Chapter 374

Chapter 375: Heart Probe

Behind a thin, misty barrier, Yuan Hao and Yuan He looked at the Black Robed Cultivator sitting blankly on the bed in his cell. After a long while, Immortal Yuan He spoke, a bit hesitant: “He looks well fed.”

Yu Sheng said casually: “They just pumped him up these two days. I heard they feed him more than a dozen kinds of Elixir a day. Those things are rich and easy to absorb, and someone helps with refining.”

Immortal Yuan Hao thought, then turned to Yuan Ling: “Junior brother, is there a chance you could concentrate the Elixirs you use on evil prisoners? Stronger medicine would save you effort.”

Immortal Yuan Ling answered at once, very proper: “You cannot just concentrate Elixirs. If the effect is too fierce, it harms the body. You need balancing and soothing ingredients. Even if he is an evil prisoner, I am still a physician. A physician must have compassion. I prescribe him half a jin of Qi-Calming Powder every day.”

The veiled gate guard said softly: “Master, his reflexive resistance grew worse the last two times he took medicine. He struggles even under confusion.”

Immortal Yuan Ling raised a brow: “Then add another half jin of Qi-Calming Powder, and deliver two jin of Replenishing Soup.”

He stroked his beard and sighed again: “A physician must have compassion.”

Yuan Hao and Yuan He both shivered. Yuan He whispered to his eldest senior brother: “I think second senior brother is doing it on purpose.”

Immortal Yuan Hao muttered: “No kidding.”

While they spoke, Immortal Yuan Ling formed an incantation gesture at the cell door. The hazy screen covering the room flickered, and an entrance opened.

Immortal Yuan Ling said: “Xuan Che, you and Lin Lang guard the door. We will go ask questions.”

Xuan Che and the gate guard bowed: “Yes.”

Carrying Irene, Yu Sheng followed the three senior brothers into the plain cell that held only a single bed.

The instant he stepped through the entrance in the misty light, the world changed. His senses felt a strange lag. The small cell stretched wide, then the walls and roof collapsed without a sound. Heaven and earth appeared.

In a blink, he stood in a desolate mountain forest. A crooked little path ran through the trees. The sky was dim, a fine rain fell, and the path was muddy. By the roadside stood a small tea hut with a simple rain awning. A thin layer of spiritual energy rose outside the awning to fend off the rain. A small Jade Token hung under the eaves, and a projected sign in front of it showed the word “Tea.”

The three ahead of him, Yuan Ling, Yuan Hao, and Yuan He, had somehow become travelers in rain capes and Bamboo Hats, walking naturally through the drizzle. Yu Sheng glanced down and found a rain cape and a large Bamboo Hat on himself too, while Irene hid inside his cape.

The Doll whispered from his arms: “This is fun. It’s much more precise than normal dreams.”

Yu Sheng blinked and saw the three seniors step under the awning. A few guests sat at the scattered tables, waiting out the rain. At one table sat the Black Robed Cultivator, still dressed as he was in the cell, still in the same pose, sitting stiffly with a dazed look as if he had been here a very long time.

Yu Sheng joined Immortal Yuan Ling at the table across from the man. Yuan Hao and Yuan He quietly took seats in two other corners under the awning, as if each “anchored” a certain spot.

Immortal Yuan Ling motioned to Yu Sheng: “Sit,” and Yu Sheng sat beside the Black Robed Cultivator.

Soft rain fell on the awning, a steady sound that made people drowsy and strangely low in spirit.

The Black Robed Cultivator slowly raised his head to look at the uninvited guests. After a long time, he murmured like sleep talk: “Is the mountain road open?”

Immortal Yuan Ling took off his Bamboo Hat and set it by the table: “Not yet. The rain is heavier over there.”

“This rain has fallen for so long. I cannot remember when it began,” the Black Robed Cultivator said dully. “I remember sitting here the whole time. The sky never turns dark or bright. People come and people go, and I just sit here. Are you from outside? What is it like outside?”

Immortal Yuan Ling’s voice was calm: “Outside, it is also rain, also a small road, also travelers hiding from it.”

“Outside is also a tea hut?”

“It is also a tea hut.”

A squeaking, creaking sound came from nearby. Yu Sheng looked up. An old Automaton in a gray short coat rolled out from the Little House by the hut. It wore a paper Mask with the character for “runner” on its face and held a tray of tea. Wheels groaned under its body. The machine waiter rolled to the table, set down a few bowls of tea, and made a tinny greeting.

The Black Robed Cultivator glanced at it and said slowly: “It has kept me company for many years. It is starting to rust.”

Immortal Yuan Ling asked like small talk: “You are not from here, are you?”

The Black Robed Cultivator hesitated, then shook his head: “No.”

“Where is your hometown?” asked Immortal Yuan Ling.

Even in his muddled state, the man frowned, a hint of struggle showing in his eyes.

Sensing it, Immortal Yuan Ling stayed calm and added lightly: “I have been to a place called ‘Sentinel Silence.’”

The man’s eyes trembled, as if his mind were washed by a higher tier of awareness. He went blank for a few seconds, then spoke like in a dream: “Ah, Sentinel Silence. It is a beautiful planet. At night, Flower Barges parade through the city.”

Immortal Yuan Ling asked softly, half leading him: “It always rains on that planet, right?”

The Black Robed Cultivator closed his eyes: “Yes. In the big cities near the equator, it is always raining. It rains four hundred days a year.”

A low hum ran through the world.

In Yu Sheng’s eyes, everything shifted again. The dim sky turned to deep night. The forests on both sides swayed and flickered into neon high rises. The modern towers had carved beams and rising spiritual light, shaped with an immortal style. The muddy path became a wide street lit by lampposts. Dense rain splashed on the road. Puddles reflected the look of this Border Night City.

Not far away, a Canopy Barge wrapped in talisman light glided between buildings with a few tourists on deck. An Automaton Bird perched atop a lamppost, a Spirit Mirror clamped in its beak, scanning the street with sharp attention. Three or five young people walked by under umbrellas, chatting as they passed the tea hut’s awning.

Inside, the old Automaton in gray turned into a graceful woman in a plain white dress, wearing a silver fox Mask. The mechanisms inside her ticked softly.

Even this simple mountain tea stall changed into a bright roadside tea shop. By the counter floated a Spirit Mirror. The hologram before it showed clouds over immortal peaks, playing a tourism ad for Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain.

The Black Robed Cultivator lifted his head and looked around. After a long while, a thin light rose in his eyes.

Immortal Yuan Ling’s voice came at the right time: “Home is so good. Why leave?”

The man hesitated and muttered like to himself: “Right. Why leave…”

After a moment, he shook his head: “We must find that thing. Only then can we sleep in peace.”

Immortal Yuan Ling watched his eyes and asked quietly: “What are you looking for? The Sovereign’s Legacy?”

“The Sovereign’s Legacy… yes, the Sovereign’s Legacy,” the man said, wavered, and still nodded gently. “Find it, and all will be steady.”

“Who sent you to find it?” asked Immortal Yuan Ling at once.

The man’s doubt and struggle flared again. He did not answer.

Immortal Yuan Ling did not let the hesitation take root. He changed tack at once: “How is Elder Yun Qing Zi?”

The man’s face went blank for a beat, like his inner logic had just been cut. After two seconds, he drifted out: “Our patron… our patron is well, and not well. His wounds have healed, but he says his Heart Demons are not solved. We must find the Sovereign’s Legacy so he can settle down.”

Yu Sheng and Immortal Yuan Ling traded a glance.

The intel matched.

Immortal Yuan Ling asked again in a low voice: “What exactly is the Sovereign’s Legacy? Why will Yun Qing Zi only ‘settle’ after he gets it?”

“The Sovereign’s Legacy is the Sovereign’s Legacy. The patron said we will understand once we find it,” the man murmured. “He said it has great power, power to change the world. The patron wants that power. He also said his Heart Demons are heavy, but we do not understand. He can go to the skies and under the earth, move mountains and fill seas. Why does he still seem afraid of something? He will not tell us. He says our cultivation is too low. If we hear it, we will only worry. Better to not know.”

Listening quietly and not cutting in, Yu Sheng felt a jolt in his heart: [So Yun Qing Zi is afraid of something. That is why he clings to the Sovereign’s Legacy.] [Is it tied to the unknown enemy he met a thousand years ago?]