Chapter 47 My heart is a mirror, I know not the joy of our love.

One day ago.

On the way back to Yingguanglou, Jiang Geyun could no longer bear the awkward silence—especially with the person opposite her constantly looking at her and smiling.

She pondered for a moment, her gaze shifting to the long sword behind the accounting office. As if struck by a sudden inspiration, she said, "...This sword looks quite nice."

Jiang Geyun was trying to find a topic to talk about, and she was also genuinely praising him.

Even before the longsword was drawn, a chilling aura emanated from it, suggesting that this weapon had been stained with countless lives to possess such a bloody scent.

The brown-clad accountant glanced at the longsword behind him, then turned back to Jiang Geyun and smiled, covering his mouth, "Thank you for your praise, sir. However, whether it's good or bad depends not on appearances, but on whether Her Highness the Princess needs it."

The accountant's second half of the sentence was truly profound.

Jiang Geyun could only smile.

Then she couldn't help but wonder, was she needed?

Jiang Geyun's suspicions about Zheng Yi's motives stemmed from her not believing that she was worth being specially recruited by Zheng Yi.

Zheng Yi told her, "This kind of thing is not uncommon, don't worry about it." But Jiang Geyun had a clear idea of ​​how many people were in the Xuan Du Jian, and then did a simple calculation based on the population of the Great Zhou...

One in a million?

more than.

At least one in ten thousand.

Jiang Geyun could certainly choose to believe that she was just very lucky.

Even transmigrating into a book could happen to her, so it's not surprising that she caught the eye of a princess.

But every gift from fate comes with a price.

She came to this magical world, with the opportunity to gain amazing abilities. Her physique also seemed to be special. Correspondingly, she repeatedly sensed the aura of death, almost right in front of her, and there was also an evil spirit within her that coveted her life.

So why did Zhengyi "trust" her, and why did he actively push her out instead of someone else?

She originally thought she was a "mass-produced worker," someone who came to work as a temporary mirage agent, but things didn't go as planned.

So, what exactly is the price she needs to pay?

Has she become a useful, cheap, and unaware pawn?

Jiang Geyun thought of Pei Xueyi, Pei Xuexiao, and Xie Jiming. The only three people she knew in the capital had all been transferred away. Was it a coincidence?

She thought that no one in Xuandu Prison taught her any deeper knowledge. All she knew was the simple, temporary, and potentially useless technique that Pei Xueyi had taught her before she left. Was it a coincidence?

When the game of chess ends, regardless of victory or defeat, the pieces on the board will be swept off the board. Once used, they are discarded; this is the norm in the world.

Jiang Geyun needs to make herself needed.

It is not a disposable tool with an uncertain future, but a sword that, once in someone else's hands, can never be easily let go.

Before she was completely exploited.

This choice was made partly out of compassion, and partly out of a desire to survive, win, and learn.

...

Jiang Geyun lowered her eyes and looked at the divination slip.

The word "extremely inauspicious" at the top goes without saying, and below it are four lines of divination text:

The dragon and tiger follow each other in the deep mountains; why should you look behind them?

I do not know that our love will be joyful, but in the future it will have nothing to do with me (1).

...This divination slip truly deserves the description of "extreme misfortune".

Jiang Geyun looked up at the shop manager with a resentful expression.

The old cat casually licked its paws, relaxed its body, and lay down on the offering table with an expression that said "what does this have to do with me?", completely undisturbed by Jiang Geyun's gaze.

Ur's voice came from behind Jiang Geyun, so calm it was almost unnatural.

He said, "This is the result."

Jiang Geyun turned around and saw Ur walking towards her step by step.

She frowned, hid the old cat behind her, and took a few steps back.

However, the space behind her was too limited. After only a few steps back, her lower back was blocked by the offering table, leaving her no room to retreat further.

Seeing her actions, Ur's eyes widened, puzzled.

He said, "Why did you step back, Miss Jiang? Don't worry, I will protect you."

Jiang Geyun paused, then shook her head.

She said, "More than protection, I want to get some 'answers'."

Ur smiled at her, as sincere and naive as before, even somewhat innocent.

He asked, "What answer?"

Jiang Geyun said, "For example, have you really lost your memory?"

Ur's acting wasn't that good; his expression was already a bit off when he heard her tentatively mention the name.

Not to mention that he remembered so much about Tulan's common knowledge and customs, and he was also very familiar with his own abilities, so he didn't need to adapt or recall anything.

If it really is amnesia, then the type of amnesia it's lost is rather unique.

However, Jiang Geyun also understood why he used amnesia as an excuse.

The situation is critical. Revealing one's identity rashly could backfire and cause trouble. It would be better to pretend that one knows nothing and observe the consequences.

If that's the reason, then Ur was just trying to protect himself, so what's there to complain about?

But, is Ur's injury healing too quickly?

There's still a white line on Jiang Geyun's left hand.

Did he actually use the wound medicine she gave him?

She didn't see him bandage her up.

Was he really injured?

On the first night after Ur left, did he wipe away the bloodstains, or were the bloodstains and smell all a facade from the beginning?

—The Xuandujian officials investigated and found that none of the deceased in the mission case met the conditions for a soul-summoning ceremony, so the ceremony could not be performed.

Xuan Dujian had various speculations about this. It was possible that the soul had suffered irreversible damage and could no longer communicate, or it might be related to race. The souls of the Tulan people did not have a high degree of recognition of the Great Zhou and might not be willing to answer the call.

—The Tulan people believe that all things have spirits, that they can communicate with heaven and earth and control all beasts. Although they are not good at making tools and their magic and array formations are quite crude, they have an extraordinary talent in communicating directly with the [soul].

Special injuries correspond to special abilities.

Jiang Geyun had long suspected something, but she couldn't understand why, couldn't understand why they would so cruelly slaughter their own kind. Since she couldn't think of a reason, she temporarily put this line of thought aside.

Until—the hairpin.

Without Jiang Geyun's consent, Ur insisted on attaching his soul to Jiang Geyun's hairpin. Although it seemed to save Jiang Geyun once, the hairpin's aura did change after that, as if it no longer had any special function.

But in the very end, the only surviving unconscious envoy, after obtaining Jiang Geyun's hairpin, went mad and committed suicide while holding the hairpin.

Even now, recalling the empty and frenzied gaze of that foreign man, Jiang Geyun still felt a chill run down her spine.

At this point, it would be ridiculous to say that Ur had nothing to do with the case, or that he was just an innocent victim.

Furthermore... there are hints given by Zheng Yi through puppet shows.

Jiang Geyun once wondered if Lu Jianzheng's suggestion to "go to Changxingfang" was actually intended to allow Jiang Geyun to come into contact with the Tu Lan people in Changxingfang, implying that the inexplicably appearing Wu Er was a suspect.

After realizing that Ur was not innocent, Jiang Geyun's attitude towards him unintentionally worsened... well, she did it on purpose.

Since he still has to act, let him act to his heart's content.

Jiang Geyun closed her eyes, silently recited the divination slip, and gave a helpless smile. Thinking about it carefully, it seemed the main villain had foreseen this all along, providing her with hints on many occasions…

well.

By saying these words, Wu Er, who was able to hide her tracks in the Yinguang Tower, the home ground of the Xuandu Bureau, has put herself in an extremely dangerous situation.

Upon hearing this, Ur smiled again.

However, this time, the atmosphere around him was quite different.

He finally revealed an expression that was entirely his own.

Naïve yet cruel, like a wolf on the grassland.

Ur's tone was rather indifferent. He shrugged and said, "You don't need to know this."

Seeing Jiang Geyun's solemn and wary expression, he casually looked at the scene inside the temple and said with a hint of approval, "You chose a good place."

Jiang Geyun blinked, thinking to herself, "That's true."

This was, in fact, the second time she had faced a life-or-death crisis beneath the statue of the Celestial Lord.

She and this deity probably don't get along.

Jiang Geyun looked at Ul approaching her and suddenly said, "I know I'm going to die. Before I die, there are still some things I don't understand. Can you answer them for me?"

Ul said, "Okay, but you're not in a dying state right now, are you?"

With that, he smiled brightly, innocent yet maliciously, and stabbed Jiang Geyun through the body!

He said, "—Now it is."

Jiang Geyun lost her strength and her body was about to slide down, but Wu Er held the knife and forcibly held her in her original position.

His bright blue eyes were fixed on Jiang Geyun.

Jiang Geyun coughed, thinking to herself, "That bastard is still holding a grudge."

Her previous actions of suppressing Ur after discovering him in the closet must have made him very unhappy, right?

Perhaps due to the effects of adrenaline, her thinking was surprisingly clear.

Ur gripped the knife, feeling the girl's blood gushing out, flowing onto the offering table, and into the hand that held the knife.

He looked down at it with satisfaction, feeling extremely pleased.

The blood flowed slowly, carrying a faint fragrance that reminded him of the inexplicable, light scent of ink. For a moment, without his own awareness, his pupils dilated slightly.

The enormous statue of the deity, dressed in light-colored robes and stained with deep red blood, and the frail young girl, compared to everything else on the altar, seemed more like a sacrificial offering. May she be accepted.

His gaze deepened, as if he were engrossed in the bizarre yet beautiful scene before him, forgetting to look up.

—But then Jiang Geyun suddenly reached out and grasped the blade.

Ur was taken aback and looked up at her.

Jiang Geyun calmly said, "Then answer now."

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The author has something to say: (1) “Dragon and tiger follow each other in the deep mountains, why do you need to look behind? You don’t know that you will love each other and be happy, but in the future you will have nothing to do with me” – quoted from the online spiritual divination text of Donggang Zhenhai Palace.

Layered Armor: Quoting this divination does not imply any connection between the deity or belief in this story and the real-world Donggang Zhenhai Palace. The motivation is the same as the previous chapter: the author simply couldn't capture the essence of the story and liked it from a literary and aesthetic perspective, so the author chose to quote it (and I even drew a Yun Cup before using it!). In short, don't take it too seriously; just simply accompany Yun through this story!

Also: There were no annotations beforehand, so when I was finishing up the foreshadowing, I had to flip through each chapter one by one. My head was spinning! [crying emoji] [crying emoji] [crying emoji]