The empty city was destroyed (25)
Zhao Yuxiao and Shaoling caught up with Ye Yingying, who was charging ahead. Seeing her imposing figure, they only dared to follow closely behind her and did not dare to go up and talk to her.
Unable to contain her curiosity, Shaoling leaned over and asked Zhao Yuxiao in a low voice, "Why is Miss Ye suddenly angry?"
Zhao Yuxiao shook his head silently, guessing that this matter was related to Senior Yun. But his intuition told him that he absolutely could not go up and ask at this time, otherwise he might run into trouble again.
Fortunately, after walking for a while, Ye Yingying seemed to have calmed down. She suddenly stopped, turned around and said to the two of them, "I've been thinking, it's not safe for the three of us to be mixed in with the caravan. I might as well go and get a wooden pass."
"Huh?" Zhao Yuxiao was taken aback. Did Ye Yingying mean she was going to snatch the plaque?
"This isn't a good idea..." Although Shaoling followed Gu Wusi every day, he had never done anything like this before, and he hesitated for a moment before advising him.
"What's wrong with it? Did you really get that piece legitimately?"
"Mine was given to me by Sister Gu..."
"Isn't that robbery?"
Shaoling fell silent instantly; Ye Yingying's words were truly irrefutable...
"It's settled then. I'll get a sign, and you guys can sneak in with the caravan."
After saying that, Ye Yingying abandoned the two of them and left.
Zhao Yuxiao and Shaoling exchanged glances, but still followed her instructions and infiltrated the caravan. Just as the caravan reached the side gate of the palace, Zhao Yuxiao looked around and suddenly spotted Ye Yingying.
She was talking to a man who had just come out of the palace. The man was of average build and not particularly strong. His pass was tucked into his waistband and swayed quite conspicuously.
This guy looked easy to bully. Ye Yingying chatted and laughed, and in no time she gained his trust. Then she led him into the alley.
Zhao Yuxiao was so amazed by Ye Yingying's skillful operation that he couldn't close his jaw, and even Shaoling next to him looked at him with awe.
A short while later, Ye Yingying reappeared in front of the two, playing with the wooden plaque she had snatched. She exchanged a glance with Zhao Yuxiao and Shaoling, signaling them to go inside first.
The caravan arrived at the prison as scheduled, and the mustachioed leader, as always, ordered them to move the so-called lions from the cages.
Zhao Yuxiao examined the cages more closely this time. They were filled entirely with female lions without manes, with a few containing cubs that hadn't yet reached adulthood. Without exception, all the lions were fast asleep.
Looking at everything before him, he felt a strong sense of unease.
Shaoling noticed his unusual behavior, nudged him twice with her elbow, and whispered a reminder: "Don't think about it."
Zhao Yuxiao snapped out of his daze, looked at Shao Ling, and together they lifted the four limbs of a lion and carried it into the cell next door.
"Don't you feel bad?" Zhao Yuxiao asked softly as he carried the load.
"It's uncomfortable." Shaoling's gaze was calm. "But this is just an illusion."
After moving the lion, the two slipped out of the cell while the man with the mustache was counting the money. They searched the vicinity for Ye Yingying's whereabouts when they suddenly heard someone shouting above them, "Over here!"
The two looked up and saw that Ye Yingying had somehow climbed up the wall. She waved for them to follow, and the three of them tiptoed over the wall and crouched down behind the house.
Two guards were chatting idly in the courtyard; their voices suggested an older man and a younger man. Listening carefully to their conversation, it was easy to see that this seemed to be the rest area for prison guards.
As they chatted, the young man suddenly asked curiously, "What do you think the Imperial Advisor needs so many people for?"
"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. If we weren't short-staffed lately, would you have gotten this job?"
"Brother, I'm just curious. The Imperial Advisor doesn't seem like the type to indulge in anything like a lavish feast or a debauched lifestyle, does he?"
"Pah, what are you saying?!" the elder scolded him for his wild thoughts, then added, "These aren't for human use."
The young man was stunned: "Who is that for?"
The older man remained silent. Ye Yingying sensed something, straightened up slightly, and looked through the windows and doors of the house at the backs of the two people in the courtyard.
One of them placed his right hand on the table, mysteriously raised his index finger towards the other person, and pointed to the sky above their heads.
What does that mean? Is it for the use of Heaven?
Ye Yingying realized something, and the young man also suddenly understood. He panicked and stammered for a while before finally saying, "But...but I remember, wasn't this kind of thing banned a long time ago?"
"Don't you understand?" The elder shook his head, unfazed, and lowered his body, saying in a deep voice, "The offering to the Grand Preceptor was just a pretext. The one who really did it is someone else."
The young man was even more puzzled. Who would dare to do such a thing in the palace, right under the nose of the Grand Preceptor?
But he quickly realized what was happening, his pupils contracted, and he asked tremblingly, "Yes, yes..."
"Shh—" the older man gestured for him to shut up, "Just keep it to yourself, don't let anyone know."
"Alright, the goods over there should be almost finished being checked. Go and change shifts."
After the two guards left the courtyard, Ye Yingying squatted down again and gave them a look.
The three of them climbed over the wall and left the courtyard again. Ye Yingying led the two of them for a while before stopping and saying, "They are offerings."
"What?" Zhao Yuxiao looked confused.
“Those ‘lions’ were sacrificial offerings used in the Heaven-worshiping ceremony.”
Zhao Yuxiao was stunned. He looked at Ye Yingying and then at Shaoling, and found that neither of them showed any emotion on their faces.
"You knew all along?" he couldn't help but ask Shaoling.
The other person nodded, not denying it: "Sister Gu told me..."
Zhao Yuxiao quickly recalled the conversation between the old man and the young man, and couldn't help but mutter to himself, "If it wasn't the Grand Preceptor who did it, then who was buying and selling them?"
"Just ask around," Ye Yingying said coldly. "Go ask Zhan Yan."
"Wait!" Shaoling suddenly interrupted, his expression anxious as he asked, "What about Sister Gu?"
I almost forgot about that... It's not good to go back on a promise, so Ye Yingying pursed her lips helplessly: "Okay, I'll take you to find Gu Wusi first."
Before he could finish speaking, an angry voice suddenly rang out: "No need to look anymore."
Ye Yingying was taken aback. She turned around and saw Gu Wusi appear in front of everyone unexpectedly.
"Sister Gu..." Shaoling never expected her to come here, and for a moment she froze on the spot like a child who had done something wrong.
"Shut up!" Gu Wusi snapped, staring intently at Shaoling, her eyes blazing with anger. "So you're just like them."
"I didn't!" Shao Ling explained frantically, "I just miss you..."
"I said shut up!"
She shouted at Shaoling, startling her, and she had no choice but to swallow her words back.
Ye Yingying, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it anymore. She stepped forward and put her hand in front of Shaoling, saying, "Is it necessary? Who are you trying to threaten by yelling like that?"
"Who I want to yell at is none of your business!" Gu Wusi glared at her fiercely, completely losing his previous composure, and instead resembling a sensitive and irritable vicious dog, barking wildly at everyone without distinguishing right from wrong.
"What did you use to bribe him? How did you manage to make him so devoted in just a few days?"
Upon hearing this, Shao Ling felt wronged. He looked at Gu Wusi in disbelief, but the latter wouldn't even look at him directly.
Ye Yingying could easily hear the sarcasm in those words, and she retorted without holding back, "What are you talking about? Why don't you look for the reason within yourself? Maybe it's because you're so fierce and stubborn that he couldn't stand it and wanted to leave?"
"I'm stubborn?!" Gu Wusi frowned in displeasure, her anger surging and burning away her reason.
She gave a disdainful chuckle, tinged with self-mockery. She rolled her dark eyes, meeting Shaoling's gaze once more: "So this is how you've always seen me?"
No!
Shao Ling frantically reached out to explain, but Gu Wusi no longer wanted to hear his explanations. She turned around without hesitation, walked around the corner, and disappeared from everyone's sight.
"Sister Gu!" Shao Ling felt a panic he had never felt before. He quickly pushed aside Ye Yingying's obstruction and rushed forward to catch up.
Ye Yingying and Zhao Yuxiao were left standing there, looking at each other.
Finally, Zhao Yuxiao hesitated before speaking: "Although I haven't had much contact with you, I feel like you just added fuel to the fire."
"Tsk, what can we do?" Ye Yingying spread her hands, indicating that she was innocent. "Look at her like that, nothing I say can make a difference, but I can't just stay silent!"
Zhao Yuxiao offered a few words of understanding and reassurance, then asked, "Should we chase after them?"
"I won't chase after them." She composed herself, looking in the direction Gu Wusi and Shaoling had left, her gaze meaningful. "Shaoling should realize what kind of person Gu Wusi really is."
After saying that, Ye Yingying suggested that they go directly to find Zhan Yan. The two of them wandered around the well-lit palace, and with their vague memories, they eventually found the courtyard where they had seen Zhan Yan before.
Seeing that no one was guarding the entrance, the two of them walked in through the main gate without any hesitation. The front door of Zhan Yan's house was wide open, and the two were pondering whether to go straight in when they heard Wu Yue's loud question from inside: "Who else could it be but you!"
Ye Yingying and Zhao Yuxiao were stunned for a moment, then rushed into the room. In addition to Wu Yue and Yun Yanqiu, there was also a tall and handsome man in front of them.
The man, clad in a wide, dark robe, stood ramrod straight, dignified and solemn. Even the slightest turn of his head seemed to carry immense weight. He simply stood there, as if he held the laws of heaven and earth in his palm, inspiring awe in all who beheld him.
Faced with Wu Yue's questioning, he remained calm. When he saw two more people enter, he showed no anger, merely glancing at them before asking, "Are these also your people?"
Ye Yingying was puzzled. She looked at Yun Yanqiu and saw that he had a solemn expression and his eyes were lowered, as if he was immersed in his own thoughts.
She then looked at Wu Yue, who didn't notice her gaze and angrily shouted at Zhan Yan, "You created this illusion, and you claim you know nothing about it?!"
"Oh?" Upon hearing this, Zhan Yan's lips curled into a smug smile. "It seems 'I' have succeeded."
"Success? Success in what?" Zhao Yuxiao asked, completely bewildered.
But no one answered him. Only Zhan Yan asked himself, "In your impression, how many years ago am I?"
Ye Yingying was startled, but Zhan Yan in front of her was emanating a strange aura that she couldn't quite describe.
Just as she was wondering why this was happening, Wu Yue said impatiently, "I don't care how many years ago you are! I know what you did when you were in the Wu Clan, Wu Yan, where did you hide the magic artifact to avoid your fate?!"
"I've already said I don't know." Zhan Yan remained calm and composed, his voice still indifferent. "I don't even know if I'll live or die tomorrow, so how could I possibly possess a magical artifact that could ward off my fate?"
"Besides, if what you say is true, and this illusion was created by 'me,' then I am nothing more than a part of the cycle of rise and fall of this illusion."
On the other side, Shaoling followed Gu Wusi back to the courtyard where they were staying. He entered the gate panting, and Gu Wusi stood in front of him with her back to him, refusing to turn around.
"Sister Gu!" Shaoling exclaimed excitedly.
Gu Wusi turned around, her gaze cold and resolute as she looked at him: "Why did you chase after me? If you hate me, get as far away as possible."
"No! Sister Gu, even if you hide in this illusion, as long as Ghost Calculator lives, you will never be able to escape."
“You’ll get deeper and deeper into this mess and you’ll die here!” Shao Ling said anxiously. “I don’t want to see you ruin yourself like this.”
The light in Gu Wusi's eyes flickered slightly, as if something had touched her heart.
Seeing this, Shaoling quickly added, "Miss Ye and the others will find Zhan Yan soon, and then everything will be over."
"Sister Gu, once the illusion disappears, take me with you and let's go take revenge together..."
Just as Shaoling was hoping that Gu Wusi would agree, she suddenly sneered and said disdainfully, "They can't end all of this."
Shaoling was puzzled, but then she saw Gu Wusi's fierce gaze reveal the truth: "Zhan Yan in the palace is not the master of this illusion."
"How did you know?" Shaoling was stunned, feeling that the person in front of her was becoming more and more unfamiliar.
A mist rose around them again, and Gu Wusi, his expression hazy and enigmatic, said with a half-smile, "Because I had been here before I met you."
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