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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 185 Spider Emblem Banner
"I can hardly recognize you," Ji Zichen said to Lin Chuyu by the entrance of the Watchtower the next day, just before she stepped out.
Lin Chuyu touched her face, thinking there might be something dirty on it. "I washed my face!"
Seeing that Lin Chuyu didn't grasp his meaning, Ji Zichen decided not to pursue the topic further. "Have you found what you were looking for? Do you still want to go?"
Lin Chuyu couldn't shake off her thoughts about Xiang Bi, recalling how Xiang Bi had risked everything to help them escape. "I..."
Ji Zichen pondered for a moment and ultimately decided to tell Lin Chuyu the truth. "You don’t need to go anymore. I spoke with Xia Zhou yesterday. That dream of yours was from a thousand years ago, so no matter what happened to Xiang Bi, she is already..."
Lin Chuyu stared at Ji Zichen in shock. "A thousand years ago!"
Ji Zichen sighed lightly. "Yes, Xiang Bi is no longer here, so you won't be able to find her."
Lin Chuyu's delicate brows trembled slightly, and her charming cheeks seemed to be tinged with a layer of blush. Biting her lip, her chest rose and fell as she struggled to suppress the regret within her. "I shouldn't have let Xiang Bi go alone to distract those Serpent Bat Dragons."
Ji Zichen comforted Lin Chuyu. "Don't blame yourself. She did that to ensure your survival. The fact that you're alive is enough."
Lin Chuyu lowered her head and said, "Brother Ji, I want to be alone for a while."
Ji Zichen nodded in understanding.
He noticed Xia Zhou feeding the Serpent Bat Dragon in the open space outside the tower. Xia Zhou was giving it half a leg of lamb. Ji Zichen approached and asked, "Is that enough for it? It's so big!"
Xia Zhou smiled. "This Serpent Bat Dragon has a habit; if it eats too much, it will fall asleep. We still have things to do, so we can't feed it too much."
Xia Zhou mounted the Serpent Bat Dragon and asked, "So, have you finished reading all those scrolls?"
Ji Zichen chuckled. "Pretty much! Where are you headed?"
Xia Zhou smiled without speaking.
Ji Zichen also smiled and said, "You can't, I know."
Xia Zhou rode the Serpent Bat Dragon into the sky.
As the second hour approached, Xia Zhou still had not returned. It was quite unusual for him to be out all night, and Ji Zichen wondered, "Could he have gone back?"
But then Ji Zichen thought, "No, if he were leaving, he would have said goodbye to us."
Ji Zichen set down the last scroll in hand. "I've finished reading it, but there's really no news about any ruins."
Lin Chuyu asked from the side, "What should we do next?"
Ji Zichen replied with a wry smile, "I don't know."
Lin Chuyu walked to the window to gaze at the distant scenery and remarked with curiosity, "He hasn't come back all night."
Ji Zichen felt uneasy as well. "Yes, he had something to do yesterday, but something must have held him up."
Lin Chuyu inquired, "Where did he go?"
Ji Zichen stretched lazily, and Lin Chuyu could hear the sound of bones cracking within Ji Zichen's body. Ji Zichen said, "I’m not sure. He must have had a reason for staying here that goes beyond just keeping watch. I asked him, but he didn’t tell me."
Lin Chuyu pressed further, "What on earth is he doing? He's being so mysterious."
Ji Zichen replied, "I can't figure that out."
Lin Chuyu asked again, "Does he even know when he'll be back?"
Ji Zichen shook his head. "No."
Lin Chuyu glanced at the scrolls. "Is he really so at ease leaving us here? Doesn't he fear that I might set this Watchtower ablaze?"
Ji Zichen understood that Lin Chuyu was upset, especially since it was a member of the divine clan who had captured the Vermilion Bird. Although Lin Chuyu knew it wasn’t Xia Zhou’s fault, she still couldn’t let go of her feelings.
"There’s nothing valuable here; he wouldn’t feel sorry if you burned it down," Ji Zichen replied with a smile.
Lin Chuyu sighed. She was just venting her frustration; she wouldn’t actually burn the place down. "Brother Ji, why did your Vermilion Bird show me that dream? Is it urging me to seek revenge?"
Ji Zichen didn’t answer immediately. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "I don’t think that’s the case. How could you possibly be a match for the divine clan on your own? Most of the rifts have been closed by Kai Zhou Shen, and we don’t even know where the remaining unstable rifts are. Without a rift, how can we ascend? Even if we find one, we wouldn’t know how to get there."
Lin Chuyu felt uneasy. "I just have this feeling that they want something from me."
Ji Zichen fell into deep thought.
In the evening, Xia Zhou suddenly returned.
Ji Zichen was idly watching the sunset outside the Watchtower when the air around him suddenly shifted violently. The Serpent Bat Dragon descended amidst swirling dust and smoke.
Ji Zichen wrinkled his nose and waved his hand to disperse the haze. Once the dust settled, he looked up to see none other than Xia Zhou.
"You’re back!" Ji Zichen approached the Serpent Bat Dragon but noticed that Xia Zhou’s hair was in disarray, and his usually gentle and bright red eyes were now wide with anger as they fixed on Ji Zichen.
"Who are you?!" Xia Zhou shouted, pointing at Ji Zichen. His red eyes glowed ominously as a red light appeared above his right hand. When the mist cleared, Ji Zichen saw that Xia Zhou was holding three Eight Desolation Needles.
In a moment of panic, Ji Zichen conjured a Wind Barrier to protect himself. The Eight Desolation Needles shot toward him, striking the Wind Barrier. Although it blocked them, the explosion from the needles sent Ji Zichen flying three yards away, crashing into a half-collapsed awning.
Inside the awning was a table with some broken dishes and bowls; they too suffered from Ji Zichen's collision.
Dazed from the impact, Ji Zichen quickly regained his senses and realized that Xia Zhou was not joking around. Seeing Xia Zhou attack him, Ji Zichen erupted in fury. "Xia Zhou! What do you think you’re doing? If you keep this up, I won’t hold back!"
Xia Zhou's gaze seemed to regain its clarity. It was as if he had snapped out of some frightful trance. He still held three Eight Desolation Needles in his hand, but now they were retracted as he panted heavily. "It... it's you. I'm sorry... I didn’t know it was you."
Xia Zhou's behavior was quite unusual, but Ji Zichen could tell that Xia Zhou was not pretending. Ji Zichen asked, "What’s going on? Is there anyone else here besides us?"
Xia Zhou looked very tense. He suddenly ran into the Watchtower and rummaged through his room for a while. It was unclear what he found, but he quickly dashed back outside the tower. He leaped onto the Serpent Bat Dragon, ready to leave, when Ji Zichen abruptly grabbed the control reins of the Serpent Bat Dragon. "What are you in such a hurry for?"
Xia Zhou replied urgently, "I have some things to do. You shouldn’t come with me."
Ji Zichen insisted, "What exactly are you doing? I won’t let go of the reins until you tell me!"
After a moment of thought, Xia Zhou said, "Then you can come up. I’m in a hurry."
Ji Zichen felt that Xia Zhou needed help and without hesitation, she grabbed the reins and jumped up. Xia Zhou took over the reins and said, "Hold on tight."
The Serpent Bat Dragon let out a sharp cry and soared into the sky.
Xia Zhou skillfully maneuvered the Serpent Bat Dragon forward. It was then that Ji Zichen remembered Lin Chuyu was still at the Watchtower. Leaving without saying anything would surely worry Lin Chuyu, but there was no turning back now.
The Serpent Bat Dragon had already flown out of the Stone Peaks. Instead of heading toward the ocean, which would have been a straight path, Xia Zhou veered to the right—a direction Ji Zichen had never been before. As they flew on, they saw a vast expanse of wilderness below.
Beyond the wilderness lay several large ponds reflecting the shattered light of the setting sun; darkness was approaching. Ji Zichen felt a slight unease since she didn’t know their destination.
Ji Zichen asked, "Where are we going?"
Fully focused on controlling the Serpent Bat Dragon, Xia Zhou replied, "You’ll know when we get there."
Xia Zhou lowered their altitude slightly and gently stroked the back of the Serpent Bat Dragon's neck. Though he didn’t say anything aloud, Ji Zichen suspected he might be communicating with the dragon telepathically.
The Serpent Bat Dragon continued to fly ahead. Below them, Ji Zichen spotted a large campsite situated on a hill. Xia Zhou instructed the Serpent Bat Dragon to ascend higher as if he wanted to avoid being seen by those below. However, before they rose too high, Ji Zichen could hear sounds of commotion coming from the campsite.
From the noise, it was clear that there were quite a few people in the camp.
The Serpent Bat Dragon made a sweeping turn in mid-air, bringing them back over the campsite once more. Surrounding them was a layer of clouds; from below, it would be difficult for anyone down there to spot them.
But from their high vantage point, they could easily spot the people below. As the sun set, lights were lit in the camp. Ji Zichen saw a large tent, and outside it stood a flag bearing a symbol—the Spider Emblem.
Ji Zichen was taken aback. "Could it be her? But how did she get in here?"
Ji Zichen thought Xia Zhou would find a nearby place to land, but Xia Zhou did not. Instead, Xia Zhou observed for a moment in mid-air and ordered the Serpent Bat Dragon to continue flying forward.
The Serpent Bat Dragon flapped its wings against the night air as they began to ascend. After flying for a while, a ridge appeared on the distant horizon, beneath which lay another camp. This camp also had flames, but they had long since extinguished. There was no flag raised here, but it looked similar to the previous camp.
Numerous other camps were scattered nearby. As they flew closer, Ji Zichen noticed several smoldering campfires, with animal bones scattered around—seemingly remnants of a pig that had been eaten, with bones tossed carelessly about.
This camp appeared to be deserted; perhaps everyone had migrated to the camp they had seen earlier. Just as Xia Zhou lowered their altitude, a line of soldiers suddenly surged out from the camp, shooting several arrows upward.
They had not anticipated an ambush here. Xia Zhou quickly pulled on the reins to make the Serpent Bat Dragon ascend. The Serpent Bat Dragon let out a shriek and turned to evade several arrows, but its position was too far forward. Just as it dodged a few arrows, a second wave came flying in, and this time the Serpent Bat Dragon could not escape.
A barbed arrow pierced its right wing. The Serpent Bat Dragon let out a pained cry, convulsing in mid-air as it desperately tried to flap its wings and rise above the reach of the arrows.
In panic from being hit, the Serpent Bat Dragon nearly caused Ji Zichen to lose balance. Xia Zhou attempted to calm the creature down, but with the pain from the arrow, no amount of skill could make the Serpent Bat Dragon obey.
Another arrow struck its abdomen, and the Serpent Bat Dragon began to plummet straight downwards, swallowed by endless darkness.
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