Their problems are just beginning…
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Ch. 62 | Kleidi
Down by the beach, an endless stream of black fluid entities kept coming in from the sea and wriggling along on the sand. Under the moonlight, they gradually grew into lithe, graceful bodies, their transparent bodies gleaming like jellies. The moonlight covered them with the colour of human flesh and with a shake here and a wriggle there, they grew familiar with their new limbs, just like the seductive dancing girls. They moved through the night like swimmers, draped in dark grey cloaks, moving up and down Fuyin Street, the Exchange, the woods, the alleys. The whole of Ridge City was soon infiltrated.
Outside the League, everyone was surprised and bewildered by Dandan’s words. Even the League’s soldiers exchanged glances, as if trying to ascertain with their eyes if the other was trustworthy.
After a strange silence, Ye Ziran kept his guns and spoke, ‘Let’s agree on a watchword then.’
Song Fuyan said, ‘That could work.’
‘How about the date the League was founded?’ suggested Song Lin.
Song Fuyan and Ye Ziran were somewhat taken aback, exchanged glances and then answered, ‘Fine, that’s settled then.’
Dandan secretly asked Song Lin, ‘When was the League founded?’
Song Lin gazed at him. ‘Why should I tell you? How do I know if you’re really Dandan?’
His suspicious expression made Dandan very angry. ‘If you can’t tell whether it’s me or not, then I’m really disappointed. I might as well run away from home!’
Song Lin commented, ‘Hmm, looks a lot like him when his hackles are up, so I suppose you’re the real McCoy.’
Dandan gave him a dirty look.
Song Lin told him in an undertone, ‘The League was not founded on any fixed date. The Five Great Houses joined one after another¹ so anyone who says a fixed date must be an impostor. The Five Great Families are all clever people: my brother and Ye Ziran understood right away and I believe the Bai, Liang and Wanyan clans will also get it.’
Dandan remarked, ‘You’re quite a wily thinker.’
¹ 陸陸續續. If you’re not reading this chapter at hiding in plain sight, it has been stolen and reproduced by novelscraping sites.
Just then, another soldier came running over in great haste. ‘Reporrrrt!!!’ This one sounded even more urgent and out of breath.
‘What’s wrong?’ Song Fuyan asked.
‘There’s a huge fire in Fuyin Street! The entire street is burning!’
‘Fuyin Street? Most people in Ridge City live near there!’ Ye Ziran exclaimed.
‘Report!!!’ Before this guard could finish his report, another one came tearing over in such a hurry he didn’t stop in time and fell down at Song Fuyan’s feet. ‘The Exchange is on fire!’
‘Reporrrt!!’ Yet another disturbance had arisen as a soldier with burn injuries came rushing in. ‘The Reincarnation Pagoda, the Cliff of Sorrowful Souls and the Fascinating Forest have all caught fire!’
As soon as Styx heard this, he told the others, ‘Those are the places where magic weapons are found.’
Song Fuyan said gravely, ‘They’ve cut off our supply of spirit beasts, cut us off from our sources of weapons and are even burning the homes of Guardians: this is destroying all our escape routes and forcing us into a death trap.’
‘Damn it, I’ll go wipe them out now.’ Ye Ziran was genuinely angry. He whistled to the lizard who changed back into his original form and leapt onto his shoulder. ‘They really think we’re that easy to bully?’
Song Lin stretched out his hand to stop him. ‘Most of the spirit beasts at the Exchange have been chained up in cages and if we don’t rescue them, they won’t be able to escape from the blaze. Eighty percent of Ridge City’s population live on Fuyin Street and some have not even begun to cultivate their spiritual power. The top priority now is to save lives.’
Song Fuyan clearly thought so as well for he turned to the guards and ordered, ‘Abandon the areas where the magic weapons are found. Split up into two groups and head to Fuyin Street and the Exchange. Bring the people and spirit beasts you manage to rescue to the League for shelter.’
‘Yessir!’
‘But… the League may not be able to shelter so many people,’ Song Lin pointed out.
‘I can think of a place, said Dandan. ‘Crescent Moon Ridge.’
— Crescent Moon Ridge —
The mountain sprite opened one of the windows, yawning as he did so. ‘Who’s there?’
‘Hey, brother, we meet again.’ Dandan’s face loomed before him, scaring the mountain sprite so much that he slammed the window shut. Confound it, him again!
‘Open up, open up! I have something important to tell the High Priest!’
The mountain sprite couldn’t stand the banging on the door and said, ‘You might as well leave. The High Priest won’t see you.’
‘Then ask Bi An to come out.’
Bi An emerged half a minute later and was so shocked when he heard about the situation that he immediately pulled Dandan inside after that.
The mountain sprite rested his forehead on one hand. For some reason, I always have a bad feeling whenever I see this rabbit.
‘What? Have everyone come here to take shelter?’ The High Priest’s beautiful face twisted into a grimace. ‘Nothing doing.’
Dandan braced one leg on the side of the chair the High Priest was sitting on, placed one hand on his shoulder and put his face so near the latter’s that their foreheads and noses bumped as he insisted, ‘The civilians are already at the foot of the mountain seeking refuge, so you’ll open the door right now and let them come in!’
‘There are so many people, are you trying to have me eaten out of Crescent Moon Ridge?’ Feng Chulian raised an eyebrow, used his elegant fingers to push him away, then crossed his legs and took a sip of tea. ‘I can’t afford it, can’t afford it.’
‘Teacher!’ Bi An pleaded anxiously. ‘The whole of Ridge City is burning: Fuyin Street, the Exchange, and the Fascinating Forest have all fallen into enemy hands; the League can’t take in any more refugees. We’re the only ones left who can take in people so please grant this favour and let them in.’
‘What?’ Feng Chulian’s hand which was holding the teacup froze in mid-air. ‘Bring me the Mirror of Imperial Favour.’
Bi An thus moved a big full-length mirror from the Chamber of Daoist Treasures to the main hall. Feng Chulian waved his hand once and the mirror instantly showed a sea of scarlet where raging fires were spreading rampantly², the flames like hungry tongues which swallowed and devastated everything in its path. The crying, shouting and other noises sounded distorted in this fiery sea.
Feng Chulian gave a wave of his sleeve and the scene disappeared. He sighed and said, ‘Mountain sprite, open the door.’
The mountain sprite, currently sitting dejectedly by the door, was somewhat startled upon hearing this but did as he was told.
In a short while, Crescent Moon Ridge was packed with people and spirit beasts.
An old man who had brought along his entire family specially came over to thank Feng Chulian who replied poker-faced, ‘… No thanks necessary.’
² 肆無忌憚. Translation belongs to theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com.
In a short while, the heads of the Five Great Houses arrived in a hurry. They sat on five chairs in the main hall, watching through the Mirror of Imperial Favour as dark grey-hooded figures threaded their way through the fires. Whenever these figures encountered the League’s soldiers, they would snatch the latter’s caps and swallow the soldiers whole…
‘What the hell are those monsters!’ Dandan couldn’t bear to watch any more.
Liang Luoheng looked round and asked, ‘Where’s the Ye clan’s little brat?’
‘He said he was being held up by something and will come later,’ replied Song Fuyan.
‘What should we do now?’ Bai Yini asked.
Song Fuyan answered, ‘Let’s use whatever we have on hand now.’ He had all the rescued Guardians and spirit beasts assemble in the courtyard. Looking out at the uneasy crowd, he composed himself slightly before issuing orders, ‘Those spirit beasts who are proficient in the art of healing are to follow Styx and help treat the wounded. Those Guardians with bonded spirit beasts will register themselves with Liang Luoheng, collect their weapons issued by the League and prepare to fight. Women and children…’ He deliberated for a while with a frown. ‘Women and children will get food and water first. You are to remain here, do not go outside. The League will send soldiers to protect you.’
‘Are you kidding?’ Bai Yini stood up and declared, ‘Who wants to be a coward here? I’m going out to fight as well!’
‘The top priority now isn’t fighting but putting out the fires,’ said Song Lin. He walked out to the main courtyard and asked loudly, ‘How many water-type spirit beasts are here?’
’It’s no use,’ a woman beside Wanyan Fu suddenly said in a low voice. ‘Their fire is called Reviving Soul Fire and cannot be extinguished with ordinary water.’
Dandan recognised this woman: she was Wanyan Fu’s bonded spirit beast and had once tried to carry him off by force from the Song Manor.
‘What do you mean by that, Kleidi?’ asked Song Lin.
‘I know them very well, and I understand that tribe very well too…’ Kleidi walked over slowly and Dandan noticed that she was dressed in similar fashion as the few dancing girls they had seen at the Pleasure last time.
Wanyan Fu suddenly pulled her back and behind him, saying to her, ‘You’re mad. Shut up.’
‘We can’t keep it a secret,’ Kleidi said unemotionally as she surveyed the crowd. ‘I come from the same place as those shadows.’
This news astounded everyone and as one they looked at her.
She looked down. ‘His Highness was afraid that you all might harm me if you knew the truth so he forbade my speaking of it.’
‘That’s enough,’ Wanyan Fu ordered sternly, gripping her wrists tightly.
‘As long as she can clear things up, we will not harm her,’ Song Fuyan promised. ‘You have my word.’
Kleidi pressed Wanyan Fu’s hands down and pleaded, ‘Your Highness, we can’t save Ridge City unless we tell them.’
Wanyan Fu’s eyes swivelled round before he finally released her hands.
Kleidi continued with her explanation. ‘We are known as the Shuren race and we have no fixed forms. Most of the time, we exist as black fluid and when necessary, we can transmute into any form we wish. We’ve lived for a very long time and very far away on the opposite side of the sea in a place called Skyless Island. But in the last century, sea levels kept rising steadily and our island began sinking bit by bit, causing the loss of dry land. It couldn’t hold everyone so we began killing each other³… however, the living conditions just kept getting worse until we finally realised that reducing the population was simply not a solution. When I had a presentiment that the island was not going to be around much longer, I chose to flee.’
‘I found her on the beach. She had already lost consciousness by then. She was just fleeing for her life. I swear, she’s not involved in all this,’ Wanyan Fu said.
³ 自相殘殺. Please consider reading from theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com rather than from novelscraping sites.
Dandan asked, ‘Do you know the Crone?’
‘Yes, she’s the most famous person among our kind. No one knows how old she is or the full extent of her spiritual power. She was the first one to suggest that we should go to the outside world to find a way out.’
‘It looks like our Ridge City is that so-called way out of hers,’ commented Song Lin.
‘The Crone said before that the only way to occupy a place is to… destroy and rebuild it. I think that she wants to create a godlike spirit beast for the purpose of destroying this place.’
‘Even if there is a godlike spirit beast, it would hardly obey her,’ Song Lin pointed out.
‘If it’s a bonded spirit beast, then it will definitely obey her.’
‘You must be joking. Only Guardians can make a pact with spirit beasts, there can never be subordinate relations between spirit beasts,’ Bai Yini said.
Kleidi shook her head. ‘Where we come from, there are no Guardians. And the mysterious power that the Crone has makes her the first spirit beast which can make a pact with another spirit beast.’
Upon hearing this, everyone felt a shiver go down their backs — imagine what kind of a monster it must be if it can subjugate other spirit beasts…
(Approx. 2084 words)
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Translated and edited by 12
hiding in plain sight 
Like seductive dancing girls. That’s a interesting simile for what amounts to flesh colored jellies HAHA.
I feel like that’s not the most clever of questions, but whatever works for them. :D;;
:’) Feng Chulian, you know you’re doomed, may as well open up immediately. At least Dandan is trying to do some good here. Those monsters though… I can’t picture them super well in my head other than wiggling jellies… That eat people…
Oh, so Kleidi is a jelly too… that’s a thing I guess, haha. Also, is this like global warming with rising sea levels? It’s kind of nuts that their initial solution was just to keep killing each other. Like, that was your first idea? [i]Really now?[/i] At least we know about the Crone and her goals I guess. Can’t say this was a stellar reveal, but at least it was a reveal! Hahaha.
Thanks for the chapter!
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LOL! Yeah, I have problems getting my head around the idea that they’re spirit beasts considering their original state, but I suppose the author had to make them sufficiently different but still creatures which can form a pact with Guardians.
Hah! They just went into extreme survival mode and then there’s the question of how they ensured that the ones killed actually stayed dead — these things do regenerate…
😆 You’ll be seeing a lot of the jellies really soon, hahaha!
💕💕
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