The empty city was destroyed (17)
"Mysterious Realm? What is that? Is it also a secret realm?" Zhao Yuxiao asked, bewildered.
Ye Yingying was speechless. She was so focused on the secret realm that she forgot Zhao Yuxiao didn't know the identity of the Xuanming Realm Master of Yunyanqiu.
She immediately began to think of a way to smooth things over, but to her surprise, Yun Yanqiu confessed, "It is a secret realm, and also the place where I live in seclusion."
"Seclusion?" Zhao Yuxiao pondered. "So, Senior Yun, you lived in the secret realm before you came to the Lingyun Alliance?"
Yun Yanqiu was silent for a moment before replying, "I suppose so."
"Senior, do people with your strength live in secret realms?"
"No, that's not it," Yun Yanqiu explained. "It's just that the place I was staying at happened to have become a secret realm."
It just so happens to have turned into a secret realm... Ye Yingying stopped moving. Isn't Yun Yanqiu the realm master of the Xuanming Realm? But listening to his explanation, she felt that there was more to it than met the eye.
Ye Yingying hesitated, her mind filled with doubts, unsure whether she should ask or not.
Perhaps noticing her struggle, Yun Yanqiu looked at her calmly and said, "That place was originally my master's residence. Later, he passed away, and his spiritual power scattered, turning that place into a secret realm."
"Master?"
This is the first time I've heard Yun Yanqiu mention his master.
Unable to contain his curiosity, Zhao Yuxiao asked, "Senior, who is your master? Do I know him?"
Yun Yanqiu didn't hide anything and said directly, "His name is Li Zhoubai."
Li Zhoubai, Li Zhoubai… Why does that name sound so familiar? Zhao Yuxiao repeated it to himself several times, then suddenly exclaimed in surprise: “Sword Master Beiming?!”
He said, "Why does that sound so familiar? Isn't that the guest elder of our Lingyun Alliance?!"
Even the slow-witted Zhao Yuxiao finally realized. No wonder Senior Yun was able to become a guest elder... No, with Senior Yun's strength, even without this connection, his position as a guest elder of the Lingyun Alliance was well-deserved.
But he's actually Li Jianzun's disciple! That's the Sword Master! There's no sword cultivator in this world who doesn't worship the Sword Master!
"Oh my god, senior, why didn't you say so sooner!" Zhao Yuxiao was so excited that his eyebrows were raised with joy.
"You didn't ask."
"You could have just told me even if I hadn't asked!"
"What's the point of telling him? He's already passed away."
"Huh?"
Zhao Yuxiao fell silent instantly and asked weakly, "But didn't everyone say that he ascended to heaven?"
That's Li Zhoubai, the greatest swordsman of all time, the leader of the war against demons. Zhao Yuxiao used to fall asleep listening to his legendary stories when he was a child.
Now tell him that this unparalleled figure actually...
Zhao Yuxiao was somewhat dazed. He stared blankly at Yun Yanqiu, hoping that what he had just said was just a joke.
Ke Yunyanqiu never joked, especially since he was Li Zhoubai's disciple.
Yun Yanqiu opened and closed his lips, repeating the unbelievable fact in the calmest voice: "He failed to ascend to immortality and died on Xuanming Mountain."
The air seemed to freeze for a moment; the news shocked everyone.
Zhao Yuxiao, needless to say, and Wu Yue, standing to the side, also looked astonished, her face full of disbelief.
On the contrary, Ye Yingying appeared very calm, showing no surprise whatsoever on her face, but rather a look of sudden realization.
It turns out that Yun Yanqiu and Li Zhoubai are master and disciple. Ye Yingying thought to herself that her impression of Li Zhoubai was not as strong as Zhao Yuxiao's; in fact, she didn't have any impression of Li Zhoubai at all.
When she was still working under Gui Suanzi, she had heard of this name outside, but when she returned to Michen Mountain to ask Gui Suanzi, he only said that he was not a remarkable person.
She believed what the fortune teller said. But now it seems that Li Zhoubai is much more capable than the fortune teller described.
What is the relationship between Ghost Calculator and Li Zhoubai? Ye Yingying couldn't help but wonder. She remembered Yun Yanqiu saying before that Ghost Calculator gave away the Rakshasa Jade himself.
By the way, the Ghost Calculator only told her to go to Xuanming Mountain to retrieve the Rakshasa Jade, but he didn't mention who she should get it from.
If what Yun Yanqiu said is true, and Xuanming Mountain was originally Li Zhoubai's residence, then was the Rakshasa Jade given to Li Zhoubai by the Ghost Calculator?
Strange, why is she only now thinking of delving into these things? Ye Yingying was suddenly startled, feeling that something was not quite right, as if there was a blank space in her memory.
Yun Yanqiu noticed her unusual behavior and asked with concern, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
"No, no." Ye Yingying shook her head blankly. Although she had many questions in her mind, she did not want to mention them in front of Zhao Yuxiao and Wu Yue.
She looked at the dejected Zhao Yuxiao; this was the first time Ye Yingying had ever seen him so downcast.
Wu Yue calmed down and composed herself, saying, "Let's not talk about that anymore. Whether it's an array or a secret realm, let's find Shao Ling first and have him take us to see Zhan Yan."
Without saying a word, she grabbed Zhao Yuxiao's wrist.
Zhao Yuxiao was stunned for a moment, but did not struggle. He simply let Wu Yue pull him forward.
Wu Yue walked quickly and soon led the four of them to the courtyard where the lions were imprisoned, just as they remembered.
The courtyard was deathly silent; not a soul was in sight. Wu Yue looked around, then shouted, "If you're here, come out and face us! Stop hiding!"
There was no response, and the courtyard remained lifeless.
But Wu Yue had a gut feeling that Gu Wusi and Shaoling were nearby. So she quickly walked to the front of the cell and peered inside through the iron bars on the window.
There was no one inside, but something else caught Wu Yue's attention.
She squinted, trying to make out the things piled up in the dimly lit room. The outlines of those things were rounded, and they weren't very big; they were just scattered on the floor.
The room was too dark, and she couldn't see anything. Wu Yue tried to open the door, but it was unusually heavy and she couldn't move it no matter how hard she tried.
Helpless, she looked at Yun Yanqiu and waved her hand, beckoning him over: "Use your lamp to shine a light for me."
Yun Yanqiu and Ye Yingying exchanged a glance and walked together to the window. Wu Yue asked Yun Yanqiu to raise the lantern higher, and then peered inside by the light.
Under the light, the objects in the room finally revealed their more complete appearance—one after another, human skulls.
The group was all horrified, and Ye Yingying couldn't help but ask, "Didn't you say this place was for keeping lions?"
"How would I know? What I saw in the illusion was a lion!" Wu Yue was also confused. How come there were human skulls everywhere in the cage where the lion was kept?
She turned to Zhao Yuxiao and asked, "Zhao Yuxiao, did you see a lion back then?!"
Still reeling from his disappointment, Zhao Yuxiao blankly replied, "Ah? Yes..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Yuxiao suddenly remembered the strange thing that happened when he was moving the lion. He quickly strode forward and went to the window, staring intently at the skulls filling the room.
There are no lions here. It's full of human bones.
Did he move only people? That's why it was so light? If so, and all the lions were female, doesn't that mean...?
"Hey, Zhao Yuxiao? Zhao Yuxiao!" Wu Yue saw him lost in thought again and suddenly shook him. "What are you thinking about! Did you find any other clues back then?"
"I...I..." Zhao Yuxiao felt his mind was in complete chaos and he couldn't even utter a complete sentence.
"You? What's wrong with you?" Wu Yue suddenly noticed Zhao Yuxiao's unusual behavior and quickly turned him to face her. "Zhao Yuxiao, are you alright?!"
Zhao Yuxiao's face was deathly pale, as if he had suffered a great shock. His pupils contracted sharply, and his lips trembled uncontrollably.
No matter how much Ren Wuyue called out to Zhao Yuxiao, he did not respond.
Yun Yanqiu realized something was wrong and immediately cast a calming spell into his mind.
The calming mantra had no effect, and Zhao Yuxiao began to repeat the same sentence over and over again, as if he were going crazy: "What have I done? What have I done?"
Upon seeing this, Yun Yanqiu acted decisively, knocking Zhao Yuxiao unconscious with a karate chop.
"Hey, you!" Wu Yue hurriedly supported the unconscious Zhao Yuxiao, glaring angrily at Yun Yanqiu.
“If we let him keep thinking wildly, he might develop inner demons,” Yun Yanqiu explained earnestly.
But Wu Yue ignored them and retorted angrily, "How can inner demons grow so easily? You're clearly just trying to take the easy way out!"
Yun Yanqiu didn't respond, adopting an indifferent attitude that made Wu Yue furious.
But now was not the time to argue with him. Wu Yue suppressed her temper and complained, "What if he doesn't wake up and it delays our operation?"
"No, it won't happen." Yun Yanqiu answered firmly, then took out a talisman, muttered a few words, and cast it out.
The talisman flew upwards with a "whoosh," stuck to something, and then with a thud, the thing crashed heavily into the yard.
Before the group could react, another figure descended from the sky, suddenly blocking their view. It was none other than Gu Wusi, whom they had been searching for!
"Is this how you summon people out?"
Gu Wusi looked displeased, her slender willow-leaf eyebrows furrowed tightly. Compared to when she was in the Qi family's ancestral land, she looked much more haggard now, and her aura was not as bright and arrogant as before.
"If you really wanted to see us, why would you hide in the shadows like this?" Yun Yanqiu exposed her hypocrisy without any mercy.
Gu Wusi felt no shame, but instead retorted defiantly, "Since you know I don't want to see you, why bother using such methods to get me out?"
"Who wants to see you? Don't flatter yourself. I'm here to see Shaoling!" Wu Yue, who was looking for someone to vent her anger, seized the opportunity to scold Gu Wusi, "Where is he? Tell him to come out!"
"Hmph." Gu Wusi couldn't help but cover her lips and scoff. "You keep saying you want to see him, but you don't even know he's already here?"
"What do you mean?" Wu Yue looked at her unhappily, feeling once again that this woman was really annoying.
"Look." Gu Wusi tilted her head arrogantly, then turned to reveal the wooden puppet lying motionless on the ground behind her: "The person you're looking for is right here."
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