Chapter 30 In the secluded spot, whose gaze enveloped her skin inch by inch...
A desperate voice came from the system: "It...didn't move...at all..."
This query was indeed faster than the first one.
Jiang Geyun was not surprised by the result.
The villain's attitude towards her was inconsistent; sometimes he seemed ready to let her go, and other times he seemed to suddenly remember that there was someone else he could torment. This didn't seem like he liked her at all; it was more like she had offended him at some point.
But she and he had never even met, which was truly puzzling.
Or perhaps the main villain is just like that, showing no kindness to any human being.
Let's take a look at the entrance to Xuandujian.
The stone steps in front of me were built along the mountain and soared into the clouds. The higher I went, the more dilapidated they looked, unlike a place that could be passed normally.
It looks like just an ordinary, abandoned mountain trail.
If Su Heng hadn't brought Jiang Geyun here, she certainly wouldn't have taken this path on her own initiative.
Jiang Geyun looked up the steps, her expression unchanged, her gaze calm, and she cautiously remained silent and still.
Even if the Xuandu Bureau is special, it shouldn't require its members to climb such a high slope to get to work. At least Pei Xueyi doesn't seem like the kind of person who could tolerate such a rule.
There must be a hidden, correct way to enter Xuandujian.
If she appears too ignorant, the main villain next to her will seize on her and criticize her.
Su Heng's gaze made Jiang Geyun feel extremely uncomfortable, but she maintained a calm and composed demeanor, with a mysterious and confident smile on her face.
...I hope Zhengyi still has a shred of conscience!
Whether it was Jiang Geyun's prayers that had an effect, or Zheng Yi's desire to make her do hard labor that led him to retain some conscience, it is unclear.
After Jiang Geyun finished praying, the mountain-suppressing stone beside her suddenly started to turn on its own.
Then, the stone steps in front of them parted to the sides, revealing a dark, tunnel-like passage.
Su Heng stepped into the tunnel.
Judging from his expression, it didn't seem like this was his first time here.
Jiang Geyun glanced back at the carriage behind her.
All she could see was the coachman, dressed in dark blue clothes, who was sitting cross-legged in front of the carriage, looking like an old monk in deep meditation, and appearing very calm.
Jiang Geyun quickly looked away and caught up with Su Heng a few steps before he turned to look at her.
"Does Your Excellency care a lot about that... carriage?"
In the darkness, Su Heng spoke with a smile, then suddenly asked a question.
Jiang Geyun was taken aback. She hadn't expected the villain to ask this. She hadn't even seen the driver's face clearly, only vaguely remembering that he was a young man.
There shouldn't be any traps in this question, Jiang Geyun said truthfully: "This humble official is just curious whether it will wait for Your Highness at the entrance the whole time."
The sound of their footsteps echoed one after the other in the dark tunnel.
“They’ve gotten used to it,” Su Heng said calmly. After a moment, he sighed, “…The master really hasn’t returned in a long time.”
The tunnel was deep and dark, and Su Heng's voice was drawn out and seemed distant. His words were already difficult to understand, but now they seemed even more meaningful.
Under the influence of pure darkness, Jiang Geyun always felt that Su Heng's tone was colder and more dangerous than usual.
Before entering the tunnel, Jiang Geyun thought that although the tunnel looked scary, there would still be some sense of security since there were two of them together.
I didn't expect it to be even more frightening once I actually got inside.
Besides the cold and lingering darkness, what made Jiang Geyun most nervous was the feeling of being watched, which came from nowhere.
A sense of crisis, a chill, and trembling made her try to open her eyes wide in the darkness, but in the end she found nothing.
Whose gaze enveloped her skin inch by inch, even seeping in silently?
In such darkness, no one should be able to see anything...
No.
Rather than appearing suddenly, this gaze seemed to have always been there, only it wasn't so easy to spot before. Now, with darkness enveloping her and sight useless, her other senses were much sharper, making it all the more noticeable.
Jiang Geyun took a deep breath, her voice slightly hoarse, "Indeed, as Your Highness said."
The various rules of Xuandujian are interconnected and have their own operating system. This dark tunnel quickly reminded Jiang Geyun of the dark room.
Su Heng was probably asking her why she didn't summon her natal fire for illumination.
It must have been because the problem was so dangerous that it instilled a sense of crisis in her.
For now, we have no choice but to hold on.
No matter what he said, she would just brush it off and wait until she met Zhengyi's people before throwing this hot potato away. Then she could just focus on doing hard labor.
Before Jiang Geyun could truly feel the oppression of the darkness and find it hard to breathe, a silver light appeared at the end of her vision.
Like a small, graceful dragon, like a constant flash of lightning.
The silver flames approached from afar and soon reached the two of them.
After a flash of silver light, a girl dressed in dark blue pounced precisely!
Jiang Geyun took half a step back to steady herself and caught Pei Xueyi.
Pei Xueyi's smile was never limited to her lips, but extended from her eyes to her eyebrows, and from the corners of her eyes to her cheeks.
The girl said happily, "I knew you'd be here soon, I could tell from the time I was counting down..."
Before Jiang Geyun could answer, Pei Xueyi noticed Su Heng standing to the side.
The usually carefree and lively girl immediately became much more serious. She bowed respectfully to Su Heng and said, "Greetings, Your Highness. I was unaware of your arrival and have failed to greet you properly. Please show me the way!"
Su Heng naturally wouldn't blame Pei Xueyi for this minor rudeness.
He nodded in acceptance of Pei Xueyi's greeting and said, "No need to worry about me, you two can do as you please."
The tunnel was too dark to see his expression clearly.
With Pei Xueyi's presence, the tunnel became much brighter, and Jiang Geyun's mood immediately eased considerably.
She let Pei Xueyi pull her along, and the two talked quietly from time to time.
Pei Xueyi said awkwardly, "I thought it was just you, Ayun, who came alone, and that you wouldn't be so quick..."
Jiang Geyun lowered her voice and replied, "Actually, I was quite surprised too."
Pei Xueyi also lowered her voice and said, "You don't have the Spirit Rhinoceros with you now, so you can't notify us. Sigh."
Seeing that Pei Xueyi's memory remained normal during her answers, Jiang Geyun asked, "The Master said that your memories would be affected after leaving Yunling Manor, but how come..."
Pei Xueyi smiled again, "It's like this when you first come out, like a hangover, you can't remember anything for the time being, but once someone reminds you, your memory will all come back!"
Jiang Geyun asked, "Princess?"
Pei Xueyi nodded, realizing that Jiang Geyun might not be able to see clearly, and replied in a low voice, "Yes, it was the princess's order for us to take you..."
Jiang Geyun coughed lightly and said, "Is that so?"
Pei Xueyi must not be allowed to say the whole thing.
Although the two were not speaking loudly, Su Heng was still there after all.
Pei Xueyi seemed to understand, and did not continue on this topic.
Of course, she might simply have been distracted.
Pei Xueyi said with great interest, "I knew there must be a reason for calling you here. Making this Mirage Compass is not easy. With you here, Ayun, it will be much easier!"
It seems Pei Xueyi is completely unaware of the mission's current situation. Given the mission's current condition... is a compass still necessary?
Jiang Geyun hesitated for a moment, unsure whether she should be the one to say it.
Under the faint silver light, Jiang Geyun looked up at Su Heng.
The main villain lowered his eyes, his expression still unreadable, but he calmly let the two of them lead the way and talk to each other.
In a daze, Jiang Geyun was reminded of Cheng Xi, who was by her side when she was at Yunling Manor.
However, Pei Xueyi deliberately kept her natal flame in the middle of the three of them, or more accurately, in front of Su Heng, to provide him with light.
Pei Xueyi is a free spirit, but she is, after all, a citizen of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
This subtle difference reveals the decisive distinction between Su Heng and Cheng Xi.
Seeing Jiang Geyun looking over, Su Heng returned the gaze from the shadows. Their eyes met for a moment before Jiang Geyun looked away first.
Suppressing her inexplicable guilt, she wondered to herself, "What's going on? The villain isn't answering. Is he not listening to their conversation?"
Not long after they walked, a small light appeared a few feet in front of them, which slowly expanded into a patch, giving them a sense of sudden enlightenment.
After passing through the tunnel, Xuandujian came into view.
At first glance, a variety of large buildings of different styles stand side by side, each with its own unique purpose, such as a cluster of museums, covering a much larger area than Yunling Mountain Villa.
Pei Xueyi took out the Lingxi and asked Su Heng, "Does Your Highness wish to see the princess?"
Su Heng stopped him, saying, "There's no need to make a big fuss. Just take me to the Zhenyi Division."
It's too late.
Pei Xueyi's hand visibly paused, and she raised her head, her gaze shifting.
Before Su Heng could finish speaking, a group of people in blue emerged from the end of the road.
The leader was short and thin, with deep laugh lines, resembling a long, thin old fox. He began to bow to Su Heng from afar, addressing him as, "Your Highness the Crown Prince!"
The group of people behind him also started shouting in a disorderly manner: "Your Highness!"
Su Heng offered a slight gesture of support and said, "Director Lu, there's no need for such formalities."
The supervisor still performed a full bow, and only after finishing did he ask, "Your Highness, what brings you here?"
As he spoke, he waved to Pei Xueyi.
Seeing this, Pei Xueyi quietly pulled Jiang Geyun along.
The two men were already behind Su Heng, and since the road supervisor and the people behind him did not say a word, Su Heng did not turn around to look at them.
The two left without incident.
As the laughter and chatter of the group gradually faded into the distance, Jiang Geyun looked back thoughtfully for a moment.
It seems that most people in Xuandujian already know about Zhengyi's arrangements for her.
She had expected some kind of scenario where the newcomer would get into trouble.
Those kinds of comments like, "Hmph, even if the princess has her eye on you, you're not all that great," um...
The temporary separation from Su Heng caused the system to let out an indescribable cry of regret.
The two arrived safely in front of a building, and no one called out to them.
Pei Xueyi breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The people from the Prophecy Bureau are really good at this kind of thing... Oh dear, why did the Crown Prince come over, and at this particular time!"
Jiang Geyun explained for him, "The entire delegation was killed, so he came to the Zhenyi Division to investigate the case."
Pei Xueyi said, "Is that so... No? What? What? They've all been killed?!"
Jiang Geyun repeated Su Heng's words verbatim.
Pei Xueyi remained silent for a moment before finally regaining her senses and saying, "No wonder... they managed to suppress this news so tightly..."
Jiang Geyun asked in surprise, "You didn't know about this?"
Pei Xueyi nodded and said, "We haven't heard any rumors in the prison. Who would know what the Crown Prince doesn't want others to know? But since he met with the people from the Prophecy Bureau, it seems that the Xuandu Prison is allowed to know this news."
Upon hearing "Chenwei Division" again, Jiang Geyun gently grabbed Pei Xueyi's sleeve and asked, "Xueyi, you are from the Zhenyi Division, right?"
Pei Xueyi said, "That's right. Has the princess already introduced all this to Ayun? I thought that given the princess's personality, she wouldn't say anything."
Zheng Yi really didn't say anything.
In response to Pei Xueyi's question, Jiang Geyun smiled silently without giving a direct answer, and changed the subject, "Speaking of which, where are Lord Pei and Lord Xie?"
Pei Xueyi let out a long "Ah—" and laughed mysteriously.
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Author's Note: As expected, it's been a no-show again. I'm trying to find some humor in this situation; at least this is my second book. If my first book had this bad luck, I might have given up…! Even though it's not on the rankings, seeing everyone's comments, support, and even some "throwing" (likes/comments) has healed my initial sadness [hugs].
Don't worry, I'll finish writing it no matter what, and I'll do my best to update at least every other day. Hehe, my enthusiasm hasn't been worn down yet! Hope you all enjoy reading it [kissing emoji]
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