Chapter 378: Gemini

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

From the very beginning to the very end, Ye Chong had not spoken a word. People of course were helpless at this, while presuming him to be a natural lone wolf. As much as people had learned about kinds like Ye Chong, the more of a expert the person was, the weirder the person would get somehow. Luo Shi was that rare jewel who had a compassionate and modest personality.

Ye Chong had grown more mysterious in the eyes of the people. The group had become supremely respectful towards this peculiar man, that even Ying'er, the white clothed servant girl was getting avoidant upon any form of contact with Ye Chong. Well, she was more interested in Luo Shi who appeared to be friendlier than most of the adepts she had seen before. They grew on each other as they exchanged more talks over the time.

Nevertheless, Ye Chong's distant nature was part of his strategy, including the use of pseudonym which he got so familiar with. He knew the more he revealed, the less valued he would be, so he zipped his mouth to trap that mystery. The encounter with the Ye family was literally unexpected though, and he could become extremely cautious on the family. In conclusion, being distant, aloof and silent would be the best policy.

And he succeeded, very much succeeded, that he simply did not see it working this well.

He had demonstrated his strength twice ever since the encounter with Han Yue, which the two instances were more than enough to establish his status of a supreme alchemist among the people. His landing was as if a godsend, bizarrely potent, as he created a miracle upon arrival with the magical rain showering the place, which reminded people of that one frightening alchemist in the darker page of the history. Ye Chong was then quickly assumed as the successor of that destructive master of alchemy, which inevitably the fact conquered every witness there, including Luo Shi. Ye Chong's status had already become unshakable and Luo Shi could not deny that even with his capabilities competent enough to join the Congregation. In the proximity of Ye Chong he was just helpless.

Somehow people would just shun themselves away from Ye Chong as he exerted that frigidity. And only Luo Shi had mustered sufficient courage to speak to Ye Chong twice, although nothing much had changed while giving Ye Chong enough reason to be more cautious of this person, especially when he captured that flickering strangeness in Luo Shi's eyes.

Did he see something in me? Thought Ye Chong, that was his main concern. Luo Shi was clearly a great person and Ye Chong believed that he purposively kept the majority of his strength in dark, since... the Aristocrats fancied such debut.

However, Ye Chong had a natural talent of being cold. He was just cold, colder than the iceberg without even trying. And this time he gave a lot of efforts in being colder, that Luo Shi would be quickly pushed away by the awkward atmosphere after trying too hard to please Ye Chong.

Throughout the whole time Ye Chong had spent days in his own tent alone, while only on occasions of a hasty travel he would get out of his tent, during which there would be nobody within 5 meters of his proximity.

After a few trips they got very much close to the next raiding point, the Emerald City. Unlike the barrenness of the other places, Emerald City was lively, happening, as one would see a person in their harsh trainings from time to time. Emerald City was the only oasis in the area. If they wanted any supplies of consumables, it would be here or nothing.

The guardsmen of the Han family became more relaxed the moment they had entered the city, since Emerald City was their domain and their work was pretty much done once they had escorted everyone in.

The owner of the city was not as relieved as the guardsmen however, as he was on the final term of service, the final year to be exact, after which he could return to his own tribe and enjoy the days after his 60s. It had been a heart-pounding life ever since he was assigned here at the age of 30. Certainly he would not want anything to go wrong at the eleventh hour.

He was well-informed of Han Yue's order since quite some time ago, and so well-prepared he was. The Emerald City was located at the boundary of the grass field, and precisely the only resting spot within the vicinity of 500 kilometers, thus the dense and busy population, in which the harsh-training practitioners being the majority. Well, as much as Rui Bing was able to handle the punishing training, one's strength would be justifiable the moment one was able to participate in such training. To ensure the security within the area, the defense of the city had always been exceptional. For their visit this time, the owner of the city actually relocated a portion of security from the other domain of Han family nearby.

The plot twist was... there just so happened to be a surge of the population of alchemists to the city starting few days ago, which had alarmed the owner. It was a rather sensitive period for their surprise visit, but what would their participation signify to the party?

His call was heard as the scout returned hurriedly with information. Apparently the alchemists arrived at the city for a mysterious alchemist, one who recreated that very great Green Tempest after the fall of the predecessor. They were informed that such great man, the descendant of the historical figure, would be coming to Emerald City.

"WHAT!"

The owner almost dropped his teacup upon hearing the report.

You ask what a Green Tempest is? It is so notorious that it should be an unwritten common sense known by everybody who had spent enough years living on Dankwood! And obviously the owner knew the history.

But why would such a jinx be coming to my city? Of all time?

Cursed the owner. The horrendous name of Green Tempest spelled apocalypse to him, that he would be on high alert and contacted the other towns nearby to send more forces to his city. Unfortunately, he had to wait, as the long distance forbade, they would only be arriving few days later.

Please... please make it before things go wrong.

Preached the owner of the city.

"What!"

The teacup nearly escaped his grip. Another plot twist to his thumping heart - the apocalyptic alchemist was one of the members in Han Yue's group! To top that, one other member was known as Luo Shi, also a known figure, being one of the 10 participants in the last Congregation on Dankwood, the idol of every youngsters.

Such handful case. Ugh...

The lord was puzzled, the situation was far more complicated than he thought.

He could not be at ease to any of them, be it the alchemist, or Luo Shi the Great. He hoped that both of them would remain low-profiled at least, or it would be more puzzling.

Sadly, everything happened to be quite the contrary. The moment Luo Shi sat on the mattress in his accommodation, news flew throughout the city like the morning breeze. The mysterious alchemist's cover was blown as well.

Something began brewing in Emerald City...

The city could hardly be at calm when two figures had arrived, one was the resourceful alchemist who inherited the legendary Green Tempest, while the other was the idol, the top 10 of Dankwood.

The alchemist arrived with the news of conquering few hundreds of fighters effortlessly using his craft, which fell like a bomb in the city. People were ridiculed by it at first, since it really sounded fictional, till it was proven by the one great Luo Shi, then all the other alchemists around lost their heads.

The accommodation of Ye Chong and Luo Shi had been surrounded by people who begged for a moment of spotting the legends.

Ye Chong did not expect the fandom to be this maniac, well at least the outside of his residence was not as jammed as Luo Shi's. There was better peace at his place. Those people who swarmed upon Luo Shi's residence were mostly the passionate youngsters, which the guys were kicking alive and the girls were jumping in screams.

The "fandom" at Ye Chong's place consisted of the alchemists, who came in peace as they left the place after giving a glance.

Ye Chong was of course uninterested in the people as he locked himself in his room, doing research day by day. The maidservant would provide meals, mostly in fear however, that Ye Chong would see her trying to control her breath while her hands shook the tray would nearly fall on occasions when he lifted his head.

Okay, into what had the rumors made out there? Ye Chong laughed bitterly.

Well, Luo Shi seemed more experienced at handling his spreading tales, as he would head out and exchange fists with the passionate youngsters out there, during which piercing hurrahs would be slamming Ye Chong's thinking mind at his place.

And thanks to these, the owner of the city had been sleeping "well".

He was displeased by the fiasco certainly, but there was nothing he could do. The only relief was how the days passed peacefully. He had already received the order from the head of Han family. The escort task had been reassigned to others, and the head had sent a team of 800 experts coming to the city. So the one task he had to do would be guarding the old lady before the team arrived.

And that was when he lost faith again.

The most feared plot twist had happened again.

It was during the day, contrary to what he had predicted, that someone outside the alchemist's residence suddenly collapsed as he began spilling blood from his purplish expression.

About 50 witnesses were there.

The alchemists were enraged as they knew what the scene would signify. Dankwood was a small planet, any established branch of alchemy would have fair connection with its counterparts and it would be a betrayal taken in the form of framing when an innocent was drugged.

The victim had lost his consciousness. The alchemists had tried everything they knew. Nothing had worked however.

They were feeling uneasy of the incident. Their eyes were filled with a frightened confusion as they looked at each other.

How... how did it even happen?