Chapter 61: The Imaginary River
“Your Highness, good day.” Xia Feng placed his palms on his chest and performed a noble greeting.
Mu Qingtong, with her arm linked in his, maintained a gentle smile on her cool and pretty face.
Li Siwen glanced at Mu Qingtong, then at Xia Feng, and chuckled, “You two are quite a match. At least you’re much better than my useless younger brother.”
“Your Highness is joking,” Xia Feng replied calmly, without haste.
“Alright, seeing you two are so well-matched puts my mind at ease. Let’s go inside.” Li Siwen moved aside, gesturing with a smile.
Xia Feng blinked. Good heavens, why isn’t he playing by the rules? I thought he’d at least give me some trouble or belittle me.
It seems everyone here is civilized.
A man and a woman walked past Li Siwen, and he, his smile faltering, calmly watched their receding figures.
“How are preparations?”
“Your Highness, everything has been arranged,” a subordinate whispered beside him.
Ascending to the top floor via a cloud elevator, Xia Feng and Mu Qingtong, upon entering the reception hall, immediately drew the attention of all the nobles. After all, their looks were undeniably striking.
As they stepped into the banquet hall, a young girl in an off-the-shoulder evening gown rushed towards them, her clear, large eyes staring intently at Mu Qingtong.
“Mu, Mu Shen!”
Mushroom, usually dressed in overalls and unkempt, like a tomboy, now had her light green, slightly curly hair cascading over her shoulders and neck. Wearing an off-the-shoulder evening gown and crystal high heels, she looked like a completely different person.
Xia Feng almost didn’t recognize her.
Thinking this, he quickly pulled Mu Qingtong back and said in a deep voice, “Be careful, she’s a lesbian.”
Mushroom’s small face instantly turned red. She tilted her head, puffed out her cheeks, and complained, “Don’t talk nonsense! I’m a fan, a fan who admires her!”
“Admire what?” Xia Feng asked, confused. “Admire how badly she sings?”
“!” Mu Qingtong’s breathing hitched. Her light-gold beautiful eyes glanced at Xia Feng.
[Provoked, Mu Qingtong gained insight into the skill of grabbing and twisting the neck at close range. Your understanding of combat and assassination has slightly increased—]
Xia Feng suddenly felt a cold sensation around his neck, as if his head might spin off at any moment.
Fine, fine, Mu God of Demons! If you have an epiphany just because I provoke you, don’t blame me for provoking you every day from now on. Thinking this, Xia Feng also glanced at Mu Qingtong.
And so, the two of them stared at each other, sparks flying between their gazes, neither blinking, as if the first one to blink would lose.
Mushroom stared blankly at the two of them, suddenly feeling like she was in the way.
Just then.
The clamor in the opulent and luxurious banquet hall ceased abruptly, and the surroundings fell silent.
Everyone turned to the side. Two guards wearing red hats pushed open the arched doors and cautiously stepped back about three meters.
A woman wearing crystal red high heels, dressed in a deep red evening gown with a flowing and elegant hem, slowly walked in from behind the door.
But what Xia Feng found strange was that this woman had a mysterious veiled hood covering her lower face and a black silk ribbon across her eyes.
“Your Highness Consort, please follow me.”
The guards stood three meters away, bowing respectfully and speaking in deep voices.
The woman placed her hands in front of her abdomen and, led by the guards, slowly stepped through the grand gate. Although she couldn’t see and had no one to support her, her footsteps were not the slightest bit hesitant.
“Is that your stepmother?” Xia Feng whispered curiously.
“Mmm.” Mushroom, puffing out her cheeks, stared with wide eyes at the woman in the distance. At that moment, the woman in the distance seemed to sense something and turned her head. Her gaze, hidden beneath the black silk, felt substantial.
Mushroom subconsciously took a step back, clutching Xia Feng’s clothes with her small hand.
“Lord Earl.” The guards bowed respectfully. The middle-aged man, dressed in a meticulously tailored deep red tailcoat and high boots, appeared before the arched gate. After the Princess Consort walked away, he stepped in.
Xia Feng looked around with a puzzled gaze. He keenly noticed that as the Princess Consort entered, the surrounding nobles quickly moved away.
Within a three-meter radius centered on the Princess Consort, no one stood, and even the maids following behind her maintained a tense expression and kept their distance.
“Is your stepmother that scary?” Xia Feng asked in a low voice, puzzled. “Why is everyone distancing themselves?”
It’s like she has body odor.
“This is a rule set by my father,” Mushroom explained in a low voice. “No one is allowed within three meters, or they will bear the consequences themselves.”
What kind of bizarre rule is this? Xia Feng was speechless. “Has anyone ever entered?”
“Of course, they have. Those who entered…” Speaking to this point, Mushroom paused, her gaze confused. “What happened to them? I seem to have forgotten.”
Xia Feng looked at Mu Qingtong and saw a flash of light in her light-gold eyes, as if she were deep in thought.
Xia Feng raised an eyebrow. “What did you see?”
“Me? Mr. Xia, I’m just an Apprentice Spirit Master. What could I possibly see?” Mu Qingtong tilted her head, looking at him with a puzzled expression.
!
“Heh~”
After a while, once the Earl had finished a lengthy speech, graceful dance music began to play. Mu Qingtong took Xia Feng’s hand and led him onto the dance floor.
As they swayed to the melancholic melody, they moved in tandem.
“What exactly did you see? Is the Princess Consort some kind of strange Nightmare Beast?” Xia Feng leaned close to Mu Qingtong’s ear and whispered as they momentarily closed the distance.
The man’s warm breath flowed into her ear. Mu Qingtong’s golden eyes flickered slightly, her delicate brows furrowed subconsciously, then relaxed.
[A strange feeling in the heart, you pondered how to speak without leaning close, and you comprehended the D-class Spirit Robe ‘Close-Range Voice Transmission’.]
Her elegant pretty face remained calm, her voice even, “Mr. Xia, please dance properly and don’t ask such nonsensical questions.”
“Do you want to know why I was able to devour the Sea of Calamity that day on Blood Calamity Street?” Xia Feng transmitted with a smile.
Mu Qingtong’s right hand rested on his strong waist, her left hand clasped with his. Their dance steps quickly became harmonious and natural.
Xia Feng suddenly found dancing quite simple. He had never attended such court banquets before and naturally hadn’t learned ballroom dancing.
As he was contemplating, Mu Qingtong’s voice echoed in his mind: “The Princess Consort is not a Nightmare Beast, but she is indeed related to the Imaginary River of Nightmare Beasts.”
“Imaginary River?” Xia Feng was stunned. “What’s this thing?”
“It is the ancestral river of the Imaginary Number Royal Court, and also the Void Emperor’s Authority. Everything devoured by the river will have its existence gradually erased, until it perishes and dies completely in the river of history. Everyone will forget it…”
As he listened, Xia Feng was astonished. “What kind of outrageous ability is this…”
Physical annihilation aside, it can also erase the target’s existence from everyone’s memories and related documents. In short, it erases all traces of existence. It sounds like “concealing heavenly secrets” in a Xianxia world.
“So, what is the Princess Consort’s current state?”
“There is a strange force field around her, with a radius of approximately three meters, connected to the Imaginary River. This is probably why Mushroom doesn’t remember the consequences for those who approached. Because those who approached have all disappeared.”
“However, since she can still remember that people approached, it means this force field is not very strong and has flaws.”
“Quite interesting…” Xia Feng mused. “So why is there this force field around the Princess Consort?”
“You should ask her, not me.”
“Makes sense, I’ll go ask her right now—” Saying this, Xia Feng released her slender waist and prepared to leave.
“Stop!” Mu Qingtong narrowed her golden eyes slightly. Her right hand, covered in lace mesh, grasped him forcefully, pulling Xia Feng towards her. Their lower abdomens were almost touching, Xia Feng’s pupils widened slightly, his thin lips stopping half an inch from her delicate red lips.
Under the warm yellow light, with their warm breaths mingling, the atmosphere became somewhat strange.
