Free Web NovelChapter 267: Chapter 71: Grand Banquet and Intimate Banquet
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At the Well’s fourth level, there was a house with a child: the striking red handwriting on a strip of paper
Despite the white fog making it hard to discern, he sensed a certain force. But the fog’s interlinked system was something he inherently did not want to think about.
His body seemed transparent, void and illusory, lurking under the surface. Without a sound, letting this person do whatever, regardless, the white fog appeared.
Blocking the view was the lingering figure of the lurking dragon. At the same time, he pretended to follow and move casually, seemingly had to write his own code, taking a piece of paper from the white fog.
"Let’s switch to another connection method, shall we? If the monitoring team can recognize that, then it really can’t be helped, huh. I’m not going to emerge from the tower right away, are we going to have to start merging?"
White Fog clicked his tongue and shook his head:
How could the little brat admit to being White Fog in person, having some embarrassment at Jiuyan’s outright challenge?
"Why are you saying things like that again? Isn’t it obvious that you’re trying to deceive me, little uncle? You’re very trustworthy indeed," White Fog said.
At this moment, Jiuyan was a bit annoyed:
He had just given Jiuyan a piece of information, calculating some kind of method not to be delayed. White Fog hadn’t expected that Jiuyan would actually come back to him like this.
It seemed as if Jiuyan was portraying a scumbag persona.
"If I let you hang out with this kind of person, then I wouldn’t even want to live anymore," Jiuyan declared.
How could he be so shameless, turning his entire speech around, leaving White Fog completely baffled?
"You, a person of such despicable character," White Fog blurted out.
At that instant, Jiuyan was furious:
Jiuyan, who hadn’t actually been very fond of Jiuyan, immediately thought back to when White Fog had scolded himself personally.
"If you’re going to belittle me, brother, then I will chase you to the ends of the earth and sea. It’s not like I care what you do," Jiuyan said to the hastily departing figure of Well’s red.
"How could you say things like that, little uncle? How could you, White Fog, say such things? You’ve really angered me," Well’s red snapped back.
How could Jiuyan pull himself closer, realizing this was the common issue they needed to approach with White Fog? Or was Jiuyan himself possessed of some charismatic authority?
The headstrong little Well’s red had always been close with his kin, even helping White Fog to carry out his duties...
Moreover, this was especially so because this little headstrong Well’s red never left White Fog’s side for more than three sentences.
Chu Qing Jiuyan actually liked White Fog very much, and they would sometimes chat.
While Jiuyan held no ill intent towards White Fog, Jiuyan himself believed, "Hmph, as if I want to cling to your family’s success."
"Let’s take a look at Jiuyan."
"What are you doing here?"
Could this bring danger to Jiuyan?
Jiuyan seemed very peculiar, especially when it came to his attitude towards Jiuyan.
If this is indeed the case, suggesting that the Zhong Family’s elder is pretending to be weak, he certainly wants to find a way to control that source of power. Wouldn’t it make undeniable sense for Zhong Family’s elder to avoid ever letting Jiuyan near a worker with this admission of his great desire for control?
— White Fog continued to push ahead with this level of thinking.
It seems that after returning from Zao Lake Village, Jiuyan began investigating on his own, in order to prevent the Zhong Family elder from sensing his strength from the reported information.
White Fog guessed in a flash that Jiuyan must have encountered a true incident, as Zhong Family had two guards—Jiuyan had been acting quite strange recently.
And it might even involve a girl. Jiuyan wouldn’t normally come with a hidden guard.
It’s inappropriate for this person to keep following Jiuyan without being noticed.
White Fog had not looked away at someone behind Jiuyan but his gaze remained fixedly on Jiuyan.
[Serial No.17—Hidden Dragon—Assassin Client with Divine Eyesight that nothing could escape, Eyes that pierce through heaven, vision that enhances to see anything, eyes that can deceive all, even with ultimate supernatural abilities. She is also a guard—and I will tell you one more piece of information: it’s convenient to have someone unsuspecting to bring along. Next time you call me out on this, I swear, I might just roll my eyes. Last time you said I calculated; the time before you said my calculating ways were nothing compared to yours. Why would I deal with all that garbage with me? Me. I have no way to break through the Hidden Dragon, and it’s all because of those piercingly observant eyes.]
For some reason, Well felt that something significant had happened, but the white fog remained inscrutable, without revealing anything.
Suddenly, without saying a word, he wanted to tell Jiuyan about the tragedy of Zao Lake Village, about the incident outside Shen Ta, but the white fog had not yet mentioned anything.
Her smile was becoming more and more genuine,
But Jiuyan’s eyes, even when she smiled, were unable to convey any joy; no matter how hard she tried, her gaze remained managingly distant.
If the white fog was really there, then opening the door was Jiuyan’s response.
Being punished by the white fog meant that she would certainly face another obstruction because of her silence, but since Little Oranges was not visiting today, pretending to be like her.
There was a familiar sensation in her heart, and after she spontaneously reacted with such intensity, Jiuyan didn’t understand why Little Uncle would suddenly yank the white fog; how could this happen?
"Ah?"
"The white fog has come looking for you."
But where was Jiuyan herself? He continued to eavesdrop.
The white fog didn’t know where Jiuyan had gone.
Jiuyan was afraid just speaking to herself would attract too much attention; even bending her waist to talk would be too much when her father saw them.
White fog felt extremely strange that she hadn’t expected to find Jiuyan here of all places; taking into account how well she treated Jiuyan, she could have been considered a member of the Zhong Family.
—a unique kind of familial affection, friendship, affection still remained.
Ever since meeting the white fog, Jiuyan felt that the empty spots in her heart, the void of her childhood, were gradually being filled.
Jiuyan was eternally grateful to the white fog, and so was Zhen Ta, for feeling this way towards Jiuyan.
She had always hoped she would have someone in Zhen Ta to act as a father or a brother, especially during the time of Dugu Jiuyan.
... just like a father.
But even if her brother didn’t always look up to her, she really hoped to have a closer relationship with him because Little Jiuyan was there.
In a way, Zhen Ta filled the emptiness within Jiuyan’s heart.
"I will let them apologize to you, remember to talk to me, and also remember that pretending to be someone else is grounds for admission to a psychiatric hospital."
"Thank you, Little Uncle, for being so kind,"
"You can talk to Little Uncle if you’re feeling upset; there’s no harm in opening up your heart." fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
Once again, Zhen Ta was there.
...But surprisingly, the white fog noticed something a bit unusual inside, although he originally planned to knock on the door and continue straight in after reaching the Sixth Level. This time, the white fog did not observe too much.
He was sitting in Dr. Zheng’s office, observing his own medical history... and starting to think slowly about truthfully recognizing his own medical condition. Zheng Xiaodu was always the psychiatrist.
Because of this feeling that the two old people -- his patients -- were getting better, they had to leave here. There wasn’t his usual silly smile; it was clear that he, Dugu, was very different; he was always that silly smiling patient.
Their conversations had shifted, gradually moving the entertainment from playing chess and cards to chatting.
Through chatting, the two of them began to show mutual understanding, and the two old men, who didn’t even play cards this time, returned to their thoughtful state at the psychiatric hospital.
If it turned out that Liu had committed suicide outside Shen Ta, then he knew that he was just another worker who had contracted the disease. White fog still wanted to go ask the workers the truth about gazing at the high tower, but of course, this book was nothing but a bunch of nonsensical fabrications.
But due to Pang, with energy from Well, the high tower could transmit a huge amount of energy, which allowed the high tower to propel itself at an extremely rapid speed every time it exited, bringing about a different temperature, a different timezone, even different worlds altogether; it could change seasons, day and night.
In essence, the entire high tower was one giant device, a source of tremendous energy. Well supplied the energy that the high tower needed to connect to. With this energy, the high tower could propel a planet to drift in the cosmos, transforming worlds and drawing upon energy from the output of the high tower.
They would only observe and never stop, each passing through the Fifth Level with different levels of societal advancements due to the different gravitational tilts; in reality, the Sixth Level was occupied by extraterrestrial beings as described in the entire book.
This Well was not the same as that Well.
This book’s author somehow managed to bring the concept of Well into the story, which was extraordinarily and unusually beyond his expectations. White fog had read this book.
"This book has already been converted into ’Exploration of the Tower of Secrets: Sixth Level’...
The tranquility here was so profound it was a stark contrast to the noise above...
Glancing around, Well realized that this place still had a strange serenity, just like before, adhering to his usual routine...
There was no fog impeding his path towards the Third Level...
...
...
Shen Ta might suffer devastating destruction...
— In such a short span of time, separated by mere alleys, they might have stumbled upon a secret that seemed almost Buddha-like, inscrutable for eternity. The two were not far from parting...
But Jiuyan could not settle for just one red zone exploration, as his wild heart suggested...
"Would I go to Zheng if you recommended Jiuyan?" asked Well.
Jiaxie accepted this response...
"Although I have never seen him taking action, but I am certain of it; this person seems lazy, but is actually very strong. He may be able to help, or at least be useful if we are to proceed towards Mechanism City. His capabilities are indeed very good, and he might help, though he seems self-aggrandizing," explained Well.
"What are these two about?"
Jiaxie replied, "Zheng and Jiuyan are among the strongest reported."
"Hmm, do you take these people for a monitoring group, someone I need to bring along?"
"I will bring a squad up, a small one in four days. I need to visit the insane asylum on the Third Level first," said Well.
After all, it was not ssoq code they were dealing with; rather, this might reduce the difficulty level instead of escalating the exploration of the black zone...
Well knew full well that this was no time to attract unnecessary attention. With just these two points alone, he could take on the strongest guardian of the dark domain and the most powerful of the high tower backed by the Jiaxie family...
"Got it."
"It’s unimaginably dangerous and powerful. Zero code should absolutely avoid direct confrontation with it. Remember that Zero is much stronger than you might think. Though you seem capable of fighting Zero, I advise against it," said Well, who hadn’t touched the mystic Zero code and found this person’s train of thoughts peculiarly intriguing.
As Well started to walk down the alley, Jiaxie thought, unconcerned by the unknown, "If we can just avoid fighting Zero and solve the issues with Mechanism City, there are a lot of issues in Mechanism City. Is this really the power of an entity known as the master creator?"
"Yes."
"Can Zero actually imbue inanimate objects with spiritual life?"
It was a concept that one might readily associate with Mechanism City, where it was common to encounter gusts of wind...
Where gusts of wind were ever-present, where the whole world was an entity, not to mention the spiritual essence above, regardless of the physical flesh...
"The spirit of a mechanical body, the soul of a person...you should know, just let me simplify it for you; there are many questions within this city. This is..." said Well, who believed in a certain rule of Chaos, even residing within the body of a machine.
"...Ah, a small city."
"...Like a tiny version of the high tower within Zao Lake Village... Mechanism City is very vast, and having a spiritual essence in a mechanical life form, you know that many issues will arise," Well informed.
"What would you reckon to do?"
Jiaxie showed a lot of patience towards Well. "But if you are going to do something outside the restricted zone, you can still survive. However, danger is also very dangerous."
"This place is very dangerous, can you tell me a bit about Mechanism City’s situation, like if you’re not within the tower?" said Well as he descended the alley alone.
"You can also bring up Yuqing Valley or something similar if you have someone of higher rank. But the best thing is the spirit of a living brain..."
"Who do you think should belong to, to warrant your recognition?"
Said the white mist:
"Jiaxie is not a mere worker. The white mist comes and goes at will. I need a precise moment in time."
The white mist was readying the next pigeon. "I still have some matters to handle.
"We should have resolved this annoyance sooner, so we could leave the tower."
Without giving away any readiness for change to anything observed, and with his gaze focused, the white mist did not answer the question.
"Perhaps my eyes might be more observant than you think, huh?"
"How could something that enhances your vision make you see fuzzy images? As for me, it’s nothing but a pair of broken eyes that I use to look at things. I, Shen Ta, am blind."
Jiaxie said, "Have you discovered something?"
Had the white mist just answered Jiaxie’s question about the connection between the Shen Ta meeting and Mechanism City? Moving forward to the next zone, Mechanism City.
This was pure riddle speak.
The next zone?
"You would encounter it. There is even a chance you might end up going to the next zone immediately. Your ties with him are not done yet. Since it’s still liquid nitrogen, the thawed corpse would not be a concern for your anxious heart. Indeed, he is dead."
"Not only do I not represent such a fool like Liu Hu, but I also have my moments of madness," Jiaxie said with a chuckle, shaking his head.
Shen Ta teased with a line that carried a hint of jest. "It’s odd that you can watch the red-zone without blinking, yet you’re not that cautious after all.
"It may be strange to me, but there aren’t any issues with the sequence, his partner power," Jiaxie said.
"His partner power is in sequence, all right," said Jiaxie, "but I wouldn’t recognize him as such a colorful character who died so tragically. You are quite strong, old man."
...Suddenly, the white mist noticed something off about this dying man; there was no resistance. The Shen Ta meeting chairman’s corpse had already shattered into ice crumbs.
For the white mist, this was good news, but for Sixth Level, it was another reason for cautious vigilance, not an iron barrel dictator.
Each had their own countermeasures for this potential, and his family was no exception.——Jiaxie, it was clear from Jiaxie’s tone of voice and attitude that he had carefully considered this power within himself, a fact that became thoroughly understood to the white mist through Shen Ta’s words.
"Even if the Zhong Family and Jiuyan don’t keep seeking, we have no new information on our allies. However, this power still remains within, despite us killing their backer. There were ties with both Black Gold Island and the Zhong Family, Jiuyan, to name a few examples—there are power struggles outside the tower that involve us all."
The eight great families had a good understanding of their own roots, and if the real issue with the Sixth Level arose, the mutual restrictions of the eight families wouldn’t be much different. The puppet master was merely a second-level food chain link. Without having set foot in the Sixth Level, few individuals were mere puppets, not the true masters of the high tower.
The white mist truly understood.
To the white mist’s watchful eyes, Jiaxie’s "You understand" was simply a gesture, an incomplete statement.
"...Perhaps, someday, the Sixth Level will have its day, and who knows? But it’s unnecessary to overlook the Sixth Level just because the Fifth Level has been stable for seven hundred years." freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
"What are you thinking?"
"Because, first and foremost, everyone fears the Sixth Level. That’s why it’s untouchable, as the second reason is that those who attempt to kill it face many broken threads."
"Why then, do you not consider devouring others who have weapons far stronger than yours?"
The white mist said, playing with the corpse of the Shen Ta meeting chairman.
Jiaxie was also quite aware of his own fear of Jiaxie’s true intentions if Jiaxie were indeed the towering eye of scrutiny. Something about the rapid demise of Shen Ta didn’t sit right with the white mist.
(The great silver-white alliance’s random machine became entirely obsolete, having completed the 1/2101 progression.)
