Chapter 51

Ye Zheng had come to the lower district this time with two purposes. One was to deal with Zhuo Ya’s matter. The other was to see for herself what exactly was happening with the aberrant realm resembling the Blood Flower.

She waited for a period of time, then proceeded with Wende toward the blood-scented location.

The imperial family had dispatched many experts for rescue operations. At present, numerous personnel were stationed around the realm. High-level healers from the church stood by outside. Yet several days had passed, and even S-Class ability users sent inside had gone silent.

The imperial family was now preparing an alternative plan. They intended to construct a passage connecting the blood-colored realm with the outside world.

Normally, aberrant realms could only be entered, not exited. The only way out was by destroying the core. However, five hundred years ago, a mineral was discovered within realms. It was named aberrant stone. This stone could connect realms with the outside world, and shelters were constructed from it.

The discovery of aberrant stone ushered in an era where creations from aberrant realms were used to improve everyday life.

Aberrant realms concealed many treasures from other spaces, including aberrant beasts, plants, and unique minerals. These were all astonishing discoveries for the empire. It was a pity that once a realm vanished, all its contents vanished with it.

After the use of aberrant stone to construct spatial passages, there was no longer a need to destroy realms. People could enter and exit freely, bringing precious items from realms into daily life.

For example, Ye Zheng’s “phone” relied on sound stone, a product from an aberrant realm, to transmit information. Thus, people both hated and relied upon aberrant realms. This feeling was especially pronounced in the upper district, where there was no threat from realms, only the enjoyment of their benefits.

As she thought of this, Ye Zheng’s expression cooled slightly.

There had been a time when she believed that aberrant realms were not entirely harmful. But after the system granted her partial functions of a phone from another world, she glimpsed a corner of a higher-dimensional civilization. In that place, there were no aberrant realms and no gifts from other spaces, yet their phones were far superior.

Ye Zheng moved at an unhurried pace, taking a roundabout route. She could not appear too close to the blood-colored realm. She needed to find a sufficiently distant position that still allowed observation.

Passing by a former realm shelter, Ye Zheng slowed her steps. She saw a group of Royal Knights in uniform surrounding the exterior.

There was no realm here anymore. They should not have been present. Ye Zheng hid beneath the eaves, her heart gradually tightening. Had her actions inside already aroused suspicion?

Her footsteps were light as she casually moved closer, intending to listen in. The group’s voices were loud and unconcerned, showing no intention of concealment.

“Are we really demolishing it? It looks troublesome. Once we start, this whole area might collapse.”

“Does it matter if it collapses? We are only responsible for what is above.”

“You are lucky, brother. We do not have to enter that damned realm. That alone is already a great fortune.”

Ye Zheng pressed her lips together tightly. Disbelief flickered through her black eyes. Was the imperial family truly so desperate? Were they actually planning to demolish the shelter’s aberrant stone to force a passage for rescue?

With the shelter’s structure and the Royal Knights’ forceful and violent methods, no matter how carefully they worked, the shelter would inevitably be reduced to ruins. The royal family would surely not care about rebuilding it afterward.

She had heard that aberrant stone had become scarce recently. Only realms deemed highly valuable were preserved for stone passage construction.

As for how “highly valuable” was determined, Ye Zheng had always been puzzled. Earlier that year, one realm had been fitted with an enormous stone passage simply because the Crown Prince liked the ferocious monsters inside and wanted to keep his “little cuties.”

“Ha.”

After standing in silence for a moment, Ye Zheng let out a soft, mocking laugh and turned away.

As she walked, she spoke quietly to the loyal knight behind her. “Wende, it seems I need to cultivate more people who truly belong to me.”

Powerful ability users could stand at the front of the shelter and halt demolition. Yet those who truly held power sat high above, sipping wine while countless people willingly cleared obstacles for them.

Although the Sacred Citadel Empire respected strength, and many crossed class boundaries through high-grade abilities, true power still rested in the hands of old noble families.

Ye Zheng thought that before her strength could overturn the entire world, influence might prove more practical. At present, the only person she could truly trust was Wende. Compared to figures like Sykes and Wen Jian, she was far too passive.

Beside her, the usually silent knight’s face softened into a rare smile. Her eyes were filled with encouragement as she looked down at the saintess, who was half a head shorter.

Meeting Wende’s inclusive gaze, Ye Zheng suddenly recalled the past. When she had just become a saintess at fourteen, she had requested a personal attendant. She had made an exception and recruited a female knight.

The church had not rejected the young saintess’s request. In fact, they considered it a good way to preserve her purity.

Male knights would have been inconvenient and prone to rumor. Once there were scandals involving saintesses and their knights. A female knight avoided such concerns entirely. Although the empire traditionally recruited only male knights, occasionally granting a woman a light title was not unprecedented.

Now, at seventeen, the saintess was no longer satisfied with that small initial request.

Ye Zheng thought to herself that she had already accumulated a certain level of prestige. The tournament was approaching, and it would become a new center of power for the next generation. Secretly, she already possessed a modest but real force.

It was enough capital to begin expanding her influence. 

Her “ambition” had already been openly declared to the Pope. Since Wen Jian had agreed to let her approach the church’s core power after the ability tournament, her openly building forces now perfectly aligned with the “Ye Zheng” persona in Wen Jian’s eyes.

“Let’s form a female knight order first.”

The words slipped out naturally. The girl’s cold expression softened slightly. Her eyes shifted, as if she had finally voiced a wish she had carried for a long time.

“An excellent proposal, my lady. If I may be so bold, I have been paying attention to this matter for quite some time.”

“Many girls wish to serve you. They have been waiting for this day.”

The tall knight bowed deeply, offering a sense of boundless, inclusive security. Wende sometimes acted on her own initiative, Ye Zheng thought. But she did not dislike it.

✧✧✧✧✧

About half an hour later, Ye Zheng arrived at a remote corner of the city. Nearby residents had already been evacuated, and upper-district rescue teams had not yet reached this area.

Not far away, a blood-red curtain shrouded the earth. Even under the gloomy rain, it radiated an ominous crimson glow.

The girl’s black eyes stared unblinkingly at the familiar scene. Ten years had passed, yet she still felt that “a giant red dome” was the most vivid description of it. It also resembled an overturned boiling hot pot, flesh frying violently within.

The Empire officially emphasized rescue efforts, yet so far, it was only known that ten upper-district students were trapped. Few people knew how many civilians were also ensnared.

Judging by the size of the realm and the population density, Ye Zheng estimated that the number was between one and two thousand.

She lowered her gaze to her right hand. The dragon bone fragment embedded in her palm had originally been meant as a temporary concealment, but now she had decided not to remove it.

Compared to the palm-sized dragon bone replica she had used before, the power of this fragment was just right. It neither caused loss of control nor produced an obvious amplification.

In the past, she had been unable to maintain large-scale water-flow perception for long periods. She get tired now, though still functional.

Something felt strange. According to legend, dragon bones deterred aberrant realms, forcing them to avoid humans and protecting their safety. Yet Ye Zheng had only ever discovered their amplifying effect.

Considering the Pope’s experiment on Zhuo Ya, perhaps the bone could stimulate latent abilities as well. In any case, deterrence seemed unrelated.

“My lady, someone has come out?”

Wende’s usually steady voice carried a trace of disbelief. Ye Zheng looked up. Near the blood curtain stood a girl in a Upper-district Academy uniform. She might be one of the missing members of the Mingcheng team.

The blue-uniformed girl had waist-length golden hair, dazzling even in its disarray. It reminded Ye Zheng of Sykes, who also had golden hair, though the difference was stark. Sykes’s hair was radiant and meticulously maintained, each strand gleaming. This girl’s hair was frizzy, fluffy, and completely unkempt.

Her neat blue uniform was wrinkled, and upon closer inspection, she was wearing slippers on her feet.

She shuffled forward in those slippers, carrying a heavy black bag. Her steps were unsteady, yet she seemed oddly cheerful.

At first glance, she looked like someone who had been trapped in the realm and reduced to a gaunt, disheveled state. Her posture was nothing like that of a noble student from the upper academy. What shocked Ye Zheng more was one simple fact.

How had she come out?

“Wende, are you certain she came from the realm?”

“Yes. Although it’s hard to believe, I saw it with my own eyes. She jumped out of the blood curtain.”

Ye Zheng’s gaze locked onto the girl.

Suddenly, the blue-uniformed girl turned her head with eerie precision. Her eyes were revealed, straight and unblinking, their pupils a deep, solemn red, even darker than the blood realm behind her.

In that instant, a chill ran through Ye Zheng’s body.

“Wende, cover me.”

Wende stepped forward at once, silently releasing bone thorns. The girl retreated half a step, partially hiding behind Wende. She took out her phone and mentally called the system.

“Have the next chapter manga spoilers been updated?”

There was no response.

Ye Zheng was already used to the system occasionally going “off duty,” especially when events deviated from the manga’s main plot. She opened the manga app herself.

The newest chapter stopped at Sykes tripping in his new outfit. Ye Zheng scrolled down. The pages that had previously been blank now displayed new content.

On the screen, a white-clothed saintess who had secretly slipped into the lower district nearly fell in the rain. A black-haired, blue-eyed boy suddenly appeared and supported her. Their eyes met in surprise, their gazes flickering.

Ye Zheng’s mouth twitched imperceptibly.

No wonder her Stream ability had failed to detect that man earlier. The original plot truly possessed an irresistible force, something that could only be altered through action points.

She skipped past the meaningless scene and continued scrolling through blank pages, but her finger lingered, dissatisfied, and kept moving downward.

Finally, her finger stopped.

Color flooded the screen once more.

Ye Zheng stared at the panel.

The golden-haired, red-eyed girl was pressing intimately against a black-haired, black-eyed girl, her head resting against the side of the other’s neck.

“Remember me?”

A close-up followed. The golden-haired girl’s lips curved into a pleasant smile, while her crimson eyes overflowed with excited killing intent.

“I never forgot you. Not for a single moment in ten years.”

“Quick, dodge!”

Wende’s tense and uncharacteristically broken shout snapped Ye Zheng out of her thoughts. She jumped back instinctively. A snow-white blade shadow fell instantly where she had just been standing.

Impossible.

She had been maintaining ability-based monitoring of her surroundings. Or rather, she had been. Ye Zheng clenched her fist. Her palm was completely dry. The familiar sense of moisture was gone.

“So nimble.”

The golden-haired girl appeared out of nowhere, holding a kitchen knife and tilting her head curiously as she looked at Ye Zheng.

Wende immediately positioned herself in front of Ye Zheng. Ye Zheng glanced down and saw that Wende’s bone thorns had vanished as well.

So this was her ability.

Ability nullification. A troublesome power for ability users.

Ye Zheng raised her eyes and calmly observed the golden-haired girl. The violent, feral aura she gave off was somewhat similar to Sykes. However, Sykes was restrained by his status as the crown prince and by his surroundings, appearing mostly normal on the surface. This girl, on the other hand, made no effort to hide it.

Anyone could tell that she was extremely dangerous.

On closer inspection, Ye Zheng almost confirmed something impossible. This girl could not be from the missing teams, nor could she be a trapped civilian. She was more like the incarnation of the blood realm itself.

The golden-haired girl slashed at Ye Zheng once but did not follow up. Instead, she squatted down and began organizing the contents of her black bag.

“Ah, everything fell out.”

“So dirty. So gross.”

She crouched there, her long golden hair dragging across the ground without a care, earnestly gathering the items that had spilled out.

A round object rolled out and stopped at Ye Zheng’s feet. Ye Zheng lightly stopped it with her shoe.

Maintaining her defensive posture, she hesitated for a moment before gently reminding her.

“You dropped a head as well. You should pick it up.”

It was Olin’s head. Ye Zheng examined the terrified, twisted face and barely managed to recognize him.

“Can’t you see I’m busy? Aren’t you going to hand it to me?”

Ye Zheng brushed aside Wende’s attempt to block her and casually touched the gun hidden at her waist beneath her coat. She picked up the head and walked over to the golden-haired girl.

The girl immediately beamed, took the head, and tossed it into the bag with the other limbs.

“You’re really special. You’re the second person who’s made me feel this way. I’ll let you die comfortably.”

She raised the kitchen knife again and chopped down.

Ye Zheng anticipated the attack and dodged. At the same time, her hand moved from her waist, gripping the gun. In one smooth motion, she pressed the muzzle against the back of the golden-haired girl’s head.

Without hesitation, Ye Zheng pulled the trigger.

Against a lunatic like this, even a moment of hesitation could mean death.

A gunshot rang out.

There was no explosion of blood or brain matter. Ye Zheng clearly saw it. The bullet burst apart the instant it touched the girl’s head, dispersing into nothing.

“Hahaha!”

The golden-haired girl turned abruptly, pressing her forehead against the gun’s muzzle. Her red pupils flashed with manic light as she looked up at the taller black-haired girl.

“You thought my ability only nullified yours?”

Ye Zheng met her gaze calmly. Fine rain dampened her delicate face, yet her expression showed no fear or fragility.

“Your ability doesn’t just nullify aberrant realm powers. It also invalidates any harm directed at you. An impressive ability.”

Ye Zheng stated her conclusion.

The golden-haired girl looked dissatisfied and lightly bumped her forehead against the unmoving gun.

“You should be screaming. This is unbelievable. Just like those people. It’s fun.”

“Do you think that look will make me spare you? I only want to torture you until you’re like them.”

Nearby, Wende was barely restraining himself from charging forward. Ye Zheng gave him a reassuring glance, then returned her attention to the crazed crimson eyes before her.

“You enjoy seeing interesting reactions, don’t you? I can offer you something more interesting.”

She withdrew the gun and picked up the black bag the golden-haired girl had so carefully organized.

“You caused an incident that shocked the entire nation. People outside can’t yet investigate your so-called achievements. That’s a pity for you, isn’t it?”

“I think you came out specifically to show them off.”

The golden-haired girl stared at her for a moment, then burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! You’re not normal either!”

“Shall I put your head and your follower’s head into the bag too? Wouldn’t that be even more fun?”

Ye Zheng shook her head.

“Where should I put this bag? On the lower district city lord’s doorstep?”

The golden-haired girl stopped laughing, like a child whose secret had been exposed. She glared unhappily at Ye Zheng.

“I have a more interesting place in mind.”

“The Imperial Palace. How about that?”

Ye Zheng proposed it calmly, as if suggesting a spring outing. The golden-haired girl’s eyes widened in exaggerated shock. She looked Ye Zheng up and down.

“Who are you? Are you crazier than me?”

“I am Ye Zheng, the Church’s saintess.”

Ye Zheng’s deep black eyes never left her face.

Upon hearing the name, the golden-haired girl showed no particular reaction. Instead, she seemed briefly confused, as if trying to recall something.

“Ye Zhen? Ye something? Church saintess? Sounds familiar, maybe.”

“You’re really going to throw this at the Imperial Palace? For real?”

“If Saintess Ye Zheng lies, I will lose all my glory from this day forward.”

“Glory? Only people like you care about that.”

The golden-haired girl clicked her tongue disdainfully, her red pupils spinning dangerously once more.

“Then how about this. If you can’t do it, you kill me.”

Ye Zheng nodded.

“Where should I kill you? Your home address?”

“No need to bother. I’m often in the lower district. A saintess does a lot of activities there, right?”

Hearing the self-proclaimed saintess give such a considerate answer, the frizzy-haired golden girl yawned and nodded, looking like a confused, sleepy lion.

“Fine. You take the bag. I’m going to rest.”

“Those guys screamed all night yesterday. I didn’t sleep well.”

As she turned to leave, Ye Zheng asked one final question.

“May I know your name?”

“Sela.”

The golden-haired girl staggered away, disappearing toward the blood realm.

Ye Zheng stood there, holding the bloody, foul-smelling bag, watching Sela’s retreating figure. Her brows remained tightly furrowed.

In the manga spoiler she had just seen, Sela clung intimately to “Ye Zheng” and asked whether she remembered her, her hatred and killing intent unmistakable. Yet Ye Zheng was certain that she had no memory of this girl.

That led her to believe that Sela might be someone she had unknowingly offended during her activities as Saintess Ye Zheng. After all, human hatred could be inexplicable. A single careless act could result in a grudge deep enough to last a lifetime.

More puzzling still was Sela’s lack of reaction when Ye Zheng revealed her identity. It did not feel like deliberate concealment.

It was strange.

Sela showed no reaction to the name Saintess Ye Zheng, yet in the manga she was filled with obsessive hatred. When did that plot occur?

Suddenly, Ye Zheng recalled Sela’s words in the manga.

“Ten years.”

Ten years ago, Sela had known her.

But at that time, Ye Zheng had been only a seven-year-old chubby little girl. How could such deep hatred have formed?

In the manga, Sela pinched the black-haired saintess’s chin, her red eyes scrutinizing her face.

“You’re still chubby and cute, just like when you were little. That’ll make chopping you even more satisfying.”

A rough, sharpened kitchen knife appeared in Sela’s hand once more. She raised it high and brought it down fiercely toward the girl’s neck.

“Who exactly are you?”

The exquisitely drawn saintess showed a trace of pain and fragility on her face. Sela’s obsessive smile widened.

“Hahaha. Of course no one remembers me.”

“Release her!”

A sudden blade flew in, knocking away Sela’s kitchen knife. Holding the black-haired saintess, Sela turned gloomy and dissatisfied. Outside the panel, Ye Zheng raised her eyebrows slightly.

She rubbed her temple.

Pei Xi’s good intentions were always so abrupt. Subjectively kind, perhaps, but objectively useless. After being saved once, Ye Zheng knew that she held no valuable role. She was no longer a subject of the plot.

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Authors Note

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True female same-sex hatred has appeared. Or not.