CH 72

Chapter 72: Passerby (III)

The Ministry of Ceremonies had a strict rule: they only knelt to the heavens. So when officials encountered the Great Priest, their greeting was not a knelt greeting but rather a deep bow.

But as the hundreds of riders jumped off their horses and rushed over, dressed all in white and wearing silver beast masks, silently arranging themselves into neat rows and all simultaneously bowing deeply, the sight was a spectacular one –– but, while spectacular, it was also done in a highly solemn and reverent manner. If the group had been holding sticks of incense, they would look like they were performing a ritual to the heavens.

To most people in the world, this would be an intimidating and flattering scene, but Xue Xian, as a dragon, was used to it. So the reason why he stood there frozen was because it was so unexpected. 

He had never paid much attention to humans' imperial matters, nor had he ever bothered to learn about the ever-changing rota of ministers that served the emperor, since none of it had anything to do with him. So when he'd first seen those two characters, Taichang, he had had no impression at all. Instead, he got more information from the group's unique getup –– they seemed to be the emperors' religious servants and fortune-tellers.

In all his years, he had often been witness to such scenes. He almost blurted out, The rain priests have managed to find me here?

But before he could speak, Xuanmin frowned and stepped forward, so that he now happened to be half-hiding Xue Xian behind him. With that ever-cold expression on his face, Xuanmin scanned the large crowd of newcomers and calmly asked, "What, pray tell, do you need?"

What, pray tell, do you need?

What, pray tell, do you need???

The Taipu and Taizhu, who had been at the front of the group and had been about to speak, were shocked still.

But they had nonetheless grown up in an imperial court, so would never forget to maintain politeness no matter what unexpected events occurred. The two continued to bow deeply, but glanced at each other in shock and confusion.

Had they had the wrong man? Impossible!

That silhouette, that demeanor, even the way he walked –– everything pointed clearly to the Great Priest. They didn't even need to get close to recognise him!

So what did he mean when he said What, pray tell, do you need?

Had he done it on purpose? Was there really some kind of danger, and he needed to disguise his identity?

The Taizhu and Taipu had entered the Ministry together as children, and would under ordinary circumstances have been rumored to be childhood sweethearts –– meaning that, by now, they understood each other intuitively. The two only needed to meet eyes to come to the same conclusion.

But just as they came to that conclusion, something by their hands suddenly began to gently hiss.

Stunned, they saw that the hissing thing was a small flame that had somehow appeared by the Taipu's finger. That flame soon disappeared, revealing, at its core, a small wrapped up piece of paper.

They were very familiar with this: this was how the Great Priest communicated with them.

But the dove that the Taipu had sent had only just flown out. There was no way it could already have reached the Ministry. The only possibility was that the Great Priest happened to want to give them new orders, but the timing was far too much of a coincidence...

The Taipu caught the slip of paper in her hands and inconspicuously glanced at the white shadow standing before her. Before she could even open the letter, there came the batting sound of a bird's wings behind her.

"A letter." The Taizhu turned to look, and retrieved a letter attached to a dove's leg.

The two looked at each other again, then hurried to read the letter.

"The letter is from a Deputy Minister. He reports a rumor from Huazhi County that some people saw a dragon. The Great Priest gave orders, and now the entire Ministry, including the guards who stand outside the Great Priest's secret courtyard, are all on their way. We're being told to wait here." The Taizhu made his voice as low as he could, but when he said the word dragon, he was so surprised that his voice couldn't help but raise a little. Panicked, he hushed himself again and squeezed out the final sentence: "Also, the Deputy Minister says that the Great Priest has left isolation. He has to take care of something first, but in three days he will be joining us."

And as for the Great Priest's personal message, it was as concise as always.

The Taipu shoved the unfolded slip of paper under the Taizhu's eyes. There were only five words: Act as you see fit. And at the bottom, that red stamp that read Tongdeng.

The two letters had arrived one after the other, and neither was very long, but the contents were difficult to parse. Someone in Huazhi County had seen a dragon, but why did that mean every official at the Ministry had to come out immediately? They had never done this before, and this behavior was highly unusual, which made them suspicious.

But the part that bothered the Taipu and Taizhu the most was not that: it was the fact that the Great Priest had finally left isolation, but had other matters to tend to...

The two of them couldn't help but make a connection to the situation in which they were currently finding themselves. They felt that their previous conclusion had been correct: the Great Priest was pretending not to know who they were because he already had other plans about which they did not need to know.

Seeing as this was so, they of course had to cooperate as best as they could. To break the Great Priest's cover –– did they have a death wish?

"Act as you see fit..." the Taizhu murmured. So they had to act as they saw fit, right then and there! The two quickly rearranged their faces and raised their heads. They nodded respectfully at Xue Xian and Xuanmin and said, "It was a misunderstanding. I'm afraid we thought you were someone else."

"Someone else?" Xue Xian chuckled as he dusted some nonexistent dust off of his robe. "Do you think we'd believe that?"

Although the two parties stood quite far apart, Xue Xian had still heard them say the word dragon. If the newcomers had honestly and directly explained their true intentions, he would not have minded, but now they were saying that it was all a "misunderstanding". Now that was interesting.

What kind of people had to lie?

Those with ulterior motives.

Normally, Xue Xian could never be bothered to try and guess mortals' complex thoughts –– but he had recently been entrapped. Now, whenever he came across people with something to hide, he couldn't help but remember the man who had maimed him. As he chuckled, his face turned cold.

"It is all our fault. With the curves of the mountain road, we did not look too closely at you, but instead went entirely by the colors of your clothes. How funny," the Taizhu said, not daring even to glance at Xuanmin anymore. Instead, he only saluted Xue Xian. "Please forgive us. Since the two of you are clearly on your way somewhere, we shall not delay you further. Please––"

He made a gesture at the officials behind him.

In a great wave, the hundreds of people behind him rose from their bows and parted in half, creating a broad and orderly passageway for Xue Xian and Xuanmin.

Xue Xian scoffed, though he said nothing and began to walk on.

He and Xuanmin really did walk into that passageway. Neither of them were afraid of anything, so they did not even feel uneasy as they crossed those dozens of beast masks on either side of them. They maintained calm expressions and steady, confident steps.

Before Xuanmin could get too close, the Taipu and Taizhu lowered their gazes, just as they were used to doing when encountering the Great Priest at the Ministry –– they did not dare to let their vision linger. Besides, they seemed to have thrown a wrench into the Great Priest's vast plan and almost ruined everything –– the situation was now rather awkward, and they definitely did not dare to look up at his face.

But in the instant that Xuanmin walked past him, the Taipu's gaze moved slightly, and she caught sight of Xuanmin's right hand. Then, she quickly looked away again.

Apart from at the beginning, when they'd briefly faltered upon first meeting Xuanmin, the Taipu and Taizhu's behavior for the rest of the encounter had been perfectly appropriate and subtle –– they'd been polite, yet not overly deferential. But they could not help but keep an eye on Xue Xian, as though fearing that this intimidating-looking figure might discover some weakness within them.

But that had been their mistake: normally, furtive glances at someone might not alert them, but Xue Xian's eyesight was far more sensitive than that of a human. He immediately noticed the two peering at him, and felt that they had basically written, We have ulterior motives! on a board to parade down the street. 

In that moment, as he began to feel that something was amiss, but before any real idea could fully materialise in his mind, the black bird on Xuanmin's shoulder broke off his train of thought.

That bird really was fearless –– it seemed not to be perturbed by this massive group of "mourning" people at all. Instead, when Xue Xian happened to brush past it, it actually shook out a wing and slapped Xue Xian's shoulder.

Vermin!

As Xue Xian stared daggers at the bird, he saw Xuanmin silently stick a talisman onto it.

It seemed to be a talisman to freeze movement –– as soon as it attached itself to the bird, the animal became stiff as a board and no longer moved at all from its position on Xuanmin's shoulder, though its two beady eyes glared resentfully at Xue Xian.

For a moment, Xue Xian felt good about himself. He no longer felt like figuring out the "ulterior motives" of those strange people.

Meanwhile, the Taipu and Taizhu watched as the two men and one bird walked out of the passageway and headed toward the fork in the road ahead.

"Hu––" The Taizhu let go of the breath he'd been holding. He had a new idea: In order not to sabotage the Great Priest, after bidding farewell to the two, they now had to continue ahead and then somehow find a way to turn back later on. They could then surreptitiously follow the Great Priest from a safe distance, so that they could help in in case of an emergency.

But before he'd even fully let go of that breath, he noticed that tall and skinny man dressed in black who had been at the Great Priest's side suddenly turn back and flash them a smile.

It was an extremely handsome smile –– and an extremely evil smile, with a chilling coldness to the crook of the mouth that startled the Taipu and Taizhu.

Next, sky directly above the group suddenly changed: that dim morning light was instantly blocked out by an oncoming rumble of black storm clouds, and then dozens of glazed white lightning struck down from the clouds and crashed into the ground beneath their feet with an earth-shattering noise. 

Each bolt of lightning seemed to have a specific target –– they struck down in a circle around the group, trapping them in a circular cage made of lightning.

In all the years that the Taizhu and Taipu had been alive, they had never before been in such a situation of utter and complete defeat as the entire group of men and horses were thrown into chaos. The lightning appeared uncannily crafty: it was careful not to actually hit them, yet struck close by enough to make them jump and to make the men run in all directions to avoid it.

The thunder seemed to have no end in sight, and their powers were limited, so it would take them a very long time to break out of this cage.

Thus, amidst the commotion, when the Taizhu tried to peer past the lightning to try and see where the two men had gone, he saw that they had long vanished without a trace –– and, because of all the distractions, he had not even been able to see which of the two roads they'd taken.

As the panic rose within him, the Taipu gripped his sleeve and calmly said, "It's fine. We'll find them."