Chapter 285: Adapting to the Darkness
This novel is translated and hosted on BCatranslation
Nan Mu Bai had seen Lu Chao Chao before. She was a tiny, plain-looking child who seemed to have no real thoughts. She didn’t look very smart either.
In the Southern Kingdom, people believed women were closer to the gods, which is why princesses from the royal family were never married off to other lands. Daughters born to them were considered extremely precious.
For instance, his own sister was the most talented person in the Southern Kingdom in a century. Their mother protected her fiercely, even from him; he rarely had the chance to see her.
“Yes, that girl’s name is Lu Chao Chao, and she’s nearly three years old,” one of his men reported.
“The king of North Zhao thinks highly of her. She attends every major ceremony,” added a young eunuch standing behind him, smiling slightly. “She looks dull and silly. How could she ever compare to our little princess?”
Nan Mu Bai’s face turned cold, causing the young eunuch to immediately drop to his knees with a loud thud.
“Take him away,” Nan Mu Bai ordered sharply. His attendants quickly gagged the eunuch and dragged him out.
Outside the courtyard, the nine-headed serpent crunched loudly as it devoured him.
A new eunuch immediately stepped forward to replace him.
“How can that ordinary girl be compared to my sister? Insulting her is unforgivable!” Nan Mu Bai sneered.
The man standing behind him looked uneasy.
“He just said one flattering word, and you fed him to the nine-headed serpent. Isn’t that too harsh?” The man had a dignified presence, upright and just. He was an official sent by the old king, tasked with aiding in the search for the missing princess.
“My sister is the most gifted summoner of gods in the Southern Kingdom. She is the kingdom’s hope. Anyone who insults her deserves death. If Lord Ming has free time, you should think about how to summon the gods yourself. Your Ming family hasn’t summoned the Life God, Xian Ting, in ten years.” Nan Mu Bai’s lips curled into a mocking smile.
The Ming family, who worshipped the Life God Xian Ting, had been unable to perform a divine summoning in a decade.
“The matters of the Ming family are none of your concern, Your Highness. You’d better focus on finding the princess and bringing her back to the capital to ease His Majesty’s worries,” Ming Lang replied calmly. He was there to protect the lost princess and ensure her safe return.
Nan Feng Yu’s family clan was growing stronger every day, and His Majesty feared something bad might happen to his lost daughter. That’s why he had been secretly searching for her all these years.
“What if we find her, and she turns out to have mortal blood? Bringing her back will only serve to reassure my grandfather,” Nan Mu Bai laughed softly, disdain in his voice. “She has no divine power, cannot summon gods, and would be of no use to the Southern Kingdom.”
“Your Highness, you’d better be more careful. The last time the god Bai Zhong appeared in North Zhao, he didn’t respond to the royal summons. Who knows what went wrong? Tomorrow, if you bring Xiangliu the hydra into the palace, be careful not to scare the king of North Zhao. In recent years, North Zhao has grown stronger, like a sleeping dragon. Even His Majesty doesn’t want to clash with them,” Ming Lang said, unwilling to argue more, and turned away.
Nan Mu Bai rolled his eyes.
North Zhao, a sleeping dragon? What nonsense.
The Southern Kingdom had always been powerful. North Zhao was nothing more than a swamp in the past—a place of barbarians, mere mortals, unworthy of his attention.
As Ming Lang walked through the courtyard, a strong smell of blood filled the air. He glanced distastefully at the nine-headed serpent coiled in the courtyard.
The fierce hydra fed on humans, and Ming Lang had petitioned countless times for the king to seal it away. But the First Princess Nan Feng Yu refused each time. The king, now old, could no longer control his increasingly powerful daughter and had to give in.
Sensing his hostility, Xiangliu raised its heads arrogantly. Blood dripped from its mouths, giving it a chilling, terrifying appearance.
Suppressing his irritation, Ming Lang turned and left.
Back in his room, he sat cross-legged on the bed, deep in thought.
“Great God, why didn’t you respond to our summons? Did something terrible truly happen to you?”
Ming Lang pressed his lips together. Over the years, their calls to the Life God Xian Ting had grown weaker, and the divine power given to their priests had dwindled. The Ming family was not doing well.
Watching a once-powerful family fall into decline was tearing them apart with worry.
Sitting cross-legged, he let the moonlight shine on him through the window. His hands formed quick, precise gestures. His hair fluttered lightly in the breeze, and a faint glow appeared around him.
“Believer Ming Lang humbly asks the Life God Xian Ting to come down to the mortal world.”
Three times he chanted the invocation, but there was still no response.
The hope in Ming Lang’s eyes slowly faded.
Late that night, the Protector Duke watched over his grandson’s bed. “How is Siqi’s eyesight?”
The chief physician from the Royal Medical Hall gently shook his head. “It appears to be a condition called night blindness. He goes blind at night but regains his sight with light. But we can’t find the cause of Young Master Li’s condition.”
He had searched ancient texts and found no record of such an illness.
Li Siqi had a white cloth covering his eyes. “Grandfather, there’s no need to worry. I’ve gotten used to it over the years.”
The Protector Duke looked at his grandson with deep concern.
Li Siqi was the eldest grandson of the Protector Duke’s family. Calm and exceptional since childhood, he was a remarkable young man. But he suffered from an eye condition.
After the physician left, the elderly lady wiped her tears while looking at her grandson. “Oh, what will we do about your eyes? Will they…” [Will he lose his sight completely?]
She didn’t dare say it out loud. Just thinking about it made her heart tremble.
Usually, he only went blind at night, but last time, after fainting, he couldn’t see for three days straight—day and night.
“Don’t say such things. When the sixth prince clashed with the court officials back then, he was sent to live in the National Temple by the king and eventually recovered, didn’t he?” The Protector Duke shook his head at his wife, while their eldest daughter-in-law continued to weep.
“Mother, it will be alright. My son is blessed and will surely recover. Yes, my son is the kindest. He wouldn’t even harm a blade of grass by the roadside. How could the heavens be so unkind to him?” the daughter-in-law wiped the tears from her face.
Li Siqi had been kind since he was young. To him, trees and flowers had fought hard to grow, and he respected all life even if it was just a blade of grass.
“Mother, I’m tired and want to rest…” Li Siqi said as he held his mother’s arm and smiled.
Only then did the Duke, Duchess, and Li Siqi’s mother leave the room.
Inside, only a young servant remained to attend to him.
Li Siqi slowly stood up and moved step by step toward the table.
“Young master, would you like some tea? I can pour it for you…” The servant was about to move when he saw Li Siqi raise his hand to stop him.
“All these years, I should have gotten used to living without sight.” He had always felt that his eyes would gradually lose their light.
Recently, he could clearly feel his eyes weren’t as bright as before. Things were no longer as clear.
“Young master…” The servant almost burst into tears.
“Don’t tell my parents or grandparents. I don’t want them to worry.” His eyes were beyond cure, and telling them would only add to their worries.
The servant could only cry and nod in agreement.
Li Siqi walked around the room for a bit before opening the door.
“Stand guard at the courtyard gate. Don’t let my grandparents come near.” In the courtyard, he moved slowly, adapting to the darkness, making sure to memorize every detail of the estate.
Every brick, every stone, every blade of grass—he needed to remember them all.
He spread his arms and moved slowly through the courtyard.
The maids and servants kept their heads down, not daring to make a sound.
Deep in the night, after washing up, Li Siqi lay down in bed.
In his sleep, he seemed to hear a faint call: “Please… Xian Ting…”