Critical: Ages Below Critical Chapter 11.1

Chapter 11: Messenger of the Departed Souls

she wants is buried in this place.

The island is a world of ice and snow.

The bone-chilling wind wraps remnants of ice and snow as it blows across the land.

“Finally……I am here……”

Within the empty palace hall, underneath the black surface of the ground that is as smooth as a mirror, there are constant refractions of light swimming by like the fish from the depths of the ocean. Fleeting. Nether looks at the ground that resembles black crystals with a faint thoughtful smile hanging on his face.

“So worrisome.” Thalia stares at the countless strands of light flowing around beneath them. Standing from the couch and moving down with light steps, she raises her right hand, her fingers hanging naturally. A few shining pieces of thin threads swim out from her fingertips like fish before diving into the translucent yet bottomless black ground. At a glance, her gaze is filled with a vacant look that is uniquely her. This expression is what terrifies people. Since she was a little girl, this was the expression that appeared in her eyes the first time a she saw a chicken. It is the murkiness of the heavens and earth colliding in a prehistoric blizzard, yet in this boundless vacancy, her gaze is also as sharp as a needle with the ability to detect anything and everything.

The corners of Nether's lip quivers as he scoffs in his heart: “Monster.”

“Before calling me a monster,” the blizzard in Thalia's eyes disperses gradually before her dark, shining and alluring gaze returns. She flashes a subtle yet charming smile at Nether before lifting a hand to cover her mouth, “You should control your disciple, Shen Yin, first. She's the one that's about to become a monster.”

“What's wrong with Shen Yin?” Nether's gaze sharpens slowly.

“Oh, her,” A few strands of light leaps out from the dark ground and is absorbed quickly into Thalia's fingertips, “At this very moment, she's standing right on the body of the Immortal Lord. This little girl has a much too exaggerated opinion of her own abilities, much too curious. If this goes on, who knows how she's going to die.”

“Who isn't like this?” Nether stands up and wraps his cloak around his body, “Everyone wants to know all the secrets.”

“Of course, how fun, but if you're not careful, you'll pay with your life.” Thalia settles down. The faint smile on her face is still soul stirring; yet it resonates the shadows of a blade.

“You want to pass on a Red Alarm again? Rest for a while, will you? Just with those names you mentioned before, I'd have to spend much time dealing with them.” Nether turns back. His gaze is as cold as ice.

“I'm not the one giving the Red Alarms so there's no use for you to be unhappy.” Thalia flashes a sharp smile as she meets his gaze head on.

“Say whatever you want since you're the only person who can contact the Silver Priests recently. You're also the only one. I'll be leaving first. About Shen Yin……”

“I'll handle Shen Yin,” Thalia's expressions give out no hints of emotion. A faint smile still grazes her features. “Just in time, 'he' is also on the island. Since Shen Yin wants to know secrets, I will give it to her.”

[West of Aslan Empire - Surrounding waters of Rennes]

The waves are pushed forth by the surging typhoon towards the black cliffs. The explosions of water against the rocks are mixed with countless freezing shards of ice.

In a blink of an eye, it is already winter.

[West of Aslan Empire - Surrounding waters of Rennes]

The rays of light of the early morning shine on Shen Yin's face. Shen Yin wakes up and stands to survey her surroundings. The few low-leveled soul beats that had barged into the territory surrounding her are now chunks upon chunks of broken corpse. They are scattered on the ground and have been frozen. Shen Yin lifts the corners of her mouth lightly. She is quite confident of her own ward. Just like her soul beast Dreamweaver, she is always able to conjure a hunting web at any location. There are times when she feel like she is the soul beast within her, able to easily construct with her soul powers a formation of hell that is full of murderous intents.

After getting rid of the silk-like web she had weaved last night, the ward held up by her soul powers disperses. She continues heading towards the centre of the island.

The entire island is exposed in the sunshine of early morning.

Black metamorphic rocks form the coast. Countless waves slap against them. The remnants of the seawater in the crevices of the rocks freeze into sharp icicles. The ground is full of accumulated snow and ice. It looks no different from the wilderness in the North Pole.

Whoosh-

Thin sounds break the silence in the air.

Shen Yin pauses and closes her eyes lightly. She feels around. When she suddenly opens her eyes, there are golden soul powers flashing in her irises. In an instant, the few soul beasts behind her were thrown into the air and ripped apart into foul-smelling and burning blood rain before splattering to the ground. A moment later, they freeze in the coldness.

Just as she is about to move forth, she suddenly stops again. Her expression changes like the blue-tinged seawater. Fear spreads through her bit by bit.

She lifts her hand to pull the silver whip out noisily from her spine. The flesh at the back of her neck fuses together like flower petals instantaneously.

The silver whip lies like a white snake at her feat. Innumerable blizzards are turbulent in her eyes. The golden pattern crawls from her chest up her neck.

With the crackling sound of ice and rocks breaking, countless thin white threads emerge from beneath Shen Yin's feet at the speed of light. Like a spider's web, they rapidly weave into a large and flowing web of white. Shen Yin crouches into a strange posture. One hand is supporting her body on the ground as silver light spreads through the web. The entire ground beneath her feet is engulfed in this white glow. The web hums.

Shen Yin is located at the dead center of the web, as if a spider awaiting its prey, she glares unmovingly before her. “No matter what you are, come. Be prepared to die.”

The moving air in the distance blurs her vision. A brown shadow disappears in a flash from her vision.

And the surge of soul powers that came after is delivered through the web below Shen Yin's feet like a tidal wave.

“This……this is impossible……” The hand Shen Yin has on the ground starts to tremble, “Soul power as powerful as this can rival a lord……how can there be such a powerful soul beast on this deserted island……”

The brown shadow gains speed and nears Shen Yin at a dazzling speed. The suffocating soul powers increase exponentially, as if an entire ocean is crashing down on her.

[West of Aslan Empire - Relic of Youtuer]

Qi La and Yin Chen's figures twist into beams of light in the air before disappearing. Qi Ling stares at the bronze pillar that Qi La has made into a chess piece before turning to Tianshu Youhua, “Qi La said that this chess piece will lose its effect in ten minutes. We are going to the Relic of Youtuer, do you want to come with us?”

Tianshu Youhua glares at Qi Ling before replying coldly: “Who would want to go to a place where even the living will die a second time?”

Qi Ling nods before looking at her warmly with his large and dark eyes, “Then take care of yourself. Who knows when we will meet again? Take care.” After saying that, Qi Ling grabs the bronze pillar and disappears into thin air.

The strong sunlight shines straight down above her head and warms the surroundings slightly. People pass by noisily on the street outside the door. The entrance that had been full of life before now only consists of Tianshu Youhua standing there alone. She lowers her head and bites her lips before making the decision to hold onto the bronze pillar as well.

When Tianshu Youhua appears behind them, Yin Chen and Qi La turns with an expectant expression. Only Qi Ling was surprised. “You're coming with us, great!” He raises a thick eyebrow before bending to speak to Tianshu Youhua, “It's so good that you came. Another youngster! If not I'll be all alone with two old man, so boring.”

Tianshu Youhua blushes slightly as she suppresses the happiness in her heart. “Who is a youngster like you? You're just a boy. When I started learning the art of soul bending, who knew where you were playing in the mud.”

“I was probably washing dishes.” Qi Ling laughs, revealing his straight teeth.

Yin Chen and Qi La leads the way as Qi Ling and Tianshu Youhua follows. Yin Chen tosses a bronze mirror in front carelessly. Like a swimming fish, the mirror gives out a soft glow, illuminating a large area before them, like a light leading the way.

“Is this mirror your soul weapon?” Qi La asks.

“One of them.” The corners of Yin Chen's lips lift slightly.

Qi La looks at Yin Chen wordlessly. A while later, he sighs, “Looks like there are many things that happened the past few years that I don't know of.” He pauses before asking again, “You say that you always felt that Gelanshi didn't die. Why do you think he'll be in the Relic of Youtuer?”

“As a past Top lord, you should know what sort of place the Relic of Youtuer is,” Yin Chen keeps moving forward as he waves his hand, strand after strand of soul power are injected into the hovering bronze mirror with every swish of his hand, allowing a greater area to be lighted up.

Qi La nods, “Of course I know.”

“Since history, the Relic of Youtuer is an ancient city to take in the dead souls. Although the Silver Priests never told us what sort of powers are keeping the dead souls alive in the area of the relic that allows them to not dispersing, but we all know that these tens of thousands of dead souls are stationed there to protect a secret. Although we don't know what secret that is.” Yin Chen does not look at Qi La as he dissects these, almost for himself. Qi La does not respond to Yin Chen's words. Of course he knew all these.

“As the Disciple of Earth, everyone thinks that it means he's a disciple of the ground. Yet only the Top Lord and the Top Disciples know that, the Disciple of Earth is just a shortened version of the Disciples of the Territories*. Since history, the Disciple of Earth have been tasked to collect the dead souls. They are like dark guides to the netherworld, the living in a place of the dead. They lead every dead soul of a high-leveled soul master to the Relic of Youtuer and guard the place. Gelanshi is a collector of those dead souls.”

Qi La continues forth as he listens without replying.

“I originally thought that, in the great calamity three years ago, Gelanshi and Dong He both died. However, Qi Ling told me that when they were in the Relic of Youtuer, they met the soul master Lijier, owner of Gu Die, who had died in the town of Fauser. We all know that, the current Top Lord, Xiuchuan Dizang and his three disciples have always been living like a myth in an unknown part of the Heart, yet we don't know the reason. We do know that they have never left the Heart, which means that, if the current Disciple of Earth hasn't ever left the Heart, then tell me, Qi La, do not you want to know who is responsible for collecting the new additions of dead souls the past few years?”

Yin Chen stops speaking and slows down. He turns to look at the pallid face of Qi La beside him.

**Lit. Mountain Ghost

Chapter end