Bitter Realm: Have the Four Realms been united today?

Chapter 3 Soul Buried Emperor

The time it takes to drink a cup of tea passed quietly, and the boy in the light screen remained frozen in that pose.

Ling Shuangjie's patience ran out, and a sharp glint flashed in her eyes. With a casual flick of her right sleeve, as if brushing away a speck of dust, the eerie and bewitching red light vanished instantly, leaving only the deep night and her cold red shadow under the eaves.

She leaned against the wall, completely blending her figure into the night, her gaze sweeping across the silent courtyard like a hawk's.

Before long, the soldier who had received the order returned quickly carrying a steaming food tray. As he passed through a shady spot, the tray was suddenly taken from his hand by another hand.

"Who?" The soldier was startled and turned to draw his sword, looking towards where the hand had appeared.

"Good reaction, but not alert enough. Go down!"

"Yes, General!" Upon hearing Ling Shuangjie's voice, the soldier breathed a sigh of relief. He sheathed his long sword, clasped his hands in salute, and then disappeared into the darkness.

At this moment, Ling Shuangjie turned around and walked steadily towards the side room door that was emitting light.

Just as she took a step, a deep yet penetrating voice rang out from behind her, seemingly carrying a tangible weight, instantly freezing the flowing night scene under the corridor.

"The Frost-Reaching Festival".

The sound wasn't loud, but it was like a boulder falling into a still lake, creating invisible ripples and making the surrounding air seem solemn.

Ling Shuangjie stopped in her tracks, her body instantly stiffening like a pine tree. She immediately recognized the owner of the voice: the supreme ruler of Huan Chen Bu Wu, the Soul Burial Emperor.

Without needing to turn around, the overwhelming aura of the emperor had already enveloped them as if it were a tangible presence.

She quickly turned and bowed, but the tray in her hand limited her movements, and in the end she could only give a simple and solemn bow.

"Soul Emperor." Her voice remained cold, but beneath that coldness lay absolute submission and focus.

The Soul Burial Emperor stood a few steps away, his tall figure almost blending into the shadows of the pillars, yet he seemed to possess his own light source, repelling the deep night from his surroundings.

Half a step behind him, on his left was the strategist Yue Tianji, dressed in white, and on his right was Mu Yunzhi, who had left earlier.

The Soul Burial Emperor's gaze fell on Ling Shuangjie, his eyes sharp and carrying an imperial aura that commanded submission.

"How is the boy?" He got straight to the point, his voice steady, each word clear and distinct, as if striking the heart.

Ling Shuangjie maintained her bowed posture, looking down at the edge of the tray, and reported in a steady voice: "The boy has already awakened."

However, he remained silent at first, like a stone statue, and ignored all inquiries.

About an hour before the boy spoke, asking for food, which is why I haven't yet ascertained his identity or background.

"Hmm." The Soul Burial Emperor responded in a low voice, indicating that he understood.

Then, he strode forward, his crimson robes brushing the ground silently yet with immense force, heading straight towards the side room, with Yue Tianji and Mu Yunzhi following closely behind.

Upon seeing this, Ling Shuangjie immediately straightened up, picked up the tray, and quickly followed, silently blending into the ranks of the three core figures of Huan Chen Bu Wu.

The courtyard gate was wide open, and candlelight streamed out from the side room, clearly projecting the figure of the blue-clad boy sitting at the table, head bowed in thought, into the view of the three members of the Burial Soul Emperor's group.

The Soul Burial Emperor's gaze, like solid cold iron, carried the sharpness of surveying a territory and an unquestionable domineering presence, piercing through the short distance and landing precisely on the boy.

That gaze itself was not deliberately malicious; it was simply a natural expression of his existence and the essence of his power, like a mountain crushing a speck of dust.

hum-

The boy, lost in thought, was jolted awake as if pierced by an invisible icicle!

He subconsciously turned his head to look at the source of the gaze, and just like that, unexpectedly, he went straight into the unfathomable pupils of the Soul Burial Emperor, which seemed to contain endless majesty and power.

In an instant, the face, which appeared excessively pale in the candlelight, lost all color, and the pupils dilated to their maximum size in horror.

A torrent of pure, biologically instinctive, bone-deep fear overwhelmed his mind, shattering all thoughts and leaving only a primal, intense command screaming wildly.

Run! Get out of sight!

He staggered backward, head down, each step making a slight but grating scraping sound on the cold floor tiles.

All he wanted to do at that moment was shrink into the shadows and escape the source of that gaze that made his very soul tremble.

Seeing the boy's actions, a hint of doubt flashed in the eyes of the Soul Burial Emperor, but he did not stop and steadily stepped into the courtyard, walking towards the door.

Ling Shuangjie, who was following at the back, had a strange expression on her face, because she felt that the boy's expression was somewhat familiar.

The Soul Emperor advanced step by step, while the boy retreated step by step, and strangely enough, the distance between the boy and the Soul Emperor was always kept at 3 zhang.

The boy's back slammed heavily against the cold wall with a "thud," leaving him nowhere to retreat. At that moment, the crimson hem of the Soul Burial Emperor's robe brushed past the threshold and he stepped into the side room.

The boy's body was pressed tightly against the wall, as if he wanted to embed himself into it. His head was lowered, and his hands were tightly gripping the hem of his clothes, his knuckles turning blue from the force.

Fine beads of cold sweat instantly soaked his temples, his body tense like a bowstring stretched to its limit, his brain incapable of any rational thought, leaving only the purest instincts.

The Soul Burial Emperor's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly, and his steps faltered slightly.

The boy's reaction... exceeded his expectations.

Just as the Soul Burial Emperor was about to step forward to check on the boy's condition, a gentle and peaceful voice, like a clear spring, stopped the emperor in his tracks.

"Soul Emperor." Yue Tianji took a step forward lightly, just in time to block the source of the gaze that was causing the boy to collapse.

"This boy seems to be unwell, perhaps he suffered some hidden injury. Let me examine him." His gaze was deep, as if he had seen through the reason for the boy's strange behavior.

The Soul Burial Emperor nodded slightly, tacitly granting the request to read the secrets of heaven.

Yue Tianji then slowly turned around to face the boy who was pressed against the wall and looked uneasy.

The Heavenly Secrets blocked the Soul Burial Emperor's view, giving the young man a chance to catch his breath. His chaotic thoughts, like fragments scattered by a gale, began to be painstakingly pieced back together, and the dam of reason was forcibly rebuilt on the ruins of despair.

Yue Tianji did not approach immediately, but stopped a few steps away, his voice extremely soft and gentle, carrying a strange soothing power, like moonlight brushing across a cold night: "Do not be afraid, we have no ill intentions."

His gaze was gentle, filled with pure inquiry and concern, falling on the boy's drooping hair.