105: Chapter 105 Please make sure to ask clear questions next time, thank you.

When Xie Feng pushed open the door of the warm pavilion, Emperor Zhou Weixi was still engaged in his terrifying workload, with the memorials almost completely blocking him from view.

The vermilion brush in the Emperor's hand hovered over a memorial, his brow slightly furrowed, with at least a dozen unannotated memorials spread across the low table before him.

Hearing the door open, the Emperor looked up, cast a glance at Xie Feng, placed his brush on the brush rest, and rubbed the space between his brows.

"You've arrived at just the right time. Another memorial was submitted today, still about that same matter.

Also, the Ministry of Works reported that several rune stones on the periphery of the Seal have shifted by half an inch. They investigated for a long time but couldn't find the cause.

The Third Princess came to pay her respects today and happened to ask where you went. I told her you were reading stone tablets at the bottom of the Shituolin Swamp. She said if you didn't come up soon, she would go down and find you herself."

Xie Feng sat down nearby, leaning his cold crystal blind staff against the low couch.

"Your Majesty. I just caught a bug inside my own head."

Emperor Zhou Weixi lowered his hand from his brow and raised his head to look at Xie Feng.

To be honest, Emperor Zhou Weixi was feeling a bit exhausted, but fortunately, Xie Feng had clearly seen his share of grand spectacles as well.

His expression didn't change much, but a very complex emotion appeared in his eyes, which roughly translated to: 'I know you're not crazy, but could you say that again?'

Xie Feng started from the beginning, explaining his bizarre experience just now in the simplest language possible.

After listening, Emperor Zhou Weixi placed his vermilion brush back on the brush rest and gently massaged his temples.

"Sigh...

Why did I ever agree to let the Third Princess bring you over to take a look at the Shituolin Swamp?"

So it was the Third Princess's suggestion? That little girl sure has a lot of schemes up her sleeve, actually trying to make me do two jobs for the price of one?

However, seeing the pained expression on Emperor Zhou Weixi's face, Xie Feng felt a bit of schadenfreude.

"Beloved Minister Xie, I will summon several Cultivators of the sixth and seventh Realms and court officials to the grand hall tomorrow. Can you produce the evidence?"

Xie Feng merely thought, 'Heh.' Ever since he entered the warm pavilion, he had already dragged the bug out of his brain. It was just that Emperor Zhou Weixi was a Mortal and couldn't see it, so he had stuffed the Shaggai Insect back in.

"I certainly can, but pulling it out doesn't guarantee we can trap it."

This was the truth. Because the Insects from Shaggai were non-physical, Xie Feng had tried attacking it with spiritual power earlier but couldn't hit it at all. Perhaps this was because his Realm wasn't high enough. After all, in his memories, he had actually seen Elder Zhou and Grand Cultivator Helan Yan battle Ygolonac—a highly abstract scene indeed.

"No matter. There are sufficient Formations within the grand hall. Created at the founding of the nation and updated through generations, even malice would find it difficult to hide there."

Xie Feng nodded upon hearing this. As expected of the leader of the Nine Provinces, their heritage was quite substantial. Tomorrow, he would be able to perform a live extraction of a Shaggai Insect, yet he was still somewhat worried.

"Then again, Your Majesty, that Shituolin Swamp of yours below won't be like Ranhuo City and just explode the moment the Seal fails, right? After all, Shaggai Insects love suffering, and I'm afraid they might pull some tricks on the Shituolin Swamp."

Emperor Zhou Weixi looked at Xie Feng as if looking at a madman.

"What are you talking about? This is the Imperial City, not some amateur troupe.

Even if the Shituolin Swamp's Seal were to fail right now, the royal family has backup plans, and backups for those backups. There are at least four layers of contingency plans for such emergencies. How could a Breakthrough ever drag the entire Imperial City down with it? Moreover, the Imperial City always has a ninth-Realm Cultivator on standby. Is that insect race of yours stronger than the ninth Realm?"

A reliable emperor really brings peace of mind.

Xie Feng nodded. No wonder Emperor Zhou Weixi could win people's hearts. Just sitting there, he exuded reliability, giving Xie Feng a feeling like an enhanced version of Sect Master Shen Du—pure peace of mind.

"By the way, didn't you mention before that there were many otherworldly visitors besides me and my ancestor? What happened to them in the end?" Xie Feng sat to the side, chatting idly while watching Emperor Zhou Weixi review the memorials.

He completely ignored the Centurion at the doorway, who was already on the verge of drawing his blade.

'What on earth is this guy trying to do! It's bad enough that he's spying on state secrets, but why is he sitting so close to Your Majesty!'

Emperor Zhou Weixi didn't seem to mind these questions much; he appeared confident in ensuring his own absolute safety.

"That is indeed a pity. There is no harm in telling you. None of those previous otherworldly visitors met a good end; almost all of them either vanished without a trace or died in madness. Before their deaths, they were almost all frantically chanting some incomprehensible languages. I cannot replicate the pronunciation, but I can write some of it down for you."

Emperor Zhou Weixi grew interested. He fully dipped his brush in ink and wrote down a series of phonetic transcriptions and whispers on an annotated memorial. Xie Feng swept his eyes over it but didn't dare to read it aloud.

For among those deathbed whispers, Xie Feng saw a phrase: The Crawling Chaos.

Those poor Seniors, all played to death by Nyarlathotep...

Speaking of which, Xie Feng suddenly began to worry about Tu Ziguan. Come to think of it, Tu Ziguan had been in this world for quite some time now, yet Nyarlathotep didn't seem to have caused him much trouble.

It was the same during their previous chats; Tu Ziguan could chant Cthulhu's name and see sights that only high-Realm Cultivators could see, likely because Tu Ziguan was also a transmigrator.

Thinking of his buddy, who should be cultivating like mad back in the Sect right now—thankfully Pu Huai wasn't at the Sect, otherwise Xie Feng would really feel uneasy hearing this—he stepped out of the warm pavilion and gave Tu Ziguan a call.

"What are you up to, son?"

"Erecting a cenotaph for your family," Tu Ziguan replied testily.

Having not chatted with Tu Wu for a while, Xie Feng's mood brightened.

"Alright, stop joking. I have some things to handle here tomorrow, so I might delay my return. It's a bit of a hassle right now, and I can't identify it for the time being."

"Holy crap, don't go pulling another crazy stunt! If you can't identify it, just forget it."

"Don't worry, it's nothing major. I have a rough scope, so it's just a matter of identifying it. It won't be very dangerous."

"That's good. Come back early, alright? I recently found a sesame flatbread shop that is incredibly delicious."

"Then I'm not coming back."

The two laughed and joked. After all, they were fellow townspeople; although they came from different worlds, there was still a trace of nostalgia in this foreign land.

As they chatted on and on, they suddenly started talking about when they first entered the Sect. While talking, Xie Feng suddenly remembered his veil from back then.

"Then again, that veil of mine was really taken away by the God of Toads. What a pity, it was a high-quality item."

"What high-quality item? Wasn't it just a veil that looked like a folding fan?"

"Huh, wait, that's true. Why did you think it looked like a folding fan back then anyway?"

Xie Feng was suddenly taken aback. Having just lost his eyes back then, he had been somewhat depressed and under immense pressure, fearing he would drag Tu Ziguan into it, so he hadn't pressed further. Thinking about it now, indeed, why would Tu Ziguan think it looked like a folding fan?

"Ha! Do you remember me saying you looked like someone I didn't dare to name?"

"I have some impression of that. Who did I look like? Which game protagonist?"

"No. Wasn't I a native of Suhang in my past life?"

"Yeah, a Suhang native who loves sesame flatbread. What about it?"

The next sentence from Tu Ziguan made Xie Feng feel as if he had plunged into an ice cellar!

"...Say that again..."

"Ah, what's wrong?"

Tu Ziguan was somewhat puzzled, and then repeated himself.

"I said you looked incredibly similar! Back then, you were always holding a cane and wearing a fan-shaped veil.

It was terrifying!

You looked exactly like that president of the Bloated Woman Society from our neighboring city, who leaned on a walking stick and held a fan!"

(I never said Tu Wu's world didn't have Cthulhu, hehe. Everyone can go back and check the contents of Chapter 23...)