Chapter 362 Secrets, Meetings and Encounters
The cold night wind blew into Wu Long's face under the bamboo hat, and snowflakes were like little cold blades cutting into his skin, yet leaving no scars.
The speed at which he was going was not too high as to make the impact of the snow and wind too powerful, but not at a speed a mortal could move as well.
He could easily block the wind and snow out by releasing Spiritual Qi in a shield-like form in front of him but he let them be, a feeling of being alive and aware stimulating him in a different way than the calm tranquility he felt in the rain before.
The snow and cold were often said to resemble callousness and mercilessness, stillness and death, which he thought resembled life as much as the calmness and tranquility he felt before. At the same time, he felt that there was more to the feeling, freshness, peace and even joy.
The snow that hit his face would almost imperceptibly slow down all on its own, and as it melted would slide comfortably off the sides of his face.
He did not do anything to cause that. But he knew that it was the effect of the Water Rune. He could feel that his connection with it was becoming more intimate and powerful. Though it had no clear consciousness, he could feel a semblance of a will. It was now actively protecting him on its own. And he was more and more comfortable with using its power.
'Hmm?'
The Lightning rune became slightly more active, buzzing and vibrating, as if calling out much like it did with the water rune before.
"Heh, it seems there is a large metal deposit in the depths of this rock"
In contrast to the Water Rune, the Lightning Rune was still hostile, becoming unstable at the first sign of easing his control over its confinement in his body. It did not harm him, as he would shut off the supply of Spiritual Qi every time it tried, but it would not submit either.
It also got agitated near the sources it could escape to, like thunder clouds or water sources, or in this case, large mineral deposits of metal ore that were buried below.
Wu Long speculated that it initially attracted the Water Rune in order to escape. And when Wu Long has built a connection with it, the Lightning Rune now completely ignored the existence of the Water Rune.
He got excited for a moment, thinking that it could possibly attract a new Rune, but after a period of buzzing the Rune settled down, seemingly entering dormant state once more.
"Haa~ if I could figure out the trick to connect with it, I could have started working on developing Lightning manipulation skills by now"
Wu Long sighed as he thought about the possibilities and secrets of the Runes.
---
At this time, in the Imperial Capital of the Azure Eagle Empire, a woman in plain gray clothes and a bamboo hat went inside a discreetly looking and remote building with two larger men following her. Inside looked like a normal shop, but as she showed a token to the clerk, the door was closed and they were led behind the counter to a staircase leading down.
After descending for quite a while, they were greeted by a servant, and after whispering a few words which the servant confirmed over a communication jade, they were escorted through a series of complicated tunnels into a private room where a man wearing black clothes and a wooden mask that covered everything but his mouth was sitting, drinking tea.
As the woman came in, she bowed to the man while the two people stayed behind, standing before the door along with four people who were evidently with the man who was already in the room before them.
As the servant left them alone, the two halves of a complicated array drawn on both sides of the sliding door met and the full array circle glowed, before dimming down.
"I am glad that you have agreed to meet again, Your High-"
"Just call me Sir"
"... as you wish, Sir. But you are too cautious, this establishment is for these kinds of meetings after all"
"Which is why it is closely monitored by anyone who is worth something. Sure, the numerous entrances and decoys make it hard to figure who met who, but just being at the same place with you would raise some questions. I made a huge risk coming to meet you here so I hope you can be more discreet"
"Certainly. My apologies, it won't happen again"
"Where is the other one? I already had this conversation with him some time ago, it is annoying to explain the same thing over and over"
The man's voice sounded very openly displeased, and there was a tinge of suspicion mixed in it. A change of personnel in these kinds of situations was indeed a major setback.
The woman's lips visible under the bamboo hat curled up in a pleasant smile.
"Our apologies, Sir. My predecessor was reassigned to some other..."
"Don't bullshit me, I recognize the two bodyguards with you, they were with him as well. I also know that you executive level people have your own personnel. It is only because I saw them that I did not leave as soon as you arrived"
The annoyance in the masked man's voice went up a notch. At this moment, she took off her hat, revealing appealing looks which left the man unfazed, not even a slight reaction passing in his eyes.
"Tough but fair. Just as I heard. You are right, he ran into some trouble so I had to take his place"
The woman's smile did not falter, and only became wider as she spoke in a relaxed tone.
"Heh, it seems not everything is running smoothly for you"
The masked man's voice became neutral, his eyes that were sharply observing her becoming interested.
'A stress test, huh? It seems one hurdle is over'
The woman looked at the eyes behind the mask intently, seemingly searching for a right reaction.
"That would be normal, is it not? You have also experienced setbacks as we understand"
"..."
"We have already extended an offer of cooperation several times over the years, and have repeatedly received a refusal"
"And you believe this time would be different?"
"Have you not lost the one thing you wanted?"
"I have not lost it yet"
"As expected, you wouldn't give up just because of some setbacks, much like we don't give up just because of a few refusals"
"And what makes you think I would be willing to take your hand this time?"
"Have you not agreed to meet with us like this?"
"Which happened numerous times when I was in better position as well. I may be willing to listen to what you have to say, does not mean I am desperate"
The man's voice became displeased again.
"But you have never had quite a significant problem, as you have no viable option the way we see it. Time works against you this time unlike in the past as well"
The woman did not back down from her insinuation.
"It seems you no longer mind offending me"
"You are no longer in a dominant position, so it is natural. If you had taken our proposition before you would have been offered more consideration, but as it stands now, we are the ones offering you something you want that you cannot obtain without us"
"It doesn't seem like you acknowledge that you have not been as successful as you want me to believe either. All I could hear the past year were news of your quite spectacular failures"
"Which is why it is worth considering the factors that unite us, as the source of our failures is the same"
"You do have a point there..."
"It seems you are still unconvinced. Let me explain our proposal in some more detail to help you decide"
"Go on"
---
The city Old Yen brought Wu Long to was a connecting point, as a large mountain range split the territory of the Gutian Kingdom much like the Storm Pass Mountains of the Azure Eagle Empire. It was this mountain range that distinctly separated the so-
called "Neck" region from the rest of the country, creating a geographically isolated zone.
And the city was located in the one valley that was suitable for comfortable travel, wide on the side of the "Neck, and gradually narrowing and swerving toward the coast.
The path Wu Long chose to move was to the south of the city, the opposite side that he came from and toward the narrow part of the valley, going to the coastline in the West before finally leading to the central part of the kingdom.
This single road that acted as a funnel made for a natural checkpoint, undesirable for those who travelled incognito. His speed that was faster than mortals and even normal cultivators but still not enough to be unnoticed made him quite conspicuous as well but he seemed not bothered by it.
After some time of travel, he felt a familiar presence catching up to him in the dark.
A surprised expression appeared on his face as he stopped looking in the direction he came from, his lips curving up in a smile. After a minute or two, the dark night seemed to sway and a cloud of black smoke almost invisible to the eye in this moonless night soon revealed two figures, two pairs of red eyes looking at him with two distinctly different reactions.
"We meet again"
He chuckled as he did not expect to meet them in the middle of nowhere, but then again this path was a peculiar spot that made such encounters possible.
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