The empty city was destroyed (22)
"Not needed?" Ye Yingying frowned, pressing for an answer. "Why not?"
Shaoling's face darkened, her expression gloomy: "In the past, when he asked us to go out to find something, he would always tell us the name of that thing. But this time, he only asked us to come to Jincheng to retrieve the magic artifact, without mentioning a word about what the magic artifact is called."
"Miss Ye should understand, right?"
Ye Yingying narrowed her eyes, deep in thought. The fortune teller always valued precision; giving such a vague answer would only waste time searching for the item. He would never make such a basic mistake unless it was intentional.
"At first, I didn't realize it either. It was only after I arrived here that I realized something was wrong," Shaoling continued. "It's perfectly normal to die in a place like this."
"Moreover, he also mastered the art of summoning souls."
Upon hearing the word "soul-summoning banner," Ye Yingying was stunned: "Why is he making this?"
Whose soul does he want to summon back? And what is the purpose of summoning it back?
“I don’t know.” Shaoling shook her head helplessly. “I only know that he has been planning something, and the Soul-Summoning Banner is the most crucial magical artifact to complete his plan.”
"Now that the summoning banner has taken shape, he has gone into seclusion to make final preparations."
“Logically speaking, he really doesn’t need us to do anything for him anymore.” Shao Ling’s tone grew increasingly serious. He frowned, his face showing worry. “So I think the reason the Ghost Calculator sent us here is because he doesn’t think we can get back alive…”
The atmosphere suddenly became heavy. Ye Yingying stood there silently, her chin resting on two fingers, lost in thought.
"That's all I wanted to say," Shaoling said gravely. "Miss Ye, once the Ghost Calculator emerges from seclusion, his cultivation will surely increase greatly, and then we'll have even less of a chance!"
"It's no use talking to me." Ye Yingying pouted helplessly. "You should try to get Gu Wusi to agree."
"She said the Azure Nether True Fire could kill the Ghost Calculator, but she wouldn't tell me exactly how. Do you know how to kill him?"
"Well... I'm not quite sure."
"Then there's nothing we can do?" Ye Yingying shrugged, then spread her hands. "I don't think she's in a hurry to kill the Ghost Calculator at all."
Shao Ling was suddenly stunned. He belatedly realized that Gu Wusi's attitude was quite unusual. Wasn't she just waiting for the right opportunity to take revenge? Now that the opportunity was right in front of her and within reach, why was she suddenly so passive?
Seeing that Shaoling remained silent, Ye Yingying teased again, "If you ask me, your Sister Gu is still keeping something from you."
Shaoling's expression stiffened, and a bitter feeling welled up in her heart.
Seeing that her mission was accomplished, Ye Yingying pulled Zhao Yuxiao and turned to leave, saying, "Go ask your Sister Gu for clarification."
Zhao Yuxiao was pulled by her towards the alleyway exit, glancing back at Shaoling every now and then. His once bright eyes were now veiled in a bewildered mist, and he stood there blankly with his head down, seemingly about to be swallowed by the shadows of the alley.
The blinding sunlight streamed into their vision, and the two rejoined the flowing crowd.
As they walked, Zhao Yuxiao suddenly asked, for some reason, "Miss Ying'er, should I call you 'sister' too?"
Ye Yingying found it strange: "Why do you ask that?"
"I just suddenly realized that you're much more mature than me in doing things," Zhao Yuxiao said frankly. "Of course, I'm not saying you're old."
"I feel like you and Wu Yue look about my age, but you're both more opinionated than me."
"However, I know that Wu Yue is indeed younger than me..."
Seeing him muttering like that, Ye Yingying couldn't help but chuckle: "You've been following us for ages, and you still don't know I'm older than you?"
"I know, I know," Zhao Yuxiao said somewhat embarrassedly in his defense, "but I always called you Miss Ying'er before, and I always felt that you were still young."
"But after spending some time with you just now, I realize that you do know more than I do," he exclaimed sincerely.
"Oh, Zhao Yuxiao, so you didn't see it back in Zhixian and Yuancheng?" Ye Yingying pretended to be angry.
Zhao Yuxiao was now even more embarrassed, realizing that he had dug a huge hole for himself.
After thinking it over, he finally answered truthfully: "Actually, I always thought that since you have seniors protecting you, you should be about the same level as me..."
Was this a compliment or an insult? So this was how he always saw me. Ye Yingying's eye twitched; she didn't know whether to be happy or angry.
"Shout whatever you want." Ye Yingying sighed softly. Oh well, why bother arguing with a child?
"That Miss Ying'er..." Zhao Yuxiao hesitated, then stopped.
"What about me?"
"We've already met Shaoling, should we still go looking for the caravan?"
"Go ahead and look for it, why don't you?" Ye Yingying replied confidently, "The matter of the lion is still unresolved."
"I want to see what this has to do with Zhan Yan."
After Ye Yingying and the others left, Shaoling stayed in the alley for a long time.
Ye Yingying's words reminded him that Gu Wusi might be hiding something from him, and he felt a mix of emotions.
But staying put and daydreaming wasn't going to solve anything, so Shaoling rushed back to the side gate of the palace, took out the wooden pass she had prepared beforehand, and successfully entered the palace.
Gu Wusi hid in a secluded courtyard, a place he had previously brought Zhao Yuxiao and Wu Yue to during the mist. Shaoling didn't know how Gu Wusi found the courtyard, but one thing was certain: after arriving, Gu Wusi rarely left the courtyard.
He pushed open the door and entered the courtyard, just in time to see Gu Wusi coming out of the room. The two exchanged a glance, and Shaoling greeted her, "Sister Gu."
"Still not giving up?" Gu Wusi said impatiently. "How many times have I told you not to waste your time on them?"
"Ye Yingying is not the same kind of person as us."
"Sister Gu," Shaoling called again, her tone firm, "Aren't you going to find the magical artifact?"
"What's there to look for?" Gu Wusi sneered. "Don't you understand what that old man is thinking?"
"Then why did we come here in the first place..."
"Don't you understand?" Gu Wusi suddenly shouted, her brows furrowed and her eyes filled with anxiety as she looked at Shaoling.
Shaoling looked at her blankly, not understanding what she had done to upset her.
Gu Wusi pointed forcefully at the ground beneath his feet, his voice filled with anger: "Only here can your three souls reunite, and only then can you continue to live as a human being!"
"Even if you kill the Ghost Calculator, you'll never be human again. Now that we finally have a chance to turn you back, why bother with him?!"
Shao Ling was stunned. It was the first time he realized that Gu Wusi thought this way. No wonder she used to hate Gui Suanzi so much, but now she suddenly stopped mentioning it.
Is it so easy to let go of hatred?
Shaoling opened her mouth and argued, "That cunning strategist used me to blackmail you into doing so many bad things, how can we just let him go like this?"
"Sister, when I was forged into a weapon spirit in your place, I didn't care whether I could be human again."
"I just hope you can get your revenge. After you've done that, we can atone for the mistakes we made before, okay?"
Shaoling gently coaxed Gu Wusi, hoping she would change her mind.
But Gu Wusi didn't listen to him this time. She stared at Shaoling quietly, her eyes completely calm, like a stagnant pool.
“I don’t need to atone for my sins; they all deserved it,” Gu Wusi said firmly. In her eyes, at the bottom of that pool, lay boundless despair and ruthlessness.
Looking at her like this, Shaoling suddenly couldn't speak. Was this still the same Sister Gu who had rescued him from his dark and hopeless home?
Shao Ling felt something collapse inside him, and he stared at Gu Wusi in disbelief, his expression filled with sorrow.
Gu Wusi noticed his gaze and looked away, no longer meeting his eyes.
"Don't mention the matter of killing the Ghost Calculator again. Whether he lives or dies has nothing to do with me." She turned around coldly, went back into the house, and closed the door.
Shaoling stood alone in the empty courtyard, her face ashen.
He couldn't understand when Gu Wusi had become like this. Were all those things she said to him before lies? What about all the things he did with her under the pretext of atonement?
Was she just using me from beginning to end?
Thinking of this, Shaoling suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heart. He blankly lowered his head and touched the place where he was stung, but he couldn't figure out how to name this pain.
No, there must be another reason, Shaoling thought.
He had to find Miss Ye. He gripped the spot where the pain was radiating, reaffirming his resolve.
Miss Ye must have a way!
As if suddenly grasping at a straw, Shao Ling turned and ran outside—
Ye Yingying and Zhao Yuxiao were now somewhat troubled. They had originally planned to follow the camel caravan again, just like last time, to find out what was going on in the palace. Unexpectedly, their mission failed before they even got started. As soon as they sneaked into the alley, they were caught red-handed by two burly guards.
Ye Yingying glanced around, weighed the disparity in size between herself and her enemy, then put on a fawning smile and hurriedly pulled Zhao Yuxiao to turn and run away.
Unexpectedly, the two guards relentlessly pursued them, forcing Ye Yingying and Zhao Yuxiao to exert all their strength and run through four streets and alleys before finally escaping their pursuit.
The two leaned against the wall, panting. Ye Yingying couldn't help but ask, "Didn't you say your trick was working well? Why isn't it working now?"
"I don't know either." Zhao Yuxiao calmed down a bit before slowly analyzing, "Is it because today is only the first day? Last time, Wu Yue and I only managed to sneak in on the second day."
"Hiss...that makes sense." Ye Yingying closed her eyes in pain and let out a long sigh. "Never mind, I was too hasty. Let's go back to the inn first."
After speaking, she straightened her body, regulated her breathing, and walked with Zhao Yuxiao toward the main road.
Just as they were about to step onto the main road, they were once again enveloped in a thick, gray fog. In an instant, the world was once again shrouded in that familiar yet dangerous mist.
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