CHAPTER 47
Three days have passed since she fled that room. Sheng Qing has barely managed to complete her self-guided plan. She only wanted to help, but she just didn't choose the right method.
"Leaving your beloved alone in her room, and coming here to stay with a bunch of us women, you're really something." Cheng Yuanxiu looked puzzled, his sword thrusting towards Sheng Qing's left shoulder. "You wouldn't even give him to me, do you believe I'll secretly snatch him away one day?"
"You dare!" Sheng Qing glared at Cheng Yuanxiu, then used her right hand, which was holding the sword, to block him. "If you dare to touch him even a little bit, I'll never forgive you."
"Miss Sheng, can't you be a little unreasonable?" Cheng Yuanxiu took a step back. "It was just a joke, was it necessary to use so much force?"
"Again."
"Come on then, what are you afraid of?"
The two fought back and forth on the training ground of the military camp for most of the hour, until the cooks started serving the meals and they finally stopped.
Sheng Qing's three days in the military camp were not in vain. She learned military strategy from the female instructor for a few days and found it increasingly appealing. Sheng Zhilin, seeing how studious his daughter was, also praised her highly.
If one could live in this secret place for a long time, it wouldn't be such a bad thing.
But beneath the seemingly calm surface of the lake, there are always undercurrents.
"Are you so happy you've forgotten all about home?" Sheng Qing had just returned to her room and hadn't even had time to light the oil lamp when the window suddenly opened, and a figure appeared on the windowsill with a cold gaze.
"Captain!" Sheng Qing recognized the person at a glance, and relaxed his grip on the sword hilt. "Why are you here?"
"Want to look at the stars together?" Meng Yunxi extended her hand.
"What's so interesting about the stars?" Sheng Qing retorted, but her hand had already grasped the other person's arm, and with the help of him, the two of them climbed onto the roof together.
"Then what do you want to see?" Meng Yunxi's gaze was intense. "Me?"
"Huh?" Sheng Qing was stunned. Don't bring up the sore spot.
"Alright, I won't tease you anymore." After saying that, Meng Yunxi actually started looking at the stars seriously.
An eerily quiet atmosphere prevailed.
"Qin Feiyan said you were in that person's hands, and I thought..." Meng Yunxi suddenly spoke up.
"He won't do anything to me, we've already reached an agreement." Sheng Qing breathed a sigh of relief, thankfully she didn't ask about those messy things.
"Don't be foolish and throw yourself into it." Meng Yunxi said this while her gaze remained fixed on the distant starry sky. "I told you, I would help you."
“Elemental power has no effect on him, I don’t know what else to do, besides, he didn’t really hurt me.” Sheng Qing suddenly remembered the aloof red-haired boy, and added, “It’s just that, it’s just that the other person is indeed very dangerous.”
“I’ve done some research, maybe we can give it a try.” Meng Yunxi suddenly turned her gaze to Sheng Qing, her eyes filled with tenderness. “Do you trust me?”
"Of course." Sheng Qing answered without hesitation, but when she met Meng Yunxi's gaze, her heart skipped a beat. Could the effects of that drug still be working? Sheng Qing's eyes involuntarily fell on the other's lips.
Noticing the strange look in Sheng Qing's eyes, Meng Yunxi smiled slightly, leaned almost imperceptibly towards Sheng Qing, and asked in a low voice, "Do you still want to help me?"
Sheng Qing immediately understood the implication of those words, and snapped back to reality. "Pah, pah, pah! We're talking about serious business, why are you getting distracted?"
"No, no." Sheng Qing felt guilty and tried to cover it up. "Captain, please stop teasing me."
"Call me by my name," Meng Yunxi said calmly.
"Huh?" Sheng Qing was completely confused.
"Did you hear what I said clearly?" When did Meng Yunxi's voice become so magnetic?
"Meng Yunxi, is this how it is?" As soon as Sheng Qing finished speaking, Meng Yunxi's expression changed, revealing an indescribable charm.
"Can I?" Meng Yunxi's face stopped just centimeters away from Sheng Qing.
"Huh?" Sheng Qing's heart pounded violently, as if it was about to jump out of her throat.
"Captain, I, I," Sheng Qing didn't know what he was hesitating about. Perhaps he hadn't seen his own heart clearly yet, or perhaps he was still under the influence of the drugs.
Meng Yunxi quickly came to her senses, sat up straight, stared intently for a few seconds, and then turned her gaze to the distance.
"What method are you referring to?" Sheng Qing picked up the subject again.
“According to ancient records, there is a secret technique that can counter this. This technique is not related to elemental power and has a high success rate. However,” Meng Yunxi glanced at Sheng Qing, then quickly looked away, “we need to lure him to a designated location. I think that shouldn’t be too difficult for you.”
"Are the materials needed for this secret technique difficult to collect?" Although Meng Yunxi spoke casually, Sheng Qing felt that it wasn't that easy.
"If you have the will, it's not difficult." Meng Yunxi did not give a direct answer.
Upon reflection, this matter doesn't seem so urgent, but we can start collecting materials first.
"You're not going to soften your heart towards him, are you?" Meng Yunxi turned her head again, staring intently at Sheng Qing. "You haven't fallen for him, have you?"
"How could you think that?" Sheng Qing chuckled. "How could that be?"
"That's good." Meng Yunxi raised her eyebrows, her expression visibly relaxing. "We've already found a way to overcome this adversity."
"So fast?" Sheng Qing had completely forgotten about it.
"What, you really want to stay here forever?"
"It's not impossible," Sheng Qing muttered, with a hint of selfishness in his voice.
Neither of them spoke for a moment.
"Are you going to rejoin the team?" After a long pause, Meng Yunxi asked again.
“I, I,” Sheng Qing stammered.
"If you're still worried about that matter..." A fleeting look of hesitation crossed Meng Yunxi's face.
"That was just an accident," Sheng Qing quickly interrupted. He was like that because of the medication, and he had rejected so many people. She was very self-aware and wasn't ready to be the next one to be rejected.
“Of course.” A mocking smile appeared on Meng Yunxi’s face as she added, “If you want, I can pretend nothing happened.”
"It's settled then." Sheng Qing smiled, but for some reason, a pang of sadness welled up inside her. "Captain, I'm all ready. Is there anything you need?"
“There’s definitely something fishy about the water here,” Meng Yunxi said in a deep voice, her hair, wet from the pool water, clung tightly to her cheeks, and her eyes shone brightly in the moonlight.
At that time, Sheng Qing had already met up with the members of Team Zero, and at Meng Yunxi's instruction, dismissed all irrelevant people in the courtyard. The group then gathered at the place where she had fallen into the water.
"What's wrong with this water?" Sheng Qing was already somewhat afraid of water, but he still tried to get closer to the water's edge, half-squatting down and touching the water's surface with his hand, but he couldn't see anything unusual.
"Let's come down and take a look; there's a trap," Meng Yunxi gestured to the others.
"Okay." Jian Fei jumped into the water without saying a word, and surfaced again a few minutes later. "There's a barrier underwater; we probably need to find the mechanism to break it." After saying that, he sank back into the water.
After Meng and Jian went back and forth underwater dozens of times, the water level finally changed, dropping rapidly. At the same time, a stone platform rose from the center of the pool. The stone surface was engraved with intricate stripes, and the top was a concave shape, as if it were used to hold something.
The water in the pool had dried up, and Sheng Qing jumped down to check the stone platform. The moment his palm touched the stone platform, a strange tremor rose in his heart, and the spiritual energy in his body uncontrollably surged against the barrier of his sea of consciousness, as if it had received a call from afar and was eager to get close to it.
Following his heart's desire, Sheng Qing came to his senses and found himself standing at the highest point of the stone platform, his right hand reaching towards the concave area. Suddenly, the stone platform seemed to come alive, flowing like water and tightly enveloping Sheng Qing's right hand.
To Sheng Qing's surprise, a screen appeared before him, playing a story like a movie.
"Look!" Sheng Qing turned to look at everyone.
Huh? Why is everyone so still? The world is eerily silent; even the chirping of insects has disappeared. Sheng Qing couldn't help but wonder if he had lost his hearing.
Sheng Qing tried to retract his right hand. The moment his hand separated from the stone surface, the curtain disappeared, and the voices of the crowd resumed.
"What's wrong?" Meng Yunxi asked as she approached Sheng Qing, noticing his unusual expression.
“Everyone was still just now, like this.” Sheng Qing said, his right hand touching the recessed part of the stone platform again, and the curtain appeared, while Meng Yunxi’s outstretched hand stopped in mid-air.
On a whim, Sheng Qing tried channeling a wisp of spiritual energy to his right hand. The spiritual energy combined with the stone surface, and almost instantly, the entire stone platform lit up with a dazzling light.
A faint, confused murmur could be heard, as if disturbing the deep sleep of some unknown creature, followed by an unbearable pressure.
Oh no, it seems we've messed with someone we can't afford to mess with!
Sheng Qing was filled with remorse and tried his best to retract the leaked spiritual energy.
The world returned to silence.
A moving story was unfolding behind the curtain, and several familiar faces even flashed by. Weren't those young Sheng Zhilin and Cheng Yuanjin?
The gaze shifts downwards, and there appears to be a progress bar-like feature at the bottom of the curtain. Sheng Qing touches it with his left hand and swipes to the right, fast-forwarding the story from Sheng Zhilin's perspective.
A blurry figure popped up on the screen. Sheng Qing released the progress bar and saw the scene unfolding. Sheng Zhilin was gesturing to the blurry figure.
Without a doubt, the person with the blurred face was Sheng Qing. Dragging the progress bar again, Sheng Qing's face gradually became clearer, yet it still felt unsettling.
Several face options appeared on the left side of the screen. Sheng Qing selected an option with her face on it, and the screen changed to Sheng Qing's perspective.
Sheng Qing gradually figured out the pattern: the people belonging to this world had some clear faces, while people like Team Zero were blurry figures. If she weren't familiar with the plot, she wouldn't be able to tell them apart.
But why are the faces of the Zero Team members always blurry, instead of gradually becoming clear like hers?
The story has progressed to the point where they discover the pool, but it is still going on.
Pull the progress bar again, the blurry figure disappears, and Sheng Qing's face on the screen grows old with each breath. Finally, the screen goes black, and the story comes to an end.
Sheng Qing was stunned for a moment, then the curtain lit up again, as if a new story was about to begin.
What lies on the other side of the curtain? As Sheng Qing released his right hand, a question surfaced in his mind.
"Is there something wrong with the stone platform?" It seemed like only a second had passed when Meng Yunxi's hand, which had been suspended in mid-air, fell and grasped Sheng Qing's left hand.
Still absorbed in his curiosity about the curtain, Sheng Qing brought his right hand close to the stone surface again, and the curtain reappeared.
"What is this?" Meng Yunxi asked in confusion.
"You can see it too?" Sheng Qing asked, turning to the side. Was it because he was holding her hand?
"This is a story that takes place in this world. I've already watched it once." Sheng Qing met Meng Yunxi's surprised and doubtful gaze and nodded. The latter frowned slightly, her expression freezing.
"I want to see what's on the other side of the curtain?" As soon as Sheng Qing finished speaking, the curtain seemed to come alive, flipping in mid-air and revealing its mysterious back.
A screen resembling a movie screen appeared before my eyes. Unlike the previous ancient-style scene, this one was more modern in style.
Before he could see it more clearly, a vortex suddenly appeared in the center of the curtain, and that familiar dizziness struck him, causing Sheng Qing to lose consciousness.
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