Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Palace

Lu Zhe seized the rope, his body hanging in the air as he slid swiftly down. Before long, he landed on the ground.

After landing, he looked around but could not find Elder Yi anywhere. Lowering his voice, he called, “Master, where are you?”

“I’m here.” Suddenly, Elder Yi’s voice came from somewhere unseen.

Lu Zhe followed the sound, but after scanning the area, he still could not find him. He was in a remote corner of the city wall, so dark that he could see nothing at all, and Elder Yi was dressed in black for night movement. Lu Zhe continued to ask in a low voice, “Where is this place?”

“Under your feet,” came Elder Yi’s faint voice from below.

Lu Zhe hurriedly looked down. In the darkness, he stared for a long while before realizing he was standing on Elder Yi’s back.

He quickly jumped off and scratched his head in embarrassment. “Sorry, Master. It’s too dark. I didn’t see you.”

Elder Yi climbed up from the ground, brushed himself off, and said impatiently, “Enough, enough. Get on with the real work.”

“What real work? I don’t even know what I came here to do,” Lu Zhe asked blankly.

“Ha, of course we’re here to look for clues about the miracle medicine,” Elder Yi sighed helplessly and said lightly.

“How do we look for it?” Lu Zhe went on, still bewildered.

“How should I know? Why are you asking so many questions?” Elder Yi finally lost his patience and snapped in a low voice.

“All right, all right, I won’t ask anymore,” Lu Zhe said with an awkward scratch of his head.

“Let’s go.” With a wave of his hand and a low command, Elder Yi bent down and slipped into the bushes.

Lu Zhe shrugged and followed him into the undergrowth.

The two of them moved through the bushes like cats, careful and quiet. The thicket was neither long nor short, and soon they reached the end.

Elder Yi darted out first, then ducked behind the corner of a house. After confirming no one was there, he waved to Lu Zhe, who sprang over like a startled hare and came to stand behind him.

Elder Yi peeked outside. Beyond the corner, groups of male serpentfolk were patrolling back and forth, weapons in hand. Judging by their appearance, they were likely a night watch.

When the patrol had moved farther away, Elder Yi flicked his head and waved a hand. “Go.”

Lu Zhe twitched his lips and eyebrows, then followed Elder Yi quietly to the corner of another house.

When they reached it, Elder Yi motioned for Lu Zhe to hide behind him and continued scouting ahead.

Lu Zhe scratched his head and asked softly, “Master, wandering around aimlessly like this isn’t a solution. Shouldn’t we find somewhere to go?”

Hearing this, Elder Yi withdrew his head, lowered his eyes, and stroked his chin in thought. After a brief pause, he said, “You’re right. But where should we go?”

Lu Zhe looked around, then suddenly pointed at a palace-like building in the distance. “That one looks good. Let’s go there.”

Following the direction Lu Zhe indicated, Elder Yi saw an imposing palace, roofed in blue-green tiles with vermilion ridges, ornate eaves, and carved balustrades of jade-white stone. From afar, the entire structure looked like a celestial tower of jade and gold, or a painted pavilion and scarlet loft.

“Wow,” Elder Yi blurted in admiration, stunned by the masterpiece before him.

“Well? Are we going or not?” Lu Zhe pressed, adding fuel to the fire as he watched Elder Yi drawn in by the palace.

“We’re going. With a palace this fine, how could we not? Come on, let’s have a look,” Elder Yi laughed heartily, his voice full of boldness.

With that, the two of them moved forward quietly, skimming along like dragonflies touching water.

They threaded through the staggered houses with swift, rabbit-like movements, stopping now and then to avoid the night patrols. Only after the patrols had passed did they carefully advance toward the palace as though treading on thin ice.

Thus, they stealthily arrived beneath the palace.

Only then did Lu Zhe realize that the palace had been built atop a very high platform, and that the platform itself had been carved into a staircase rising step by step, like a heavenly ladder connecting to the palace. The palace sat upon the elevated terrace like a pavilion suspended in the clouds.

“Wow.” Both Lu Zhe and Elder Yi could not help but exclaim at the sight.

“Let’s go.” Elder Yi waved a hand and took the lead up the staircase that resembled a ladder to heaven.

Lu Zhe smiled and quickly followed.

The two of them hurried up the steps like stars chasing the moon, and before long they had climbed the entire heavenly staircase.

As soon as they reached the top, Lu Zhe looked down. From here, the place where they had hidden before lay fully within view. Not only that, but all the tiered houses below could be seen clearly. Gazing downward, he truly felt as though all the mountains beneath him had shrunk to insignificance.

“Who goes there?” Just as Lu Zhe was lost in that feeling of standing above all peaks, a sharp shout dragged him back to reality.

Lu Zhe was startled. Bad luck—they’d been discovered!

Yet just as he was about to turn and act, the serpentfolk behind him, after shouting those words, gave a soft thud and could no longer speak.

Elder Yi strolled up to the fallen serpentfolk, bent down, and pulled a steel needle from between his brows. He then took out a piece of paper and wiped the blood from the needle before sliding it back into his sleeve.

Turning his head, Elder Yi glanced at Lu Zhe. “Let’s go.”

He then turned and walked into the palace. As he passed the dead male serpentfolk, he casually flicked his hand, releasing a mass of green flame that fell upon the body. In an instant, the green fire blazed up and, in moments, burned the serpentfolk into a heap of ash.

With a casual sweep of his sleeve, a breeze arose and scattered the ashes on the ground without a trace.

Lu Zhe drew in a faint breath of the cool night air and followed Elder Yi into the grand, majestic palace.

However, they had only taken a few steps when a sharp whooshing sound suddenly came from the right. Lu Zhe quickly looked over and saw that about ten serpentfolk had appeared there at some point, and at that very moment a gleaming silver spear was thrusting toward them.

When the spear was still three feet from Lu Zhe, he flipped backward and avoided the strike. The spear, meanwhile, went straight into the pillar behind him and sank three inches into it.

Crouching low, Lu Zhe looked ahead at the roughly ten male serpentfolk standing before him. At that moment, nearly all of them had already drawn the sharp swords at their waists, and were glaring fiercely at him and Elder Yi.

“Who are you? Do you not know this is a restricted royal area?” shouted the serpentfolk in front.

Elder Yi slowly turned around to look, then lightly tapped the ground with his right foot. His body shot forward like a meteor.

Thud.

Elder Yi’s hand punched straight through one serpentfolk’s chest. He yanked it free at once, spun his body, and with his right leg kicked away the serpentfolk on the right, who had been frozen in shock. That serpentfolk rolled along the ground for a moment before collapsing motionless; by the look of it, he was most likely dead already.

After dealing with the two serpentfolk, Elder Yi showed no sign of stopping. He instantly charged the remaining ones. At once, the sounds of combat—no, of slaughter—rose incessantly to the ears. In moments, the ten serpentfolk who had been lively a moment ago were all dead.

After incinerating all the serpentfolk with green fire, Elder Yi turned and said calmly, “Let’s go.”

Lu Zhe drew a deep breath, recovering from his earlier shock, then turned and followed Elder Yi into the palace.