Those from the Fangcun Kingdom arrived very early the next morning.

The King of the South Ocean and his son, along with their guards and some men from that statelet, were all present.

The king was very tall, but very fat too. He had a conspicuous pot belly, and his face was so heavy that his eyes were barely visible, and they literally turned into two slits whenever he smiled, which forcibly made people wonder whether he could smile and see things at the same time.

What was more obtrusive than his vastness was his attire. It was yellow in color, had patterns embroidered in gold thread all over it and was adorned with countless small gemstones, which were shining and twinkling so glaringly in sunlight that those looking at him felt their eyes might be rendered sightless.

Ling Zhang gasped, his eyes stinging as he watched the king heading his way from the distance.

Previously, when visiting the imperial palace in the capital city of the Great Wen, the King of the South Ocean had always worn his royal robes, which had not been so shiny, but at that time Ling Zhang had heard about what kind of clothes the king preferred to dress himself in when at home. However, during the couple of days of their wedding anniversary celebration, he and Yuwen Tong had both been too occupied to spare any time to find out what kind of clothes the king wore in informal occasions. After the celebration, the King of the South Ocean and his men had taken their leave without delay, and the two of them had never had any chances to see what the king's tastes in clothes were like.

And now, with the answer right front of him, Ling Zhang was thankful that he had not gone to check it out at that time, otherwise his eyes would have suffered greatly.

The others, like Ling Zhang, were also having difficulty keeping their eyes open, their faces wearing rather odd expressions as they saw the fatty in the distance trot towards them enthusiastically the moment he spotted them. The man was so fat that he looked like a giant ball, and the ground seemed to quake slightly every time his foot landed on it. He was not only wobbling alarmingly but also unpleasantly sparkling. What were they supposed to feel about this sight?

The King of the South Ocean, obvious of the shock he had sent the others into, broke into a trot in enthusiasm as he saw Yuwen Tong in the distance. "Oh! Your Majesty! You're really here! I didn't dare believe it when Wei Dong told me he met you and His Highness. It never crossed my mind you'd come to this place. Nothing would've stopped me from coming here to pay my respects to you last night had I known about it beforehand," he yelled.

With that, he reached out a hand to hold Yuwen Tong's, intending to give him a hearty handshake.

The corners of Yuwen Tong's mouth twitched and the handshake lasted merely a split instant before he withdrew his hand. Yuwen Tong could barely forbear from wiping his hand. What with the trot, this fatty was sweaty all over, and even his palm was wet with sweat!

The king, utterly heedless of Yuwen Tong's lukewarmness, attempted to give Ling Zhang a handshake as well but was stopped by Yuwen Tong.

Unabashed, the king laughed, "It surprises me Your Majesty are still so possessive of His Highness. I mean, even His Highness having a handshake with someone else would make you jealous. Ha ha ... "

Ling Zhang, " ... "

Why had he not discovered during the celebration that this King of the South Ocean was such a frivolous guy?

"It's been quite some time since I bade Your Majesty and Your Highness farewell in the capital city. Alas. It's true what they say, 'A one-day separation from a dear friend feels like three years'. My longing for a reunion with you two has been churning inside me like the billowy sea. It never occurred to me that I would meet you here in this place. This is such a great happiness for me!" sighed the king in a touchy-feely voice.

His tone was so saccharine all the others felt goosebumps. Ling Zhang gave an involuntary shudder. This King of the South Ocean guy really should work on his use of idioms. Had he no shame?

The corners of Yuwen Tong's mouth twitched again and with that he said, "You don't have to miss us that much, King of the South Ocean. I don't quite like the idea of a man missing me or my consort."

The smile on his face totally unaffected, the king said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. It is in a very pure manner that I've been missing you and your consort. It means nothing but my highest esteem! But if it unnerves Your Majesty, I'll bury it in the deep recesses of my mind."

All the others, " ... "

The conduct of this King of the South Ocean guy was virtually astounding.

Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong both had complicated expressions on their faces, at a loss as to how to comport themselves next.

A silvery chuckle was heard. Ji Xiaocong, standing behind Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang with Ling Maomao, snickered.

Ling Maomao secretly drew Ji Xiaocong behind him as he noticed that the others were looking his way.

"Oh, this little gentleman has skin like that of a white jade statue – no, like that of an immortal, the likes of which I've never seen before. You're as pretty as the moon," the king exclaimed, looking at Ji Xiaocong with mingled delight and astonishment.

Ling Maomao scowled at him. Ji Xiaocong standing behind Ling Maomao finally failed to refrain from laughing. "Ha ha ... Thank you."

"Cong." Ling Maomao resignedly turned his head to look at him.

"His way of speaking is so interesting," chuckled Ji Xiaocong.

"Thank you for your compliment, my little gentleman," beamed the king.

The others were somewhat speechless. They would have kicked this guy's ass if it weren't for the fact that he, despite his frivolity, had an earnest look in his eyes which had narrowed into two slits for smiling.

"I have a son about your age. Please allow me to introduce him to you," said the king, still beaming. Then he turned on his heel and called, "Come over here and pay your respects to His Majesty and His Highness, my boy!"

"Right away!"

A green figure emerged from the large crowd of men from the Fangcun Kingdom, so different from the others he was like a crane among chickens ...

The eldest trueborn son of the king, like his father, was also wearing robes studded with glittering gemstones, and they were green in color. The light reflected by them made the others' faces oddly greenish.

Also having a big smile on his face, he walked over with an air of warm friendliness. Unlike his father, he was not fat but quite lean, tall and pretty handsome.

"It's an honor to kneel before you, Your Majesty, Your Highness!" said the prince, getting on his knees and kowtowing.

Ling Zhang once again felt his eyes stinging, but he had to maintain a straight face and incline his head. What with his tears that had oozed out due to the glare, he blinked his eyes. Such visual stimuli were unduly intense.

"What do you think? My son is very like me, right? Handsome and charming. He's a young version of me," said the king.

The others nodded embarrassedly. The prince was slender and well-featured, but his father was so fat his features were barely distinguishable. There was a sharp contrast between the two of them. What made the king think he and his son looked alike?

And this guy dared make pretence to being handsome and charming. Had he no shame?

"My little gentlemen, this is my son. You three should be of similar age. I think you'll enjoy each other's company." The king wasted no time recommending his son to Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong.

The prince was very enthusiastic and seemed to have a knack for striking up friendships with others. "It's really nice to meet you guys. I'm Hu Qian. I'm seventeen years and two months old. I've just had my rite of passage. What are your names, please?"

Ling Maomao, " ... "

"Ling Maomao. I'm eighteen."

With that, as though fearing that Ji Xiaocong would say something, he hastily added, "This is Childe Ji. He's fourteen."

"I see. Brother Ling and Brother Ji have amazing temperament, and I'm really impressed. I had no peers to talk with during the journey, and now I finally got myself some company," said the prince.

Ji Xiaocong couldn't help but chuckle, "Just call me Cong."

"I think I'd better do as you ask instead of standing on ceremony, Cong," said the prince immediately.

Ling Maomao, " ... "

He imperceptibly edged sideways in an effort to hide Ji Xiaocong more safely.

The prince, as though not having perceived it, happily started to discuss this island with Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong.

Having seen what the king and the prince were like, Ling Zhang finally came to understand why Wei Dong had comported himself that way. That guy was a perfect illustration of the saying "A crooked stick will have a crooked shadow"!

"We can dispense with the formalities. Wei Dong said you arrived here a day earlier than us, so I think it's safe to say you know more about this island than we do. I'd appreciate it if you shared your knowledge of this place with us, King of the South Ocean," Yuwen Tong said to the king who seemed to have inclination to continue exchanging usual pleasantries.

"If there's anything Your Majesty want to know, all you have to do is ask. I promise I'll answer your every question with utmost honesty. But I haven't found the time to have my men search this city either. You might not know about this – we encountered some cannibals and a band of pirates halfway to this place, and the night before last we lost a lot of men in a fight with those maniacs. We haven't made any progress yet, but my men are already exhausted," said the king, his face crumpling up.

On the surface he seemed frank, but in fact he was keeping something back.

The others were rendered speechless at the sight of the king's facial expression, feeling that this guy was pretty cunning, that his answer was much less honest than the one given by Wei Dong the night before.

However, Yuwen Tong was no pushover. The King of the South Ocean wouldn't be able to palm him off with such excuses.

"I heard that you brought an astrologist with you. He's helped you figure out what kind of good stuff is hidden in this city, I suppose?" said Yuwen Tong.

The king smiled, "Your Majesty are as well-informed as always. May I present my astrologist?"

He turned his head and summoned the astrologist who then stepped out of the crowd. All the others, slightly scarred by the two previous experiences, subconsciously narrowed their eyes for fear of having their eyes blinded once again.

But the next moment, they saw that out of the crowd walked a geriatric wearing sumptuous, wide-sleeved robes. He was dressed entirely in white. Not only his robes but also his hair and beard were white. He was squinting, presumably because of his poor eyesight.

All the others, " ... "

"It's an honor to kneel before you, Your Majesty, Your Highness." The astrologist came forward and paid his respects to the imperial couple. He was a little tremulous when dropping to his knees, which indicated that he was indeed of advanced years.

Yuwen Jin on the side walked up to him and supported him to his feet. "Oh, so you're that astrologist, old man. I heard you know how to interpret the patterns formed by stars, that you helped the fleet navigate out of the fog bank, cracking that spooky misdirection Formation, which was fairly impressive. Can you really read the signs of the sky? How did you see the stars in that dense mist?"

Yuwen Jin finished these words in one breath. Though his tone was a little presumptuous, he asked all the questions that the others had about this astrologist.

The astrologist quietly listened as he spoke. It was after Yuwen Jin stopped talking that he beamed, "You're of great presence and imposing mien, General. I am indeed an astrologist, but my eyesight is not much better than that of a blind person. I couldn't even see stars clearly when the visibility is excellent, not to mention in fog. Reading the signs of the sky is a task far beyond my capabilities now. That day I just looked up into the sky with my eyes barely open and then randomly pointed in a direction, which later turned out to be a lucky guess."

"You're not telling the truth." Yuwen Jin did not believe him.

"Ha ha. I am, General. I really did nothing more than toss a casual glance at the sky. If you don't believe me, you may ask ... " The old man turned his head around with the intention to have the king testify for him, and his narrowed eyes searched the crowd for the King of the South Ocean. As he caught sight of Ji Yanlai standing beside Ling Zhang, his glazed eyes abruptly widened and became piercing. "You–You're ... "

"Stop stuttering and finish your sentence," said Yuwen Jin on the side. As he noticed that the old man was gaping at Ji Yanlai, his eyes roved and he added, "You see? This is our astrologist. He's a real professional. He pointed us in the right direction without even glancing at the stars. That means he's better than you, right?"

Yuwen Jin had some time ago perceived that there was something unusual about Ji Yanlai, and he knew Ji Yanlai must be from uncommon background, but Yuwen Tong and the others refused to disclose any details about it, so Yuwen Jin pretended not to notice and had not asked any questions about it. And now, since this geriatric was so surprised to see Ji Yanlai, Yuwen Jin decided to use Ji Yanlai to sound the old man out.

Unexpectedly, the old man was not angry at all. On the contrary, he instantly adopted a respectful attitude and, bowing slightly, said, "Yes, yes, of course. This gentleman is no doubt better than me. I cannot hold a candle to him. By comparing me to this master, you're giving me credit I don't deserve, General."

Yuwen Jin, " ... "

This was weird. Why did this old man give in so easily?

Ling Zhang and the others also looked at the old man, and even the King of the South Ocean was somewhat astonished, as though not having bargained on the old man being so humble in front of Ji Yanlai.

Ji Yanlai, who was now the focus of attention, looked at the old man placidly. It was a few moments before he said, "So you're a descendant of a stargazer who migrated east in earlier times."

The astrologist bowed lower. "So you've come to know my origins. I'm sorry for my ancestors' deeds."

Ji Yanlai said, "I'm not going to hold you responsible for what happened in the past, and there's no need for you to feel ashamed. I came to this island for something important. If you have any useful information, tell us right away. I don't have time for such hypocritical exchange of courtesies."

Ji Yanlai put it bluntly, but the astrologist did not dare contradict him. After a glance at the king, he said to Ji Yanlai, "To be honest, we don't know much about it either. All Wei Dong told you last night was true. This is our first time traveling through the city to this side."

"You should have got some information from those pirates you encountered, seeing as you have a guide who's a native of that mini-state near the South Ocean," said Ji Yanlai, looking at him.

The astrologist surreptitiously raised his head and stole a glance at Ji Yanlai but promptly lowered his head again as his eyes met Ji Yanlai's. "We did captured a couple of pirates, but they didn't provide much useful information. In fact, the only useful message we got from them is that the palace in the center of this city is very dangerous. They said that there're monsters in there that eat people, that anybody who ventures into it will end up being eaten. They would rather die than go to that palace. We wanted them to lead the way for us, but they wouldn't budge an inch, so we had to kill them eventually."

The others frowned slightly at these words. They were dead?

At this time, the king came to realize something. Having observed that the astrologist was very respectful to Ji Yanlai, he asked tentatively, "May I ask who this gentleman is?"

Yuwen Tong slightly shook his head at him, unwilling to give an answer to the question.

The king briefly narrowed his eyes, which then quickly roved for a moment, and then he immediately changed his attitude and said, "Our astrologist is telling the truth. Our original plan was to enter the city yesterday afternoon, but those pirates refused to be cooperative and scared my men with those absurd, exaggerated stories, which was why we had to delay it until today."

Ling Zhang had a thoughtful look on his face. It seemed that those captured pirates had died pretty violent deaths, and that was why the Fangcun soldiers were having misgivings about going to the palace.

What did the midmost palace house exactly? Why had those pirates been that afraid?

"Didn't some pirates flee into the city? Why were they unafraid?" Yuwen Tong inquired of the King of the South Ocean.

The king replied shamefacedly, "Actually, those people didn't flee into the city. We forced them into it. Those pirates were captured by my men. No matter how hard we tired to scare them into entering the city, they refused to be budged. It was after we killed some of them that the rest got frightened and followed the orders. I did that only because their attitude struck me as very strange. I felt that the palace was not the only place they were afraid of. They seemed to be frightened of entering the city. Alas. I only did what I had to do."

The others' countenance remained unchanged. They all knew better than to believe the king's claim that he had only done what he had had to do.

"And then?" Yuwen Tong asked.

Maybe because he had been affected by the astrologist's attitude, the king was very cooperative this time, answering every question he was asked. "And then we heard noises coming from this place. At that time we didn't know that those pirates were already dead. It was after Wei Dong told me about it that I came to know they had died. If only Your Majesty had taken a couple of them prisoner. Now we have no way to find any clues."

Yuwen Tong said, "We killed them because they had all lost their minds."

The king was shocked. "How's that possible? They were fine when entering the city."

"When did they enter the city?"

The king told him. Yuwen Tong looked at those beside him.

All the others' faces changed slightly. When they had encountered the band of pirates, the latter had been in the city for only two hours, but all of them had gone crazy already.

"Wait. Your Majesty, are you saying that those pirates went crazy after being in the city for merely two hours?" asked the king.

"Exactly," replied Yuwen Tong.

The king swiveled his head around to look at the men he had brought with him. "But I led them through the city, and we didn't see anything out of the ordinary."

"Oh, my goodness. This place is so dangerous," exclaimed the prince, seeming to be scared by the thought of what could have happened to them during the trip they had just made.

"You traveled through the city without pausing?" Ji Xiaocong asked him.

The prince immediately answered with a smile, "Yeah. Our astrologist led the way for us. It was a safe trip."

Ji Xiaocong gave an "Oh" of dawning comprehension before he shifted his gaze to the astrologist.

All the others, " ... "