Stranger Danger

“So this is the Nanjiang Royal Court!” Ye Qing exclaimed with astonishment as he stared at the massive city floating above the Moon God Lake.

He had imagined how the Nanjiang capital city would look prior to coming here. Primitive, vast, noble, luxurious, mysterious and more. However, he never once imagined that it would be built atop a lake.

A gigantic thing like this should sink right to the bottom of the lake, but in reality, it was floating on the surface like a leaf and eliciting no ripples. It was so mysterious and anomalous that words could not describe how he truly felt.

Unfortunately, the Nanjiang Royal Court was not looking its best right now. Not even close. For starters, the Moon God Lake was covered in countless corpses. They were packed so tightly that one almost could not see its waters, which were completely bright red in color.

The capital city itself was in ruins. Rubble and broken walls were everywhere. Speaking of walls, countless heads were hung on it. Judging from their wide-eyed expression, they had clearly died painfully and unwillingly. The violence and brutality of that day was bare for all to see.

Ye Qing did not react much to the atrocity though. It wasn’t because he was cold-blooded, but because he had gotten used to it.

He and Feng Qingyou had departed for the Nanjiang Royal Court four days ago. Although the One Hundred Thousand Mountains of Nanjiang was mysterious and full of dangers, it didn’t really pose a threat to him or Feng Qingyou. The real problem was the Chu troops scattered throughout the mountain.

Although the Chu army had successfully conquered the Nanjiang Royal Court and crushed the Eight Tribes and Nine Fortresses, it didn’t mean that their work here was done. Although their operation was a massive success, it was mostly thanks to the element of surprise. Besides that, the forces of Nanjiang were as numerous as they were complex. It was impossible for the Chu army to have eradicated their enemies perfectly. Naturally, a lot of prey had managed to escape the net they weaved, not to mention that there were still some strong tribes out there.

If they wished to truly conquer Nanjiang, they must keep up the pressure and wipe out both the escaped preys and the threatening tribes. Only then could they say that the southern threat was pacified once and for all.

Because of this, Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou inadvertently stumbled upon many Chu soldiers who were capturing or hunting down the Nanjiang tribes. There were plenty of massacred villages and destroyed fortresses as well. Blood and death was all over the place. What was once a peaceful and tranquil mountain range—relatively speaking, of course—was now no different from a living hell.

Ye Qing was hardly a stranger to death and murder. Hell, he must have killed over a thousand people at this point. However, he had never experienced a world where every few steps was a pool of blood and broken limbs, where elite cavalry or infantry massacred tens of thousands of helpless citizens to the last, where countless lives could only quiver in powerlessness and fear under Chu’s giant banner.

Right here and now, life was as worthless as grass, fragile as sand, and so weak that a gust of wind was all it took to blow it all away. The violence and brutality of war had never been so clear.

Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou had lent some of the Nanjiang people a hand if they happened to run into an ongoing massacre, and they judged that it was within their power to help them.

Having become desensitized on their way over, not even the city in ruins or the lake of corpses could surprise them anymore.

“The Nanjiang Royal Court actually has another name. It is called the City Above Water because it was built atop a lake.”

Feng Qingyou asked, “Have you heard of the name Yao Xiaoyu, Joyless?”

Ye Qing nodded. “Yao Xiaoyu? Of course I have.”

Yao Xiaoyu was a fengshui legend back in the You Dynasty. A master of fengshui, he had built many imperial tombs and cities. The construction of capital city of You, imperial tombs and other structures was overseen by him as well. All of the cities and tombs he built were naturally compatible with the world and fengshui, which was why they could last for hundreds of generations without fail.

This was especially true for the imperial tomb of You, which was concealed from the world and boasted enigmatic powers despite definitely existing. The fact that it remained undiscovered to this day even though it had been many years since the You Dynasty was wiped out was a testament to Yao Xiaoyu’s ability.

Not only that, Yao Xiaoyu left behind many legendary works such as the fengshui series—“Feng”, “Shui”, “Mountain”, “Thirty Six Word Yin and Yang Secret Spell” and more—and the construction series—“Wood”, “Tomb”, “Records of Heavenly Work” etc. The impact his works left in the field of fengshui and the construction of cities and tombs were such that he was heralded as the Master of Fengshui and the Father of Construction. His name was one that would be remembered forever.

“Yao Xiaoyu was the one who supervised the construction of the Nanjiang Royal Court.”

Feng Qingyou explained, “Legend has it that Meng Chang and Yao Xiaoyu were good friends. After Meng Chang became the King of Nanjiang, he desired to build a mysterious, powerful city as his royal palace. It was both because Meng Chang was a man who indulged fondly in the pleasures, and because it served as a useful deterrent against the hundred tribes.”

“After all, the large majority of the tribes of Nanjiang lived like uncivilized, uncultured barbarians in the deep mountains, and owning a mysterious city would make it seem like he was chosen to rule by the heavens themselves and improve his authority and control over the hundred tribes.”

“After Yao Xiaoyu observed the fengshui of Nanjiang, with the aid of a hundred thousand workers and the power of fengshui, he constructed the City Above Water on the Moon God Lake in just three years.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“The Moon God Lake is no ordinary lake either. On the more mundane side, its water is drinkable, and it functions as a moat that protects the city from land invaders. On the more supernatural side, the Moon God Lake would automatically shift to other locations throughout the One Hundred Thousand Mountains of Nanjiang every full moon. Of course, the capital city moved with it as well.”

“Long story short, the location of the Nanjiang Royal Court is undetermined and everchanging. Outsiders cannot predict where it would appear next. This was why the Nanjiang Royal Court remained standing for centuries even though it was in decline for almost as long.”

“Yao Xiaoyu’s ability is truly godlike,” complimented Ye Qing before sighing. “Unfortunately, even the most powerful city in the world is like a porcelain pot before absolute strength. One good hit is all it takes to shatter it.”

“Such is the true nature of the world.”

Feng Qingyou smiled and changed the subject. “Come. Let us enter.”

Just like most cities, the Nanjiang Royal Court had four sides and four city gates. Each gate boasted a massive road that functioned like a drawbridge: when the road was lowered, the people could use it to enter or leave the city. When it was withdrawn, it could seal off the city completely and prevent all outsiders from entering.

Right now, three of the four roads were withdrawn. The only road that was connected to the shore was heavily guarded by Chu forces.

The Chu army wasn’t stupid. This arrangement was in case the tribes decided to launch a counterattack and retake the Nanjiang Royal Court. Unfortunately, it was completely useless against Feng Qingyou or Ye Qing because they had never planned on crossing the road into the city in the first place. They were planning to cross the moat directly.

Normally, this would have been an extremely difficult feat. The Nanjiang Royal Court’s city-protecting restriction was directly connected to the Moon God Lake. When the great restriction was active, it was outright impossible to enter the Nanjiang Royal Court via any means besides the road. It was because the lake water of the Moon God Lake was similar to the ancient Weak Water where everything that came into contact would sink to the bottom, and flying over it was a difficult feat for anyone save for a Sage. Not only that, those who fell into the water would melt into a puddle of gore in just a short time.

That was no longer the case though. It was clear that the battle between the Chu army and the Nanjiang Royal Court had dealt great damage to the city-protecting restriction, unwittingly saving them a lot of trouble.

On top of that, Feng Qingyou was an expert in illusion. She could conceal their tracks and hide them from another person’s perception almost perfectly. As a result, they were able to infiltrate the Nanjiang Royal Court with ease.

The first thing they saw upon entering the Nanjiang Royal Court was rubble and burned houses. There were groups of shabbily-dressed, helpless-looking, fear-stricken civilians cleaning up the surrounding rubble and corpses while the Chu soldiers oversaw them. Even more Chu soldiers were patrolling the capital city with their weapons at the ready.