Now the feeling of being watched had disappeared, and Yan Xiaobao couldn’t help but think it was sothing he had conjured up himself. This was rely his paranoia, and there really wasn’t anything he could do about it. "Either way, I’m powerless to change it," the young man muttered, sighing as he lifted his head, almost stumbling into the impoverished district where the black lion resided.
Yan Xiaobao moved quickly and soon arrived at the black lion’s place, but before stepping inside, he stopped outside the door, taking a deep breath to steady his racing heart. He was still paranoid, perhaps even more so now, despite the disappearance of the eerie sensation of being watched. But as he had admitted earlier, there was nothing he could do. With another deep breath, he crossed the threshold into the inn. Unlike the last ti, Yan Xiaobao didn’t linger in the lower area of the inn and headed straight for the staircase, ascending toward Gao Yan’s floor. Everyone followed his movents with their eyes, yet none spoke a word. Yan Xiaobao continued climbing the stairs until he reached the door and opened it, stepping into a room brimming with mory Stones. Experts stood near the desk, transferring information into the mory Stones. Clerks sorted these mory Stones, ensuring the information reached its proper destination. At the back of the room was Gao Yan, absorbed in whatever was spread out on the table before him, his lips moving continuously though no words escaped.
Gazing at Gao Yan, Yan Xiaobao didn’t have the heart to interrupt his friend. Instead, he stood there patiently, waiting for the older man to finish what he was working on. The eting records progressed slowly, yet Yan Xiaobao felt no boredom as he observed the room, noticing the steady appearance of one expert after another. "They make the servants aningless," Yan Xiaobao thought silently to himself, watching as mory Stone after mory Stone was filled with information. "And the fact that they can’t write makes it even more aningless. As long as the information lingers in their minds, it can be recorded onto mory Stones. Still, the Third Prince seems absolutely certain that none of them will talk about what happens in the garden. His assurance about his servants is baffling for soone who seems so thorough. Therefore, there must be sothing more than illiteracy and silence. Perhaps an oath, or complete trust; it’s hard to believe that re silence could grant soone such a position within Xiu Ye’s inner circle."
While Yan Xiaobao mulled over these thoughts deep in his mind, Gao Yan completed his task and now found himself the one waiting. With an apologetic smile, the young man peeled himself away from the wall where he had been standing and took the seat opposite Gao Yan. "Yesterday, I went to the Third Prince," he began. "While I was there, I encountered people he referred to as silent servants. He told these servants neither write nor speak, but when they hold a mory Stone, none of that matters. However, the Third Prince seems completely convinced they won’t betray him. That, to , is strange."
"But that’s not all," he continued. "When one of these servants guided to the exit—a man said to be rely a disciple-level mute—I couldn’t hear his breathing, his footsteps, or any other sound. If I hadn’t seen him with my own eyes standing right before , I wouldn’t have even known he was there. That’s definitely sothing beyond the ability of soone at the disciple level. Who exactly are these servants?"
Gao Yan remained quiet for a mont, and against Yan Xiaobao’s expectations, his old friend didn’t start inspecting the specific mory Stones he had before him. Instead, Gao Yan leaned back in his chair, gazing at his younger companion with a complex expression in his eyes.
"The silent servants are famous for working exclusively for the Third Prince. They are called servants, but no one truly understands them. I once tried to introduce soone into their ranks, but I never saw her again." Silence once again settled between the two, and a deep furrow appeared on Gao Yan’s brow. Seeing how focused his friend was, Yan Xiaobao said nothing to interrupt his train of thought. He simply waited for him to reach the end and speak about what he knew.
"So might think they harbor resentnt toward the Third Prince for forcing their silence and illiteracy upon them, but it’s actually the opposite. So families willingly send their children to serve, so they have a chance to join this group and beco one of the Prince’s most trusted confidants. I suspect they’ve either sworn a Blood Oath to the Prince or are compelled to remain loyal through so other mysterious technique, no matter what. As for their cultivation... no one truly understands it. No one knows just how strong they are, yet whenever one encounters them, they exude the aura of a low-level Dantian cultivator. Nothing outwardly stronger than a common person."
...
User Comments
0 comments from readers