Bright Moon Forest (VIII)
On the throne on the high platform in the main hall of the Fantasy Beast Hall, a woman leaned against the backrest, her slender snow-white ankles revealed under her blood-stained robe.
The midday sunlight shone through the huge skull of the mythical beast on the roof of the temple, dominating her like a stage spotlight.
Lucien stood in the shadows of a corner, his visor obscuring his expression. It felt as if he had been admiring her from this angle for years, ever since he joined the Phantasmal Beast Hall.
The palace door slowly opened, and a middle-aged man in uniform stepped into the main hall, his footsteps echoing in the empty hall.
Walking to the throne, he bowed slightly and said in a respectful yet cold tone, "Palace Master, it's been a long time since we last met. You are still as elegant as ever."
The person on the throne raised the corners of her lips slightly and sat as usual: "Good afternoon, Mr. Maotan." Having said that, she continued to look at the visitor with her chin, without any intention of greeting.
Mao Tan stood up straight, tapping the ground lightly with his cane. "The head of the family asked me to give you his regards. He heard there have been some internal problems at the Fantasy Beast Palace recently, so he sent me here to inquire about them. If there's anything you can help with, the Frost family will do its utmost and will not shirk its responsibility."
Hearing the word "mistake," Lucien's heart sank. He had a vague idea of what Maotan was referring to—a major safety incident had recently occurred in the laboratory. The gene stabilizing agent had been replaced with an unknown one. As a shadow guard, he had witnessed firsthand the test subjects who had gone haywire after being injected with that unknown agent. The test subjects, long reserved for several major families and awaiting delivery, had been nearly completely wiped out, resulting in heavy losses.
The Palace Master glanced at Mao Tan's cane and said casually, "The Frost family is well-informed. It's just some insignificant matter, but you're still bothering to come here in person."
Mao Tan bowed, his tone still respectful. "Palace Master, you are so kind. The stability of the Fantasy Beast Palace not only concerns the interests of several major families, but also affects the order of the entire federation."
The Palace Master's expression grew cold, his gaze piercing Mao Tan like a knife. "Mr. Mao Tan is so considerate, the Patriarch must be very pleased. Unfortunately, everyone in the Fantasy Beast Palace, including the Frost family, still has to address me, Flora, as the Palace Master. It's too early for you to be so concerned about the affairs of my palace."
Mao Tan lowered his head in silence upon hearing this. When he looked up again, a more respectful smile had been applied to his face. "Speaking of which, the family is still discussing the method for selecting the next heir to the Fantasy Beast Hall, and a conclusion will be reached soon. Then, I would like to invite the Hall Master to come and make a decision together."
Flora's expression remained unchanged, but dark red threads grew from her fingertips and coiled around her wrists. "I'll wait and see."
Mao Tan bowed slightly, and the light on the top of his cane gradually dimmed: "I have delivered my message. I'll take my leave now." After he said that, he turned and left.
Mao Tan's footsteps gradually faded away, and the door of the hall slowly closed. The dark red silk threads wrapped around Flora's fingertips to her wrists burst, breaking the silence that had fallen into the hall again.
Her eyes swept across the shadows in the corner of the temple, and her tone was cold and casual: "Lucian, come here."
Lucien's heart tightened, and he immediately stepped out from the shadows, knelt on one knee, and bowed his head in greeting: "Master Palace Master."
Flora's eyes fell on him, with a hint of scrutiny: "Did you hear everything?"
He raised his head, his eyes firm beneath his visor, "I only heard what I was supposed to hear, Lord Palace Master."
Flora chuckled and tapped the armrest with her fingertips. "What should I listen to? So what do you think I should listen to and what I shouldn't listen to?"
After a moment's silence, he whispered, "I only care about the safety of the Palace Master... and the Fantasy Beast Palace. I dare not, and do not want to, speculate on other matters."
Flora narrowed her eyes slightly: "Don't dare? Don't want to?"
Lucien's heart trembled. He knew Flora was suspicious of him. She had come to power illegitimately and had already eliminated too many people who posed a threat to her over the years. He had to be careful not to follow in their footsteps.
He lowered his head, his tone becoming more respectful: "I am a shadow guard, and I will never overstep my bounds in my duties."
Flora sneered and slowly rose from the throne, looking down at him. "Shadow Guard? Lucien, you are from the Frost family. How could you be content to be just an ordinary Shadow Guard?"
Yes, he was indeed unwilling to be just her shadow guard, but what he wanted was not the position of Palace Master, but just like her Palace Master position, it would never be handed to him by her personally.
A chill ran down her spine, spreading to her heart. Finally, the day had come. Frost's steward, Mao Tan, had protested, forcing her to find someone new to establish her authority. He, a descendant of the Frost family's side branch, was the best candidate.
"Palace Master, I have already drawn a clear line with the family. The only one I am loyal to is... only you." The voice was low, like a final confession.
"Allegiance? Lucian, is your allegiance precious?"
There was a hint of sweetness in his throat, and he lowered his head even more. "Master Palace Master, as long as you need me, I am willing to do anything for you."
Flora was silent for a moment, the coldness in her eyes slightly subsiding. She slowly walked down the platform, her tone still cold: "Stand up."
Lucien stood up, still with his head down, not daring to meet her gaze. However, she roughly lifted his chin with her hand, forcing him to meet her gaze. "Lucien, don't forget what you said today."
She sighed softly and let him go, a look of sadness between her brows that he had never seen before. "You know, I don't have many people available."
Lucian shuddered, a current surging from her fingertips into his veins, piercing his heart. Her eyes were now as dark as the abyss, as if they could devour all his sanity.
He knew that her sighs and her sorrows were all carefully woven webs, deliberately enveloping him. However, even though he knew that he was just a pawn on her chessboard, even though he foresaw that what awaited him might be endless exploitation and betrayal, he still couldn't resist.
"I won't forget," he said, as if swearing an oath. Every word came from the bottom of his heart, carrying a heavy weight.
Because she is Flora, and he can no longer turn back.
………………
The morning breeze in the forest mixed with the scent of dew lifted the door of the tent, revealing the rolled-up sleeping bag.
Mahuyu sat in front of the tent, his head dazed. The terminal showed that it was October 26, 308 Star Calendar, but his memory only lasted about a week ago.
He remembered that this time they came to the wild trial, they fought with a giant centipede, and then he fainted. Then he woke up and touched a black snake, and then he fainted again.
My head hurts.
While those who had given their testimony were busy packing their luggage, they pricked up their ears and paid attention to Mahuyu's movements.
"Are you awake?" The first person to notice that Mahuyu opened his eyes and sat up was Kaiya, who had been assigned the task of care along the way.
A green parrot was jumping around at Kaia's feet. The red feathers on its head had been dyed green, making it look like an ordinary yellow-level emerald parrot.
All the tasks of this trial have been successfully completed, even surpassed, and it's time to return home. From today on, the three new phantom beasts will clean up their act and become beasts anew.
Crystal's bag always contained some unusual materials. She dyed the parrot's feathers yellow and green overnight, and whitened the scales of the Nether Horned Python, disguising it as a regular horned python. However, these makeshift dyes weren't waterproof. When the snake crawled through a puddle, any part of it that came into contact with water would ooze white liquid.
The stone man originally had the ability to change his body. After some discussion and research, it turned into the appearance of a small stone turtle, corresponding to the mysterious beast Stone Spirit Turtle.
"Is your head still hurting?" Crystal also came over to ask about her well-being.
Mahuyou stared at everyone in a daze. After a while, he snorted and asked, "Did you take the wrong medicine?"
Crystal rolled her eyes back into her eye sockets and pretended not to hear.
Yuzhu tried hard not to laugh out loud, "You were attacked on the head by a centipede before, and we were all very worried about you." Oh my God, she was really not good at lying.
Isn’t that right?
Nothing felt right to Mahuyo. It was as if the entire week had vanished into nothingness. Furthermore, even the vague fragments of the previous week he could still recall seemed to be hidden behind frosted glass; the harder he tried to see, the more blurry they became.
For example, the mythical beasts moving around at their feet, except for the cat and the deer, he had no impression of the rest.
Kaiya cupped his hands over his chest. "Oh my god, it seems you're seriously injured. Have you forgotten? In Bright Moon City, we went shopping for mythical beast supplies, and you went to buy some self-heating rice."
Then the damn self-heating rice attracted the rust centipede.
No, he remembered that he had clearly gone shopping alone... Wait... Is that so... It seemed, possibly, perhaps, probably, that they had indeed gone together...
Memories are rolling, but they cannot break through the thick layer of frosted glass, and can only mix into more illogical blocks of color behind the glass.
These were the esper beasts they'd purchased from Bright Moon City... well, since they weren't raised by themselves, their health and bloodline purity couldn't be guaranteed, so they were just cheap. It wasn't surprising that those poor souls would do something like this to save money.
Moreover, such transactions are illegal, and only in Bright Moon City, a remote area with a mixed population, can it be purchased in a fantasy beast supplies store in broad daylight.
He decided to let the topic go and address the next question, "Where's the black snake with horns?"
"Oh, that snake," Kaiya glanced at the Nether Horned Python with a guilty look on his face, and began to make up stories with his eyes open. "You fainted from fright, so you didn't know. It walked up to us and recognized the horned python Yuzhu bought. It just happened to be the great-grandson of the nephew of his old lover's aunt's sister-in-law. So, they're related, so they chatted for a while and then left."
Linyin crossed her arms, Yuzhu and Shuijing pretended to go back to organize their equipment. Someone couldn't help laughing and quickly covered it up with a cough.
"Nonsense!" Mahuyu was unconvinced and wanted to question further, but then something else occurred to him. He abruptly stood up from the ground, his movements so violent that he felt dizzy and had to hold on to a nearby tree. "Okay, I've been unconscious for days, and you didn't contact the forest rangers for emergency medical help. I'm going to report you!"
Linyin and the others exchanged glances, then tacitly shut up, not bothering with him. After their outing, everyone returned with their mythical beast companions, but he alone returned with a blunt-force trauma to his head and a tampered "truth."
It's miserable, let him go.
………………
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