Dressed as the last nine-tailed fox

Chapter 365: The Face on the Umbrella

But in the Imperial Observatory in the observatory, things were not as peaceful as outside.

The black umbrella completely blocked the top floor of the observatory, so people outside could not see it, but the Imperial Astronomical Observatory could see the whole picture under the black umbrella clearly - the ribs of the black umbrella pierced through the clouds, the umbrella surface merged with the top of the observatory, and the spider-web-like black shadows hanging from the edge devoured the vermilion columns.

The Imperial Observatory had morning classes, and during the class time, all the people in the Imperial Observatory gathered on the first floor.

“Ah!” Someone’s scream cut through the sky. “Up there… look up there!”

Everyone looked up, and when they saw what was happening above their heads, they felt a chill run down their spines—the top floor of the Observatory had somehow turned into a giant black umbrella, with blood-stained patterns on the umbrella surface, and on those patterns... five human faces suddenly appeared.

The people in the Imperial Observatory were very familiar with these five faces, as they used to be with them day and night. Those five people were the disciples of the Imperial Observatory who were on duty last night. None of them escaped the murderous clutches and they were all brutally killed.

The bodies of the five disciples disappeared, only their heads were left, and their heads were like spiders catching their prey, tightly entangled in the black umbrella.
Countless blood lines were intertwined on their faces.

They opened their eyes, and their cloudy eyeballs stared straight down. They knew clearly that these five people were dead, but when they saw their cloudy eyes, the disciples below even felt that they were looking at them, as if these five people who had lost their bodies were still alive.

But they clearly died with their eyes open.

……

On the blood-stained surface of the umbrella, in an inconspicuous corner, there was a dead sparrow.

If someone could touch it, they would find that the body of the sparrow was still warm. Just a breath ago, the sparrow was still alive and kicking. The people of the Imperial Observatory witnessed the death of the sparrow with their own eyes. After the sparrow flew under the umbrella, the black umbrella suddenly burst into golden scriptures from all directions. The scriptures were like a net that intertwined and quickly caught the sparrow. It is worth mentioning that the sparrow did not struggle at all. The moment it came into contact with the scriptures, it immediately fell silent.

Everyone saw with their own eyes that the sparrow was nailed to death on the blood pattern by the golden scriptures, and then the golden scriptures disappeared from their sight without a trace.

After seeing this scene, the disciples of the Imperial Observatory, who had been appeased, were furious again.

"Am I dazzled? Do you see those golden things?"

"I saw it. I saw it. Those golden...text-like things killed the sparrows easily." The disciple who spoke had his voice trembling.

"What are those golden things?"

"It looks like a rune... but upon closer inspection it looks more like scripture." The one who answered the question was Gao Wei Che, the most talented of all the disciples in the Imperial Observatory and the designated successor to the Imperial Observatory. His words carried a certain weight in the entire Imperial Observatory.

"Scripture?" Since they heard it from Gao Weiche, no one questioned the truth of this sentence. They just asked in confusion: "But shouldn't scriptures be merciful? Why does the scripture in this black umbrella kill?"

"What exactly is this black umbrella? How come there is suddenly an umbrella in the observatory when I woke up? Who put it here?" Before the previous question was answered, someone asked the next question, "Could it be that the sparrow that just flew in was killed by this black umbrella? Then were the five people on duty last night also killed by this black umbrella? If even the sparrow that strayed in could not escape its clutches, then will... the black umbrella want to kill us next?"

"Do you see that the black umbrella has grown bigger?" A disciple pointed at the edge of the black umbrella tremblingly. "After the sparrow was nailed to death on the blood pattern, I saw with my own eyes that the umbrella had grown bigger."

"Growing? Could it be that this black umbrella is a living thing that can grow? If this is true, then not only us, but also the entire capital... and even the entire world will fall."

As soon as these words were spoken, the various discussions suddenly stopped, and the silent crowd was gradually swallowed by fear. The timid disciples even began to tremble.

Gao Weiche took a deep breath and broke the silence, confirming with the disciple who had just spoken: "Are you sure that the black umbrella has grown up?"

"Yes...sure! I'm sure Black Sand has grown up!" Looking into Gao Weiche's sharp eyes that seemed to see through everything, the disciple being questioned had a moment of self-doubt, but when he thought of what he had just seen, his doubt immediately turned into certainty.

After receiving a positive reply, Gao Weiche's face became more serious. After a brief thought, he took out a token representing the director of the Imperial Observatory, then held it high and said in a deep voice: "Everyone in the Imperial Observatory, listen up. Not a word of what happened in the Observatory is allowed to be spread outside. Everyone, evacuate the Observatory! No one is allowed to step into the Observatory again without an imperial decree!"

……

It happened to be the first day of the new year, and the director of the Imperial Observatory entered the palace early yesterday morning to predict the fortunes of all the nobles in the palace for the next half month.

In a secluded palace, the director of the Imperial Observatory was constantly deducing with the yarrow in his hand. On the table in front of him was a row of brocade bags. After completing the deduction, he picked up a brocade bag and stuffed a piece of paper into it. After carefully sealing the brocade bag, he started the next round of deduction.

When the palace maid knocked on the door to inform him that someone from the Imperial Observatory had arrived, the director stopped what he was doing.

When he saw that the person coming was Gao Wei Che, the director was slightly stunned, then asked: "What happened?" Everyone in the Imperial Observatory knew how busy they were on the first day of the new year, and they would not come to disturb them if nothing big happened.

In the supervisor's memory, Gao Weiche had always been steady. When encountering problems, he was always calm and composed, which was unlike a man of his age. But at this moment, Gao Weiche's forehead was wet with sweat. It seemed that he was in a hurry when he came here, and he didn't even stop for a moment, so he didn't bother to tidy up his appearance.

Gao Tianche's appearance made Jianzheng feel that something was wrong. This was the first time he saw Gao Weiche so anxious. Something bad must have happened.

Gao Wei Che did not hide anything, nor did he exaggerate anything. After the palace maids left, he told the supervisor everything that had happened in the Observatory.

"A scripture that kills?" The supervisor, who was still sitting upright, immediately stood up and slammed the table, not caring about the fallen yarrow in his hand. "Are you 100% sure that what you saw was a scripture?"

Looking at the supervisor who was full of disbelief, Gao Weiche nodded and said the two words that the supervisor was most reluctant to hear, "Confirmed."

The Supervisor understood Gao Weiche's character. He knew that Gao Weiche would never answer so confidently if he was not absolutely sure. Thinking of this, the Supervisor's body swayed uncontrollably twice, and he stabilized himself after holding onto the table.

"Supervisor?" Gao Weiche hurriedly walked around the table and reached out to support the supervisor.

The supervisor held Gao Weiche's arm and unconsciously increased the strength in his hands, "Hurry, go back to the Imperial Observatory, I want to see the black umbrella with my own eyes." The supervisor left in a hurry and knocked over the brocade bag on the table, but he didn't even look at it, but just quickened his pace.

When the maid saw the brocade bags scattered on the ground, she picked them up and murmured in confusion: "Why did you leave before the calculation was completed? Aren't you afraid of the emperor's punishment? How strange."

Suddenly, as if she thought of something, the palace maid's face changed drastically. She put down the brocade bag in her hand and ran out of the hall.

……

The door of the Observatory was closed. Since Gao Weiche gave the order, all the people in the Imperial Observatory had evacuated the Observatory as ordered. Gao Weiche also went to the palace, so the Observatory should be empty at this time.

But there were two figures who appeared openly on the top floor of the Observatory.

The Black Umbrella, which had killed five disciples of the Imperial Observatory and a sparrow, ignored the two of them. Even though they could come into close contact with the killing Black Umbrella if they just raised their heads slightly, the two of them were always safe and sound within the coverage of the Black Umbrella.

Kaitian looked at Yi Changle, who was sitting on the railing with his legs swinging from time to time, and said dissatisfiedly: "Yi Changle, in such a big place, do you have to choose to sit here?"

Seeing that Yi Changle did not move, Kaitian crossed his arms and helplessly stretched out his index finger, pointing upwards, "Why don't you look up?"

Yi Changle looked up and saw five pairs of turbid eyes staring at her. Yi Changle frowned slightly, and the five pairs of eyes immediately changed direction.

Yi Changle withdrew his gaze expressionlessly and asked Kaitian: "I saw it, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Kaitian was incredulous at Yi Changle's reply, "Didn't you see the face above? Why are you sitting here? Don't you think it's unlucky?"

"They..." Yi Changle looked at the faces above again, only to see her raise her eyes lightly, then retract her gaze lightly, "What does it matter? This black umbrella was made by me. In other words, they died in my hands. Am I afraid of them?" Seeing Kaitian's reluctant look, Yi Changle explained, "Besides, the view here is very good. It is the only position where you can see the truest expressions of everyone below. After all, when they enter the Observatory, the first thing they notice is the five people above."

"What you said... does make some sense." After a little thought, Kaitian chose to sit next to Yi Changle.

Yi Changle smiled, then looked at the tightly closed door. The smile disappeared from her raised mouth, and she said softly with her red lips: "It's time for them to come back."

As soon as he finished speaking, a beam of magical power enveloped Yi Changle and Kaitian, and their figures quickly disappeared. At the same time, the door that had been tightly closed slowly opened, and the director of the Imperial Observatory and Gao Weiche walked into the Observatory one after another.

……

Most of Gao Weiche's face was in shadow, with only his angular jaw showing, making him appear obscure. However, the thing he was holding in his right hand attracted more attention. That thing was extremely inconsistent with his temperament and should not have appeared in his hand.

After seeing what Gao Weiche was holding, Kaitian's mouth twitched, and he asked in confusion, "Why is a disciple of the Imperial Observatory, dressed elegantly in white, holding two chickens?"

The chicken in Gao Weiche's hand flapped its wings from time to time, leaving a pile of chicken feathers under his feet, which was quite funny.

Seeing this, Yi Changle's face also showed a hint of genuine smile, "I guess it's probably because of the umbrella above our heads."

After understanding the purpose of the two chickens, Kaitian snorted, then smiled and shook his head, "Using chickens to test the lethality of the black umbrella, it's a pity they thought of it."

……

Even though he had prepared himself mentally, the director of the Imperial Observatory could not help but cry out in grief when he saw with his own eyes that his five disciples had been dismembered and only their heads were left intact.

Gao Wei Che stretched out his left hand in time to support the staggering body of the Director of the Imperial Observatory. This was probably the reason why he held both chickens in his right hand.

"Are you... okay?" Gao Weiche asked with concern, "You must take care of yourself. In this situation, if you collapse, we will lose our backbone and be at a loss."

"Don't worry, I can still hold on." The supervisor forced a smile and pushed away Gao Weiche's support. After taking a deep look upward, the supervisor turned his head and gestured to Gao Weiche, "Let's get started."

Gao Weiche nodded, and passed the chicken in his right hand to his left hand. After looking at the supervisor, he threw the chicken in his left hand upwards with all his strength, "Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine..."

There are ten floors in the Observatory. Gao Wei Che stood on the first floor. Every time the chicken reached a floor, he counted a number until the chicken was caught in the golden scripture net like a sparrow in the morning. "Ten." When Gao Wei Che read out the number, the chicken became completely silent.

"It's really a scripture..." The Supervisor stared at the place where the scripture disappeared, and said hoarsely with red eyes: "It's really a scripture..."

"The chicken died in exactly the same way as we saw this morning." Gao Weiche spoke calmly, but his voice seemed even more empty and helpless in the empty observatory. "The chicken was fine when it passed the first nine floors, but it got into trouble when it reached the tenth floor and entered the coverage area of ​​the black umbrella."

As Gao Wei Che spoke, he kept looking at the windows on the tenth floor. Unlike the bright windows on the first nine floors, the windows on the tenth floor were completely covered by black umbrellas. It was clearly noon, but not a single ray of light could get in. The original roof had long since disappeared, replaced by the black umbrella, leaving only countless blood lines crisscrossing each other.

"When you were in the palace, you once said that some of your disciples saw Black Umbrella grow up with their own eyes?" The Supervisor's eyes gradually regained clarity, and even his voice became calm, but he knew in his heart that this moment was just the calm before the storm.

Gao Weiche nodded and confirmed, "Yes." Then, Gao Weiche couldn't help but ask, "Supervisor, do you know what this black umbrella is?"

"I'm not sure yet, but I'll know soon." The supervisor said firmly. After he memorized the location of the black umbrella in his mind, he told Gao Weiche, "Throw the other chicken up there."

Gao Wei Che threw the chicken in his hand as he was told. When the chicken was pierced by the blood veins, it was visible to the naked eye that the black umbrella had indeed grown a little bigger.

“It’s grown up, it’s really grown up, this black umbrella has really grown up…” The supervisor’s face turned pale instantly.