บท 30: An Abandoned Warehouse And An Old Mirror
"Now who are we going to ask for help, Princess?" whispered Old Man Mo, who now saw that the vengeful ghost leader had buried his head in the trunk of a large tree. His giant feet were still dangling out, like a lever being moved over and over again.
"Maybe we can find another ghost leader here," Ying Hua said, starting to look sad and weak.
They searched again, but could not find another ghost stronger than the vengeful ghost leader. Now they were resigned and tired.
"Should we just go home for tonight, Princess?" Old Man Mo suggested. "Moreover, your condition has not fully recovered. You still have to meditate a lot. I'm afraid we won't succeed if we push ourselves. Besides, my energy isn't as great as before either."
They agreed to return to the lodge. Previously they had approached Skeleton Crow first.
"Why did you guys come back?" asked Skeleton Crow, already camouflaged in the shadow of the palace walls. Now he curled up in a sitting position. "Did you guys fail to persuade the ghosts to help?"
"I hate to say this," Old Man Mo said. "But yes, we did fail to persuade the ghosts to help us. Even after we made an offer. We don't have enough time and energy to fight with them to get them to comply with our request."
"Tch, coward!"
"What did you say?" Old Man Mo glared and looked like he wanted to chew Skeleton Crow in his mouth. "You mock us as cowards?"
"Yes, that's how you are."
"If you are so brave, then why don't you go see them and persuade them to help us?" Old Man Mo grumbled.
A moment later Skeleton Crow rose. With a very haughty face, he walked up to the enormous tree where the vengeful ghost leader was.
"What is he doing?" Ying Hua asked Old Man Mo. But they couldn't answer that question.
"Maybe he's just pretending to be brave, Princess. He just wanted to show off. But look, surely, he will come back with a deathly pale face!"
But Old Man Mo's prediction didn't come true. Because Skeleton Crow came back with a radiant face and even more haughty than before.
"Go and talk to him again! He will help you guys," said Skeleton Crow, smoothing his messy black hair.
Ying Hua and Old Man Mo hesitated, but they heeded Skeleton Crow's advice. How surprised they were after finding the vengeful ghost leader now actually looked very friendly. He also spoke in a very smooth voice.
"I didn't know you two were his friends," said the vengeful ghost leader, much to Ying Hua and Old Man Mo's astonishment. "I can help you guys to enter the Qing Palace. But I can't take you all together, because my energy isn't enough. You have to enter one by one."
"Then the rest?" asked Old Man Mo.
"The rest will come in tomorrow. One night one person came in. And I suggest that someone with energy that is in sync with the Qing Palace may enter," said the vengeful ghost leader. "I heard one of you is a demon." He turned to Old Man Mo. "And I'm guessing that person is you."
"Yes, it is me!" said Old Man Mo.
"Then you can only enter tomorrow. Because if your energy is used for too long in the Qing Palace then you will die."
"Then what about me?" Ying Hua asked. "If I go inside, will I be okay?"
"You're not a demon, so you'll be fine in the palace. It's just that, maybe you'll have trouble getting out if you've already entered. Therefore, you should think about how you will hide later. I suggest you disguise yourself as one of the objects or animals in the palace. Maybe you could disguise yourself as a frog, or a cupboard in one of the rooms in the palace."
"But do you know where the Black Crown is located?"
"Only the royal family knows," replied the ghost. "If you can persuade Prince Dwei, maybe you can find the answer."
"That is even more difficult than getting into the palace," Old Man Mo replied.
"But what I heard is Prince Dwei has no interest in being the crown prince," said the vengeful ghost leader. "So, he might want to say where the position of the Black Crown is. Or, you can hypnotize him while he is sleeping. We used to do it often when we wanted offerings to the ghosts. But ever since the palace has been chanted with powerful spells, we've had a hard time breaking through the palace like it used to be."
"Alright," Ying Hua nodded confidently. "I'll go in first. But, will you help us out?"
"If you can return to the position where I first escorted you, then I will be able to take you out. In the palace already roaming a lot of powerful energy. Only a few places have weak energy, which we can penetrate. You can ask the banyan tree for help to make it easier to enter. But as you know, it's very grumpy."
"We already assumed it didn't exist." Old Man Mo snorted as he said that. "Now then, bring Princess Ying in! We ask for your help with all our hearts."
The vengeful ghost leader nodded and then revealed his true form.
It turned out that his height was even much taller than the Qing Palace. And his body was bigger than the width of the front palace wall. His feet were covered with very smelly ulcers, and his hands disappeared, which were replaced with billowing white smoke.
"Stand right beside me!" he ordered, then saw Ying Hua nod and immediately stood beside him. "Close your eyes!"
And she obeyed his orders.
It didn't feel like anything, like nothing happened. However, when he opened her eyes, Ying Hua saw that she was in a rather barren courtyard, where an old building was located.
"Now we are inside the Qing Palace, to be precise in the South area, adjacent to an abandoned warehouse that has not been used for a long time. This is the only place that has the weakest protective energy," explained the ghost, whose head had been swallowed up in the darkness and nowhere to be seen.
"Now where should I go?" Ying Hua asked.
"Go and enter that abandoned warehouse. There you will find an old mirror. Just tell it that you need to hide in the safest place. Then it will take you where you need to be. Most importantly, avoid old Willows and Pines. They might suspect you and get you into trouble."
"Alright," Ying Hua nodded. "Thank you very much for your help. After getting out of here, I will try my best to repay you."
"You don't need to return any favors," said the ghost. "Because you are a friend of Skeleton Crow. Now I have to go." And his body slowly drifted away, like flying backward, until it was completely gone.
Ying Hua immediately rushed into the old warehouse, which was all made of solid wood. Even the slightly weathered wood remained strong to support the herd. It's just that some parts looked dirty because they were not well maintained.
She managed to get inside, finding the room dark until she had to make light with her hands. With that, she could see the room was filled with some stuff that was already dusty and filled with cobwebs. At the end of the room, she saw an old mirror that she was looking for.
Quickly approaching, she managed to stand right in front of the mirror, side by side with a few dusty bits of wood. "O Old Mirror! Please take me to the safest place to hide!"
Nothing happened until she felt restless and doubtful.
Once again, she repeated her words. "O Old Mirror! Please take me to the safest place to hide!" And still, nothing happened.
"O Old Mirror!" Then she fell silent as if she had lost her confidence. Until then she reached out, trying to touch the mirror. And that's when she felt a very strong tug, which managed to pull her whole body, then carried her down through a very long and transparent hallway, which finally led her to a place.
"Argh!" she groaned as her body finally bounced off the mirror behind her. Rubbing her ass, now she tried to get up after seeing a room with a very neat and luxurious arrangement. "Where is this? Is this one of the rooms of a noble?"
Just as Ying Hua was trying to remember which nobles were in the palace, she suddenly heard the voices of several people talking. And for fear of being caught, so she immediately ran and hid in the wardrobe, squeezed and collided with the clothes stored in it.
It was then that she heard the door creak open, then an approaching footstep. When she opened the closet door slightly, her eyes widened when she saw someone enter.
'Prince Dwei!' she screamed in her heart. 'So, this is his room?'
***
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