Seeking Truth with a Sword

Chapter 430 - 381: The Bracelet

"Oh, right."

Li Ang, paying no mind to the conflict between Pei Jing and Sun Xinzhi, reached into his clothes and spoke to He Fanshuang, "This is for you."

He pulled out the silver bracelet that He Fanshuang had placed in his possession earlier, only to find that it was broken in the middle, its edges curled and twisted upward.

"Uh, sorry, it might’ve been hit by those paper puppets earlier."

Li Ang scratched his head awkwardly. He Fanshuang’s family hadn’t been wealthy, and this silver bracelet left by her grandmother surely held special significance, yet now it was damaged.

"I know a few talented silversmiths in the West Market. I’ll get it fixed after we return to Chang’an and give it back to you..."

"It’s fine."

He Fanshuang took the broken silver bracelet and toyed with it in her palm, her gaze forlorn as if reminiscing about something.

Having known her for over two years, this was the first time Li Ang had seen such an expression on her face. Li Ang felt even more embarrassed and could only stand there scratching his head.

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before Master Cui emerged from underground, carrying something the size of a palm, covered in mud and sand.

He took out a Water Talisman from his clothes with his left hand, drew moisture from the air, and washed the mud and sand off the object.

Li Ang glanced from afar, his eyebrows imperceptibly lifting slightly.

It was an archaic, antiquated bronze fragment, engraved with delicate, exquisite patterns of clouds, and faint traces of characters could be seen.

Li Ang recalled the Bronze Earthenware Vessel Fragment he had acquired in Qi Shui Village of Taiyuan County. Their styles were almost identical.

Pretending it was his first time seeing such a thing, he curiously asked, "Master Cui, this is..."

"Some sort of unknown Second-level Mutated Object. It’s possible that the construction of the railway resulted in excessive slaughter, accidentally disturbing a dormant alien. This triggered the mutation. The rumors that spread among the people recently about having nightmares on the train must also be its doing. Now that we’ve found the culprit, there’s no need to worry anymore."

Master Cui offhandedly explained, clearly not interested in elaborating further on the topic. He immediately tore a piece of cloth from his apparel, wrapped the bronze fragment in it, and affixed a Sealing Demon Talisman to it. He then called over people from the garrison to solemnly place the bronze fragment back into a locked stone chest.

The ordinary passengers around them were still celebrating their survival after the ordeal.

Li Ang and He Fanshuang exchanged glances, tacitly choosing not to ask any further—the stone chest that held the Mutated Object was wrapped in iron chains as thick as fingers, which was undeniably suspicious. Master Cui was obviously intentionally omitting certain information, leaving it unexplained.

CLANK CLANK—

The sound of the approaching train grew louder, its headlights blazing at their brightest. It began to slow down well in advance, stopping a few dozen meters ahead of their car.

Car Nineteen was completely destroyed and no longer serviceable. Master Cui had all passengers board the train first to return to Chang’an as planned. He himself remained with the garrison, intending to conduct further investigations into the Dark River.

Looking at the slowly receding view of the forest outside the window, He Fanshuang softly said, "We’ll have to write a report again after we go back."

"Mhm."

Li Ang responded casually, his thoughts still heavy.

On the bronze fragment from Qi Shui Village in Taiyuan County, there was an engraving of the character for ’door’. He had allowed Mo Si to assimilate that piece of bronze, after which Mo Si gained the ability to open an ’arbitrary gate’. Could the second bronze fragment Master Cui brought up from underground be from the same source? If so, what character was engraved upon it? In places unknown to him, were there more bronze fragments that could potentially cause mutations?

CLANK CLANK—

The regular and loud sound of the train wheels rolling over the joints of the track continued.

Outside the carriage window, mountain ranges sprawled like the spines of colossal beasts. Rivers lay still as mirrors. Farmers in straw sandals, carrying agricultural tools, walked slowly towards fields of golden wheat swaying in the breeze.

THUMP.

A gentle tap on his shoulder.

Li Ang turned his head and saw He Fanshuang sitting next to him, her eyes closed, head resting against his shoulder, sleeping like a kitten.

Indeed, they had experienced too much that night. They were entangled in upheavals and surrounded by dangers. Even the toughest person would feel exhausted.

Li Ang slightly tilted his head, carefully examined her fair, peaceful face, and silently adjusted the angle of his shoulder so the girl might sleep more comfortably.

SWOOSH.

Using telekinesis, he gently pulled shut the carriage’s curtain.

The warm morning sunlight, filtering through the tiny holes of the embroidered curtain, shone onto the table, casting the shape of a lotus flower.

Meanwhile, in Luoyang City, Huairen Square, in a certain civilian residence.

"TSK."

An impatient tongue-clicking noise sounded.

A young man of about fifteen or sixteen, dressed in a noble’s attire, carelessly covered the glowing wooden compass on the table. He then leaned back in his lounge chair, resting his feet on the edge of the coffee table.

On his belt hung a Communication Iron Plate of Zhao Ming.

"What’s up?"

Hearing the noise, another person in the room—a towering hulk of a man with dark skin and bushy eyebrows—casually asked. He sat on a small folding stool in the corner of the room, his palm, large as a fan, holding a copy of the Lanling Newspaper. The articles in the magazine described the delicate emotions of the young Master Mu Shao Ai.

"The light spot on the compass has disappeared. Someone beat us to it and took the bronze block. Probably one of the Masters from the Academic Palace."

Leaning his head back over the edge of the lounge chair, the young man rolled his eyes and spoke to his companion in the corner, "Yan Fu, we’re a step behind."

The man called Yan Fu, a towering figure, furrowed his brows, closed the magazine, and said with a magnetic voice, "Will there be trouble? This mission was issued by You Qiong. You’ve already been warned for letting the Emperor of Zhou off the hook last time and not poisoning him to death."

"That’s a separate issue. Didn’t I also help steal a first-level mutated object belonging to the Zhou Kingdom’s Royal Family last time? That should have made up for it. There shouldn’t be trouble this time, right?"

The young man, known by the codename Feilian, curled his lip. "After all, the communication information only told us to ’try’ to collect bronze fragments from the Yin Ruins with special inscriptions. It didn’t say ’definitely’ or ’must.’ And maybe, this order was just Jun Qianzi and Shangyang bluffing, issuing it under the pretense of You Qiong-kun’s authority."

Yan Fu thought seriously for a few seconds before slowly shaking his head. "They probably wouldn’t. Jun Qianzi is smart; he wouldn’t make such a foolish move."

"That’s not so certain. You Qiong-kun hasn’t been seen for several years, so no one knows if he’s dead or alive. Given Jun Qianzi’s deep-seated hatred for the Yu Country, he might take advantage of You Qiong’s disappearance, secretly seize power, and direct us to work for him."

Feilian spoke casually, "By the way, Yan Fu, you joined Zhao Ming a few years before me, so you must have seen You Qiong-kun in person, right? What does he actually look like? Man or woman?"

"..."

This seemingly simple question plunged Yan Fu into deep thought.

Closing his eyes for a long moment, he finally shook his head. "I don’t know."

"Huh?"

Feilian expressed his confusion. "What do you mean? Could it be that he is androgynous?"

Yan Fu raised his finger and lightly tapped his temple. "No, I clearly saw his face at the last Zhao Ming assembly, but here," he touched his head, "I can’t remember."