Volume 5
274 On the Way to Central Plaza

I got a little nervous when Si Luo turned to me after Du Yue left, as he seemed to have taken a glance at the pillar hiding Nie Zun.

Si Luo spoke gently, "Come on out."

I froze immediately.

Jiao S seemed rather stunned at this, but I knew there would be no use in trying to explain things at this point.

Nie Zun"s footsteps were so light that I didn"t even realize he was already standing beside me.

Nie Zun regarded Si Luo calmly. "As expected of Si Luo."

Si Luo smiled politely at this.

"I"m just curious. Though we aren"t able to hear anything from inside the hall when we were outside, how could we not have sensed it if somebody entered? It"s difficult for Du Yue to find you in here, but it"s almost impossible to slip past the both of us and enter. How did you do it, Nie Zun?"

Jiao S asked in her hoa.r.s.e voice, "Is it a spatial transference technique too?"

Si Luo shook his head. "It"s difficult to accomplish real spatial transference without using that red pill I gave you. The principle behind how Du Yue teleports individuals over is similar to how you and Gaoqin Jiuye control air currents. These are done via manipulating the density of the air and affecting what others see. It isn"t really teleportation. This is why I don"t believe that Nie Zun used spatial transference."

Nie Zun smiled. "Of course it isn"t."

Si Luo took a casual glance at me as he asked, "Is it something to do with you deactivating your split symbol?"

I was a little hesitant in telling the truth. Can I really tell them about this?

I trust Si Luo, and I definitely trust Jiao S. But is this the right time to reveal it to them?

But there isn"t any reason for me to keep it from them either, is there? With Si Luo"s intelligence, it would probably be hard to keep it from him if I lied about it too.

I looked at Nie Zun. He didn"t seem to have any intention of stopping me, so I told the truth. "Because I deactivated my split symbol, the restriction that we can"t be more than 500 meters away from each other has reappeared again. It"s probably because of this that he ended up in here."

A light flashed in Si Luo"s eyes as he seemed to recall something.

"You said Guan Nie would come. Why weren"t I aware of that? Where is he?" Jiao S asked suddenly.

Remaining silent, Si Luo smiled and walked over to Nie Zun.

He lifted a slender arm and waved it in front of Nie Zun.

Something amazing happened at that very moment.

Nie Zun had transformed into Guan Nie.

He had a head of white hair, upturned eyes and a coquettish smile, and he was dressed in white from head to toe.

"A disguise?"

Jiao S shook her head in disagreement. "I don"t think so. This should be one of the methods used to control air currents."

Si Luo nodded. "That"s right, it"s a method used in controlling air currents. It"s slightly different from the method I taught you. It can bend light to create a mirage."

"How are you going to maintain it?"

"It"s easy. I just need to focus a part of my MF on him and he"ll look like this as long as I"m alive."

Nie Zun gave a grateful smile, but it was rather weird to look at him like this. Guan Nie has a coquettish expression on his face while Nie Zun always had an indifferent look. Right now, these expressions mixed and it seemed rather awkward.

Jiao S spoke before I could. "Since you"re using Guan Nie"s face, you should be acting like him. Don"t make it too awkward and unnatural."

Si Luo turned to me. "We"ll be at the Central Plaza for more than a couple of days, so we have to make sure we don"t let anything slip."

Jiao S interrupted Si Luo and asked, "If Cang Ming arrives in the Gate of Heaven and tries to save us, are we really going to attack him like how Du Yue wants us to?"

Si Luo continued calmly, "We"ll play it by ear. n.o.body knows what"s going to happen. I"ll let you guys know what to do when Cang Ming gets here."

Si Luo turned back to me. "Li Shen, you didn"t forget our promise, right?"

At this, both Jiao S and Nie Zun looked at me with suspicion. I took a deep breath before answering. "I didn"t forget. I hope you didn"t too."

"Good. Let"s work together then, until the both of us achieve our goals."

"Okay."

Jiao S looked rather surprised upon learning that I had some sort of agreement with Si Luo that she wasn"t aware of. I looked at her, but I knew I couldn"t say anything about this.

"Let"s go and parade ourselves as prisoners then." Si Luo laughed.

While leaving the palace hall, I turned back to look at the silk gauze curtain. I had a feeling that I would be coming back here someday.

Apart from Du Yue, those two ladies were also waiting for us outside when we exited.

Du Yue was visibly shocked when she saw Guan Nie. "How did he get in?" She was as confident in herself as Si Luo was in her abilities.

Si Luo said, "He might not be able to slip past you alone, but you"re no match with me around." What a convenient and absolute lie…

Du Yue turned grim. "I guess your abilities have been maintained Si Luo, even after such a long time."

Si Luo smiled at her. "If it has merely been maintained, I would be no match for you as someone who works on improving all the time, wouldn"t I?"

Du Yue"s face darkened at this. Though the two ladies did not seem happy about the exchange, they did not say a single word. They were probably wary since they were on the less populous team.

Du Yue then smiled all of a sudden. "Fine. I should be honored that so many individuals with high abilities are working for me now. I guess there"s no need for me to be too polite here since we"ve already agreed on the conditions."

Si Luo stretched out a hand as he signaled for Du Yue to go on ahead. Du Yue"s cold gaze swept past us before she turned and led the way, probably heading for the Central Plaza immediately.

As we walked, Jiao S pulled on my sleeve gently. I understood her immediately and the both of us fell back and kept a small distance from the rest who were in front.

"You have tons of questions for me, don"t you?" I looked at Jiao S as I asked apologetically.

We had been apart for quite some time now, and so much had happened during this time that we were no longer up to date with each other"s lives.

"I"ve guessed most of it, but there are still things I"d like to ask you."

"Go on."

Jiao S looked a little worried. "What"s going on between you and Nie Zun?"

I knew this would be her first question, but I haven"t thought about how I would answer it.

After a moment, I decided to speak truthfully. "It"s complicated actually. So, the king of the Gate of Ghost, Ghost King Huai Du was trying to make use of Nie Zun to cultivate a demon. In the process, Nie Zun lost his memories and forgot about me, and though he recalled those memories eventually, his att.i.tude towards me had totally changed. I don"t know why either, but I"d rather choose to believe that he has his reasons for doing so. You should understand how I feel though. I don"t feel great about it at all."

Jiao S sighed. "I felt something off about the two of you earlier. I guess things are really complicated."

"Oh right, I have to tell you something. I saw Li Qing in the Gate of Ghost." I spoke extremely softly and made sure no one else in front of us would be able to listen in.

Jiao S was understandably shocked and I could see the emotion in her eyes. "How could that be…"

I knew too well how she felt. What I was going to say next would make her even more upset, just like how I felt when I first learnt about it. But I had to tell her, and I had to tell her soon.

If I didn"t talk about this with Jiao S and if I didn"t share this secret with her, I simply wouldn"t know what to do with myself and all this information.

"Apart from that, Li Qing is also a soul splitter. She isn"t an heir."

"What…!" Her pitch was extremely high, probably because she was too shocked upon hearing what I just said.

Everyone turned back to look at us.

I grabbed her arm hard, and she tried to tamp down her emotions as she shot a cold look towards the party in front. Speaking in an almost inaudible volume, she said, "I"ll not ask about the details since there isn"t much time now. I have no reason to doubt you either, but are you sure that information is reliable?"

I nodded profusely. "It"s definitely reliable. If you think about it, this is the only way it makes sense, right? Li Qing is so kind, and she had no choice but to leave us because of her ident.i.ty. She has her reasons for doing so."

Jiao S was rational as always, and her mind was working to connect all the dots. She then nodded. "If this is true, then I"m willing to believe that she had her reasons for doing so."

"What we have to do now is to uncover everything. Things that seem illogical and unexplainable would come to light eventually."

"Hmm, I guess there"s no better solution anyway. We"ll work on this together."

I flashed a resolute smile at her. "A burden seems to have finally been lifted off my shoulders now that you"re here. The truth will definitely be made known someday."

"Yes, don"t worry about it. I understand everything." Jiao S"s lips broke into that emotionless smile of hers.