A Gatekeeper & The Celestial Sovereign - Chapter 56

“Argenti, Obsidian.” Mao Lu was surprised but he still cupped his hands respectfully as he greeted them, “I wasn’t expecting your visit, I hope you haven’t been waiting here for too long.”

Argenti smiled at Mao Lu, he really was well-mannered, “Don’t worry, we haven’t been here that long, only long enough to brew a cup of Nectar. Would you care for some?”

Mao Lu stared at the red tea they were drinking from glass petal cups. It would be rude to refuse, so he nodded.

“Sit with us then, you too Chàng Bo.” Obsidian said softly.

Chàng Bo had been hovering awkwardly behind Mao Lu.

The fact that Mao Lu had bowed to these two people meant that they were also Gatekeepers, and probably high-ranking ones. He’d assumed that they were going to have a private conversation, so he had bowed towards them and had started walking towards his room, when he heard Obsidian.

He looked at the Gatekeeper with surprise and then bowed again, “You would like me to join you?” He asked tentatively in the politest tone he could muster.

“Why yes” Obsidian chuckled, “I wasn’t inviting the air to come sit with us.”

Chàng Bo inwardly scoffed, “I didn’t think you were inviting the air either.” he wanted to say, but he bit his tongue.

He knew that most Gatekeepers weren’t the patient type. Many demanded respects. Other than Mao Lu, Chàng Bo had never met any other Gatekeeper that was an exception to that rule. Even if these two appeared friendly they were probably hung up on their own self-importance.

He quietly and obediently sat down, Mao Lu sitting next to him on the floor of the courtyard.

“Chàng Bo this is Gatekeeper Argenti, Gatekeeper of Realm 1 ranked first, and this is Gatekeeper Obsidian, Gatekeeper of Realm 2 ranked 2nd.” Mao Lu introduced them.

Chàng Bo’s expression soured as he heard this. These weren’t just any Gatekeepers they were the top dogs, and they were here giving Mao Lu a personal house visit. He’d never met such high ranked Gatekeepers before, he felt nervous. What were they here for?

Argenti got two glass cups and took out a flower shaped pot that was filled with red coloured nectar. As she poured the tea she casually said, “So we have decided the date for your Fate Companionship. It will be on the 1st Solar day of the Celestial Calendar.”

“So soon” Chàng Bo muttered

Mao Lu was confused, “When is the first solar day?”

“2 months from now, when the trillions of suns of the 400 realms are aligned for one hour.” Argenti replied.

“All the suns can align.” Mao Lu gasped, that sounded amazing. And that was in March then, since it was currently the 15th of December. A spring wedding! Mao Lu found himself getting a little excited.

“That’s not that soon.” he turned to Chàng Bo.

“Well from a mortal perspective it’s not soon, but from a practitioner’s perspective it is. Some weddings or fate companionships can take even decades to prepare for. Especially fate companionships. Special materials are needed for the ceremony that can take a long time to gather. So, to me this is rather fast.”

Chàng Bo explained, turning towards Mao Lu. He was about to explain more about such ceremonies but stopped when he saw Mao Lu’s sparkling eyes. His excitement and anticipation were practically exploding out of him.

“Wow he’s super happy. How cute.” Chàng Bo inwardly laughed.

“Gatekeepers have vast resources, and because of the context of your Companionship we decided a closer date would be better.” Obsidian explained. “Don’t worry about the details of the ceremony, Argenti and I are organising everything.”

“Are we not in control of any of it? Do we have no say in our own Fate Companionship?” Chàng Bo inquired, he said it in a polite tone, but his gaze was rigid.

“Unlike Gatekeeper Lu, we suspect you Chàng Bo. We don’t fully trust you. That’s why we want to be in control of this ceremony. Do you have a problem with that? ” Argenti asked this with her usual gentle tone, but her hot white eyes were piercing.

Chàng Bo looked down, through gritted teeth he said, “I don’t have a problem with it.”

“Good.” Argenti smiled.

“I have a problem with it.” Mao Lu said, “It’s our special day right, regardless of circumstances we should at least have some say in it. At least some say in the venue, the decorations, and things like that. And it’s not like you suspect me, right?”

Chàng Bo fought the urge to smile and hug Mao Lu as he heard him argue with them.

Argenti glanced at Mao Lu’s stubborn face, reluctantly she said, “If it’s about the decorations then it’s fine but the venue, we’d like it to be in a very secure place, so we want to organise that.”

“Then what about invitations. What if Chàng Bo wants to invite his close family, is he allowed to?” Mao Lu asked.

Argenti sighed, “I can allow that, but we’d have to keep the number of invites low. At the moment someone is after Chàng Bo’s life and whoever that person is, is a threat. That’s why we want to make sure your Fate Companionship is in a very secure and private location.”

“You’re controlling the ceremony to protect me? You’re not doing this to bait and capture whoever is after me, right?” Chàng Bo asked, he sipped his red nectar slowly, his eyes not leaving Argenti.

Argenti scoffed, “Why would we use you as bait Chàng Bo? Why would we even want the person pursuing your life? You’re the only one we’re interested in; we want to keep you safe so we can verify your information about the key.” Argenti replied back without hesitation, her gentle expression not changing.

The atmosphere grew a little tense.

“This boy is a little too perceptive.” Argenti thought, “How did he realise we want to use the ceremony as bait to lure out whoever stole the 92 keys? He shouldn’t even know the 92 keys are missing or that whoever framed him is relevant to us. How does he know or is he just guessing?”

Before coming to Mao Lu’s residence Argenti and Obsidian had decided that they were going to use the fate companionship ceremony as a means to lure out their mysterious enemy.

In actual fact Chàng Bo was guessing. He’d only guessed they were using him as bait because he couldn’t understand why they would want to protect him.

It wasn’t like they were infatuated with him like Mao Lu was.

He understood that they were mad that he used the key and spread irregularities into this realm. And he knew they suspected that he knew more about the key then he was letting on, but they would have their answers after the fate companionship. When Mao Lu knew his secrets and told them the truth, which was that he didn’t know anything, they wouldn’t need to care about him anymore.

And they had probably already exploited the fate companionship in the press for positive publicity.

So then why would they care about controlling the venue or protecting him. Unless they didn’t and it wasn’t about him anymore, but about whoever was after him. It made more sense to Chàng Bo that the Gatekeepers would be using them. And Argenti’s response only convinced Chàng Bo that he was right.

He smiled at Argenti, “I guess I was wrong.”

Argenti narrowed her eyes at Chàng Bo. She didn’t like or trust him.

She had heard rumours about this genius, but she had believed them to be over exaggerated. Yet now she saw that he indeed had a formidable amount of qi (internal essence) and his mental strength was also very strong. For a mere one-hundred-year-old practitioner, to be this strong he really did deserve the title of an absolute heavenly genius.

This boy wasn’t to be underestimated.

“We didn’t just come to tell you the date of the ceremony. We have some things to tell you about privately, Mao Lu.” Obsidian said, he paused and glanced at Chàng Bo.

Chàng Bo got the hint, he was being dismissed.

He stood up, bowed to them, and then headed to his room. When the door shut behind him Argenti clapped her hands. A large bubble surrounded them; it was made of the same material that the exterior of the Realm was made of.

Obsidian looked at Mao Lu sternly, “We have some important information for you and some things to give you. But before we do, I’d like you to give me your Gates.”

Mao Lu blinked in surprise as he handed over his Gates to Obsidian. Gates was in its key chain form.

Obsidian gently held it and then put it on the ground outside of the bubble.

“This conversation needs to be private, not even your Gates can listen in to it.” Obsidian said gravely.

Mao Lu frowned, he wondered what was so important that not even Gates could listen in on it. “What’s going on?”

“You can’t trust your Gates anymore. If you need to fly, fly on your own. Only ask it for basic things. Be careful of it.” Argenti said.

Mao Lu raised both brows in surprise, “Why?”

“Recently a Gatekeeper was killed by his own Gates. We believe someone with bad intentions now has the ability to control them. You need to be careful.” Obsidian explained.

“We have a new unknown enemy, and we’re on full alert right now, we’re not even trusting other Gatekeepers and have yet to tell the others of this news. We’re only telling you Mao Lu because you’re new and we think we can trust you.” Argenti added.

“We also have reason to believe that whoever this new enemy is, they may be the same enemy that framed Chàng Bo and is after his life. Which is why you need to be extra careful.” Obsidian also added, “We believe they may come after Chàng Bo so we would like you to monitor him 24/7. You haven’t been revealed as Chàng Bo’s companion in the press. The enemy hopefully still has no idea where he is, but still be very cautious.”

Mao Lu blanched, he hadn’t been expecting this, “Wait… So, then you really are going to use our ceremony as bait?”

“The enemy can go in and out of Realms without our detection. And they seem interested in Chàng Bo, this may be the only way we can capture them. We’ll leak the location of the ceremony and we’ll fight against them there.” Obsidian replied bluntly.

“But this enemy is the same person that poisoned Chàng Bo and framed him. His life would be at risk. What if they reactivated the poison during your battle, he could die.”? Mao Lu fretted.

“It’s up to you to protect his life if that happens, all we are concerned about is capturing them.” Obsidian said coldly.

Mao Lu didn’t like this; the entire ceremony being turned into some battlefield and Chàng Bo’s life being put at risk. He didn’t like it all, but he wasn’t in a position to argue with them. If the Gates were being controlled and this person could go in and out of realms easily then they were a threat that needed to be dealt with.

“We have some tools for you that will help with your defence.” Argenti brought out a small pouch. She handed it to Mao Lu, “There are a variety of extremely rare magic items and tools inside. They’re all extremely precious, and tools that usually someone of your ranking would never get access to. They should help you defend yourself in case of any event.”

Mao Lu looked at the pouch in confusion, “How could this small thing contain any magic items?” he wondered.

His confusion probably showed on his face as Argenti said, “You put your consciousness into the pouch, and you can see the space within it.”

Mao Lu did as she said and gasped as he saw miles upon miles of space. His mind was suddenly in the bag and he could see weapons, potions, and a variety of magic items inside.

This was something out of a fantasy novel. A separate dimension.

When he pulled his consciousness out, he couldn’t prevent some childish excitement showing on his face. He felt like young puppy who’d just gotten a new toy.

“To be young and excited over a spatial pouch, I wish I was as carefree.” Argenti thought as she admired Mao Lu.

“Also, Mao Lu” Obsidian leaned forward, “What’s your response?”

“Response?” Mao Lu tilted his head in confusion until he realised what Obsidian was asking about. “Ah you mean about me becoming your disciple?”

Argenti gaped, “You want Mao Lu as your student Obsidian, but you’ve never take on any students.”

“He is extremely gifted and the more he learns the better.” Obsidian brushed off Argenti’s comments, “So what do you say?”

Mao Lu nodded, not hesitating “I would like to call you Master, and I want to become your disciple. Please teach me.”

Mao Lu bowed towards Obsidian.

Obsidian grinned, pleased with himself.

“Do you want to become my student as well; I can teach you some things that he doesn’t know.” Argenti said.

Obsidian gaped are Argenti.

“If he wants, he can have two teachers.” Argenti grinned.

Obsidian gaped more when Mao Lu said, “Then I will also ask for your guidance, Master Argenti.” He bowed three times towards her.

Argenti smiled smugly at Obsidian. Obsidian glared back at her.

“We must go now as we are busy with many things. When you reach the Wielding stage call us, we will teach you from then.” Obsidian said. He gave Mao Lu a white worm. It was a sound essence. “You can use this to contact us.”

Argenti winked gently at Mao Lu, “Until next time, and remember be cautious and keep Chàng Bo closely by your side.”

Mao Lu nodded and bowed as both Argenti and Obsidian faded away. As they disappeared the bubble around him dispersed with a “POP”.

Gates instantly flew around him and connected itself to his belt, “What was that about? I couldn’t hear or see anything through that bubble.”

“It was nothing important Gates, don’t worry about it.” Mao Lu replied slowly, he wondered if it was being controlled even now. Was someone listening into his conversations.

He was beginning to feel like those people that were always paranoid that the government was spying on them through their phones.

But that probably wasn’t the case with his Gates, since if it was being manipulated then they would already know Chàng Bo’s location. And no trouble had come yet, so the enemy probably wasn’t watching him through Gates. But any of these it might just happen.

Mao Lu didn’t feel comfortable doubting Gates like this, he trusted it and he’d began to see it as a friend. But if he had to doubt it then he had to.. “I need to be cautious.”