Chapter 1258: 18.96 First Grey Star - The three pairs.
Once the six of them had divided up, they went in different directions: Su Jin and Lu Ming checked the upper floors, Mo Yuhan and Doctor Guang checked the underground, Ji Yoonjun and Doctor Hei checked the outside, and the two sides and the backyard were assigned to them to inspect.
From the viewpoint of Doctor Guang and Mo Yuhan, the mansion consists of just two floors; they had examined the first floor and discovered no evidence of the two mischievous cubs; the subterranean floor resembled a basement, devoid of carpets or night pearls, and completely dark; the polished smooth floor contrasted with rough, unrefined walls and ceiling; the only thing separating it from the other floor is that it is completely devoid of water, requiring people to walk on foot.
Doctor Guang said, "This place is creepy. How can there be no water in this place? Is this an underground dungeon or something?"
"If it is, how come there aren't guards? Moreover, the guard only stays outside the palace but not inside. This whole palace is strange," Mo Yuhan said.
Doctor Guang said, "I don't think that Xiao Jing and Xiaxia will go to this place. Should we go back?"
"No. As if you don't know how fearless those two are. Even if they are surrounded by ghosts, they will only think it's fun and interesting. These kinds of places are what children like to go to the most," Mo Yuhan reasoned out.
This young master's logic makes sense. Bloodline Mo freaks are fearless, no doubt, but he had forgotten that they are also clean freaks, and they would never choose to hide in a location like this, not with its muddy fragrance.
The two had no choice but to continue walking the dim hallway. Fortunately, Mo Yuhan had another source of light in his bag and used it to walk through the place. After a little while walking, they finally understood why there were not any bodyguards in this place: whenever they touched something on the walls, something flew towards them.
Doctor Guang's face grew pale as he spotted arrows aimed at the two of them. If Mo Yuhan had not caught the arrow right away, his head would have been stabbed.
Doctor Guang trembles and falls to the ground, terrified. "Fudge! How can there be arrows!? Is there someone here?"
"No. I heard some kind of sound. A mechanism of some trap. This place is full of traps. We need to leave!" Mo Yuhan said, but as soon as he stepped forward, the area where his foot was lowered and another round of sounds that were similar to those before could be heard.
Whoosh. Whoosh. Bang!
This time, a set of spikes from above fell on them, and Mo Yuhan had no choice but to be dragged away from the doctor with him and escape the falling traps. Mo Yuhan and Doctor Guang looked at each other with ugly, crying faces, and they looked around the empty hallway with horrified expressions because they did not know how many traps were in this place.
"Is this place full of traps? What should we do?"
"Don't fear. As long as we run back to where we came from, we can escape!"
"Yes, that's right!"
The two continued their adventure, which was filled with unknown routes and traps. Just after they stood up and raised their courage,
Click!
Another triggered sound of a trap echoed in their ears when Mo Yuhan and Doctor Guang looked down. They saw both their feet sleeping on something that sunk.
Rumbles~ rumbles...
The two of them felt the earth beneath their feet tilt slightly, and Doctor Guang nearly rolled down this uneven road. Just as they thought it was over, they heard another click and the sound of something moving, and when they looked up, they saw a round stone tumbling down towards them.
"What the hell...!? A rolling stone as a trap. How cliche!" Mo Yuhan mumbles.
Seeing the huge stone rolling down towards them, Doctor Guang ran down. Maybe it was because of his weight that he ran faster than Mo Yuhan at this moment.
"Ah. Ahh~ run. Run!"
"Fuck! How come you run faster than me?"
While this pair is frantically setting off trap after trap, the other two pairs were somewhat more fortunate. Su Jin and Lu Ming happened to run into some house servants and intended to ask them if they had seen two human cubs around.
However, instead of responding to their question, they were misidentified as fellow servants, and before they could respond, they were dragged over to the palace's kitchen.
Heavenly Guardian Fei, the owner of the Ocean Palace, loves human food, so they invited (kidnapped) a human chef to work on the surface. At first, the human chefs are afraid of being surrounded by a race that lives in the water, such as mermaids, fishmen, sirens, etc., because of the differences in appearance. However, the human chef adapted to this place more easily than they anticipated.
In addition to being paid with seafaring ingredients, they were also given pearls, which are valued highly above the surface. However, in the eyes of these marine animals, pearls and corals were no more valuable than waste materials. Eventually, the humans developed a deep affection for this location and began cooking sincere meals for the Master of the Ocean Palace.
In addition, they were granted monthly leave and vacation time, allowing them to return home to their families.
The scene that Su Jin and Lu Ming saw when they were dragged into the kitchen, where they saw human chefs surrounded by creatures twice as big as they were, was shocking. However, they were not in danger, but rather these creatures were like students who came to watch here to learn how to cook food. Who would hate eating delicious food?
Moreover, the kitchen, which is surprisingly devoid of water, is where human food is prepared.
These are the voices that came from the center of the kitchen.
"That's not right! You must make the clam puke mud first."
"Ah! Don't eat with the shell!"
"That's a raw crab! At least boil it."
"Why did you peel the shrimp now? It hasn't been cooked yet."
"Hey! That golden octopus... That wouldn't happen to be one of the grandsons of Lord Kraken, wouldn't it!?"
"Ah! What are you doing!? Let go! You can't cook that!!!"
As if the kitchen staff were accustomed to this scene, a massive tentacle that resembled a huge monster octopus tentacle suddenly struck and destroyed the kitchen's walls. The human chefs fled to the corner to hide, while the other sea creatures assisted in kite-making utensils such as knives, rolling pins, ice picks, butcher knives, and more.
"Octopus! Take it down!"
"That's delicious. Maybe Kraken's tentacles are more delicious."
"Stupid! We cannot ever cut this one tentacle. We better wake up the master of the house. He loves takoyaki the most!"
Left dumbfounded, Su Jin and Lu Ming overheard the human chefs hiding in the corner.
"We shouldn't have cooked takoyaki for them."
"It's your fault. Who told you to make calamares? You even made it with a small octopus and not with squid!"
"The grilled octopus you made called them in the kitchen! You can't blame my takoyaki!"
Su Jin and Lu Ming were stunned by such sights; they had anticipated being pushed into labor upon being discovered, but now that they were exposed, they were unsure of how to respond to the terrifying and absurd scene.
Su Jin whispered, "What should we do, A'Ming?"
"Let's quietly escape," Lu Ming whispered back, but their shoulders were suddenly caught by a pair of inhuman, huge hands with webs.
It's a fisherman with a muscular upper body and a long fishtail wearing an apron on his body.
"You can't run. You still haven't peeled the potatoes yet."
Finally, the pair consisting of Ji Yoonjun and Doctor Hei left the Ocean Palace straight away and made their way to the backyard.
Unlike the backyards in the human lands, which are encircled by trees, flowers, and plants, the backyard behind the ocean palace is adorned with towering seaweeds and corals; colorful fish swim around as though they were butterflies on land, and a few manta rays swim above their heads, acting like birds in the sea.
Ji Yoonjun remained silent the entire time, only speaking to Lu Ming and Mo Yuhan when they ask him to, as his only duty in this world after his mission is Su Jin. The underwater scenery is striking in a different way than the land on the surface. It had a different kind of beauty that would not lose sight of the landscapes that humans are used to.
In fact, Ji Yoonjun feels that this doctor named Hei is different from the rest of the people in this world. As if he is an enlightened one among the mortals. All along, this doctor had been staring at him like a stalker. He was so annoyed that he treated him no different than air.
So Doctor Hei noticed the difference between Ji Yoonjun and the other three. As well as his gap in power compared to Lu Shang, Leica, and the two lords. That's why this man is so interested in him.
Doctor Hei suddenly said, "Aren't you going to look for the children? This place doesn't seem like something they would be interested in. You should know it as it feels too desolated and boring in this area. Those two young ones will not come over here."
"I know. I came here for another reason," Ji Yoonjun said as he turned around and looked at Doctor Hei with a serious look.
Suddenly realizing that he had been caught, Doctor Hei smiled. "So it is because of me."
"You kept on staring at me as if observing me," Ji Yoonjun said.
Doctor Hei asked teasingly, "Why didn't you think that maybe I might just have fallen for you?"
"Your eyes are cold and have no affection; instead, they're filled with entertainment and curiosity. You are not in love with me." Ji Yoonjun thought of something and said, "I see. You have met the original Ji Yoonjun, haven't you?"
"Is it alright for you to tell others about your identity and that vessel? Aren't you afraid I might tell others about it?" Doctor Hei said.
Ji Yoonjun raised an eyebrow at him as if looking at some fool. "Who would believe you even if you said so?"
"You're right. The three who were always with you seem to already know about your identity. Moreover, it seems that you weren't even afraid of the crown knowing. The reason for that is either you have solid backing or have never been afraid of being caught. Maybe it's both," Doctor Hei said.
At his words, Ji Yoonjun's expression darkened. It seemed that this man was aware of the strangeness of the Lords; even though he knew that the Lords might never give a damn about such mortals, he still had a duty to stop him if he attempted to stray from their plans. Observing this abrupt shift in the atmosphere surrounding Ji Yoonjun, Doctor Hei also darkened.
The aura that had previously surrounded this young man gradually faded, replaced by an aura that seemed to harbor murderous thoughts towards him.
Doctor Hei's thoughts: 'Doesn't this seem a bit dangerous?'