My Journey to Immortality Begins with Hunting-Chapter 257 – Shedding One’s Shell, Moving Into The Third Gate - Part 2
Chapter 257 – Shedding One’s Shell, Moving Into The Third Gate - Part 2
Qing Hancheng swept his eyes over the patriarchs gathered around. “I’ll be entering seclusion for a few days. As for the Liu Clan, arrest all their sixth rank and above members for rigorous interrogation. Anyone below sixth rank should be temporarily detained until I return.”
He paused, then turned to Li Yuan. “Master Li, enjoy the wedding banquet. Once I’ve emerged from my closed-door cultivation, there’s more I’d like to discuss with you.”
“Yes, Temple Master,” Li Yuan replied respectfully.
Qing Hancheng said no more; it seemed he didn’t want to linger even a second longer. In a flash, he flew toward the heart of the city stronghold. The remaining patriarchs left to deal with the Liu Clan. This war had only been raging half a year, and already of the Holy Tree Temple’s eight great clans, one was annihilated and another had turned traitor.
Where the elders once played cunning games of intrigue, now they looked tense and subdued. They were old enough to understand that when the nest was overturned, not one egg would remain intact. Though they had vied among themselves before, none of them were foolish enough to risk internal strife when such a powerful enemy loomed.
Li Yuan returned quietly to the banquet, slipping back into his seat beside Cui Huayin. She had barely touched her food; next to her sat the first wife of Cui Heng, clan head of the Cui Clan, and neither woman was speaking.
Cui Huayin glanced at Li Yuan, asking no questions. They sat together, watching the newlyweds going around to toast every table in near-terror.
Li Yuan quickly filled his bowl and ate in a hurry—elegantly, as he would say, though Cui Huayin threw him a faint look of distaste. He ignored her. After three years of marriage, he was well acquainted with his wife’s imperious streak, which reminded him of a certain haughty consort he’d once seen in a television drama back in his original world. Her little expressions of disdain only added spice to their time together.
All the while, his mind churned with the evening’s developments. He knew far too little; he’d only witnessed the temple master expose a traitor but had almost no clue about the deeper events. In chaotic times, ignorance was dangerous, like a wild animal failing to sense changes in the weather.
Li Yuan despised being caught up in trouble. To avoid it, he needed more information. Yet in the depths of the city stronghold, where even extending his senses too far might be unwise, how was he to learn anything?
After an hour, the guests began to disperse. Li Yuan covertly slipped a short dagger from his sleeve and dropped it under the table before getting up to leave. Cui Huayin didn’t notice his little trick. She simply took his arm, said polite farewells to a few acquaintances, and climbed into the carriage waiting in the shadows.
The driver was a dedicated sort; he hadn’t even left to enjoy the party’s leftover feast. Once Li Yuan and Cui Huayin were inside, she discreetly pulled away, and they sat on opposite sides of the dark carriage.
After a moment, Li Yuan slid over and gently pulled her into an embrace. This time, she didn’t resist. And so, in silence, the carriage began making its way back toward the outer gates.
About an hour passed. Seeing the gate drawing near, Li Yuan suddenly let out an exaggerated “Huh?” and called out, “Driver, wait!”
The driver, an obedient undying husk who served as a coachman, stopped immediately. “Master Li, is something wrong?”
Li Yuan patted himself down. “My dagger’s missing?”
Cui Huayin shot him a puzzled look.
“Now I remember,” Li Yuan said. “Turn around. I must have left it back at the banquet.”
Li Yuan felt Cui Huayin’s gaze lingering on him, as if she wanted to speak but couldn’t find the words. In the end, she simply said, “You’re sleeping in a different room tonight.”
An hour later, their carriage returned to the site of the banquet, only to find everything already tidied up, as though the celebration had never happened. No one paid the slightest attention to the young bride and groom anymore.
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A night breeze brushed through the once-bustling streets.
Moonlight, tinged with a vague sense of heat and distortion, shone down on the city stronghold, carrying an intense scent that stirred one’s blood and the unfamiliar fragrance of exotic blossoms.
In the air was a soft susurrus, as though countless insects flew and crawled in the shadows, leaving a faint feeling of irritation and unease.
Even beyond the third gate, there was still an outer and an inner zone; the Jing Clan estate lay close to the very heart of it all.
“What is that noise?” Cui Huayin murmured, frowning. “I didn’t hear it before...”
Before she could finish, Li Yuan gently placed a hand over her mouth. Their eyes met, and she fell silent. It felt like the city stronghold was finally revealing its true face, rather than the convivial facade of a wedding banquet.
Studying the man before her, Cui Huayin found herself puzzled. You’re always so cautious... How on earth did you manage to forget something? Then she realized how little she truly knew about her husband; they saw each other mostly at night, with Li Yuan occupied by his own affairs during the day, and her immersed in martial cultivation.
Li Yuan hopped off the carriage and hurried toward the Jing estate’s gate, which was about to close. The gatekeeper, upon seeing him, paused in surprise. “Master Li?”
“I left something behind,” Li Yuan said with a grin. “Had to come back for it.”
The gatekeeper replied with great courtesy, “Please come in and have a seat. I’ll inform the master right away.”
“What’s that buzzing sound?” Li Yuan asked.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” the man answered. “It always sounds like this once night falls.”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
The gatekeeper chuckled. “It’s something of a secret of the inner core. Of course, you wouldn’t have heard about it outside. Truth be told, only the temple master and the Jing and Gu Clan really know much about it.”
He gave Li Yuan a meaningful look. “The master instructed us to treat you like family from now on, so I’m not hiding it from you. Still, I ask that you keep it to yourself.” fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
Li Yuan was taken aback by how drastically the Jing Clan’s attitude had changed. Yet he simply smiled. “Of course.”
He returned to the carriage, offering his hand to help Cui Huayin disembark. But at that moment, a bizarre phenomenon took shape in the sky.
A humming crimson fog drifted downward, packed so densely that it looked like countless pinpoint particles, a swarm that would drive anyone with trypophobia mad. The blood-hued mist descended right in front of the carriage.
Li Yuan and Cui Huayin watched as it enveloped their driver, who let out a tortured scream. His skin blistered and rotted like white paper held to a flame, eaten through by red-black holes. Only then did they realize that the fog was in fact a mass of dust-like insects.
Li Yuan quickly pulled Cui Huayin behind him; she hesitated only briefly before stepping back up to his side, defiant as ever.
Meanwhile, the driver clutched his head in agony. His outer skin peeled away, his body twisted, and his face transformed into that of a complete stranger. Clearly, he hadn’t been Cui Clan’s driver at all.
The insects showed him no mercy, devouring his flesh as though it were a rare delicacy. His flesh vanished at shocking speed, revealing stark white bone that soon crumbled to powder and was scattered by the wind.
Cui Huayin, no stranger to grisly scenes, watched calmly, eyes flickering with contemplation.
A voice suddenly spoke from behind them. “So the undying husks really did infiltrate the people around Master Li.”
Li Yuan turned to find a dignified, middle-aged man in ornate robes standing beside them. Li Yuan recognized him from the banquet—the current head of the Jing Clan, Jing Banfeng.
“Clan Head Jing.” Li Yuan bowed, then shot a stunned look at the carriage. “But he was a member of the Cui Clan. How could he suddenly turn into someone else?”
Waving a hand, Jing Banfeng replied, “It’s just another one of those dirty tricks those undying husks employ.”
He acted as if Cui Huayin didn’t exist, and she similarly ignored him; their mutual dislike was no secret.
At Jing Banfeng’s signal, a servant approached from a distance carrying a short dagger, the one Li Yuan had forgotten.
“This blade belongs to you, Master Li?”
“Yes, I’m glad you found it.”
Taking back his dagger, Li Yuan heard Jing Banfeng continue. “Master Li, things outside have grown chaotic, but the inner core of the city stronghold is still perfectly safe. Even if you’re not worried for yourself, think of your wife and child.”
Li Yuan heard the hint of laughter in Jing Banfeng’s voice, which also carried a casual note of teasing. “These undying husks are full of sinister tricks. You’ve got enormous potential and a special status, exactly the type of target they’d set their sights on.” He paused, then added lightly, “So, what did you think of the residence our patriarch showed you? You satisfied with it?”
“It’s an excellent place for cultivation,” Li Yuan replied.
Jing Banfeng chuckled for no apparent reason. “If Master Li says it’s good, then it must be good indeed.”
Li Yuan gave a polite smile. “It’s getting late. My wife and I will take our leave. I’ll be sure to visit you another day.”
“Oh, you’ll get the chance,” Jing Banfeng said with a meaningful look.
With that, Li Yuan climbed back onto the carriage. The disguised driver had vanished entirely, wiped out in body and soul. Narrowing his eyes, Li Yuan flicked the reins and steered the carriage toward the outer gates, his wife beside him.
He couldn’t help reflecting that Jing Banfeng was far less guarded than the Jing Clan’s patriarch. From their brief conversation, Li Yuan had gleaned enough to realize that the very worst might have come to pass.
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