While Cangming was agonizing over his choices.
Cangche had already torn off his magnificent outer robe with a serious expression, revealing the black inner robe beneath.
The inner robe was deep as an abyss, with faint dark patterns flowing across it.
It bore a seventy to eighty percent resemblance to the Eternal Calamity Karma-Fire that Chen Zhou usually wore, though it was slightly more flamboyant.
The hem and cuffs were embroidered with large white skeletons, and the shoulders were patterned with two sets of interlocking ribs.
The back was even more exaggerated, with an entire coiled bone dragon embroidered in silver thread.
Cangche turned a circle with a smug, delighted expression.
Cangming: "...When did you make that thing?"
Cangche gave a mischievous laugh and lowered his voice.
"Right after the last time we returned to the Eastern Region from the provincial capital!"
"I found the best tailor in the Eastern Region and had them rush this robe out overnight."
He tugged at his collar, looking triumphant.
"Fortunately, I came prepared."
"Look at this embroidery. Every single bone was hand-stitched to look vividly lifelike."
"And look at the overall effect. Doesn't it perfectly capture the style of the Dragon Ancestor?"
Cangming fell silent.
He had to admit that this outfit... did indeed look more like a subject of the Dragon Ancestor than his own finery.
How infuriating!!!
How had he not thought of this!!!
The surrounding commoners had already gathered around, pointing and whispering at Cangche.
"This young master has good taste."
"This outfit is beautiful. It is truly underworld-chic!"
"I will offer ten thousand spirit stones. Would this lord be willing to part with it?"
Cangche became even more proud, cupping his hands to the crowd.
"You flatter me. When in Rome, do as the Romans do!"
He turned and saw that Jin Mantang was still holding his makeup box, and his eyes lit up.
"Brother, could I borrow some of that makeup?"
Jin Mantang was startled for a moment before breaking into a wide smile.
"Of course, why not!"
"Come, come. This is the best makeup in Lantao City. I will apply it for you personally!"
Without a word, Cangche squatted down and offered his face.
Jin Mantang was skilled, and with a few deft strokes, he turned Cangche's face deathly white.
Then he pulled out a small box containing a pitch-black paste.
"This is soot ointment, used for the eye circles."
He took a bit and smeared two rings around Cangche's eyes.
Finally, the lips.
With a smear of bright red rouge, it looked as if he had just finished drinking blood.
Cangche stood up and looked into a bronze mirror displayed on a nearby stall.
The person in the mirror had a face white as paper, pitch-black eye circles, and blood-red lips.
Combined with his black robe embroidered with white bones, his entire being exuded a sinister, eerie aura.
"Good!"
Cangche was extremely excited.
"Now when the Dragon Ancestor sees me, he will surely be pleased!"
The surrounding believers broke into applause.
Cangming stood to the side, watching his brother mingle and laugh with the crowd, his heart filled with a mix of emotions.
He gritted his teeth and stepped forward: "Is there... any makeup left?"
Jin Mantang kindly replied, "Yes, yes. You want some too?"
Cangming steeled himself and nodded.
"Give me some."
A moment later.
Cangming also stood in the crowd with a deathly pale face, two black eye circles, and blood-red lips.
Cangming tried his best to restrain his expression, attempting to maintain the dignified air of Eastern Region royalty, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but twitch upward.
So this was what it felt like to belong to a group.
He was about to say something when he suddenly heard the sound of rhythmic footsteps coming from the direction of the city gate.
"Make way, make way."
"Maintain order. Everyone line up, do not push."
Cangming looked toward the sound, and his eyes instantly widened.
A squad of guards clad in bone armor was marching toward them, their steps synchronized and their aura imposing.
These guards were all translucent, with human upper bodies and fish tails for lower halves.
Their tails swayed in the air as if they were swimming through water, propelling them forward.
"Chiwei?"
Cangming blurted out the name of his acquaintance.
The leading general clearly saw Cangming and Cangche as well.
He paused for a second before accelerating his glide toward them.
As his fish tail swayed, it brought a gust of cold wind.
"First Prince? Second Prince?"
"You have come as well?"
Chiwei's voice was somewhat raspy, as if it were coming from a great distance.
"You... you are still alive?" Cangming's voice trembled.
Chiwei shook his head: "No, I died long ago."
"Then you are now..."
Chiwei looked down at his translucent body and grinned.
"I am now a Yin soldier."
"The Dragon Ancestor took pity on us and allowed us to join the registry of the City of the Wrongfully Dead along with His Majesty."
"Now, those of us who died in battle still serve under His Majesty."
Cangming's pupils contracted sharply.
His Majesty?
Father?
"Father is here too?!"
He grabbed Chiwei's arm.
It felt icy to the touch, like gripping a block of freezing ice.
"Where is Father? Where is he now?!"
Cangche also rushed over, his face full of urgency.
"Commander Chiwei, is Father... is he really here?"
Being held by the two of them, the expression on Chiwei's face became somewhat strange.
He opened his mouth, then closed it.
He opened it again, then closed it again.
"Uh... well..."
Cangming was frantic.
"Just say it!"
Chiwei scratched his head, a hint of embarrassment appearing on his translucent face.
"His Majesty... is indeed here."
"It is just that..."
He paused, seemingly weighing his words.
"It is just that His Majesty is... perhaps a bit abnormal right now."
Cangming was stunned.
"Abnormal? What do you mean?"
"Chiwei, stop speaking in riddles. Where is Father? Can you take us to see him?"
Chiwei's expression became even more bizarre.
He pointed hesitantly into the distance.
"Just over there, in the small pond behind the Gathering Fortune Pavilion."
"But... well... His Majesty is currently called Yusai."
"It is a name bestowed by the Dragon Ancestor."
"My lords, I still have official duties to attend to and must maintain order."
"You should go see for yourselves."
With that, he waved his hand and led his squad of Chiwei Yin soldiers, quickly disappearing into the crowd.
Cangming and Cangche were shaken. Following the direction Chiwei had pointed, they pushed through the bustling crowd and bypassed several newly built halls until the view suddenly opened up.
A massive unaging pine stood before them.
Its trunk was so thick that it would take dozens of people to encircle it, with gnarled branches and a canopy like a great lid.
Amidst the branches, a pavilion with an ancient charm was faintly visible.
It featured flying eaves and painted rafters, with bronze bells hanging from the corners that tinkled whenever the wind blew.
At the top of the pavilion, a seven-colored spring erupted, dispersing into the air as a fine mist that enveloped the entire structure.
Where the spring water fell, a massive tortoise lay on the ground.
The tortoise was basking in the sun while maintaining a shell-shaped boundary, enclosing the thick spiritual rhythm of the Gathering Fortune Pavilion.
Next to the tortoise was a small pond.
The water was crystal clear, with a few lotus leaves floating on the surface.
Several immortal cranes stood by the pond, elegantly preening their feathers.
A few black carps swam in the water, occasionally leaping out, their scales flashing gold in the sunlight.
A palm-sized toad rested on a lotus leaf, its black skin with gold threads perfectly still, its large eyes unblinking.
And there was also a young child with a human upper body and a fish tail, splashing around in the pond.
Rate on N.U.
