bookbashuk Chapter 580 Contradictions
Chapter 580 Contradictions
Xu Si chuckled to himself and continued forward.
The layout of the city lord's mansion was more complex than he had anticipated.
After passing through the doorway, there is a straight corridor with a ceiling made of some kind of translucent mineral that filters the sunlight from who-knows-where into a soft, warm yellow that shines on the walls on both sides.
The walls are inlaid with continuous reliefs, which seem to depict a scene of an ancient war—different races stand side by side, facing a blurry, shapeless shadow.
"...What is this?" Xu Si's gaze lingered on the relief for a moment.
Among the races confronting the shadows, he recognized scaled giants, round little men, werewolves, and even the outlines of crystal races.
Although the shadow's shape was blurry, it gave Xu Si a familiar feeling, as if he had seen it somewhere before.
But he had no recollection of it. His gaze lingered on the shadow for a couple more moments before shifting away.
At the end of the long corridor is a spacious courtyard, in the center of which stands a fountain. The water has a pale golden luster and circulates slowly in the pool, exuding a gentle and life-giving aura.
The spring water itself seemed to be rich in some kind of energy form that Xu Si had never encountered before, like a pool of compressed life essence.
A few werewolf guards stood scattered around the fountain, standing solemnly on either side of the colonnade, unaware of Xu Si passing by in a state of nothingness.
As they passed through the courtyard, the werewolf twitched its nostrils slightly as it passed a guard. It glanced in Xu Si's direction before looking away, clearly unable to detect anything substantial.
On the other side of the courtyard, there are three arched doorways of different heights. Different atmospheres can be vaguely seen behind the archways. The one on the left seems to lead to the living area, and Xu Si can smell the aroma of cooking spices.
The aura behind the door on the right is rather cold, like a warehouse or cellar where something is stored.
A faint energy fluctuation emanated from behind the largest archway in the middle.
Xu Si paused for a moment, then walked towards the central archway.
If there's anywhere in the city lord's mansion that stores documents or maps about this world, that's the most likely place.
After passing through the archway, the view suddenly opened up.
This is a larger hall than the front courtyard, with a high dome and supporting pillars carved from single pieces of dark blue stone, the surface of which is engraved with dense runes. The runes slowly flow under the light, as if maintaining the operation of some kind of magic array.
In the center of the hall stood a huge round table, its surface covered with some kind of leather that shimmered with a pale gold sheen, and several blueprints covered with annotations were spread out on top.
The walls were lined with bookshelves, on which were neatly stacked scrolls of bamboo slips, booklets, parchment, and thin sheets of various unknown materials.
The air was filled with the smell of aged paper and ink, as well as a faint mineral scent that Xu Si couldn't quite describe.
Looks like we've found the right place.
However, Xu Si did not find any living creatures in this hall.
Xu Si did not rush to show himself, but remained in a state of nothingness, silently approaching the round table along the edge of the wall.
The drawings on the table were extremely detailed, with dense markings of mountains, rivers, cities, and borders, interspersed with annotations in texts he couldn't understand.
Judging from the color of the annotations, there are several different handwritings, suggesting that these drawings have been revised repeatedly.
He noticed a thin, dotted line drawn along the edge of one of the drawings. The dotted line started from the city beneath his feet, extended eastward, passed through a large area marked "desert," and finally reached the endless void.
Xu Si could sense that the markings on this void were extremely peculiar, as if some kind of danger was lurking within.
It's as if some kind of allure is captivating.
Just as Xu Si was engrossed in watching, a faint noise came from outside the door.
The footsteps grew louder as they approached; there was more than one person.
Xu Si remained motionless in his void state, yet his senses spread out like a thin mist along the ground, taking in all the sounds from outside the door.
The newcomer walked with a steady gait, his strides even and restrained, clearly someone accustomed to giving orders.
The footsteps that followed were slightly disordered, as if subordinates were carefully following.
The door was pushed open.
The one who walked in was an orc, not the werewolf Xu Si had seen before, but a burly figure with a deer's head and a human body.
He wore a dark red robe and a belt inlaid with crimson crystals around his waist. As he walked, the crystals jingled and tinkled.
His eyes were piercing, and the two dark lines on his brow bone resembled a natural crown. His demeanor was composed and dignified, clearly indicating his noble status.
Is this the city lord?
Xu Si sensed the mastery of a seventh-level life form in him.
A slender member of the Crystal Clan followed behind him.
At this moment, it held a roll of yellowed sheepskin in its hands, its two legs closely following behind the deer-beastman, and its every move made it look more like a compass.
At the same time, he was also reporting something in a low voice, speaking very quickly.
They walked up to Xu Si in a few steps, or rather, to the table in front of Xu Si.
They directly picked out the map that Xu Si had just been looking at.
"My lord, a secret letter from Jinshi City." The Crystal Clan subordinate presented the yellowed sheepskin roll in his arms with both hands, his voice extremely low.
Lord Lushou did not immediately accept the map. His gaze fell on the dotted line in the eastern part of the map. After a moment, he released his hand from the map and picked up the rolled-up sheepskin instead.
He unfolded the sheepskin slowly, his rough fingertips rubbing against the edges of the leather.
A moment later, he let out a low, slightly disdainful chuckle and casually placed the rolled-up sheepskin on the table.
"They certainly know how to pick their timing."
"Over at Jinshi City..." a subordinate of the Crystal Clan asked cautiously.
"Or should we request reinforcements?"
"Reinforcements?" The Lord of Deer Head City sat down in the high-backed chair behind the desk. His antlers cast a long, thin shadow on the map under the warm light of the arched dome.
"What they want isn't reinforcements, but to weaken us step by step, to nibble us away little by little."
The crystal clan subordinate stiffened slightly, the two dark indentations on the crystallized facet rapidly contracting. After a brief silence, he spoke, "Then the young lady…"
"My dearest Ilya..."
His eyes sometimes showed helplessness, sometimes determination.
"Send 500 troops to help them guard the mining area. If they continue to be greedy, we'll fight to the death."
Goldstone City is strong, but Deerman City is not one to just take a beating without fighting back.
Xu Si stood no more than three steps away from the table, and everything in the void remained absolutely still.
His breathing, heartbeat, and even the flow of laws within his small world were suppressed to the point of near-stopping.