Jun Mohan and Ye Ying’s expressions immediately turned grave upon hearing the name Sifang Zhuang.
“Sifang Zhuang is located thirty li west of the city. It used to be a small town. It’s said that over twenty years ago, an epidemic wiped out everyone in the town. Sifang Zhuang became a land of death, with corpses everywhere, not even a single person to collect the bodies. Since then, no one has dared to go there,” Jun Mohan said with a solemn expression and a deep voice.
“Then why would they abduct people to such a place? Doesn't it creep you out?” Leng Ruoli asked, full of confusion, her mind racing.
“Lier, whatever their purpose, we must go and see this Sifang Zhuang today,” Jun Mohan said, his thin lips curving slightly as he spoke sternly.
“Alright, this matter cannot be delayed. We’ll prepare and set off,” Leng Ruoli said to Jun Mohan first.
Then, she looked at the guards beside them.
“Ye Ying, instruct two people to dispose of He Songyan’s body,” Leng Ruoli said, her clear, icy eyes, as beautiful as glazed glass, sweeping over the corpse tied to the tree before speaking softly.
“Yes, Consort. Your subordinate understands!” Ye Ying replied respectfully, cupping his hands.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the Cold King and his consort, after discussion, decided to bring Ye Ying, Yin Chen, and ten other attendants to Sifang Zhuang.
As the couple reached the main gate of the Cold King’s manor, Leng Ruoli’s golden eagle flew towards her.
“Gu gu gu gu…”
The golden eagle landed on a osmanthus tree beside Leng Ruoli, flapped its wings a few times, and everyone heard its cooing sounds.
Only Leng Ruoli knew that the golden eagle was speaking to her. This was also the first time the golden eagle had spoken since it started following her.
“Master, can you take me with you when you go out to play!” the golden eagle whined pitifully, acting cute.
“Don’t be silly, I’m going out to save people,” Leng Ruoli replied speechlessly.
“Just take me with you! Maybe I can even help! I’m so bored cooped up in the manor all day. If you don’t let me out to fly around, I’ll become a chicken raised by the people in the manor, and I won’t be able to fly anymore,” the golden eagle cooed, flapping its wings twice.
Hearing this, Leng Ruoli pondered for a moment and finally decided to take her golden eagle.
However, to avoid attracting attention, Leng Ruoli stored it in her system space. This made travel convenient and also prevented others from coveting the golden eagle.
When the golden eagle was stored by Leng Ruoli into the grassland of her mysterious system space, the eagle instantly froze.
“Oh my god!”
Where had her master brought her?
It had clearly been brought to the left corner of the Cold King’s manor gate by its master to speak, but in the blink of an eye, it had entered a place like a fairyland.
The sky here was azure blue, with a majestic and beautiful waterfall pool. The water was so clear that you could see the bottom. In the clear, cool waterfall pool, there were many koi swimming around. There was also a vegetable garden planted with many varieties of vegetables and a medicinal herb garden filled with a faint scent of medicine.
The grassland here was also vast, covered with all sorts of exotic flowers and rare grasses. At the end of the grassland stood a bright white, icy snow mountain. It seemed to be snowing heavily there like goose feathers, but it was not cold at all where the eagle was.
Moreover, there was a strange house in this fairyland, and in the distance, a small snow fox and a small snow dragon were confronting each other. The golden eagle didn't understand what these two different creatures were up to.
Just then, Leng Ruoli sent a thought to the golden eagle in the space: “Golden eagle, if you want to go out and play, then stay obediently in my space.”
“Yes, Master, this eagle is very satisfied with this new home,” the golden eagle replied excitedly, then soared into the sky and circled a few times under the azure sky.
“Wow, this place is so beautiful!” the golden eagle exclaimed loudly.
Outside the space, Leng Ruoli and Jun Mohan immediately led their retinue out of the city on horseback, heading towards Sifang Zhuang, thirty li away.
Along the way, Leng Ruoli and her group passed two villages to ask for directions. When the villagers heard that the Cold King and his consort were going to Sifang Zhuang, they immediately tried to dissuade them, urging them not to go there.
According to the villagers, strange noises could be heard from that place every day after sunset and dusk, which were terrifying. Some villagers also said that no outsiders had entered Sifang Zhuang for more than twenty years, and that it was often haunted.
Hearing the villagers’ reactions to Sifang Zhuang, Leng Ruoli and her group could feel how afraid they were of the place.
However, Leng Ruoli and Jun Mohan were not afraid. After bidding farewell to the villagers, they continued on horseback towards Sifang Zhuang.
The Cold King and his consort traveled non-stop, finally arriving outside Sifang Zhuang before sunset.
From outside the town, Leng Ruoli and the others could see the dilapidated old houses that had been ravaged by wind, rain, and sun for over twenty years. The surroundings were overgrown with weeds, and towering trees grew there. They could also vaguely see many unburied skeletons on the ground, giving off a sinister aura.
Out of respect for the deceased, Leng Ruoli and her group decided to dismount and walk into Sifang Zhuang.
As they walked from outside the town into Sifang Zhuang, they witnessed the desolation all along the way. In almost every house in these collapsed buildings, there were several unburied white bones, some male, some female, some old, some young. This allowed them to imagine how desperate these people must have been when they were dying.
“Jun Mohan, didn’t the imperial court send any famous doctors to treat them at that time?” Leng Ruoli asked with a face full of heartache.
“The late emperor at that time had arranged for many famous doctors to come to Sifang Zhuang to treat these commoners, but those doctors were all helpless against the villagers’ illnesses. Some doctors, after staying there for a short period, also contracted their illness. Later, the imperial court, to prevent the spread of the epidemic, dispatched a large army to seal off Sifang Zhuang, forbidding the villagers from leaving. Only after all the villagers there had died, leaving no survivors, did the late emperor withdraw the army. Since then, over twenty years have passed, and basically no one has come here,” Jun Mohan said, feeling a pang of sadness as he looked at the exposed skeletons.
“The late emperor’s actions were truly cruel,” Leng Ruoli said lightly.
Unexpectedly, Jun Mohan nodded in agreement with Leng Ruoli’s words.
“I also feel that the late emperor’s actions were inappropriate at the time, but in that situation, to prevent the plague from spreading further and threatening the safety of the people of the world, his use of this method was a desperate measure,” Jun Mohan explained.
“I understand!”
Leng Ruoli nodded slightly.
The medical conditions here were too backward, and there was no solution for such a highly contagious plague, so such measures had to be taken.
As the two of them, along with the guards, walked, they searched for Yin Er and Xiao Liuzi. The group wandered around Sifang Zhuang for several rounds. Soon, night fell, and they found no signs of anyone having been there.
“Jun Mohan, could He Songyan have lied to us?” Leng Ruoli suddenly frowned and voiced her suspicion.
After hearing Leng Ruoli’s words, Jun Mohan fell into thought, and then replied seriously, “He didn’t seem like he was lying.”