Chapter 249 (Chapter Two Hundred and Forty-Eight) Collapse

Yan Shi had already taken precautions when Wen Ying approached.

A strong stench of blood filled the air. The underground hall was gloomy and silent, with only the faint glow of the spirit lamps embedded in the walls.

The surrounding water spirits immediately gathered, their coolness transforming into a semi-transparent shield around Yan Shi's neck, blocking the short blade.

The collision of metal and spirit produced a deep, crisp sound, and sparks flew.

Yan Shi turned his head to avoid the short blade while quickly putting the blazing sun crown into his coat pocket. With his other hand, he grabbed Wen Ying's left wrist, his fingertips cold and hard.

“I was just stating a fact,” Yan Shi said, his eyes gleaming. “Why do you always get upset when I state the facts?”

Wen Ying's breath hitched slightly.

Her voice was low; the previous dagger was merely a test, but now she was truly enraged.

Wen Ying grabbed Yan Shi's wrist with his left hand, while his right hand somehow produced a long sword.

The sword was as thin as a cicada's wing, with golden light flowing around it. It even looked like it was made of the same material as the single wing on her back, shimmering with iridescent light.

Her wings reflected shimmering light, complementing her warm, emerald-green eyes and the striking beauty typical of elves.

Yan Shi was momentarily stunned by what he saw.

Wen Ying's anger intensified.

She hated that look.

She hated people staring at her face, just as she hated her pointed ears and her crippled wings.

But Yan Shi liked her eyes, and she would always gaze at them casually, so Wen Ying would sometimes deliberately blink at Yan Shi.

It was just a simple greeting.

But it's definitely not for Yanlan to see!

His anger was almost uncontrollable, and Wen Ying drew his longsword. The sword light flashed, like a golden waterfall pouring down.

Yan Shi reacted extremely quickly, and the Undead Halberd appeared in his palm in the blink of an eye. Water spirits enveloped the halberd, and the tip of the halberd collided with the longsword.

Light and shadow exploded. A dazzling arc of light burst forth between the two, and spiritual energy scattered in all directions.

Taking advantage of the situation, Yan Shi broke free from Wen Ying's hand and took a step back.

"Come on." She raised an eyebrow. "You couldn't beat me last time even when you used your abilities. Are you going to try the same trick again today?"

Wen Ying's eyes were as cold as ice. "Fine, then let's see if I'll resort to the same old tricks."

As she spoke, a layer of golden light shone around her, and tiny specks of light coalesced around her, forming sharp blades of light that floated up and surrounded her.

The next instant, light blades shot out simultaneously, attacking Yan Shi along with the longsword in her hand.

The air was parted.

Yan Shi's eyes narrowed, and he spun the halberd in his hand, colliding with Wen Ying's sword, sparks flying.

Strangely, those flying light blades stopped a short distance from Yan Shi, then automatically dispersed back into light spots and disappeared into the air.

Shui Ling circled around her in a daze, making a few soft "gurgling" sounds.

Since there were no light blades to block them, they seemed to feel they had to "do something." So the water spirits spontaneously decided to transform into several transparent water blades, which turned around and rushed straight at Wen Ying.

Wen Ying dodged to the side, and the water blade grazed her temple, breaking off a few strands of hair that scattered in the wind.

Yan Shi whistled softly and laughed casually: "Wow, I really am a fighting genius."

Wen Ying sneered: "Then let's continue to see."

The sword and halberd clashed once more.

Yan Shi felt that the Undead Halberd was a very handy weapon. It was good for both offense and defense, and its damage was high.

Most importantly, it is extremely versatile.

The air grew hotter. Sparks of light and water droplets fell, splashing onto the ground with a hissing sound.

Whether it was because Wen Ying had destroyed some mechanism while digging for boxes at the top of the hall, or because their battle had affected the formation, the ground beneath their feet suddenly emitted a low rumble.

The stench of blood was overwhelming.

The blood in the underground drains was churning incessantly, and the entire hall, which had initially only trembled slightly, began to shake violently.

The Kunlun Sword in the center trembled violently along with the hall, its blade humming incessantly.

Wen Ying was the first to notice something was wrong. Her expression changed, she paused, and turned to look at the center of the hall with alarm.

Yan Shi was also slightly out of breath, her bangs falling loose. She followed Wen Ying's gaze.

Under the astonished gazes of the two, dense cracks appeared between the grooves of the array beneath the Kunlun Sword.

The blood in the grooves no longer converged along the rune path, but instead seeped into the deeper darkness along the cracks.

The light patterns of the original formation quickly dimmed, the gathered power began to weaken, and the light membrane at the top of the hall flickered erratically.

“...It’s over.” Wen Ying muttered to himself.

The hall shook more and more violently, and in the quiet space, chaotic footsteps could be heard coming from the depths of many passageways.

Wen Ying gritted her teeth, looked around, grabbed Yan Shi's wrist, and said urgently, "Yan Lan, let's go! Something's happened to the formation, and everyone's here!"

She half-pulled, half-dragged Yan Shi along, and with a flap of her wings, golden light suddenly shone. The two flew rapidly along the passage they had come from.

“You can’t be found here, it will affect Yan Shi’s reputation,” she said, her voice drowned out by the violent vibrations.

Yan Shi was being pulled forward, and Shui Ling automatically supported her so that she wouldn't feel too uncomfortable: "Isn't this formation at the bottom of Baiyujing supposed to be a supporting formation? It should have existed for a long time, right? It's so unreliable."

“Who knows?” Wen Ying spoke quickly. “It’s normal for anything to go wrong with something that requires the flesh and blood and soul of a living being to be sacrificed. It would be strange if it didn’t suffer a karmic backlash.”

Yan Shi: "The original formation at the bottom of Baiyujing was suppressed by the Blazing Sun Crown. Didn't the Sect Leader ever think of taking the Blazing Sun Crown back from Director Yan?"

"Want it back?" Wen Ying sneered. "First of all, almost no one knows that the blazing sun crown is with Yan Shi. Secondly, do they even deserve to ask Yan Shi for anything?"

As they spoke, they flew to the end of the underground passage and returned to the ground.

A night breeze swept over him. Only when Yan Shi stepped onto the path of Baiyujing again did he realize that not only was the hall containing the array at the bottom shaking violently, but the ground of Baiyujing itself was also trembling.

The streetlights swayed.

Wen Ying released Yan Shi's hand and retracted her wings at the same time: "Yan Lan, give the things back to your sister."

To Yan Shi's surprise, she didn't even ask him for the blazing sun crown.

Yan Shi asked in confusion, "Don't you want it?"

Wen Ying didn't answer, her gaze lingering on Yan Shi's face, her expression complex. After a long while, she said softly, "It's no use. The Sun Crown is like this, it's useless for you to hold it."

The moonlight fell into her eyes, reflecting a faint sadness.

Yanlan and Yanshi really look so alike, Wen Ying thought.

Yan Shi always remained calm, a calmness so serene that no one could leave a reflection in her eyes.

Yan Shi: "By the way, what do you want the Sun Crown for?" She was genuinely curious.

"It's none of your business," Wen Ying said coldly. She withdrew her gaze one last time, her eyes reluctantly leaving Yan Shi's face. "Anyway, give it back to Yan Shi."

"I hope we never meet again."

After saying that, she took a step back and disappeared at the end of the alley.

After deciding to sever ties with Wen Ying, Yan Shi never paid any attention to Wen Ying again.

Naturally, no one knew where Wen Ying went after graduating from high school.

She found Wen Ying very difficult to understand.

The ground in Baiyujing shook more and more violently, and hurried footsteps came from the street corner.

Yan Shi looked at the corpses scattered on the ground, silently leaped up, and jumped over the wall.

In the next instant, she leaped up lightly and vaulted over the wall.

What she couldn't do, her colleagues did for her; but the blame for what her colleagues did should never fall on her shoulders.

The water flowed, carrying her a soft glow, as it swept across the eaves.

She walked through the night sky above Baiyujing, the wind brushing through her hair, streetlights and firelight mingling beneath her feet.

Based on her route through the underground passage, the main hall should be located below the city lord's mansion.

She needed to find a suitable place nearby to observe what had happened.

The closer you get to the city lord's mansion, the more pronounced the tremors become.

When they arrived at the City Lord's Mansion, Yan Shi was surprised to find that a section of the entire mansion had collapsed.

Or more precisely, the ground collapsed.

Under the cover of night, the city lord's mansion remained brightly lit. However, the once magnificent complex had shrunk considerably and was no longer as beautiful as it had been.

Nearby, countless patrol teams and logistics staff dressed in uniforms issued by the Bureau of Eccentricity were searching for the cause, while members of various sects dressed in different clothes also gathered here, running back and forth.

Countless magical artifacts and formations were set up one by one, and everyone wore a solemn expression.

Yan Shi's expression turned serious as he began to contemplate life.

Good heavens, the City Lord's Mansion has collapsed! Could Baiyujing really crash during her term?!

No!

Outside the city lord's mansion, chaos reigned, while the interior was sealed off, heavily guarded, and protected by layers upon layers of protective formations.

Yan Shi hesitated for a moment, then found his work uniform in the gap between the spaces, quickly put it on, took a deep breath, and jumped off the roof.

She walked briskly along the road to the entrance of the city lord's mansion.

"Who goes there?" The servant by the door heard the noise and looked over alertly. When he saw Yan Shi's uniform, he lowered his head and his expression changed.

“...Director Yan,” the attendant called out respectfully.

People coming and going at the door had already stopped what they were doing and lowered their heads.

Yan Shi remained calm, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings, and said in a steady tone, "I want to see Shu Yao."

Shuyao was feeling troubled at this moment.

She sat in the study of the city lord's mansion, reviewing the events of the day.

Shu Zhijing only discovered the underground passage at night. On the surface, she didn't show it and agreed to come back for the meeting after being persuaded, but in reality, she secretly refused to cooperate.

Yanju accidentally ingested Forget-Me-Not in Kunlun this afternoon, fell into a deep sleep, and then disappeared. There has been no news of him since.

Yanlan then orchestrated a "Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts" that evening, leaving no room for error and completely dispelling any suspicions. However, the main street was bombed on the Lantern Festival, resulting in countless losses.

It seems that the supporting formation at the bottom of Baiyujing has malfunctioned again.

Shuyao felt her right eyelid twitching this morning, and sure enough, nothing good happened all day.

Moreover, one bad thing after another happened.

Hurried footsteps came from outside the door: "Sect Leader!" A disciple pushed open the door and entered.

Shu Yao sighed deeply and raised her hand: "Wait a minute." She took out a bottle of nitroglycerin pills from her pocket, swallowed them, and then asked: "Tell me, what news is it this time?"

Today is already so bad that no amount of bad news can make her change her expression.

Disciple: "Master, Director Yan has arrived."

Shu Yao: "...What?" Her voice rose instantly, her expression changing drastically, "Who?"

Disciple: "Director Yan, she..."

Before he could finish speaking, Yan Shi stood at the door and knocked on the doorframe: "It's me."

"Sect Leader, we meet again."

Author's note: Just one more day and I'll get my perfect attendance bonus!