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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 184: The True Chart of the Upper Palace
Though Ji Zichen was not present at the scene, he felt as if he were right there. The Divine Soldiers held their magical artifacts aloft towards the approaching golden cloud, but as Ji Zichen focused, he realized it was not a cloud at all; it was a flock of Suzaku.
Others might not recognize these artifacts, but Ji Zichen was all too familiar with them. Up close, he could see the Tapa Armor Umbrella, the Flying Star Thousand Insect Pearl, the Heaven and Earth Dragon Banner, and the Purple Sun Bagua Pot—artifacts capable of wide-ranging destruction.
Ji Zichen believed that the Suzaku could already see the artifacts aimed at them, yet they continued to charge forward with unstoppable momentum.
He watched as the flock of Suzaku surged toward the nearest ridge, resembling a golden river attempting to cleave the mountain in two. Their advance was synchronized, as if they had practiced countless times before. The golden feathers served as their armor, and the flames whipped up by their wings were their weapons.
In Ji Zichen's eyes, the Suzaku had transformed into nightmarish monsters, each one filled with bloodthirsty hatred.
The Divine Soldiers launched a sudden attack with their artifacts, and a fierce battle erupted. The battlefield was soon shrouded in darkness; the distant sun appeared to be gasping for breath. The Nirvana Fire of the Suzaku clashed with the brilliance of the artifact attacks, creating an extraordinary display of light.
Both sides screamed in agony, their cries echoing throughout the mountain.
A wave of Suzaku ascended to the peak. The Divine Soldiers shouted in fierce combat as they repeatedly unleashed their artifacts against the Suzaku. For instance, from the Heaven and Earth Dragon Banner emerged a dragon that tore into the Suzaku. The frontmost Suzaku was knocked down by its assault, while others were struck in half by the flying shards from the Tapa Armor Umbrella.
Another wave of attacks commenced, and within this new surge of Suzaku, poisonous insects from the Flying Star Thousand Insect Pearl fell to the ground.
Suddenly, a storm cloud appeared to Ji Zichen's right front. Many Suzaku engulfed by this storm began to screech. Thunder rumbled within the clouds as lightning flickered continuously. Before long, Suzaku began to plummet from the storm cloud, each one charred black from being consumed by lightning.
Ji Zichen suspected that this storm cloud was created by someone else and realized that person's cloak must be an extraordinary artifact.
Despite significant losses among the Suzaku, many more charged recklessly forward. In an instant, a large group of them reached within five zhang of Ji Zichen. The black Suzaku ruthlessly engaged in combat with the Divine Soldiers; even powerful artifacts could not withstand their ferocity. At that moment, more Divine Soldiers lay fallen than there had been Suzaku before.
The nearest Divine Soldier to Ji Zichen collapsed, engulfed by immense flames. As this divine warrior fell, remnants of Nirvana Flame splashed toward Ji Zichen.
Ji Zichen was taken aback, stumbling back two steps, only to bump into someone. That person cried out, "This is the Shangong True Map Room! If you're not careful, you could be killed!"
The voice belonged to Xia Zhou, who was curled up outside the door. Upon seeing him, Kiko hurried over to help him up. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were behind me."
Xia Zhou rubbed his sore back after being helped up by Kiko. "You have some nerve! You dare to casually look at the Shangong True Map?"
At this point, Kiko was already outside the door. He turned back to glance inside the room, where there were no Vermilion Birds or Divine Soldiers left—only those strange patterns remained.
"The Shangong True Map?" Kiko felt as if he had just woken from a nightmare. "What is the Shangong True Map? I saw..."
"I know what you saw," Xia Zhou interjected. "This is the largest battle we fought to capture Zhuque Chenjing; it was a battle from a thousand years ago."
Kiko swallowed hard. "A thousand years ago?"
"Yes," Xia Zhou replied. "That battle happened a millennium ago. I don't know much about it because it was so long ago. But what are you doing here?"
Kiko said, "I wasn't doing anything in particular; I just wanted to see how many levels there are and accidentally ended up in this room."
"You'd better not look around carelessly," Xia Zhou warned. "These are battles stored in the Shangong True Map. Those with insufficient focus shouldn't look at them randomly; otherwise, they could be confused by the map and die inside."
Kiko nodded, promising Xia Zhou that he wouldn't come back here. He took one last look at the Shangong True Map. Although the battlefield scene he had just witnessed had vanished without a trace, that moment had instilled a deep fear within him. It wasn't an illusion; it was real, and he could feel it.
The person Kiko had seen was already dead, yet it felt as if he stood right in front of him—an entirely different experience.
Kiko had been in the Watchtower for three days now and had become familiar with its layout. "You read through the scrolls quickly," Xia Zhou remarked from across the dining table. "I think you'll finish them all in no time."
Kiko set down his bowl and chopsticks and nodded. He used to think that divine beings didn't need to eat, perhaps just consuming some essence of wind or something similar. Yet here was Xia Zhou, holding grains just like him. Curious, Kiko asked, "People in the mortal realm always say you don't need to eat."
Xia Zhou said, "Not eating? Why shouldn't we eat? Everything in the world needs to eat. Trees drink water, eagles eat meat, and humans eat both water and meat. Why can't we eat?"
Ji Zichen smiled wryly and replied, "That's because we've deified you."
"That's because you don't understand us," Xia Zhou pointed out. "We also grow crops up there."
"You grow crops up there!" This completely overturned Ji Zichen's worldview. He simply couldn't imagine those rice fields hanging above his head, and he felt a tightening in his neck.
Xia Zhou asked Ji Zichen, "By the way, I haven't asked you yet, how did you understand our scrolls?"
Ji Zichen twirled Kai Zhou Shen's ring on his finger and said, "This was given to me by Kai Zhou Shen. I can understand it by sensing through this."
"Kai Zhou Shen!" Xia Zhou said with a newfound respect. "You know Kai Zhou Shen?"
"Yes, we fought side by side," Ji Zichen replied casually.
Xia Zhou's eyes showed envy. "I really envy you for being able to fight alongside Kai Zhou Shen. You have no idea that Kai Zhou Shen is the greatest God of Prophecy among our divine race. However, he descended to mend the rift a thousand years ago; I haven't had the honor of meeting him."
Ji Zichen said, "If there's a chance, I'll take you to see him. He's in the Spirit Immortal Realm."
Xia Zhou appeared both troubled and excited. "I think I won't have that chance. I can't leave here; I'll be able to go back after some time."
Ji Zichen asked, "You're going back?"
Xia Zhou replied, "Yes, once I've finished my tasks, I will definitely return."
"Finished your tasks?" Ji Zichen inquired curiously. "What are you doing here?"
"That's something I can't tell you," Xia Zhou said.
"I knew you wouldn't," Ji Zichen replied with a smile.
Before Kiko and the others arrived, Xia Zhou's house resembled a garbage dump. Kiko would never have believed that such a messy god could exist. Scrolls were strewn across the floor and chairs, competing with the dense fallen leaves in the forest.
However, as Kiko looked around, she noticed that Xia Zhou's house was already much cleaner. Yet, Xia Zhou couldn't understand Kiko's actions. One time, he saw her organizing the scrolls and asked, "Why are you tidying up these things?"
"In such a messy place, how have you lived for fifty years?" Kiko replied.
Xia Zhou shrugged. "You get used to it. I don't think it's that messy. Besides, I'm not living here permanently. Even if you clean it up, it will just get dirty again after you leave."
Kiko found it impossible to argue with Xia Zhou about such matters. She simply smiled but thought to herself, "Fifty years for Xia Zhou seems like a hundred or more."
Seeing Kiko lost in thought, Xia Zhou wondered what was on her mind. "Aren't you giving up? There's no Divine Dawn here. Why does that girl come and go at all hours?"
"Oh, her? She's not looking for Divine Dawn; she's searching for something else," Xia Zhou mentioned. Since he brought up Divine Dawn, Kiko took the opportunity to ask, "Are there really no ruins here?"
"I'm telling the truth; believe it or not. You've seen plenty of scrolls—have you ever found any that recorded ruins?" Xia Zhou replied.
"It's not that I don't believe you, but all the signs and clues suggest there are ruins here," Kiko said. After pausing for a moment, she added, "Let me tell you a story." She recounted everything that had happened since she met Lin Chuyu.
After listening, Xia Zhou expressed his longing, "The lives of humans are truly colorful."
"Colorful? Do you think those moments hanging by a thread are fun?" Kiko shot him a glance.
With a sigh, Xia Zhou said, "If I had a choice, I'd rather live like you."
Xia Zhou paused and said, "However, from what you’ve told me, the Vermilion Bird's Eye does indeed have the ability to probe into people's hearts. The blood of the Vermilion Bird can truly save lives."
Ji Zichen suddenly had a thought and asked, "Is your millennium-long conflict with the Vermilion Bird related to these two points?"
The dining table began to hum and shake, seemingly stirred by Xia Zhou's unsettled emotions. The tremors were sharp and brief, but soon the table returned to calm.
It was as if Xia Zhou's emotions had settled down. Looking at Ji Zichen, Xia Zhou said, "Anyway, the Vermilion Bird has long been exterminated. At that time, we did have that intention, but many of our predecessors regretted it long ago."
Ji Zichen understood that it was not entirely Xia Zhou's fault. It was like the grudges of the previous generation had nothing to do with the younger ones. A thousand years had passed since then, and Ji Zichen thought that all the gods who participated in that event must have perished by now.
Even though the lifespan of divine beings is long, not all could live for a thousand years. Reflecting on her recent interactions with Xia Zhou, Kiko said, "When we first met, you didn’t seem to reject us."
Xia Zhou looked at Ji Zichen curiously. "Reject? Why would I reject you? You came here looking for ruins; it has nothing to do with what I'm doing. If it comes to a fight, you wouldn't stand a chance against me."
Ji Zichen laughed heartily. "You might be right about that."
Although Kiko had yet to see any artifacts from Xia Zhou, she figured that since he was guarding this place, his abilities were certainly not ordinary.
Kiko said, "Not just yet; I want to check some scrolls first and see if there are any clues."
Xia Zhou replied, "If you're still not giving up, then go ahead."
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