Chapter 90: Bloom of the Other Shore Flower

[Volume 2 - Bloom of the Other Shore Flower]

Wei Potian knew that this reasoning could not hold its ground at all. No matter what Qianye did, it could not change the fact that he had transformed into a vampire. The Empire's response to dark races was always to kill first, talk later. A faction's standpoint was everything, and this stance was the result of thousands of years of bloodshed.

The Empire allowed for no dark races to live in its territory. This was dying wish of both the founder and the Heavenly Emperor, and it was the oath every emperor would make during their accession ceremony.

It was at this point that Wei potian thought of something even more grave. Qianye belonged to the Red Scorpions, so his scope of authority was extremely great. If someone like him submitted himself to the Evernight faction, then the amount of damage it could cause was extremely massive. Because of this, the Empire would spare no costs to hunt him down from the second they learned that Qianye was alive, regardless of whether he truly had joined the dark races or not. Perhaps the people who would be sent after him would come from the Red Scorpions themselves!

In the end, Wei Potian raised his head and firmly met Bai Longjia's eyes! However, when he was just about to speak up, Bai Longjia raised his hand and stopped him from speaking.

Bai Longjia flicked his finger, making the drops of blood on his fingertip scatter into the dark night. The killing intent surrounding his body dissipated completely, and he said, "Wasn't that Lin Qianye killed in action? The Empire's officers would not commit an error, so you must've been mistaken tonight."

Wei Potian almost couldn't believe his own ears!

For a moment, he was torn between feeling shocked and joyous. Leaping to his feet, he wasn't sure what to say and only laughed dumbly before repeating, "It must be my eyes, it must be my eyes!"

Bai Longjia shook his head and said helplessly, "How did a hero like Marquis Wei raise a son like you? Sigh!"

Wei Potian simply continued to laugh dumbly. Unwilling to give up, he then continued to survey his surroundings.

Bai Longjia smiled thinly and said, "Relax, he's still alive."

Wei Potian scratched his head and hummed in acknowledgement. Judging from the veiled meaning behind Bai Longjia's words, he could tell that Qianye's life was not in danger for now. However, he suddenly thought of something and his face darkened, "Marshal Lin..."

When he said the two words, he sounded a little like he was gnashing his teeth.

Bai Longjia lifted an eyebrow. He knew that after Wei Potian had become the champion of the big military rookie competition, and officially became the noble son of the Far East Wei Family's Marquis Bowang, he had used his family's authority to investigate Lin Qianye's background. Seeing Wei Potian's current reaction, could it be that he had heard some rumors? Although the Wei Family appeared to be living in seclusion in recent years and hadn't produced another Marshal, their influence within the army could not be underestimated. To think that they had been able to uncover some clues even about a matter that was concealed like this one.

That being said, the Bai Family and Lin Xitang had never gotten along in the first place and did not even find it worthwhile to go through the effort of keeping appearances. Bai Longjia did not wish to see the neutral Wei Family become inclined to the other faction, so it definitely saved him some breath now that the son of the Wei Family, Wei Potian, had this reaction to today's encounter.

Thus, he responded indifferently and said, "No matter what stories you hear, they will all be rumors until you have the authority to prove them."

"Authority?" Wei Potian was startled for a bit as he repeated the word Bai Longjia emphasized.

"Authority. Just like how your death quota allowed you to kill those junior officers, I am not denied the freedom of executing their superiors or even their whole camp. This... is authority." Bai Longjia's tone was normal, just like how he used to teach Wei Potian martial arts.

Wei Potian stood there blankly for a moment before he hurriedly chased after Bai Longjia. The duo walked far along the street.

From deep in the twilight that hadn't yet lost its thin veil of mist, Wei Potian's voice rang, "General Bai! In my opinion, there is no one more beautiful than you in all of the Broken Winged Angels! Not even a woman!"

A loud bang could be heard. Bai Longjia seemed to have run into something.

The man abruptly spoke in an angry voice. "Wei Potian, you ignorant, incompetent fool! When you get back, you better learn how to flatter someone properly!"

Wei Potian seemed to be surprised by his reaction as he foolishly answered, "Don't they say that the best flattery comes from the heart? I really do think so, you know! If you would look at that certain someone, he looked just like a woman! I haven't been able to stand that guy since long ago..."

The certain someone he mentioned was Bai Longjia's arch enemy within the Broken Winged Angel.

After hearing Wei Potian's words, Bai Longjia wasn't able to come up with a retort for a long time. In the end he simply said, "Goddamn it!"

No one knew who exactly he was swearing at.

That being said, he had unwittingly accepted Wei Potian's flattery.

When they approached the expeditionary army's camp, Wei Potian withdrew his flippant attitude and took on a murderous appearance. He asked, "Should we teach these expeditionary army pieces of trash a lesson, General?"

Bai Longjia looked at the connected camps in the distance that were shrouded in twilight., He nonchalantly said, "We can't actually blame them, really. The order to cooperate that they received did not state our identities, and there was a rumor that an important character of the Evernight faction was going to enter Darkblood City tonight. The expeditionary army was obviously frightened by the news."

"Important character?"

"A member of the Evernight Council."

Wei Potian immediately sucked in a cold breath! The Evernight Council was the dark world's highest governing body. Every council member was a terrifying existence that could shake the world with their power and affect a faction's state of affairs with their activities alone. Why would such an important character come to such a remote, desolate place like Darkblood City?

Seemingly guessing Wei Potian's questions, Bai Longjia immediately answered, "The reason for his appearance isn't something you should know about. Knowing too much won't benefit you in any way."

Since this was the case, Wei Potian could kind of understand why the expeditionary army had acted the way they had. If a member of the Evernight Council really did show up, then holing up in their camps was a good decision. An important character in the dark world, one second only to Monarchs, would not attack human civilians without reason.

This council member had to have a reason for coming here and would naturally leave after their business was finished. However, if the expeditionary army provoked them, they probably wouldn't mind slaughtering several tens of thousands of people along the way.

However, understanding the reasoning behind the expeditionary army's actions was one thing. Forgiving their cowardly conduct, on the other hand, was not something Wei Potian could do. Surprisingly enough, Bai Longjia did not seem surprised or angry, which starkly contrasted his usual over-the-top style.

Unable to keep his thoughts to himself, Wei Potian immediately asked why they were so cowardly.

Bai Longjia calmly said, "You and I are soldiers, but the people in the expeditionary army are not. To them, this is only a job. For a job, they can tolerate earning less money and putting in more effort, but sacrificing their lives is not something they would be willing to do even if it were asked of them."

Wei Potian could not understand this, but he didn't ask any other questions and simply memorized Bai Longjia's words by heart. However, despite his slow wit, he finally remembered the gravity of the situation and nearly jumped where he stood. "Does that mean this council member is arriving tonight? What should we do?"

Bai Longjia looked at Wei Potian with a slight smile on his face and said, "Now you remember? Relax. No matter what happens, you will not be in line to fight an Evernight council member for your life."

Somewhat embarrassed, Wei Potian replied, "There wouldn't be any point point even if I wanted to!"

Bai Longjia looked up at the deep, dark sky and said, "Do not worry. Naturally, someone will 'welcome' that council member."

Wei Potian noticed Bai Longjia's unusual expression. He couldn't help but try to guess what kind of person could make the general wear such a rapt expression. That being said, someone with the qualifications to face off against an Evernight council member had to be powerful enough to shake the world.

Yet no matter how much Wei Potian wracked his brain about this, he never would have guessed that this person was a delicate young girl that looked as though she couldn't even withstand an nightly breeze.

She stood just outside Darkblood City, prepared to welcome the member of the Evernight Council. She wore a long dress, her flowing hair dancing in the wind.

Under the night sky, she looked so pure that even her skin seemed to glow with gentle light. At the same time, she was also so delicate and thin that even the slightest breeze could make her furrow her brow a bit.

She had a unique temperament, a quality that belonged to no one but her.

In this cold, rough, dreary world, this girl resembled a Dutchman's pipe, a flower that bloomed quietly in the night. However, this blooming appearance made her all the more hair-raising, as if she could pass away any moment.

Where she stood, the world was black and white. She was the only bit of white left in a now black world. Only her lips retained their color in this world, a thin vermillion that seemed to be formed from all of the world's sadness. Every movement of her lips tugged at the softest spot in one's heart, triggering heartache.

She was a girl that could not be forgotten.

She was the girl that had shown up at Qianye's Red Spider Lily bar.

At this moment, an old man dressed in black floated in the sky opposite her. He had a chiseled face, and the corners of his mouth sagged heavily. He also had a pair of gray eyes resembled two great doors that led to hell, seemingly capable of drawing a person's soul into them at any moment.

He stared closely at the young girl, and wherever his gaze went, a bubble of light that surrounded the young girl would constantly ripple.

The old man finally seemed a bit astonished as he spoke up, his voice resembling the sound of jade stones scraping against one another.

"You are...?"

"Zhao Ruoxi." The girl's voice had a dreamy, unreal quality to it.

Everything about her existence seemed liable to shatter at the slightest touch, like a fragile bubble.

The corner of the old man's eyes sagged even further as he slowly said, "I am Ge Shitu. If you dared to wait for me here, then you should know who I am. Let me pass. Once I have confirmed some news, I will leave immediately."

"I'm sorry, but this is as far as you go," Zhao Ruxi said.

All of a sudden, the old man's black robes billowed out behind him, all the wind of the wasteland abruptly gathered from every direction as if it had gained a mind of its own. High-pitched whistling echoed far, near, high, and low as an enormous whirlwind that spanned dozens of meters slowly took shape around the two.

Ge Shitu spread his arms as if he were going to hug the girl from afar. As if reciting a chant, he whispered, "Come then, girl. Show me what it is that can stop me at my tracks!"

"As you wish."

In that moment, a gun suddenly appeared in Zhao Ruoxi's hands!

That gun was an antique flintlock pistol. Beautiful, complex gilded patterns covered its barrel and handle. The girl's finger slowly pressed against the ruyi-shaped hammer, her dazzling skin no less attractive than mithril. However, the most eye-catching object on the gun was a scarlet flower that was carved into it. Silky petals stretched from it, blooming with a potent life force. It didn't look like a carving at all.

Ge Shitu's eyes flew wide open! As a member of the Evernight Council, he obviously wouldn't fail to recognize this gun. It was one of the ten famous guns that the Empire controlled, the Red Spider Lily, the Other Shore Flower that only blooms on the shores of the Nether River!

"You! You're this generation's master of the Red Spider Lily! So the Empire actually has another person capable of wielding it!"

Ge Shitu was immeasurably shocked. Red Spider Lily was famously difficult to tame. Although this gun had been under the Empire's control for thousands of years, it spent most of that time masterless and sealed away. He never would have thought that this gun would appear before him on this night, let alone in the hands of a delicate girl that looked as pure and fragile as a bubble.

At the same time, Zhao Ruoxi's small hands gripped the body of the gun as she used every bit of her strength to pull the trigger!

A wisp of indistinct light burst from the Red Spider Lily's muzzle. It was so faint that it seemed like the flame of a candle in the wind. It would actually be quite difficult to notice if one wasn't specifically looking for it.

However, the space around Ge Shitu abruptly changed. Shrill howls of the wind which tore at one's eardrums disappeared before he knew it. The night sky, which had regained its calm, actually dense enough to look solid. It got to the point where it began to ripple like water.

Intense fear suddenly surfaced within Ge Shitu's heart. This was no longer a night sky, but the waters of the Nether River! As expected, Other Shore Flowers as red as blood began to quietly bloom amidst the ripples one after another. They silently shook, guiding lingering souls home.

Ge Shitu wanted to dodge out of the way, but he realized that he had been completely immobilized!

A bullet nearly as transparent as crystal glided through the night sky, shooting toward the Nether River.

"No!" he cried as the bullet struck the Nether River, the Other Shore Flowers shaking like dancers. The solidified scenery began to crack like a shattered mirror!

Ge Shitu was also part of this scenery and shattered along with it!

He shattered into dozens of pieces, abruptly warping and curling in on himself like a ball of blurry black smoke. Then it coalesced into a human shape once more. However, once it did, Ge Shitu's face was pale and he abruptly spat out a huge mouthful of blood.

Then, without another word, he turned around and left.

His figure blinked across space as he fled into the distance. Every time it did, a bright flash and a black halo would shine.

Zhao Ruoxi's complexion was as pale as ever, and even her lips, which were a faint vermillion, were nearly translucent now. It was as if she were in a faded world where only the colors black and white existed.

She slowly closed her eyes and fell backward. Her small body resembled a petal floating toward the Evernight Continent amidst a rain of Other Shore Flowers that went on as far as the eye could see.

Uncle Wang silently appeared out of nowhere and caught the near weightless Zhao Ruoxi, instantly traveling far into the distance with her in his arms.

Having yet to fade completely, the whirlwind's sobs lingered in the air of the wasteland. The final Red Spider Lily rustled and fell through the void like a lost spark amidst the stars. The water of the Nether River was the only thing that continued to babble as if it were singing a song.