Chapter 592: Chapter 505: Ghost Village
After a brief rest for the night, early the next morning Yang Cha came to find Yang Xiao and brought him a set of clothes to change into. The attire was exquisitely crafted, with a treasure-blue badge embedded on the left chest, the emblem of the Ru Lin Academy.
The uniform from the academy didn’t require much explanation. Yang Cha merely gave a mysterious smile and said she was taking Yang Xiao to join in on the fun.
Leaving their residence and walking down a shady path, the two eventually stopped at a wide plaza, where a giant statue stood in the center. The statue, with one hand holding a book and the other a sword, had an imposing presence, with fluttering garments, as if it were an immortal.
Now, the plaza was filled with people, almost all of them dressed in the same type of uniform as Yang Xiao. Everyone’s gaze was fixed on the statue of the Sword Holder in the center of the plaza, or to be more precise, at the foot of the statue, where a high platform was built. At that moment, there stood a dozen figures on the platform, who, judging from their attire, appeared to be the leading figures of the academy.
On the platform, there was an altar with a bronze tripod about half the height of a person situated at the front. On each side of the altar stood a flagpole. On the left, a towering black Battle Banner with the character for "Confucian" boldly inscribed on it, and on the right, a large black-on-white Soul Summoning Banner. Upon closer inspection, Yang Xiao was taken aback; it was a highly prestigious Seven-Transformation Soul Summoning Banner, generally used on battlefields of mountains of corpses and seas of blood after great wars.
At that moment, an elderly man in plain grey clothing with white hair and beard slowly rose and walked directly toward the altar. The once noisy crowd around him suddenly fell silent, their gazes fixed on the elder with indescribable reverence.
"It’s starting..." Even the usually languid Yang Cha couldn’t help but hold her breath, looking towards the platform along with everyone else.
Being too far away, Yang Xiao couldn’t see the actions of the elder on the platform clearly. He could only make out the elder walking to the front of the bronze tripod on the altar, pausing for a moment, washing his hands in the bronze basin offered by a young female priestess, then rolling up his sleeves and slowly reaching his right hand into the tripod. After a while, he withdrew his arm, seemingly holding something translucent in his palm.
"Sky—" a deep and resonant voice like a great bell suddenly rang out from the platform, shaking one’s heart and lingering for a long time.
Upon hearing this, a burst of exclamation erupted from the crowd on the plaza. Yang Cha couldn’t help clenching his fists in excitement, saying, "That’s great, it starts with the Sky character, truly a good omen. This competition is sure to go smoothly!"
"Who is that elder on the platform?" Yang Xiao asked curiously.
"He’s the headmaster of our Ru Lin Academy and one of the three Great Scholars currently in the Yang Family. He is the chief priest of this ritual to pray to the heavens." Yang Cha’s eyes shone. "Every competition has always caused quite a stir in the world of martial arts. In the competition, injuries and even deaths are unavoidable, which offends the harmony of heaven. Therefore, before every competition, incense is burnt to pray for blessings. One of the three Great Scholars will act as the chief priest and draw characters from the sixty-four Heavenly Mechanism Cards, drawing four times for a total of four characters to divine the will of the heavens."
Yang Xiao nodded, now understanding why the first character "Sky" was seen as particularly auspicious, hence the exclamations from the students below.
Soon after, the second character was drawn.
"Path—"
With the loud and deep voice, another wave of exclamations exploded from beneath the platform. "Sky" followed by "Path" could be considered perfect. It coincided remarkably well with the "Confucian" character, which was at the root of Ru Lin Academy.
The third character drawn turned out to be "Dragon." At this, the entire venue boiled over with excitement. All three characters were top choices, carrying great significance for the academy and potentially greatly bolstering the academy’s reputation in the martial arts world. Excited shouts filled the air, with words like "Prosper," "Soar," "Journey," and "Scholar" being mentioned the most.
Sky’s Path Dragon’s Prosper, Sky’s Path Dragon’s Soar, Sky’s Path Dragon’s Journey, Sky’s Path Dragon’s Scholar... If these four-character phrases could be formed, it would undoubtedly be a stroke of good fortune and extremely beneficial for the academy’s prestige. The students of the academy all waited anxiously.
Gazes were intently fixed on the altar, including Yang Xiao’s, as he watched the grey-clothed elder reach into the tripod once more and pull out another chess piece. At this moment, the cheering reached a climax as everyone awaited the announcement of the final character.
But an odd scene occurred. For a full ten seconds or more, the old man stared at the chess piece in his hand without moving, and the voice that was supposed to announce the character fell silent.
Sensing something was amiss, Yang Xiao’s heart sank, and the students became apprehensive, with the scene starting to turn chaotic.
The grey-clothed elder gently placed the chess piece onto the altar alongside the other three, then with heavy steps moved towards the announcer, shifting the microphone in front of him towards himself, and said in a grave voice, "It’s the Prisoner character..."
No sooner had the words been spoken than the place erupted into an uproar. One character had ruined it all; "Sky’s Path Dragon Prisoner" seemed like a dagger stabbing the hearts of everyone present, even leading to a moment of panic. This omen was dire, causing several female students near Yang Xiao to turn pale.
Yang Cha, too, looked stricken. He turned to Yang Xiao and spoke urgently, "Big brother Yang, heed my advice, this omen from the ritual is wrong. You shouldn’t compete. I fear there will be trouble in this secretive competition. I’ll find another way to help you with your issue."
Hearing this, Yang Xiao gave a bitter smile and shook his head, "I appreciate the thought, but I don’t have time. To be honest, if I don’t secure a place to enter the Scripture Pavilion this time, my life is pretty much forfeit."
"Is the Resentful Eye within you about to lose control?" Yang Cha realized belatedly.
Yang Xiao nodded lightly.
