Chapter 393

Chapter 394: Shadows in the Rain

In Sentinel Silence’s Ink City, a few figures hurried through the rain.

Thanks to advance planning by Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain and a short rest at a hotel, Yu Sheng’s team changed into outfits that would not draw attention in this city.

Zheng Zhi dressed like a local: he wore a dark rain-cape style coat made from an advanced composite and a bamboo hat traced with silver gray lines, and it fit Ink City’s weather perfectly. A weak force field around the brim kept out wind and rain, while the cape was light, warm, and blocked the damp chill.

Yu Sheng wore almost the same, except his cape bulged in front: Irene clung to the inside like a koala, only her head peeking out of his arms, as lazy as could be.

Immortal Yuan Hao barely changed his style. His Cultivator robes from Capital Planet were actually something of a trend in this Border city. He simply put away any ornaments that would mark him as Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain. In plain, neat clothes, he looked no different from any passerby if you ignored that Old Hunk face.

Foxy switched to a moon white gown with drifting elegance. Pale blue ripples ran along the hem. A ringed ornament at her waist swayed as she walked. She held a dark blue oil paper umbrella and stayed at Yu Sheng’s side; half of her nine tails stuck out into the rain and, once soaked, she shook them hard. In the hand not holding the umbrella, she gripped a chicken leg and took a bite now and then.

She did it on purpose, leaving her tails in the rain because shaking off water was fun.

Luna was the most special one near Yu Sheng. The marks of an Artificial Saintess were far too eye catching: a perfect but cold, pale face, a shell with a metallic sheen, and a height of two full meters. If she wore local clothes, she would stand out even more. So Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain had given her a different look ahead of time. She wore a black robe-dress dotted with silver stars and ringed star patterns that felt religious. With the black head veil she always wore, she looked fully like a nun. According to Immortal Yuan Hao, this was close to the Algladians’ Youth Form Maiden attire.

That was the title for Alglade women who listened to the stars and practiced astrology.

Sentinel Silence’s Border region lay close to Algladian space. A single light year away stood a Grand Youth Formgate that led straight to deeper Alglade star fields. People in this city were used to “alien visitors” in similar styles. Youth Form Maidens were secretive and had many personal dress habits, so even if Luna showed some nonhuman features, wearing this “nun’s dress” would keep most locals from staring.

The rain had eased a little since the team landed, but it still fell without end. As the fine threads of rain neared Luna, her invisible field pushed them aside, weaving a gauze-like veil at her side. Through it, she lifted her head and swept the area with multi-band radar again and again.

She spoke slowly: “Multiple high energy units, no hostility.”

Immortal Yuan Hao nodded and answered: “I sense it as well. Likely cultivators passing by. We are far from the city center, but near an ancient Refining Tower. The aura here is dense. It is a good place to practice.”

Yu Sheng thought a moment, then looked at the tall nephew beside him and asked: “Do you see or feel anything?”

Zheng Zhi adjusted his bamboo hat and shook his head: “No. Things seem normal here.”

Just then, Irene stuck her small head out from Yu Sheng’s collar and blurted: “Can you even tell what’s ‘normal’ and what’s ‘not’? Maybe you already saw some nasty Door thing and did not notice?”

Zheng Zhi scratched his cheek and explained fast: “Most of the time I can tell. By experience, anything abnormal clashes with the surroundings. From the vibe you can judge…”

He froze mid sentence, then snapped his hand up and pointed across the street: “Wait! Those two over there look off…”

Immortal Yuan Hao lifted his head, then pressed Zheng Zhi’s hand down and said with a calm smile: “Fellow Daoist Zheng, don’t make a fuss. Those are children dressed as drama characters. I checked before we came. There is a comic convention nearby.”

Irene stared and asked in surprise: “You cultivators have that kind of event too?”

Immortal Yuan Hao looked puzzled as he replied: “Why not?”

The little doll blurted: “It is not serious. It does not match your fairy-like style.”

Immortal Yuan Hao laughed and said: “That is a stereotype. Gathering while dressed in strange forms is ancient. Have you not heard of divine plays and shaman dances?”

Irene showed a face full of question marks: “?”

Yu Sheng coughed twice, then ran with it and said: “From the angle of free form, ancient spirit dancing might count as the earliest comic convention.”

The little doll thought hard, then looked shocked and said: “Right, right?!”

[She falls for things way too easily.] Yu Sheng felt bad about teasing her and let it drop.

They passed another intersection. As they moved closer to the City Outskirts, there were fewer and fewer people.

Immortal Yuan Hao began to frown from time to time, using his divine sense to feel small shifts in the aura around them. He sometimes slowed and looked toward the ancient Refining Tower that stood in the rain like a mountain. From this distance, it gave off a heavy pressure.

He muttered to himself: “Strange. Why did it vanish again…”

Irene poked her head out from Yu Sheng’s arms and asked: “Huh? What vanished?”

Immortal Yuan Hao thought aloud: “The places where aura clots and ley lines stall. When we descended, I swept the surface with my divine sense. I truly felt several wrong spots. Even a short while ago, when we were on Immortal Conclave Isle, I could sense odd signs in those directions. But now that we are near, the feeling is gone.”

Irene said without thinking: “They ran when they sensed us?”

Immortal Yuan Hao shook his head and answered: “I sensed earth veins and aura, not living things. Nature cannot run. If we must say it, then it was hidden.”

He paused, then added with some doubt: “But to hide such changes from my divine sense is not something an average person can do.”

Yu Sheng did not speak. He stared into the distance, lost in thought.

Rain swirled like mist. In the End Web district, the ore Refining Tower rose into the clouds. Two transport rails climbed from Ink City’s edge like thick blood vessels and joined the ancient, mountain-like mechanical megastructure. Lights on the rails and the Refining Tower flickered, and the rain made everything hazy. Lightning split the sky now and then. In those blinding flashes, the Giant Tower’s outline stood out. In the strobing light, it looked like it might topple, giving off a crushing weight.

Foxy, who had been shaking water from her tails, suddenly stopped. She frowned in doubt, sniffed in the rain, and said while tugging Yu Sheng’s sleeve: “Benefactor, I smell blood.”

Yu Sheng jolted and asked at once: “Blood? Where?”

Foxy sniffed the air and listened, her big silver fox ears twitching as if to catch tiny sounds through the wind and rain. She said: “Hard to judge in rain. But it just showed up, and it should be close.”

Immortal Yuan Hao’s brows drew tight. He lifted his hand and tapped the air as he said in a steady voice: “Clear Tranquility.”

A ripple as light as a breeze spread from his fingertip. An unseen force covered every inch around them. A clear chime rang. The rain curtain stopped for a heartbeat, frozen in midair like time itself had paused.

In the next second, he and Foxy raised their heads and pointed in the same direction as they said together: “Over there.”

Yu Sheng had no time to gasp at the Old Hunk’s skill. In the brief pause of rain, he sensed something different. It was not the smell of blood. He did not have Foxy’s nose.

He felt life draining away. A strong, living being was on the edge of death.

They charged toward the place the fox maiden and Immortal Yuan Hao had felt, running for a dim, abandoned district near the Giant Tower.

The stopped rain fell again. Distant thunder rolled. The city’s outline faded in the mix of thunder and rain. Buildings turned into abstract shapes caught between light and shadow, like fake backdrops on a screen. For a few short moments, the far off city vanished into jagged wild rocks and empty wastes, as if this planet had never been developed or even discovered.

Zheng Zhi could not keep up with these superhuman companions. Just as he fell behind, Immortal Yuan Hao glanced back. A soft breeze lifted Zheng Zhi under the ribs, and he felt as if he rose from the ground. He caught up with ease. As he relaxed for a breath, he looked forward again.

The massive ancient Refining Tower at the city’s rim was gone.

In its place yawned a pitch black crack, pure void, splitting the world from sky to ground and running through all of space.