Into The Sea

Although they didn’t know whether the forbidden area truly existed or what secrets it held, with no other leads, the group hurried towards the northernmost City Lord’s Manor.

The once magnificent Qing Manor was now mostly in ruins. Lan Wu carefully navigated through the scattered bricks, brushing her hand against a piece of charred glazed tile, only to have her hand covered in dust.

She frowned, clapping her hands to shake off the dirt, then looked around the ruined courtyard, slowly turning in a circle.

“If there’s a forbidden area, where’s the entrance?”

“Since it’s a forbidden area, the entrance wouldn’t be somewhere obvious,” Wen Shiyu said, pulling out a stack of paper talismans shaped like little people and tossed them into the air. “Go search.”

Lan Wu glanced at her in surprise. “Miss Wen, you really have a lot of unique skills.”

Ji Lingyue snorted, standing with her arms crossed as a cloud of black mist spread from behind her, transforming into fluttering black butterflies that scattered throughout the courtyard.

Lan Wu turned to see Ji Lingyue’s cool expression, and smiled, “Of course, our Ah Yue is the most amazing.” She raised her hand, conjuring several glowing blue fish, “I’ll help too.”

Within moments, the empty courtyard was filled with various spells. Qi Yueyao, wielding a silver spear, walked to the edge of the collapsed wall, slowly surveying the area.

Since learning the true purpose of Lan Wu and the others’ midnight excursion, her attitude toward them had softened considerably. While looking around, she casually asked, “So, are you really a half-demon?”

Caught off guard by the term, Lan Wu paused. “Well, if we’re talking about the blood flowing through my veins, then yes.”

Qi Yueyao looked at her. “But you look more human now.”

Lan Wu smiled faintly. “Is that so? After being a demon for three hundred years, it’s not so bad to be human for a while.”

“You’re certainly carefree,” Qi Yueyao muttered. “If I had even half a demon’s blood, I’d be miserable.”

Ji Lingyue frowned, glancing at her with displeasure. Wen Shiyu interjected, “Why are we talking about that? We should be thinking about how to enter the forbidden area if we find it.”

“How else would we get in?” Qi Yueyao asked, puzzled. “This place is burnt to a crisp. Even if there’s a protective formation, it’s probably destroyed, we can just force our way in.”

Wen Shiyu was momentarily speechless, forcing a laugh. “You’re right Senior Sister.”

The atmosphere gradually lightened, but then Ji Lingyue suddenly spoke up. “Found it.”

“Where?”

Ji Lingyue walked leisurely toward the stone steps in the north, her long black hair tied into a ponytail swaying gracefully behind her. Qi Yueyao clicked her tongue, whispering to Lan Wu, “Is she always like this?”

Lan Wu blinked. “Like what?”

Qi Yueyao gestured with her chin towards her back. “Ignoring everyone, always looking like she’s in a bad mood, as if everyone owes her money.”

Before she could finish, Ji Lingyue turned her head, giving her a cold glare. Qi Yueyao paused, lowering her voice. “See? Just like that.”

Lan Wu chuckled. “No, Ah Yue has a very good temper.”

Qi Yueyao scoffed. “If she has a good temper, then there’s no one in the world with a bad temper.”

Lan Wu shook her head, smiling helplessly. She followed after Ji Lingyue, saying, “You’ll understand someday.”

Ji Lingyue stopped by a dry white jade pool. The patterns on the bottom were clearly visible. Lan Wu lowered her head, frowning as she carefully touched the uneven patterns.

After a moment, she pressed her finger to the center of the flower pattern, and ripples spread from her fingertip, like water disturbed by a stone.

“What is it?”

“There is a formation here,” Lan Wu said, retracting her hand. “But as Miss Qi said, it’s mostly destroyed. With just a little force…”

She pressed a ball of blue spiritual energy into the center of the flower, and with a crack, the smooth white jade base collapsed, revealing a narrow staircase leading downward. “It completely deactivates.”

Several heads huddled together, staring down at the dark passage below.

After a moment, Danqing whimpered, jumping onto Lan Wu’s shoulder. “I… I don’t want to go down.”

“Then you stay here,” Lan Wu said, looking at Danbai. “Can you stay with her?”

Danbai hesitated before nodding. “Alright.”

Lan Wu nodded and was about to go down when Ji Lingyue grabbed her. “I’ll go first.” She pulled Lan Wu behind her, then paused, sending a butterfly to Danbai. “If anything happens, crush it.”

“Okay.”

Once they were ready, they began to descend one by one. The passage was cold and damp. Ji Lingyue conjured a ball of light, illuminating half of her pale face and reflecting in her dark red eyes, like a burning flame.

The sound of footsteps echoed off the narrow stone walls. The staircase seemed to spiral downward, and after what felt like an eternity, Ji Lingyue finally stepped onto flat ground, raising the light to illuminate the surroundings.

A clear pool of water lay nearby. In the center of the pool, a circular platform was etched with a pattern similar to the one in the white jade pool, but four or five times larger.

They circled the pool, finding nothing else. The walls were solid and thick, with no sign of any other passages.

Lan Wu rested her chin on her hand, thinking for a moment. Then, she turned and stepped onto the stones protruding from the water, easily leaping onto the platform. Ji Lingyue paused, instinctively calling out, “Lan Wu…”

“Don’t worry,” Lan Wu said. “There’s no spiritual energy in the formation, it’s probably been deactivated for a long time.”

She walked around the platform, carefully examining every direction. “If Miss Wen is right, this is the core of Wangliang City’s protective formation. But since the formation was destroyed, the core is useless now.”

“So there’s nothing in this forbidden area?” Qi Yueyao said in disappointment. “I thought we’d find something big here.”

Lan Wu suddenly stopped, staring at a crack in the ground. She followed it to the center, where a palm-sized depression held several smooth fragments. She bent down, picked one up, and after examining it, used her spiritual energy to retrieve the rest, carefully piecing them together.

The others, curious, gathered behind her, peering over her shoulder.

Once pieced together, a barely recognizable jade talisman was revealed. Lan Wu wiped the dirt from it, revealing the characters inscribed upon it: “Kun, Qian, Kan…”

She frowned, suddenly realizing something. “This… this is the real core.”

Qi Yueyao asked, “What do you mean?”

Lan Wu turned to her, her expression one of shock: “The protective formation wasn’t broken from the outside by demons; someone destroyed its core from the inside.”

Qi Yueyao was stunned. “Destroyed from the inside? Wait, what does that mean?”

“Senior Sister,” Wen Shiyu said gravely, “she’s saying that someone intentionally let the demons in.”

Silence fell in the dim chamber. After a long pause, Qi Yueyao said, “Who would do such a thing?”

“We’ll have to ask Qing Zibai,” Lan Wu said, standing up and putting the fragments into her storage ring. “Only a few people should know about the Qing family’s forbidden area, and even fewer about the core. As the former young city lord, he couldn’t have been completely unaware.”

Wen Shiyu frowned. “But he hasn’t said anything for so many years. What if he doesn’t know?”

Qi Yueyao said, “Whether he knows or not, we’ll interrogate him when we get back. We’ll get something out of him. This is too important. I need to tell my father right away!”

She turned to leave. Lan Wu and Ji Lingyue exchanged a look and followed. Ji Lingyue looked dispirited and listless. Lan Wu carefully took her hand. “What’s wrong?”

Ji Lingyue whispered, “There’s no trace of Shanye.”

Lan Wu gently squeezed her fingertips. “We’ll find her.”

Ji Lingyue nodded, returning the squeeze. But moments later, she suddenly stopped, frowning and looking up with alarm.

Lan Wu was startled. Before she could ask, Ji Lingyue transformed into a swarm of black butterflies, flying upwards with a crash. Qi Yueyao, who was in front, was nearly knocked over. She grabbed a nearby wall, angrily yelling, “What’s wrong with you?!”

Lan Wu reacted, her expression turning grim. She ran up the stairs, “Something’s happened outside!”

In the inky night sky, a golden dome was materializing, enveloping the Qing Manor within a barrier. Danbai crashed to the ground, wiping blood from the corner of her mouth. She looked down at the bloodied gyrfalcon in her arms. “Danqing?”

Danqing said weakly, “I’m okay…”

Relieved, she looked up at the dozens of black-clad figures in the sky. She held Danqing tightly with one arm, while the other materialized a long, silver sword.

These people were all at least in the Body Integration Stage.

A flash of silver, and a flying sword shot towards her.

Danbai swung her sword to block it, but was sent tumbling backwards. She barely managed to get up when another sword came slashing towards her. Despite desperately dodging, her thigh was cut open, blood staining her white clothes like a vibrant flower.

Danbai grunted in pain. Looking up, she saw more than a dozen swords pointed at her.

Her eyes widened in fear. The sharp shadows of the swords grew larger in her pupils. Just as it seemed inevitable, a surge of black energy erupted, wrapping around the flying swords and hurling them to the ground.

A figure spun and landed in front of Danbai, the hem of her robe fluttering in the wind.

Ji Lingyue clenched her fist, coldly staring at the dozens of masked figures above. They all wore blue-white masks that covered their faces, leaving only their eyes visible, making them look like terrifying ghosts.

She glanced at the barrier surrounding Qing Manor and sneered. “What, did you want to trap us here and kill us one by one?”

But no one answered her question. If not for the oppressive spiritual energy, Ji Lingyue might have thought they were mere illusions.

“How foolish.” She spread her hands, and a vast wave of black energy surged from behind her, spreading across the entire barrier, blocking out all the moonlight.

In the darkness, her bright red eyes were filled with a rising sense of satisfaction.

“This will be your grave.”