Critical: Ages Below Critical Chapter 8.2

Chapter 8: The Distant Carnage (Part 2)

Qi Ling chases him to Qi La’s room. When he pushes open the door, he sees that aside from Qi La who is perched on the window sill, Yin Chen, Guishan Fenghun, Lianquan and Tianshu Youhua are all already in the room. They are gathered around a large table with a serious expression. Qi Ling stops fooling around and closes the door behind him softly before moving to sit beside Yin Chen obediently, looking like a little puppy dog.

Qi La turns to face the people in the room, resulting in the light shining on his face les than before. His handsomely beautiful features are drenched in the soft and tender light of the room.

“All of you must have a lot of questions to ask. You can do so now.”

“Qi La, let me ask you first. Since all of the chess you create pieces in Aslan, then why did both of the ones in the Grave of the Souls lead to the Relic of Youtuer? Did you switch the one that was supposed to bring the disciple smoothly to the Abyss Corridor after they’ve successfully retrieved the soul weapon?”

The atmosphere in the room cools rapidly. An unseen tension fills the air.

“What did you just say?” Qi Ling whips his head around to look at Yin Chen, “How did you know we were at the Relic of Youtuer? I don’t recall telling you that?”

“After you fell asleep last evening, I met Qi La in the corridor. I asked him about what happened in the Grave of the Souls.” Yin Chen seems unhappy at Qi Ling butting in but he still answered his unimportant question patiently.

“Ah! You met up secretly behind my back while I was asleep?” Qi Ling’s eyebrows shoot up, “Sigh, it’s a good thing that Qi La isn’t a woman, if not it will be hard to explain. Then again, Qi La looks like this so it’s already hard to explain……sigh!” He sighed heavily and poured himself a cup of water helplessly. He fails to see the ashened faces of Yin Chen, Qi La, Fenghun, Lianquan and Tianshu Youhua.

Qi La clears his throat awkwardly. It sounds even more awkward in the deadly silent room. Turning to Yin Chen who has ‘Qi Ling I am going to kill you’ painted on his face, he says: “I brought your disciple out from the Relic of Youtuer, you need not feel indebt to me, and you need not think about the reason for me doing so. All you need to know is that I’m doing this only due to the previous Top Lord Gilgamesh. I will be indebted to him my entire life, and so, for his previous Disciple of Heaven, Lucifer, I will repay this to you. From now on, I no longer owe him anything.”

“Lianquan and I do.” Guishan Fenghun suddenly speaks up seriously, “You didn’t leave Lianquan behind. We will always remember this kindles. Lianquan’s life is given by you so when the day comes that you want it, we will return it to you wordlessly.” Lianquan’s eyes are filled with respect as she looks at the firm expression on her brother’s face.

Tianshu Youhua sits at the side clenching her teeth, saying nothing. She doesn’t want to give her life to Qi La. Although Qi La is a top noble lord, her bloodline is a lot nobler than them. She sits at the side in silence.

Qi La doesn’t care for her at all. He turns and nods lightly to the Guishan siblings, his intent unknown.

Yet Qi Ling is completely dumbfounded, “You’re saying that Yin Chen is……the disciple of the previous Top Lord? ……Then isn’t he……but he’s also the Seventh Lord, then what is he…….” Puzzled, he turns to stare at Yin Chen. Yin Chen answers with a roll of his eyes.

“Then what about the Relic of Youtuer? What sort of place is that? I’ve never heard about it before.” Guishan Fenghun asks Qi La.

“You should not question this anymore. There are many secrets on the Aslan territories. Disciples do not know some secrets. The lower leveled lords don’t know other secrets. Of course, there are secrets that even I do not know. Among all lords, the one that knows the most is the Forth Lord, Thalia. Maybe all of you really should make a trip to Tiange……” Qi La looks at Yin Chen and the Guishan siblings, a smile shrouded in a layer of mystery graces his features, the smile is so light that a gentle breeze will blow it away.

The atmosphere in the room is suffocating and cold.

After returning from Qi La’s room, Yin Chen and Qi Land has not spoken a single word to each other. Yin Chen sits alone on a stool, staring unseeingly and unmovingly at the tea set on the table.

Qi Ling clears his throat and asks Yin Chen softly: “Yin Chen, you said that you still being the Seventh Lord is enough to prove that the previous Top Lord Gilgamesh is still alive, what does that mean? I don’t really understand.”

Yin Chen snaps back to reality. His harsh gaze softening and warming up. His expression also lightens considerably. He looks at Qi Ling and replies tenderly: “You do know that the difference in level of soul powers between the lord and the disciple is as vast as the distance between the heavens and earth.”

Qi Ling nods.

“The reason for this difference is not due to the accumulation of experience or difference in soul weapons. The most fundamental reason is that, when the lord willingly steps down or if the lord dies, the original soul’s return circuit in the disciple will be replicated and fused with the original one. This change in soul powers is not just a double increase, but as much as a leap ten times the original amount. The passing down of the First Lord is also different. The Top Lord has three disciples – the heaven, earth and sea. At the very moment when the lord dies or steps down, two of the three disciples will die instantaneously. The last one remaining will have three souls’ return circuits at the same time, and this will allow his soul powers to reach a peak that no other can attain. This is also why, throughout the passage of time, the Top Lord is always much more powerful than all other lords.” Yin Chen glances at Qi Ling, his expression resembles a calm lake at sun down, filled with the sorrow of dusk, “I am the previous, previous disciple of heaven, Lucifer The other two disciples of my status, the disciple of the sea, Gelanshi and the disciple of earth, Dong He, they are both dead.”

The entire room is in silence. Qi Ling doesn’t know what to say so all he can do is sit beside him silently.

“Since I’m still only the Seventh Lord and not the Top Lord, this is enough evidence to prove that Gilgamesh is still alive in this world. Although I cannot find him……I’ve been looking for him for three entire years…..”

Yin Chen finishes and stands to leave the room.

“Are you sure you didn’t inherit the three times of the soul’s return circuit? Perhaps your new return circuit for the Seventh Lord suppressed the one from before, so even if you did inherit it, you don’t feel it?” QI Ling calls softly after Yin Chen’s back.

Yin Chen pauses, his back tensing in the dim lighting, after a long time, he replies slowly and deeply: “I already said that, Gilgamesh is still alive.”

[West of Aslan Empire – Interior of Tiange]

There is not a single window in the empty palace hall.

Only thousands upon thousands of candles emitting golden rays of light flicker in the darkness, making everything misty and haunting.

Swirls of cold fog flows on the air close to the marbled ground. The source of this fog is unknown.

On the upper levels of this hall, many dozens of white steps lead up to a spacious throne where two figures currently lie.

The curtains that drape among the surroundings is like a large screen that an exciting massacre is about to be broadcasted on.

“You’re saying that, the Silver Priests, at the same time, released the Red Alarm for Yin Chen, Qi La, Guishan Fenghun, Guishan Lianquan, Qi Ling and Tianshu Youhua?” Nether looks at the Forth Lord, the female lord Thalia who is currently rested beside him and smirks, “Are you kidding me?”

“Who can joke about something like this?” Thalia gazes at Nether, “Also, if you don’t believe me, you can go to the Heart and ask them yourself, that is, if you’re not afraid of making them unhappy. If it’s not their command and I’ve relayed it to you wrong, the next thing I know, they’d be tasking you to kill me. Heh heh heh.”

“Even if this is true, this is not simple.” Nether narrows his eyes, the long frame of his eyes is filled with a beastly charisma under the ghastly candlelight, “First it’s Yin Chen, as it previous disciple of Heaven, Lucifer, you should know the level of his soul powers more clearly than anyone else. If he bestowed the previous Top Lord’s soul’s return circuit to Qi Ling, it means that I will be taking on two disciples of Heaven at the same time, that kind of gives me a headache.”

Thalia says nothing and smiles softly. She knows Nether. She knows him too well. She knows him so well that she knows he’s not taking that to heart.

“Also, not only is Yin Chen the previous Grand Angel, Lucifer, he’s also the Seventh Lord of this generation, further more, none of us knows if he’s already another Top Lord. You also know what sort of thing Gilgamesh is. Only Xiuchuan Dixang can fight against him directly, anyone else and he won’t even have to bat an eye.”

Thalia continues smiling at Nether. She is not worried at all. She knows the abilities he has.

“Oh, I almost forgot the most important thing,” Nether’s smile disappears gradually and morphs into a dense darkness between his brows, “The Red Alarm also targets Qi La. Even if you head doesn’t hurt thinking of battling him, mine does. Back in the days when Gilgamesh and him were battling, the skies and earth were turned upside down. At that time, you and I probably didn’t even catch our first soul beast yet.”

Nether looks at Thalia’s paling skin and smirks scornfully: “Figure out something yourself.”

"Alright then, I'll handle Qi La. How difficult. If it's not for the fact that I found that interesting treasure seven years ago, I really won't be able to handle Qi La......" Thalia curls on the soft pelt like a cat. Her tender flesh caresses the pelt, alluring and instigating.

"Please, as if I didn't help you get that thing......" A wicked gleam shines from Nether's pupils, "Then again, it's been so many years, shouldn't that thing be unrecognizable now? Perhaps I won't even recognise it......"

"That treasure is extremely beautiful now......" Thalia's pupils are murky. An gust of air blows from an unknown source around the empty room of stone. The flames of all candles flicker. Her dark shadow casted on the wall resembles a beautiful female ghost.

*In Chinese, ‘comparisons are odious’ directly translates to ‘comparing one (person) to another, one is more infuriating than the other’.

Chapter end