Ye Yingying (1)
Ye Yingying's eyes widened in surprise, and she immediately waved her hand in denial: "How could that be? You know what kind of person I was back then." She paused, then suddenly scratched her nose awkwardly, "To be honest, I never expected... that you would come out of retirement for me."
"Why?" Yun Yanqiu was slightly taken aback. In the moonlight, his eyelashes cast a light shadow, and his eyes were full of confusion.
“Because… I never went to see you again after that.” Ye Yingying’s eyes darted around, her fingertips unconsciously twirling a strand of hair. “When I first woke up and found you right next to me, I thought you were here to arrest me and interrogate me…”
"...No wonder you refused to acknowledge me back then." Yun Yanqiu suddenly realized, then narrowed her eyes in displeasure. "So that's the kind of person you see me as?"
"How could that be..." Ye Yingying chuckled awkwardly, trying to brush it off. Fortunately, Yun Yanqiu simply shook his head helplessly and gently pinched her cheek as punishment.
He looked around, his brow furrowing slightly. "Where do you think we are now?" His voice was soft, yet exceptionally clear in the utter silence.
Ye Yingying suppressed her playful expression, glanced around, and said, "If I remember correctly, it should be halfway up the mountain."
“This illusion array is somewhat similar to the one in Jincheng,” Yun Yanqiu said.
“Indeed…” Ye Yingying suddenly woke up. The illusion constructed from memories was just a replica of Jincheng, wasn’t it? In addition, the Ghost Calculator had been to Jincheng, so it was hard not to suspect that this was a method he learned from Zhan Yan.
She recalled the fortune teller she had seen in Yun Yanqiu's memories: back then, he wasn't yet gray-haired, and although his personality was eccentric, he was far from the eccentric figure he would later become. Whether it was avenging Qin Wenshuang or resolving Yun Yanqiu's doubts, it all seemed perfectly reasonable…
The more she tried to fathom the Ghost Calculator's thoughts, the more confused she became. From as far back as she could remember, the Ghost Calculator had been a violent old man, his obsessions never ceasing; perhaps this illusion was an extension of his obsession. If Zhan Yan's illusion was meant to ensure the eternal existence of Jin City, what did the Ghost Calculator intend to achieve through this illusion?
"What do you intend to do?" Yun Yanqiu's words interrupted her thoughts.
Ye Yingying shook her head and replied, "The Ghost Calculator has a Soul-Suppressing Pearl. Just like in Tianjin, destroy it, and the illusion should collapse on its own."
"And then what? How do you plan to take his life?"
"Isn't this what I have?" Ye Yingying took out the gold-plated dagger she had obtained from the Qi family and casually waved it around. But Yun Yanqiu's unwavering gaze easily saw through her disguise.
Ye Yingying's smile gradually froze, and she hurriedly added, "It's alright! You just need to help me restrain him..."
Yun Yanqiu remained silent, his brows furrowed with worry. The longer he stared at her, the more flustered Ye Yingying became. He seemed to be waiting for a confession, but Ye Yingying kept her lips tightly pressed together.
Sunlight filtered through the layers of leaves, casting dappled shadows, and the forest was eerily silent. There were no birdsong, no insect sounds, only the rustling of leaves in the wind.
A soft sigh escaped her lips. Her icy hands finally cupped her cheeks, and Yun Yanqiu leaned down to press her forehead against hers: "Don't do anything foolish, okay?"
Ye Yingying nodded slightly and mumbled an "okay".
The mountain path was winding and rugged, and the two of them made their way to the summit, their feet sinking into the cracked yellow earth. It seemed the mountains hadn't seen rain in a long time; the grass and trees along the path were withered and curled up, as if they would crumble at the slightest touch. Ye Yingying tried hard to recall the location of the mechanism, but after so many years, her memory was hazy. Her skirt brushed against the withered bushes, making a soft, crisp sound. She suddenly stopped, her expression changing slightly—the stone her toes had touched was loosening.
Yun Yanqiu pulled her back behind him, but the expected attack did not occur. He broke off a branch and pushed aside the rocks, revealing shattered iron pieces underneath. Ye Yingying leaned closer to examine it and found that the mechanism was severely damaged and could no longer be recognized.
Has someone been here? Or... is it no longer needed?
Ye Yingying frowned and continued leading the way up the mountain. As the sun began to set, the two finally reached the summit. Several dilapidated houses stood scattered among the trees, their exterior walls covered in withered vines, and broken tiles strewn across the ground. Ye Yingying kicked away a tile, the sound particularly jarring in the empty courtyard. There was no response of footsteps, no familiar incense smoke wafting in, only the draft through the dilapidated windowpanes, whistling softly. She walked towards the weapon-refining room, only to find the threshold covered in a thick layer of dust, clearly indicating that it had been deserted for a long time.
“He’s not here.” Yun Yanqiu stepped forward slowly, standing shoulder to shoulder with Ye Yingying as they looked into the dimly lit room. A musty smell wafted over them, and a few rays of the setting sun slanted in through the broken window paper, making the suspended dust shimmer like flowing gold.
The forging platform was covered in a thick layer of ash, rusted carving knives were deeply embedded in the wooden table, and several unfinished magical artifacts were scattered haphazardly around. The display shelf in the corner was leaning precariously, most of the porcelain bottles on it were shattered, and the few remaining were covered in cobwebs. The patterns on the giant cauldron in the center were blurred, and the cauldron itself was empty, except for the black residue that had solidified at its bottom. The floor was covered with dull, lifeless fragments, each step producing a teeth-grinding cracking sound.
This place was once the sacred site where the fortune teller stayed day and night, and no one was allowed to disturb it.
This is also where Ye Yingying was pierced through the heart by sharp claws. She lay on the ground covered in blood, and the last thing she saw before she died was the bell swaying on the roof beam.
She looked up at the roof, and to this day, the bell still hangs in the same place, only badly damaged.
The realization that the cunning strategist had allowed this place to fall into such desolation sent a chill down her spine. She left the room and searched around, finding only ruins.
She suddenly felt a pang of sadness, when she heard Yun Yanqiu ask softly from behind, "Which room did you live in before?"
"Me?" Ye Yingying was slightly taken aback, then pointed to a tall building not far away. If it weren't for the mottled exterior walls, it would have been an impressive building.
She led Yun Yanqiu into the house, where bookshelves stood in rows, surprising Yun Yanqiu: "Is this the Sutra Repository?"
"Yes, I live in this room." Ye Yingying said casually. She turned to the corner with ease and ran her fingertips over the scratches on the wall. "Look, there are still words I carved here."
Yun Yanqiu bent down to examine it closely. The scratch was already quite blurry, but the three characters "Ye Yingying" could still be vaguely made out. "You..." He hesitated, but Ye Yingying said frankly, "I used to always make that old man angry, and when he got annoyed, he would lock me up here."
"...How long were you imprisoned?"
"How could I remember that?" Ye Yingying shrugged. "Later, I learned to abstain from grains, so I could stay put as long as I wasn't starving. Later, I broke the formation that imprisoned people here, so I simply stayed and annoyed them."
Yun Yanqiu stared at the carvings on the wall, speechless for a moment.
"That's right!" Ye Yingying's eyes lit up. "He also locked me up in the Treasure Pavilion a few times. There might still be magical artifacts there."
She hurriedly led Yun Yanqiu to the treasure pavilion, only to find that all the magical artifacts inside were broken and unusable. Ye Yingying's heart tightened, and she became even more puzzled as to what could have caused the Ghost Calculator to become so disoriented.
She bit her lip and said seriously, "Since there's no one here, then there's only one place left..."
On the opposite mountain peak lay the secluded cave of the Ghost Calculator. Ye Yingying rarely ventured there, knowing that disturbing the Ghost Calculator was far more serious than mere confinement. Now, standing before the cave, the two saw dried blood splattered across the half-open stone door, flowing like ink into the cave. Most horrifying were the groups of five claw marks embedded deep into the rock face, a truly shocking sight.
He must be in here—Ye Yingying's premonition suddenly became strong.
A faint sound came from inside the cave. The two exchanged a glance and stepped inside. A chilling wind swept through the cave, carrying with it a stench of decay and dampness. Water droplets condensed on the stone walls dripped down, making a "tap, tap" sound in the deathly silence, like some eerie timekeeping.
The deeper they went, the more murky the air became. After rounding two bends, the dim light gradually brightened, and Ye Yingying finally saw the withered figure—Ghost Calculator stood in the formation, his messy long hair stuck to his sunken cheeks, and his wrists were covered in bloody cuts, from which blood was gushing into the formation.
Beside him, six soul-summoning banners stood in a circle, surrounding the Soul-Suppressing Pearl in the center. Upon closer inspection, each banner bore the same birth date and time written in blood. The moment Yun Yanqiu discerned whose birth date and time the banners pointed, his pupils constricted, and he suddenly drew his sword and thrust it towards him.
"Who do we have here..." Ghost Calculator slowly raised his head, only to see a pair of turbid eyes embedded in deep-set eye sockets, with black mist filling the bottom of the eyes, but the pupils were frighteningly bright.
Before the words were even finished, spiritual pressure descended like a mountain. Yun Yanqiu charged forward with his sword, but the ground beneath his feet suddenly transformed into a vortex, and he was caught off guard and swallowed into the abyss by the giant maw.
“Sword cultivators are just sword cultivators…always so reckless.” Ghost Calculator stood up, his hoarse voice echoing in the cave. His withered fingers held a bronze pot, from which came the occasional muffled thud of heavy objects striking each other, quite violently.
He looked up at Ye Yingying and couldn't help but sneer, "You're coming back to die with someone in tow?"
"That's not necessarily true." Ye Yingying revealed her golden dagger and mimicked his smirk.
Upon seeing the dagger, a look of surprise flashed in the Ghost Calculator's eyes: "Where did you find this?"
"It was given to me by the Qi family."
"Heh, use the magical artifact I crafted to deal with me? Do you think that's possible?" He shook the gourd in his hand. "Your backer is already trapped inside. I'll kill you first, then refine his soul, which will serve as a human sacrifice."
"You cunning strategist, do you really think I would come looking for you unprepared?" Ye Yingying's expression darkened slightly. "Gu Wusi has told me all your weaknesses."
"Gu Wusi?... Oh, that coward." Ghost Calculator sneered, "She can't possibly help you."
"Really?" Ye Yingying raised her hand, and a blue flame rose from her palm. The moment the flame flickered, the Ghost Calculator's pupils shrank.
"Get in the way!" He suddenly sprang up and lunged straight at him.
Ye Yingying waved her hand, and flames coiled around his arm like serpents. The Ghost Calculator swung his arms, his expression growing even more manic: "You think you can kill me like this?!"
"No!" Ye Yingying seized the opportunity, grabbed a dagger, and stabbed it fiercely towards his heart. Unfortunately, the Ghost Calculator dodged, and the dagger only pierced his shoulder. Seeing that she had missed, she immediately activated her true fire, and the raging flames instantly engulfed the two of them, as if to force their souls out of their bodies.
The fortune teller finally showed a look of astonishment. Ye Yingying looked directly into his eyes and smiled gently: "But at least, you and I will both become wandering ghosts."
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