Chapter Ninety-Nine: Hold On

“You didn’t warn me earlier?”

“I was helping you look for a backer. How can you blame me for that?”

“No wonder the young lord vanished just now. Did you know long ago that this old fellow had already spotted the flaw, that things were not as simple as they looked, and so went to break the formation?”

“Mmm... very possible.”

“Then what do we do?”

“Find a way to destroy the formation, or else... this is bad. I’m afraid even this system may have to seek a new master.”

“You heartless wretch.” Three-Eye was furious. Then, glancing at the ring of light where gaps kept appearing and mending themselves, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him. He asked the system, “Does smashing it count?”

“What? The system did not hear clearly. Please repeat.”

Three-Eye severed the connection with the system on his own, then once again blended, imperceptibly, into the group of wandering priests, thinking as they thought, worrying as they worried.

If Reverend Azure Brow was like this, then surely many others felt the same unease.

“Reverend, what are we to do now?” Many priests gathered around Azure Brow, urgently discussing what should come next.

Three-Eye naturally squeezed in as well, listening to the discussion inside.

“This Imperial Observatory clearly does not care whether we live or die. They borrow our hands to bring down that demonic priest, and then seize the chance to wipe out everyone who knows about it.”

“No wonder they are unconcerned. Those masters still have several days before they return. Have they decided to wipe us out all at once?”

“That’s right. Look, apart from the formation marks beneath our feet, there isn’t a single priest from the Imperial Observatory here!” Three-Eye cut in, speaking with open anger.

Everyone looked at Three-Eye, and then someone else asked in confusion.

“But even if we count every one of us, that still does not make three hundred and sixty-five, does it?”

The man looked at Three-Eye; Three-Eye was also puzzled. “Brother Dao speaks reasonably. Could there be other fellow cultivators hidden away?”

He seemed to be answering the man’s doubt, yet the corner of his eye swept toward Reverend Azure Brow, who stood at the center of the crowd.

After hearing Three-Eye, Azure Brow seemed to sink into thought. Slowly, he said something that made everyone’s hair stand on end.

“There is a rumor that beneath the Imperial Observatory lie three levels of underground prison, where monstrous fiends guilty of boundless crimes are confined. Only those of master rank in the observatory would know of this. I, too, learned it from my grand-uncle master.”

If Azure Brow said as much, then there was no problem: first count all of them, and if that still fell short, add the hidden monsters in the dark. In that way, the number would reach three hundred and sixty-five. So vicious, to scheme so cruelly and show no regard for the fellowship of the path. Alas!

Three-Eye lowered his head, looking thoroughly struck.

The mood spread to many of the priests around them. Though they had been born in the countryside, some had entered major sects through connections, while others had relied entirely on their own insight to walk this path of contending against destiny.

Perhaps they cherished their lives and wanted the golden blood beads to improve their aptitude, so that the road to immortality would be smoother. But in their hearts, they had their own way. A gentleman acts where he should, and refrains where he should not.

They would never seize another’s life for the sake of their own desires.

“Wouldn’t they fear that the lower-ranking cultivators would learn of this and rise up against them?”

“Hmph!” Three-Eye struck out with his hand. “What have they to fear? When the time comes, they can just say that we were all killed by that demonic priest. Dead men tell no tales.”

“But won’t it damage the roots and bones?”

A timid priest beside him looked at Three-Eye nervously.

“If it were you, would you leave the grass unmown and let hidden trouble sit there, waiting to turn around and bite you?”

The crowd fell silent.

Far off to the side, Rong Mu had been squeezed almost out of earshot. He could not hear the innermost voices, nor even make out what they were discussing. He only knew that just now Reverend Azure Brow had used some sort of spell, and formations had appeared on the ground.

Every one of them had one. Perhaps it was some protective formation for their own defense.

But the sudden shift in atmosphere, that suffocating feeling, made every pore in Rong Mu’s body prickle with unease.

Then came that familiar voice again.

“Go ask the Imperial Observatory for a way out. We must live to leave this place! Even if only one of us gets out, we must make sure the world sees the true face of the Imperial Observatory!”

Rong Mu nearly spat blood. That voice was not small at all, but he was far away and could not see clearly; it was that scruffy priest.

He had no choice but to turn and look toward Rong Qi on the second floor in the distance, giving him a nod.

Rong Qi had long since locked onto his target. He drew the strong bow to full tension, three ice-spirit soul-locking arrows already nocked and ready to fly. Seeing the master’s signal, he loosened his right hand, and the bowstring trembled through the air, tracing a perfect curve.

Now that resentment had fully ripened, Three-Eye was just thinking of dragging all the priests over to stand against the Imperial Observatory when his sea of consciousness suddenly shuddered, and a force broke through his restraints.

“Run, an arrow from the shadows!”

Hearing the system’s warning, Three-Eye instinctively dodged to the side.

The priests beside him also sensed danger and tried their best to avoid it, throwing the scene into chaos.

Three-Eye watched the three arrows slicing through the air and cursed inwardly, but it was already too late. The range locked by the arrows lay entirely within the space of his evasive movement. No matter how he dodged, he could not escape the other two.

Just as Three-Eye was about to curse every last person in the Imperial Observatory, a whisk sweep came from the side and happened to block one for him. Timing the moment, Three-Eye hurriedly leapt aside. Luckily, it only struck his shoulder.

These ice-spirit soul-locking arrows, if not destroyed, had to strike their target; they were usually aimed at fatal points. But if they hit another part of the body, they would not continue after that.

Only because the system warned him did Three-Eye narrowly manage to let the last ice-spirit soul-locking arrow strike his shoulder.

Even though it had not hit a vital point, the arrow still delivered an unprecedented blow to Three-Eye’s three souls and seven spirits, and his entire divine soul began to destabilize.

“Hold on!”

Reverend Azure Brow—who, in the critical moment just now, had not dodged but instead thrown himself forward to block the arrow with all his strength for Three-Eye—stepped out and caught him before he could fall. “Fellow Daoist, you must hold on!”

The other priests also crowded around.

“What happened just now? An arrow was shot from upstairs!”

“Is the Imperial Observatory trying to exterminate us all?!”

Their hearts held a thousand different thoughts, and some asked, “That arrow seemed plainly aimed at this fellow Daoist, didn’t it? This...”

Three-Eye cursed inwardly. He was just about to grit his teeth and unleash his silver tongue when, unexpectedly, Reverend Azure Brow behind him spoke first. “They cannot bear to hear a fellow Daoist speak boldly for justice, so they turned to murderous intent.”

Azure Brow’s standing among them was not low. With him saying this, the crowd’s doubts naturally dissolved, and they were all stirred to shared indignation.

“Fellow Daoist, you must hold on!”

Three-Eye was deeply embarrassed inside. From Azure Brow’s words just now, it seemed he had seen through all of Three-Eye’s earlier actions. Yet why had he spoken up in his defense?

Unable to make sense of it for the moment, Three-Eye did not bother thinking further. He was only in his early thirties; he had no desire to die.

The pounding outside grew more and more frequent, and the formation became ever more intricate. The stars in the night sky seemed ready to fall, drawing ever closer to the ground. That oppressive force filled everyone’s heart with a weight of urgency.

It looked as though the young lord had encountered grave trouble. No, he had to hold on!