A few minutes later, he opened his eyes. He slowly stood up and opened up his palm, the body armor next to him and the helmet on the ground suddenly disappeared.
But when he spread out his arms, the body armor and helmet quickly re-appeared on his body.
He picked up his sword, walked towards the edge of the building and jumped off. While he was mid-air, the symbol that represented ‘levitation’ began to flash.
It flashed a total of three times. Each time it flashed, his falling speed would be reduced. After it flashed three times, Chu Yunsheng had landed on the ground.
On the ground, he began to run. While he ran, the symbol that represented ‘speed’ began to flash this time.
The air was torn apart and the snow on the ground was blown sideways. Numerous people were knocked over as he ran past them.
Soon, he arrived at a building in the Akizuki Clan's territory.
His sudden appearance instantly startled all the people that were in front of the building. They all quickly moved back and drew their swords to form a defence formation in panic.
“Step back!” An awakened samurai dressed in red armor shouted from inside the building.
“As agreed, I am here now.” Chu Yunsheng stabbed the sword on the ground and proclaimed.
“Please this way, our honored guest.” said the samurai in Chinese.
“You know Chinese?” Chu Yunsheng picked up his sword and followed him into the hall.
“I used to work in China for some time. So I learned a bit.” The samurai replied respectfully.
“That's good. It’ll save a lot of trouble… Is your leader not here?” Chu Yunsheng glanced around the hall and frowned.
“Please wait here for a moment, honored guest. I'll inform our leader right now.” The man still replied respectfully, despite Chu Yunsheng having been two hours earlier than the agreed time.
“Huh?” Chu Yunsheng glanced around the hall again. Looking around, he realized something.
He deactivated his armor and checked the time on his watch while slowly walking towards the seat that the man showed to him. He nodded at the man and signaled that he could leave. Chu Yunsheng sat on the chair, waiting for the leader to come.
Right after he sat down. A girl hurriedly walked into the hall and served him a glass of boiled hot water.
The news about the arrival of a powerful master spread quickly throughout the building. Especially the information about how the Chu Yunsheng’s armor disappeared all of sudden, it shocked everyone.
……
Everyone inside the building began to speed up the preparations. Despite the hall being very quiet, Chu Yunsheng could still hear people’s hurried footsteps.
Akizuki Tanenaga adjusted his clothes and quickly got into the hall from the stairs on the side. He gave Chu Yunsheng a respectful bow before he entered the hall.
“It is truly discourteous of us to keep our honored guest waiting,” said Akizuki Tanenaga in fluent Chinese
Chu Yunsheng put down the glass of water and stood up. “Mr. Akizuki, I just need to ask a few questions. All this is unnecessary.”
Akizuki Tanenaga was dazed for a second, but he quickly regained his composure and reached his hands out.
“We can sit down and talk more in detail,” he said while pointing at Chu Yunsheng's chair.
Chu Yunsheng didn't want to waste time here, so he just pointed at two places in the hall. Instantly a set of full body armor and a pile of food appeared in the hall.
“I don't like to owe people favors. Answer my questions, then you can have one of those,” Chu Yunsheng said.
“Please. It is our honor to answer your questions. We will never ask for anything from our guest.” said Akizuki Tanenaga. He had already got information about the strange ability that this man had from the red-armored samurai. So he didn't have much reaction to the sudden appearance of the food and the amour.
Originally, he didn't believe what Hao Xu said. He thought that Hao Xu was just trying to intimidate him. But now he changed his mind.
“That's new.” Chu Yunsheng thought for a second and stored the food back in his storage talisman, leaving only the armor set in the hall.
“I want to know how you sailed across the sea.” he said.
“Sailed across the sea?” Akizuki Tanenaga was confused. He didn't know why the man would want to know this.
“Yes. I know how bad the situation in the ocean is. I don't think you have the ability to sail across the sea. So I need to know what method did you use.” Chu Yunsheng said coolly.
Akizuki Tanenaga frowned and his face twisted slightly. He bowed his head down and seemed to be thinking about something. After a few seconds, he looked at Chu Yunsheng and said. “Please come with me, our honored guest.”
Chu Yunsheng stared at him for a few seconds and then nodded his head.
The third floor of the building had been temporarily converted into a dining area. Many pieces of furniture were moved out leaving only one long table in the middle of the floor that had many dishes on it.
Seeing Chu Yunsheng sit down but not touching any food on the table, Akizuki Tanenaga smiled bitterly.
“The people who are living west of the river also asked us this before. What we know, they also know about it. What they don't know, we also don't know about it.
When the swarm pushed into our last defence line, more than ten million people were forced to escape into the sea.
Amongst them, half of the people had tried to escape to Seoul, while the other half tried to escape to Shen Cheng city.
Our clan was one of the people who tried to escape to Shen Cheng City because I used to have some investments here.”
Akizuki Tanenaga took a sip of alcohol and sighed.
“There were millions of people and countless ships. However, only less than ten thousand managed to get here.
It was an eight hundred kilometers journey on the sea, but it was covered with bodies floating all over the surface of the ocean. Many ships were overturned by all kinds of sea monsters. They were chewing and tearing the bodies of our people, turning the sea below us into a bottomless blood sea. A lot of people couldn't bear to see the bloody scenes and chose to commit suicide….”
Tears were running down from the Akizuki Tanenaga’s face uncontrollably as he told what happened in the sea.
“I’m sorry. It is very easy for an old man like me to get emotional. I couldn't help but think about the young relatives who passed away, every now and then... please do not mock me,” said Akizuki Tanenaga after a moment of silence.
“I know how it feels.” Chu Yunsheng responded.
“That is how we got here. But about those who escaped to Seoul, we also don't know how they got here.” Akizuki Tanenaga turned slightly around and wiped tears off his face.
“You mean the Tachibana Clan?” Although Chu Yunsheng just came here not too long ago. He had heard that there was more than one clan in Eastern Huangpu River.
“I know that Tachibana Clan has a thing called ‘Shinki’. It’s not a secret. Everyone, including your friends who live west of the river, also knows about it.
We’ve never seen it before. Same as those people who escaped here with us. We’ve only heard of it.
It is said that because of that thing, the Tachibana Clan was able to gather a group of powerful samurais, and they were able to sail across the sea in a much safer way than us.
However, how exactly they sailed across the sea, no one really knows,” said Akizuki Tanenaga.
Chu Yunsheng frowned. He thought for a second and replied. “The armor is yours.”
He then stood up without any hesitation.
“See you,” he added and walked away.
“Are you going to Tachibana Clan!?” Akizuki Tanenaga suddenly raised his head in shock and asked.
But Chu Yunsheng didn't answer him. He simply walked straight out of the building.
Editor: Phan