Volume 5, Chapter 110 – Heading to the Ruins

After returning from her outing, Li Wenyu had nothing to do. She kept watching television, scrolling through the news, and spent all her remaining time cultivating qi arts.

Before long, Protector Xian sent her a communication.

[What are you doing?]

The other side was clearly very displeased with how leisurely she was being at present.

Li Wenyu, however, remained perfectly calm.

“She discovered the ‘Soul Gu’ in my body,” she said directly. “She drew the ‘Soul Gu’ out of me. Right now, I’m just a woman with barely any cultivation left. Other than reading, what else could I possibly do?”

[The Soul Gu actually…?]

Protector Xian was greatly alarmed, because he had not received any remedial instructions from above.

[…What is her attitude toward you?]

After a pause, another message came from the other side.

[Is she willing to acknowledge you as her mother?]

“I’m still living here right now… what do you think?” Li Wenyu frowned.

This was a change even she herself had not noticed. In the past, she had been like a puppet on strings, acting entirely in accordance with the sect’s instructions. But now, for the first time, she felt a sense of weariness toward that kind of life.

Could the ideals of Great Xuan really be more beautiful than the scenes in the news?

For the moment, she still did not dare to think that thought openly, but the seed had already been planted. There was no knowing when it might sprout.

[I’ve investigated. Ever since her rise, all she’s known is cultivation. She must be terribly unfamiliar with human feelings and worldly affairs.]

[You can’t even deceive a person like that. I think you simply weren’t doing this sincerely at all!]

Protector Xian snorted, obviously dissatisfied with her attitude.

“Say whatever you like.” Li Wenyu turned her eyes away.

“In any case, the plan has failed completely.”

“If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”

[Don’t rush.]

[Wait a moment… I need to receive a message on my side first.]

Not long afterward, about ten seconds or so later, Protector Xian sent another message:

[Hold your position and make no moves. Probe her attitude. Try to get out of her sphere of control and wait for Meng Wanyu to contact you.]

What was that supposed to mean?

Li Wenyu did not understand.

That Meng Wanyu again… she was nothing but a madwoman who could not see the benefits right in front of her. What means could she possibly have to deal with the Xia Emperor?

As for getting out from under control.

Hmph.

So they mean to use my life to test just how much the Xia Emperor cares about me…

Li Wenyu was thinking about whether there was still any need for her to keep serving as a chess piece of the Feathering Sect.

It was not quite right to say she had been betrayed.

She still had not made up her mind. She was not sure what was right and what was wrong.

She only wanted to watch a while longer.

At the very least, during these two days of staying in Zhennan, aside from when she slept, her heart had indeed found a long-lost peace.

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“Agree to him.”

An icy voice sounded by her ear.

This…!

Li Wenyu jumped in fright. She whipped her head around and saw Bai Xiang, still dressed the same way as before, seated beside her at some unknown point.

When had she arrived?

So all my actions have been under her eyes the whole time?

Wait…

This seems to be, seems to be the first time I’ve ever been this close to her…

At that thought, Li Wenyu’s breathing almost stopped. A slight change came over her gaze, and she began to examine Bai Xiang, to examine her own biological daughter, from a wholly different angle.

Bai Xiang was sitting very casually.

Her two broad sleeves trailed over the mattress. The hem of the black dragon robe patterned with gold had fallen slightly apart, and through the gap one could see a pair of long legs wrapped in black silk stockings, slanting together at an angle, with cool sandals braced against the floor.

This sitting posture was perhaps for the sake of better observing the “Silverflow Device.”

At any rate, her upper body really was leaning toward me.

I can see her face clearly.

Even every last eyelash…

“I said, agree to him.”

Bai Xiang frowned and spoke, breaking Li Wenyu out of her dazed state.

“He can’t hear my voice. Follow the script. Don’t expose my presence.”

All right…

Li Wenyu’s expression shifted again. Taking a deep breath, she said to the screen of the “Silverflow Device,” “Understood.”

[Remember to keep your subordinates under control.]

[Don’t let them ruin things.]

After that final warning, Protector Xian ended the communication.

But Li Wenyu did not relax. She immediately turned to look at Bai Xiang, trying to seize that strange feeling from a moment earlier once again.

Yet Bai Xiang was no longer there. The bed was empty. Only a few shallow impressions remained to prove that someone really had been sitting there just now.

Gone already…?

Li Wenyu lowered her eyes, feeling a trace of disappointment for no reason she could name.

“I need you to keep acting like this the whole way through, including when Meng Wanyu contacts you later.”

Li Wenyu turned her head to the right and saw Bai Xiang standing beside the window.

The female emperor of Great Xia was bathed all over in sunlight. One could only vaguely make out the contours of her figure.

Then that face turned sideways toward her.

“Can you do it?”

“I’ll do my best,” Li Wenyu answered reflexively.

Then she suddenly reacted.

Wait, if I do this, doesn’t it amount to total betrayal?

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Isn’t she using those eyes of hers to enchant me, just like last time when she peered into my memories?

“May I ask why—”

The right hand she had half-raised stiffened in midair.

Because this time, Bai Xiang had really left.

Right in front of her, she tore open the void and stepped into it, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

“…”

Li Wenyu narrowed her eyes, drew her hand back, and clenched it into a fist.

So it really is still the influence of the Illusory God.

But my faith, my ideals…

They will not be changed by you so easily.

She wanted to continue holding fast to that thought… but as she lowered her head, she saw a little slip of paper on her lap.

She picked it up and unfolded it.

Inside was a line of phone numbers.

“That’s about enough.”

Bai Xiang appeared directly in the great hall on Shenming main peak and informed the waiting Bai Zhuqing of the progress of this trip.

“Just as expected, they plan to use her as a piece to obtain intelligence on Zhennan.”

“There’s no need to care about her.”

“I’m preparing to set out immediately and take a look at that set of coordinates in the Void Realm.”

The other intelligence hardly mattered. But the name Meng Wanyu appearing in Li Wenyu’s communications with the other side was enough for Bai Xiang to confirm her suspicions. The Blood Lord, the Demon Lord, Xuan Xia… even the remnants of Pilgrimage Mountain might all now be gambling on the legacy of Golden Light Temple.

“Could it be a trap?”

Bai Zhuqing was doubtful.

The moment the Soul Gu had been caught, the other side should already have known that Li Wenyu had been exposed.

Under those circumstances, to keep contacting her like this, wasn’t that simply handing over intelligence?

“They have no other choice.” Bai Xiang shook her head. “Those several parties are not of one heart. There are rifts between them. Information gaps appearing in the middle are perfectly normal.”

“Can you take me with you?”

Bai Zhuqing pleaded.

“Maybe I could help somehow, for example by deciphering mechanisms and restrictions?”

“You’re still better suited to sorting out court affairs.” Bai Xiang pinched her on the face.

Then, without waiting for Bai Zhuqing to respond, she stepped into the void again and disappeared.

Ah…

Ever since she learned that trick, the way she treats me has only gotten more outrageous.

Bai Zhuqing remained where she was, grinding her teeth.

Stupid big sister. Just wait until you get back. I’ll tie a bell onto you if it kills me!

When Bai Xiang appeared again, it was in the back mountain. She informed Xiang Xian that she was going out for a while.

“Be careful.”

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Xiang Xian’s eyes were still fixed on the giant finger bone inside the culture dish.

“And don’t come back too late, all right?”

“If another Pang Tiandao suddenly pops out, a research worker like your master here is going to get a headache.”

Oh, sure, keep talking nonsense.

Bai Xiang narrowed her eyes.

Xiang Xian had been able to reach the Origin Realm in large part because of the qi-array technology she had integrated and created.

All across Shenming Mountain, and even throughout the nearby urban district of Zhennan, defensive qi arrays were spread in dense layers. Large and small, the arrays overlapped one another. Viewed from high above, they formed an Eight Trigrams array plate, clearly standing as components of an even greater defensive qi array.

With enough Golden Core cultivators occupying the nodes and channeling qi power, plus an Origin Realm cultivator stationed at the center to coordinate attack and defense, enemies at the Venerable Saint level of the demon race would be unable to do anything about it.

After parting from Xiang Xian, Bai Xiang went to find Li Huiran.

True to the title of martial maniac that her younger sister had given him, he was still cultivating on the mountaintop he had sensed before.

“You’ve come at just the right time.”

Li Huiran had been sitting there with a troubled expression. The moment he saw Bai Xiang, he was overjoyed.

“Quick… quick, tell me! Once the qi force reaches here, how is it supposed to rise upward?”

With some helplessness, Bai Xiang answered his question, then said, “I’m going out for a while, maybe one or two days. If enemies attack during that time, I’ll need your help to defend the place.”

“You are of my master’s lineage. This is only proper,” Li Huiran agreed.

“Don’t worry.”

“There’s me, and there’s Yu Daoyong.”

“Even if the Demon Court launches a full-scale assault, holding them off for a day should not be a problem.”

Li Huiran was straightforward by nature and always meant what he said.

If he said it could be done, then it could definitely be done. Bai Xiang set her mind at ease and prepared to depart.

Originally, she had not planned to bring out a vessel and ride it, because she wanted to test whether her now-perfect body-tempering could allow her, like the ancient human race, to cross the void by the flesh alone.

Yet just as she was about to leave, a communication came in from Li Wenyu.

“There’s something I need to report to you.”

It was the first phone call Li Wenyu had ever made to Bai Xiang, and her tone was somewhat awkward.

“That… Meng Wanyu contacted me by text.”

“She told me to get out from under your control as quickly as possible and board a vessel tonight at seven o’clock to leave Zhennan.”

…

Night.

Darkness descended.

Zhennan Base City was still brightly lit.

Li Wenyu had gotten fully dressed, gathered her things, and sat tensely on the side of the bed.

They said they were coming to pick me up…

But how exactly are they going to do it?

Just as she was thinking that, the void suddenly opened in front of her, and the female emperor of Great Xia, still dressed exactly as she had been during the day, stepped out in a single stride.

“Come.”

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Bai Xiang said to her,

“Follow me.”

They pushed open the door and went downstairs just like that, bold and unconcerned.

Along the way, they ran into Song Qiaoshu. He greeted Bai Xiang like a fool.

“Chongniang? Where are you going this late?”

Bai Xiang quite obviously did not answer, yet he nodded as though he had heard something anyway. “Oh! Then make sure you come back soon! Zhennan Circuit is right by the mountains, and the wind gets pretty strong at night.”

So this is… the Divine-Might Golden Pupils!

Li Wenyu sucked in a breath from the side.

This was far too strong!

Direct hallucination… no wonder she hadn’t disguised herself at all!

With a convenience like that, whether it was the servants in Li Wenyu’s own entourage or the soldiers guarding the courtyard outside, not one of them could detect the truth.

The two of them left the residence openly and brazenly, then followed the location Meng Wanyu had sent and arrived at a dark and desolate street in the outskirts of the city.

The buildings there were old, and the roadway narrow.

Even in Zhennan, places like this were unavoidable.

They stood at a bus stop. Li Wenyu glanced at the route sign and saw that service ended at seven in the evening.

But it’s already seven, isn’t it?

Are we waiting for a bus here?

A blinding light suddenly shone toward them. Li Wenyu raised a hand and vaguely saw that it was actually a double-decker bus stopping in front of them.

This is the vessel?

She came to her senses.

True enough, no one had ever said a vessel had to be shaped like a boat.

Ka—shh!

The bus doors opened, and a boy’s head poked out from inside. He furtively sized Li Wenyu up while asking, “Li Wenyu… Lady Xuan Nine, that’s you, right?”

“It’s me.” Li Wenyu nodded.

“And her?” The boy turned to look at Bai Xiang.

“She’s dressed worse than you… your maid?”

Dressed worse than me?

The corner of Li Wenyu’s mouth twitched. She glanced at Bai Xiang’s dragon robe, which was obviously extravagantly valuable, and forced out a stiff smile.

“Ah… yes… I suppose? This is my maid. Her name is Xiangniang.”

“What a strange name.” The boy shook his head.

No one had said she was allowed to bring extra people, but then again, she was a lady of the palace, and having someone attend to her… was probably normal?

For some reason, he felt that his mind was a little unclear. He shook his head, let the matter go, and waved for the two of them to get on.

“It’s getting late. Hurry up and board!”

The two of them got onto the bus. The doors shut with a bang.

The boy returned to the driver’s seat, stomped on the accelerator, and sent the bus shooting into a rift in the void, vanishing directly from the street.