Garden of Shadows

by Tinalynge

  “I would be honored if you could tell us all about the continent you originated from,” she continued, and Xue Wei, who saw no reason not to comply, started describing Chang’an.

  “We come from a continent known as Chang’an,” he began. “Chang’an has humans and primordial beasts, but unlike here these two races are constantly at war against one another.

  “Humans loathe the beasts, and the beasts loathe the humans.”

  “Then how come there are both beasts and humans in your group?” The King asked curiously. Xue Wei smiled wryly. “We happen to be the outcasts of both humans and beasts,” he said honestly.

  “Oh? How could this happen?” she asked curiously. At this point, within the court, many looked at Xue Wei with vigilance and disdain, but the King was still filled with curiosity and there was absolutely no hostility in her five eyes.

  Xue Wei pondered for some time to articulate an answer. “My background is rather sensitive,” he admitted eventually after much consideration. “I am afraid that I was doomed to be hunted by both humans and beasts at birth.

  “These three friends of mine are comrades I have encountered throughout the years.”

  The King nodded her head and looked at them once more before she stood up. “All officials vacate the hall. I have something to inform this man in private.”

  Hearing their King say that she had something she needed to speak with him in private about caused many of the men present to feel very uncomfortable and also unhappy, but none of them dared to go against their King’s order. All of them slowly exited the hall while looking back with begrudging expressions on their faces.

  As the final person exited the hall, the King stood up and walked down the stairs towards the lower levels of the hall where the four of them stood.

  “Let me hold your hand,” the King said sternly as she looked at Xue Wei, who gave a rascally smile in response and shook his head. “Sorry, Your Highness, I already have a sweetheart.”

  Hearing his unexpected words, the King was slightly stunned. Then she started laughing out loud, her laughter clear like pearls and filled with mirth.

  “Do not worry, you are not my type,” she assured him, causing Xue Wei to raise an eyebrow in surprise.

  “Too few eyes?” he could not help but ask, but the woman just shook her head without answering.

  Seeing that she was not going to let herself be teased, Xue Wei quickly offered his hand, and soon he felt the woman grasp it. Her fifth eye started to cloud over and her other four closed.

  It was a peculiar sight, nothing like what Xue Wei had ever seen before, but he knew that this woman was doing something right now so he did not retract his hand and just calmly waited for her to finish.

  It took around the time it takes to brew a cup of tea before the King once again opened all five eyes. Her face knit with furrowed brows and she seemed to be seriously confused.

  “Let me try something else,” she said and grasped his hand again, not asking for permission.

  This time, the bottom pair of eyes were closed, the upper three open, and once more the mist covered her open eyes. This time it took as long as it takes to eat a meal before she regained her consciousness, and when she did she looked at Xue Wei with newfound reverence.

  “To think that this world has something known as Sovereign Beasts!” she exclaimed excitedly while looking at Xue Wei with amazing eyes.

  “I have to apologize,” she said quickly. “As you know, having more eyes determines our talent, but that is not all. We also have innate abilities that awaken throughout our lives.

  “If you have four eyes, you will be able to see a bit of someone’s past; if you have five eyes, you can see a bit of their future.

  “This is also why my kind have been regarded so highly. The ability to understand the future is something that everyone wants to have, but it is not as wonderful an ability as one might think.”

  “You used these innate abilities on me?” Xue Wei asked with a raise of his brow, unsure of what to think of this woman’s brazen behavior.

  Seemingly understanding that he might not be approving of it, the King could only sigh.

  “I know you might be upset with me,” she admitted, “But I had a very good reason to do as I did.

  “There is an existence within the Garden of Shadows that has caused problems recently. My predecessor once checked the future of this existence and came to the conclusion that these problems would be solved by someone from out of the continent.

  “We have waited year in and year out for someone from outside of the continent to come to visit us, but it has never happened—not before now at least.”

  Xue Wei’s raised eyebrow sunk down to a frown with the other. “What is this ‘existence,’ you speak of?” he asked, but the King just shrugged her shoulders.

  “I do not know,” she said honestly.

  “The Garden of Shadows is the most mysterious place in the entire continent. They are guarding this information with their lives; even the previous King only managed to scratch the surface of this mystery.”

  Xue Wei felt confused by something. Why would the Garden of Shadows harbor an existence that was a disaster to their nation, and why would they go to such lengths to prevent it from being seen by others?

  And even more, they expected outsiders to solve their problems for them? They were dealing with such a huge problem with such a lax attitude.

  “I understand your concern,” the King said with a sigh as she saw Xue Wei’s knitted eyebrows, “but we really have not been able to solve the situation ourselves despite many attempts.”

  “Can you give us some more details about what we can expect to encounter?” Xue Wei asked tentatively. He was not exactly sure what waited at the end of this road, so he was suddenly quite worried.

  This also made him understand why Elder Sun had been so eager to recruit them into the Garden of Shadows when they first met.

  Xue Wei pondered for some time while waiting for the King to explain the situation, but she just shook her head dejectedly.

  “I can’t explain it,” she said again. “You will have to experience it for yourself. If you manage to solve our problem, I will without a doubt grant you a spot in the delegation that is leaving for the Demon Phoenix Continent next time.”

  Xue Wei had been wondering whether or not it would be worth it for him to actually do anything about this strange and unexplainable phenomenon of theirs, but his hesitation came to a swift end when he heard the King’s promise.

  Merit points were a bother. Gathering them took too much time, and it was not easy to get enough to be admitted to the delegation. Not to mention that he was not alone. Every single one of them needed to reach the requisite threshold to qualify.

  “If you can promise that the four of us will get a spot on the ship towards the Demon Phoenix Continent, then we will do anything in our power to solve this riddle and rid you of your worries,” Xue Wei promised.

  The King looked at the solemn expression on Xue Wei’s face and nodded her head. “I promise,” she said.

  Although it was quite a lot to send all four of them to the Demon Phoenix Continent, if they could solve the longstanding prophecy related to the Garden of Shadows, then it was definitely worth it.

  The King went back to her throne and casually sat down before she waved her hand. The doors to the hall opened again, and the many officials who had been asked to leave earlier swarmed back into the hall.

  All of them looked at Xue Wei and his friends with hostility, but there was also a curiosity in their eyes. It was clear that all of them wanted to know what their conversation had been about.

  “I am very honored to have guests from outside of the continent visiting,” the King announced as the first thing, “and thus I am hereby awarding the four of you a free pass to always enter the Imperial Palace to look for me.

  “I hope that you will come often to tell me about your current achievements and thoughts of Yan Dalu—and at th
e same time, should you need something, do not be shy to ask for it.”

  Hearing the voice of the King, many showed dissatisfaction, but no one dared to speak up about it.

  Truth was, these experts were all scheming against one another, from the beginning to the end of the day. They did not like that these four foreigners had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and actually gained the favor of the King.

  Not only this, the King was actually going quite far to accommodate them and even gave them a free pass to enter the Imperial Palace!

  They understood that these four people were from outside of the continent, but there was no denying that Xue Wei and the others were ‘normal’ people compared to themselves. They did not have their innate abilities, nor did they have their superior cultivation talent. What right did they have to actually gain their King’s favor?

  Xue Wei was used to running for his life, so he had never been involved in the political game before, but he was not oblivious so he quickly figured out what the reason behind the many glares he was getting was.

  It was truly difficult to be popular!

  Together with the officials, Elder Sun also returned to the hall. His eyes were not filled with the same curiosity as the officials. It was clear that he knew what they had been talking about.

  Although his eyes did not gleam with the same curiosity as the officials, they still contained a hidden fear as he glanced at Xue Wei, unable to understand what the end of their conversation was.

  In the end, would Xue Wei help them? He did not know, but he kept praying in his heart that he would.

  “Elder Sun, our guests must be tired. It is not suitable for them to stay any longer. They have been granted a free pass already, and should they ever want to see me, they can come whenever they want. For now, lead them back to the academy and look after them well.”

  Hearing this, Elder Sun bowed deeply to the King in acknowledgment of the order before he gestured for Xue Wei and the others to follow him, his heart hammering rapidly. Was it maybe possible for this group of youngsters to solve their century-long problems?

  He did not know, but something about these kids gave him a good feeling. He just hoped that they could live up to his expectations.

  Chapter 5 - Headmaster

  A lane of trees was planted on the side of the road. These were all cherry trees, and they were in full bloom; beautiful pale pink petals were dropping from the trees like snow, glistening in the sunshine that was cascading down from high above.

  The road had a few people going back and forth, but this was by no means a bustling atmosphere. There were only a few low conversations that were being drowned out by the sound of singing birds.

  Xue Wei was looking at this picturesque scene in front of him, and he could not help but smile.

  They had left the Imperial Palace and walked for half an hour before they reached this road of cherry blossoms, and this was the road leading to the Garden of Shadows. As a matter of fact, only the students and the teachers of the academy would traverse this path, which was why it was not overly crowded.

  The vast majority of these people on the road had three eyes. There was also one with four eyes and another with two.

  All of the students bowed in greeting when they saw Elder Sun while looking inquisitively towards Xue Wei and his friends.

  Elder Sun gently nodded to the people, but not even coming across the other teachers made him stop to answer any questions they might have.

  The cherry trail was rather long, and it took them a full hour before they stood in front of a massive gate. There were ten guards, five on each side, in front of the gate, and there were also many guards on top of the walls that stretched far to each side.

  These guards all looked with reverence at Elder Sun when he appeared in front of them, and they quickly opened the doors with a deep bow.

  They could not help but look at Xue Wei and his friends with curiosity. After walking through the gate, Xue Wei noticed that they kept observing him and his group while sometimes glancing at one another.

  It was clear that they were communicating through a mental link, most likely discussing the identity of Xue Wei and the others.

  Although the amount of people on the road outside the academy had been scarce, it was an entirely different sight when they stepped inside of the Garden of Shadows itself. There were scores of students running back and forth in every direction, from building to building.

  Some were walking alone, others in groups, but all of them looked curiously at the entourage that arrived together with Elder Sun.

  Elder Sun smiled wryly due to the strange glances that were sent their way, but he said nothing and walked deeper and deeper into the academy itself.

  There were many buildings in the academy. The entire east and north of the academy encompassed the residential area, while the center had the most important buildings at the academy, and the west and south comprised other buildings and facilities important to the academy such as classrooms, libraries, training fields and so on.

  “In the center of the academy, you will find the Soul Tower,” Elder Sun explained. “The Soul tower has a number of functions. Where we are going is the house right next to the center, the mansion you can see right there.” He pointed at a magnificent mansion that was built with spires and arches, looking like an old medieval mansion that was built from some sort of black stone.

  In fact, the entire Garden of Shadows was built from some sort of black stone that seemed much tougher than most metals. It also seemed to draw the ambient soul energy towards it, which one could refine into spiritual energy, which can then be absorbed by the surrounding experts.

  “In Yan Dalu, many die every day, and as a result there is much soul energy in our surroundings.” Elder Sun could see Xue Wei’s curiosity pertaining to the density of the soul energy in this place and decided to explain it. It was no secret after all.

  “When someone dies, the soul energy starts to dissipate rather fast, and if you do not absorb it just as fast, you will miss out.

  “Fortunately, these Black Nebula Stones that we have used to build the Garden of Shadows is actually able to make the speed at which the soul energy dissipates much slower. In fact, they absorb the soul energy and anchor it to itself instead of allowing it to dissipate.”

  “Black Nebula Stones are incredibly rare. They can be considered a treasure and someone who cultivates spiritual energy getting their hands on a fist-sized stone of it can be considered tremendously lucky,” Bai Tianyi said with a frown as he looked around them. “How was it possible for you to gather this much Black Nebula Stone?”

  Elder Sun looked at Bai Tianyi with some surprise. This young boy had not spoken much in their previous conversations. In fact, he had always had an amiable smile on his face and seemed rather aloof and carefree until now, but now his brows were furrowed and his question was incredibly sensible.

  “I had not expected this young master to know about the Black Nebula Stone,” Elder Sun admitted readily, but then he grinned. “The Garden of Shadow is a place where the sun never shines. It is a garden filled with shadows and it has been like this for many thousands of years.”

  “Black Nebula Stone is created in places such as this, and this place happened to have a giant vein of Black Nebula Stone which we used to create the academy from.”

  “I see.” Bai Tianyi was quiet for a short while before he looked at the Soul Tower in front of him. “If I am not incorrect, you have fused the heart of the vein with the Soul Tower, making it a wondrous place to cultivate spiritual energy?”

  Although this was a question, it sounded more like a statement. Hearing it, Elder Sun raised an eyebrow in surprise and nodded his head.

  “It is indeed like this,” he answered, agreeing readily. Although it was not something that most students knew about, it was not some great secret either. They usually just did not talk about how the Soul Tower worked, but now it seemed as if Bai Tianyi understood it well on his own.


  Xue Wei pondered on the words Bai Tianyi had said. The heart of the vein had to be filled with soul energy and be much stronger than the stones themselves, making this Soul Tower a wonderful place to cultivate.

  “But even so, it should not be capable of producing too much of a difference in the soul power from the outside. Are there other secrets hidden within the Soul Tower?”

  Hearing the question Elder Sun’s face turned awkward and slightly horrified. “I do not know,” he finally admitted with a sigh after a bit of time.

  After hearing these words, Xue Wei was slightly stunned but he also felt that this Soul Tower was quite important for him to explore if he wanted to solve the mystery of the academy.

  If he had the chance, he definitely had to step inside this tower later on and see for himself just how wondrous its effects could be.

  With a glance at the towering Soul Tower that rose so high that one could not see the top, Xue Wei followed Elder Sun into the mansion on the side.

  The guards once again bowed deeply when Elder Sun entered, and the same curious eyes as before were glancing at Xue Wei and his friends.

  Elder Sun nodded in greeting and then led Xue Wei and his friends towards the stairs leading up to the upper levels of the mansion.

  After reaching the upper levels, they walked straight down a large corridor towards a door at the end.

  When they knocked on the door, a hoarse voice came from within, “Come in,” and Elder Sun pushed the door open, gesturing for Xue Wei and the others to follow behind him.

  “Headmaster, these are the young experts I told you about,” Elder Sun said, and for the first time, Xue Wei saw the elder bow his body.

  Seeing the greeting, Xue Wei also did a slight bow towards the man, before straightening himself and looking at the expert in front of him.

  This man had five eyes! So far, the only five-eyed expert he had encountered was the King. Now he met the second, and this man seemed much older than the first.