suspicion

He took the drawing from Jiang Nian's hand and looked down at the points marked in her hand. The maids and secret guards who had been studying the Zuihualou tunnels in recent years and would be liberated from here soon quickly recognized the tunnels corresponding to the circled signs.

The maid and the secret guard poked the room representing the exhibition on the blueprint with their fingertips.

"There's a passage from here in the tunnel that leads to the room above."

Jiang Nian's eyes followed her fingertips downwards and then stopped at a corner of Zuihualou.

"Go out from here, and across from here is the mass grave not far below Qixia Mountain."

Hearing these three words, Jiang Nian was stunned for a moment.

"I remember there was a village at the foot of Qixia Mountain?"

The maid paused for a moment, then smiled knowingly, "Yes, there is, but the mass grave is quite far from the village. There's a forest in between."

After coming to Cang County, Jiang Nian had never been to the foot of Qixia Mountain, so naturally he didn't know there were forests there.

After hearing the explanation of the maid and secret guard, he nodded.

"I see."

She lowered her eyelashes and thought for a moment, then remembered what Tongyou said this afternoon.

"Since that secret guard can't explain what happened, have you contacted any other secret guards?"

The maid and the secret guard crossed their arms, tilted their heads slightly and looked at her leisurely: "Yes."

After receiving a definite answer, Jiang Nian nodded and said, "Please help me pass on the information I told you earlier."

Through the dark pupils of the maid and secret guard, she curled her lips slightly and saw the cunning hidden in her eyes.

"——Please help me ask what Young Master Qin and Duke Xiao learned from the old man from Xiaoxiang."

After getting this answer, combined with the conversations tomorrow and the day after tomorrow with the goddess, it should become clear at a glance.

She had to analyze the goddess's ultimate goal before You to ensure that the epidemic prevention operation in Cang County would not fail and to keep her own life stable.

She no longer wanted to rely on Xiao Yingzhu and others for her own safety.

Since my skills can't make up for much, I'll just use the information I can get right now to gain the upper hand.

The maid and the secret guard glanced at her, and a smile suddenly appeared on her casual and cold expression. She chuckled and said:

"I thought the person leading us this time was a puppet without any sovereignty or thoughts, who could only be manipulated by others. I didn't expect him to have such a sharp mind."

"I'll take care of it, just wait for my reply."

Perhaps she was still in the process of cleaning, so the maid and secret guard did not leave any words this time. As the door opened and closed, her figure disappeared behind the door.

Jiang Nian was holding the blueprint that he had just shown to the maid and secret guard. He came to his senses at this moment and looked down at the symbols on the blueprint.

Because Youyou led the way personally, only a corner of the first level of the Zuihua Tower's talisman formation remained unexplored.

However, the talisman array in Zuihua Tower is arranged in a very regular pattern. If you connect a line according to the positions of the other talisman arrays on the first floor, then the location of the last talisman array point will be clear at a glance.

I have already made an appointment with You to meet the day after tomorrow, so when we meet the day after tomorrow, tell him to start looking directly from the second floor.

As for the last symbol array on the first level.

Jiang Nian's fingertips touched the room that had not yet been marked with a pen, and his eyes looked gloomy.

After hearing the report from the discussion with the goddess tomorrow, I'll go and verify it on the way.

As for worry...

Jiang Nian smiled faintly. Now that he knew that the goddess didn't trust him, he must want to get confirmation from the goddess in every possible way.

—

Top Pavilion

The goddess had already returned to her original position by the window.

At this moment, he was looking down at the letters that he had already read, checking them one by one. When he turned to the one at the bottom, he was about to raise his hand to pull out the pages inside, but his movement suddenly stopped.

She turned her head slightly and looked in the direction of the bead curtain.

You Zheng came back from under the attic with a faint smile on his face, but his eyes were a little darker than usual.

The goddess stuffed the page of the letter that she had pulled out back into the bottom of the envelope and then pressed it down.

"You look so unhappy, but who made you angry?"

Hearing the goddess's same tone every day, and looking at her dull and indifferent eyes, which were obviously charming but empty, Youben's unhappy heart was pierced by a needle and instantly broke a hole.

He was too impatient.

Over the years, what the goddess experienced was incomparable to ordinary people.

Right now, he is the person closest to the goddess in her social circle, so he should be more steady.

But even if he thought so, he found it difficult to find the reason why the goddess did not tell him what she was planning.

Is she afraid of getting him involved, or does she think she'll be stopped if she finds out?

No matter which one it was, he would give the goddess a clear answer - he would definitely support her and help her without any reason.

No matter the cost.

But would the goddess have the same idea as him?

I dare not think about it, nor do I dare to guess.

He was afraid that he was the one who was wishful thinking. No matter how long he tried to convince himself or how many layers of defense he built for himself, before facing the real bloody facts, he didn't want to think about what would happen to him if it really came to that.

With his eyes downcast, You slowly walked to the side of the goddess, stared at her with his eyes downcast, and slowly curled his lips: "How could it be? With my sister here, no one dares to disobey my orders."

"Those who disobeyed..." He stretched out his arms and wrapped them around the goddess' neck, burying his head in the side of her neck, a hint of gloom flashing in his eyes, "They are long gone."

How could it appear?

Of course it never happened.

The shadow of the goddess's eyelashes cast a shadow on her fair skin.

She lowered her eyes to look at the boy buried in her side, her gaze falling on his cold white skin.

After a moment's silence, she smiled leisurely, as if she saw a good show being performed in front of her, which pleased her.

"You went to see her again?"

After laughing enough, the goddess' voice became gloomy. She slightly pulled You away from her and stroked You's cheek with her cold fingertips.

Her long, straight black hair fell down a few strands as she moved, and she whispered softly in You's ear: "I told you, you don't need to interfere in what happens next."

"Just leave everything to me..."

The goddess sighed deeply, and the rose-like fragrance was strong for a moment, then melted into the odorless air like a fallen and rotting flower.

"But why don't you listen?"

Through You's clear and pure pupils, the goddess caught a glimpse of her own slightly angry expression.

It had been a long time since she had seen herself so lively. She held her breath for a moment and then released her hand that was caressing You's face.

Yes, the closer it gets to that day, the more she seems...

It’s like going back to the beginning, before we experienced all that.

The goddess stood up, walked a few steps outside, and stopped in front of the bead curtain.

Through the beaded curtain, all she saw were magnificent decorations.

In order to package her as a "lucky mascot", Wu Mizhong put a lot of effort into her.

All the postures, the perfect facial management, and the ability to distinguish right from wrong and to calmly judge what to do next from the interests.

She used her face, her superficial appearance, to attract more people... to join the church. More and more people came because of her, and her status became higher and higher.

When the pile of corpses at her feet became endless, she could step on the pile of corpses and reach the endless sky outside the cage.

The clear blue sky only appeared twice in her mind.

The first time was on the eve of entering the Wu Mi tribe. When I fell to the ground in fear, I looked up and saw this Wuyun appearance.

And the second and last time...

It will be after the long-planned turmoil is over.

Thinking that she would be able to meet her brother briefly in a while, the goddess' mood became extremely good.

Catching a glimpse of the gentleness in the goddess's expression, You retracted his gaze and hid the suspicion in his heart.

Now that his sister was in a good mood, he would be crossing the line if he tried to test her again.

Waiting.

Aren’t there guests coming tomorrow? How can looking for my sister at this time be a normal way to find singing and dancing?

He needs to find a good place to listen.

Anyone who receives undue treatment that is not commensurate with the intelligence they hold is unforgivable.

It's just unforgivable.

The sword is unsheathed and kills the enemy with one blow.

Then the unhappiness in your heart will disappear.

Naturally, when You was thinking about these things, he did not feel jealousy, resentment, or unrequited love.

At this moment, what he hopes for more is a relationship that is extremely pure, as perfect as a bird's attachment to its nest.

No one can interfere, and no one can separate them.

Just to achieve that you and I are needed by both, loved by both, almost to the point of purity, supporting each other and growing together.

That's it.

Because I want to be with my sister forever and never be separated from her.

To what extent.

So, no matter what happens this time.

He had to uncover the plan that had hidden the goddess from him and never shown it to him, and go over it in his mind.

—

There was silence in the pavilion for a while. The goddess placed the envelope in her hand into the drawer of the dressing table and locked it with a key.

Her expression had returned to her usual state of being emotionless, neither sad nor happy.

At certain moments, the beams of light shining through the skylight would produce some impression that the goddess in front of him, who ate raw human flesh and climbed to a high position, could be compared to the compassionate Buddha statue in the temple that tens of thousands of people prayed for.

The more the Wu Mi people wanted to deify her, the more bloodstained she became.

Beneath those eyes that showed no sadness or joy, was a thick swamp that was dark without sunlight.

Noticing that You was looking at her expectantly as usual, the goddess moved her eyes slightly and glanced at him.

"Want to go out?"

Meeting her gaze, which was somewhat dull and inanimate, You asked, "Where are you going?"

The goddess slowly pulled the skin on her facial expression.

"Anywhere."

“Under the sunlight, the vastness is endless, with no visible end…there is no place to be bound.”

You was silent for a while, then looked up at her: "Sister, if you want to go anywhere recently, I will accompany you."

“…”

After receiving the expected answer, the goddess lowered her eyes, hiding the hope that had just shone a little.

"That's right." She sighed softly, turned around boredly, raised her hand to hook the bottom edge of the makeup mirror, and looked at her face carefully.

"Nothing."

"You, I want to make sure nothing unexpected happens tomorrow..."

In the dressing mirror, the goddess' expressionless face gradually changed, and a gloomy smile slowly appeared.

"Will you help me watch it?"

Receiving the same instructions as before, Youxiang responded as usual, "Make sure no one knows anything about my sister."

But at that time he simply thought that everything his sister was busy arranging was related to the plague.

But the emergence of Jiang Nian, a variable, disrupted the logical chain he had originally constructed.

Is his sister really planning something without telling him?

He wants to listen too.

Can he go and listen?

You met the goddess's gaze in the mirror, then smiled at her in agreement: "Of course."

"When it comes to my sister's affairs, I naturally won't miss a single one."