Chapter 136: A Fate Worse Than Death
As Grim entered Bi’an’s chamber he found Suanni pacing anxiously.
"What happened?" Suanni demanded as the door sealed behind them. "We’ve been summoned to Ao Shun’s private audience chamber at dawn."
"We need to be careful with what we say," Grim advised. "Especially about what Lin showed me."
A sharp knock at the door stopped their conversation. The door dissolved to reveal Xu Wu, Ao Shun’s advisor, accompanied by four ice sentinels.
"Lord Ao Shun requires your immediate presence," he announced, his voice as cold as the walls around them. "There has been... an incident."
The corridors they traversed were different from any they’d seen before. The walls were a black colored ice. They path went downwards, and the further they went down, the darker the ice became.
"Where are we going?" Suanni asked.
"To the Treasury," Xu Wu replied without turning. "Where the North Sea’s most ancient artifacts are stored."
They passed through a series of security checkpoints, each guarded by increasingly formidable sentinels. At the final barrier stood two full-sized dragons, their scales a deep midnight blue.
Beyond this final checkpoint lay a massive circular chamber with a domed ceiling carved to resemble the night sky. The walls were lined with alcoves, each containing objects of clearly immense value.
At the center of the chamber stood Ao Shun, he stared at an empty pedestal. Lin stood nearby, her face pale, her eyes downcast.