Dark Court's Prototype

Deep in the Kunlun Mountains, the night was thick beyond dispersing. Gale-force winds whipped icy rain against the cliffs, making them howl like ghosts. An old off-road vehicle caked in mud struggled along a dead-end path of jagged rocks like a dying iron beast. With every jolt, its frame groaned as if about to fall apart! Its undercarriage scraped across sharp stones, and the sparks that flew were swallowed by the downpour at once.

"My lord, hold on!" From the driver's seat, Lanling King's voice cut through the storm and engine noise, steady as bedrock. His fingerless gloves gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. His hawk-like eyes locked onto every inch of possible road ahead. The wheels suddenly sank into a mud pit, and the vehicle tilted sharply, on the verge of overturning!

In the back seat, Xiang Yi's slight body was violently flung toward the door!

Bang!

His forehead slammed heavily into an icy rivet! Pain and dizziness exploded through him! Warm blood mingled with cold rain and streamed down his face. Just as his vision darkened, a withered hand as steady as an iron clamp caught him. Guiguzi's wide sleeve did not move in the violent jolting. His other hand brushed over Xiang Yi's bleeding forehead, and a chill seeped in. A faint glow flashed. "Mind Stabilization." His voice carried an unusual calm.

Xiang Yi drew in a sharp breath of cold air reeking of soil and rust, forcing down his nausea and headache. Pale lightning split the sky, and he finally saw their destination—several pitch-black square buildings on a savage cliff halfway up the mountain, like the forgotten bones of some colossal beast, silent amid the wind and rain. A broken, rusted antenna tower twisted upward toward the lead-gray sky, radiating deathly stillness.

An abandoned weather station. The starting point of Hidden Star Court.

The vehicle died in a rocky hollow several dozen meters away, swallowing its last breath. The rain eased slightly, but the frigid wind still carried icy droplets that pierced straight to the bone. Xiang Yi jumped out, and the rain instantly soaked through him, cold drilling into his marrow.

"My lord, safe." Lanling King emerged from the night as if distilled from darkness itself, raindrops sliding off him without a trace. His dagger glimmered faintly. "The frame hasn't collapsed, but the inside is rotten and leaking. The route is clear. No scent of living people."

"Good work." Xiang Yi nodded, his gaze nailed to the main building's pitch-black entrance as though staring at the gates of hell.

"I shall clear the way." Guiguzi gave a slight nod. Countless dim blue motes poured from his sleeves like fragments of a galaxy, converging into a stream of light that rushed through the entrance first. The darkness silently ebbed away, revealing a corridor covered in thick dust and cobwebs, littered with rusted metal. The light stream split apart: one portion skimmed the walls and ceiling, scanning at high speed; the other swept filth into the corners, forcibly tearing open a path.

"Move!" Xiang Yi growled. Lanling King lunged toward the rear of the vehicle like a phantom. Heavy metal crates were as light as cardboard boxes in his hands. Muscles bulging, he steadily hoisted a chest as tall as a man and shot into the building. A Ke followed close behind. Her petite body erupted with terrifying strength as she carried a heavy crate in each hand. Her steps were as light as snow beneath her feet on the slick mud, and her red hair lashed out in a blood-colored arc light.

Xiang Yi picked up the crucial electronics case and had just stepped through the door—

A cold, damp stench mixed with mold, rot, rust, and animal carcasses flooded his mouth and nose like the breath of a decaying giant beast! His stomach churned, his vision went dark, and he bent over dry-heaving as cold sweat soaked through his inner clothes. Guiguzi's dim blue ribbons of light slithered deeper inside. In their faint glow, an inferno was revealed: in the middle of the hall stood an abandoned radar base like a rusted iron corpse, severed cables hanging limply like dying limbs, casting twisted monstrous shadows beneath the blue light. Paint peeled from the walls, exposing jagged concrete beneath. Broken glass and metal scraps littered the floor. It was empty and dead silent, save for the wind and rain whining through shattered windows like the whispers of the departed.

Lanling King and A Ke moved swiftly deeper inside, rapidly carrying the heavy supplies into the core area—a relatively intact equipment control room with thick walls. Their footsteps rang out in the dead silence, and the echoes were unnerving.

"Mr. Guiguzi, how long can the illusion last?" Xiang Yi set down the crate and surveyed the ruins. In one corner of the control room, murky rainwater seeped through a crack in the wall, collecting into a hopeless puddle.

Guiguzi stood in the center with his eyes closed, forming seals with his hands hidden in his sleeves. More dim blue mist spread out, enveloping the building inside and out. Particles spun madly, simulating cracks in rock, patches of moss, rust patterns, and variations of light and shadow.

"With all my strength, Cognitive Interference can last three days, making outsiders see this place as nothing but rock." Guiguzi's voice carried the building's hum. "If I borrow my lord's spiritual power, perhaps longer. But caution is advised. Excessive expenditure may alert the 'things' in these mountains." His gaze seemed to pierce through the walls and rain curtain into the deeper darkness of Kunlun.

"Understood. We'll secure three days first." Xiang Yi nodded and looked toward Lanling King. The king of assassins crouched in a corner, prying open a heavy alloy crate with the tip of his dagger. Cold light gleamed within—high-strength steel cables, massive hydraulic clamps, cutting torches, welding guns, reinforcing sealant, metal braces, miniature sensors, and signal dead-zone generators.

"My lord, leave the shell to me." Lanling King's voice was cold as iron. He grabbed a steel cable and shook it, sending it darting out like a living snake. His figure flickered ghostlike through the steel framework! Every time he paused, the cable coiled around a load-bearing joint like a venomous serpent, producing shrill metallic groans! The welding torch flared to life, its blinding blue-white arc tearing through the darkness. Precise welds sizzled as the smell of scorched molten metal spread!

A Ke, meanwhile, was like a killing machine switched into logistics mode. Her short blades flashed, and tough packing straps split like paper. As she arranged the living area, every item she placed concealed deadly intent. Sliding into shadowed corners, she scattered Poison Scorpion mines with her fingertips, fitting them precisely into floor cracks, blind spots around door hinges, and the best kill zones!

Time passed amid air thick as gun smoke. The control room began to take on a savage shape: leaks were sealed, critical passages were filled with death traps and warning systems, and the living area was neatly organized. Cold LED lights pinned their busy figures against mottled walls. The air was mixed with the acrid stink of scorched metal, chemical adhesive, wet earth, and decay.

Xiang Yi stood in the center, memories of being an overworked office worker in his past life colliding with the ambitions of this one. His dark kingdom was struggling to be born amid the remains of Kunlun. He walked to the huge, filthy observation window. Outside, rolling clouds surged like a gray sea of death, and gaps in the distant clouds cracked open to reveal several cold stars shining stubbornly.

"This," Xiang Yi said, his voice cutting through every other sound, "is the beginning." His fingertip touched the bitterly cold glass as if he meant to pierce that sea of despairing clouds. "Hidden Star Court."

Lanling King stopped welding, A Ke set down the water filter, and Guiguzi opened his eyes. Three pairs of eyes—loyal, calm, and profound—fixed upon the slender yet upright back of the young man before the window. The lights outlined him with a halo, as if he stood at the boundary between hell and dawn. Something called a "cause" quietly began to grow.

Wooo—creak—bzzz—!!!

A burst of piercing noise, like rusted iron scraping glass mixed with electronic components exploding, erupted without warning deep in the silent corridor! It pierced their eardrums and stabbed directly into their nerves!

Move!

Lanling King shot out like a poisoned crossbow bolt released from its string! Only an afterimage remained where he had stood! The cold gleam of his dagger drew a trail of death as he charged straight toward the source!

The twin blades at A Ke's waist sprang out three inches! Her body instantly lowered to its limit like a fully drawn bow, her eyes freezing over as she locked onto the direction of the noise and every possible killing intent connected to it!

Guiguzi's robes whipped wildly! A tide of dim blue light burst forth like a breached dam! One violent wave surged toward the noise, while another instantly formed a rapidly spinning, loudly humming Phase Deflection Shield around Xiang Yi! The shield's flowing light reflected a gravity never before seen in the old man's eyes!

Xiang Yi's heart was seized by an icy claw. He spun around sharply, his gaze blade-like as it nailed the depths of the corridor!

Lanling King flashed back like a ghost, holding a palm-sized, rust-covered iron box with severed wires dangling from it. Though the noise had been restrained, it still struggled on with a "Bzzz... bzzz..."

"An old weather transmitter, my lord." Lanling King's voice was steady, his eyes dark. "Old wiring. The vibrations woke a fragment of its lingering soul." He exerted force with his fingers, crushing its insides. The noise stopped abruptly.

Silence. More terrifying than the noise.

"Damn it!" Guiguzi barked! The dim blue illusory light screen covering the outer walls rippled wildly as if struck by a heavy blow! At the southwest corner, the screen glitched like a collapsing signal, flashing a distortion for less than a tenth of a second! It was faint, yet like a beacon in the night!

"A flaw in the illusion! Southwest outer wall!" Guiguzi spoke at lightning speed. "Something with 'eyes' forcibly pierced through!"

Lanling King had already rushed to the filthy southwest window like an arrow! His gaze penetrated the wind, rain, and illusion, instantly locking onto a moving point of light on the mountain road below!

"High-powered flashlight! One person! Mountain patrol uniform! One hundred fifty meters! Facing the flaw directly! He's stopped! The beam is fixed on it!" Lanling King reported like an ice spike. Down on the winding mountain road, a figure in a dark blue raincoat held a flashlight beam tightly on the weather station's southwest outer wall—the exact location of the flaw! He leaned forward, staring with startled uncertainty.

They had been exposed! While still at their most vulnerable! Xiang Yi's heart sank into an icy sea, his brain overloaded. "Mr. Guiguzi! Can you fix it? Can you fool him?"

"The flaw is sealed, but the 'abnormality' has already been branded into his mind! Forcefully repairing it may arouse deeper suspicion!" Guiguzi's brows locked together as his hands danced rapidly, sending more light mist toward the southwest corner. "There is only... distorting his cognition, making him believe what he sees is reasonable, or... erasing it!"

Erasing it... A thought flashed through Xiang Yi's mind! "Position? Can we reach him?"

"The mountain road is narrow and slick as oil! Going around will take over three minutes! He can call for people at any time! Or come up here!" Lanling King's voice carried urgency.

"There's no time! Mr. Guiguzi!" Xiang Yi shouted, his eyes blazing. "Distort it! Make him 'see' falling rocks! Now!"

A sharp light exploded in Guiguzi's eyes! He hesitated no longer! Drawing in a deep breath, his pale face became nearly transparent, and his wide sleeves billowed like sails!

"Go!" the old man shouted. His palms thrust forward through empty air! An invisible, formless Cognitive Torrent, heavy as mountains and wrapped in dim blue mist, ignored the barrier of wind and rain and instantly smashed into the mountain patrolman's mental world below!

Old Zhang's "Truth":

Old Zhang stared fixedly at the southwest wall. Just now, behind the peeling paint... there seemed to have been light? His scalp tingled. He rubbed his eyes, then raised his flashlight and swept it around wildly—mottled walls, peeling paint, moss... everything looked normal.

"Did I really see a fucking ghost?" he muttered. Fatigue flooded over him in waves. Had the days of endless rain made his eyes play tricks on him? His hand instinctively reached for the cold walkie-talkie at his waist...

A warm current enveloped his consciousness like a tide. Crushing exhaustion pressed down on him, and his eyelids became as heavy as iron gates. A "reasonable" thought naturally surfaced: mountain winds had swept loose stones against the wall, and mud splatters had reflected the light. He could even "feel" cold mud strike his cheek and "hear" the crisp clatter of rocks rolling down.

"Fuck, I scared myself..." Old Zhang completely relaxed, cursed, and let go of the walkie-talkie. After one final glance at the "normal" weather station, he trudged unevenly through the mud and disappeared around the mountain bend.

In the main control room, silence lay like a tomb.

"Target has disappeared. No communication made." Lanling King's voice was heavy as iron.

The tension in Xiang Yi's shoulders eased slightly, but cold sweat chilled his back. He looked at Guiguzi.

The instant the spell was completed, Guiguzi let out a muffled grunt. His body swayed violently, and his face changed from pale white to a sickly light gold! An extremely thin line of pale golden blood slowly crept from the corner of his tightly pressed lips! The illusory light screen covering the building also shook violently like a candle flame in the wind, taking several seconds before barely stabilizing. The old man slowly lowered his hands. The illusion became seamless once more, but the exhaustion and weakness carved into his bones could no longer be concealed.

"I... distorted his cognition, making him blame falling rocks." Guiguzi's voice rasped like sandpaper, frail beyond measure. "But his mental imprint was forcibly washed over and covered. This defies heaven, and it will surely leave a hidden wound." His brow was tightly furrowed as he endured an invisible pressure. "If that man suffers a great calamity in the future, nears death, or has his mind examined by someone stronger... this buried 'truth' may rise like a sunken corpse to the surface, carrying twisted terror back into his sea of consciousness."

A mine buried deep beneath the ground! Xiang Yi silently remembered it. "You've worked hard, sir. Please rest." His voice was low as he turned his gaze outside once more. The storm had eased somewhat, but the rolling sea of clouds remained infinitely dangerous. Cold stars struggled, flickering between the gaps.

"Reinforce the shell as fast as possible," Xiang Yi said coldly, bearing an immense weight. "Lanling King, maximize traps and warnings. A Ke, hide the supplies in every crack of the bones. Mr. Guiguzi, keep the illusion at minimum consumption and focus entirely on recovery."

"Yes!" Lanling King and A Ke answered together, their figures plunging back into the darkness, vigilance carved into their bones.

Xiang Yi walked to the window. The cold glass reflected his youthful face, though it was etched with frost. The chill beneath his fingertips was like touching the cruel laws buried deep within Kunlun. The faint spark of hope that had accompanied the construction of this base had been completely extinguished and crushed beneath that mountain patrolman's flashlight beam. All that remained was the gravity of an abyss ten thousand fathoms deep, and a blood-soaked understanding of the word "hibernate."

"'Hidden Star Court...'" Xiang Yi murmured, his voice echoing through the storm-battered steel graveyard. Outside, the Kunlun night was thick as ink. Only several cold stars shone through gaps in the clouds like weld points burning through darkness—faint, yet nailed stubbornly to the curtain of shadow swallowing everything with almost tragic grandeur.

Their "Star Court" would be the same.