Chapter 244
In the eleven years of the Peach Jar, five years of the Fragrant Zongzi, and four years of the Rice River, twenty years have passed in the blink of an eye.
How long does it take to change a person? If their worldview is still forming, perhaps three or five years is enough.
For those whose beliefs are firmly established and whose will is resolute, it may take much longer. Twenty or thirty years might not shake a determined individual—what about two or three hundred years?
It’s likely that every member of this tower-climbing team, including her, has undergone extensive psychological profiling and observation to ensure their resolve is unshakeable.
Several cycles have already left subtle influences, both positive and negative.
For instance, she has gradually learned to communicate simply without the translator and the owl.
With the help of the "Monthly New Arrivals," she has picked up many obscure combinations that even the owl doesn’t know, understanding which combinations can detoxify, which can explode upon collision, and which can petrify upon contact with water.
Moreover… her five years of battlefield experience with the Fragrant Zongzi has shaped her into a cold, ruthless war machine. Every time she sees an enemy charging, she instinctively analyzes their flaws and weaknesses.
As time passes and with the teachings from "Battle Review," her analyses increasingly overlap with the sharpshooter's "You’re too weak (Passive)," and she has even begun to learn how to guide her enemies into revealing the weaknesses she wants to see.
Where to strike for the quickest kill, where to incapacitate the enemy with minimal effort, and where to inflict the most brutal death, all to rally her comrades with the blood of their foes…
What troubles her most is that, in the countless wars, her subconscious has begun to regard the owl as part of her own camp. Her blade, her arrows, her skills instinctively avoid them—it's muscle memory and a mental reflex.
She starts to worry that when three hundred years have passed and she leaves this tower, will she still be able to raise her weapon against the winged owl behind her?
No wonder the owl welcomes all races into the tower…
After gaining her new identity, the first thing she needed to do was gather information to confirm the relationships and identities surrounding "Song Qiu."
After spending several days collecting intel, Yu Xunge finally made her own red dye and painted three red waves at the corners of her eyes, then found two bells to hang from the tips of her wings.
She resolved that if she couldn’t find anyone to exchange information with within a month, she would betray the owl and leave this place.
Yu Xunge also dragged Tu Lan out, forcing her to transform into a little sparrow and perch on her shoulder to chat while she worked, until she met someone from Ding Hai.
Tu Lan flew to the top of Yu Xunge’s head and began to hatch eggs: “Alright, alright, I can’t do anything about you.”
This time, luck was on Yu Xunge’s side. After three diligent days of enduring the peculiar gazes of the owls, she finally met one of her own!
That day, just as she sat down, a red-haired owl appeared at her table, named "Xin Cu."
Yu Xunge locked eyes with her. The owl had red hair, wore a red headband, draped in a red cloak, with three red waves on her face and bells hanging from her wings…
All the elements were there, strikingly red. Not only that, but she also had a red headband with "Er Wu" written in white paint at the center.
Er Wu? Is she a little Zhao too?
The emotions in their gazes mirrored each other—meeting an old friend in a foreign land! I’ve found my people!
Even Tu Lan got excited, finally, she could go back to playing games.
The two of them walked in sync to a secluded area. After Yu Xunge checked the surroundings with her Hunting Eye, she turned and stepped forward, tears brimming in her eyes as she looked at the other: “Ding Hai?!”
"Xin Cu" was clearly just as thrilled: “Ding Hai!”
Yu Xunge whispered, “Which team?”
"Xin Cu" replied solemnly, “S City.”
Yu Xunge grasped her hand tightly, her enthusiasm bubbling over: “Me too! Who are you?!” Little Zhao, is that you?
"Xin Cu" squeezed back, her joy intensifying: “Liang Yuchuan, I’m Liang Yuchuan! Sister, what about you?”
Yu Xunge’s smile froze: You’re not even a real Ding Hai.
Tu Lan: …
Tu Lan: “Oh my goodness… Sister, what about you? Speak! They’re asking you a question, caw caw caw!”
Yu Xunge put on a smile that could be featured in a film school textbook: “I’m Yu Xunge.”
Liang Yuchuan hugged Yu Xunge tightly, patting her back enthusiastically: “So it’s you! Thank you for saving my great-grandfather and great-grandmother. He just told us before I came for this mission that you saved him. On behalf of my whole family, thank you! My mom said if you ever have any problems, you can come to the Liang family, we’ll definitely help you.
“Except my uncle doesn’t like him, thinks he harmed me, and wants to go help him find that broken statue. My uncle is planning to make a fake to fool him. My mom says I might end up without an uncle.
“Ha ha, I used to think about getting you to be my aunt, sorry, sorry, turns out we’re on the same side. If we get the chance, let’s have a sparring match. I’ll let you hit me a few times to vent your frustrations, just stay away from my uncle, his skills can be quite troublesome!
“To activate his skills, the other party has to be satisfied to a certain degree, otherwise, it’s useless. Lately, people coming to see him have been giving him strange looks. Some not only don’t want to pay but even give him money. He says he’s thinking of changing his name to Liang Ya, and my mom thinks that sounds nice.
“Speaking of which, my mom says I’m not a good person either, but don’t worry, sister, my great-grandfather said to treat you like family. We Liang family members don’t betray our own… Ah, my dad doesn’t count, that’s a long story. Do you want to hear it? Ah, you don’t want to? But your dragon is nodding, she wants to hear.
“By the way, have you met anyone else? How long have you been here? This is my fourth time. Last time I was in…”
Yu Xunge & Tu Lan: “…”
One person and one dragon felt like their heads had accidentally gotten stuck in a hornet’s nest and couldn’t get out.
It was clear that Liang Yuchuan was bursting to talk.
In her previous life, Yu Xunge hadn’t realized Liang Yuchuan was such a chatterbox.
The old Liang Yuchuan either wore a cold expression or lashed out at this or that, and before, she always looked down on others with a haughty chin. How had she become so warm and cheerful?
Perhaps it was because here, she was whole, without pressure, and no one to control her. Her daily life was just fighting, fighting, fighting… For someone like Liang Yuchuan, entering the tower was no different from stepping into paradise.
At this moment, Liang Yuchuan had begun recounting her experiences of being locked up for five years after killing the owl team leader last cycle, and three years for killing a teammate the cycle before that… and started introducing which prison meals were better in the Feng, Tao, and Song regions.
Yu Xunge and Tu Lan were dragged along as Liang Yuchuan talked for half an hour, during which Liang Yuchuan even had a one-on-one chat with Tu Lan for three or four minutes, unilaterally concluding that Tu Lan was a Sagittarius.
Tu Lan perked up; this was her knowledge blind spot: “Really?! Is it cool?”
Liang Yuchuan nodded vigorously: “Very cool! I’m a Sagittarius, and so is my mom.”
Yu Xunge: “…………”
**Chapter 317: The Tower—So What?**
Before parting, Liang Yuchuan added her as a friend.
After taking a few steps, Liang Yuchuan turned back to look at her, waving as she backed away. From a distance, her bright white teeth were visible as she smiled: “Go back, Song Qiu, don’t see me off!”
Yu Xunge’s heart raced. I just… wanted to be quiet here, not to see you off!
Tu Lan was flapping around on Yu Xunge’s head, exasperated. Goodness, even the head under a bird’s butt was shaking with anger; she almost thought she was in a massage chair.
Once Liang Yuchuan disappeared from their sight, Tu Lan pecked at Yu Xunge’s head: “Go back, Song Qiu, don’t see me off.”
Yu Xunge: “You can go back to the pet space now.”
Tu Lan: “Suddenly, I don’t want to anymore.”
Yu Xunge: “No, you do.”
Tu Lan: “Sister, I really don’t want to. I’m afraid if I go in to play a game and come out, you’ll be sitting with her for dinner, and I won’t be able to keep track of the relationships or the plot.”
Yu Xunge: “…Try saying something that rude again!”
Tu Lan: ·?·
But Liang Yuchuan is just Liang Yuchuan. In fact, after Yu Xunge calmed down and analyzed, meeting Liang Yuchuan turned out to be the best outcome so far.
Because her feelings toward Liang Yuchuan were the most complex.
She had a grudge against Liang Yuchuan, and she had executed half of her revenge, yet the other half of her hatred had been bought off by Liang Po Zhou. Just like in her previous life, where Liang Yuchuan had sent people to hunt her down, but in the end, she died at the hands of the Su family—neither here nor there, neither awkward nor comfortable.
This complexity was something Su Yitong didn’t possess.
Hatred, regret, entanglement, sentimentality, and so on—these emotions could quickly pull her back to reality.
Though it was a bit taxing on her ears.
She couldn’t help but wonder how much Liang Yuchuan had suffered in prison to be so excited and happy upon seeing Yu Xunge…
Or perhaps, this was the more authentic Liang Yuchuan.
The Liang Yuchuan that Yu Xunge had never seen before.
Not the god-level assassin who fought everywhere for <50%>
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