Star Odyssey

Chapter 4357: Searching For Hong Shuang

After returning to the Human Trio, Lu Yin told Green Lotus and the others about Manifest City, but unfortunately, no one could confirm anything. The only ones who knew anything about the mirebound artifact were Hong Xia and his ilk, but how could Lu Yin possibly ask Hong Xia?

Right, there are also Obscura’s rewards.

Lu Yin entered Vestigium and asked Ba Se specifically, but when it came to Manifest City, not even Obscura truly understood it. Lu Yin could only figure it out on his own.

Blood Tower and several others wanted to enter Manifest City. Lu Yin tried to stop them. He did not want anything to happen to them inside, but he could not stop them. It was a mirebound artifact that was a human treasure. If humans did not dare to even try to take control of it for themselves, how could they ever succeed?

Lu Yin had no selfish desire to control Manifest City. If Blood Tower or any of the other human Immortals could succeed, humanity would only benefit. Still, simply entering Manifest City was dangerous.

"It’s fine. At worst, we’ll just wait until you control Manifest City in the future and then you can rescue us. Don’t worry, we won’t go in all at once, but rather one by one," Blood Tower said.

Lu Yin could only agree and take them to Manifest City one by one.

Blood Tower came out after half a year, while Awe Gate emerged after a month. Green Lotus did not go in, not due to fear, but because their human civilization could not bear losing him, even if the chances of that happening were small.

In truth, placing such responsibility onto Green Lotus was often unfair to him. Whether it was exploring the Aevum Inch or entering Manifest City, he could not go. All he could do was stay and guard the Trio.

Despite being an Immortal, it was as if his freedom had been stripped away.

Ku Deng and even Jiang Feng went into the city. Mister Mu did not go, as he already controlled the Ninth Rampart’s mirebound artifact.

Lu Yin was greatly relieved when both Ku Deng and Jiang Feng came back out, especially Jiang Feng. He had also been transformed into an ant. With Lu Yin’s experience as a lesson, the man managed to quickly and easily find the city gate to get out.

Lu Yin and Jiang Feng were actually quite similar.

As for what Blood Tower and Awe Gate became, neither of them said. Lu Yin asked, but they still would not tell him. Their responses caused Lu Yin to suddenly think of the slipper that he had seen.

Ku Deng became a candle. Was that a surprise? Not really. To begin with, his unique world was his heartlamps. Still, a candle was easy to notice. Whose candle could burn all night without being consumed? For that reason, after night fell and lights went out, Ku Deng ran.

He raced for the city gate in the middle of the night.

Luckily, Manifest City seemed to have just one street. With Lu Yin and Blood Tower verifying that much and confirming the direction of the gate, Ku Deng was able to get out. Without that information, he might not have made it.

After coming out, no one ever wanted to go back in.

Ba Yue still had not come out.

A hundred years passed. During those years, Lu Yin built the walls in his heart higher and higher, while also calculating more layers of his Mirrorlight Art. He even re-entered Manifest City once. This time, he appeared closer to the city gate.

That time, he primarily went in to search for other transformed creatures.

While trying to gain control of Manifest City, Che could not have only sent in creatures from one or two species. Whether it was the number or the cultivation of those sent in, there must have been all kinds, including even Immortal powerhouses.

If Che had thrown an Immortal into Manifest City as part of his experiments, then that Immortal must have some knowledge of Che. Perhaps through them, Lu Yin would be able to gather some information.

Even if the possibility was very low, there was no choice. Before gaining enough strength, any information that Lu Yin could gather was worthwhile. Back when they had faced Hong Xia, if they had not learned about Hong Xia’s strength beforehand, they would have suffered terrible losses.

As for controlling Manifest City, Lu Yin had no clues.

He was in no rush and intended to take things slowly. A guardian artifact could not be easy to control, not unless one obtained the Fifth Rampart’s inheritance and knew exactly what to do.

Several more years passed, and Ba Yue finally emerged.

Lu Yin returned to Manifest City once every five years, and he finally saw Ba Yue. She was standing outside of Manifest City, waiting for him.

"You finally came out. What happened?" Lu Yin asked.

Even when she saw Lu Yin, Ba Yue still appeared frightened. "I became a vine and nearly died inside."

Lu Yin arched a brow. A vine? That certainly would not have been easy.

"What did you see in there? Tell me in detail."

Given that she had spent more than a hundred years within Manifest City, Ba Yue had spent more time inside than anyone else.

She thought back, "The moment I entered, I became a vine, clinging to the wall of a poor house..."

Ba Yue’s voice was bitter as she recounted her tale. She had nearly been burned on several occasions. "Once, I actually started burning, not because someone set me on fire, but by sheer coincidence. Fortunately, a little dog passing by put out the flames. At that moment, I was very, very close to death. I felt as if my actual self was being burned."

Lu Yin asked, "That little dog was a transformed creature, wasn’t it?"

Ba Yue nodded. "I spoke with it. It had no idea how to escape the city, so I told it that it only needed to press against the city gate. It cried its heart out because, long ago, it tried to leave through the gate, but when it reached the gate, it found the gate was closed. It was only ten meters from the gate, and it ended up being chased and beaten until it was covered in wounds. It actually could have gotten out at that time."

How truly tragic. Without knowing the rules, one would suffer far too much. Lu Yin could imagine how that little dog must have suffered miserably while surviving in Manifest City.

The fact that a dog was larger than an ant did not fool Lu Yin. In Manifest City, a dog truly could not survive as easily as an ant. It would be chased and beaten everywhere it went, and it might even end up as dog meat.

"Wait, where is that little dog now?" Lu Yin suddenly considered that.

Ba Yue shook her head. "I never saw it again."

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. That little dog should have already left Manifest City and exited even earlier than Ba Yue, so where was it?

Because he was scared of Che and the dangers of the Aevum Inch, Lu Yin had not left anyone behind to stand guard over Manifest City. If that little dog had exited the city, no one would know about it.

Manifest City was too far from the Trio, and Lu Yin could not observe it at all times. If he sent someone to guard it, while Immortals might be fine, anyone beneath that level could easily run into trouble. However, Immortals were not idle.

"Do you know what kind of creature had transformed into that little dog?"

"I do not know."

"It really wasn’t a mistake that you transformed into a vine." Lu Yin rubbed his forehead.

Ba Yue wanted to retort, but her experience in Manifest City left her unable to do so.

"Do you realize that that little dog might also be an Immortal?"

"How could there be so many Immortals?"

"Then tell me, how long has it been since it left Manifest City?"

Ba Yue thought for a moment. "A bit more than a decade."

Lu Yin stared at her. "More than ten years... After traveling for that long, not even an Immortal can escape my sight, let alone anyone beneath that level, but look around—where is it?"

Ba Yue had nothing to say.

"Do you realize that, if an Immortal escapes, Manifest City will be exposed? What if it belongs to a fishing civilization?"

"There can’t be such a coincidence, can there?"

"What if there is?"

Ba Yue said, "Perhaps it never managed to get out."

Lu Yin snorted coldly. "You are creating trouble for me."

Ba Yue fell silent.

"First, I told you to go into Manifest City, but you refused. Now, you create even more trouble for me. Tell me, what should I do?" Lu Yin coldly challenged her.

Ba Yue stared at Lu Yin. "Just tell me directly what you want."

Lu Yin reached out and placed a hand on Ba Yue’s shoulder to take her back to the Tianyuan. "Enter the Mirari Realm and search the forbidden region to find Hong Shuang for me."

Ba Yue was horrified. "What did you say? Hong Shuang?"

Lu Yin calmly explained, "The Second Rampart’s Rampart Warden, Hong Shuang, is most likely inside one of the Mirari Realm’s forbidden regions. I need you to go find her."

Ba Yue could not believe what she was hearing. "Is Hong Shuang still alive?"

"I don’t know if she’s alive or not. I need you to find out for me," Lu Yin stated solemnly.

Ba Yue stared at him, rather stunned. Hong Shuang. How ancient was that woman? She was from the same era as Hong Xia, and she was the Second Rampart’s Rampart Warden, who had been betrayed by Hong Xia. Such a person should have been swallowed by the River of Aeons long ago.

"Why me?"

"Even though you haven’t cultivated the Path of Dispassion, you are still part of Crimson Starshade, which makes you suitable for searching for her."

"It is not that only Crimson Starshades can search for her, is it?"

Lu Yin intensely stared at Ba Yue. "You stir up trouble for me, defy orders, and now you won’t even search for your own Rampart Warden? Is there even any point in keeping someone like you around?"

Ba Yue’s voice dropped low. "I am an Immortal. I will not hesitate to protect humanity!"

"Then go find Hong Shuang. If you can find her, we will have a way to deal with Hong Xia. Otherwise, we can only watch Hong Xia continue to live. As someone from the Second Rampart, you also have a duty to eliminate him," Lu Yin retorted.

Ba Yue still wanted to refuse, but she could not resist. Lu Yin forcibly took her into the Mirari Realm.

There was more than one forbidden region there, but aside from the karmic forbidden region and the region that Destiny had once entered where she met Wei Nu, the other forbidden regions had not been explored.

In the past, that had been due to the Origin Progenitor’s warning, but the more that humanity understood the Mirari Realm, the more that they feared its forbidden regions.

The forbidden regions concealed Hong Shuang, held a mysterious opportunity to reach the Immortal realm, and might even allow people to comprehend karma. But Lu Yin did not know what else they might hold. There might be things that benefited human civilization, but there might also be terrible dangers.

He could only have Ba Yue search the area first. He remembered which forbidden region Hong Shuang had entered.

Ba Yue did not understand the others’ fear of the Mirari Realm’s forbidden regions, but hearing them referred to as forbidden regions was explanation enough. Even so, she was given no choice and was forced to go in.

Lu Yin watched Ba Yue enter the region, hoping that she would return with information about Hong Shuang.

The Second Rampart’s mirebound artifact, the Red Umbrella, had also been lost to that forbidden region. If Ba Yue could also bring that back, it would be ideal.

Time passed in the Mirari Realm. A long time later, Ba Yue emerged from the forbidden region. When she met Lu Yin’s gaze, her face revealed her bewilderment.

Lu Yin could tell at a glance that she had failed.

"I did not find Hong Shuang."

"That’s not surprising. What did you find in there?"

Ba Yue thought for a moment. "A red world. It felt like I had stepped into a realm of the Path of Dispassion. I have not cultivated the Path of Dispassion, so I walked around once and came out."

"You only walked around once?" Lu Yin was surprised.

She nodded, so Lu Yin asked, "What did it feel like to you? How long were you in there for?"

Ba Yue thought for a moment. "A day? Maybe three."

Lu Yin’s eyes turned to the forbidden region. Wrong, Ba Yue. You have been inside for a very, very long time. Could your sense of time have been blurred? But this is the Mirari Realm, with the River of Aeons flowing through it. Time should not exist here.

The time that was experienced in the Mirari Realm actually came from the main stream of the River of Aeons. For time within a forbidden region to be distorted, it had to also be the effect of the main stream.

Ba Yue was sure that the forbidden region contained the Path of Dispassion, which meant that the red-clad woman that Lu Yin had seen in the memory had truly been Hong Shuang.

Could her power be connected to the main stream of the River of Aeons?

As the Rampart Warden of the Second Rampart, that was not impossible.

Blood Tower dreamed of touching the main stream of the River of Aeons. Of all the creatures that Lu Yin had met, only Old Man Hehe was known to be able to do that. If Hong Shuang had the same ability, it was possible that the forbidden region that she had entered might not actually be a forbidden region.

Ba Yue had not encountered any danger, so Lu Yin likely would not either. He walked towards the forbidden land, taking Ba Yue with him for no other reason than to have her guide the way.