When Jiang Xi had finished speaking, the mood in the study became terribly subdued. It was a few moments before Jiang Xi sensed that there was something wrong with the atmosphere. “Marshal, do you think it’s possible that the marriage contract is real?”
BOOM!
All of a sudden, the desk in the study and everything on it were reduced to powder by internal energy.
Yuwen Tong had a horrifyingly ugly look on his face, the expression in his eyes intimidatingly cold.
Jiang Xi found himself holding his breath, his forehead beaded with cold sweat. “Marshal.”
“This was what you meant by saying I had nothing to do with it?” enunciated Yuwen Tong. “Are you going to tell me you were not the one that died in the mass grave?”
Jiang Xi was flummoxed. “Wh–What?”
“Get out.” Yuwen Tong looked at him, his eyes flinty.
Jiang Xi felt as though he were being cut by an icy blade. Not daring to ask another question, he hurriedly left the study.
“Speak.” Yuwen Tong clenched his hands. He was unable to see Ling Zhang, which was pushing his restlessness and resentment to the point of getting out of control. He could only ball his hands into fists.
A pair of hands enveloped his fists. “None of those things ever happened. I’m really still alive. Don’t you remember? You met the butler of the Ling family on your way back to the capital city. It was raining. The butler and the others encountered some bandits dwelling in the mountains and almost got killed. You and Yao Yi and some others were passing by and rescued him. At that time, he had the Letter of Annulment written by my grandfather on him. You saw it and went to Tanyang. Because of you, nothing happened to my family, and Zhang Chong was dead. I killed him myself.”
“If it’s true that nothing happened to the Ling family, why did you sound that scared just now? And why did Jiang Xi say that?” Yuwen Tong did not believe him.
But, a Letter of Annulment? What was that about? This was completely different from Jiang Xi’s version of the story.
“This is a reverie. You were not even here at this time,” said Ling Zhang.
If he had been afraid before Jiang Xi made those remarks, he had, surprisingly, regained his composure after Jiang Xi told Yuwen Tong everything.
Yuwen Tong had never experienced any of those things in this life. How was it possible that he had ever seen any of them? This reverie was based on what Yuwen Tong had heard from him about his last life. As someone who had been through a rebirth, he should not find it surprising that this reverie created by modifying Yuwen Tong’s memories included some things that had never really happened. He needed to keep his cool and must not be hoodwinked.
“Do you still remember how we first met each other? It was in a wood not far away from the encampment of the Tanyang garrison. At that time, some soldiers of the garrison were making trouble for my family’s herb farm. You happened to be in Tanyang, paid me a visit and helped me drive those soldiers away. You insisted on sharing a horse with me. I had some misunderstandings about you and was ill-disposed towards you. I was unwilling to get close to you and my back was so tense that I felt very uncomfortable after dismounting and almost fell over. You saved me from falling and later gifted Maomao with a jade pendant.
After we returned to my home, you plausibly pleased my grandfather who then forced me into calling you Big Brother.”
Big Brother …
Yuwen Tong had a momentary headache as a vague scene flashed before his mind’s eye, as though such a thing had indeed happened before. He remembered an awkward, reluctant voice calling him Big Brother, lifting his spirits greatly. Who had been that person that had called him that? It had been a well-featured teenager, who had been a little thin, but whose eyes had been as pretty and sparkling as stars when smiling.
The scene existed in his mind’s eye for only a split instant, but Yuwen Tong was positive that that had been Ling Zhang.
Ling Zhang was not lying.
But what was going on now? This reverie did not make any sense.
“Let me take a seat first. I’ve stood for too long and my legs are getting sore,” said Ling Zhang.
In fact he was not experiencing any discomfort. He said this only because Yuwen Tong had been standing and tense all along.
The furious air about Yuwen Tong had gradually ebbed away, but he was still very suspicious, because these things were so contradictory.
The two of them sat down. Ling Zhang said, “I know you have questions, and I’ll tell you everything. Just hear me out and then get out of here with me.”
“You may begin,” said Yuwen Tong.
Knowing that Yuwen Tong would not leave unless his doubts were dissolved, Ling Zhang had no alternative but to recount to Yuwen Tong his rebirth and what had happened after they made each other’s acquaintance.
Actually the look in Yuwen Tong’s eyes had gradually become different when Ling Zhang had finished relating his rebirth. After Ling Zhang told him about the things the two of them had been through together, Yuwen Tong had an entirely different expression in his eyes, feeling as though Ling Zhang had turned from a non-existent figure to a real person. The two of them were sitting propped against each other on the chilly ground in a dank passageway.
Yuwen Tong opened his eyes first and found the two of them wreathed in a dim, white light which issued from the gemstones they were carrying.
Ling Zhang, who had also opened his eyes, glanced around him. After catching sight of the torches on the ground which was still aflame, he hastily picked it up and heaved a long sigh of relief. “We’re finally back.”
Yuwen Tong gave a non-committal “Um”, rose to his feet as well, took the torch from Ling Zhang’s hand and then swept Ling Zhang into his embrace one-handed.
Having been drawn into his embrace, Ling Zhang was silent for a moment and then suddenly said, “You’re not angry, right?”
It was a long moment before Yuwen Tong replied, “I’ll decide what to do with you after we get back.”
Ling Zhang gave a little snort. “You can’t blame me for that. At that time you did look very much like someone going on a date with a lover or something.”
Yuwen Tong said, “It was indeed a date with my lover – I met you at the front gates, didn’t I?”
“You’ve got a nerve saying that. I called your names several times but you didn’t even acknowledge me,” said Ling Zhang.
Neither of them brought up anything else that had happened in the reverie.
Suddenly, a voice cackled, “I knew there’s something weird about you two kiddos. It never crossed my mind you’d get out of the reverie so soon.”
Ling Zhang, taken aback by the unexpected voice, hastily freed himself from Yuwen Tong’s embrace, looked in the direction of the source of the voice and saw a man in ragged clothes, who was about his grandfather’s height and middle-aged, but who did not sport a beard and had a scarlet mole in the middle of his forehead, his hair so tousled it looked like a bird’s nest. He was holding a lighted torch and standing on the other end of the passageway, looking at the two of them.
The scarlet mole alone was enough for Ling Zhang to divine who this man was. Unlike Ji Yanlai’s and Ji Xiaocong’s moles which made the two of them seem otherworldly and resourceful respectively, this man’s scarlet mole lent him an air of geniality reminiscent of a statue in a Buddhist temple. However, judging from his clothing and his tone of voice, he was sure as hell anything but amiable.
“You’re Clan Leader Ji’s father?”
“Yeah, I’m Ji Yanlai’s father.”
The middle-aged man frankly admitted to his identity.
“Was it you who deployed that Illusion Disposition in this place, Old Clan Leader?” Ling Zhang looked at him.
The former clan leader shook his head, “No. It was the little guy underground who did it. I had nothing to do with it. But it came as a surprise to me that you extricated yourselves from the reverie so soon. Even I was trapped in there for several days before figuring a way out of it. You two kiddos have some good stuff on you. It’s said that only when carried by a pair of true lovers would they serve their purpose. This is my first time seeing this sort of rare treasure. It would seem you two kiddos are pretty lucky.”
The former clan leader was clearly much more talkative than Ji Yanlai, the current clan leader.
Ling Zhang guessed that the old man was referring to the gemstones he and Yuwen Tong were carrying, the light of which had gradually faded away after he and Yuwen Tong had came around, and which now looked no different from common gemstones.
“You two don’t have to be guarded with me. I really have nothing to do with the reverie. I know you’re friends with my son, so I won’t attack you. Oh, this kid has the Blood of the Phoenix Clan, which makes him my clansman. I’m a good former clan leader, and I never harm my own clansmen,” said the former clan leader.
“You don’t want to attack us, so you just sat there watching us suffer?” asked Yuwen Tong.
The former clan leader said, “You kid really have a knack for annoying people. You misunderstand me, which is unbecoming to an emperor. You yourselves were the only ones capable of breaking the reverie. I couldn’t offer you any help even if I wanted to. My own son is still lying there.”
With that, he moved his torch backwards.
By torchlight, Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong caught sight of Ji Yanlai and the others, all of whom were lying unconscious on the ground. Seeing that they were all present, Ling Zhang hastened forward to check them one by one. Having confirmed that they were just comatose, he felt relieved.
“Don’t worry. This trick wouldn’t hurt anybody who mean the little guy no harm. They will come back from the reverie in one piece if they harbor no evil intentions,” said the former clan leader.
Ling Zhang knitted his brows. “What counts as an evil intention?”
The former clan leader replied, “An intention of stealing it, for example.”
Ling Zhang exchanged a glance with Yuwen Tong. “Steal? Who’s the little guy you just mentioned?”
The former clan leader said, “Now that you’ve safely got out of the reverie, it seems you’re predestined to meet it. I guess it does no harm to lead you there to have a look in advance. Let’s go.”
Ling Zhang was surprised. “What about them?”
“Don’t worry. They won’t wake up anytime soon,” said the former clan leader. “If any outsiders get in here, they’ll be trapped in the reverie as well and won’t be able to do anybody any harm. Besides, I deployed a misdirection Formation outside. Those people wouldn’t be able to get this far. You two are lucky to have my son in your company. There’s no way you could get through that Formation without his help. I don’t want to brag, but my skill in deploying Formations is unequaled.”
Ling Zhang, ” … ”
He looked at the former clan leader and felt that the old man was indeed far more talkative than Ji Yanlai.
“Alas. It never occurred to me that you experienced a rebirth. Over a decade ago, I performed divination and found that the fortunes of this world would change due to a particular occurrence, and a halidom of my clan would emerge. At that time I was wondering who would possess that much power. Afterward, I performed divination again and discovered that that particular person was one of my clansmen. Ha ha. I even sneaked back into Sanguan Mountains to observe all my clansmen in there. I secretly kept a close eye on them for a very long time in an effort to find out which one of them had the powers to accomplish what even I was unable to accomplish. But when the positions of the stars changed, that person still had not shown up. I almost began to suspect that my divination was getting rusty. Now it turns out that that guy is a clansman that has never been included into the clan. Speaking of which, I was the one who made your mother’s jade pendant, which is the very one you’re wearing. I make a jade pendant of this kind on a yearly basis ever since I mastered the skill. When making them, I never thought that some day any of them would actually serve its purpose. It never occurred to me that one day one of them would actually do what it was meant to do. This really came as a revelation to me,” said the former clan leader.
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