Chapter 154 Good Brothers (Two-in-One)
The Spirit Bird docked on the left side of Beikun City, near the head of the giant whale. This place is called the Water Gate, a designated docking area for ships.
Because of the unique terrain, once you disembark here, you can see the entire view of Beikun City.
Standing on the helm were Situ Lingkui and Baili Mo.
Situ Lingkui maintained the same expression throughout. No matter how realistic the skin texture was, the expression in her eyebrows and eyes remained unchanged.
Baili Mo appeared very refined, even frail, and spoke slowly as he directed the mechanical sorcerers on the Spirit Bird to dock the ship securely.
As soon as the Spirit Bird came to a stop, Baili Mo stared at the place in the distance where thick smoke was billowing. A tower-like building was half destroyed, and the runes on the tower were bright, protecting the other half of the building which was burning with fire and thick smoke.
The ground radiating from the tower collapsed, revealing large, dark voids, some of which still had scattered embers at their edges.
“That location… should be the Communications Institute. No wonder we couldn’t get in touch with them before.” Baili Mo stared at the collapsed area below the half-tower and pondered, “It seems that the incident occurred first in Beikun City, which is why the news about the Sea Eye was delayed.”
However, with all that black smoke and flames, it's hard to tell exactly what's going on.
Situ Lingkui gazed at the place in Beikun City where black smoke was billowing, and spoke in a clear, crisp voice, exuding a chilling aura: "Ring the bell to find someone."
Baili Mo bowed his head and accepted the order. He reached out to the person beside him, who then handed him a bow and arrow.
This second grandmother of the Situ family seemed uninterested and in no hurry to find out anything else; what she cared about most right now was finding Situ Jin.
The Spirit Bird had already docked at the shore, while on the other side, Murong Lie and his group were disembarking with some of the mechanical sorcerers to join the sorcerers from Beikun City who had rushed to the water gate upon receiving the news.
Ou Rushuang did not follow them. He stood on the edge of the highest deck, with Zhang Xiangyun and the other two behind him. Ou Rushuang had his back to the three men, his gaze fixed on the half-tower belching black smoke ahead, his expression unreadable.
In Beikun City, a golden ancient bell hangs atop each tower. Golden bells are scattered throughout, but only after the large golden bell on the Phoenix Tower is rung can the other golden bells be rung.
Baili Mo drew his bow and aimed at the phoenix tower directly in front of a golden crow. On both sides of the tower were outstretched crimson wings, and the lifelike phoenix wings were still dripping with red light.
The phoenix's wings overlapped layer upon layer, gradually decreasing in number until, at the very top, only two slender phoenix feathers received the shimmering golden light emanating from the golden crow.
The Great Golden Bell is located in the throat of the Phoenix Tower.
The gentle and refined Baili Mo drew his bow, his body radiating protective energy. When he used the five elements, he became incredibly sharp, and even the slight tightening of his fingers was filled with a formidable power.
His gaze was fixed on the Great Golden Bell. He gathered all his strength into one arrow, released the bowstring, and the people on the helm heard the sound of air being cut. The long arrow disappeared with a "whoosh," flying towards the Great Golden Bell at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
The moment the long arrow struck the great golden bell, it only shook slightly without making a sound. The bell shook, releasing an invisible shockwave, followed by a series of deep and loud chimes. Centered on the great golden bell, the sound spread in all directions of Beikun City, and the golden bells on other towers also chimed in a low tone.
The target that the shockwave spreading from the Great Golden Bell was searching for was not an outsider, but Wen Yangzhou and Situ Jin.
The invisible aura emanating from the Golden Bell can penetrate every corner of Beikun City, whether above or below ground. As long as the target is in Beikun City, it will definitely be detected.
Situ Lingkui moved her eyes and looked towards the back of Beikun City.
A melodious phoenix cry rang out from afar, and a red light shot into the sky, vaguely revealing the figure of a fire phoenix circling and dancing. Immediately afterwards, behind the whale tail of Beikun City, a second red light shot into the sky.
"Huh?" Baili Mo looked surprised when he saw the two locations. He lowered his bow and stroked his chin with his other hand, saying, "How come they are so far apart? How did they manage to avoid the Spirit Bird's patrols and arrive before us?"
Situ Lingkui didn't ask any further questions and directly ordered, "Bring the person back."
The Situ family sorcerers behind her responded and immediately scattered, using their wind-riding techniques to rush towards the two beams of red light.
Seeing that Situ Lingkui had also moved, Baili Mo turned his neck to look at her: "Second Grandmother, are you going too? What about the Sea Eye..."
Situ Lingkui stopped and turned to look at him, her expression unreadable, but it made Baili Mo withdraw his hand from his chin and subconsciously perk up to deal with her.
"Please go and take a look first," Situ Lingkui said.
Baili Mo nodded repeatedly in agreement and watched Situ Lingkui leave following the guidance of the red phoenix light. After the person left, he raised his hand to scratch his head and sighed softly as he looked at the half-tower emitting black smoke.
Another troublesome matter has been handed over to him.
Baili Mo led his men off the ship and saw Murong Lie and the others waiting on the road ahead.
The person who came to greet them was the second city lord of Beikun City.
The Second City Lord was a tall young man. Although he was a mechanical sorcerer, he did not belong to any of the four great mechanical families.
After listening to the Second City Lord's explanation, Murong Lie's expression turned serious, making his already stern appearance even more intimidating.
"How is it?" Baili Mo walked over slowly. "What's the situation up ahead?"
“It sounds like nonsense.” Murong Lie looked at the solemn Second City Lord and said in a deep voice, “But it seems to be the case.”
Baili Mo looked at the Second City Lord and heard him repeat his direct explanation: "Three days ago, a sea eye fell from above onto Beikun City, affecting areas such as the Communication Institute, Puyang Tower, and the Hammering Platform."
"The sea eye fell down from above?" Baili Mo laughed upon hearing this and even gestured with his hand. He stared at the Second City Lord but noticed that the other party wasn't laughing, so he withdrew his hand. "Are you sure it's the sea eye?"
"Many people saw it at the time. There were many sorcerers forging mechanisms on the forging platform." The second city lord gestured for them to look at the half-tower emitting black smoke in front of them. "The appearance of the sea eye this time was completely unexpected and illogical. It ignored all the defensive barriers of Beikun City. The golden conch did not detect any abnormalities. After its brief appearance, it did not devour everything inside the sea eye."
As the second city lord explained, recalling the scene that had occurred, his Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice became somewhat hoarse with lingering fear: "The sea eye appeared quickly and disappeared just as fast. Because the Communications Institute was swallowed up, we were unable to contact our superiors to inform them. On the other hand..."
“There is fire in the eye of the sea.” The Second City Lord pointed to the embers remaining on the edge of the collapsed area and said, “It is a fire that can devour the five elements. At first, it was impossible to extinguish, and there was no way to enter the fire to inspect it. Fortunately, it does not spread, and as it burns, the fire becomes smaller and smaller.”
Baili Mo found these words absurd at first glance, but looking at the remaining embers and the half-destroyed Puyang Tower, as well as the collapsed ground and burning black smoke, he felt that what the Second City Lord said might actually be true.
This is not a good situation.
Baili Mo was troubled.
The second city lord led them to the edge of the collapsed area. Black flames flickered, and the smell of burning fire could be smelled from afar. The flames were less than a foot high, and even if you got close, you could not feel the heat.
There were many mechanical sorcerers nearby marking areas where embers still lingered, signaling others not to approach.
Baili Mo wanted to take another step forward, but the Second City Lord stopped him with a hand: "If you are accidentally burned, it will be impossible to put out."
Murong Lie tore off the empty brocade pouch he was wearing at his waist and threw it over. The flames, which seemed to be about to go out, suddenly grew several feet higher after the pouch landed, instantly burning the pouch to ashes.
After seeing this, Baili Mo silently took two steps back, creating some distance.
Murong Lie's expression was rather grim: "The appearance of the sea eye out of thin air is already a strange occurrence, and now it has brought with it this bizarre flame..."
After a moment of contemplation, Baili Mo suggested, "This time, I'm afraid we should send the people from Shuizhou over to take a look."
Murong Lie and he exchanged a glance. Both of them knew about Shui Zhou's research on how the Sea Eye could deal with the strange fire. Now, their own people were saying that the Sea Eye had suddenly appeared and swallowed half of the tower and the Communication Institute of Beikun City, and that after the Sea Eye left, it left behind this strange, inextinguishable flame.
These things made it hard for the two not to think of the existence of the strange fire.
Murong Lie asked, "Where are the others?"
The second city lord said, "The flames have blocked the way up, making it impossible to enter. So the first city lord led the others underground to try and get into the center. But because there are many places below that are not interconnected, we still need to clear the way, and we haven't come up yet."
At this point, the Second City Lord couldn't help but feel uneasy: "This time, the losses for us are enormous. Many goods that need to be delivered next month are gone, and it seems that several underground warehouses have also been affected by the Sea Eye..."
“We’ll calculate the losses later. The most important thing right now is to resolve the Sea Eye issue. Otherwise, if it comes again, our losses will be much greater than what we have now.” Murong Lie interrupted him and turned to Baili Mo, saying, “Go back to the Spirit Bird and send the message back. I’ll go down and take a look.”
Baili Mo nodded, glancing at the still-burning flames before leaving, his heart filled with doubt and unease.
Ou Ru stood with his hands behind his back, facing away from the three people behind him. His expression was indifferent. He had been looking at the place where black smoke was rising, but the cry of the fire phoenix and the soaring red light made him shift his gaze to the back of Beikun City.
He remained silent for a long time, and the silence made the three people behind him feel uncomfortable.
Luo Fu stood with his arms crossed, expressionless, leaning against the edge of the boat. He seemed calm and collected, but the veins on his forehead were bulging. He even forgot to separate Zhang Xiangyun and Nian Qiuyan.
Although Zhang Xiangyun's injuries had been treated, the large bloodstains on his clothes still looked appalling. At this moment, sweat was pouring down his forehead, and he had put aside his usual carefree attitude, showing more respect when facing Ou Rushuang. His face was also pale and weak.
Nian Qiuyan stood next to Zhang Xiangyun, her eyes lowered, quietly trying to minimize her presence.
Judging from Zhang and Luo's attitude, Nian Qiuyan knew that the person Zhang Xiangyun wanted to obtain the Milky Way Water was Ou Rushuang, one of the Taiyi Agricultural Saints.
Ou Rushuang said calmly, "You followed me here, weren't you here to give me the thing?"
Zhang Xiangyun replied in a hoarse voice, "The item is lost and hasn't been found yet. We came here to confirm its location, but we ran into the ocean eye..."
Before he could finish speaking, Ou Rushuang interrupted him, asking, "Then where is it located?"
Ou Rushuang turned around, her calm gaze sweeping over Zhang Xiangyun before landing on Nian Qiuyan, whose eyes were lowered. She spoke slowly, "Was it lost, or was it given to someone else?"
Zhang Xiangyun, who also had a keen eye for the autumn geese, decided to leave the question to him.
Ou Rushuang stared at Nian Qiuyan, seemingly calm and composed, but the three of them could feel a targeted sense of oppression. She was silently and invisibly choking them, pressing down on their shoulders and heads, causing their hearts to race and their minds to panic and panic.
When people are in a panic, they have no time to think.
“It’s lost.” Nian Qiuyan looked up at Ou Rushuang and met her calm yet turbulent gaze. She said neither humbly nor arrogantly, “The special toxicity of the Milky Way Water can only be neutralized by the Six Mysterious Wood. The Six Mysterious Wood grows deep in the sea and is beyond the reach of ordinary people. It was originally placed here, and we never expected that the sea eye would erupt one day.”
Ou Rushuang's expression didn't change after hearing this. She continued to stare at Nian Qiuyan and asked, "You mean that the sea eye swallowed the Six Mysterious Wood that contained the Milky Way water?"
Nian Qiuyan said, "Given the current situation, it's not impossible."
Ou Rushuang turned to look at Zhang Xiangyun: "What do you think? Is that possible?"
Zhang Xiangyun lowered his head and said, "That is indeed possible."
Ou Rushuang nodded and said, "Then you should go and look in the sea eye."
Upon hearing this, even Luo Fu, who had remained silent, twitched his eyelids and looked up at Ou Rushuang along with Zhang Xiangyun. The two of them were well aware of Ou Rushuang's style of doing things.
Since Ou Rushuang has said so, she will really let them go into the sea eye to retrieve the items.
But if you go into the sea eye to find the Milky Way water, you won't come out alive.
Besides... it's not necessarily true that the Milky Way's water was swallowed by the ocean eye.
Zhang Xiangyun gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice, "There is another possibility."
"Oh?" Ou Rushuang raised an eyebrow as she listened to Zhang Xiangyun say, "A few days ago, Mei Liangyu, Xing Chun, and Zhong Lishan also came to the Abyss Sea and disappeared in the sea. I suspect that Mei Liangyu took the Milky Way Water. Since the Milky Way Water was stolen, Mei Liangyu has been secretly investigating."
Ou Rushuang turned around again and looked back at the direction of the half-tower belching black smoke: "Since you have a suspect, what are you waiting for? Do you want me to go find it myself?"
Zhang Xiangyun said in a deep voice, "No, we'll go find someone now."
“You and Nian Qiuyan are both disciples of the Fangji family, skilled in divination. Finding someone shouldn’t be difficult for you,” Ou Rushuang said. “Let’s find them before we leave.”
Zhang Xiangyun clenched his fist, placed it to his lips, and coughed softly: "I am injured and lack strength. I am afraid that the divination will go wrong. Let Nian Qiuyan do it. He is better than me in this regard."
These words drew everyone's attention to Nian Qiuyan.
Nian Qiuyan sighed, "I only have one divination left today."
Zhang Xiangyun said with a forced smile, "I think you don't want to find Mei Liangyu. Mei Liangyu taking away the Milky Way Water was also at your behest, wasn't it?"
Nian Qiuyan didn't even look at him: "What benefit would I get from doing this?"
Zhang Xiangyun sneered, "You know it yourself."
Ou Rushuang turned to the side, ignoring the two's argument, and walked towards Nian Qiuyan. Under Zhang Xiangyun's slightly gloating gaze, he reached out and gently patted Nian Qiuyan's shoulder. Nian Qiuyan groaned and frowned.
"Find the person, and get back what you lost." Ou Rushuang gently pressed her hand on Nian Qiuyan's shoulder. It didn't seem like she was using much force, but you could see the sweat on Nian Qiuyan's forehead. "The sea eye can be an excuse for losing things, but it can also be the cause of your death, preventing you from returning to shore."
Nian Qiuyan could feel an incomparably powerful force of the Five Elements gripping his heart, making it difficult for him to breathe. Under such pressure, he took a deep breath, slightly tugged at the corner of his mouth, and smiled with a hint of helplessness: "I was just thinking, if Mei Liangyu had found the Milky Way in the sea and encountered danger and was unable to go ashore, he would have summoned the Sage Chang Gen long ago."
Ou Rushuang smiled slightly and said, "I see. You're waiting for Mei Liangyu to summon Saint Changgen?"
Nian Qiuyan said, "I'm thinking that maybe it wasn't Mei Liangyu who took it at all."
“Okay.” Ou Rushuang nodded and said, “Then the three of you go and search in the sea eye.”
As soon as Nian Qiuyan raised her eyes, she was forced to kneel down by a force. Ou Rushuang withdrew her hand and looked at Zhang Xiangyun beside her: "Because of the Milky Way Water, the academy was investigated, the Divine Machine Pseudo-Beast was lost, and the outer city's stronghold was also lost. How many Xuan Kui members died? The Milky Way Water still hasn't been found. Is this how you do things?"
Zhang Xiangyun lowered his head and said, "Please give me another chance, and I will definitely get it back."
"Before we find him, let's throw him into the sea." Ou Rushuang's gaze was icy as she looked at Nian Qiuyan, who was kneeling on the ground and couldn't get up.
Zhang Xiangyun hesitated for a moment, then Nian Qiuyan supported herself with one hand and said with a slight smile, "Please calm down, sir. I will do the last divination today."
Ou Rushuang had no way to relax and still said coldly, "If you can't find him, throw him into the sea."
He withdrew the Five Elements Qi that had been suppressing Nian Qiuyan, and Nian Qiuyan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Before Nian Qiuyan could wipe the chill from his forehead, he tore off the sacred wooden talisman tied to his waist, drew a circle on the ground with one hand, placed the talisman in the center, and after writing several incantations, input Mei Liangyu's information into it. Terrain patterns appeared on the divination chart, and a wisp of golden light floated out from the talisman, transforming into the character "Mei" above the chart and swaying uncertainly.
The soul-fixing divination method of the Fangji family is the most accurate for finding lost items and people.
Nian Qiuyan had provided enough information to Zhan Tu, all of which was related to Mei Liangyu. After providing enough information, the complex mountain, water, forest, and sea topographical patterns on the map began to rotate.
The golden "plum" character returned to the sacred wooden divination stick.
Seeing that Nian Qiuyan flipped the sacred wooden slip over with almost no effort, Zhang Xiangyun's expression was momentarily complicated.
The black slip of paper began to flash different patterns:
Blue, flowing seawater patterns.
A crimson, flickering flame.
The collapsed ground was emitting black smoke.
The tower is now only half-built.
Nian Qiuyan picked up the sacred wooden talisman, stood up from the ground, and handed it to Ou Rushuang, whispering, "He must not be too far away."
Ou Rushuang looked down at the position marked by the divine wood divination stick, then turned to look into Beikun City. The place emitting black smoke could also be seen from the Spirit Bird.
“If you can find Mei Liangyu’s location, you can also find where the Milky Way is.” Ou Rushuang raised her eyes again and stared at Nian Qiuyan. “If you insist on casting three divinations a day, I won’t make things difficult for you. The two of them will go to find Mei Liangyu. You wait here until the time comes, and then cast another divination to find the location of the Milky Way.”
Nian Qiuyan seemed to have no complaints, and put away the sacred wood talisman with a low laugh: "How can this be considered difficult? I'd be quite happy to rest here."
Zhang Xiangyun glanced at him, thinking to himself what nonsense he was talking about. Staying here with Ou Rushuang was the most uncomfortable thing, but it was Nian Qiuyan who was uncomfortable, so he didn't care. He then accepted the order and said, "I'll go find Mei Liangyu first."
Luo Fu, who was leaning against the edge of the boat, straightened up and prepared to act.
There are many hidden layers beneath Beikun City.
The forging platform is also divided into two levels, the upper level is on the ground and the lower level is underground. The forging furnace fires are connected and will not go out as long as the furnace is not turned off.
The furnace used by the mechanical family was also quite special, requiring a special kind of mysterious gold stone to ignite. It was not only difficult to find but also very expensive. However, the sea eye simply took the furnace and the fire with it.
The four great families of mechanical engineering forge not only mechanical shafts here, but also all sorts of extraordinary weapons and treasures.
The underground levels of Beikun City are mostly warehouses, storing a large amount of forging materials and the completed mechanisms. Large mechanical items are placed below, as are items that need to be kept secret and cannot be exposed to light.
The underground city of Beikun has a very complex terrain, which was originally intended to maintain secrecy. However, with the disturbance caused by the sea eye, the complex terrain has become quite troublesome. Because the strange flames are blocking their way, they cannot directly enter the center to assess the damage and situation, so the city lord and his entourage have no choice but to take a detour.
However, if they encounter flames from the sea eye ahead, they cannot break through and must find another way to go around it.
In the upper part of Beikun City, the deepest part underground is the "Panlong Grottoes".
The seeping grotto is covered with a dense array of openings. In the center are several large Buddha statues of varying heights. The largest one is a seated Buddha with a kind face and a slight smile, as if gently responding to everyone who looks at it.
To its left and right are two standing Buddhas, with imposing and valiant figures, holding vajras and in the posture of subduing demons and conquering heaven, their eyes filled with a majestic and fierce fighting spirit.
Water seeps into the stone surface, deepening its color. The wide, seemingly endless wall is covered with hundreds of small niches, some empty and others filled with various trinkets.
Beneath the grotto wall was a straight passageway, and beyond the passageway was a frozen underground river. On both the frozen underground river and the water-stained grotto wall, there was a ring of flickering flames, trapping the three people who had been left in the passageway by the sea eye.
Xing Chun squatted on the bank by the dim light of the fire, looking down at the ice. His reflection was blurry. He touched his chin, then pinched his cheek, sighed softly, and turned back to look:
His two good brothers were still fast asleep, leaning against the corridor wall.
One is that the toxins in the body have not been cleared, and the other is that the five elements of energy in the sea eye have been excessively consumed, and the disorder of the five elements has not been restored.
Xing Chun patted his face and stood up, thinking to himself, "It's just me left. I have to hold on. I have to leave one of them alive to collect their corpses."
[Author's Note]
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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