Chapter 124
Chapter
124
2026
“Ye Zheng!”
He turned and ran toward the place where the fog was gathering. Ye Zheng’s figure grew blurrier and blurrier. He lunged forward to grab her, but the mist scattered. His palm held nothing except wet water droplets.
Sykes, his face grave, hurried over as well. Looking at the empty spot, he took a heavy breath.
What exactly did Zhou Yun want? And how had Ye Zheng been taken again? He clutched his forehead, feeling that he should remember something. But the moment he tried to probe his thoughts, his mind grew hazy.
The surrounding crowd shrank back. The two youths stood facing each other in the middle as silence and unease spread around them.
“Pei Xi, back at the Platinum County church, didn’t you also see Ye Zheng get taken by white fog?”
Hearing Sykes’s question, Pei Xi slowly furrowed his brows.
“You’re not saying Ye Zheng is working with Zhou Yun? She has no reason to do that. Don’t forget, she’s also part of your royal team.”
Sykes let out an indistinct laugh. He lifted his chin, his eyes fixing on the black bag lying on the ground.
“I smelled the blood in there long ago. My guess is that the trash in the bag wouldn’t be Kieran, would it?”
“From your expression, I guessed right.”
Sykes continued, “Zhou Yun wants revenge on Kieran because her daughter was used as an experimental subject and died. She wants to take revenge on everyone connected to the Hope Project. Raising such a huge force for that reason is laughable. Still, some people would be moved by it.”
“Even though she herself is one of the targets of revenge.”
Pei Xi fell silent for a moment.
“Even if Zhou Yun’s actions are extreme, you shouldn’t call her pain laughable. Ye Zheng is the one chosen by the Divine Sword no matter what. I believe she’ll make the right judgment. She won’t fuel Zhou Yun’s madness. Probably.”
Sykes noticed the flicker of uncertainty on Pei Xi’s face and sneered.
“In my opinion, her madness is no less than Zhou Yun’s.”
He recalled everything Ye Zheng had done. She had disguised herself to join two teams, seized the Divine Sword beyond everyone’s expectations, teamed up with Sela to trick the Pope, killed several people in the Hope Project base and gotten locked up, and then swaggered in carrying the leader’s head to find them.
Pei Xi pressed his lips tightly. Sykes was right. Why did he keep habitually placing Ye Zheng in the position of someone who needed protection?
A dangerous premonition rose in his heart. He had to abandon that habitual thinking. Otherwise, sooner or later, he would fall into a situation even more complicated and awkward than what had happened after the Saintess drew her sword.
From the beginning, Ye Zheng had never been a friend who needed his protection. Then what was she? Pei Xi couldn’t say.
At the very least, he didn’t want to become enemies with Ye Zheng. One reason was their complicated past interactions. The second was that being her enemy might be a very terrifying thing. Pei Xi glanced at the black bag on the ground and felt a chill run through him.
The crown prince beside him suddenly turned to leave.
Pei Xi gathered his scattered thoughts and called out, “Sykes, where are you going?”
“To find Ye Zheng. Wasn’t she taken by Zhou Yun again?”
Looking at Sykes’s back, Pei Xi said in surprise, “Didn’t you think she’s working with Zhou Yun?”
“If she doesn’t need saving, then kill her.”
Sykes restrained his power as he pushed the door open. His golden eyes were dark, without a trace of light. Ye Zheng might have some private motives, but she absolutely couldn’t be a traitor.
Zhou Yun stood against the empire. That meant she stood against him, the crown prince. Even if he felt no attachment to this country or its people, it still belonged to him. Sooner or later he would inherit it from the old man. Moreover, Zhou Yun had declared that she would kill him.
Sykes felt tightness in his chest. Ye Zheng understood him too well. She knew his abilities and his psychology. She always had ways to counter him.
Keeping someone like her alive was already a miracle of mercy. He could even tolerate Ye Zheng not fully submitting to his side. But Ye Zheng had better not test his bottom line any further.
He wasn’t some gullible fool like Pei Xi. He was the real monster who could put her to death.
Pei Xi sighed where he stood. After thinking it over, he decided to follow Sykes. They had to find Zhou Yun and end all this.
The two set out again toward the edge of the town. This time they left the town smoothly, yet their expressions held no relief. It seemed Zhou Yun now wanted to meet them face-to-face.
Pei Xi looked at the endless white fog, momentarily unsure which direction to go. Zhou Yun had taken Ye Zheng, allowed them to leave the town, yet left no clues.
Zhou Yun, the Western District overseer’s wife. The daughter who had died unexpectedly. Pei Xi’s brow twitched. He quickly grabbed Sykes’s arm and asked:
“Do you know all the residences under the Western District overseer’s name? Or at least the ones closest to the base?”
A noble of such high status must have many properties. When Zhou Yun’s daughter Yuan Yuan came to Lanxia County for the base’s experiments, she might have stayed in a nearby house for some time.
Moreover, if Zhou Yun wanted to monitor the Hope Project base and the five hundred thousand people in the town, she wouldn’t live far away.
Sykes stopped his brooding march forward. He took out the information his subordinates had compiled before entering the Western District. It included detailed records about the Western District overseer.
✧✧✧✧✧
When her toes touched the ground, Ye Zheng instantly opened her eyes. Her water-wrapped forearms tensed into a full defensive posture as she remained highly alert.
She turned to scan her surroundings. Because of the fog’s cover, she couldn’t see every detail clearly. From the faint buildings and street signs, she judged that this was an unprosperous street.
Where was Zhou Yun? What was her purpose in bringing her here?
According to the system, in the original plot she had been taken by Zhou Yun as bait. It was meant only to heighten the plot’s tension, motivate Pei Xi and the others to find Zhou Yun’s location, and lead to the final battle.
So now, had Zhou Yun also brought her here to use her as bait?
Ye Zheng cautiously took a step forward. Her ears twitched slightly. In the deathly silent street, besides the sound of wind, there were footsteps stepping on fallen leaves. There was more than one set.
She tensed her body warily. The 【Stream】 swirling around her hands and forearms began to flow like white snakes poised to strike.
The black shadows approaching from the other end were equally cautious. The one leading them was tall, his steps steady and careful.
Ye Zheng first narrowed her eyes, then suddenly widened her black pupils. She stepped toward the opposite side, her movements becoming lighter.
“Wende?”
“Saintess!”
Both sides showed surprise at the same time. The white-robed knights behind Wende stirred and couldn’t resist craning forward. Excited murmurs spread through the group.
Wende had no mind for discipline now. She strode toward the youth, carefully looked her over, and confirmed that the Saintess appeared healthy and unharmed. The tension she had carried since entering the Western District finally eased a little.
Ye Zheng glanced at the members of the Order of Sacred Conduct behind Wende, then back at Wende. She restrained her smile and asked:
“How are you here? Did you encounter danger?”
Before entering the Western District, the royal family had rejected the Saintess’s request to bring her own knight order. They claimed the dire situation required a stronger, more mature team to escort her. Because of that, Ye Zheng had quietly arranged for Wende to lead people in from another direction.
The royal plan was for Sykes to enter the Western District from the south, first reach the political and economic center of Platinum County, contact the Western District officials, and assist in resolving the situation there.
While she had Wende take a detour and enter the Western District from the north, this route happened to be the closest to Lu Qi’s hometown, Lanxia County.
Of course, she hadn’t expected the Hope Project base to be located right in Lanxia County. Because of that, Lu Qi, desperately trying to return home, wandered into the base while lost in the fog.
“Is this Lanxia County?”
Ye Zheng asked.
“I can’t be sure. We just arrived here ourselves.”
Wende shook her head. Before she could say anything more, someone behind her eagerly answered in her place.
“We were teleported here by the fog. My lady, were you too?”
Ye Zheng turned her head toward the girl from the knight order who had spoken so loudly. Her skin appeared even darker against the white uniform, and her eyes were bright and sharp. Ye Zheng remembered her. She was Cheng Cheng, someone with a very distinctive personality and an older sister named Cheng Che.
Ye Zheng clasped her hands behind her back and nodded at her with a smile to acknowledge her.
She continued speaking with Wende and learned that after entering the Western District, the Order of Sacred Conduct had also lost their way. They had kept circling around without encountering any monsters, though they did meet some strange people.
“What strange people?”
Ye Zheng asked curiously.
“Villagers who saw us and immediately called us monsters, then attacked us. It happened suddenly, and a few people got minor injuries. Nothing serious beyond that.”
Wende described it lightly. She omitted the part where, in self-defense, they had seriously wounded several of the attackers. There was no need to trouble the Saintess with such details.
The women of the knight order rested on the spot. Cheng Cheng had received a response from the Saintess and felt a little awkward, so she stepped back into the group. After a moment, her slightly stiff expression froze. She looked up and glanced around. Although everything was blurred by the fog, she still sensed that something was wrong.
“Someone’s here!”
The women, who had just begun to relax, immediately went on alert. Wende extended one arm in front of Ye Zheng, shielding her and positioning the Saintess between herself and the Order of Sacred Conduct in a protective formation.
A thick and hard bone blade probed into the depths of the fog. It paused for a moment, then suddenly swept from left to right across the fog-shrouded street ahead, sending a cluster of unidentified objects flying.
Ye Zheng stood beside Wende. She heard objects tumbling not far away, accompanied by faint cursing. Barely suppressing a laugh, she pressed her fist to her lips, coughed lightly, and placed her hand on the bone blade Wende had extended.
“Put it away. I know who it is.”
Wende looked puzzled. Following Ye Zheng’s gaze, she saw a short and disheveled black shadow approaching quickly from the fog ahead, clearly furious. Wende wasn’t sure whether Ye Zheng’s decision to retract her ability was the right one.
The shadow soon drew close enough for Wende to recognize it from the messy, puffed-up golden hair.
“Sela, is it because you haven’t seen me in so long that you’re feeling shy?”
Ye Zheng tilted her head and asked with feigned confusion.
Seeing this deliberate expression only made Sela angrier. She had originally planned to bring people and give Ye Zheng a “surprise,” to prove that she wasn’t someone Ye Zheng could command whenever she wished. She hadn’t expected to be discovered so quickly by Ye Zheng’s people.
If not for the letter from Ye Zheng mentioning dragon bones in the Western District, she would never have come to this miserable place. It was even creepier than Blood Flower. She had wandered around for days without finding anything good to eat.
When Ye Zheng met Sela’s furious red eyes, she stopped teasing her. Her tone turned sincere enough to make Sela pause for a second.
“I’m very glad to see you safe and standing in front of me, Sela.”
Ye Zheng now understood why all of them had appeared here. Lu Qi must have delivered her letter to Zhou Yun, and Zhou Yun must have agreed to her request.
The fact that Sela and Wende’s group had appeared before her meant that Lu Qi should be safe for the time being. Zhou Yun wasn’t impossible to negotiate with.
Noticing the relieved expression on Ye Zheng’s face, Sela lowered her red eyes. Her fingers unconsciously tugged at the hem of her clothes. Was this person actually worried about her safety?
Even so, her kindness still felt fake. That only made Sela dislike her even more.
~~~End~~~