Chapter 794: Realm of Fallen Nation Resentment

This is absolutely no ordinary mystical realm!

Li Yan felt a sense of alarm in his heart and subconsciously gripped the hilt of his Dust-Severing Blade.

Before he could examine his surroundings carefully, the thick fog ahead suddenly surged, slowly unfolding like a massive curtain.

In an instant, a wave of clamor rushed toward him.

There, on the turbid river surface, a painted pleasure boat was anchored.

This pleasure boat was massive, standing a full three stories tall, with an ancient and bizarre style that was definitely not of the current dynasty's design.

The wood of the hull was dark brown, nearly black, covered in the marks of erosion by time. The massive ship's towers featured flying eaves and arched brackets, with carved beams and painted pillars, yet everywhere one looked, the lacquer was peeling and the gold leaf was dull, exuding a sense of luxurious decay.

Hanging from both sides of the ship were countless eerie red lanterns.

Just like the ones he had seen earlier, they cast a blood-red glow over the surrounding turbid river water.

The sounds of strings and pipes blared from the ship, loud and boisterous, with singing faintly drifting over:

"Candle shadows sway red, dragging across painted beams, wrapped in gold, the rotting wood exudes the scent of grease and powder.

Ice strings strain, drawing out the weeping of wronged souls; blood-stained sleeves flutter, beckoning resentful ghosts.

Half a face of makeup, bones buried in frost, the favor of yesteryear has turned into tattered garments.

The whole ship is draped in brocade, yet all are wrapped in corpses; who remembers the dance of the rainbow garments that breaks the heart?"

The lyrics were from an old Jin Ling ditty in the style of Song dynasty poetry. The singing was melodious and winding, yet carried a strange, viscous quality, accompanied by the shrill cries of waiters, the boisterous noise of drinkers playing games, the charming and affected giggles of women, and the clattering of dice within bone cups...

All these sounds mixed together, weaving into a melody of prosperity and decay, the music of a dying age.

At this distance, he could see clearly.

Through the open lattice windows of the pleasure boat, Li Yan could see figures bustling about on the ship, all dressed in Song dynasty attire!

Scholars in wide robes and large sleeves, officials in gauze caps and robes, singing girls in gorgeous thin gauze holding pipa lutes, waiters weaving through the crowd carrying wine pots... their faces flickered in the swaying red lantern light.

Their movements seemed to be pulled by invisible strings, carrying a kind of rigid and eerie "liveliness."

Just like... a meticulously choreographed puppet show.

This feeling was inexplicably nauseating.

"Red Gauze Pavilion..." Li Yan whispered, his gaze as sharp as a falcon's.

He took a deep breath, and the decaying, cloying air rushed into his lungs, carrying a bone-chilling cold.

Without hesitation, he pushed off the water ripples beneath his feet, his figure like an arrow released from a bow, breaking through the scarlet water surface and darting toward the brightly lit, ghost-filled ancient pleasure boat!

Swish!

In the space of a breath, he crossed the twenty-zhang river surface and landed on the deck.

But strangely, the moment he landed, all the figures and sounds around him vanished completely.

All around was an eerie, deathly silence, with moldy red lanterns illuminating the empty ship cabin.

Li Yan narrowed his eyes. "A deal is a deal; is playing these tricks interesting?!"

However, there was still no reply.

"Hmph!"

A flash of anger crossed Li Yan's eyes, and he channeled his divine sense.

Clatter, clatter~

The copper coins on his Thousand-Thought arm guard chimed, and in an instant, a wild wind rose, lanterns swayed, and red light flickered.

At the same time, he formed hand seals and chanted: "Nuogao, the left carries three stars, the right carries three prisons, heaven turns and earth flips, all nine paths are blocked, causing you to lose your mind, taking east for west, taking south for north..."

This was the "North Emperor Body-Protection Curse," specifically used to guard against evil arts and illusions.

As he chanted the curse, the scene before him rippled like water.

It really was an illusion array!

Li Yan continuously changed his hand seals, increasing the power of the curse.

However, the moment the light and shadow were torn apart, a sudden change occurred!

The violently swaying illusion before him did not shatter; instead, like a viscous swamp into which a stone had been thrown, it suddenly collapsed inward and rotated, and then cold, thick fog surged out, wrapping directly around him.

Hum—!

Li Yan only felt a wave of dizziness in his head, as if he had been thrown into a massive whirlpool.

When he opened his eyes again, the scene around him had changed once more.

He frowned and looked down, seeing that he had somehow changed into a semi-old lake-blue silk robe. Hanging at his waist was a long sword whose decorative value outweighed its utility. An inexplicable, drunken melancholy and confusion filled his heart, and at the same time, a piece of information surged into his mind.

His name was Luo Yuan, and he was... a down-and-out martial artist from the end of the Great Song dynasty?

A dissolute wanderer who hung around the Qinhuai River, drowning his sorrows in wine and escaping reality in a drunken stupor?

What kind of illusion array is this?

Li Yan felt a headache coming on.

He realized he had underestimated those old demons.

The original plan was to find a way to escape immediately after rescuing the people, send a signal for the naval forces to bombard this place, and then summon the Netherworld troops to wipe out the Earth Immortal criminals in one fell swoop, but ever since arriving here, everything had exceeded his expectations.

The connection to the official warrant had vanished.

Those fellows had no intention of appearing before him at all.

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Yan tried using the "North Emperor Body-Protection Curse" again.

He channeled his divine sense into the Thousand-Thought arm guard, but his Qi of Gang and Sha seemed to have lost its connection; he couldn't sense it at all.

Unable to channel the Qi of Gang and Sha, his arts naturally lost their effect.

Li Yan frowned slightly, but he wasn't surprised by this.

Even an Earth Immortal couldn't completely isolate the two types of Qi; he had a vague guess that this was the unique aspect of the "Red Gauze Pavilion" mystical realm, which was why the other party had lured him here.

If he died trapped here, the official warrant and such would no longer matter.

Thinking of this, he coldly surveyed his surroundings.

He was already inside the Red Gauze Pavilion's cabin, which was brightly lit, exuding a sickly, pale red glow.

Inside the massive pleasure boat, the space was far more expansive than it looked from the outside.

The carved beams and painted pillars were brilliant with gold lacquer, showing no signs of the decay from before, as if it had just been newly built.

The air was filled with the cloying scent of grease and powder, the mellow aroma of aged fine wine, and the greasy fragrance of delicacies, merging into a scent of luxury.

Unlike before, the cabin was once again filled with the clamor of voices.

A string and pipe ensemble was playing energetically in the corner, the melody winding and melodious, while singing girls dressed in gauze as thin as cicada wings, revealing snow-white necks and arms, wove through the banquet tables, speaking in soft, charming voices with shifting glances.

Their faces, in the swaying candlelight, were beautiful to the point of being distorted, and carried a seductive charm.

A young singing girl holding a pipa was leaning against a carved pillar, her red lips slightly parted as she sang:

"Candle shadows sway red, dragging across painted beams, wrapped in gold, the rotting wood exudes the scent of grease and powder..."

"Half a face of makeup, bones buried in frost, the favor of yesteryear has turned into tattered garments..."

The voice was like weeping and complaining, carrying the soft, glutinous quality unique to the Jiangnan water towns.

But as she sang to this point, the singing girl turned her face to the side, her eyes hollow and numb, no longer carrying a hint of charm, only bottomless despair.

Li Yan's heart gave a violent jump, and an indescribable sorrow and melancholy surged up.

He wanted to look away, but was firmly gripped by those desperate eyes.

The warm wine in his cup went down his throat; it should have been mellow, but at this moment, he tasted a bitter, metallic rust.

He looked around and saw that at a nearby table, several scholars in brocade robes with fair complexions were talking loudly, but their eyes were turbid, and the hands holding their cups were trembling slightly, whether from the alcohol or something else, he didn't know.

"I heard the Northern barbarian cavalry has already broken through Xiangfan!"

A thin scholar lowered his voice, his face filled with panic. "Fancheng... Fancheng defender Lü Wenhuan fought to the death without yielding; on the day the city fell, his whole family burned themselves to death for the nation! Xiangyang... I fear it is also..."

"Hush!"

Another slightly plump scholar hurriedly interrupted, looking left and right, his voice carrying a hint of drunkenness and decadence. "If Fancheng falls, let it fall; Xiangyang... has Prime Minister Jia to mediate! What the Northern barbarians seek is nothing more than wealth and women; if the annual tribute is thickened a bit, that will suffice... why go so far as to... why go so far as to burn everything to the ground?"

He picked up his wine cup and gulped it down, his eyes confused. "This Jiangnan... this Lin'an, with its singing and dancing, isn't it quite good?"

"Good?" ===== CHAPTER 795 =====