Chapter 26 Turning Around Again
The moment the door slammed shut, isolating Ling Shuang's miserable expression, the bright smile that Beichen had forced on his face suddenly disappeared, replaced by a depressing silence.
Black Disaster and Su Jie had just signed a contract with her, and therefore still maintained their human forms. Seeing her expression, they somehow simultaneously revealed a gloomy look, their bodies radiating light, preparing to transform into weapons once again, a rather escapist gesture. However, before they could do so, West Wind reached out and placed a hand on their shoulders, stopping them.
"Are you ostriches? You hide your heads underground, but your butts are still exposed, right? What problem can weaponization solve? It's not like you'll turn into cold, incapable of thinking."
However, Hei Huo and Su Jie, who had always been slick and often provoked Xi Feng's anger, were unable to use their eloquence at this moment, and just stood there with a dull expression.
Instead, Beichen was the first to come back to his senses from this awkward atmosphere, and then turned to look at Yagard.
──Also trying to escape reality, she chose to change the subject.
"Agad, although Ling Shuang has lost the possibility of forming a contract with me, his combat power has doubled after he fell into darkness. I am still worried about what he will do next—"
Although Beichen had gained some understanding of Ling Shuang's personality through the contact during this period - after suffering such a shock, he should be unable to do and had no intention of making any achievements, but he still could not take it lightly.
"I understand, Miss Beichen. I will immediately dispatch ten members of the Night Cavalry's tracking battalion to monitor him at all times. They will notify us immediately if there is any unusual movement."
As Yagad said this, he bowed to her and left through the door.
She then bowed to Xiaxue.
"Xiaxue, thank you for taking me in. But aren't you still within the contract period with Karina?"
"Yes. There's still a day and a half left. I have to go find her later - but you can use the yard as you please."
Xiaxue still had a lazy and noble air, and smiled faintly at Beichen.
"Well, then I won't be polite for now. Xiaxue has no national position here, so it's the best place to stay right now."
"That's natural."
"Then can I ask the question I'm most curious about?"
"oh?"
"...Why did you send me to Senagard in the first place? Xiaxue, did you know from the beginning that I was a miko?"
"Yes." Xiaxue was quite frank. "Because I am also a member of the Thirteen Moon Slaughter Sect, and I used some tricks to steal some information from Yagad."
"What?! Xiaxue, you too?! Then why doesn't Agard know...!?"
"That's natural, isn't it?"
Xiaxue tilted her head with amusement, raised her eyebrows and looked at Beichen's surprised expression, as if she was very pleased with her surprise.
"I'm an emperor-level weapon. Every move I make will have a significant impact on current events. How could I possibly use my true identity to join the Moon-Slaying Thirteen? I must have used a Transfiguration Spirit Crystal."
"Then why are you so interested in the Red Moon Priestess? You even want to steal information from Agard... How could you have gotten such information if Agard is so cautious..."
"The answer is simple. No matter how powerful Yagad is, he's only a human who lived for 32 years. I, on the other hand, have thousands of years of cultivation and ten thousand years of memory."
"I see... Wait!"
Beichen jumped up and pointed at Xiaxue with trembling fingers. The latter, seeing her expression, looked even more pleased. He seemed to enjoy seeing Beichen's mess.
"You heard me right. I have a memory of tens of thousands of years."
"Ten thousand years... If I remember correctly, ten thousand years... only..."
"Yes, it's one of the three 'Ancient Wills', Poison Moon Sirenkrad."
Now, not only Beichen, but all the people listening in the room felt their hair stand on end, and glared at Xiaxue with murderous intent - but Xiaxue, who was at the center of their sight, seemed to be completely unaware of the pressure caused by the murderous intent of so many people, and still had a relaxed smile on his face.
Beichen took a long time to straighten his tongue:
"...Poison, Poison Moon Selenkrad... Why is the will of the Poison Moon possessing the Moon User's natural enemy—the War Machine!?"
"That's what makes it interesting, isn't it?" Xiaxue shrugged nonchalantly. "I remember Senagade also mentioned that he wanted to find someone to possess the body of a Moon Envoy to take up residence here. I wonder where he is now."
“…”
You've severely injured him! Beichen complained helplessly in his heart, but he still didn't tell the truth. These two were the most terrifying ancient wills. Who knows what would happen if they collided!
But from this point of view, Silenkrad does not seem to be omnipotent. At least when he fought with Atlas, he did not find the will of Silenkrad in his body.
"What exactly is your purpose with Xiaxue..."
"It's a rare opportunity to personally experience the second great disaster, so of course I want to be up close and personal. After all, I've lived for so long, and nothing can excite me anymore. But you, with your identity, can do that."
Beichen suddenly felt three huge black lines sliding down from above his head:
"So you...are just doing this for fun?!"
"yes."
"That, that, that—the poisonous moon! The poisonous moon above my head is going to kill me, you know?!"
"I'm just the heir of Selenkrad's will. I didn't say I could control the entire Poison Moon. Can you control how your own blood flows? No way."
"Uh—"
Beichen was speechless, unable to refute, and was stunned for a few seconds.
"So, Poison Moon is not your responsibility, and you are just a consciousness with tens of thousands of years of memories?"
"Well," Xiaxue gave a rather provocative smile, "Although these memories were awakened by something, and I have ten thousand years of memories, my age is over a thousand... But no matter what, I am indeed just a bystander."
So Beichen and everyone else in the room twitched their lips a little exhaustedly.
This is no different from finding a cannon on the battlefield, only to discover after firing it that it can only fire festive streamers!
"Ah, it's almost time, I should go."
Xiaxue, however, didn't care at all about the complex and subtle emotions of the crowd. He just smiled and waved his hand heroically.
"Why are you all so concerned about this? Whether I'm the Great Will or not, in front of you, I'm nothing more than a Star Vein Seed, Mist Blood. Remember the name 'Mist Blood' instead of Sirenclad, and I'll be happier."
Then he chuckled and looked around at the people whose faces were dazed and seemed not to have fully recovered from the shock, then he laughed happily and left.
After a while, voices began to be heard in the house.
“Ah, ah, ah…” Xiao Peng smiled bitterly and shook his head, “It seems that everything was no coincidence from the very beginning. I didn’t expect that Xiaxue’s original identity as an emperor-level combat weapon was exaggerated enough, and behind it there was actually the identity of the Poison Moon Will—”
"But he's hiding something."
Gu Yinyue, who had been silent all this time, spoke.
"If he truly had memories spanning tens of thousands of years, he wouldn't be in such a passive position in this incident. He possesses enough knowledge to defeat Ling Shuang in one fell swoop."
"Yeah," Xiao Peng nodded in agreement. "He wouldn't be so stupid as to not be able to use those memories, unless—he can't use them, or using them would bring about some strange side effects."
"The greater the power, the stronger the constraints required. Things that disrupt balance cannot exist in this world for long."
Gu Yinyue interrupted, then glanced at Xiao Ying:
"That's not what I'm talking about now."
Xiao Peng curled his lips and smiled: "Oh?"
"It's time to talk about your identity, Xiaopeng."
Xifeng played with the gun barrel in his hand expressionlessly, his slender fingers in white gloves sliding across the smooth muzzle intentionally or unintentionally.
"What's your relationship with Su Mo? You claim to have a personal grudge against him and want to use Beichen's power to oppose him, but when we were in trouble, Su Mo immediately stepped in to take over from Ling Shuang—and even used a banned drug on the market—Active Star Spirit Mineral Solution to heal your disfigurement. I don't believe Su Mo didn't notice your rebellious intentions."
Hearing Xifeng say this, Beichen frowned in confusion.
"Before the incident, I asked Xiao Ying about the matter between Xiao Ying and Su Mo several times, but Xiao Ying always brushed it off by saying that the time was not yet ripe. Now that I think about it, Xiao Ying, every time I asked you about the plan you were secretly carrying out when we all gathered together, you just glossed over it and refused to elaborate—"
She took a slow breath.
"—Have you been suspicious of Ling Shuang for a long time? I don't know what you arranged for the others to do behind the scenes, but the only tasks you assigned to Ling Shuang were insignificant intelligence gathering. Looking back now, it's all very strange."
Xiao Ping did not answer Bei Chen's question immediately, but just restrained her smile, frowned slightly, and asked in a low voice:
"...At this point, you still don't doubt me?"
"Huh?" Beichen looked him up and down in confusion. "If you had any ill intentions, we would have died eight or ten times over. And thinking back, wasn't your guard against Ling Shuang also a means of protecting us? If he knew more of our intelligence, we might really have no chance of turning things around."
"But I did hide a lot from you."
"Well, this is what I want to know the most right now. What exactly happened between you and Su Mo? What did you secretly tell everyone to do? Why is Su Mo's attitude so strange? Why did you start to be wary of Ling Shuang so early, but he still succeeded? I believe you chose to conceal it for our own good, but now everything is over, and a new chaotic situation is about to begin. Isn't it time for you to come clean?"
Xiao Ping's expression showed a hint of emotion as Beichen spoke, and a look of gratitude and relief flashed across those devilish eyes.
A gentleman will die for his confidant. Is there any counselor in the world who does not expect to be truly understood, respected and trusted?
He never doubted his own talent, but precisely because of his outstanding brain, no matter how many people served him, his lord would be wary of his intelligence and would be reserved with him. He would ask him for advice, but the intelligence and bargaining chips he provided were concealed, as if he was afraid that he would take his secrets to the enemy.
Sometimes, he even wondered, a person's intelligence and loyalty are obviously separate things, why do people take it for granted that the two are inversely proportional?
However, now he finally met a servant who was willing to affirm his talents, let him do his work without asking any questions, and trust him completely, even without any suspicion after he concealed so much information.
So what does it matter if this woman is a Red Moon Priestess or something?
It seems that everything I have done is indeed worth it.
Xiao Ying walked up to Beichen and gently stroked her cheek with one hand. Her captivating smile made Beichen lose her sense of direction for a moment.
Then he looked at Beichen's dazed expression with satisfaction and spoke softly.
"After I followed you, I kept in touch with Su Mo. Of course, at that time, it was just a deception to show that I was still loyal to him. However, when I discovered Ling Shuang's little trick, I changed my mind. I went to negotiate with Su Mo."
"negotiation."
"Well, I had a showdown with him. I gave up my revenge, plus some of your information and some of the information I had treasured for years, in exchange for his promise."
"What promise? Could it be—"
"Yes, it was a promise to help us when we were in trouble. However, he was a businessman after all, and he wouldn't turn down a good deal. That's why he was so strange, helping Ling Shuang first and then us. The former was his deal, and the latter was his promise to me."
"Is that why he knows I'm the Red Moon Priestess? You were the one who told him this information."
"Yes." Xiao Peng nodded seriously. "He's a member of the Thirteenth Seat and has long had a deep understanding of the Miko. But unlike Yagad, the Red Moon Knight who can directly observe the Miko, although he has a lot of information, it's just information. He has no idea who the Miko is or where she is. The news that you're the Miko obviously makes him very happy. I've long seen that his attitude towards you is inclined towards flattery and winning you over, so I spoke on my own initiative... I'm sorry."
Beichen sighed and smiled bitterly.
"Although it's a bit unpleasant, your move did save us. But why did you let him succeed even though you knew Ling Shuang was making unusual moves?"
Xiao Peng's expression was somewhat gloomy, his body stiffened, and he twitched the corners of his mouth reluctantly.
"I've reminded you and hinted at this several times in our conversations, but you just don't seem willing to doubt Ling Shuang. Furthermore, you've clearly stated your determination to become king, yet you're so naive and defenseless in many of your actions. I'm wondering if it would be better to let you actually suffer a little."
Beichen glared: "So you just let him do this?!"
"How is that possible!" Xiao Peng smiled bitterly, his mouth twisted. "No matter how much I indulged myself, I wouldn't have let things get to this point. And even if I wanted to cooperate with the acting, I wouldn't have tolerated him destroying my appearance like this, right? If it weren't for Su Mo's banned drugs, my face would have been gone forever. Although I don't like this woman's face, it's at least better than a face full of scars, right?"
"So what is it..."
"I miscalculated. I thought that no matter how bold he was, he would only come after you, and at most he would stage a show to kidnap you or something. I have many ways to deal with that kind of thing. But I didn't expect that he would dare to use Xiaxue, take over an entire divine group, and make a deal with Su Mo. He even had the ambition to liberate all the weapons in the world. He really concealed it better than I thought, so when I realized it, it was still too late. I originally wanted to teach you a lesson, but now it seems that I am the one who should be taught a lesson. I was too confident and underestimated the enemy."
“…”
Beichen lowered his head with a complicated expression, while Xiaoying half-knelt down in front of her with a sincere look.
"So I also have some responsibility for this incident. If I had told Ling Shuang some of the suspicious details earlier, maybe I wouldn't have—"
"Given my personality, I might not believe you even if you told me back then."
Beichen curled his lips in self-mockery and helped him up.
"But from now on, I will believe it. The responsibility this time should be shared equally between us, Xiao Peng. But forget about the punishment. After all, Su Mo, the rescuer, wouldn't have contacted me without the promise you fought for. Besides, I'm not the lord yet, so I don't want to exercise any judgment."
"Beichen."
"I just hope that you won't hide anything from me anymore. Except when there are strategies that require it, if you have any other ideas or opinions, just tell me directly, okay?"
"good."
Xiao Ying's voice trembled slightly as he responded softly but forcefully.
"Well, what about your contract? Is it still hanging here with Su Mo's subordinates?"
"It was already dissolved a long time ago. You are now a free warrior. But I won't force you to make a contract. After all, I know your current situation."
Beichen smiled with a complicated expression.
"Thank you, Xiao Ping... At least recently, I don't really want to increase my weapons, but don't worry, Yin Yue and I will help you solve the problem of food and clothing."
"There's no need to go through so much trouble. Just get a spirit crystal from a corpse with war resentment syndrome."
"Oh, yes. But..."
"Well, if possible, I'm more accustomed to being fed by humans. After all, a weapon's instinctive desire is to be used by people and gain value. Now that it's separated from humans, it's not so easy to adapt to the concepts and biological instincts."
Beichen nodded, then seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and looked around at everyone in the room.
"Now the backlog of questions has finally been cleared up. Xiaoping, can you answer my last question?"
"Okay." The faint gloom on Xiao Peng's face dissipated a little, and then he revealed a somewhat proud smile and looked at the people around him. "It's finally time to show off your results. Everyone, are there any tasks I assigned that are not completed?"
"What do you think?"
Yaye snorted in dissatisfaction first.
"I brought nine thousand Darkborn soldiers to the capital. Don't tell me you didn't see it?"
"Yes," Xiao Ping nodded. "As for gathering the Fallen Darkseed's combat power, the results have been better than expected. I originally thought we could only gather around 5,000. Thank you for your hard work, Yaye. ... Beichen, the Fallen Darkseed can avoid detection by stellar spirit power and have the ability to levitate and transform into shadows. They will become a very outstanding reconnaissance force in the future. This army must be carefully trained personally."
"Yeah!" Beichen nodded vigorously, then cast a grateful look at Yaye - the latter snorted as if it was a matter of course, appearing to be very pleased with her gratitude.
Xiaoying continued to "collect homework":
"So Xifeng, what about you?"
"Although I'm the last one in terms of Emperor-class weapons, I'm still a world-class noble after all. The Transnational Spiritual Martial Union license is not a big deal."
Xifeng threw a card into Beichen's hand as he spoke - it was a golden identity card representing his qualification as president.
"The basic framework has been established, and the funding has been secured—by the way, Redis has contributed over ten million riyals—in addition to the human commissioning system, various service functions for the weapons have also been developed. This is perfect for the current situation of separation and integration between the two races."
"A transnational Lingwu Division Union... this is too impressive!"
Beichen held the card in her hand, examining it carefully with admiration. In Senagard, the Lingwu Division Union was clearly a vital institution, perhaps even a source of income for a nation. And now, she already had a complete guild prototype in her hands. She was truly worthy of being Xifeng, a figure who had lived for over 300 years!
"Then it's my turn."
Gu Yinyue on the side took the initiative to speak. Although he still had that cold and murderous face, for some reason, there was a hint of seeking credit in his tone, as if he wanted to grab Beichen's attention.
As he spoke, he took out a large stack of paper from Longyun's storage space.
"This is a detailed topographic map of each country. It includes some locations not publicly recorded, as well as the distribution density of possessed Moon Emissaries."
Beichen took a breath.
She knew the significance of maps in a world where technology was not very developed and all convenience depended on spirit crystals.
Especially for locations or strategic terrain that the country keeps secret, if you get hold of them, not only will you win, but you'll also be incredibly useful in preventing ambush. The value of this stack of paper is almost impossible to estimate in monetary terms.
"Yin Yue... How did you get these?! These...!"
"My father was once a general of the Youyu Kingdom. From his days of conquest, he had detailed maps of almost all of the Southern Continent. He also had quite a few maps of the Northern and Eastern Continents, and the rest were drawn by me. For the seven years since I became a member of the Lingwu Division, I've been traveling across these two continents and visited many places. This time, revisiting old places, it wouldn't be difficult to purposefully explore all the areas that were deliberately blocked off."
“…”
Being able to freely enter and exit state secret locations...isn't that a big deal?!
"Anyway, with them, there will be no problem in conquering."
"No, no, no, no, I don't want to actually become a world-conquering demon king—these are just talismans to protect me from foreign invasion. The burden of building a nation is heavy enough, and if I were to conquer the world, I think I'd be drained dry by the pressure in three days. I don't want that."
Gu Yinyue was stunned when he heard this, then he sneered and reached out to touch her head lovingly.
"Use it as you wish."
"Well, thank you for your hard work, Yinyue!"
Beichen smiled and let the big hand touch her head for a while. Until Gu Yinyue withdrew his hand, she turned around and smiled with relief to everyone.
"Although I suffered a huge setback and Ling Shuang betrayed my trust, I have learned this lesson. But at the same time, I have also gained something in return. I am very happy... that you are willing to respond to my trust."
Ling Shuang’s lesson taught me not to let my guard down towards others easily.
But you also let me know that there is always a pure land in this world where I can let go of all my defenses.
"From now on, I will learn from my mistakes and take everything with a grain of salt. But you—because I have endured tremendous pain, because I have put in so much effort underwater, because I have fought for these important things. So, only you—only you—please allow me to continue to be naive and childish."
Under everyone's gentle yet firm gaze, Beichen once again revealed the cute and clear smile that belonged to the timid yet brave little loach who could kill the white shadow quickly.
Only for you, I will still turn around without hesitation and expose my most vulnerable back to you.
And this time, I believe that what will greet me from behind is only a warm hug.
There will be no more cold gun tips.
The depression in the room slowly dissipated in this warm and peaceful atmosphere.
However, the expressions of the twins standing at one end of the room were even gloomier than before.
Xifeng, Gu Yinyue, Yaye—while they were just fooling around with Beichen, they had already silently laid the foundation for Beichen's upcoming path, clearing away obstacles and even planting trees along the way. And what about them? They claimed to be protecting Beichen, but in the end, what did they do?
Not only did he fail to do anything, but he was beaten back to his original form in an irresistible manner. He retained consciousness but could not speak. He could only lie in a pool of cold blood and watch the only woman he truly loved in his life being violated, humiliated, and hurt in such a desperate look.
Compared with Yaye, Xifeng, Gu Yinyue and Xiaopeng, who on earth are they?
It would be fine if he was incompetent, but he couldn't even hold on to his bottom line. Even after he already had a woman in his heart that he wanted to cherish, he was forced to sharpen his sword with other women.
—Has he lost even the slightest qualification to stay by her side? Why is he still standing here so shamelessly, savoring his own incompetence in this room?
Black Plague, Su Jie—what on earth can you do for her? What on earth can you—
What value is left?
The twins asked themselves the same question at the same time, but the expressions on their faces became more and more gloomy. Beichen, who had already noticed it, slowly walked up to them, staring at them with clear, stern and sincere eyes.
"Public affairs first, private affairs second. Now that public affairs are resolved, it's time to address private matters. Black Disaster, Su Jie, do you want to speak first, or should I?"
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