Chapter 1067: Shang Song's Traveling Palace Discovered

Behind her stood the sacred hall of the ice palace beneath a mantle of snow.

Bai Wuya emerged from the ice palace and came to her side. He said respectfully, "Mother, the wedding banquet is over. All the guests have taken their leave. No one stayed behind, and everyone was properly seen off."

Granny Xue gave a quiet acknowledgment. "It hasn't been this lively in a long time."

Then she fell silent again.

Standing slightly behind her to one side, Bai Wuya seemed to have something he wanted to say, yet found difficult to voice.

Noticing that he had remained beside her without leaving, Granny Xue asked first, "Is there something?"

Bai Wuya finally ventured, "Mother, do you truly think Luo'er marrying Chuan Ying is appropriate?"

Granny Xue chuckled. "Are you still brooding because I didn't let Luo'er marry your disciple? Wuya, I don't like seeing you brothers and sisters form cliques among yourselves. Human desire is a frightening thing. I, a demon, learned that long ago. People get something and then want more. I don't want to hurt you. I raised every one of you myself. I'm doing this for your own good. Do you understand?"

Bai Wuya hurriedly said, "Mother, that isn't what I mean. I simply feel... I keep feeling there's something wrong with Chuan Ying."

Granny Xue asked, "Then have you found anything wrong with him?"

Bai Wuya said, "Luo'er fell in love at first sight with a man she happened to meet by chance. Isn't that a little too coincidental? Doesn't Mother find it suspicious?"

Granny Xue said, "Anything abnormal may conceal a problem."

Bai Wuya was puzzled. "So Mother understands that better than anyone. Then why did you still agree to let Luo'er marry Chuan Ying?"

Granny Xue replied, "Then tell me what I was supposed to do. That girl Luo'er was threatening life and death and insisting on marrying him. Her belly is already swollen. Was I supposed to kill her?"

"At the very least, we could have found some way to stop her."

"Before the truth is clear, neither you nor I have evidence capable of convincing her. If I forcibly stopped her, that girl would hate me for the rest of her life. Her hating me would be secondary. What if she's trapped by love, loses all reason, and truly gives me one corpse with two lives? What would the rest of you think then? Would you think I was too heartless as her mother? Would you think that, sure enough, demons truly are without feeling?"

"Mother, you're thinking too much. We'd only be stopping her for her own good. If there truly is a problem, by the time we regret it, it'll already be too late. Besides, almost everyone above and below is opposed to this marriage."

Leaning on her staff, Granny Xue slowly turned and looked at him. "Since we can't convince her, let the facts convince her. I've lived this long and understood only one truth: time explains everything. Since we can't find a problem... Chuan Ying alone can't stir up any great waves, nor would Chuan Ying alone dare act recklessly. If there truly is a problem, that means someone behind him has been planning everything with great care, which is precisely why we haven't been able to uncover it. Whoever is planning this must have a purpose, mustn't they?"

She raised a hand and brushed the snowflakes from Bai Wuya's shoulder. "Since we can't uncover it, let him continue performing. If we don't let him keep performing, how will we learn what he wants? Only if he continues will he eventually show his fox tail. If we don't seize that fox tail, how can we learn the truth? Do you understand now?"

Bai Wuya suddenly understood and nodded. Then he pondered before saying, "But if it turns out there really is a problem, I'm afraid Luo'er will find it difficult to accept."

"Ah!" Granny Xue sighed softly.

Leaning on her staff, she shuffled past him and slowly made her way back toward the ice palace. With her back to him, her aged, weathered voice drifted behind her.

"I tried to persuade her. She's already fallen into the web of love. I can't persuade her anymore! I only hope we've thought too much. Otherwise, the road was one she chose herself, and whatever it tastes like, she'll have to taste it herself. How good all of you were when you were children. How obedient. At the very least, when I told you not to do something, there was nothing you could do about it. You had no choice and could only obey."

"Then you grew up. One after another, you developed your own thoughts, your own opinions, your own methods. Can any of you still be persuaded? Nothing I say is useful. None of you will listen. In the end, this old demon hag becomes the villain instead. All I can do is offer advice. As for what road you take, you choose for yourselves."

Bai Wuya watched her stooped back disappear into the depths of the ice palace and remained silent.

...

A Gray-Feather Eagle swept low over the ground. Two men jumped from its back, and the rider immediately guided it away into the vast depths of the night sky.

Qin Guan and Ke Dingjie, left behind on the ground, looked at each other in speechless resignation.

They had been abandoned again.

They had only just left the frozen region, and Elder Niu had already dumped them for a second time on this trip.

They had grown accustomed to it, but being abandoned twice in succession still left them rather at a loss. Elder Niu seemed almost supernatural to them. Sacred Realm was enormous, yet he was forever running east and west alone, mysteriously busy with one thing after another. What exactly was he doing? What could he possibly be arranging? Wasn't it exhausting?

In truth, Niu Youdao did not want to keep running all over the place either. He had to exhaust his mind planning everything, then personally rush around to put those plans into motion. It took a tremendous toll on both mind and body, but he had no choice.

He did not have enough trustworthy manpower available. Under the present circumstances, some errands could only be handled personally. Matters like these could not be entrusted to anyone he did not trust absolutely. The risk was too great. A mistake would harm both others and himself.

And there were certain things only he could accomplish by appearing personally. Sending someone else would be useless.

Qin Guan watched the black speck vanish into the star-filled night and sighed. "What exactly is Elder doing?"

Ke Dingjie sighed as well. "I can see it now. Those three reports he sent just after arriving in Wentian City were meant to make it convenient for Elder himself to move around."

"It was more than merely making travel convenient. Those three reports came one after another in a staged progression. He'd clearly planned the escalation in advance. At the time he said there was a reason for sending them one after another, and I didn't quite understand. Now that enough time has passed, I'm gradually beginning to see it. Forget the first two reports themselves. Without those first two, there would've been no way for him to ask the Sacred Venerable for the freedom to travel everywhere."

"The seven factions started making trouble, and Misty Pavilion stopped concentrating all its attention on us. Elder then made full use of the freedom he'd obtained. Think about what happened in the Desolate Marsh Deadlands too. There was far too much strange about it, and in the end Ao Feng even appeared to testify for Elder. This Elder of ours from Zijin Cave truly plans deeply and looks far ahead. He's no ordinary man. Even if the two of us whipped our horses, we couldn't catch up to him. We can't even make out a hint of what he's really trying to do. No wonder Shang Chaozong was able to rise so quickly with his support. What I'm worried about now is..."

Seeing him trail off, Ke Dingjie asked, "Worried about what?"

Qin Guan lowered his voice. "He must be hiding something from us now. Think about it. He didn't even avoid involving us when he killed Misty Pavilion personnel, yet now he deliberately keeps us away. That can only mean whatever he's planning now is even more serious than killing someone from Misty Pavilion. I only pray he doesn't create some enormous disaster we can't bear."

Ke Dingjie's expression twitched. "After hearing you say that, why do I suddenly feel my heart pounding?"

Qin Guan looked around. "Let's go. Elder refuses to reveal anything, so there's no use worrying ourselves sick. We'll do as he said and find somewhere hidden to lie low."

After a brief discussion, the two found a concealed place nearby where they could hide and where Niu Youdao would be able to locate them later.

...

"Who goes there?" Xiang Ming, Chief Steward of Star-Plucking City, suddenly shouted.

The party from Ice and Snow Sacred Land was escorting Sha Huanli back to Star-Plucking City when a dark shape suddenly came slanting through the sky toward them. Xiang Ming's shout served as both challenge and warning, putting everyone under him on alert.

The people aboard all three large flying mounts instantly became vigilant.

As the dark shape drew closer and its rider's face became visible, they discovered it was Niu Youdao.

Niu Youdao hurriedly altered his mount's direction to avoid a direct collision and shifted into a parallel flight path. He exclaimed in surprise, "Chief Steward Xiang... City Lord Sha? Why is it you?"

Sha Huanli was surprised as well. She had never expected to encounter Niu Youdao on the journey.

She herself had no particular thoughts about it, but Xiang Ming remained highly vigilant. He demanded, "Why did you charge into us?"

Niu Youdao hurriedly waved his hands. "A misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. I was simply heading in that direction. I truly didn't expect to run into you."

Xiang Ming said sharply, "Why are you wandering around Sacred Realm by yourself?"

"Chief Steward Xiang misunderstands. I'm not wandering around. I really do have business."

"Business? The direction you're heading isn't Wentian City."

"I'm not returning to Wentian City. I'm going to the Desolate Marsh Deadlands. Chief Steward Xiang, look again. That's exactly the direction of the Desolate Marsh Deadlands." He gestured toward the direction he had been flying before he crossed their path.

Xiang Ming considered the direction and Sacred Realm's geography and found that it did indeed seem to lead toward the Desolate Marsh Deadlands. He immediately asked, "Why would you suddenly go there?"

"I serve at the Demon Fox Bureau, and the Demon Fox Bureau is responsible for the Desolate Marsh Deadlands. I was originally returning to Wentian City, but the Bureau's people conducting the routine sweep in the Deadlands suddenly sent me word that they had discovered a great treasure there. I changed course the moment I received the message and was going to see it for myself. I truly didn't expect to encounter the City Lord and all of you."

"A great treasure?" The Star-Plucking City party exchanged looks. Even Sha Huanli's bright eyes flickered with curiosity. Whatever Misty Pavilion personnel were willing to call a great treasure could hardly be ordinary.

After a moment of surprise, Xiang Ming could not help asking, "A great treasure? What kind of great treasure could there be in a place occupied by a pack of Demon Foxes?"

Niu Youdao answered cleanly, "Shang Song's Traveling Palace! During the Demon Fox Bureau's hunt, they discovered a traveling palace left inside Sacred Realm by Shang Song, founding emperor of the State of Wu. The discovery has already been reported urgently. I imagine every side will receive the news before long."

"Shang Song's Traveling Palace?" The people of Star-Plucking City were all shocked, and someone even cried out aloud.

Niu Youdao nodded. "Exactly. According to the Demon Fox Bureau's message, Shang Song's Traveling Palace is wondrously magnificent, like a dream-born immortal realm. I was in a hurry to go broaden my horizons. That's why this misunderstanding happened and I crossed your path. It absolutely wasn't intentional. I hope the City Lord will forgive me."

A dreamlike immortal realm of fantastic splendor?

Sha Huanli's eyes flickered again.

It was not only her. The rest of the Star-Plucking City party seemed tempted as well.

Sha Huanli rarely entered Sacred Realm. If she missed this chance to see the place, who knew what year or month she would come again, much less when she might ever have another opportunity to see it.

Xiang Ming, still astonished, said, "There's actually a traveling palace left by Shang Song inside Sacred Realm? Why has no one ever heard of such a thing before?"

Niu Youdao caught Sha Huanli's reaction and answered with a wry smile. "Chief Steward Xiang, you're making things difficult for me with that question. How would I know? But I doubt Misty Pavilion would dare make a false report about something like this. Who could bear the responsibility?"

With that, he made a tentative gesture indicating that, if they were willing to forgive the accidental intrusion, he would take his leave first.

Sha Huanli suddenly leaned close to Xiang Ming, who stood beside her as her personal protector, and whispered something into his ear.

[End of Chapter 1067]