Chapter 124-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
After noticing the white mist pushing open the door and surging in, Percy immediately metalized his body and rushed to close the large door, isolating the continuous influx of fog. Once the door was shut, Percy let out a sigh of relief. He turned his head to look, only to see the white mist all rushing toward Ye Zheng's direction.
"Ye Zheng!"
He turned and ran toward the gathering fog. Ye Zheng's figure grew increasingly blurred. He abruptly reached out and grabbed forward. The fog scattered, leaving only damp water droplets in his palm.
Sex, with a grave expression, also hurried over. Looking at the empty spot, he took a heavy, deep breath.
What exactly was that Zhou Yun trying to do? How had Ye Zheng been taken away again? He clutched his forehead, feeling like he should remember something, but as soon as he tried to probe deeper, his mind suddenly grew hazy.
The crowd around them had all huddled to one side. The two young men stood in the middle, exchanging glances, the atmosphere thick with uneasy silence.
"Percy, back at the Platinum County Church in the West District, did you also see Ye Zheng being taken away by the white mist?"
Percy slowly furrowed his brows at Sex's question. "You aren't suggesting that Ye Zheng is in league with Zhou Yun, are you? But she has no reason to do that. Don't forget, she's a member of your Royal Family team too."
Sex let out a laugh that lacked understanding. He lifted his chin slightly, his gaze fixed on the black bag on the ground.
"I've smelled the blood inside for a while now. I guess the trash in that bag isn't Kiran, is it?"
"Judging by your expression, I'm right."
Sex continued, "Zhou Yun's daughter died as an experimental subject under Kiran, so she wants revenge on Kiran and everyone involved in the Hope Project. It's laughable to mobilize such forces for a reason like that, but there are always people who get moved by it."
"Even if she herself is one of the targets of that revenge."
Percy fell silent for a moment. "Even if Zhou Yun's methods are extreme, you shouldn't describe her pain as 'laughable.' No matter what, Ye Zheng is the one chosen by the Divine Sword. I believe she'll make the right judgment. She won't fuel Zhou Yun's madness... she probably won't."
Sex noticed the flicker of hesitation on Percy's face and let out a cold laugh. "From what I see, her madness is no less than Zhou Yun's."
Recalling everything Ye Zheng had done—disguising her identity to join two teams at once, unexpectedly seizing the Divine Sword against everyone's expectations, teaming up with Sierra to put on a show and screw over the Pope, then after slaughtering several people in a row at the Hope Project base and being locked in confinement, strutting in with the leader's head in hand to find them...
Percy pressed his lips together tightly. Sex was right. Why had he habitually placed Ye Zheng in the position of someone needing rescue?
A dangerous premonition rose in his heart. He had to abandon that habitual way of thinking, or sooner or later, he'd end up in a situation far more complicated and precarious than when the Saintess drew the sword.
From the start, Ye Zheng wasn't a friend who needed his protection. But what exactly was she? Percy couldn't quite say.
At the very least, he didn't want to be enemies with Ye Zheng. One reason was their complicated past entanglements; the second was... being enemies with her might be something terrifying. Percy glanced at the black bag on the ground, a chill settling in his heart as he thought this.
The Crown Prince standing beside him suddenly turned and walked away. Percy gathered his wandering thoughts and called out to him, "Sex, where are you going?"
"To find Ye Zheng. Hasn't she fallen into Zhou Yun's hands again?"
Staring at Sex's retreating back, Percy asked in surprise, "Didn't you think she was in cahoots with Zhou Yun?"
"If she doesn't need saving, then—kill her."
Sex restrained his power as he pushed open the door, his golden eyes dark and devoid of any light. Ye Zheng could have her little selfish motives, but she absolutely could not be a traitor.
Zhou Yun stood in opposition to the empire, which meant she stood in opposition to him, the Crown Prince. Even if he felt no sense of belonging to this country or its people, it was still his—something he would eventually inherit from that old bastard. What's more, Zhou Yun had even declared she would kill him.
Sex's chest felt stuffy as he thought this. Ye Zheng knew him too well, whether it was his abilities or his psyche—she always had ways to counter him.
Keeping someone like that around was already a miraculous act of mercy on his part. He could even tolerate that Ye Zheng wasn't fully aligned with his camp. But she had better not push his bottom line any further.
He wasn't some fool like Percy who could be easily deceived. He was the real monster, the one who could put her to death.
Percy stood in place and sighed. After some left and right thinking, he decided to follow Sex anyway. In the end, they had to find Zhou Yun and resolve all of this.
The two set out once more toward the edge of the town. This time, they smoothly made it out of the town, but their expressions didn't lighten in the slightest. It seemed Zhou Yun wanted a proper face-to-face with them after all.
Percy gazed at the endless white mist, momentarily unsure which direction to go. Zhou Yun had taken Ye Zheng, allowed them out of the town, but left no clues.
Zhou Yun, the wife of the West District Overseer, her daughter who died unexpectedly... Percy's brow twitched. He quickly grabbed Sex's arm and asked:
"Do you know all the properties under the West District Overseer's name? Or rather, the one closest to the base?"
Someone of such noble status surely had plenty of real estate. When Zhou Yun's daughter Yuan Yuan came to Lansia County for the base's experiments, she might have stayed in a nearby house for a time.
Moreover, for Zhou Yun to monitor the Hope Project base and the fifty thousand people in the town, she wouldn't live too far away.
Sex halted his forward march. He pulled out the dossier compiled by his subordinates before entering the West District, which included detailed information on the West District Overseer.
As her toes touched the ground, Ye Zheng's eyes snapped open. Water currents coiled around her forearms, tensed in a fully alert defensive stance.
She turned her head to survey her surroundings. Due to the fog's obstruction, she couldn't make out every detail, only vaguely discerning from the hazy buildings and signs that this was a street in a not-so-prosperous area.
Where was Zhou Yun? What was her purpose in bringing her here?
According to the System's explanation, in the original plot, she was taken away by Zhou Yun to serve as bait, simply to heighten the plot's tension, spurring Percy and the others to find Zhou Yun's location for the final showdown.
So now, was Zhou Yun bringing her to this place for the same bait purpose?
Ye Zheng tentatively took a step forward, her ears twitching slightly. Amid the deathly silence of the street, besides the sound of wind, there were footsteps crunching on fallen leaves—and not just one set.
She tensed her body in vigilance. The [Stream] coiling around her hands and forearms began to flow, like a white serpent poised to strike.
The shadows approaching from the other end were equally cautious. The leader was tall and imposing, his steps steady yet careful.
Ye Zheng narrowed her eyes at first, then suddenly widened her dark ones, striding toward them with light, quick steps.
"Wen De?"
"Saintess!"
Both sides lit up with joy at the same time. The white-clad knights behind Wen De grew restless, unable to stop themselves from leaning forward, murmurs of excitement rippling through the group.
Wen De had no mind for maintaining discipline at the moment. She strode up to the youth, first carefully inspecting him to confirm the Saintess appeared perfectly healthy and unharmed, then finally relaxing the tension she'd carried since entering the West District.
Ye Zheng glanced at the members of the Holy Journey Knights Order behind Wen De, then back at Wen De, reining in her smile as she asked, "How did you all end up here? Have you run into any danger?"
Before entering the West District, the royal family had deflected the Saintess's request to bring along the knight order she'd assembled herself, citing the dire situation requiring a more powerful and experienced team to escort her. So Ye Zheng had quietly arranged for Wen De to lead a group from another direction.
The royal family's plan was for Sex to enter the West District from the south, heading first to the political and economic center of Platinum County to contact West District officials for assistance in resolving the West District crisis.
Meanwhile, she'd had Wen De take a detour from the north into the West District—a route closest to Lucy's hometown of Lansia County.
Of course, she hadn't anticipated that the Hope Project base would be right there in Lansia County, so Lucy, single-mindedly heading home, had stumbled into the base amid the fog.
"Is this Lansia County?"
Ye Zheng asked.
"I'm not entirely sure either, since we just arrived here ourselves."
Wen De shook her head, about to say more when someone behind her eagerly jumped in to answer. "We were teleported here by the fog, Lady. Were you too?"
Ye Zheng turned her head sideways, looking at the girl in the knight order who'd loudly answered her. Her skin tone was deepened by the white uniform, her eyes bright to the point of sharpness. Ye Zheng remembered her—she was Cheng Cheng, with a standout personality, and she had an older sister named Cheng Che.
Ye Zheng clasped her hands behind her back and nodded with a smile in acknowledgment.
She continued conversing with Wen De, learning that the Holy Journey Knights Order had also lost their way after entering the West District, going in circles, but they hadn't encountered any monsters—just some strange people.
"What strange people?"
Ye Zheng asked curiously.
"Villagers who spotted us and called us monsters, then attacked us. It happened suddenly, and a few of us got minor injuries, but nothing serious otherwise."
Wen De described it lightly, omitting the fact that in self-defense, they'd gravely wounded several of the attackers—after all, no need to trouble the Saintess with such matters.
The women of the knight order rested in place. Cheng Cheng, having received the Saintess's response, uncomfortably retreated a step into the group. After a moment, her awkward expression froze, and she lifted her head to scan the surroundings. Even though everything in sight was blurred, she still sensed something off.
"Someone's there!"
The women, who had just started to relax, immediately went on alert. Wen De extended one hand to shield Ye Zheng in front of her, positioning the Saintess between herself and the Holy Journey Knights Order in a protective formation.
A thick, hard bone spur probed into the depths of the fog, pausing for a moment before suddenly sweeping wildly from left to right across the fog-shrouded street ahead, kicking up a pile of unidentified objects.
Ye Zheng stood beside Wen De, hearing the sound of objects tumbling not far away, along with faint curses. She couldn't help but stifle a laugh, pressing her fist to her lips and coughing lightly as she held down the bone spur Wen De had extended at her side.
"Put it away. I know who it is."
Wen De looked puzzled. Following Ye Zheng's gaze forward, in the mist, a short, disheveled shadow approached them quickly, carrying obvious anger. Wen De wasn't entirely sure if Ye Zheng's decision to retract her ability was wise.
It wasn't until the shadow closed in that Wen De identified the identity from the messy, frizzy golden hair.
"Sierra, is it because it's been too long since we've seen each other that you're feeling shy?"
Ye Zheng tilted her head, feigning confusion as she asked.
Seeing Ye Zheng's deliberately exaggerated expression only made Sierra angrier. She'd originally planned to bring her people for a "surprise" to tell Ye Zheng that she wasn't someone she could just boss around at will. But she'd been spotted by Ye Zheng's people so quickly.
If not for the letter Ye Zheng had sent saying there were Dragon Bones in the West District, she wouldn't have come to this damned place. Blood Flower Demonic Domain wasn't as eerie as this! It had taken her days of detours, and she hadn't even found anything decent to eat along the way.
Meeting Sierra's indignant red eyes, Ye Zheng knew when to stop and spoke in a tone so earnest it stunned Sierra for a moment. "I'm glad to see you safe and sound in front of me, Sierra."
She already knew why they had all appeared in this place: Lucy must have delivered the letter to Zhou Yun, and Zhou Yun had agreed to her request.
Sierra and Wen De's group showing up before her meant Lucy should be safe now, and Zhou Yun wasn't entirely unapproachable in negotiations.
Observing the relieved expression on Ye Zheng's face, Sierra lowered her red eyes, her fingers unconsciously tugging at the hem of her clothes. Was this woman actually worried about her safety?
Her kindness was so contrived. Sierra hated her even more for it.
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