Chapter 004: Visitors in the Dark Night

The first person whispered, “Enough! Enough! I know you’re a shaman priest, not an assassin… But what do you think we’re here for? To kill? If that’s the case, I wouldn’t mind you coming in boldly. With your strength, there are probably few in this imperial city who can stop you! But now explain to me clearly—what exactly are we here for?”
The other person merely snorted, clearly dissatisfied.
The first person continued, “Are all of you Kara people this foolish? But your chest isn’t that big either… So why are you still so stupid? If we came in boldly, indeed no one could stop us. But don’t forget where we are! Though ordinary soldiers can’t do anything to us, the court magicians and inner court members aren’t easy to deal with! Once fighting breaks out… where will we find time to save him? Should we just let him stay like this? Hmph… Those shamans using holy water to prolong his life can probably only keep him alive for seven days. If it weren’t for preparing things, I would have come to save him long ago. We can’t fail on this last day… Otherwise, everything will be lost! Or do you, Ringtone, hope he dies?”
These two were Ringtone and Chenchen, of course.
After hearing Chenchen’s words, Ringtone snorted in defiance, “Even so, we could simply come in openly to save him. Why do we need to sneak around? Is there anything shameful about it?”
Chenchen sneered and said, “Come in openly? What identity do we have? Would they let us in to save someone? Even if we asked Duke Green to lead the way, he probably can’t get in himself, let alone us… Besides, do you really think they’d want Du Fan saved? Others may not know, but Prince Fischer, who keeps coming to comfort Duke Green, doesn’t have good intentions… Hmph, save Du Fan? And end up with another powerful duke with an unfathomable background in the empire? By then, that Prince Fischer probably won’t even be able to sleep properly!”
“Moreover,” Chenchen chuckled, “what Du Fan needs most right now is to create momentum… Think about it—being saved after great effort, only to suddenly recover and gain immense strength. Which do you think would be more shocking?”

“But…”
“Alright, alright, there’s no ‘but’ about it.” Chenchen interrupted Lingyin, “Just follow me. It’s just a dozen or so ordinary people. Can they really block our way?”
With that, Chenchen seemed to pull Lingyin along, and the two slowly walked toward the entrance of the side hall.
The dozen or so soldiers guarding the door suddenly heard a rustling sound. Everyone tensed up, placing their hands on the hilts of their swords. The leading officer led them to search the area briefly but found nothing unusual. Just as they were about to call for more people to help search…
At that moment, it seemed as if a gust of wind blew through the air, followed by a soft voice saying, “You can’t hear anything, you can’t see anything…”
The soldiers were stunned for a moment before quickly returning to normal, standing back where they were and continuing their duties cautiously.
But behind them, the door of the side hall creaked open. Yet the soldiers seemed not to hear it. A few who caught a glimpse of what was happening stood there in a daze, as if they couldn’t see anything.
Finally, the door, which had been pushed open, slowly closed again, and everything seemed to return to normal.
Inside the side hall, Lingyin asked in surprise, “How do you know our clan’s secret techniques?”
Chenchen replied impatiently, “Ugh, I never noticed you talk so much usually. Why so many questions tonight? I taught Du Fan the language magic. It’s not a big deal that I know how to use it. Are you just upset because you can’t do it yourself? Do you need me to teach you?”
Lingyin seemed to shake her head and said, “No need. What’s the point for me to learn it?”
“Then stop talking nonsense! Let’s go…”
With that, Chenchen pulled Lingyin along, and the two quickly walked deeper into the side hall.
Strangely, the side hall, which usually had many soldiers, was now completely dark, with not a single guard in sight.
After walking for a while, Chenchen and Lingyin’s figures reappeared in the air, still dressed in their night clothes, making it impossible to see their faces.
Seeing that the invisibility magic on her had suddenly been lifted, Lingyin couldn’t help but ask, “What happened?”

Chenchen said with a hint of surprise, “No wonder there are no guards inside. It turns out this side hall itself is a huge magic array that activates automatically at night… Even if ordinary people manage to get past the guards outside, they still can’t enter… And even if they do get in, they can’t destroy this magic array, so it’s all in vain…”
Ringtone nodded and snorted, “It’s just a magic array. I can break it easily!”
Chenchen quickly waved her hand, “Don’t rush! Don’t rush! Do you really think this magic array is that simple? If you destroy it now, those old monsters among the court magicians will surely come after you right away! So you mustn’t break it!”
Ringtone frowned and asked, “Then what should we do?”
Chenchen smiled and said, “It’s very troublesome for ordinary people, but how could it possibly stop me, Chenchen? Watch closely! Today, I’ll show you what magic really is!”
With that, Chenchen suddenly reached out and grabbed in mid-air. Immediately, a faint multicolored glow appeared in front of them, forming a shield that covered a vast area, almost beyond sight.
Ringtone wasn’t weak either, and she quickly understood, “That’s the magic array!”
Chenchen said calmly, “You’re quite smart… Watch closely. I’ll teach you how to break it!”
Then, Chenchen suddenly reached out with her other hand and grabbed the multicolored glow, pulling it slightly to the sides. With a “whoosh,” a hole large enough for a person to pass through appeared in the wall formed by the colored light.
Chenchen went in first, then turned to look at Ringtone and said, “What are you still standing around for? Hurry up and come in!”
Without hesitation, Ringtone rushed in. Soon, she saw the hole behind her tremble violently before returning to its original state, while the multicolored glow gradually disappeared until it was no longer visible.
Ringtone was clearly surprised by this.
Chenchen shook her head and said, “Well, it’s just a sacred-level domain. Is it that amazing? Given your talent, you’ll understand it sooner or later… Let’s go! We don’t have much time here either!”
Ringtone nodded, and the two quickly headed deeper into the side hall. With no one blocking their way, they moved much faster and arrived at Du Fan’s room in no time.

Reinin was about to push the door open when Chenchen suddenly waved her hand, signaling him to wait. Then she suddenly let out a “hmm.” After that, two muffled groans were heard, followed by two thuds—sounds of someone falling to the ground. Only after finishing all this did Chenchen nod and say, “Now we can go in!” With that, she pushed open the door. The first thing they saw were two people dressed as court magicians, unconscious on the ground, with blood flowing from all seven orifices. Seeing this, Reinin frowned and said, “Prince Fischer is really generous, sending court magicians to serve Du Fan.” Chenchen snorted and said, “What serving? It’s clearly surveillance, okay? Enough nonsense—let’s get down to business!” Ignoring the two court magicians on the ground, the two of them hurried inside and saw Du Fan still unconscious on the large bed in the room, his brows furrowed. Upon seeing this, Reinin showed a strange expression, while Chenchen stepped forward, examined Du Fan from head to toe, sighed, and said in a low voice, “As I expected, Du Fan has damaged the fundamental essence of his body. If it weren’t for the holy water keeping him alive, he would likely be dead by now… And the reason he’s managed to hold on this long is probably due to the divine essence within him… Sigh, really, why did you tell him everything? And even teach him blood sacrifice? Do you know such secret techniques can be misused? He’s not practicing your barbarian witchcraft—using it carelessly will result in no recovery at all. His internal combat energy and magic are in complete chaos, yet his body hasn’t disintegrated after all this time… It’s quite lucky for him!” Reinin snorted and said, “You knew this would happen. When you sensed he was in danger back then, why didn’t you go save him? What’s the use of bringing up these complaints now? Besides, it wasn’t I who taught him blood sacrifice—he forced it out of me under threat!”