Broken Linglong (4)
As dusk settles, the streets of Yuancheng resemble a luminous dragon winding its way through this bustling metropolis. The streets are teeming with people, occasionally punctuated by the sounds of firecrackers and the laughter of children, creating a vibrant and lively atmosphere.
Amidst the commotion, Ye Yingying slowly opened her eyes. She had just finished absorbing the pill given to her by Han Chengyu. The pale blue spiritual energy flowed between her eyes and then dissipated in no time, completely merging into Ye Yingying's dantian.
After absorbing the pill, Ye Yingying felt her spiritual power surge. She had broken through from the early stage of Core Formation and was now probably in the late stage of Core Formation.
Now that he's only one realm below Qin Zhiqing, and with the magical artifact given to him by Qi Shuojun, it wouldn't be impossible for him to challenge her.
As Ye Yingying was thinking, the sound of fireworks outside the window caught her attention. She moved to the window and gently pushed it open. She saw dazzling fireworks blooming in the night sky with seven colors, which, together with the brightly lit streets, formed a lively and peaceful scene.
Seeing this scene, Ye Yingying felt very novel. In her previous life, when she was by the side of the Ghost Calculator, she rarely saw such a sight. At that time, the quiet mountains and forests and the dangerous countryside were where she often went. The prosperity of the human world seemed to have nothing to do with her.
The fireworks lasted for quite a while, bathing the originally dim room in a layer of light. Ye Yingying was so engrossed in watching them that she didn't come back to her senses until Zhao Yuxiao knocked on the door.
"Miss Ying'er, would you like something to eat?" Perhaps afraid of being drowned out by the sound of fireworks, Zhao Yuxiao shouted at the top of his lungs outside the door.
Ye Yingying opened the door and followed him downstairs without hesitation. A table full of dishes came into view, but apart from Ye Yingying and Zhao Yuxiao, no other familiar figure appeared.
"Senior Yun, aren't you coming to eat?"
“He said he wouldn’t eat.” Zhao Yuxiao gestured for Ye Yingying to sit down. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring him some food later.”
Zhao Yuxiao put a fried dumpling into Ye Yingying's bowl and muttered, "You must be hungry after your long journey. Eat more."
"That's all we have at the inn. I'll have Brother Shuo treat you to a nice meal later."
"Thank you." Ye Yingying picked up a dumpling and put it in her mouth. The hot meat filling and juice stimulated her taste buds.
Having grown accustomed to steamed seafood in the Secret Sea, the sudden switch to oily and flavorful food whetted her appetite.
Seeing Ye Yingying constantly stuffing food into her mouth, Zhao Yuxiao knew that the dish suited her taste, so he handed her a cup of tea and told her to eat slowly so she wouldn't choke.
Ye Yingying took the teacup, gulped down the whole cup of tea, licked her lips contentedly, and glanced at Zhao Yuxiao with her eyes: "You eat too."
"Alright, alright." Zhao Yuxiao obediently picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth. While chewing, he asked her, "Miss Ying'er, how does this food compare to the food from the Secret Sea?"
"It's a bit saltier than over there, and very oily." Ye Yingying ate another pan-fried dumpling. "But it's delicious, especially these pan-fried dumplings. They're very flavorful. The dumplings from the Secret Sea are a bit bland, and the fillings are different too."
"You eat dumplings in the Secret Sea too? What do the merfolk in the sea eat?"
"..." Ye Yingying silently put down her chopsticks and questioned Zhao Yuxiao with a serious expression, "Are you trying to trick me into talking?"
So they still want to know what she and Yun Yanqiu experienced in the Secret Sea.
Zhao Yuxiao, exposed, showed no embarrassment whatsoever, but instead became even more excited: "Hey, I'm just curious, are merfolk completely different from us when it comes to eating?"
Ye Yingying swallowed the dumpling in her mouth and licked her lips: "Okay, I'll tell you something."
She beckoned to Zhao Yuxiao, signaling him to come closer, and then said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "They're incredibly fierce; they'll eat anything from the sea."
"So amazing?" Zhao Yuxiao asked in surprise.
“Of course, the overlord of the sea is no joke.” Ye Yingying said mysteriously, “We also saw an old turtle that could talk. It was the merfolk’s backer and was in cahoots with them.”
"Can talk? Then its cultivation level must be at least a thousand years old. I read in books that animals that can speak human language are all old monsters that have cultivated for thousands of years."
"That's definitely true, and that old turtle is very cunning; he fooled us all!" Ye Yingying said indignantly.
"What are you trying to fool me for?"
"He tricked us into catching shrimp for him, saying he would give us mermaid tears if he caught a hundred big shrimp, but when we caught them, he tried to renege on his promise."
Wow, that's so insidious!
Zhao Yuxiao opened his big, curious eyes and asked, "Even Senior Lianyun was deceived?"
"Well, at first he was a little bit, but he eventually saw through that old turtle's trick!"
"That turtle is so cunning, how did you obtain the mermaid's tears?"
"Well..." Ye Yingying paused mysteriously for a moment, "Thanks to Senior Yun's wisdom and prowess, he made that old turtle beg for mercy on the spot with his strength! Seeing that his backer had fallen, those mermaids behind him didn't dare to provoke Senior Yun and obediently handed over the goods."
Hearing that his revered senior Yun was so brave, Zhao Yuxiao's eyes were full of admiration: "I knew this was no challenge for senior Yun!"
Ye Yingying smiled slightly. Seeing Zhao Yuxiao's expression, she was certain that the story she had made up had fooled this naive young master.
"What is Senior Yun angry about?"
Ye Yingying's smile froze, and she stood up to take her leave, but Zhao Yuxiao grabbed her arm and said seriously, "Miss Ying'er, I've only seen Senior Yun get angry three times, and you were present twice. What do you have to say about this?"
"No comment." Ye Yingying turned and tried to leave; if she stayed any longer, she would be drowned in Zhao Yuxiao's questions.
But Zhao Yuxiao's grip on her hand was so firm, and his gaze was unwavering, determined to get to the bottom of it: "Are you two hiding something important from me?"
Judging by this, I won't let her leave without saying something today.
"Sigh..." Ye Yingying sighed and sat back down in her seat.
Seeing that Ye Yingying was cooperating, Zhao Yuxiao released his grip and heard her say, "I was in the wrong first."
At first glance, it seemed Ye Yingying was about to explain her mistake, but then she changed the subject and became aggrieved: "But what can I do! I've apologized, I've coaxed him, but he just won't accept it. He even pretended to be mysterious and told me to figure it out myself, but I can't!"
Zhao Yuxiao was taken aback, feeling as if she had said something, yet also as if she hadn't said anything at all: "Tell me in more detail, maybe I can help you?"
"You can't help with this. Senior Yun's thoughts are not so easy to guess."
"You're questioning me?" Zhao Yuxiao looked incredulous. "Back in Zhi County, didn't we appease Senior Yun with the method I came up with?"
"It's just that I asked him to have some tea, but did he seem interested in tea today?" Ye Yingying argued.
Zhao Yuxiao shook his head: "That's not the key point."
If you were to ask who in the Lingyun Alliance understands Senior Yun best, Zhao Yuxiao would undoubtedly be second to none. So, adopting an air of profound knowledge, he sipped his tea and said, "Back in the Lingyun Alliance, Senior Yun also had his share of temper tantrums. Do you know why?"
What is it?
“Because of the Azure Nether True Fire.” Zhao Yuxiao put down his teacup and sighed, “Last time in Zhi County, he was angry because of the Azure Nether True Fire. What does that mean?”
Ye Yingying was stunned and didn't know how to react for a moment.
Zhao Yuxiao exclaimed in surprise, "Is that so hard to guess? It means that his anger this time is definitely still because of the Azure Nether True Fire!"
This is outrageous! Ye Yingying was speechless. For a moment just now, she actually thought that this guy could come up with a suitable solution.
"Miss Ying'er, are you delaying his search for the real fire?" Zhao Yuxiao asked with great certainty.
"How could that be? We haven't even seen a shadow, what are we looking for?" Ye Yingying rolled her eyes and denied it.
"So, what's your connection to the Azure Nether Flame?!"
Ye Yingying's heart tightened, and her gaze faltered slightly. Zhao Yuxiao keenly noticed the change in her expression and said smugly, "I knew it. You really are related to the Azure Nether True Fire."
"By the way, you mentioned to Brother Shuo earlier that you were looking for something. Could it be the Azure Nether True Fire?"
Zhao Yuxiao's strange thought process led him to this point by accident. Ye Yingying stared at Zhao Yuxiao warily, her back involuntarily tensing up.
"Miss Ying'er, actually I've had my suspicions for a while now, you are not..."
"Zhao Yuxiao".
A cool voice interrupted their conversation. The two unconsciously looked in the direction of the voice and saw Yun Yanqiu, dressed in white, leaning against the railing, looking down at them: "Is there any tea?"
"Yes!" Zhao Yuxiao jumped up from his chair, delighted. "Would you like to have some, senior?"
Yun Yanqiu glanced indifferently at Ye Yingying's somewhat surprised face, then turned around and walked back into the house: "No need, just bring it in for me."
"Alright!"
How could Zhao Yuxiao be negligent when Yun Yanqiu spoke? He didn't even bother to continue his previous conversation with Ye Yingying, turning to prepare hot tea. Ye Yingying seized the opportunity and dashed back to her bedroom. She placed her hands on the windowsill, her heart pounding, a feeling of relief washing over her as she realized she had escaped death. If it hadn't been for Yun Yanqiu, she truly didn't know how she would have faced Zhao Yuxiao's questions.
Zhao Yuxiao was a bit naive and his thoughts were rather unpredictable, but that last thing really gave her a big fright. Ye Yingying was somewhat confused, unsure how much of Zhao Yuxiao's suspicions were true. If he really knew, how was she supposed to explain herself? And the timing of Yun Yanqiu's appearance just now was so coincidental—was he intentionally helping her?
Zhao Yuxiao said that Yun Yanqiu was angry because of the Azure Nether True Fire, but Ye Yingying, who had experienced those things in the Secret Sea, knew that everything was ultimately because of herself.
Ye Yingying looked at the wall in the bedroom; behind the wall was Yun Yanqiu's room. This wall stood between them, neither wide nor narrow, yet it was enough to completely block each other out. Ye Yingying stared at the wall, lost in thought, until the noise outside the window subsided and everything returned to silence, the candlelight in her room still illuminating her motionless figure.
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