Chapter – 26 - Getting Ready For The Banquet

There were actually no gates in the wall running all around the interior of the clan's territory. This wall was made with silver-black Fire Metal-Jade - a strange material which could only be found near the Void River separating Ruaan-Jamphu and Abarone-Tengai, two of the five countries, counting Madsa-Tamu.

This material was a naturally formed blend of stone and metal with a very high heat absorption index. The heat once absorbed could also be used as an attacking element with the correct sequences of array inscriptions. Thus it was indeed a very powerful defense structure.

Also an extremely costly one. This material would generally be used to make small artifacts or weapons or even alchemy burners and pill jars. Because it was high in cost and low in supply. But to make an entire wall out of it...Rihanna wondered who was backing the Chen Clan? The Mayor's Office kept a good relation with them....and even the ever arrogant Moon-Grave Sect never messed with them, even though this city was their own turf. These people sure had some solid connections!

Anyway, the gate was not in the wall. Rihanna had spent quite a few late nights circling this wall, trying to figure out where the opening was hidden, till finally she chanced upon one of the elders making her way inside....through an opening right above the wall.....in the air!

Okay.....so the space above the wall was actually covered with an illusion matrix....and one needed a special coral token to create an opening in the matrix, and one could enter and exit only through these openings. Also the air around the openings were charged with super-sensory lightning particles. Soooo....even if Fluffy was turned invisible, the sensory particles would still track him through the air vibrations created by his movements....so how in the world was Fluffy supposed to enter?!

For the umpteenth time, Rihanna wondered how those protagonists with extensive knowledge of earth technology could transmigrate and take control of everyone's fates with their knowledge and experience of a different world? They were different worlds! One was based on technology....one based on cultivation. Even though there wasn't lot of machines in this world....that was also because they didn't really require them.

If earth had accumulated knowledge through thousands of years, then this world too had developed and evolved through millenniums. The matrixes, arrays, inscriptions, elemental control, alchemy, space manipulation they had developed were methodical and complicated and based on a lot of intricate and detailed calculations. These writers really were crazy!

'It will be a little difficult, but Fluffy can do it. When the gates open, a lot of children will come out. Fluffy will need to move forward by attaching himself to a child, detaching, then reattaching to another child. Since both will be moving in opposite directions, he has to be precise, quick, and absolutely motionless when he attaches to someone. Children have a higher level of random energy around them. With this method Fluffy can merge his movement vibrations with the children randomly, thus covering up his own movements. But....he needs to practice.

So the night before the gates were to open, Rihanna and Fluffy headed to the back of the Western Courtyard, right inside the Green Morang forest. And fluffy kept practicing his timing, precision, movement sharpness, by moving through this forest, and attaching himself to these bamboo-like trees at high speed. By the time the first sun was about to rise, both were panting from exertion.....one was physically tired out...the other was mentally tensed!

"Okay.....kiddo....now it's your time to shine. Don't let your master down, and master will stuff you with a lot of delicacies once you are out!"

'That's what you say every-time. Your tab is already running high!' Fluffy grumbled in her head. This treacherous master.....always throwing him into trouble, and not even keeping her words!

'This time I will keep all my previous promises....cross my heart and hope to die! Come now....it's time for you to drink up this.....err....weird smelling concoction.....don't worry....I'll give you some candy to wash down the taste!'

Fluffy was speechless at his masters shamelessness. Never mind...he was noting down all of this....the longer the list, the better! He would make sure his father punished this scheming girl well and proper!

Rihanna watched fluffy downing the frothy yellow drink, then tossed him a large bunch of sweet and sour candies. She was not going to be stingy this time!

Unfortunately she couldn't stay back to accompany Fluffy this time. She was a supervisor, and if she went missing from her post, it was bound to raise a lot of suspicion. Putting the cub on her shoulder, she swiftly climbed onto the highest branch of the tallest tree in the vicinity. From here, almost the entirety of the wall front was visible. Fluffy could see the opening, and move from here easily. She placed Fluffy on the branch and patted him on his head, feeling a bit concerned.

'Be careful. Do as you have practiced, but also be ready for any changes. Keep your eyes open. Some of the elders may be present as well. If you feel you cannot make it, don't try to be too arrogant. Run back to the little rabbit hole you found on the first day, and wait there. We can always talk through our minds, so stay in contact. Don't try to enter any place randomly....you are only going to take a look around...also..'

'Sheesh....do you not know when to stop girl! I am a special beast....of course I know what I am supposed to do and how to take care of myself! Make sure you don't land in trouble whilst I am gone! Go off now....shoo!'

Though Fluffy cocked his head upwards and sneered at her, he was actually feeling rather warm within. Seemed like this girl actually cared for him.....hmm....fine he could let today's matters go....he would not put them down in his list!

Rihanna gave a last glance towards Fluffy, then quickly disappeared from the scene. The sky had already lightened, and very soon the air would be overflowing with sound - people waking up, washing up, calling out to the servants. Sounds of sizzling as spices hit the hot oil in the woks, footsteps rushing to and from on the stone-paved paths leading to the different courtyards, water splashing from buckets to vats.

Oh....busy days. The residences were stuffed with people. More would be coming out of the interior today. Servants had been divided again. Some were retained in the courtyards to serve the guests and other family members. Some had been allotted to the kitchen, gardens, pavilions, lakes and other areas to help the regular staff. A large number had been sent to get the large central hall of the main residence cleaned up and ready for the banquet....which was tomorrow.

Rihanna was running around in circles throughout the day, till she had blisters beneath her feet. To top that, today the Clan Leader suddenly decided to pay a surprise visit to all departments to boost the morale of all workers!

So there he was, walking before her with his hands clasped behind, like a newly crowned Maharaja. A dark, gloomy aura went wherever he did, and Rihanna could almost visualize itsy-bitsy black clouds of doom hanging above his head, spreading out thin, airy tentacles to poke at passer-by's who dared to challenge his gloominess! She really wanted to draw a Chibi Chen Clan Leader.....maybe she could earn big bucks by selling it to the clan members behind his back!

The clan leader, followed by his entourage, which also included Rihanna, made their way to the central hall. After all, this was to be the center of all attention for tomorrow.

Rihanna found this to be the most aesthetically appealing place she had ever seen. The entire hall was housed inside a separate courtyard, completely enclosed inside a wall.

The entry was an open archway built from dark green jade . There were pillars at uniform distance made of the silver-black metal-jade. The pillars of the archway and the wall pillars were all engraved with motifs of Aereos flower - a mythological flower which apparently grew between heaven and earth, hanging in the air, with it's roots growing all the way down to touch the ground, whereas the stamens of the flower were actually thin creepers which grew all the way up to touch the gates of heaven above. It was believed that whoever was so blessed as to see this flower, would attain the chance to traverse all the way to the gates of heaven to have one chance at seeking immortality.

These cultivators were really bewitched, hypnotized, maddened by the concept of IMMORTALITY! Immortality to Cultivators was what Religion was to Humans!

Anyway, this flower was also the clan's emblem. So one could find etchings, engravings, paintings, embroideries of this flower on flags, clothes, pillars, main door, main archway of entry....almost everywhere.

The pillars of the wall were connected by thick wooden panels with murals engraved and painted on them. They mostly depicted old stories of the clan. The clan was supposedly a few thousand years old, and had partaken in many changes in the country and the lands beyond it. One could see and relive those bygone eras through these murals. Rihanna found this absolutely amazing - something which had lasted for thousands of years and was still not a ruin.....it was like living in the pages of history and yet being in the present!