Chapter 307:

Wu Mingbai probably wouldn’t be back for a while. It was still early, not even lunchtime yet. Naturally, this group of people wasn’t going to just sit obediently in their rooms waiting for him to return. After chatting for a bit in the dining hall, they decided to explore the castle together.

This was a privilege that other tourists visiting the Afei Nation would never get. Ordinary people couldn’t even enter the castle; they could only take pictures from the outside.

Since he had something to ask Feng Lan, Su Bei approached him to team up. It was a free exploration with no rules about group sizes, so after agreeing, the two of them headed straight for the stairs.

“Have you made a prophecy?” Su Bei asked bluntly once they were in a secluded spot.

As expected, Feng Lan nodded. He didn’t ask Su Bei why he was asking, despite knowing Su Bei also had prophetic abilities. He simply replied, “Yes. It’s very dangerous. I saw mountains collapsing and the earth cracking…”

Mountains collapsing and the earth cracking… it certainly sounded terrifying. Su Bei’s eyes widened in surprise. “And you still came?”

If not for the threat of the manga, he absolutely wouldn’t have come, knowing full well there was trouble here. Wasn’t it nicer to just relax at home? If he really wanted to travel, there were so many cities and countries to choose from. Why pick one that was 100% guaranteed to have a disaster?

While Feng Lan’s reasons for avoiding danger were entirely different from his, he was generally the type to stay as far away from peril as possible. The most important principle for a Prophecy-type Ability user was that a wise man does not stand beneath a crumbling wall.

This wasn’t cowardice or selfishness; their abilities dictated that they had to hide in the safest place, far behind the front lines. After all, a Prophecy-type could only create value by staying alive. On a real battlefield, they were less useful than an ordinary combat-type.

But in the end, they arrived at the same conclusion. Neither of them was the type to charge into a mountain knowing a tiger was there. So why was Feng Lan willing to come this time?

“I came to deliver a prophecy to the king. For a prophecy that concerns an entire nation, my personal presence lends it more credibility,” Feng Lan said, speaking more than usual in response to the question.

Su Bei understood immediately. This involved a major event for a country. If Feng Lan didn’t come in person, the King of Afei Nation might not believe him. In the Ability World, there were too many ways to fake things.

Besides, even if the Afei Nation didn’t doubt the message came from the Feng Family, they might suspect the Feng Family of spreading false information. Only by having Feng Lan, the family head, risk his own safety could they be fully convinced that the information was genuine.

However, what Su Bei hadn’t considered was another reason for Feng Lan’s personal visit. Even if the Afei Nation believed him unconditionally, without his presence as living proof, they might not expend many resources to evacuate the common people in advance.

The Feng Family, who often worked with such powerful figures, knew all too well that for many in high positions, their own lives and fortunes were what mattered most. What were the common people? To them, they were just consumables, their deaths meaningless.

In any case, it was a future event. So what if they received advanced warning? As long as they denied knowing anything, the people couldn’t blame them.

But Feng Lan’s personal arrival changed things. He was already here, clearly intending to speak with the king. If the king still did nothing, the Feng Family could use this as evidence to accuse the Afei Nation of inaction after the disaster struck.

They didn’t have their family head walk into danger just for nothing to happen.

This was also why the Feng Family, the family of prophets, held such a prestigious reputation internationally. They didn’t just use their abilities for personal gain. When faced with a major event concerning a nation or even the world, the Feng Family would step forward to provide information free of charge.

Saving the world and its people was their purpose.

Arriving at the staircase, Su Bei looked up and down. The stairs on both sides were identical, differing only slightly in color. Although he already had an idea, he decided to ask his companion’s opinion first. “Up or down?”

“Either is fine with me,” Feng Lan replied, having no preference.

Su Bei made a decision on the spot. “Let’s go down, then.”

They were on the third floor, so it wouldn’t take long to reach the bottom.

He chose to go down based on his consideration of what Butler Weiser had said earlier.

First, he needed to confirm his objective: he wanted to find the guardian deity, Godean Zhuo. The most likely place for the guardian deity to be was this very castle, which was why he was willing to explore.

Butler Weiser had just mentioned that the top two floors were off-limits. Conventional thinking would suggest that those forbidden floors were the most likely place to hide traces of the guardian deity.

But anyone who heard that would immediately think the same thing, meaning anyone exploring the castle would definitely try to go to the upper floors. How foolish would the King of Afei Nation have to be to actually hide the guardian deity there?

This was different from the fact that the guardian deity was hidden in the castle. While the latter was common knowledge, a castle was a vast area, much larger and harder to search than just two floors.

Moreover, the castle itself stood openly, giving off an impression that it had nothing to hide. But the top two floors were explicitly sealed off. It looked like a stricter security measure, but to Su Bei, it felt like they were trying too hard to conceal something.

Most importantly, Weiser had also said that one of the guardian deity’s forms was a human face protruding from a stone wall. Assuming he wasn’t lying, where would one find a stone wall? Only underground.

Su Bei planned to check the castle’s basement. If there was anything there, he would be able to detect it with his ability.

“Are you going outside?” Feng Lan asked, a little surprised, clearly misunderstanding him.

“How could I?” Su Bei shook his head with a smile, saying meaningfully, “Compared to the outside, the inside of the castle is much more interesting.”

Although his goal was the basement, Su Bei didn’t rush. He first took a leisurely stroll through the second and first floors, opening every unlocked door to take a look, appearing like someone brimming with curiosity.

After exploring both floors, he finally approached a maid on the first floor and asked politely, yet with a curious tone, “Hello, is there anything in the castle’s basement?”

He paused intentionally. After seeing a hint of caution in her eyes, he continued naturally, “You know, like the underground dungeons you always see in fairy tales!”

The maid: “…”

It had to be said, Su Bei’s persona of a curious, mischievous little boy was well-established. The maid found it amusing and her wariness vanished. “I’m sorry, guest. In the Afei Nation, all criminals are incarcerated in external prisons through the judicial system. We have no need for something like an underground dungeon.”

“Ah, is that so…” Su Bei put on a disappointed expression, then thought for a moment and asked, “Well, is there a basement? We’d like to take a look.”

He just won’t give up, the maid thought, feeling she had seen right through him. She nodded helplessly. Fine, let him go. He’ll give up once he doesn’t find a dungeon. “Of course, but the entrance to the stairs is a bit hidden. If you’d like to go, please follow me.”

Of course, the main reason she was willing to take them to the basement was that it wasn’t a place that needed to be kept secret. According to Butler Weiser, the stairwell was designed to be hidden because it led to a storage warehouse for sundries. It was neither aesthetic nor interesting, so the entrance was concealed to prevent curious visitors from going down during national open days only to be disappointed.

She often went down to clean the basement herself, so she knew it was true—it was just a storeroom.

The stairwell was behind a large vase; moving it aside revealed the way down. Upon reaching the basement, they were greeted by the sight of various brown cardboard boxes and some broken chairs and tables, making it obvious at a glance that this was a storeroom.

The maid had no intention of staying to accompany them. She had her own duties to attend to, so after leading them there, she gave a bow and left.

Feng Lan didn’t ask Su Bei why he wanted to come to such a place, simply walking quietly along the wall. Su Bei paid him no mind, activating his ability to scan the surroundings, occasionally knocking on boxes to see if they contained anything.

After a full circuit, he found no signs of life aside from a small mouse. Su Bei sighed softly. Although he had mentally prepared himself, knowing it was nearly impossible to find the guardian deity on the first day, the complete lack of clues was still disappointing.

“Let’s go up.” Not wanting to waste any more time here, Su Bei led Feng Lan back the way they came.

It was only then that Feng Lan finally spoke. “What about you? What did you prophesize?”

The question came out of nowhere, but Su Bei immediately understood and replied, “There might be something I want here.”

When he had asked Feng Lan about his prophecy earlier, he had been prepared for the question to be turned back on him. But Feng Lan hadn’t asked then, so he hadn’t said anything. He didn’t expect him to ask now.

A thoughtful look appeared in Feng Lan’s eyes. He suddenly asked, “Do you need help?”

Hearing this, Su Bei was stunned at first, a flicker of temptation in his eyes, but he ultimately shook his head and refused. “Thanks, but no. Save your ability for a more critical moment.”

Feng Lan’s Prophecy ability had a long cooldown. If he used it to make a prophecy for him now, he probably wouldn’t be able to make a second one before they left the Afei Nation.

Finding the guardian deity wasn’t something Su Bei had to do right now. The driver had previously revealed a crucial piece of information: royal family members needed the guardian deity’s approval. This meant Wu Mingbai was certain to meet it.

Since the guardian deity was bound to appear, he would definitely have a chance to find it then. Therefore, Su Bei wasn’t in a hurry and didn’t want to waste Feng Lan’s precious prophecy opportunity.

Wu Mingbai returned in the evening. He had eaten both lunch and dinner with his family and hadn’t had a chance to check in. It wasn’t until seven o’clock that he finally found some free time to meet up with everyone.

At that time, Su Bei was lying on his bed, browsing the ‘Destiny’ organization’s database. When his Mental Energy sensed movement in the hallway, he immediately pushed open his door and saw Wu Mingbai walking towards him.

He was clearly surprised to see Su Bei. “Why are you out here?”

“My Mental Energy sensed you were back,” Su Bei shrugged, walking alongside him. “Did you get to see the guardian deity today?”

Compared to the family he had just met a couple of times, his friends were obviously more important in Wu Mingbai’s heart. He had no intention of hiding anything. “No, but I learned some information about it. I should be able to see it in person after the kin recognition banquet in two days.”

“What information?” Su Bei was immediately interested.

But Wu Mingbai didn’t answer right away. Instead, he ordered bluntly, “Help me get everyone else out here first. I think they’ll be interested too. Also, I have some arrangements for the next couple of days that I specifically told… the Queen I wanted to tell you myself.”

The rooms in the castle were very soundproof. Just shouting in the hallway wouldn’t work; they had to knock on each door.

After finally getting everyone together, they all gathered in Jiang Tianming’s room.

Since everyone present was a familiar face, Wu Mingbai didn’t waste any time and got straight to the point. “For the next few days, I have to take crash courses on etiquette, so I can’t hang out with you all. But the Queen said the butler will take care of your food and lodging, so don’t worry. You’re all invited to the kin recognition banquet the day after tomorrow. Just eat and drink… but no pictures, okay? If anyone takes a photo and makes fun of me with it later, I’ll sneak into your room at midnight and assassinate you. After the banquet, I’ll go see the guardian deity. The Queen said no pictures and that I can’t bring you guys along, so there’s nothing I can do. But I should be able to tell you what it looks like afterward.”

After spilling everything out in one go, he let out a long breath and gave a naive, sweet smile. “Don’t be nervous, I’ll…”

“Aren’t you the one who’s nervous?” Jiang Tianming cut him off. He stepped forward, pinched both of Wu Mingbai’s cheeks, and pulled his smile flat. “What are you nervous about?”

Lan Subing also noticed her friend’s anxiety. Her blue eyes filled with worry as she added after Jiang Tianming, “Are you having trouble adjusting here? Or are your younger siblings bullying you?”

Anyone could see that the king and queen seemed to have genuinely accepted him, but the same couldn’t be said for his siblings. Many of them were hostile toward Wu Mingbai.

He hadn’t expected them to see through him so easily. Wu Mingbai froze for a moment, then bit his lip. “I’m having a little trouble adjusting. They didn’t really do anything to me, just tested the waters a bit. I’m nervous because… it’s mainly just not being used to it. Not used to this castle, the servants, the language of the Afei Nation, and… this family.”

Since he’d been found out, he adopted a “might as well admit it” attitude and honestly shared his feelings. Simply put, he couldn’t get used to anything in his new home. Of course, the hardest part was the sudden appearance of relatives. Back when he was an orphan, he had fantasized about what it would be like to have a family, but now that they had actually appeared, it just felt strange.

As for the probing from his siblings, that wasn’t a big deal to Wu Mingbai. Even with blood ties, they were strangers who hadn’t met in over a decade. Moreover, there were potential conflicts of interest, so testing each other upon meeting was perfectly normal. In fact, that kind of probing was what he was most accustomed to.

Jiang Tianming calmly patted his shoulder in comfort. “Take these next few days to adjust. Talk with them more. If you really can’t get used to it, it doesn’t matter. You’re coming back when school starts at the latest, right?”

That was true. Wu Mingbai’s mood instantly brightened. He really had no plans to stay here. No matter what his parents and siblings were like, he was always going to go back. His home country was the environment he was truly used to, and the people around him now were the companions he acknowledged. Even if the Afei Nation was wonderful and his family was great, he couldn’t abandon over a decade of his past to truly stay here.

While they were comforting Wu Mingbai, Su Bei sat in a corner and asked Feng Lan, who was next to him, “When are you planning to tell the king about that matter?”

“Tomorrow,” Feng Lan replied, clearly having already thought it through. “Tomorrow, when you guys go out.”

Su Bei thought for a moment but didn’t say anything more. He had originally wanted to have Feng Lan use the opportunity to ask about the guardian deity. After all, if mountains were collapsing and the earth was cracking, it had to be related to the guardian. Everyone knew that one of Godean Zhuo’s most important abilities was to stabilize the lands of the Afei Nation. A prophecy of cataclysm could only mean something was wrong with Godean Zhuo. Inquiring about it would likely yield an answer.

But on second thought, there should be another manga update before the event occurred, which would probably cover this part of the plot. Even if Feng Lan didn’t ask, knowing the author’s habits, a related topic would come up automatically. He could get the answer he wanted from the manga then, so there was no need to give special instructions.

“What matter?” asked Zhao Xiaoyu, who had been watching them curiously.

Although the two of them had deliberately lowered their voices, for Ability users at such a short distance, even the quietest whisper could be heard.

Feng Lan didn’t hide it from her. Seeing that the others were also looking over, he simply explained the matter of the prophecy in a normal voice.

Hearing that a great disaster was about to befall the Afei Nation, everyone’s expression changed. The class president, Mu Tieren, frowned deeply and stood up. “In that case, should we tell our teacher first?”

Before anyone else could speak, Si Zhaohua shook his head. “This is Afei Nation’s business. It’s useless to tell our teacher, or even our country’s Ability Government. The correct choice is to inform the leaders of the Afei Nation immediately, just as Feng Lan is doing.”

That made sense. Mu Tieren sighed, looked uncertainly at the others, then at Wu Mingbai. “So, what do we do next?”

His question was clear: knowing that danger was coming to the Afei Nation, should they stay? If it were a Nightmare Beast attack, they could be of some use. But if it was a natural disaster, aside from Wu Mingbai with his Earth Element ability, the rest of them didn’t seem to be of much help.

After a thought, Mu Tieren added, “I want to stay. I could help with rescue work. But it mainly depends on your opinions.”

“…I want to leave. After I get back, I’ll tell Teacher Meng about this. Maybe you’ll see me in the follow-up rescue teams.” After a second of silence, Zhao Xiaoyu spoke before anyone else could. She knew that if the others spoke first, it would be difficult for her to say what she wanted.

Having spent over a year with her classmates, she knew them well. Most of them would definitely want to stay. Just as Mu Tieren said, they could help with rescue efforts. Ability users had superior physical conditioning and a certain capacity for self-preservation, making them ideal for such work. Given a chance to be useful, the passionate youths in her class would naturally not retreat.

But Zhao Xiaoyu didn’t want to stay. Although her ability, Happiness, could be useful in such a situation, her Mental Energy wasn’t strong enough for it to have a major impact. She couldn’t cover a large area, so she couldn’t inspire many people.

And a future of collapsing mountains and cracking earth was very dangerous. Zhao Xiaoyu had no desire to die in a foreign land. She was a very practical person. Even becoming an Ability user didn’t mean she would selflessly sacrifice her life for others. Faced with unknown danger, she preferred to ensure her own safety first.

The follow-up rescue work wouldn’t be as dangerous. By then, the danger should have mostly passed, and she would only need to do logistical work, which was something Zhao Xiaoyu was willing to accept.

The reason she spoke her mind early was that she knew many would choose to stay. If they all declared their intention to stay one by one, it would make her seem like an outsider if she said she wanted to leave.

So it was best to speak up first. That way, even if others stayed, it wouldn’t be awkward for her. Plus, by being the first to bring up the “leave” option, maybe others would follow suit.

Sure enough, Zhou Renjie immediately agreed. “I don’t want to go either, but I can go back and organize a fundraiser to donate some money or supplies to the victims here.”

Li Shu glanced at Jiang Tianming and sighed theatrically. “I choose to stay. Otherwise, I won’t see my interesting friend for over a month. I’d feel lonely.”

Without a doubt, he wanted to leave, but Jiang Tianming would definitely stay here. Confident in his ability to protect himself, he ultimately decided to stay. As he said, a separation of one or two weeks was fine, but over a month was a bit too long for him. What if Jiang Tianming secretly made progress during that time?

Jiang Tianming: “…”

He was speechless for a moment before giving his own answer. “I’m staying. Is there anyone else not staying? Most of you are probably staying.”

It was true. No one else raised their hand. Besides Zhao Xiaoyu and Zhou Renjie, everyone else wanted to stay.

After a moment, everyone’s gazes quietly shifted towards Su Bei. Of course, Su Bei knew what they wanted to ask. He put on a fake smile. “I’m staying. Is there a problem?”

Unfortunately, no one humored him. Ai Baozhu asked without hesitation, “Why would you stay? To save people?”

Of course, I’m staying to find the guardian deity. Su Bei estimated that according to the author’s plot arrangements, his best chance of meeting Godean Zhuo would be around the time the disaster struck the Afei Nation. Therefore, he had no choice but to stay.

But he couldn’t say that out loud. Maintaining the fake smile on his face, he said righteously, “Of course it’s to save people!”

“Thanks for treating us like idiots,” Ai Baozhu rolled her eyes, annoyed.

Jiang Tianming studied Su Bei with a probing gaze for a moment before turning to Wu Mingbai. “The rest of us want to stay. After Feng Lan tells the king, he’ll probably want us to leave. When that happens, you can help put in a good word for us.”

Seeing Wu Mingbai’s hesitant expression, Lan Subing said softly, “You don’t really think we’d go back, do you?”

Wu Mingbai’s hesitation vanished instantly. Both helpless and touched, he said, “I’ll go talk to him.”