Dual Cultivation God Returns-Chapter 988: The mystery of the box

"My Dear Disciple,

You have heard everything in the General Sect Meeting today, so I don’t need to explain the situation. However, there is an important matter that I cannot leave unfinished. A secret matter, both personal and related to the fate our Sect is facing.

Yet I must face that fate, and lead our Sect in its final hour, I must see it through, and thus cannot bring this important matter to conclusion myself. And, though it brings me shame to do it, and weighs heavy on my heart to place such a heavy burden on you, I cannot leave it to anyone but my most trusted person, my loyal and dependable Disciple.

Along with this jade slip, you will find a box, the moment you touch it, it must never leave your side. Unfortunately, it cannot be placed inside a Spatial Ring, so you must carry it as it is. Remember, never have it separate from you for more than three meters. There is also a Spatial Ring with life-saving treasures and talismans, as well as supplies, clothes, and everything you might need on this mission, and most crucially, instructions on how to access a secret passage.

You might have realized by now, but this mission requires you to secretly leave the Sect, without notifying anyone, and without leaving a trace. And you must do it as soon as you read this, before our enemies complete the enclosure. Do not come and find me. Do not seek out anyone’s advice. Please, trust me and do as I say. You must deliver this box to the Imperial Court of the Wei Dynasty, in the Emerald Falls City. There is a token in the Spatial Ring that will guarantee you an audience with the Emperor. And when he sees the box, he will understand without any explanation, he will know the box cannot leave your side. You must hand the box to him, only then you can let it leave your presence. Your journey would be harsh and fraught with danger. But you must persevere. I pray to Heavenly Daos that they help you on this secret mission, and hope that you forgive me for entrusting it to you.

I know that you want to stay and fight, I know that you wish to defend the honor of our Sect shoulder to shoulder with your Apprentice Brothers and Sisters, your fellow Sect members, I know you wish to bleed and die side by side with them to show that we don’t surrender in face of injustice, and I know this mission may seem strange and inexplicable to you. But I assure you, your mission is far more important, and your role is far more valuable than fighting. It is the last chance of clearing the name of our Sect in the eyes of the world, something impossible to do even with the last stand we make, even if we know of our innocence and even if our enemies know of it.

And it is also a selfish, desperate last request, a plea of your incompetent Master who has to place this heavy burden on you.

Please forgive me, Yong’er.

There is one more thing that you have to know as you go out on this difficult journey. This mission is also linked to my past which you may learn about if you succeed.

Thus, I must beg your forgiveness in advance. I am not the personification of justice and righteousness without sin or reproach as I led you to believe. I am a mortal man, and I have made mistakes in the past. Very grave mistakes, ones that weigh on my heart to this day despite the time since. Perhaps, it is the karma of those mistakes that brought this disaster upon us. Perhaps it is punishment for the hubris of having foolishly thought that I may be forgiven for sins of the past just because I did my best to lead a moral life of a just and righteous man the past millenia, and fooled everyone around me.

It is also because of that, that I need to face this tribulation head on, at the very front of our Sect. I need to face my judgement.

Thus, you are also holding my last chance to put a closing statement to those past mistakes, and perhaps, just maybe, right some of the wrongs. To be finally set free.

Everything will become clear to you when you finish this mission. I believe in you, Yong’er."

—

As Wu Long read the last lines, he nodded, while Changsun Yong took out a simple-looking token from his Spatial Ring, the one that would guarantee that audience.

"How strange...", Wei Yuanjie looked at the box, the jade slip in Wu Long’s hands and the token. Unlike the Prime Disciple who was raised in his Sect from childhood, and might not exactly give particular meaning to certain curious details of the message, the Imperial Prince was instantly intrigued by some parts of it.

"Everything would become clear when we open the box, although I have my guesses which prompted me to propose checking the contents - I cannot be certain", Wu Long replied, and turned to Changsun Yong, "The box cannot leave your side because there are layers upon layers of arrays and restrictions on it. It is not a figurative manner of speech to underline the importance of carrying the box with you, but it literally cannot. If it leaves your side, or you lose your life, it will self-destruct by being sucked into the spatial ring embedded into its lid, which will then shatter - the contents lost forever as the spatial chamber collapses - hence the reason it cannot be placed inside the Spatial Ring either"

"How do you then propose we open it?", the former Prime Disciple asked, both shocked by the explanation, realizing why Wu Long didn’t accept the box before, and confused at Wu Long’s proposition to open the box given this explanation.

"The box will only leave your side when someone of Imperial Bloodline touches it - it doesn’t have to be necessarily the Emperor. Your Master just wanted the contents to reach the Emperor specifically, which they will, we’re just going to inspect them before that. There is a special object and a jade slip in that box, what I am proposing is that we inspect the jade slip which contains what we want to know", Wu Long explained, "It is also possible to open the box with a drop of blood with Imperial Bloodline... although of course it has to be pure enough, but we have the son of the Emperor here with us"

"Ehm, can we just open it with my touch or something?", Wei Yuanjie asked, suddenly not so hot on opening the box when he heard ’blood’.

"It’s just a drop, the kind you can get with a pinprick from a finger", Wu Long rolled his eyes.

"Uh...", the prince looked at his precious index finger, still not convinced it was worth it.

Meanwhile, Changsun Yong was carefully pondering everything. He knew Wu Long could do all of it without consulting him, especially with Wei Yuanjie here which prevented the self-destruction of the box. Wu Long didn’t have the need to explain anything to him at all. But as someone who just went through months of not being able to trust anyone, hunted and chased, he was still unable to fully trust this man.

He was also still driven by loyalty to his Master, and what Wu Long proposed, while not completely opposing the former’s wishes, still violated the spirit of the mission.

But after agonizing it for some time, he finally decided to go through with it.

With a drop of blood ’generously donated of his own free will’ by Wei Yuanjie, the box clicked open.

The contents were as Wu Long described them, an object - a carved stone of sorts with patterns and small characters on it, and a jade slip. They were so ordinary, it felt weird to Changsun Yong that this was what he risked his life to carry and that these were somehow of immense importance.

And then, Wu Long used a technique to display the contents of the Jade Slip directly above it, as characters and words started forming from Spiritual Qi in the air.

The first three words read, "Dear Imperial Father..."