Chapter 366
Wensha's extraordinary path seemed to be guided step by step by Qiangyin, and even the "Butcher" potion was chosen for her by Qiangyin.
This left Xia'er somewhat puzzled.
Wensha behaved so recklessly, lacking in every aspect compared to her sister Vita, yet why did Qiangyin seem to dote on Wensha even more?
Could a creature that had lived for centuries, especially one like Qiangyin, who had an extreme desire for control and an insatiable thirst for power, truly invest so much emotion in a daughter?
Here, Xia'er had to put a question mark for now.
"Xia'er..."
At that moment, Amy's voice came from the side.
Xia'er looked up and saw Amy pointing toward a corner of the collection room.
"Is there something over there?"
Xia'er closed Wensha's spiritual notebook and turned to the direction Amy was indicating.
That area was completely covered by thorny roots, and the bricks had been pushed up, looking slightly loose.
"No, not that way," Amy said, quickly walking to the doorway and looking at the wall not far away. "It's on the other side of the wall..."
Xia'er followed Amy and looked toward the end of the corridor.
The wall was now covered in emerald vines, and one brick had been pushed out, revealing a space inside; there was still room on the other side of the wall.
The secret door was definitely not here; the vines had accidentally broken through to this side.
"Try breaking down this wall," Xia'er said to Amy.
"Okay..."
Amy reached out and touched the nearby vines, and as if injecting a large amount of blood into a vein, the touched vines swelled up.
The bulging part spread forward, making the original vines thicker. When it reached the vines at the end of the wall, the expanding vines pushed aside most of the bricks, destroying the original structure and creating a large hole.
Inside, a gas lamp was lit, illuminating a table and a staircase that led who knows where on the first floor.
Xia'er sent a phantom in to check for any traps, and after confirming there was nothing, she stepped inside.
She scanned the room and noticed a strange structure on the right side of the hidden room.
It was a piece of colored glass, and on the other side was Wensha's collection room. Through this glass, one could see everything inside the collection room clearly.
"My plants sensed something was off here..." Amy explained as she looked at the glass.
"Thanks for your hard work," Xia'er said, moving to the table and picking up an ancient, hefty notebook.
This was... Qiangyin's spiritual notebook.
"Yulisi, can you see if you can unlock it?" Xia'er handed the notebook to Yulisi, but Yulisi hesitated for a moment after receiving it.
"There are no spiritual marks on it, Miss Xia'er," Yulisi said, handing the notebook back to Xia'er.
None?
Xia'er opened the notebook, her brow furrowing slightly.
In the middle of the notebook... there was a square hole.
It looked as if something had once been embedded there, but that thing was now gone, leaving a hollow space and some missing text.
Xia'er quickly flipped through the pages, and after just a few, she realized what the chaotic spellings mentioned in Wensha's notes were.
This wasn't random spelling; some words were in Ancient Ansu and Falos languages, which Wensha, lacking in knowledge, probably didn't recognize.
Xia'er continued to flip through the pages, taking less than a second to read each one. Often, she could automatically fill in the missing words based on context.
However, what was recorded on those pages surprised Xia'er.
This wasn't a spiritual notebook.
It was more like a chronicle, primarily documenting significant events from the past few centuries.
Xia'er was quite familiar with history, and after a brief comparison with her memory, she noticed something was off.
Most of the historical records here were about wars, and the vast majority did not align with actual history.
These were erroneous accounts written after being influenced... likely events that Qiangyin had interfered with.
But...
Xia'er picked up a pen from the side and began to write quickly on the wooden table.
Earlier, while examining the notebook, she had set aside many special symbols—simple symbols usually marked next to certain words.
When Xia'er listed all those words and symbols based on her memory, the text and symbols nearly filled half the wooden table.
This was... the special symbols corresponding to the vocabulary, scattered throughout this hefty notebook.
This was not Qiangyin's spiritual notebook.
This was Qiangyin's "cipher."
If one wanted to read this thick book thoroughly, compiling these symbols would likely take at least a week for recording and verification.
But for Xia'er, this was not a difficult task; she just needed to skim through it once to list all the markings directly.
This was Qiangyin's notebook for hiding things, and also his "cipher."
As Xia'er scanned the hints on the pages, a question arose in her mind.
Why would such an important item not be kept close to him, but instead left with Wensha?
Soon, Xia'er thought of a ridiculous yet highly plausible fact.
In her simulations, she never destroyed the notes she left behind in the simulations.
Because she knew that even if someone saw those things, it wouldn't affect her real self in any way.
Qiangyin probably thought the same.
Rather than being confident, it was more like an "inertia" brought about by multiple simulations.
At least until encountering Qiangyin's "uniqueness," Xia'er had never considered the possibility of her notes being discovered. Initially, out of caution, she had destroyed a few notes, but as time went on, she became less concerned about them.
Now, Xia'er found herself in a new dilemma.
How should she use the cipher in her hands to mislead Qiangyin and provide him with false information?
Currently, Qiangyin must know that Xia'er's escape was related to the sacrifices in the East District, but he didn't know it was Xia'er; he only thought it was a "manipulator" disguised as Xia'er.
She needed to shift the blame to the Joy Society and let them turn on each other.
Xia'er’s mind quickly formed a plan.
The Chaos Squad had been in contact with Tara since arriving in Ansu City, and Xia'er naturally knew their location.
"Amy, you're familiar with the roads in Ansu City, right?" Xia'er asked, looking at Amy, who was standing behind her.
"I know," Amy nodded.
"Take Yulisi and leave Ansu City from the West District; it will be dangerous here soon," Xia'er instructed. "Adele and the others are currently in the Ham Ruins; you can take a detour to find them."
The reason for specifically mentioning Adele was to prevent Yulisi from being reluctant to leave.
"But... what about you, Xia'er? Are you staying here?" Amy looked worried.
"You've already helped me a lot, Amy," Xia'er said, patting the cipher on the table. "Leave the rest to me."
Amy hesitated, seeming to want to say something more, but in the end, she held back and only asked, "You'll meet up with us, right?"
"Of course, you’ll see me in about ten hours," Xia'er replied with a smile. "If you don’t believe me, ask Yulisi. You know, the 'Missionary' can discern lies."
No matter what, Xia'er would be able to see Amy and the others again after the simulation ended, so her words could never be considered a lie.
Amy looked toward Yulisi, who nodded and softly said, "She’s not lying."
Seeing Yulisi's confirmation, Amy finally nodded, taking Yulisi with her as they left the hidden room.
From the moment she stepped into the extraordinary realm, Amy had shown great interest in the extraordinary path, and after becoming an extraordinary being, her performance had been particularly reliable... at least she followed orders well.
As long as she followed orders and didn’t act on her own, she was a reliable person in Xia'er’s eyes.
After Amy and Yulisi left, Xia'er didn’t start cleaning up the traces she had left behind; instead, she directly left Qiangyin's mansion and headed toward the nearest "Dream Thief's" home.
She needed to gather the Chaos Squad before Qiangyin and the Dark Worm determined the victor.
Then, she would have them eliminate everyone in Wensha Palace and Qiangyin's mansion, destroying all traces of her presence and leaving behind evidence of the Joy Society's actions.
...
In the West District of Ansu City, in the Ma Fei Er District.
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