was exactly the same as his pretty girl's.
Han Qianyi wanted to lift his wife into his arms. But the moment she left the Blood Pool, her skin in his hands began burning. The Emperor opened his eyes, took a look at Han Qianyi and shook his head, thinking that Han Qianyi was too impatient. The woman who had just been reborn was so fragile that she could merely live in the spirit pool. If she wanted to become normal, she had to be kept in the Samsara mirror. Otherwise, she was just a walking corpse without soul and controlled by others through her life.
Seeing the woman in the spirit pool, the Emperor would prefer to control Han Qianyi. After all, the chips that the Emperor had was only the living dead (Hou Qing) in the Blood Pool. However, Han Qianyi's wealth could afford the Emperor to make some wars.
To Xu Linghe's surprise, the Emperor was able to cast such old spell. However, the Emperor only knew the part of it. To resurrect Han Qianyi's wife, it was a must to find out the place where Madam Han's souls were stored. Common people just knew the Wind City, but had no idea that out of the three realms, there was a place named Ruo You that could deposit souls. If it had not been for seeking for Jiang Wuyou's souls and Mentor's directions, Xu Linghe would have never known that there was a storage for souls out of the three realms. Not until he went to Ruo You did he realize that Jiang Wuyou had been reborn. But out of his expectation, after the rebirth, Jiang Wuyou had become the Commander in Chief of the armed forces in the Fairy Kingdom.
So Xu Linghe hoped that Madam Hou Qing could come back to life so that he could know more about the mystery of Jiang Wuyou. He knew that she was a fox in the Teal Hill and adopted by Uncle Jiefei. But she never mentioned who her father was. Perhaps it was her hidden scar. Xu Linghe only wished she would be happier. No matter the Little Fox on the jade bed, or the all-powerful Little Fox in the Fairy Kingdom, Xu Linghe loved both, hoping she would enjoy parents' love as common girls did. For her, Xu Linghe would try every means to resurrect Madam Hou Qing.
Han Qianyi beside the Blood Pool wanted to fondle his wife, but drew back his hand when stretching out to the pool, because of the fear that his rudeness would hurt his wife. He did nothing but gazed at her. The Emperor sealed up the spirit pool. Han Qianyi was shocked, and then calmed himself down.
"Yes! This is a trade. The Emperor has not received any benefit. Why does he meet my requirement?" But Han Qianyi felt happy and satisfied the moment he could see Hou Qing again. Even though the Emperor would take his life, he had no regret, as long as his wife could live to live well. Han Qianyi was also fully aware that it was his weakness, but he did not care about it at all. What he cared was that Hou Qing could take off the mask and live her life for real.
Xu Linghe jumped down at the sight that the Emperor and Han Qianyi had disappeared. The spirit pool had been sealed up with the defensive cover. Xu Linghe shook his spiritual fingers, then the defensive cover was scattered and became a bit unusual. Xu Linghe took the Samsara mirror from the Heaven and Earth Pouch and flung it into the Blood Pool.
Blood faded away gradually. When Madam Han's face was exposed, the Samsara mirror shot dazzling light. Madam Han's physical body was retracted by Xu Linghe's Samsara mirror.
Madam Han was fostered in the Samsara mirror which could lock souls. Only by searching out Madam Han's souls, could she be reincarnated in the real sense.
At that time, Han Qianyi would be tied down with some worry. Otherwise, there would be another holocaust in the human's world. Because no matter in his father's eyes or the Emperor's, common people's lives were as cheap and humble as nonentities. Xu Linghe would not allow it to occur in the future.
Xu Linghe trailed the spiritual prints to go out of the underground palace. It was daybreak outside. Looking back, Xu Linghe did not see a trace of the imperial garden at all, but a mass grave. But for the Samsara mirror in his hands, he would have believed that he had been in the dream.
| ← Ch. 025 | Ch. 027 → |