Calamity Messenger

Chapter 423: Chapter 353: Indifference

Ying Le opened her eyes and snapped her fingers, quietly listening to the screams outside. Only when she heard a scream that left no impression on her did she smile.

She pressed her temples and chuckled softly.

"It’s been a while since I’ve had a dream within a dream. It feels so pleasant."

She bit the cigarette, lit it with a flick of her fingertips, took a deep drag, and exhaled, relaxing completely. Although she appeared to be a young girl in her prime, even accounting for her real age, she was still considered in her prime whether as a mortal or as a Foundation Establishment practitioner. Yet at this moment, her face showed a world-weary twilight, like a solitary soul lingering in the mortal world for too long.

"In recent years, it’s usually been four-layer dreams. Five-layer dreams are not uncommon, and three-layer dreams are considered delightful." She flicked the ashes into a skull-shaped ashtray, her expression subtle: "The last time I had a two-layer dream within a dream...that was about four years ago, right?"

"So...Little Ruishi has plundered the golden nature of my ’Reflection in the Mortal Dust’? The deeper she sinks on her side, the more I can catch a breath on my side?"

Although the family had no record, Ying Le, a Foundation Establishment Messenger, could easily deduce the truth with some reasoning, especially since ’Reflection in the Mortal Dust’ was her bloodline divine technique.

"Any further ahead would be hell, Little Ruishi."

Ying Le remained unmoving until the cigarette in her hand burned out, and then she extinguished it as if waking from a dream.

"There’s no point in staying any longer." She sighed: "Even if I catch Little Ruishi, she would most likely happily take her own life. Death for people like us is just a long, dreamless slumber."

"However...she can’t be left alive."

With a thought, Ying Le sent a hundred and twenty Baibao Guards into the Demon Gathering Land. Although the Demon Gathering Land was isolated from the outside, Ying Su would send someone out to convey information every night. Besides, she had mastered the divine technique ’Hearts as One’ to perfection, and she could vaguely sense that twenty Baibao Guards had already fallen, even through the Secret Realm.

Ying Le walked out of the camp, the sky drizzling, and the ground littered with heads. These were mountain villagers captured from nearby. Ordinary people might not find them, but the Baibao Guards with nothing better to do had captured these people without household registers as a service to the kingdom.

The Eight-Horse War Chariot was ready. The moment she intended to leave, even the horses had to immediately awaken and get to work. Two Giant Baibao knelt on the ground, their hands forming a ladder by digging into the earth, and Ying Le climbed onto the chariot, holding the Bronze Railings, and exhaled a long breath. She wore violet pajamas that clung to her contours after getting wet in the drizzle, yet all the heads in the Demon Gathering Camp remained bowed to the ground, no one daring to look up at the sovereign beauty of the Emperor of Qi.

"It’s time to give up." Ying Le inexplicably said: "I have no choice but to give up."

"I really don’t want to kill you. My bloodline is already on the brink of its limit. If you die, I’ll have no choice but to take that step...but destiny is the inescapable despair that cannot be avoided."

"I can only take this step. Only...Hearts as One."

"Baibao Guards, hear my command."

Ying Le’s eyes turned into red vertical pupils, and though her voice was faint and gentle in the rest of her life, it was full of majesty, thundering like a divine decree!

"Kill on sight."

The Baibao Guards stood unwavering, but their aura changed dramatically. If they had been silent gravestones before, now they were storm clouds ready to destroy the city, the Yellow River flowing from the heavens, causing the earth and sky to tremble without a word.

As the eight horses neighed, the chariot drove out of the Demon Gathering Camp. As she left, it was as if she took everyone’s spine with her, and the people in the Demon Gathering Land felt their bodies go weak, collapsing as if reborn after a calamity.

But soon, they realized something was wrong because at least a hundred Baibao Guards remained in the camp. These demons mounted their horses, spears in hand, and charged at them unprovoked!

"Spare us, spare us, you can’t—"

"Why? We didn’t do anything!"

"Ying Le, you’ll die a miserable death!"

When the Baibao Guards left the Demon Gathering Camp, there was not a single living soul inside, only crows soaring over the filthy land. If one looked closely, they could see fine lines of blood rising from the corpses, all pointing in the same direction, like birds longing for a phoenix, or like all waters returning to their source.

...

...

Ying Rushi was shaken awake, and upon opening her eyes, saw the alluring face of Murong Hui.

Instinctively, she clenched her right hand, only to find the Heaven-Swaying Sword was not in her grasp.

"Breakfast is ready, get up." Murong Hui pinched Ying Rushi’s nose, giggling: "Lazy pig, you got up later than me."

Ying Rushi was taken aback, sat up and checked her pocket watch to discover it was already morning. At this moment, Yan Qing came out of the bathroom, prompting her to quickly ask: "I didn’t keep watch last night?"

"No, I called you twice, but you were sleeping so soundly that I didn’t continue." Yan Qing opened the fridge and took out a bottle of drink: "Anyway, it’s okay to sleep in a bit today. I just kept watch a little longer."

Ying Rushi’s eyes were distant, and she felt her mind was tangled in confusion. After a moment of silence, she asked again: "Did anything happen last night?"

"Nothing happened." Yan Qing glanced at her: "Just someone almost held back a dam and nearly boiled a kettle."

Ying Rushi was groggy, not even catching Yan Qing’s underlying message. Seeing her lack of reaction, Yan Qing pouted, picked up a plate and her drink, and walked to the sofa, intending to read while having breakfast. As she passed by, Ying Rushi glanced at the back of Yan Qing’s neck and suddenly froze—she saw a hickey!

The Heaven-Swaying Sword appeared in her hand instantly. Yan Qing only felt a chill on his neck and instinctively turned to Ying Rushi, looking puzzled: "What’s wrong?"

Ying Rushi pulled him over to check his neck, only to find it wasn’t a hickey, just an illusion created by his hair blocking the light...or maybe it was a hallucination.

Yan Qing observed her tense demeanor and glanced at her Heaven-Swaying Sword, "Why did you take out the Heaven-Swaying Sword?"

"I...I saw a bug."

"Can’t you just swat a bug with your hand? Besides, there are no bugs in the Demon Gathering Land." Yan Qing flicked her forehead: "Are you still groggy from sleep?"

"Hmm."

"Go wash your face."

Ying Rushi walked silently into the bathroom, splashing cold water onto her face. When she looked up at her reflection, she froze.

Clearly, she hadn’t changed from yesterday, but besides the fatigue from just waking up, she saw a trace that sent chills down her spine. She recalled Ying Le ascending the throne; it should have been a moment of vigor, but Ying Le on the throne had no joy or sorrow, no desires. Her gaze at her subjects was so tranquil, as if surveying a heap of decaying tombstones.

Ying Rushi could never understand Ying Le’s state of mind, why she clung to power without a sense of duty, why she massacred the masses without a trace of desire, why she took everything as if it were dust and dirt...but now she finally understood.

Because in her own reflection, she saw the same indifference hiding in her pupils as Ying Le’s.

An indifference named cruelty.