For the court, the impact of this battle was quite bad.
A felon, who dared to blatantly break into the Imperial City to create a killing, defying the king’s law, defying the imperial court, as if he was slapping the imperial court’s face, was completely lawless.
If Zhang Ruochen was not captured, where was the face of the imperial court?
A city guard formation in the Central Imperial City opened up, with a chain light pattern rising up into the sky, connecting the sky and the earth, blocking off the entire city and preventing Zhang Ruochen and Ling Fei Yu from escaping.
Zhang Ruochen did not intend to escape from the Imperial City at this time, after all, everyone thought that he would escape, and if he did, it would only be more dangerous.
Instead, staying in the Imperial City was relatively safer.
Obviously, the Boundary Son’s Mansion could never go back, so he could only find another hiding place.
Zhang Ruochen left the seventh city area and walked on the snowy streets, his mind had long since regained its calmness, even though the Heavenly Fate Corpse Emperor had escaped, however, the Ghost Nurturing Ancient Clan and Corpse Catching Ancient Clan had paid a great price.
Through this battle, other forces that want to deal with him again, I’m afraid that they will have to carefully consider whether they can afford to pay the price of offending him.
On the street, the voice of a seven or eight year old child resounded, “Father, look, there is a moon in the sky.”
“This kind of ghost weather, how can there be a moon …… Eh, there is really a round of moon, it seems to be moving.”The middle-aged man beside the child felt surprised.
Zhang Ruochen also raised his head, only to see that, above the dark dome of the sky, there was indeed a brilliant bright moon hanging, emitting a light that merely enveloped a piece of the city domain.
That piece of city domain …… is precisely the seventh city domain.
Suddenly, that bright moon unexpectedly moved and flew towards another city domain.
Only characters who had reached the Saint realm could see that it wasn’t a bright moon, but a rather huge mirror.
“Could it be the Supreme Sacred Artifact of the Confucian Way, the Mirror of Returning Truth?”
Zhang Ruochen’s face stared slightly, sensing that it was not good.
Legend had it that the Mirror of Returning Truth was capable of recognising all illusions in the world, and Zhang Ruochen’s attainments above the Formless and Formless Thirty-Six Transformations weren’t exactly brilliant, so once he was irradiated by the Mirror of Returning Truth, I was afraid that his original form would be revealed in an instant.
“In order to capture me and Ling Fei Yu, those old gentlemen from the Confucian Way even used a Supreme Saint Artifact, what a masterstroke.”
The probing speed of the Reverence Mirror was quite fast, and it only took a breath of time to finish probing a city area, and then, enter the next one.
On the ground, there was also an army cooperating with their actions.
After a city area was explored and it was determined that Zhang Ruochen wasn’t hiding inside, they immediately turned on the City Protector Formation to isolate the city area.
With such a carpet search, it wouldn’t take long before Zhang Ruochen would definitely be found.
“The speed of the search is surprisingly so fast, someone who controls the Returning Truth Mirror must have reached a rather astonishing level of mental strength. What now?”
Zhang Ruochen’s brows were furrowed, and it was quite clear in his heart that once he was captured, no one would be able to save him.
Where on earth could he hide?
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen’s heart stirred and thought of a place, muttering to himself, “Yaochi.”
At this moment, a deep and long ago memory surfaced in Zhang Ruochen’s mind.
Eight hundred years ago, Yao Chi was an estate of the royal family of the Green Pool Central Empire, located on the outskirts of the Imperial City. It was also a garden that the Qing Emperor had rewarded Princess Chi Yao with, and it was there that Zhang Ruochen and Chi Yao had their first meeting.
Every time the Qing Emperor and the Ming Emperor met, they were also at Yao Chi.
Thus, Yao Chi was not as simple as a manor, it had an extraordinary significance, there, there was a formation jointly set up by the Qing Emperor and the Ming Emperor, which could isolate the outside world from prying eyes and probing.
The two great emperors, who were both close friends and the lords of the two central empires, had a lot of secret matters to talk about every time they met. At the same time, Zhang Ruochen and Chi Yao naturally had a lot of opportunities to get together, leaving behind a lot of fond memories in Yao Chi.
If he didn’t have to, Zhang Ruochen didn’t want to go there at all, because the more beautiful the memories that had been made, the deeper the pain in his heart would be.
In the end, because of the threat of the Return to Truth Mirror, Zhang Ruochen still came to the outside of that ancient manor and stood in the snow, gazing at the manor’s gate.
What was once the outskirts of the Imperial City had, now, turned into an inner city.
The manor was still the same as it once was, and even the plaque on the gate had not been changed, bearing two familiar words – Yao Chi.
Unfortunately, today’s Yao Chi was incredibly cold, not even a single guard or servant could be seen, and on the gate, there were two old seals affixed to it, which respectively read “No Entry” and “Kill Without Pardon”.
A forbidden place.
Cultivators who passed by this place, looked towards the manor, also revealed a scornful look, and retreated far away, not daring to approach.
The two seals seemed to have sealed the manor owner’s most unwanted secret to be uncovered, and anyone who intruded into it would be killed without amnesty.
Zhang Ruochen’s gaze was somewhat deep as he walked over step by step, arriving outside the main door, and was silent for a moment before he stretched out a hand and touched the top of the seals.
“Boom.”
A vast and boundless power surged out from above the seal, shocking Zhang Ruochen and sending him flying backwards, crashing into the snowy ground and rolling up snowflakes in the sky.
Zhang Ruochen stood up again, looked at his bloody arm and then at the two yellowed, worn-out seals, and muttered to himself, “Is this a warning?”
Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath as the Sacred Qi coursed through his body, and the wounds on his arms slowly healed.
Afterwards, Zhang Ruochen carried his hands behind his back and walked towards the left side of the manor, circling around for a while to the back door of the manor.
The back door, without a seal, had a formation boundary set up by the two Great Emperors.
It wasn’t the first time Zhang Ruochen had entered Yao Chi, so naturally, he knew how to break the formation boundary, and stretched out a finger to trace a pattern on top of the vermillion red gate.
“Creak.”
The formation boundary receded, and Zhang Ruochen pushed open the gate and walked in.
The manor was full of dense, withered yellow weeds, with thick snow piled on top of it, and as far as the eye could see, no living thing could be seen, and only the sound of whistling wind could be heard.
Desolate, dilapidated, without a trace of life.
The door of memory was opened, and in front of Zhang Ruochen’s eyes, the scenery became beautiful, pavilions, lakes and cranes, white mist on bridges, one step at a time.
At this moment, it was as if he could hear the laughter of a young man and a young girl in his ears, as well as their figures together practising their swords under the trees, meditating by the lake, and viewing the stars and moon from the roof.
Every dilapidated place was a memory.
“Brother Dust, with your talent, you will definitely be able to reach the Great Saint realm in the future and become the next generation of Ming Emperors of the Saint Ming Central Empire. My talent, however, is a bit worse, and I may not be able to reach that realm in this life, so I’m afraid that I won’t be able to take over the throne of the Chiqing Central Empire.”
“Who says that only those with high talent can cultivate to the Great Saint realm? You have to know that throughout history, there have been many great saints and deities who actually had mediocre talent, yet their hearts were incomparably strong.”
“Why are you so deadheaded? Couldn’t you just tell this princess not to cultivate so hard and just be the next generation of Emperor Ming’s Imperial Empress without any worries?”
“So it’s like this …… Wait a minute, don’t go ah, Yao Yao, I’ll retell you now.”
“Don’t even want to hear it!”
……
The figures of the young boy and girl gradually faded away, disillusioning in front of Zhang Ruochen’s eyes, where all that was left was a moss-covered stone pathway, along with a single withered branch and defeated vine that hung down.
Zhang Ruochen gently shook his head, a bitter smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Immediately after, Zhang Ruochen walked into a deserted viewing pavilion, which was full of cobwebs, and in the centre of the cobwebs, a chess table was placed.
On the chess table, there was an unfinished game of chess, with black and white discs intertwined.
In Zhang Ruochen’s memory, Emperor Ming had brought him to Yao Chi a total of three times, and each time, he would play this game with Emperor Qing, and each time, he would play for three days.
A game of chess was played three times, a total of nine days, and surprisingly, there was no winner or loser.
In front of Zhang Ruochen’s eyes, it was as if Emperor Ming and Emperor Qing were still sitting there, Emperor Ming was playing white, and Emperor Qing was playing black, their expressions were incomparably grave, and with each move, it was as if they were making a major decision.
Zhang Ruochen swept away the cobwebs with his hand and walked over to the side of the chess table, looking at the remnants of the game above.
A moment later, Zhang Ruochen’s eyes, violently shrunk, saying, ”No, this isn’t a stalemate game …… Surprisingly, they have all been decided. White has lost, Father has actually lost! How is that possible?”
Zhang Ruochen remembered very clearly that the last time they played chess, there was no winner or loser.
With Emperor Qing’s status, it was also impossible for him to play this game of chess with someone else again.
Then, there was only one possibility that the last time that Zhang Ruochen knew was not the last time. While he was unaware of it, Emperor Ming and Emperor Qing had finished playing the remaining game and split the victory.
“What a weird chess path.”
Zhang Ruochen knew chess, however, he was not proficient in it.
Even so, he could tell that the two emperors were playing a rather bizarre game of chess, and he couldn’t tell exactly where it was bizarre.
“Could it be that Father was assassinated by the Qing Emperor when he was playing his last game of chess with him, and that’s why he disappeared?”
Zhang Ruochen’s hands were tightly squeezed together, giving birth to an intense anger, a feeling that this chess set in front of him was most likely related to the disappearance of Father Emperor.
“Such a bizarre chess path must be hiding some secret. Could it be a clue left behind by Father Emperor?”
Zhang Ruochen stretched out his arms, wanting to lift the chess table and include it in his spatial ring.
However, the chess table was intertwined with a root of Saint Dao rules on top of it, and each piece contained the power of a Great Saint on top of it, making it heavier than a mountain.
Zhang Ruochen was unable to lift the chess table or even pick up a single piece.
In the end, Zhang Ruochen could only stop and memorise the game silently, preparing to look for a Chess Dao expert in the future who might help him unlock the secrets in the game.
This manor was just too quiet, causing Zhang Ruochen to develop a shivering feeling.
“Perhaps one really shouldn’t come here.”
Zhang Ruochen sat next to the chess table, where Emperor Ming used to sit, feeling physically and mentally lonely, he let out a long sigh, and then immersed his spiritual energy into the Qiankun Realm.
At this moment, he so wanted to find someone to talk about the pain in his heart.
The first person that came to mind was Huang Yichen.
