Journey to the End of the Night-Chapter 1409 - 893: The Empress Arrives (Part 2)

Not long after, Lord Man had just walked out of the Empress’s inner court.

His tension from surviving the ordeal hadn’t had the chance to relax when suddenly a pressure like a mountain descended upon him from behind.

In the next instant, the poor Lord Man was effortlessly pressed to the ground by the giant paw of the tiger, like a chick stumbling on its way.

He was pressed firmly, his limbs prostrate.

Even the bravest of men would be frightened to the core by such sudden actions.

Lord Man’s mental state was on the verge of collapse. His legs trembled, and he whimpered, "Why don’t Your Majesty grant your subject a swift end?"

Ying Ji stood desolately at the courtyard gate, like a thin shadow, yet an indescribable emotion weighed between her brows.

Her voice seemed to tremble, "The room..."

Room?

Speaking abruptly, Lord Man couldn’t understand but dared not ignore.

He fearfully raised his head to behold the Empress’s noble visage, seeing the flutter of eyelashes beneath her dark eyes, holding an air of incomprehensible... anticipation, restraint, fear, excitement.

Like a person dying of thirst, suddenly receiving a meager scoop of clear, sweet spring water.

Clearly, she was the one who wielded control over life and death, yet at this moment, she appeared even more anxious than Lord Man, afraid that the scoop of water was merely a phantom of her imagination.

She added, "Which room? Where does he live? I want to go, I want to see." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Lord Man felt it might be a delusion, but he perceived the Empress’s thoughts to be in chaos, her speech disorderly and unclear, unnoticed by herself.

He bewilderedly asked, "Whose... whose room?"

With a loud bang, the fake mountain beside Lord Man burst into countless fragments.

The Empress, unable to articulate clearly, was obviously running out of patience.

Terrified into a shiver, once he gathered himself, he hurriedly said, "Ah, ah, ah, are you referring to the Nine Nethers envoy? He stays in the Minor Hall! He’s in the Minor Hall!"

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, Ying Ji’s silhouette disappeared from the courtyard gate.

Clang!

The gates of the Minor Hall swung open, gusts of wind poured in, Ying Ji’s black hair sweeping across her face, wildly dancing.

As she entered the hall, she tripped over her own robe, the face long tormented and weary now carried too many suppressed emotions, seemingly ready to erupt!

The hall was devoid of life, but she was like a headless fly, eager to scour the depths of the earth.

Finally, her gaze fixed upon the bedstead, at the black cold jade exuding a faint gleam, her breath taken away.

Ying Ji suddenly pressed her lips together, as if a flame reignited from her pitch-black pupils.

...

...

Shen Tu prepared three masks for Baili An, one of Ying Xiu’s face, one of an unfamiliar young man’s face, and another rather peculiar one, a woman’s face.

He claimed it was for Baili An to walk freely in the Mortal World.

But Baili An always felt this contained a hint of the Royal Hall’s peculiar tastes.

Shen Tu’s craftsmanship was extremely skilled, unlike the human skin masks commonly used in the pugilist world, nor were they lower-level Illusion Techniques.

That thin layer of skin, regardless of the material, was incredibly realistic and transparent, fitting seamlessly on the face, leaving no trace along the edges, as if a new face had grown on the skin.

No scent of Illusion Technique, when wearing the human face mask, it wouldn’t reveal a hint of awkwardness or anomaly.

When Baili An had just left the Imperial City, behind him was an entourage of loyal heroic spirits escorting him out, he donned Ying Xiu’s mask.

If all goes as expected, as long as he presented this face, the moment he stepped out of the You Dynasty, the Wandao Immortal Alliance would secretly approach him.

Yin Baishuang looked at Baili An’s face, stroking his chin, saying, "It’s curious, two hundred years ago when I first saw you, your face seemed quite pleasing to me, but today, there’s nothing about it I find appealing."

Baili An sighed helplessly, "There’s no other way, the old foxes of the Wandao Immortal Alliance are not so easy to fool."

Yin Baishuang said meaningfully, "Indeed, there are many people in this world who are not easily fooled..."

Baili An had not yet figured out the meaning behind her sudden words; he just had a premonition in his heart. Before he could think further, a vague red shadow appeared on the distant mountains.

In the blink of an eye, that figure was only a few steps away from him.

Ying Ji stood there quietly, her skin pale, dressed in red with black hair, her neck long, her figure slender and lean, her arms veiled loosely in her sleeves. Her wide palace robe fluttered in the wind, exuding a rare charm and grace.

What caught people off guard was the inopportune small bundle on the Empress’s back that was bulging and moving, its contents unknown.

Baili An never expected Ying Ji would leave the Empress Palace and chase him here, which truly startled him.

"Your... Your Majesty?"

Ying Ji responded with a soft hum, her voice ethereal, hiding its true emotion: "That address, it truly sounds pleasant and refreshing."

Only then did Baili An realize he was currently wearing Ying Xiu’s face.

Hurriedly, he tore off the mask on his face, his heart pounding rapidly, and said quickly, "It’s me, Your Majesty."

"I knew it was you, Ying Xiu is already dead, isn’t that so?" Ying Ji looked directly at Baili An, "It was you who told me that."

Baili An couldn’t determine Ying Ji’s intention in chasing him here, so he had to brace himself and continue, "Three days ago, there was a commotion in the Political Hall, and I needed to borrow the Crown Prince’s identity to meet people from the Wandao Immortal Alliance."

Ying Ji hummed again, "The use of the word ’borrow’ is quite apt, what else?"

What else?

This tone was strangely sarcastic.

Baili An suddenly found her hard to deal with, "No... nothing else."

Why was he so nervous?

Ying Ji chuckled softly, stretched lazily, looked towards the distant foreign sky, where a Qingcang Luan bird spread its wings to depart its homeland.

She said with a smile, "Today is indeed a beautiful day."

This topic was truly nonsensical, fitting the title of the mad Empress.

She lazily beckoned to Baili An, squinting her eyes, "Young man, you are about to leave the Central Netherworld, who knows when we will meet again, come closer, let me take a good look at you."

The faces of the Central Netherworld ministers accompanying the Crown Prince’s departure from the Dynasty suddenly turned intriguingly bizarre.

Could these be the words of their Majesty?

Perhaps the Ying Ji they usually saw was mostly in a lunatic and abnormal state.

She occasionally did some incomprehensible things, so much so that Baili An didn’t doubt or guard against it, paying more attention to the playful expression on Yin Baishuang’s face at that moment.

As he walked towards Ying Ji, strong winds arose by the cliff edge.

The wind stirred between the Empress’s sleeves, lifting her wide red sleeves in light, rippling waves, revealing a tufted, long-shaped object.

Qiao Yu, standing back at the Royal Hall, rubbed his eyes, thinking he had seen wrong.

Upon looking closely, he was not mistaken.

What the Empress was holding hidden in her sleeve was... a feather duster?!

And a feather duster bound with bright red, green, and gold feathers?!

What kind of madness had possessed the Empress now, driving her to run around with something so undignified?

Qiao Yu saw the item in Ying Ji’s hand, and sharp-eyed Baili An naturally saw it too.

He suddenly stopped in his tracks, his hands tucked decorously behind him.

From Yin Baishuang’s angle, she could see his two index fingers circling and entwining behind his back.

He then heard Baili An earnestly say, "Your Majesty is a peerless cultivator in the world; with eyes as sharp as a falcon over a thousand li, nothing escapes your gaze. This junior dares not offend, so I will remain standing here."