Chapter 132, Chapter Thirty-Three: The Lost Manor
“I won’t take advantage of you. Here’s another Athena card, give it to me,” Li Yufei said, pointing to the card in Song Xiaona’s hand.
Dean has been gone for fifteen minutes; he should have already taken action.
Thinking about this plan, Song Xiaona's palms started to sweat.
If she succeeds this time, she can get rid of this strange tale; otherwise, if she fails, she will have a falling out with Cheng Yuzhou.
Although the information available suggests that death here may not be a real death, and it is even possible that one can return to the real world after death, Song Xiaona is unwilling to risk her life without 100% certainty.
If things don't go smoothly with Dean, she'll have to consider taking action herself...
"Hey, did you hear me?" Li Yufei looked up in surprise. "I said I want Athena."
“I heard you.” Song Xiaona turned her attention to Li Yufei in front of her. “Athena’s skills are not suitable for you. I advise you to choose Hestia.”
“Why should I?” she didn’t even know who Hestia was. “Then I want Apollo.”
“Apollo’s skills overlap a lot with Cheng Yuzhou’s Eros,” Song Xiaona asked. “Are you sure?”
"Really? What about Poseidon?" Li Yufei recognized that.
“Aphrodite was born from the ocean, and is considered to be of the same origin as the sea god. Poseidon’s skills are not as effective as fire skills.”
“Well…” Li Yufei held a hand of cards and swiped them back and forth, she wasn’t even this worried about playing Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game).
Let's just pick a nice one.
Just as I was thinking this, I saw people gathering around me out of the corner of my eye.
Li Yufei looked up and saw three members of the Thunder Team gathered around, carrying the cold weapons they had received before the last Holy War.
They approached slowly in a triangular formation, their footsteps and breathing unusual.
Li Yufei put down her cards, glanced around with her fox-like eyes, and looked at Song Xiaona, "What are they doing?"
"Dean isn't here, so he asked us to come and help keep watch," said the man standing behind Song Xiaona. "Don't be nervous, have a seat."
"Then you guys stay here, I'm leaving first." Li Yufei drew an Apollo card and returned the rest to Song Xiaona. Song Xiaona grabbed her wrist, "What's the rush? Cheng Yuzhou has almost a hundred faith points, what could possibly happen to him?"
The moment her wrist was grabbed, Li Yufei gripped the Apollo cards tightly.
These three men were clearly acting strangely. She thought Song Xiaona didn't want her to take the cards, but Song Xiaona was just holding her and didn't seem to be trying to take the cards away. Li Yufei couldn't figure out what her purpose was.
We can't just keep her occupied while Dean goes to kill Cheng Yuzhou alone.
She had already told them that Cheng Yuzhou was unkillable.
"Feifei!"
A shout came from afar, and Song Xiaona and Lei Ting immediately looked over.
There are only three possible outcomes in the plan: either Dean returns successfully, Cheng Yuzhou kills Dean and comes looking for him, or Cheng Yuzhou takes Dean to confront them.
But what appeared before them was a fourth scenario—
Dean and Cheng Yuzhou walked side by side, the atmosphere peaceful and without any animosity.
The two people's strangely friendly gesture made Song Xiaona pause as she drew her knife from her quiver.
Something seemed amiss, so she didn't immediately have the three of them subdue Li Yufei as planned, nor did she immediately put a knife to Li Yufei's neck and force Cheng Yuzhou to let them leave.
"Xiao Na!" Dean, who had returned with Cheng Yuzhou, ran a few steps. The three members of Thunder looked at him in surprise, but he ignored them and ran straight to Song Xiao Na, saying, "Everything is resolved. Let Yu Fei go back."
Song Xiaona was astonished.
What happened? What does it mean?
Li Yufei quickly jumped out of the strange triangle formation. Hearing Dean's words, the other three were unsure whether to stop her or not, and let her go out.
"Feifei!" Cheng Yuzhou grabbed her hand, looked her up and down anxiously, and breathed a sigh of relief when he made sure she hadn't suffered any unpleasantness.
Fortunately, he arrived in time.
"What are you doing here?" Li Yufei asked in surprise. "And with Dean. Who's going to guard our barrier?"
"I cleared out a wave of demons with my card skills before I came, so the barrier should be fine." Cheng Yuzhou was still shaken and eager to take her away. "But we can't stay away for too long. Let's go back quickly."
Li Yufei turned around and glanced at Song Xiaona.
Song Xiaona stared at Dean with a puzzled look in her eyes, while Dean just smiled and said, "It's okay, it's okay, let them go."
It's inexplicable.
Li Yufei frowned, suddenly noticing that Dean's soul color was a bit strange.
A hint of black and red had crept into his originally bright orange and blue.
Did he already have this?
Li Yufei hadn't observed Dean in such detail, nor did she care. She quickly looked away and followed Cheng Yuzhou away.
When he caught her at Song Xiaona's place, Li Yufei had no choice but to temporarily hide the cards she had just picked up.
She hesitated for a moment, then said, "I was looking for a place to sleep when Song Xiaona stopped me as I was passing by."
Cheng Yuzhou was taken aback, then realized that she was making excuses for not going to "sleep".
"I see." He pretended not to hear, feeling helpless.
Feeling guilty, Li Yufei started picking on others, "What's going on between you and Dean? Why did you two come together?"
“I saw Dean alone, so I asked him about it. I heard you were with Song Xiaona, and I felt uneasy about it, so I came over.”
"The atmosphere was indeed a bit strange just now," Li Yufei wondered. "But she didn't do anything to me, so what could she have done to me?"
Cheng Yuzhou didn't miss Song Xiaona's hand on the quiver.
If I'm not mistaken, Song Xiaona was just trying to take Li Yufei hostage and force him to let her leave.
She had made two preparations in advance: if Dean failed, she would take Li Yufei hostage.
If he didn't agree, Li Yufei might get hurt; he had no choice but to agree.
But once he reveals his plan to leave, Li Yufei will realize that his claim of "not being able to leave" is a lie.
She will hate him and completely side with Song Xiaona. At that time, with Li Yufei as her protector, Song Xiaona will no longer be afraid of him.
If he truly has no way to leave and is truly just an innocent "victim," then it means his power is limited, and Song Xiaona doesn't need to be afraid of him; it doesn't matter if things come to a head.
It's a risky move, but the chances of winning are not small. In the absence of any other options, it's worth the risk for Song Xiaona to try.
When Cheng Yuzhou had Dean under control and realized Song Xiaona's plan, he faced two paths:
One possibility is to break the deadlock through violence, or to use psychological control on Song Xiaona.
But with Li Yufei present, Cheng Yuzhou didn't want to use inhuman power in front of her.
Secondly, I will not go to see Song Xiaona.
The entire plan was based on his presence; if Song Xiaona couldn't see him, there would be no way she could kidnap Li Yufei.
She either releases the person or, in a desperate situation, resorts to desperate measures. If it's the latter, Li Yufei will see through Song Xiaona's malicious intentions and will never see her alone again.
This was the best option, but Cheng Yuzhou still rejected it.
Now that things have come to this, Cheng Yuzhou finally understands why Li Yufei asked Zheng Jianbin to report his status every hour.
Even after he returned, even when he was right in front of her, even when he told her he wouldn't die, she still told him before she went to see Song Xiaona that she would definitely be back within an hour.
She gets anxious when she can't see him.
He had to go find her immediately and see her to put her mind at ease.
"Where is Song Xiaona? What have you done to Yufei?!" He grabbed Dean's collar, his anger rising uncontrollably in a long time.
A hint of surprise flashed in Dean's eyes. He hadn't expected Cheng Yuzhou to react so quickly, figuring out their plan in just a few words.
He wasn't sure if Song Xiaona was ready, so he planned to delay a bit longer.
The two were of similar build. Looking at the barrier so close to them, Dean gritted his teeth, grabbed Cheng Yuzhou's wrist and shoulder, and tried to throw him out of the barrier in a sumo wrestling motion.
"Answer me!" Yufei was waiting for him; he didn't have time to argue with her!
A dark light surged in Cheng Yuzhou's eyes, and Dean, who was exerting himself, suddenly stopped moving.
He stared blankly into Cheng Yuzhou's eyes, unable to resist being drawn to them.
Cheng Yuzhou released him and said in a cold voice, "Now, do as I say."
...
“That’s right,” Dean smiled at Song Xiaona. “After talking to him in depth, I think he’s a very good person. Xiaona, are you mistaken? His beloved woman lives here, so why would he harm us?”
Song Xiaona stared blankly at her boyfriend in front of her.
It took her a long time to process what she was saying before she managed to ask with difficulty, "Dean, what's wrong?"
She knew Cheng Yuzhou was a skilled debater, but after deducting the time spent traveling, the two of them would only have been in contact for a maximum of three to five minutes.
Dean set off with a death wish. What exactly did Cheng Yuzhou say that made Dean call him brother in just five minutes?
“Nothing happened to me,” Dean said, bewildered. “I just realized that this was all a misunderstanding.”
"What exactly did Cheng Yuzhou say to you?!" Song Xiaona grabbed his arm and demanded, "What exactly did you two talk about?!"
"We talked..." Dean paused.
A fleeting look of blank confusion crossed his eyes, but it quickly turned into a smile. "We just had a brief chat."
"I'm asking you what you talked about! Tell me every single word!"
Dean frowned. "I can't quite remember."
Song Xiaona was taken aback. "Don't tell me you've completely forgotten what happened fifteen minutes ago?"
Dean patiently persuaded, "Anyway, he's a really good person. I tried to assassinate him, and he didn't hold it against me; he even let me go. Doesn't that prove it?"
Song Xiaona stared at Dean in disbelief.
He never answered her question or told her what Cheng Yuzhou had said.
Did Cheng Yuzhou promise him great rewards, and he betrayed him?
Or is there some unspeakable reason why Dean is willing to keep it a secret for Cheng Yuzhou?
No, none of them seem right.
Song Xiaona carefully pulled Dean aside and asked, "Okay, I believe what you say. Then tell me what you talked about with Cheng Yuzhou. Maybe I'll find it makes sense too?"
“It’s not that I deliberately kept it from you.” Dean stroked his chin and frowned slightly. “I was too nervous when I was assassinating him, so I really can’t remember clearly. It seems like we talked about him seeing through your plan? Sigh, what we talked about isn’t important. What’s important is that he’s a good person.”
He seemed to have truly forgotten—or rather, he had no memory of the conversation at all.
Something's not right...
Song Xiaona opened her eyes and saw ten divination tablets stuck to her chest in the inner pocket of her coat.
The unease that had been buried deep in my heart for days surfaced at this moment:
Why was Cheng Yuzhou able to quickly persuade Li Yufei to calm down?
Why did Li Yufei suddenly accept the holy war to protect the manor?
Why did Dean suddenly betray them?
Why is the skill level for Psyche cards so mediocre that it's almost weak?
Regardless of the mythological version, Psyche was not a parasite relying on others; she embarked on a perilous journey to find her husband alone, and her card skills should never have been subservient to anyone.
Psyche, the goddess of the soul and the butterfly goddess, is also known as the goddess of the mind.
Page 3 of the Covenant:
[III. The remnants of Eros's assassination attempt on the goddess have not completely dissipated. A lingering shadow remains; if you feel a burning pain while sleeping at night, do not open your eyes! If you have already opened your eyes, please leave the room immediately!]
This isn't one message, it's two! Separated by a period!
The remnants of Eros's assassination attempt on the goddess have not completely disappeared.
The despicable Eros stole the power of the goddess of the mind; he stole Psyche's most important skill—
Mind control
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
