Chapter [B4] 24 — Dire Measures
Something was wrong. I could feel it as a deep certainty down in my very bones. Something was very very wrong and I’d not been able to shake the feeling ever since the connection to the fourth peak had been stopped. The jade slips had cracked and stopped working all of a sudden, which was concerning enough as it is, but then something had changed with the Divine Tree itself.
I’d felt it more than seen it, the vast presence that had flared for but a moment over the entire world, and I’d found myself unable to understand just what I was seeing but the cycle itself had shifted, I’d felt a piece of it changing, and I did not understand what it meant.
And so now I paced in my own chamber to hear some news, anything, to explain just what was happening.
Mercifully, I did not have to wait forever as I sensed Qiao Ying heading my way. I did not way, opening the door as the man looked at me in surprise.
“Did you hear anything?” I asked the man in a rush.
Qiao Ying recovered quickly, and bowed. “The Divinities have set up a scrying formation to talk with you. I’ve made the arrangements.”
I did not waste any time, quickly following Qiao Ying as I walked into the chamber with the scrying formation. The pool of water sat in the midst of a large but shallow bowl. The formation had been setup in hasty, even I could see that, so the burden of maintaining it would be on the other side, still, I imagine the Divinities would not lack in people capable enough to do so.
As I stepped inside, Qiao Ying bowed and remained outside the door. A pulse of Qi travelled across the chamber as the water rose up into the air and I found tree figures standing in front of me. I gave a small bow to the Divinities, and then waited for them to speak.
“We’ve heard of your accomplishment in bringing back the Azure Dragon. We would’ve spoken of it earlier, but as you know, things have been a little busy with the war. We’ve been trying to track Yang Shen’s movement but the demon has somehow been managing to escape all our attempts to locate him,” the Shie matriarch said.