Volume 5
273 Bait

Initially, I was just a little upset, but that fire in me lit up when Nie Zun flew into a rage. I turned away from him forcefully and swung his hand away.

The magnitude of my actions had to be great as since it was difficult to escape without MF. My hair was in a huge mess, but I had no time to care about that as I spoke.

"You have no right to be angry. Why are you angry? You don"t love me anymore. Weren"t you going to leave me…?"

Nie Zun looked at me with eyes full of sorrow, but a look of contempt emerged soon after. "So? So this is the reason you"re having a change of heart? Is there any value to your love? You"re going into someone else"s arms after I just let go? Aren"t you something, Li Shen."

"Yes, I am. Don"t you know that? Are you regretting it? Are you regretting that you used to love me? Haha, Nie Zun, I"m just like this. Not happy about it? You hate it? Don"t forget you used to be in love with me too."

Tears began rolling down my cheeks again.

Nie Zun"s gaze darkened as he saw my tears. "Are you going back to him because you"re returning a favor, or is it because you"ve finally remembered that it was him you were in love with and you recalled that feeling from the past?"

I shook my head. "That"s not important. I just have to return to him. You don"t want me anymore anyway…"

"This is very important," he growled. His eyes looked like those belonging to an abandoned child.

I looked at him sadly as I said, "You still love me, don"t you? You were lying when you said you were going to leave me, weren"t you? You wouldn"t care about this if you didn"t love me anymore. Tell me, Nie Zun. You still love me, don"t you?"

What I said rendered Nie Zun motionless.

His eyes immediately deadened as if he was reminded of something else.

I was worried and wondering if something had happened. Did I say something wrong?

He continued in a low voice, "Go ahead then, if you"ve already decided to go to him."

Something in my heart shattered into a million pieces.

I forced myself to smile as I said, "Okay. We can"t be more than 500 meters away from each other again, so I"ll be bothering you like this for a while. Sorry about that. Don"t worry though. I"ll reactivate my split symbol when my MF recovers after a month, and you"ll be able to leave. Let"s just tolerate each other for now."

Nie Zun remained silent.

Just like this, the atmosphere turned cold.

The door to the hall creaked open just as I was thinking about ways to start another conversation.

Nie Zun hid behind a pillar as soon as the door opened. In order not to affect his movements, I moved nearer to the pillar as well, keeping him within 500 meters of myself.

Du Yue, Si Luo and Jiao S entered. The ice phoenix was not with them.

Du Yue"s boots clicked against the floor as she walked towards me. "It"s been a while now. Are you done?"

Looking at her, I suddenly felt that she was sad and pitiful.

I regarded her with sadness in my eyes.

She probably didn"t understand why I looked at her that way, and she looked me up and down with suspicion.

I smirked. "Let"s just go straight to the point. Don"t you want Si Luo and I to help you go against Huai Du? What are your plans?"

Du Yue frowned at this surprisingly positive att.i.tude of mine. "What"s gotten into you? Something went wrong while you were trying to conquer the weapon?"

I shrugged. "It"s nothing actually. I just deactivated my split symbol accidentally."

"What…" Du Yue and Jiao S were shocked.

I spoke calmly. "You heard right. I"ve deactivated my split symbol and I have zero MF right now. Such a condition would last for at least a month."

With gritted teeth, Du Yue said, "I want you to help me, but now you"ve deactivated your split symbol and turned yourself into someone absolutely useless. Are you trying to go against me on purpose?"

Seeing Du Yue upset, Jiao S moved between us to s.h.i.+eld me. However, I didn"t mind this at all. "No need to get so agitated, Du Yue. You can tell me about your plans if you want my help to go against Huai Du, and we"ll see if I can still be of a.s.sistance even without MF. You can get angry after that."

Du Yue shot me a cold look as she suppressed her rage. "Bian Ying is in a coma and Cang Ming sees me as his archenemy. Cang Ming is working for Huai Du, so I expect that he"d arrive in the Gate of Heaven soon. I want you to help me take care of Cang Ming."

Si Luo spoke this time. "Cang Ming is the only one in the Split Zone who has immense power even without establis.h.i.+ng a split symbol contract. Moreover, he has a split symbol now. Though his split symbol and that of Bian Ying and your Ta Lai form a three-way split symbol, this does not reduce his power at all. How do you expect us to go against him?"

Du Yue smirked. "That"s enough, Si Luo. Yes, you"re right. In terms of ability and power, Cang Ming is a rare exception in the Split Zone. But Si Luo, you"re no ordinary individual either, are you? No one is as good as you are in the intricate manipulation of MF. I don"t have confidence in any others, but with you and Li Shen, I don"t think anyone else can escape from you guys."

"But soul splitters don"t die. What do you want me and Si Luo to do?" I asked.

Du Yue shot a frosty look at me. "It"s simple. You just have to put a seal on his split symbol during your battle. Because of the connection with Bian Ying, his split symbol has become one of his greatest weaknesses. I don"t know where his symbol is though. I don"t care how you do it, you can lie to him or use any other method, I just need you to approach him when he arrives in the Gate of Heaven and find out where his split symbol is. Then, you just have to put a seal onto it. Leave the rest of it to me after that."

"Why do we have to do it? Why don"t you do it yourself?" Si Luo asked while pointing at me.

Du Yue turned to Si Luo. "Firstly, this can be seen as some sort of test to see if the both of you are genuinely going to work with me and how loyal you"d be. Secondly, for anything related to Bian Ying, I don"t want Ta Lai to know that I"m behind it. It"s that simple."

Si Luo smiled beautifully. "There"s more. I think you aren"t being totally honest here."

Du Yue smirked. "It"s up to you whether you believe it or not. This is my request and it depends on the both of you whether you"re willing to complete it."

I looked at Si Luo as I said, "I"m fine with it."

"If you"re fine with it, I"m okay with it too," Si Luo said.

He then addressed Du Yue, "We"ll do what you asked us to. I just hope you keep your word."

Du Yue smirked again. "Though I"m no saint in your eyes, I"ll definitely keep my word. But I"ll have to trouble the both of you for a bit, just to lessen Cang Ming"s suspicion. I"ll lock you guys up in the public area in the Gate of Heaven. He"d think that we were standing on opposing sides in that case. I know Cang Ming well. An enemy of his enemy will be his friend. He"ll definitely help you guys out when he arrives here."

"What do you mean by locking us up in the public area in the Gate of Heaven?"

"There"s a central plaza in the Gate of Heaven with a square iron cage that measures ten by ten meters. It"s a public location specially used to punish bad people and traitors. I"m going to imprison you guys there for a few days. What do you think?"

Si Luo yawned lazily. "To enjoy the sun? Sounds pretty good."

My face twitched. I don"t think that would be comfortable. Wasn"t this just like public shaming?

I asked suddenly, "Do we need to strip?"

Everyone was visibly stunned at my question.

Du Yue frowned. "Are all heirs r.e.t.a.r.ded like you?"

I shrugged. "It"s up to you. But I have zero MF now. I wouldn"t die if I stay under the sun like that for a few days right?"

Du Yue looked at me icily. "It"s better if you end up dead."

I was about to respond when I was suddenly reminded of Nie Zun.

Du Yue was looking for Nie Zun, and I couldn"t let it slip that he was right here in the Palace of Cold Blood right now. But if I had to be in the cage, wouldn"t he be exposed since we couldn"t be more than 500 meters apart?

What to do, what to do? What should I do?

While I was swimming in my own anxiety, Si Luo spoke suddenly. "We can do that, but I"d like to bring somebody else along."

"Who?" Du Yue asked.

"Guan Nie," Si Luo answered.

Du Yue raised a brow. "Guan Nie? Is he in the Gate of Heaven now? Why am I not aware of this."

Si Luo continued lazily. "There are many things you aren"t aware of. If you"re okay with that, then you can lock the three of us up right in the middle of that plaza. What do you think? Your attacking prowess would just increase with Guan Nie around."

Du Yue nodded. "That"s not a problem. It"s just that, where is he now?"

Even Jiao S looked at Si Luo with suspicion when Guan Nie was mentioned. How did Si Luo know where Guan Nie was when Jiao S didn"t? Si Luo and Guan Nie are probably not good friends, are they? Didn"t Guan Nie hate Si Luo"s guts because of Gaoqin Jiuye?

Si Luo said, "I can"t tell you where he is. You just have to wait for us at the plaza. We"ll be there."

Du Yue regarded all of us with suspicion.

Si Luo smiled. "You should place your complete trust in me if you"re going to work with me. You know me, Du Yue."

Du Yue finally nodded upon hearing this. "Fine. Be quick about it. I believe you already know the way to the central plaza, since you should be familiar with the Gate of Heaven."

There was a hint of sarcasm when she spoke, but Si Luo didn"t seem to mind as he continued smiling. "Go on ahead. We"ll be there soon."