Late Night Tales Of The Capital Chapter 85 Red Bean

By the time Ye Que regained consciousness again, the miasma earlier had already disappeared.

He looked around in confusion. All that he saw was collapsed ground and cracked stones. Countless ancient trees lay on the side in disarray. Some were cut in the middle, while others appeared to be pushed over with immense power. The big black bear was still carrying him while walking behind the girl.

"Just how valiant is this girl? Does she have to go so far when it's just an illusory formation?" Ye Que kneaded the swollen part on the back of his head. He then coughed. "Order this black bear to put me down. I can walk on my own."

There was a clear improvement in Ye Que's health after recovering all this while. Though a battle might still far-fetched for him, it wasn't a problem for him to walk.

The white-clothed girl cast him a glance and then gave the big black bear a look.

"Thud!"

The black bear that had been carrying Ye Que all this while threw him to the ground without any warning. Then, it disappeared into the forest without looking back. It looked as if it had received some kind of pardon.

The big black bear ran even faster than a rabbit!

"You!"

On the ground, Ye Que pointed at the white-clothed girl. He was about to use profanity but after the word "You!" left his mouth, he swallowed the rest of his words. Looking at the deformed ancient trees around him, he decided he should provoke as little trouble as possible.

In the end, he had only this to say, "Fine!"

He quickly staggered to the roadside and randomly picked up a wooden stick off the ground. Leaning against the stick, he pointed to a spot in front of him as if to say, "Since you're so awesome, go ahead. I'll be right behind."

The white-clothed girl sized him up and appeared to be pleased with his attitude. She even made a subtle nod to acknowledge him. Then, she continued walking with one hand behind her and another holding her oil-paper umbrella.

The girl was as arrogant as a peacock showing off its tail. No, she was even haughtier than that. It was as if nothing in this world was as noble as she was.

In reality, this girl was walking in a heart-rending manner as prescribed by heaven's law and earth's principle. It was as if this girl should be walking in this exact manner.

Ye Que took in a deep breath and suppressed his unhappiness. Moreover, he persuaded himself by saying, "Don't argue with a girl. Be more magnanimous and bighearted. You're not a child."

Neither the sun nor the moon was observable in the mountains. Unexpectedly, the concept of day and night was foreign to this forest. Only faint darkness lingered without any change. The two of them walked for half a day, with one leading the other. Ye Que had recovered enough that his limbs were increasingly nimble. He was no longer staggering. Perhaps it was all owing to the rich Spiritual Force in the ley lines of sovereignty of the Imperial Mausoleum.

After walking past more than ten curves in the path and about seven to eight bridges, a layer of muslin-like mist enveloped their vision. Behind the mist was a golden light of incredible brightness.

The closer they went near the light, the more the light flourished. They could faintly see the outline of a grand building.

Pushing past the mist, they saw an enormous gilded palace in the distance. It was astonishingly glorious and splendid. The golden light they saw earlier was emitted from this place.

After watching the golden palace attentively, a wave of impressive pressure engulfed them. Due to his injuries, Ye Que instantly staggered and nearly fell down. The white-clothed girl stood firmly, though the corner of her clothing swayed.

"This must be the birthplace of the Divine Tool," Ye Que said softly.

"Hm," the white-clothed girl in front of him said. She continued walking without sparing Ye Que a glance. He didn't know what she was thinking.

The nearer the two were to the golden palace, the more vivid the majestic building became.

Earlier, he hadn't noticed it because of the distance but after coming close, he discovered that there were several hundred people standing in front of the palace. In front of these people was a towering transparent column the size of a human waist. The center of the column was evidently full of thick and viscous blood.

The column was nearly 34 meters tall and a golden string was suspended from the top. The blood inside the column was slowly climbing up and looked like it was about to submerge the golden string at any time.

A board with the words "River Soldiers" was hung at the front of the enormous palace behind the column. Hanging under the board were scrolls of carved painting. There were no less than one hundred of them and all were so vivid that they were lifelike. It seemed like there were enough of these paintings to encircle the palace.

The scrolls were a continuous painting of something ancient. If Ye Que wasn't mistaken, the paintings chronicled the origin of the "River Soldiers".

Ye Que followed the white-clothed girl to the palace but before they could get close, they saw the large column in front of the golden palace emit dazzling rays of light. The blood inside had finally submerged the string.

The rays of light coming from the column shone above the doors of the golden palace.

"Creak."

"Creak."

"Boom!"

First, a resounding sound of friction rang. Then came a loud explosion as the doors of the palace opened!

It was as if everything had been orchestrated. The several hundred people in front of the palace charged inside. These people included disciples of the Cultivation World and Demon Race warriors. Since they hadn't even seen the shadow of the Divine Tool, they restrained themselves because they knew now wasn't the time to fight.

If they fought in front of the doors, they would only benefit the bystanders. No one was stupid enough to do so.

By the time Ye Que and the white-clothed girl arrived in front of the doors, the others were already gone. He raised his head to look at the scrolls of life-like painting on the wall. He felt as if he was witnessing the scenery before his eyes.

Subconsciously, neither of them entered the palace. They took a walk around the building instead, observing every scroll of painting.

"So the River Soldiers contain the tragic souls that died on both banks of Luo River over the past ten million years." Ye Que heaved a drawn-out sigh. Every Divine Tool had its own story.

"Hmph, hmph." The white-clothed girl snorted. "These paintings aren't the complete truth."

"The River Soldiers don't just contain the deceased souls on both banks of Luo River."

"Those souls alone aren't enough to induce the birth of a Divine Tool."

The white-clothed girl then pointed to the paintings. "The history left behind by the Human Race."

"Hypocritical!"

Ye Que, who stood next to her, looked stunned. "Human Race?"

"What do you mean? Aren't you a human being?" Ye Que once again carefully sized up the girl but the outcome was still the same: fruitless. He couldn't see through her, for she was like a mystery. Not even an examination by his Divine Energy revealed anything about her.

"I'm warning you for the last time: don't try and sound me out," the white-clothed girl said coolly, turning her head to look at Ye Que. Even her gaze seemed to be made of frost. "Don't flatter yourself just because you can control the Divine Energy of the Celestial World."

"In my eyes, that's a common and sloppy practice."

"Who exactly are you?" Ye Que's heart jumped after hearing her words. This was the first time since he returned to his youth that someone saw through his tricks. He was surprised that at this stage, at the ley lines of sovereignty of the Imperial Mausoleum, within a crowd of mostly Starburst Realm cultivators, someone knew about Divine Energy. Moreover, that person was able to accurately verify it.

"I'm the only one who can ask questions here."

"You don't have the right to question me."

The white-clothed girl continued to speak in a cold tone. She moved the handle of the oil-paper umbrella in her hand slightly downward. Her expression was indifferent. She gave the impression of a person who was a thousand miles away from the rest of the world.

"Then how should I address you? I suppose you were the one who saved me in the dark wasteland. Don't I have the right to know my savior's name? That's not asking too much, is it?" Even though Ye Que found the girl's expression to be haughty, he didn't find it hard to comprehend. Perhaps even he looked haughty to others sometimes.

His hundred-year-old soul and experience had returned to his youth. The current Ye Que naturally wouldn't continue to possess the nature of a youngster.

His reply caught the white-clothed girl by surprise. Couldn't he understand her meaning? However, after thinking about it with a frown, she decided there was no harm in telling him her name.

In the first place, there were not many whose faces she remembered. The first time she saw this youngster, she had found him pleasing to the eye. The second time she saw him, she had found him interesting. The third time she saw him, she had found his words logical. Due to these three experiences, Ye Que ought to have the right to know her name.

However!

The fourth time she saw him, Ye Que had given her too much of a surprise.

She was so surprised that it gave way to faint anger!

Even shame and resentment!

That was why she was treating him so coolly right now. The moment she saw his face, she would recall how he had crashed into her embrace. She would feel frustrated whenever she recalled that.

She disliked this feeling immensely. It made her heart feel terribly uncalm.

A confused heart would stop her from an unremitting pursuit, which would lead to her making mistakes. She couldn't tolerate making any mistake.

"I'm Ye Que, the 'Que' from the idiom 'better to have nothing than substandard choice'." Ye Que stared wide-eyed at the white-clothed girl and introduced himself calmly. "Are you afraid to even tell me your name?"

"Afraid?"

"This 'human' dare to suggest that I'd be afraid!"

"Ever since I'm born, there's nothing that I've ever been afraid of doing." With a raised eyebrow, the white-clothed girl stared daggers at Ye Que.

"You can call me Red Bean."

"Red Bean?"

Ye Que muttered the name twice and belatedly realized that he had no impression whatsoever of this name. When he looked up again, he saw that the white-clothed girl was already strolling into the golden palace.

"Hey, don't you have a surname?"

Before he even finished speaking, he saw Red Bean entering the doors of the golden palace. Her figure became subtly warped for an instant. It was as if she had walked past a layer of water. The entire process appeared illusory and mythical.

Dejected, he heaved a sigh. He realized that this was the first person who could infuriate him—whether through her actions or behavior—ever since he returned to his youth. However, the girl seemed to be emanating a kind of magical attraction that compelled him to want to approach her.

This feeling was foreign to him. Not even in the past hundred years had he experienced it.

If he knew that Red Bean once experienced similar feelings, it was a mystery whether he would be able to understand his own.

The phrase "fate brings people together no matter how far apart they may be" wasn't without its reason. A person who should appear in another's life would always appear no matter what. Moreover, once the person appeared, he or she would enchant you to the point that you would lose control over yourself!

This devastating attraction would make you forget your environment, mission, and even yourself.

Chapter end