Chapter 524: Banquet Hall
Opening the door, he found that outside were two Skydragon Fortress guards. Both held their helmets in their hands displaying their faces for all to see. One of them looked rather young while the other looked middle-aged.
Both men had a stern expression on their face, and they were clearly here on official business.
"The City Lord requests your presence at tonight's banquet. Please change clothes to the finest robes you possess and follow us to the City Lord's mansion." Having said this, he turned around after which Hui Yue who, was frowning, closed the door and turned to look at Huli. Although he closed the door none of the guards seemed to mind. It was impossible for him to escape without them noticing.
The fox-woman was as hesitant as Hui Yue was but when they looked down the window, they found that a full battalion of guards had shown up. It seemed there was simply no way for them to escape.
Hui Yue's mind was working in its highest gear as he quickly changed his clothes. "For now we'll follow them, but do not leave my reach," Hui Yue ordered as they helped the other smooth out wrinkles on their robes while looking at each other seriously.
It was one thing to deal with a dragon where there had been a whole army of experts, but quite another to visit this City Lord. He was, without a doubt, the strongest amongst everyone in the city, so why was he so adamant on having Hui Yue joining him for a banquet?
Hui Yue suddenly grabbed Huli's hand and with but a thought the two of them appeared within the Universe Box.
"Go home to the Divine Beast World and stay there until I pick you up again," Hui Yue said with a serious expression on his face, and Huli knew that although Hui Yue was weaker than her, he would be able to enter the Universe Box at any give moment.
Accepting this, Huli went towards the Divine Beast World within the Universe Box while Hui Yue left and returned to the Netherworld.
He felt dizzy for a few moments after reappearing, but it quickly passed. With a grim expression on his face, he opened the door to the hallway where the two guards were still waiting for him.
"Lead the way," he said, not overly polite but not rude either. As if they had not heard his words the two guards both looked into the chamber once more in confusion.
"Where is the beast?" The middle-aged man asked, but his question made Hui Yue frown.
"Huli is not here any longer," he answered casually, but he saw that these two men were anything but happy with this reply. Seeing this, his heartbeat quickly increased. Were they here to harm Huli? What was their purpose?
Although he was uncomfortable about this, Hui Yue said nothing but just followed behind the two guards.
"It was here just before, how can it suddenly vanish?" The guard asked Hui Yue, but he just shrugged his shoulders. "Nevermind," the guard said annoyed as they exited the inn. He then turned to look at one of the soldiers who had been waiting for them. "Go to the room and search it. If the nine-tailed fox is there, bring it to the City Lord's mansion, if it is not, searching the entire city for the beast!"
Hearing this Hui Yue stopped in his tracks. "I am not sure I want to go with you any longer," he said in a very unhappy voice. "I expected that we were guests of the City Lord, but considering you want to use force to find my companion, it seems like this is not the case."
While Hui Yue spoke, he looked around him. By now he had guards on every side of him and escaping would be near impossible. If he were to reach out and use his memories of the dao of space, he could easily rip a hole through the fabric of space, but when he tried to connect with the memory, nothing happened. It was as though this memory only acted when it had something to do with Huli, and since Huli had already been safely sent awake, it no longer cared about Hui Yue's situation.
"Is it really one of my previous lives? One would expect that it would at least help, itself, but no, it seems only Huli is worthy of its attention," Hui Yue said annoyed.
'Follow them for now,' Lan Feng said from within Hui Yue’s core. 'We can follow them, and if it turns dangerous then just make a beeline into the Universe Box.'
'Although it seems dodgy, no one knows exactly what this City Lord wants, and we are going to be amongst many other experts. There is a chance that he dares not go against us, since all of them know that we were capable of dealing with the dragon.'
'I know,' Hui Yue sighed, 'but there is also the possibility that he will hold me accountable for banishing the dragon into space.'
'This dragon was known to be Yanluo's companion and the protector of the Netherworld. It is likely to have an incredibly high rank, yet here we are being treated like criminals, and it seems that they are only interested in Huli. It won't surprise me if the entire banquet is a fake excuse to make us join him.'
Hui Yue touched the palm of his hand and ensured that the Universe Box was ready to transfer him, should it be necessary.
The guards were busy looking left and right, observing everyone that was walking down the street, and the grandeur display caught the attention of many experts present. Considering so many guards had arrived for the sake of one expert, the spectators were uncertain if they should ask about this person.
In the end, everyone chose to hold their tongue. Annoying the guards was the same as declaring that one no longer wished to live in Skydragon Fortress. The guards and the City Lord were the true overlords of this place so annoying them usually meant that their soul would end up wandering the plains of despair, or they would be sent packing and sold as a slave to the slave market.
Looking at this expert who was shown so much attention from the guards, he had to either be a terrifying villain who needed a lot of protection, or a great hero who was deserving of respect. As for which of these it was no one apart from the guards were aware.
Following behind the guards, Hui Yue looked around him with a somewhat carefree expression. As long as he had the Universe Box, he felt somewhat safe and therefore was calm.
Reaching the mansion, he saw that many other experts were also on their way to the banquet, but none of these experts were followed by such a massive entourage of guards.
As they reached the great mansion, they walked by the massive hole in the ground where the dragon had forced its way up earlier. Some people were busy repairing the hole, but the guards walked past it as if it did not exist.
Entering the main building, Hui Yue saw that many experts in their finest clothes were conversing with one another, but all of them turned silent as they noticed Hui Yue enter. As for whether this was because they had heard about Hui Yue's earlier performance, or because he arrived with such a large entourage, Hui Yue did not know, but he was happy that he had decided to wear his best clothes. He looked stunning dressed in a white robe with blue embroideries of phoenixes.
His eyes were sharp as he glanced over every guard and he could not help but heave a sigh of relief. These experts had various strengths, but they seemed to be experts of the city which had been invited. Nothing seemed out of place.
'Maybe we are too paranoid,' Hui Yue said to Lan Feng, but the phoenix did not answer. Instead, it had stopped cultivating and spread out his consciousness out to cover the entire area. Lan Feng was constantly on the lookout for anything suspicious. Seeing that Lan Feng did not lower his guard, Hui Yue did not do so either. He felt that if the phoenix felt something was wrong, then it was better to be careful.
Fortunately, the guards were no longer following behind Hui Yue, and he could enter the banquet hall on his own without being forced forward. Noticing that he could move around freely, he felt slightly better, but somehow a sense of danger was present at the back of his mind.
"Young master Hui!" A voice called out suddenly, and when Hui Yue turned around, he saw that the City Lord was moving towards him with a great smile on his face.
"I am so glad to hear that you could make it to our banquet today. I feared that you would decline, so I sent my guards to pick you up."
The way he spoke was as if the two were old friends, but Hui Yue still had a bad feeling about this City Lord.
"I see you did not bring your contracted beast with you. That is a real shame; I would have loved to ask her some questions about her comprehension of the dao of wind. To meet someone who has comprehended a major dao is quite rare. It would have been a unique opportunity."
Hui Yue, who was still alert, gave a small smile as he shook his head regretfully, "Sorry, she had some things she needed to take care of and had to leave the city for some time. She'll be back soon, though." He said, and the City Lord just nodded his head.
"Feel free to converse with the other experts of Skydragon Fortress. They are all here for the sake of the trials that King Yanluo will be overseeing in five years time. I assume that you, yourself, came here for the same reason. Take your time to get familiar with these experts. Then you will be able to better understand just what you are up against."
Hui Yue bowed slightly to the City Lord, but his eyes did not leave the back of this man as he moved away from him to greet other experts. There was something uncomfortable about this entire banquet.
Amongst the guests, Hui Yue saw quite a few of the experts he had read about in the book he bought at Treasure Mountain, but strangely enough, the only experts that had appeared were the experts with no notable background. It was experts that had gained their strength by relying on themselves or smaller sects and families. All the ones from major families were not invited, and this alone was enough to make Hui Yue feel uncomfortable.
Looking at the many doors, Hui Yue felt even more uncomfortable as he found that they were all blocked by quite a large number of guards. At least ten guards were stationed in front of every door, but when he looked at the other guests, he did not see even one looking alert or suspecting anything was wrong. All of them were merrily chatting with one another while eating and drinking the food which was out for them.
'Don't eat or drink anything,' Lan Feng warned, and Hui Yue could only agree. He did not trust this City Lord even a little, and thus he would never touch the food or drinks offered. He was not tired of living, and he still had many things to accomplish yet.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Suddenly the City Lord's voice sounded out from a balcony above as he overlooked the many experts that were gathered in the banquet hall.
"It is time for the main event. Do not fear, I promise it will not hurt, but you see I have been paid to ensure that you nameless experts disappear from the surface of my Skydragon Fortress. Who wants a nameless figure to become the new Judge of Hell?"
Having spoken, laughter rang from his lips as he looked at everyone beneath with contempt in his eyes, "No need to fear, it will be quick and you cannot escape. There is a spacelock formation in place over this room you are locked within. Since you enjoyed my food and wine, it is only a question of time before you can no longer put up any resistance! If you wish to blame someone for your misfortune, then blame your own bad luck for not being born into a rich family. Let the blood rain!"