Hope immediately ignited in my heart. The Hades Circle had it—what a coincidence. I hadn't seen Rachel Lan in so long, and now I could go straight to the Hades Circle. Although I wasn't sure if they'd give it to me, for Howard's sake, I had to get the Awakening Water.
"Are you sure? The Hades Circle really has that stuff?"
"I'm sure. According to the records, Awakening Water has been used a total of eleven times. That's all I know about its usage."
"Who exactly are you?" At this point, I was starting to get curious about the Eastern Emperor's identity.
"Don't worry about who I am. Ethan Zhang, once you're well, if anything ever happens, you must protect Rufina Howard, even if it costs you your life. This concerns the future of humanity."
I blinked, then stood up.
"You don't need to tell me. I will."
"Remember, Ethan Zhang, next time you want to summon me, just call out for me directly. Make sure it's somewhere private."
I nodded. The Eastern Emperor smiled, and with a golden glow, slowly faded away into Rufina Howard's body. Then Rufina Howard woke up.
"Ethan, what are you doing? Hurry up and cut." She seemed to have no memory of our conversation just now.
"Thank you, kid. Now I know what Awakening Water is."
Rufina Howard looked at me in surprise. We returned to the little courtyard below the apartment building. I told them all about the Awakening Water, and Yuna Ji immediately stood up.
"Let's go, Ethan. I'll take you there right now."
Then Yuna Ji glanced around and smiled.
"Let John Chou come with us too. If they refuse to give it to us, we'll just take it by force. If things get rough, at least we'll have each other's backs."
I let out a sound of surprise and looked at Yuna Ji.
"We're not going there to fight, okay?"
"What's wrong, Yuna Ji? Are you planning to go to the Hades Circle and steal—"
John Chou's voice came from behind us. In an instant, Yuna Ji rushed over and covered his mouth, giggling.
"John Chou, you're so bad. I wasn't planning anything. Ethan's just in a hurry, so what's wrong with me taking her there?"
"I'll go too, Master Ethan."
Samantha Simons said, drifting over as she looked at me seriously.
"That's right, brother. We'll all go with you. Otherwise, if you go alone and those old guys from the Hades Circle catch you, things could get ugly."
I thought about it too. The Hades Circle is a subordinate organization of the Underworld Court, but it seems they're not all under the same King of Hell. There are probably many factions within the Hades Circle. I don't want to get caught as soon as I arrive. Even someone as powerful as Uncle Mo is only considered second-tier there.
After deciding, John Chou, Yuna Ji, Samantha Simons, Vincent Swallow, Old Eccentric, Rufina Howard, Vivian Maple, and I—eight people and ghosts in total—decided to head to the Hades Circle immediately.
One car definitely wasn't enough, so I called Hugh Thompson. He seemed very interested in our trip to the Hades Circle and told us to wait a bit—he'd come drive himself. With nine of us and two cars, it was just right.
While the others chatted, I asked about the Locking Corpse Mirror I'd brought out of the Corpse Realm for John Chou. What was it for, really? Yesterday, I saw John Chou hang it from the ceiling of the room above the baleful lake. The lantern was already glowing faintly.
"Ethan, about these things..."
"I don't need to know for now, right?"
As soon as I finished speaking, John Chou nodded with a smile and patted my back. I sighed.
It was almost noon. We ate first, and after lunch, at around 1:30, Hugh Thompson arrived.
Samantha Simons drove. In her car were me, John Chou, Yuna Ji, and Vincent Swallow. The others rode with Hugh Thompson.
According to Yuna Ji, up in the northern mountains is the City Nature Reserve, a vast stretch of deep forest.
We just had to head north all the way, and we'd get there. Once out of the city, it's about a hundred kilometers. I heard from Hugh Thompson that it's a leisure area now, but in the past, a lot of criminals used to steal timber from those woods.
Later, the government set up a small station at the mountain entrance and hired rangers. Over time, the area became a popular weekend destination for city dwellers to enjoy the forest scenery, gradually developing into an eco-tourism spot.
We'd probably arrive a little after four in the afternoon.
I sat in the back seat. Yuna Ji was on my right, happily watching the scenery outside the window. Vincent Swallow was on my left, the smell of alcohol wafting over from him.
"Brother, do you know what the situation is like in the Hades Circle these days?" John Chou asked.
I really didn't know, so I shook my head.
John Chou explained that the Hades Circle is now very different from before. It's split into several complex factions. The strongest are those under Lord Chu Jiang of the Second Tribunal and Lord Tai Shan of the Seventh Tribunal, while the weakest are under Judge Bao of the Fifth Tribunal.