Chapter 178: Small Town Exploration (6) “A traitor.”…
Luciano realized that he seemed to have met someone he couldn't afford to offend.
He looked embarrassed, staring at the crowd outside and said to Si Ling, "Uh... Ma'am, it's not that I don't agree, but this..." He looked at the stacks of paper money in his hand, "Even if these can effectively prevent piracy, they're not enough..."
There are so many residents in the town that half of the basement is filled with Cubes, and the other half is filled with uncut stone slabs, which is the only way to ensure the flow of funds in the town.
Si Ling was also unequivocal: "This is just a sample. If you agree, just tell me the quantity and I'll prepare it within three days."
Luciano and his assistant exchanged a glance, then muffled his words: "If that's the case... well, although I find all this strange, I don't think I have any reason to disagree. I hope we can enjoy our cooperation..."
As he spoke, he took two steps forward and extended his hand to Si Ling in a friendly manner. As Si Ling shook his hand, he asked her miserably, "Can you please get those people out of here first? It's too scary."
"No problem." Si Ling smiled.
She snapped her fingers again, and Luciano saw the mud and sand on the seabed outside the barrier behind her suddenly rise up, forming a sand curtain that seemed to have no end.
The sand was evenly distributed and fine, blocking Luciano from the vast army without leaving any gaps, so he could not see anything.
When the sand settled, there was no trace of the army.
Luciano gasped. He knew Si Ling was emphasizing his strength to avoid complications with this "cooperation," but he was convinced.
He would never offend these two people.
"...It's a pleasure working with you." Luciano said, "I'll have my assistant calculate the amount of new currency needed and let you know."
"No problem, thank you for your hard work." Si Ling nodded.
The conversation ended successfully. Si Ling and Xuan Chi returned to their residence and felt the Tongming Plate vibrate. They saw that A Zhu had sent another message, still with the same "God descending" expression.
Si Ling felt something was wrong. After thinking for a moment, he handed the Tongming Plate to Xuan Chi and asked, "What do you think of Ah Zhui?"
"Hmm?" Xuan Chi took it in confusion. He was startled when he looked at it carefully, and then said, "Azhu also sent this to me."
Si Ling frowned: "How many times?"
"Just once," Hyun Chi said, "I didn't reply, and she didn't say anything else."
...But Si Ling replied. After receiving this emoticon last time, she asked A Zhui what was wrong. A Zhui never answered her, but today he sent the same emoticon again.
"Something must have happened." Si Ling made a quick judgment, "It doesn't look like Ah Zhu is in danger, but something must be wrong."
She hesitated and said, "I want to go back and take a look first. You stay and wait for news from Luciano?"
Xuan Chi thought for a moment and said, "It will take time for Luciano to count the number. Why don't we go back together and take a look?" He paused for a moment before offering another suggestion, "We can also wait until things here are settled before going back. Ah Zhui is a student at the Ghost Academy. The Ghost Academy is no ordinary school. It is directly governed by Lucifer... It is basically at the highest level of the Western Hell Realm."
Si Ling understood what he meant - he felt that under such circumstances, no one would dare to act rashly in the Ghost Academy.
She only asked: "What if it is the Eastern Heaven?"
Xuan Chi pondered and said, "The Eastern and Western God Realms have always maintained peace. Even if they were to track us down, I don't think they would disrupt this balance."
"Really?" Si Ling shrugged and said bluntly, "I don't agree. If one side has the power to overpower the other, the so-called peace is more fragile than glass. Whether it can be maintained depends entirely on what the stronger side thinks. Besides-"
She sighed, "If my guess is correct and Yu Heng is really Di Jun, he is not a patient person."
Xuan Chi nodded silently: "Then let's go back first. Do you want to lead the troops?"
"Don't alert the enemy." Si Ling thought for a moment and then said, "Tell Hyun-ryeon about the progress of the past few days. If anything unexpected happens, at least we'll have someone to help us."
"Okay." Hyun Chi agreed, sat on the sofa, carefully edited a long message and sent it to Hyun Lan, then he and Si Ling set off to return to the Ghost Academy.
Even with Xuan Chi leading Si Ling at lightning speed, the return journey still took quite a while. It was late at night when they arrived at the Ghost Academy. When they were still a few hundred meters away from Hohenzollern Castle, which was shrouded in a barrier, Si Ling sensed an unusual aura.
It wasn't a bad aura, just unfamiliar. And the fact that she could sense it from such a distance showed that the opponent was quite powerful.
"Hide your soul and escape into thin air." Si Ling cast a spell to hide his tracks, and Xuan Chi immediately followed suit.
The two of them floated silently to the outside of the wall of the Ghost Academy. Si Ling originally wanted to find Lucifer to inquire about the situation, but when he got there, he suddenly changed his mind. He found A Zhui's room, tore the barrier outside the room, and entered the room.
Xuan Chi hesitated again and again when facing the "girls' dormitory", but decided to stop outside the wall and wait for Si Ling.
This dormitory had once been shared by Ah Zhui and Si Ling. Later, Si Ling moved to the luxurious suite upstairs, and Bai Ma moved in. Now both of them were asleep. Si Ling threw out four paper figures to guard the four corners of the dormitory to help her keep out any noise from outside. He tiptoed to Ah Zhui's bedside and patted her: "Ah Zhui? Ah Zhui!"
After a few calls, Ah Zhui woke up suddenly from her sleep and was unexpectedly faced with the classic plot of a horror movie - in the dim bedroom, she could not see the person in front of her at all, but only heard someone calling her name.
The sudden fear made Ah Zhui's scalp numb for a moment, but fortunately she quickly recognized the voice: "Si Ling?"
"Yeah." Si Ling nodded. "For the sake of caution, I won't show up. What's the meaning of the expression you sent?"
Ah Zhui suddenly sat up, staring at the air in front of him and asked, "Are you here in person? Or is it a spell?"
"I'm here." Si Ling replied.
Ah Zhui immediately became nervous: "Didn't you encounter any problems when you came in?"
Si Ling: "No, why do you say that?"
Ah Zhui took a deep breath and said thoughtfully, "I can't really explain what happened... Just a few days ago, some strange people came to the academy and are now living here."
Si Ling: "Someone from the Eastern Heavenly Court?"
Ah Zhui was stunned: "How do you know?"
"I'll explain it to you slowly later. First, tell me what happened to them."
Ah Zhui pursed his lips and said, "They...as soon as they arrived, they quietly added a barrier to the academy. That barrier seems to monitor all movements in the academy, including any messages sent out. Principal Lucifer even had an argument with them over this, saying they were overstepping their authority, but in the end, nothing came of it."
Si Ling nodded: "Is this why you only send me emojis?"
"Yes." Ah Zhui paused, "I didn't want to tell you this, but when I passed by their residence that day, I happened to see them in a meeting. There was a portrait of you on their table, and they said they wanted to secretly investigate..."
Ah Zhui sighed softly: "I don't know if you have any old grudges, but after thinking about it, I think it's better to tell you first. Anyway, you better be careful."
"Thank you." Si Ling showed gratitude, even though A Zhui couldn't see her.
She was puzzled again, "Since there was a portrait, why didn't they use it to ask the students and professors about me?"
"Not at all." Ah Zhui's lips twitched slightly. "I don't understand why, but they have been hiding the portrait... They probably haven't mentioned it to Principal Lucifer, otherwise he would have found out long ago."
Upon hearing this, Si Ling was certain of their purpose - they were not looking for "Si Ling", but for Xin Bi.
Out of reverence for the Karma Curse, or simply out of caution, they did not dare to hastily announce the existence of the former Heavenly Emperor to the world, so they chose to investigate secretly.
...She doesn't have much time left.
She came to the West through the "formal process". Although the operation of the Emperor of Heaven turning into a fierce ghost is very niche, if the Heavenly Court continues to investigate the Ghost Academy openly and secretly, it will probably find some clues sooner or later and then find Fengdu.
She stayed in Fengdu for so long that she left so many traces, and many people knew her.
When the time comes, the Heavenly Court will take her portrait to Fengdu and ask about it, and everything will be clear.
No, wait...
Si Ling suddenly remembered the location of the cave. From her previous memories, in order to hide the traces of the heavenly soldiers, she cut the land and sank the Cangming Palace into the sea, but the altar where Xuan Chi was executed did not change its location.
She then asked Ah Zhui, "Have they ever been to the catacombs?"
Ah Zhui nodded and said, "Yes, they have been there. They have visited the entire academy."
Si Ling: "Didn't you ask about the cave?"
Ah Zhui said uncertainly: "Maybe he asked Principal Lucifer, I'm not sure."
.
At the same time, Xuan Chi followed the strange scent and floated to the window of a reception room on the top floor of the castle's main building.
There were seven or eight people standing or sitting in the reception room, all dressed as officials from the Eastern Heavenly Court. Everyone was silent, as if they were stuck in a stalemate.
Xuan Chi hung in the air for a long time before he finally heard the figure on the sofa in front of him say, "I know you have doubts, but the Lord sent us here secretly, so he must have noticed something."
"What did you notice?" someone immediately asked. "That altar down there hasn't been used for a long time, and that bronze sword has obviously been unused for tens of thousands of years."
Another person nearby said, "Sir...even if it's a secret order, we received it together. What exactly are you looking for? Could you please tell us more? With just a portrait, even if we find the person, it doesn't necessarily mean it's the one. There are so many people who look alike in the world."
Then there was another long silence, until Xuan Chi thought he would not hear any more. The figure in front of him sighed and said slowly, "I can only tell you that tens of thousands of years ago, someone died in that altar."
"Who?"
"A traitorous general," he said. "He betrayed his master and led his troops westward without authorization. He was later tracked down and beheaded by the sword."
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The author has something to say:
Subordinate: And then?
Hyun Chi: Then he turned into a ghost and is now looking at you from the window.
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