(three)
It was two o'clock in the morning that night.
A car stopped by the roadside, and two people got out, holding flashlights, and ventured into a side path. In just over ten minutes, they reached the stream that had been there during the day.
It was Wen Su and Zhou Ziqiu.
"If you fall into the water, you shouldn't need to imitate it anymore, right?" Wen Su asked from the shore. Zhou Ziqiu hesitated and shook his head. He wasn't sure either. Anyway, if it didn't work in a while, he would go into the water and try again.
“Alright, let’s go down then,” Wen Su said, taking the lead.
The forest was eerily silent in the dead of night. Apart from the sound of footsteps breaking branches, the only other sound was breathing, which sent chills down your spine, making you fear that someone might speak in your ear at any moment.
After walking for a while, until they both reached the pond where it had been during the day, nothing unexpected happened. Zhou Ziqiu frowned, unable to understand why.
"Could it be that we've arrived too early?" Zhou Ziqiu remembered that the missing person was listed in the file as having disappeared around 2:00 PM, and it was only a little past 2:00 PM now.
"Who knows?" Wen Su squatted by the pond, carefully observing any changes in the pond, but after a few seconds he noticed something different.
"Isn't this water a bit dark?" Wen Su asked in confusion, reaching out to probe the pond water.
"Huh? What?" Zhou Ziqiu was holding a flashlight and looking around at the woods. Hearing Wen Su's question, he turned around to look at Wen Su a few seconds later, but then his eyes widened and he exclaimed, "Wen Su! Wen Su!"
Wen Su has disappeared.
Without a sound, it simply vanished before his eyes.
...
......
...
dark.
dark.
There was only darkness and the tide.
As soon as Wen Su entered the water, he felt water rushing towards him from all directions, as if it were going to drown him and crush him to death. Wen Su held his breath and was wondering why the water here was so repulsive to him when he felt the water around him suddenly disappear and a cold, damp air appeared. An ominous feeling spread in his heart.
Wen Su narrowed his eyes. Just as he was about to fall headfirst, he forcibly twisted his body in mid-air and rolled upon landing, dissipating the force of the impact.
He stood up and looked around, but all he saw was boundless darkness.
dark.
dark.
There was nothing but darkness, no light, and not even sound.
Wen Su pulled out the dagger from his waist and made a cut on his hand. The dripping blood began to burn in the air, illuminating the darkness. The dagger was also awakened by the blood, and the patterns on the blade glowed with a blood-red light.
But then, the light emitted from the burning blood was swallowed by darkness.
Wen Su raised an eyebrow slightly. Where is this place?
He dipped his hand in his own blood and drew a luminous talisman. A faint light emanated from it, though it was still swallowed by the boundless darkness, but it was no longer pitch black.
Wen Su wandered around aimlessly, but it was still dark.
After walking for a while, he lost patience, stopped, and checked the things he had brought with him. He found that everything except a dagger was soaked in water and unusable. For example, the talismans were so wet that they couldn't even be lit. Helpless, he took some water-soaked cinnabar and drew a formation on the ground. The formation was connected to form the Big Dipper, but it was different from the Seven Stars Wealth-Attracting Formation he had seen before. What he was drawing now was the Seven Gates Yang Wrath Formation.
The Seven Gates Yang Fury Formation works by using the seven gates of Maoshan philosophy to gather yang energy into an energy field to prevent it from dissipating. Then, the evil energy of the treasure blade is used to break the yang energy. At the moment the energy field breaks, the intensity of the yang energy is no less than that of borrowing yang, which can cause a strong impact on the surrounding yin energy.
After completing the drawing, he inserted the dagger into the eye of the formation, and almost immediately, the entire darkness trembled.
After the tremor, a scene appeared in front of Wen Su, like a movie playing in front of him.
how...?
Wen Su didn't know why these things appeared before his eyes, but they seemed somewhat familiar.
In the scene, people come and go on a street of unknown dynasty. Although it is a lively scene, a faint sense of sadness permeates the air. If you look closely, everyone's brows are slightly furrowed.
A child ran through the crowd with a windmill in his hand, singing in a childlike voice:
"檻弓箕服"
"The Zhou state was effectively destroyed"
The child hadn't run far when a group of tall, strong soldiers grabbed him by the collar. Some of the soldiers had broadswords at their waists and long spears in their hands. They all had thick eyebrows, big eyes, and long beards. Their rugged faces terrified the child in their arms, making him cry loudly.
"Whose child is this? Whose child is this? How could they let their child sing such a song? Are they trying to rebel?!"
The rough sounds echoed in the street, startling pedestrians who quickened their pace and moved away from the group of soldiers, creating an open space around them.
The scene was very realistic. Wen Su could hear the people talking away. Some were talking about which family's adults had let their children out to cause trouble, while others were lamenting the state of the world and fearing that the crumbling Zhou Kingdom would soon be attacked and conquered by Dayuan.
week?
Is it the Zhou Dynasty of the Xie family's two generals?
Wen Su frowned.
A woman dressed in coarse cloth emerged from the crowd, kneeling on the ground and crying as she clutched the soldiers' clothes, pleading, "Sir, sir, this is my child! My child is young and doesn't know what that song means, sir! Please forgive my child, sir!"
As she spoke, the woman knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly, splattering blood far and wide.
Upon hearing this, the leading soldier holding the child chuckled, his rough, sandpaper-like voice ringing out: "You say there's no truth to it, but who knows if someone behind you, woman, instructed you to instigate your child to do this to undermine the morale of the Zhou army! Guards!"
The officers and soldiers standing nearby stepped forward.
"Take this woman to jail!"
The woman cried even louder in fear, begging for mercy repeatedly, but she was still dragged a long way by the strong soldiers.
Wen Su frowned. Was this the reign of Emperor Xuan of Zhou? He remembered that Emperor Xuan of Zhou was weak and incompetent in governing the country. The Zhou Dynasty gradually fell into chaos under his rule. When Dayuan attacked, those high-ranking officials and nobles were still drinking and making merry and oppressing the people. It was Emperor Xuan of Zhou's eldest son, Emperor Jing of Zhou, who stepped forward, rectified the court, and reinstated the Xie family, who had been demoted for their high achievements, thus defeating Dayuan and extending the Zhou Dynasty for several more centuries.
All I knew was that things were chaotic at the time, but I never imagined that a mere soldier could arbitrarily deal with the people.
But then the scene changed, and Wen Su's pupils trembled, his eyes widening as if the scene before him was shocking.
"I never knew that a lowly officer or soldier had such great power."
A question tinged with amusement rang out, and two youths appeared from the street, one tall and one short. The tall youth wore a red robe and black boots, with a white jade crown on his head. He was handsome, exuding boundless charm and arrogant arrogance. The short youth wore a purple robe and a golden crown. He also had a fairy-like appearance, and his clothes were more luxurious than those of the youth beside him. Gold thread embroidered soaring cranes on the hem of his robe, exuding boundless nobility and gentle, jade-like refinement.
Perhaps it was a case of like repels like, but Wen Su found the tall boy's smile repulsive and turned his gaze to the short boy.
He recognized the boy as he grew up—calm, composed, and self-possessed, as if few things could touch his heart. But the boy before him seemed more vibrant, wearing his heart on his sleeve, showing joy when happy and anger when indignant, as lively as a playful celestial child, instantly endearing and inspiring one to want to give him the best of everything.
He reached out his hand, but then withdrew it.
Those around were stunned when they saw the two young men, then they all knelt down and bowed deeply, shouting in unison, "Greetings, Second Prince! Greetings, Young General!"
Second Prince? Young General?
Judging from their conversation, this is the Zhou Dynasty. The young general is Xie Xingzhou, whom Zhou Ziqiu discussed during the day. Therefore, the second prince must be Emperor Zhou Xuan's beloved youngest son.
Zhou Qinghe.
It's likely that Zhou Ziqiu desperately wanted to keep this secret, but subtle clues always slipped up, whether it was his delirious "Brother" when he was "feverish," Cui Yongle's hesitant remark, or the sudden roar and whimper of the police dog.
Zhou Ziqiu, no wonder you speak so highly of Xie Xingzhou, I've discovered your secret.
No, I should call you Zhou Qinghe.
As I pondered, the scene vanished, replaced by another, but the protagonist suddenly changed from two people to Xie Xingzhou alone. In the sparse and neat courtyard, he was practicing swordsmanship in his martial arts attire. Whether it was picking, chopping, slashing, thrusting, or stabbing, cutting, sweeping, or slashing, every movement was sharp and fierce, and the snow-white blade gleamed with a faint white light.
Wen Su noticed that Xie Xingzhou's knife was as slender as Zhou Ziqiu's, but there was something else that concerned him more—Xie Xingzhou's knife skills were similar to Zhou Ziqiu's, but with more power and killing intent.
It seems that his swordsmanship was taught by Xie Xingzhou. This makes sense, as the Second Prince was weak and the Emperor did not find a martial arts master to teach him. The only way he could come into contact with martial arts was through this young General Xie.
Wen Su raised an eyebrow, remained silent, and continued watching, wanting to see why this strange and mysterious place had placed Xie Xingzhou's life story for him.
But the footsteps behind him startled him from his sight. Wen Su turned around and saw that it was Zhou Ziqiu.
18:56:54
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
