Free Web NovelAs a sharp pain shot through her fingertips, Nanling Yaohua's vision blurred as if obscured by a mist. Then, as if a veil had been gently lifted, clear images flashed through her mind.
It was as if a projection from another world had quietly slipped into her mind through some special opportunity. She saw an antique room.
The layout and furnishings of the room were almost identical to the room where Lu Yibei was sleeping, except that the room was filled with wooden boxes of all sizes, bright sunlight streamed through the carved wooden windows, and the exquisitely hand-woven wool rug was dirty, covered in footprints left by people coming and going.
Among the crowd, “Lu Qingyi” wore a scarlet, off-the-shoulder long dress and a pure white, cloud-patterned, wide-sleeved gauze robe. She followed a woman of about twenty-four or twenty-five, who was beautiful, energetic, and capable, like a young Miss traveling with her female bodyguard.
Faintly, the sound of their conversation could be heard.
"...Why don't you stay by my side for now? It'll be easier to look after you."
"Okay, okay!"
"..." In silence, Nanling Yaohua's lips twitched slightly, and her eyes deepened.
A similar conversation had occurred between her and Lu Yibei not long ago, when they went to investigate ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) the scene after a Calamity battle.
At that time, Lu Yibei had also clung to her like that, as if she were Lu Yibei's only reliance in this Gobi Desert.
But now...
Steadying herself, Nanling Yaohua forced her attention away from Lu Yibei's "human dregs" behavior and onto the images in her mind, pondering silently.
So... what's going on?
Who is the woman beside her, and who are those people dressed in ancient attire?
Is she still in Yumen Pass?
Why is there sunlight?
A series of questions surged in Nanling Yaohua's mind, causing her thoughts to briefly become muddled.
If “Lu Qingyi” hadn't been mixed in with those images, she would have even suspected that some "ancient drama urban legend" had used strange abilities on her.
But even so, in a trance, she had the illusion of watching Lu Yibei act in an ancient drama.
And it was the kind of high-scoring ancient drama where the costumes, makeup, and props strictly respected and restored history.
But obviously, Lu Yibei couldn't be acting...
Someone like Lu Yibei, who has no other expression throughout the entire play except for wide eyes, isn't entirely incapable of acting, but if she were to act, she would at least have to first kneel and kowtow three times to the dedicated prop and costume teachers.
Most importantly, Nanling Yaohua had experienced entering Dream City and briefly sinking into what could essentially be considered a real illusion, so she quickly emerged from the initial surprise of glimpsing that strange scene.
Could it be that Lu Yibei's consciousness has fallen into an illusion similar to Dream City, constructed by a God Kingdom Jade Gate?
Does she still have her original memories?
If not, is there a way to make her wake up quickly and end the game of playing the young Miss?
Thinking of this, Nanling Yaohua's eyes narrowed slightly, she took a deep breath, and tried to make a sound to Lu Yibei.
"Lu Qingyi."
With the first call, Lu Yibei had no reaction.
"Lu Qingyi, Miss Qingyi... Calamity!"
With the second call, Lu Yibei still had no reaction, her expression calm.
"Lu Qingyi... Calamity... Wang Bu Liu Xing... Lu Yibei!"
The third time, Nanling Yaohua was a little annoyed and called out all of Lu Yibei's aliases that she knew in one breath.
Then.
It was as if a video paused halfway through playback and the monitor went into sleep mode, turning black. Suddenly, Nanling Yaohua's vision plunged into brief darkness.
A few seconds later, the darkness receded.
When her vision became clear again, the wooden boxes in the room, the sunlight outside the window, the people coming and going, the unnamed woman...
Everything that had just appeared in Nanling Yaohua's mind had vanished without a trace.
No, “Lu Qingyi” was still there, but she was lying quietly on the bed like a corpse, just as she had been before those absurd images appeared in Nanling Yaohua's mind.
Nanling Yaohua, "...Damn it! I can't watch it all at once again?"
This extremely poor experience reminded her of some bad experiences she had when she first left the Gobi Desert.
She had lived in this Gobi Desert since childhood and rarely had access to various forms of entertainment from the outside world. When she first encountered animated films and TV series from the outside, she became addicted to them for a time, spending 70% of the small money she earned along the way on them, even more than on food...
And what she hated most was advance viewing!
One careless mistake, and her wallet would be emptied.
After a few seconds of silence, Nanling Yaohua lowered her head, looked at her bloody right finger, gritted her silver teeth, a hint of determination flashing in her eyes, and suddenly reached out, gripping Lu Yibei's wrist tightly.
The next moment, a sharp pain, as if her entire palm was being crushed, struck. Immediately after a moment of consciousness blurring, new images flashed through her mind...
Recharge complete, advance viewing successful!
How does that saying go?
Paying for love, willingly!
----
On the other side.
Lu Yibei, in the past, appeared calm and steady as a mountain, but in reality, her heart was in a panic, as if dozens of J-20 fighter jets were conducting military exercises above her head.
Having inexplicably "physically" traveled to the past and fortunately received the "care" of Xia Lianqing, she had originally planned to lie low under Shen Baiwei's alias until she found a way back.
At this moment, suddenly hearing a mysterious and eerie voice calling her name in her ear, even revealing most of her alias, how could she not panic?
God knows what the person calling her name wanted?
What if they wanted to expose her identity in front of Xia Lianqing?
This was like encountering the legendary beautiful snake urban legend, calling out names from atop a wall, sending shivers down one's spine and making one's palms sweat.
Noticing that her complexion was a little abnormal, Xia Lianqing tilted her head and asked, "Baiwei, are you alright? Is there anything uncomfortable?"
"Thank you, Sister, for your concern, I'm fine," Lu Yibei shook her head and said, "It's just that I've been in Yumen for some time since coming from Jian Province, but I'm still not quite used to the climate here."
Xia Lianqing scrutinized Lu Yibei, seeing that her face was slightly pale and her forehead had some fine sweat, which indeed looked somewhat like symptoms of heatstroke. She didn't ask further, but simply said softly, "Just bear with it a little longer."
"Given the current situation, I can't spare the time to find something to relieve the heat for you. It should be better when it cools down at night."
"Yes, it's fine, Sister." Lu Yibei responded, nodded obediently, then retreated behind Xia Lianqing. Then, while observing Xia Lianqing and the people coming and going in the room, eavesdropping on their conversations, she also remained vigilant against the mysterious voice calling her name, gradually falling into thought.
After finishing the pre-interrogation of Shen Baiwei and leaving that room, she was in a state of physical weakness and fatigue, with a muddled consciousness. Now, as her condition gradually returned to normal, she suddenly realized that many details during Shen Baiwei's pre-interrogation had been very unusual.
First, she always felt that the various questions she asked Shen Baiwei were inexplicably familiar, as if she had rehearsed them many times somewhere before.
Secondly, Shen Baiwei claimed to have become her fan after hearing Uncle Zhang Shan's radio drama adapted from her Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, and had been following her footsteps, but her Spiritual Awareness had never detected Shen Baiwei's Spiritual Energy fluctuations.
This was very abnormal. As a core member of the Miracle Order, Shen Baiwei was a relatively powerful A-level Spirit Ability User. According to Lu Yibei's habit of observing the surroundings before every battle, she should have discovered her existence long ago.
Could that fellow... be that man's clone, or a dependent? Lu Yibei thought uneasily, and the image of that overworked, social animal-like face flashed in her mind. Her heart suddenly felt as if it had been squeezed, stopping for a second.
No, this possibility is low!
If that man wanted to lurk by my side, he would come himself, and that man wouldn't be charmed by me.
The most important thing is that Shen Baiwei doesn't have dark circles under her eyes... Wait, could she have used the legendary Asian evil art?
Damn it! When I took off her glasses just now, I should have wiped her face to see if she had applied powder. Lu Yibei thought.
And then...
Finally, and most importantly, was the last point.
Why did she come here immediately after pre-interrogating Shen Baiwei? frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Could it be too much of a coincidence?
Assuming I came here because Shen Baiwei secretly caused trouble, then could the voice calling me in my ear just now be Shen Baiwei?
As Lu Yibei pondered, a hurried footsteps came from outside the room, followed by a familiar face rushing to Xia Lianqing.
The person who came was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy, dressed as a servant, but with a well-made ring-pommel saber at his waist that was out of place with his attire.
It was Dragon Tang, the young commander, who was of the same clan as Nanling Prince Longxiang.
"Miss Xia, something has happened." Dragon Tang hurriedly came before Xia Lianqing, saying only one sentence. When he saw Xia Lianqing give him a look, his voice abruptly stopped.
Noticing Dragon Tang's gaze drift towards her, Lu Yibei pouted, and very sensibly turned around and moved several meters away, then... pricked up her ears.
A few meters' distance couldn't stop the gossip-loving Calamity Miss from openly eavesdropping on their conversation, could it?
Seeing Lu Yibei walk away, Dragon Tang retracted his gaze and continued, "Miss Xia, Yu the blacksmith, who set out earlier this morning, was ambushed. According to those who escaped, they encountered a group of enemies who were extremely familiar with the terrain around Yumen Pass less than five miles outside the city, and... and..."
"And what? Just speak freely." Xia Lianqing urged.
Dragon Tang hesitated, then said with a grim expression, "And, the leader of the group seems to be your younger sister."
"If it really is her, then that group of enemies has probably already entered the city."
Hearing this, Lu Yibei's eyes lit up slightly.
Goodness, are sisters going to fight each other? Things are getting interesting!
