Murong the scout was taken aback: "How did you know? Fishermen in this area have reported the most. And..." He pulled up a satellite image, "There were unusual energy fluctuations here three days ago, lasting for seventeen minutes."
Han Feng stared at the deep blue sea, and suddenly the three Star Mirrors within his body heated up simultaneously. His final, chilling words echoed in his mind—"The most conspicuous yet most easily overlooked place..."
"I'll make some preparations for you if you're going alone," Chen Feng said.
"There's no time." Han Feng interrupted him.
He turned to the representatives of the various powerful families: "Each family should select two elite soldiers to assemble tomorrow morning. Chen Feng, you will stay behind to coordinate the defense." He paused, then added, "Also, inform Elder Lin of Dongfang Wantang's prophecy and warn him to be wary of similar phenomena that might occur domestically."
After the meeting, Han Feng stood alone on the terrace. The downpour had stopped, but the night sky remained shrouded in dark clouds, not a single star visible. He stroked the Star Compendium in his hand, his thoughts drifting to the being with the Eye of the Stars—friend or foe? What was their connection to the Lord of Star Souls? Why had they chosen Ikegami Aya as their proxy?
He heard soft footsteps behind him. Liu Mengran came over with a coat and gently draped it over his shoulders: "Wantang is asleep, but her temperature is still a little high."
Han Feng grasped her hand and found it frighteningly cold: "How come you..."
"I overheard some discussions." Liu Mengran looked him straight in the eye. "You're going to R country?"
Han Feng didn't deny it, but pulled her closer: "Do me a favor. While I'm gone, keep an eye on Su Wanwan and Wantang. Especially Wantang; her divination abilities might attract that being's attention again."
Liu Mengran suddenly hugged him tightly, burying her face in his chest: "You must come back." The four simple words carried an undeniable force.
Han Feng lowered his head and kissed the top of her hair, inhaling the faint scent of jasmine. At this moment, he was not the Lord of Star Souls, nor a Dragon Abyss agent, but simply an ordinary man cherished by the one he loved.
"I promise you," he said softly, gazing at the dark clouds gathering again in the distance.
---This is the dividing line---
The gilded doors to the royal meeting room were tightly shut, and twelve guards stood outside like statues, their katanas gleaming coldly in the lamplight. Inside, the argument had been going on for three hours without ceasing.
"Disgrace! This is utter disgrace!" The white-haired prince slammed his fist on the table, the chrysanthemum pattern on his kimono cuffs trembling violently with the movement. "A woman dared to trespass on royal property and even leave a threat! What has become of the royal family's dignity?"
The younger prince opposite him sneered: "Third Uncle, didn't you see how she got in? The twelve barriers didn't react at all, and the thirty elite guards didn't even have a chance to draw their swords!" He lowered his voice, "This kind of being... is probably beyond human capability to contend with."
At the end of the long table, a lady-in-waiting suddenly spoke up: "I...I think she looks a bit like the young lady from the Ikegami family." Before she could finish speaking, she shuddered, "...It's Ikegami Aya, who ran away more than a year ago..."
The meeting room fell silent. The antique clock on the wall suddenly started ticking loudly, and the faces of several elderly members of the royal family visibly paled.
"Absurd!" The prince suddenly sprang to his feet, his withered hand pointing at the female official. "The Ikegami family is nothing but a vassal of the Matsui family! Even Matsui Ryuichi has to bow to me! What is the Ikegami family anyway—"
"But the Matsui family has been silent for three months," the young prince interrupted quietly. "And don't you find it strange? Since the celestial anomaly last month, supernatural events have been occurring frequently in various places, and when that 'Ikegami Aya' appeared, it was precisely during a seven-planet alignment..."
"Enough!" The prince waved his hand rudely. "Send the Kamikaze Corps to the Ikegami family tomorrow to demand the murderer! If they cannot hand over the culprit, punish them for disrespect!"
The crowd erupted into another argument. Some advocated contacting the military immediately, others suggested seeking help from the shrines, and still others, perhaps more timid, proposed a temporary evacuation from the Imperial Palace. Amidst the clamor, no one noticed that the current Emperor, seated in the main seat, remained completely silent.
The Emperor, dressed in a traditional yellow-dyed imperial robe, stood with his hands clasped in front of his abdomen, a posture he had maintained for three hours and seven minutes without a tremor in his fingertips. The candlelight flickered in his lifeless pupils, casting an eerie blue hue. If someone skilled in energy perception were present, they would have noticed a crystalline membrane, almost invisible to the naked eye, surrounding the Emperor, with a string of runes flashing every thirteen seconds.
"...Your Majesty the Emperor?" the lady-in-waiting asked cautiously, "What is your opinion?"
All eyes finally focused on the Emperor's throne. He slowly raised his head, his movements as precise as a marionette's. When he spoke, his voice carried a metallic resonance: "The Ikegami family... need not be pursued."
"What?!" The prince couldn't believe his ears.
The Emperor's lips curled upwards at an unnatural angle: "Tomorrow at noon, everyone... shall go to the shrine to offer prayers." Each word seemed to be forced from his throat by an unseen force. "This is... an imperial edict."
The young prince keenly sensed something amiss and quietly took a half-step back. Just as he was about to observe the Emperor's eyes again, the power suddenly went out in the conference room, plunging everything into darkness.
"What happened?"
"Guards! Someone come quick!"
In the chaos, only the lady-in-waiting, by the dim light of the emergency lamp, witnessed a scene she would never forget—the Emperor's head was tilting back unnaturally, his mouth torn to the roots of his ears, and a blue light flickering deep in his throat. But when the lights came back on, everything returned to normal, as if it had all been her imagination.
"The circuit malfunction has startled you all." The Emperor stood up, his movements suddenly fluid and natural. "Meeting adjourned."
The royal family members exchanged bewildered glances, but none dared to question it. After they left one by one, the Emperor stood alone in the center of the empty conference room, suddenly raising his hand to touch his cheek—a gesture that carried an inexplicable strangeness, as if he were using this body for the first time.
The Emperor turned and returned to his room. The heavy, soundproof door closed behind him, and he mechanically lowered the latch. His turning motion was like that of a rusty doll, with unnatural clicking sounds coming from his joints. The room was pitch black, with only the moonlight from the window outlining a blurry figure sitting on a throne.
The Emperor's knees slammed onto the carpet, his forehead pressed against the ground: "Your Majesty, the imperial edict has been issued to the Ikegami family as you wished."
His voice was dry and flat, a stark contrast to the imposing presence he had displayed in the conference room. After saying this, the Emperor remained kneeling motionless, like a tape recorder that had been paused.
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