Sure enough, a muffled thud came from the Iron Rhino's belly, as though some enormous creature were turning over inside.
The entire Offering Altar trembled along with it.
While Cui Jiuyang laid out his formation, the Divine Attendants inflicted several wounds on him, staining his blue robe with blood.
Togo's expression changed dramatically. "Baka! He's trying to wake the Malevolent Flood Dragon!"
Abe sprang to her feet, and the Demon Horned Imperial Guard appeared beside her as a black shadow.
She gritted her teeth. "Can you still fight?"
The Demon Horned Imperial Guard was battered from head to toe. His armor had shattered, and even his spectral body had begun emitting black vapor as it slowly dissipated.
Clearly, although they had killed the giant softshell turtle, it had caused them considerable trouble, even with the help of explosives.
The Divine Attendants suddenly turned as one, locking their auras onto the two Japanese.
They had sensed the presence of the aquatic clan-and with it, the stench of blood and death.
To them, the thick reek of the giant turtle's blood on the Demon Horned Imperial Guard was like a torch in the darkness.
Cui Jiuyang wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and cursed, "Fuck, I knew you must've fought that giant turtle on your way down. With aquatic blood all over you, these Divine Attendants are bound to fight you to the death!"
Chapter 36: The Chancellor
The Divine Attendants stood at the edge of the stone platform, roaring at the two Japanese on the steps. Some restriction seemed to keep them from taking even one step off the platform, but they also blocked the Japanese pair's way forward.
Abe and Togo stood far away on the blue-black steps, watching helplessly as Cui Jiuyang pulled the Ninth Lady into the palace.
They had planned to kill the two Chinese first, then work out their next move.
Instead, not only had they failed to kill them, they had awakened the Guardian Spirit Sleeping in the Divine Tomb. Their scheme had backfired spectacularly.
Fortunately, the Malevolent Flood Dragon inside the Iron Rhino was still asleep, so this would not interfere with the important sacrifice at the Jidu Shrine later.
"That tomb guardian is waking up. Let's withdraw first and wait for those two Chinese to come out." Abe turned and left. The Demon Horned Imperial Guard became a cloud of black vapor and entered her ring. Togo took one last look at the palace gates, then turned away as well.
Cui Jiuyang and the Ninth Lady rushed through the palace gates, while the two Japanese turned to leave.
None of them noticed the great Iron Rhino on the Offering Altar shudder once again...
The moment he entered the palace, Cui Jiuyang spat out a mouthful of black blood and collapsed spread-eagled on the floor.
"Fuck me sideways, that nearly killed me!"
Wearing her Nuo Mask, the Ninth Lady knelt beside Cui Jiuyang. Her breath came in constant gasps behind it. "Mr. Cui, are you all right...?"
Cui Jiuyang had taken several hits from the Divine Attendants, then forced himself to cast an Ultimate Unity spell despite his insufficient cultivation. With injuries both inside and out, he could not say where it hurt, yet it hurt everywhere.
He wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve. "I'm fine. I won't die. If anything, those three mouthfuls of Golden Milk Stone Marrow should let me live a little longer."
"Those two Japanese didn't follow us, did they?" he asked.
The Ninth Lady peered outside several times. Strangely, although the palace gates stood wide open, a layer of mist seemed to hang across the doorway, making everything hazy and indistinct.
After straining to see for some time without success, she said, "I don't think they followed us. That woman seemed able to summon ghosts."
Cui Jiuyang grimaced. "What ghosts? That thing's a Shikigami."
"A Shikigami?"
"One look at you tells me you've never watched cartoons."
"What are cartoons? Mr. Cui, you're saying strange things again. You still haven't told me who Xiaoxiang Night Rain is."
"He's... Looks like you've sobered up... I prefer you talking like this."
"Oh, you're making less and less sense."
After teasing the now-sober Ninth Lady, Cui Jiuyang finally raised his head, tilted it to one side, and looked deeper into the palace.
The Ninth Lady followed his gaze.
Then the sight inside the palace stunned them both.
There was... nothing here.
Nothing at all. The floor throughout the palace was so clean it reflected their figures.
The gilding and painted decorations, carved beams and ornate rafters, ninety-foot pillars, radiant jeweled trees they had imagined... none of them were there.
Only bare walls remained.
"Mr. Cui... how could this place be...?" The Ninth Lady removed her Nuo Mask. After the tense battle, her hair was disheveled and she was drenched in sweat, once again looking soft and delicate.
Cui Jiuyang pursed his lips as he surveyed the towering shrine, whose entire interior was visible at a glance. "You really have sobered up."
The Ninth Lady lowered her head slightly, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks. "I'm sorry, Mr. Cui. This humble woman..."
Cui Jiuyang interrupted her with a grin. "Ninth Lady, enough of that 'humble woman' business. The country's modernizing now. Just as you haven't bound your feet, you can call yourself 'I.'"
The Ninth Lady lowered her head even further. Without a word, she took another bottle of wine from her Treasure Bag and poured a cup into Hundred-Unheard's mouth.
Cui Jiuyang watched from beside her. "How do you still have wine?"
Even bowing her head no longer seemed enough. She simply turned away to hide her embarrassment, putting her back to Cui Jiuyang. "Sometimes... sometimes the Nuo Mask's wine offering needs quite a lot... so... I prepare a little extra."
Cui Jiuyang was inwardly amused. The Nuo Mask's wine offering needs quite a lot?
More likely the offering gets your thirst going, and you can't help drinking a whole gourd yourself. That's why you bring extra.
But the sober Ninth Lady was terribly shy, with skin as thin as paper. Cui Jiuyang could not bring himself to tease her further.
His expression turned serious, and he struggled to his feet. The Ninth Lady hurriedly put away her Nuo Mask and reached out to help him.
Looking at the empty palace, Cui Jiuyang was utterly baffled too. The Water God went for minimalist decor in his tomb's Divine Palace?
Isn't this taking minimalism a little too far?
He didn't even leave his own corpse behind?
While he puzzled over it, faint sobbing suddenly echoed through the shrine.
The two exchanged a glance, then quietly walked toward the sound.
"Water Lord... oh, Water Lord... your old servant was useless. Your old servant deserves death!"
Rounding a plain white marble pillar, Cui Jiuyang saw a sobbing... miniature turtle.
The turtle was only palm-sized and wore vermilion court robes. Countless overlapping waves were embroidered in gold thread along the front, while the rank badge on his chest depicted neither bird nor beast, but a great river rushing from the horizon into the sea.
The sleeves and collar of his official robe were extremely narrow, making his squat little body look all the more comical.
His dark green shell rested outside his court robes, covered in patterns. A jade belt befitting a first-rank official encircled the shell and fastened at his waist.
The turtle sat on the floor with his legs splayed, sobbing in little spasms. With every sob, the wings on either side of his black gauze official hat bobbed three times.
Cui Jiuyang and the Ninth Lady exchanged a glance, each seeing the same question in the other's eyes.
What on earth is this thing?
The turtle cried without end, repeating the same tired phrases about the Water Lord and his old servant over and over.
At last, Cui Jiuyang could not resist interrupting him. "May I ask, esteemed leader... no, esteemed official, how should I address you?"
Hearing someone speak, the turtle immediately stopped crying. He looked left and right but saw no one. Wiping away his tears, he pulled an ivory ceremonial tablet from his robes and held it in his hand.
He stood, straightened his official robes, and coughed a few times before turning his head. "I am a first-rank official of the Ji River Water-Quelling Manor. You may simply address me as Chancellor."
Although he had to look up at Cui Jiuyang and the Ninth Lady, his face was full of arrogance and official authority. Paired with his miniature appearance, however, it was hard not to laugh.
Cui Jiuyang hastily cupped his hands. "So it is His Excellency the Chancellor himself! This commoner failed to recognize your greatness. Forgive my discourtesy, forgive me."
The Ninth Lady could hardly bear Cui Jiuyang's awkward mix of formal and colloquial speech. She regularly performed Nuo opera and knew something of classical phrasing, so she said, "Your Excellency, this commoner, Jiu Yizhi, pays her respects. Might I ask what place this is?"
The Turtle Chancellor did not much like the look of Cui Jiuyang, but the Ninth Lady pleased him. This young woman knew her manners. He cleared his throat. "Ninth Lady, this is the tomb of the Jishui Qingyuan Water God, where his robes and crown are buried. Would you care to pay your respects?"
After hearing this, Cui Jiuyang began looking around again.
Robes and crown? Where are they?
Chapter 37: Humiliation
Seeing Cui Jiuyang glance about, the Turtle Chancellor flew into a rage, his black-bean eyes blazing. "How dare you look about so casually in the Water God's tomb! This is a grave act of disrespect!"
He leaped with all his strength and struck Cui Jiuyang's ankle with his ceremonial tablet, making Cui Jiuyang grimace in pain.
Having punished the disrespectful fellow, the Turtle Chancellor calmly smoothed his robes. "I know what you are thinking. If this is a cenotaph for his robes and crown, where are the robes and crown?"
With his hands behind his back, he sighed, his face filled with reminiscence. "In those days, when the Water Lord reigned, a hundred thousand aquatic subjects pledged their loyalty. The Ji River stretched for ten thousand miles, its mighty waters surging. What majesty it possessed."
"Curse that Yellow River Spirit Source Water Lord, brutal and warlike! On fabricated grounds, he led his armies south. The Yellow River Aquatic Clan was savage and fierce. Though our sons of the Ji River fought to the death, in the end they could not prevent the Yellow River from seizing the Ji River's course and entering the Huai River."
"This is the anguish of my heart."
"Our lord journeyed to the Huai River, hoping to join forces with the Huai River Water Lord against the enemy. But the might the Yellow River Spirit Source Water Lord displayed in a single battle terrified all along the Huai River. The Huai River Water Lord led his aquatic subjects in abandoning their realm and fleeing. A disgrace beyond measure."
"On the northern bank of the Huai River, our lord laughed and said, 'What wisdom is there in abandoning one's realm? It is merely clinging to a wretched life.' He then returned to the Ji River and declared to all, 'The Ji River will not surrender!'"
"Morale soared throughout the Ji River, and all faced death without fear. Yet fortune deserted our armies, and at last they were routed."
"Our lord was slain before his army."
"From that day onward, the Ji River ran dry."
"We survivors gathered the displaced aquatic folk and built this cenotaph for the Water Lord at the bottom of Lake Taibai."
"Only then did we learn that, owing to the enormous cost of preparations before the war, the Water Lord had left not a scrap of wealth behind."
"Death and dissolution-truly, death and dissolution. Everything was scattered so completely that we could not even assemble robes and a crown for his cenotaph."
"So I simply left these palace halls empty, to proclaim to future generations the resolve of all the Ji River to burn their boats and fight the Yellow River! That resolve was absolute, and never changed!"
The Ji River Water God had been killed by the Yellow River Water God!
Who would believe such a secret?
Wait...
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