Chapter 283 The Twenty-Eighth Day of Entering a Xuanhuan Novel
Chapter 283 The Twenty-Eighth Day of Entering a Xuanhuan Novel
Chapter 283: Day 28 in the Fantasy Novel
Xie Xuandu noticed An Yi's pause and turned to look at him. "What's wrong?"
An Yi turned his head toward him, his calm eyes crinkling at the corners against the backdrop of the lake and mountains. He said outright, "I'm going to the capital next."
Hearing this, a smile spread across Xie Xuandu's face without hesitation. "Alright."
He didn't ask why. Whether An Yi wanted to go to the ends of the earth or the farthest seas, he would follow immediately.
Seeing how readily he agreed, a faint smile tugged at the corners of An Yi's lips. "Then let's go."
He added, "Right now."
A flicker of confusion passed through Xie Xuandu's eyes. In such a hurry?
But still, he didn't ask further. He simply nodded, going along with it, his smile unchanged. "Okay."
An Yi looked at him and added, "Since we're in a hurry, we won't take the slow route."
The smile he gave Xie Xuandu was more pronounced than before—one with an indescribable quality, as if it held a secret.
Then, under Xie Xuandu's slightly puzzled gaze, he extended his hand toward him.
Xie Xuandu's heart, in that moment, uncontrollably skipped a beat, then began thundering like a drumbeat.
He stared at the hand extended before him, fingertips gleaming with a jade-like luster under the sunlight.
What does this mean?
An absurd yet blazing thought surged up—was this... acceptance? A signal that he was allowed to hold hands?
Almost in disbelief, Xie Xuandu hurriedly placed his own hand into An Yi's palm.
The touch was slightly cool, delicate and smooth—exactly as he had imagined, and even more heart-stopping.
However, the expected interlocking of fingers never came.
Instead, the very next instant, Xie Xuandu felt his vision blur!
The scenic lake and mountains, the blue sky and white clouds twisted and stretched in an instant, dissolving into a blur of colors and streaks of light!
A powerful yet gentle force enveloped his entire body—not uncomfortable, but rather a weightless, floating sensation.
It came and went in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, before he could even think, the dizzying distortion vanished without a trace.
Xie Xuandu's feet touched down on solid ground again.
He instinctively blinked, adjusting to the light, and when he took in his surroundings, his pupils constricted, his face revealing unconcealed shock.
Before him was no longer the tranquil, picturesque lakeshore, but... a massive city gate bustling with people and traffic!
Towering city walls stretched imposingly into the distance, the gate was heavily guarded, endless streams of pedestrians and merchants flowed through, and the flamboyant, sweeping characters "Heaven's Capital" above the gate all proclaimed this place—the dynasty's capital, a full thirty-six thousand li from Luzhou, where they had been moments ago!
This is... "shrinking the earth to an inch"?!
Tumultuous waves surged in Xie Xuandu's heart.
With his own considerable cultivation, even if he exerted his full power in a teleportation technique, crossing such a distance would take at least half an hour.
And An Yi—he did it in the blink of an eye?!
Well... it wasn't holding hands after all. No matter—An Yi came to the capital and still brought him along. An Yi had a place for him in his heart.
He laughed. "An Yi... you're truly amazing."
It seemed he would need to cultivate even harder. Otherwise, how could he ever be worthy of standing beside someone so dazzling?
An Yi sensed the energy cost of the spatial teleportation and found it quite manageable.
This was another application of his spatial mastery after his ability breakthrough—precisely manipulating spatial structures to fold space and cross vast distances.
Moreover, he sensed this was far from his limit.
"Let's go find a place to stay first." An Yi pulled back his hand, his gaze turning toward the bustling capital.
Xie Xuandu suppressed the turmoil within him, a gentle smile back on his face. "Alright."
The two entered the capital with the flow of the crowd.
As the heart of the dynasty, Heaven's Capital was far more prosperous than Luzhou.
The streets were wide enough for multiple carriages to pass side by side, flanked by rows upon rows of shops with fluttering banners, selling rare treasures from all corners of the realm.
The crowds were dense, shoulders brushing shoulders.
They found an inn and booked two superior rooms.
An Yi sensed the atmosphere of the capital. At this moment, news of the emperor's plan to hold the "All-Cultivator Prayer Assembly" had not yet been officially announced from the imperial palace. Though prosperous, the capital had not yet become the chaotic, motley gathering of strange individuals and peculiar talents described in the original novel.
According to the original text, the news would spread tomorrow, and the "Three-faced Wraith" would also begin to wreak havoc in the city after the announcement.
An Yi wondered to himself—had it already arrived in the capital?
He decided not to wait. He would go now to investigate the place where the creature first appeared in the original novel.
Based on the scattered details in the original novel, the creature called the "Three-faced Wraith" had an extremely bizarre form.
It resembled three sickly, pale-faced humanoid beings, their backs fused together in a way that defied natural law—like a grotesque set of conjoined triplets.
Its ability was even more troublesome, like the rule-based horror stories he'd encountered in novels from his previous life. It wandered randomly, choosing targets.
If it entered a household, anyone inside who wept would immediately contract a severe illness beyond the reach of medicine.
If encountered on the road, and one fled out of fear, their legs would inexplicably snap.
Sometimes it would ask passersby for directions. If answered, it would remove that person's head and personally carry it to the destination. If refused, the person would drop dead on the spot.
The three fused humanoids seemed to correspond to three different killing rules. When encountering it, which rule was triggered was entirely a matter of luck.
It had wandered all the way, eventually arriving at this bustling Heaven's Capital.
Strangely, no cultivator along the way had destroyed it, allowing it to drift all the way to the capital.
An Yi informed Xie Xuandu of his plan, saying he was interested in an unusual creature and wished to investigate.
Xie Xuandu had no idea how An Yi knew there was a peculiar creature in the capital, but he didn't care. As long as he was by An Yi's side, he would agree to anything.
Based on the approximate location An Yi had gleaned from the original text, the two headed toward the southwestern corner of the capital, into that chaotic, mixed-use quarter.
The deeper they went, the narrower the streets became, and the more tightly packed the buildings grew.
With so many people here, no wonder the monster later slaughtered the residents with such ease.
Just as they passed through an alley, An Yi and Xie Xuandu stopped at the same time.
Their keen senses caught a faint yet intensely ominous and resentful aura, clinging to a dilapidated residence at the far end of the alley.
They had arrived.
An Yi fixed his gaze on the rundown dwelling.
He couldn't be sure if it was the same monster from the original story.
Xie Xuandu narrowed his phoenix eyes slightly. "Seems like we've come at just the right time. Is this it?"
His voice was soft, his breath warm against An Yi's ear.
An Yi's ear itched; he tilted his head and shot Xie Xuandu a sideways glare.
Xie Xuandu smirked, pleased with himself.