Chapter 117

"Lord Haidong's route map... is a bit terrifying."

Chu Seeing Chu Tianshu stood with his hands on his hips in the middle of the wild grassland, looking at the red sun about to emerge from the eastern clouds.

The morning glow filled the sky, reflecting the tall buildings in Chang'an City as if it were a golden-red city.

He took a deep breath toward that magnificent city, as if to borrow the steady aura of this city to dispel the steep and rugged path of the journey.

When he set off, hearing Lord Haidong's descriptions, he had prepared himself to potentially climb steep slopes, walk through places filled with miasma and no people, and pass through jungles full of thorns and vines.

But the places he walked the most on this journey were not the deep mountains, jungles, or quiet wild fields he had imagined at all.

They were cliffs!

The red line marked on the route map followed the riverbank, sticking to the mountain cliffs.

Chu Seeing Chu Tianshu had originally thought there was still some distance between the foot of the mountain and the riverbank, enough to pass through.

But when he got there, he realized that the road referred to the rock fault on the side of the cliff.

To walk across, one had to walk along the trace of that fault, somewhat similar to a narrow tunnel.

But the inner side of this "tunnel" was the mountain, and under his feet was less than half a foot wide, while outside was strong wind and wild fog.

The height from the river surface was at least thirty or forty zhang.

Looking down, it was the roaring, thunderous, and ceaseless water of the Great River.

Looking up, it was clouds and mist, with wild geese passing through the clouds from time to time.

"It's a good thing my martial arts are getting deeper; if it were when I first entered this world, it might have been really hard to walk."

Chu Seeing Chu Tianshu rested for a while and walked toward the city gate.

Here in Chang'an, the market outside the city walls was much larger than the one in Nanzhao.

It was clearly a city that had fallen several times since the founding of the Great Tang.

At this moment, one couldn't see any traces of ruin or damage.

The city gate tower itself was like a great general, wearing armor and helmets, standing tall and touching the clouds.

And those soldiers on duty walking on the city walls and at the city gates were like children raised by this silent great general, full of majesty and yet not lacking in vigorous vitality.

The common people who had been queuing here early were entering the city; as long as they didn't carry too many things, even if they were carrying a basket or two of vegetables, the checks weren't strict, and they were allowed to pass.

Only when encountering carriages and horses that were clearly transporting goods, or curtained carriages, would the city guards come forward to question and inspect.

Chu Seeing Chu Tianshu, empty-handed, swayed through the crowd and entered Chang'an City.

The main street at the entrance didn't know how many carriages could pass side by side; the road was long and wide, seemingly stretching flat to the other end of the capital.

Small vendors were either opening their doors or had already started cooking, and the sound of hawking hot water came one after another from the various wards around.

He saw a night watchman passing by nearby, and thinking he must be familiar with the roads of Chang'an, he leaned over to ask about Lord Haidong's residence.

The night watchman looked surprised, steadied himself, and then pointed the way for him.

When Chu Seeing Chu Tianshu arrived outside the Hai Mansion, he saw two tall guards in red armor standing at the door.

After showing a token, he was invited into the mansion and met the steward of the Hai Mansion.

Although this person was dressed in men's clothing, she was clearly a woman, in her thirties or forties, wearing a black gauze cap, with long, slender eyebrows and eyes, dressed in a white shirt.

"My surname is Yuwen, with the given name Zhong."

Chu Seeing Chu Tianshu asked in surprise: "Yuwen?"

Yuwen Zhong smiled: "There are many people with the surname Yuwen; you might have seen it elsewhere, but I was originally just one of the small vendors buying and selling news in Chang'an, not from any famous family."

Chu Seeing Chu Tianshu nodded slightly and handed over the letter.

After Yuwen Zhong took it, her expression froze: "Lord Hai is giving all the evil weapons to you to dispose of?"

Chu Seeing Chu Tianshu said: "He said that as long as there is this seal, you will naturally be able to distinguish the authenticity of the order."

"It is indeed true."

Yuwen Zhong said with emotion, "Lord Hai loves collecting evil weapons; back then, it was because of a sword used by a rebel king at the end of the Sui Dynasty that I had some dealings with him."

"I never thought that one day, he would actually give away all his evil weapons."

"If it weren't for the fact that he is far away in Nanzhao and is never a person who fears trouble, I would almost think he had received wind of something in Chang'an."

Chu Seeing Chu Tianshu was a bit curious: "What wind?"

"A theory recently circulated from the Imperial Observatory; it is rumored that during the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the Soldier Spirits of the world could often manifest external appearances, like immortals or saints, ghosts or demons."

Yuwen Zhong smiled, "At that time, even if the Soldier Spirits lost their masters or bodies, they could feed on human essence everywhere, without needing to find other puppets, nor did they necessarily have to kill people; they were strange and ingenious, and good or evil was hard to predict."

"As the saying goes, essence becomes things, wandering souls become changes, totaling 11,520 types; one can see that the variety of Soldier Spirits at that time was so prosperous that it was a world where Soldier Spirits and humans lived together."

Chu Seeing Chu Tianshu caught the drift: "Is the Imperial Observatory saying that the current world is starting to evolve toward that time?"

"There is such a theory."

Yuwen Zhong nodded, "They seem to say that heaven and earth are constantly moving and shifting; two thousand years have passed, and in the last twenty years, there have been signs of heaven and earth returning to their positions."

"Therefore, the Imperial Observatory submitted a memorial to warn the world that all famous families and the military should stop using evil weapons."

Chu Seeing Chu Tianshu scratched his forehead with his little finger, feeling a bit subtle in his heart.

In his hometown, more and more strange things had been happening in recent years; could it be that there is some connection between these trends across different worlds?

He asked: "Does the Imperial Observatory have a lot of ancient research on this?"

If so, he would like to try to see if he could find someone there to talk to.

"There is actually still a lot of debate within the Imperial Observatory about this theory; the ancient tortoise shells and stone carvings they have collected are extremely rare, and it is hard to guarantee that there are no false or erroneous parts, so it cannot be empirically proven."

"Many people still feel that the Saint just wants to find an excuse to beat down those famous families, so he deliberately fueled the flames."

While Yuwen Zhong was speaking, her feet didn't stop, and she had already led Chu Seeing Chu Tianshu to a courtyard.

"This is where Lord Hai stores the evil weapons; the doors, windows, and outer walls have all been drawn with many incantations by the alchemists of the Imperial Observatory."

Chu Seeing Chu Tianshu saw that small cloud-seal incantations were carved on those bricks to isolate the evil energy.

After unlocking the door, Yuwen Zhong stayed outside.

Chu Seeing Chu Tianshu stepped in, passed through the small courtyard, and pushed open the door.

This door wasn't locked, but when he pushed it, he noticed that the various evil energies inside were entangled with each other, forming a kind of external resistance over time.

Once a hand was placed on it, one had to not only resist this formless force but also the bone-chilling cold; an ordinary person really couldn't push it open.

Bang!

Chu Seeing Chu Tianshu's palm made a light sound, and the door was shaken open inward.

The knives, swords, and spears hanging on the walls and placed on the racks inside all trembled slightly at this moment.

There should be no one taking care of this place, but there was no dust on any of the weapons.

Chu Seeing Chu Tianshu walked in with a smile and counted them; there were indeed fourteen weapons.

Judging from the aura, several were not as good as "Snow River Collapse."

Only three were similar to "Snow River Collapse."

There were two others whose intensity of evil energy was on par with "Scorching Sun Wheel."

But none of them compared to the Phoenix-Wing Gilded Halberd.

Chu Seeing Chu Tianshu glanced over and felt that the quality was already unexpectedly good.

Both in quality and quantity.

"Hehe!"

Chu Seeing Chu Tianshu chuckled twice and closed the door behind him.

(End of chapter)