The laugh sounds like an old man with an incredibly hoarse throat speaking in Han, so Feng Xiao could understand that he is saying.
It is not strange for the Shaman of the clan to be knowledgeable, even to the point of knowing how to speak in Han.
Since there is someone like Jin Lian among Western Göktürk who even knew how to use Chinese proverbs, her Han is perhaps even more fluent than some of the people in the Central Plains who were not people of letters.
The voice came from all around him, but Feng Xiao did not bulge an inch.
Because he is trying to determine where the owner is.
However, after a while, he discovers that he cannot truly determine where the voice is coming from.
Unless the one behind this isn't alone, but that they are a group of people speaking from different directions.
Could it be that the HeiYue Shaman has some accomplices?
At this moment, it feels as if something is crawling up his boots, and very quickly heading up his legs.
Feng Xiao did not lower his head to look. He immediately channels his inner energy to send those things flying away, but those things did not cease, they keep coming. From in front of them, a wave of them flies towards him and lunges themselves onto his legs, forcing him to stand where he is and unable to move.
At the same time, a strong wind blows at him from in front of him and behind his head, brimming with a strong sense of danger!
"HeiYue Shaman! I am here as a friend, not a foe, let us sit down and talk!"
Feng Xiao says, but his hands did not stop. His legs could not move, but his upper body can sway towards one side, allowing both the wind that attacks him from in front and the back to hit thin air. As for himself, he falls forward quickly before supporting himself with both his palms on the ground!
On where the wind hit, it killed those crawlers that came from nowhere instead. Corpses of worms fly in all directions, some of them even landed on Feng Xiao's clothes and squirmed for a little.
This made Feng Xiao who has an issue with uncleanliness cover his mouth, counting these scores on the HeiYue Shaman and that he would avenge himself some other day.
The HeiYue Shaman did not respond. The laughing voices cease. Had it not been for the fact that he spoke once in the beginning, Feng Xiao would have thought that he was mute.
This also means that the other party did not have the intention to form an alliance.
Could it be that the HeiYue Shaman had been on Ade's side ever since the beginning? And that he is unwilling to ally with the Sui Empire.
The worms on the grounds vanishes, and both his legs regain their freedom. However, very quickly Feng Xiao notices that it is as if he has walked into another sinking sand.
It is unknown since where the outside has lost its starlight and the moon, even when he reaches out with a hand, he could not see his own fingers.
Everywhere around him is quiet, as if everything that just happened had been his own imagination.
In a place where not even a flicker of light exists, the sky above his head is practically shaking, blue and green colours appear in the distance in all shapes and sizes, like ghost lights.
He knows that that is a trick to make him chase after it.
However, Feng Xiao has no choice. This hut belongs to the HeiYue Shaman, so he could place a dozen of traps to kill Feng Xiao as he pleases.
But this is exactly why he does not see a reason why he couldn't move forward. Perhaps he could find a flaw, or an exit, in front of him.
From the hut to the lights, the distance is a great many steps, but even after Feng Xiao has been walking for half a burning joss stick, the lights did not get nearer nor further.
And around him there were mists, blurring his vision. He could not tell whether he is inside or outside the hut.
Feng Xiao suddenly understands. He has walked into an array from the moment he climbs up the slope of hill and saw the stone hut.
Whoever created the array is quite knowledgeable. It is especially useful when used upon foot soldiers on the battlefield. In a place far away from the enemy, one can make use of nature to cast their enemies into a delusion, sending them into a frenzy. On a big scale, they can make use of the sun and moon, the stars and galaxies, the rivers and streams. On a small scale, they can make use of even a blade of grass, a flower, trees, or even pebbles and rocks. Everything and anywhere can be used to perform arrays.
Some of these people could even mix in voices and sounds or smells to amplify its effects, just like when his opponent spoke just now in the beginning, its goal is to distract Feng Xiao and make him focus on trying to determine their position and set foot into their trap.
Feng Xiao remains calm and passive, he even gives a laugh.
"It seems like the HeiYue Shaman knows that I will be here tonight, so you have purposely prepared this welcoming ceremony for me. Should I know what benefits they have promised you? Why don't you listen to what I can offer before immediately deciding that you would rather have me dead?"
The other did not give him any response.
The lights flicker in the midst of the fog, shyly beckoning whoever is looking at them to lure them towards themselves, but if one were to really walk towards there, there would be a dozen traps waiting for them that warrants death.
The ground lets out a puff, as if something is spray from the earth. In the next moment, Feng Xiao feels his ankles being grabbed.
He lowers his head to look and could see a skeleton's hand.
Expressionlessly, Feng Xiao raises his other leg and crushes the skeletal hand with his foot.
However, one by one those skeleton hands reaches out from the ground like ghosts returning from the dead, hoping to grab someone alive to replace themselves. From under the ground, thousands of skeleton hands aggressively tries to grab at anything they could grab at in the air. And in where Feng Xiao is standing, those skeleton hands were being crushed into dust one by one, turning into the wails and cries of ghosts.
And all of a sudden, there is a sharp, pitiful cry before something flies towards him from the back!
He turns around, yet he is greeted by nothing.
Subsequently, the cries of ghosts came from all around him. The sounds they make are sharp and pitiful, incredibly piercing to the ear. A thousand voices all try to force themselves into Feng Xiao's ears.
Feng Xiao's eyebrows furrow, he couldn't help but pauses for a moment.
He is pondering over whether or not he should cover his ears with his hands, so that he would not need to hear these voices of the souls being tortured.
But because of the fact that he wasted one moment, a ghostly shadow emerges from the fog soundlessly, reaching to Feng Xiao's back, spreading its hands wide as it rises to its feet, before immediately aiming to deliver a blow at the fatal spot behind Feng Xiao's neck!
And as for Feng Xiao, ever since he is submerged in the voices, he did not move at all, and he definitely did not realize the happenings behind him.
...
In the King's yurt, dancers and singers filled the atmosphere.
This is the place where Khan Apa usually carries out his court meetings with all his officers, where he receives foreign guests. The chaos that happened in the morning has been cleaned and in the centre there is a bonfire with a fat lamb roasting on a stake. The lamb is seasoned with many spices whose fragrance followed the rising steam into the air into the noses of its guests. Sparks even fly from the lamb's meat, as if one could imagine its taste as they bit into its flesh.
A woman wearing a dress of Kucha fashion is currently playing a lute as she dances around the bonfire along its sparks. Thin satin flies in the air, making her looking incredibly ethereal and charming.
Cui Buqu casts a glance over the guests. Most of them have already arrived, currently admiring the dances and music or chattering in low voices among themselves. The place is crowded, filled with the smell of wine.
Fo Er is sitting across Cui Buqu. Next to him is the Second Prince Ade. Both of them are currently engaged in a conversation happily, not looking where Cui Buqu is.
In such a relaxing and chilling environment, even the First Prince Eden who usually does not speak much also made his move and went over to Cui Buqu for a chat.
"Master Cui, do you dislike the ambassador of Khan Ishbara?"
Cui Buqu, "We are the ambassadors of the Sui Empire. He wishes to kill us, so that he can convince Khan Apa to ally with Khan Ishbara. Does your Highness feel that I should like him?"
The First Prince laughs, as if he feels that his manner of initiating a conversation like this is not the best, so he changes into another topic.
"Then, about your vice, why is he not with you?"
Cui Buqu says, "He has fallen ill, and he is currently at rest."
After he finishes speaking, he really sees a sensual look in the prince's eyes.
The other moves closer to him and says in a low voice, "Do you both… really share that kind of relationship?"
Cui Buqu pretends to not know what he means, "I do not quite understand your meaning. Both of us finds each other quite similar to ourselves and get along well, so even while travelling, we take care of each other."
The First Prince nods his head knowingly, giving him an 'Alright, there is no need for you to explain, I understand' kind of look.
"He is outstanding, and it really does draw people to him. However, I heard from Lie Gu that he is very proud? It is not easy for you to control him, in the morning you were almost…. By him on top."
Allowing the other party to misunderstand their relationship would assist them in getting closer to the First Prince. This is exactly Cui Buqu's intentions, so he did not rectify the misunderstanding, but simply laughs a bitter laugh, "Thank you for your consideration, only that we are..."
He did not continue, but shakes his head as if he's both confirming and denying it. It is enough for the First Prince to imagine an incredibly complicated story on his own.
The First Prince pities them, "I saw how unwell your body is, I fear you cannot satisfy him. I have some male enhancement supplements. After the banquet, I will have Lie Gu send them over to you."
Cui Buqu's lips twitches a little, he coughs twice lightly, controlling himself as to not burst on the spot. He places his hands together to thank the other, "Then I should thank your Highness."
This First Prince is born with such a gentle and soft personality, and even has such a 'queer' habit. In Western Göktürk, it is difficult for him to have even a few friends where he can speak his heart to them. Although Cui Buqu is considered an outsider, but because of this, the First Prince is not worried that he will spread the gossip about him and mean him harm, so let alone when he discovers that they both have the same 'pain'. The First Prince could not help but feels that Cui Buqu and himself are kindred spirits.
As both of them chat away, Cui Buqu sees that the throne of the Khan is empty, so he asks, "Is the Khan not present tonight?"
The First Prince gives an awkward look, "Perhaps he might come, but he will be a little late. Lord Father welcomed a few concubine from Kucha as of late."
From the side a cold snicker comes, but it is from Jin Lian who is sitting down next to Cui Buqu when she hears the First Prince's conversation.
"No wonder I have never seen this beautiful maiden from Kucha before. She is brought here by the new concubine, is she not?" Jin Lian says unkindly.
The First Prince says, "After you left, Ade allow a few women from Kucha into Western Göktürk on behalf of Lord Father. One of them danced even more beautifully than the rest, so Father is drawn to her and thus he took her as his new concubine. From there on, no matter where he goes, he takes her with him. Because of this, Ade is heavily rewarded and loved."
Jin Lian's eyebrows furrow, "When I return, why did no one tell me of this?"
The First Prince gives a bitter laugh, "What use is there if you knew? Could you have gone to seek trouble with her? That new concubine is currently living in Lord Father's yurt until after the time he fell ill only did he order his men to build her a new yurt. However, he resumes to see her every night."
However, people often treasure the newest ones, and abandon the old ones. Jin Lian has once been beautiful before. Although right now she could not depend on her beauty to gain the trust of Khan Apa, but upon hearing such an incident, she could not help but think of the past version of herself, provoking a lot of complicated feelings.
Not sympathizing with her, Cui Buqu is currently thinking about how to turn their subject to the HeiYue Shaman, to see if he could convince the First Prince to tell him anything useful. However, before he could speak, someone rushes inside and whispers into the ear of Prince Ade. Both of them then rises to their feet immediately, looking incredibly angry.
"Someone has gone to disturb the HeiYue Shaman!"
He surveys his surroundings, speaking in a low voice, "The HeiYue Shaman is an elder within our clan. Who dares to disturb him, is to make an enemy of us Göktürks! Which one of you did such a thing, I reckon you to step out now and I can still say a few words for you in front of Lord Father. However, if you refuse to admit now, when the times comes and you are caught, do not blame me for using the highest degree of torture to deal with you!"
Suddenly, the merry atmosphere in the venue vanishes. Everyone looks at everyone, their faces fill with confusion and shock.
Prince Ade's gaze falls upon Cui Buqu.
"Ambassador of the Sui Empire, what do you say to this?"