Jin Ying was shocked by Su Li’s rudeness in a positive sense. Her head was cleared suddenly, and she was not angry but happy, for her inner voice told her that this was the real Junior Sister Apprentice Su!
“I’m going now, Commander Wang and Mammy Hui. Come and leave with me!”
Both Commander Wang and Mammy Hui looked eccentric. Commander Wang, who was straightforward, got angry. Glancing at Su Li, he said directly,
“Your Highness, why do you follow your junior sister apprentice? Instead of listening to the nonsense from a girl younger than you, we might figure it out ourselves!”
“Yes, Your Highness, the immortal is trapped now. The situation is critical, so, you have to be cautious!”
As they both were babbling waffling, Jin Ying noticed Su Li’s impatience. Somehow, she recalled the black-robed man who knocked her out in her dream that day. She felt suddenly chilled inside. For the first time, she showed her dignity as a princess,
“I am your master. Now, come out with me!”
Commander Wang and Mammy Hui’s heads were dazed, and this reminded them of who they were. How dared they disobey a direct order from a royal member?
“Your Highness, alas…”
Commander Wang sighed and realized how determined Jin Ying was, knowing that any words were useless. Then he went out with Mammy Hui.
After driving them away, Jin Ying stayed where she was and asked, “Junior Sister Apprentice Su, can I stay? I know that it wasn’t a dream that day. The man was not a good person at first sight but we survived at last. I am young, but… I’m not stupid. I’ll keep the secret for you and never tell anyone!”
Su Li glanced at her and said faintly, “Stay if you want, but you can only stand there no matter what you see. If you move around, you know the consequences.”
After she broke through Zhuji Realm, she would erase some of Jin Ying’s memories. It would do no matter that she saw it now.
“Really?!”
Jin Ying was full of surprise. But when she saw Su Li’s faint gaze, she covered her mouth and didn’t dare to make a sound. She even slowed down her breathing, but the joy in her eyes couldn’t be hidden.
She just pushed her luck and did not expect Su Li would agree.
Ignoring Jin Ying’s presence, Su Li gazed at Consort Ling again. After a moment of silence, she walked over and put her hand gently on Consort Ling’s unwounded shoulder.
Then, from Su Li’s palm came a powerful suction, and Consort Ling groaned. A bloody sword came right out of her shoulder and landed in Su Li’s hand.
Noticing that the black gas changed the direction, and that the light blue protection boundary was bestrewed with dense fragments, Su Li immediately took the blood-stained object and walked out of the boundary without hesitation.
Boom!!
The black gas seemed to have found a place to escape and rushed crazily into the blood-stained object, the blood on which was washed away so that the true nature of it was revealed.
It was a black bead, crystal clear and exuding a jewel-like radiance.
“What is it; the source of the black gas?”
Su Li checked the black gas that had been absorbed clearly inside and outside the room, and glanced at Fan Zisang, who was still meditating to recover himself. She didn’t suppress the power inside her body anymore.
She sensed a wonderful touch inside her body extending to her hand. In the blink of an eye, the black bead was turned into stone dust, and the black gas inside was swallowed up before that touch retreated.
An idea of hunger was transmitted to Su Li’s awareness sea.
Hunger?
The force was saying hunger! Was this black gas her food?
Su Li tried to figure it out. If she could find some records about the body of evil ghost, she wouldn’t have to rack her brains.
It was impossible to find records about the body of evil ghost in a small sect like Huajian Sect. Even in the big sect like Yuxu Sect… she didn’t get a hint back then. She might get the information by sheer luck.
“Whew…”
A soothing sound came from behind her, and Fan Zisang woke up.
Su Li dispersed the stone dust and glanced at Jin Ying, who was still staring at her blankly.
Jin Ying immediately came back to her senses and pondered how she would explain it to Fan Zisang. She was bewildered.
In her perspective, Su Li did nothing but drew a bead from her mother’s shoulder and then crushed it. That was all.
However, since the crisis, which her senior fellow apprentice was unable to solve and deeply trapped in, was resolved easily by Su Li, one could tell quite a bit from that.
“I couldn’t figure out why that powerful fluctuation disappeared, but I finally get through this.”
Fan Zisang opened his eyes fearfully and saw that Su Li and Jin Ying were safe and sound, being relieved. He released his psychic awareness to check around. To his surprise, he was unable to feel the weirdness in the whole house.
“What happened in the meantime?”
Fan Zisang had no clue about the reason and looked at the two confused girls. He could only laugh bitterly, for no one seemed to be able to answer his question.
“Where are Commander Wang and Mammy Hui?”
Jin Ying answered instantly, “They’ve just gone out to find a solution. I’ll call them back right away.”
She quickly ran out without waiting for Fan Zisang to react. Su Li saw all this and was relieved. At least for now, Jin Ying would keep the secret.
Soon, Commander Wang and Mammy Hui returned together, and they had already been instructed not to show any differences to Su Li. But their shock was inevitable.
They all misjudged her before!
It was not Fan Zisang but the young girl, who was brilliant.
A moment later,
Fan Zisang sat on the edge of the bed and retrieved his psychic awareness, laughing, “It’s just some slight internal injuries, I’ll give her some spiritual power to nurse, and she’ll wake up at night.”
It was weird for him that this kind of injury would be healed in a few days if the medicines were taken on time, and she would wake up. It shouldn’t take so long. He believed that Consort Ling’s unconsciousness must have something to do with the vision, which was so horrible but suddenly retreated just as he was about to be seriously injured. Why?
Jin Ying and others didn’t understand Fan Zisang’s trouble, and they were happy to hear that.
“Great! Senior Fellow Apprentice, thank you so much!”
Fan Zisang smiled bitterly and knew that he could not make an explanation, so he nodded his head and moved on.
In the evening, Consort Ling woke up as expected and was naturally delighted to see her daughter again. Her pale face immediately gained color.
After expressing her appreciation, Consort Ling gradually became worried and turned to Commander Wang, asking, “Commander Wang, do you know where does His Majesty practice in isolation?”
Commander Wang hurriedly shook his head and laughed bitterly, “If I knew that, how could it be possible that I still stand here leisurely? I’m afraid I would have been arrested and tortured by Lord Ning and other lords!”
Consort Ling was seemingly disappointed, but she also knew that Commander Wang was telling the truth, “So how about the Empress?”
“The Empress?”
Mammy Hui grunted coldly at her words, “Your Highness, she is not as affectionate as you are, for she moved out the day after you were seriously injured. I also heard that she had been associating herself with Lord Ning.”
“What?”
Consort Ling was stunned, and her eyes turned gloomy. She asked, “Where… Where did you hear this from?”
Mammy Hui did not dare a response and regretted that she couldn’t shut her big mouth. If the Empress knew about it, neither she nor Consort Ling would take the consequences!
But now, since she had opened her mouth, she could only grit her teeth and continued, “It was a seamstress from the Embroidery House who told me before she left. She had seen Lord Ning and the Empress talking happily together, which happened after the Emperor had been seriously injured in his practice.”
Hearing this, Su Li figured out that the Empress and Lord Ning plotted a takeover together. The so-called serious injuries were possibly caused by those two.
Thinking of this, she spread out her psychic awareness to probe. Fan Zisang tried just before and failed to find the location where the Emperor secluded, but this didn’t mean she couldn’t.
Soon, the information was fed back from her psychic awareness. Su Li was stunned after receiving it.
It was not that nothing was found, but there were three places in this imperial palace, all of which were shrouded by secret tactical matrixes.
“One of them should be the isolated practice place of Emperor Jincheng. As for the other two…”
Su Li’s eyes slightly brightened because something came to her mind.
The treasury of Jincheng Dynasty!
There must be a lot of spiritual stones and even treasures for practice in the treasury. If she could get them, she would be able to recover to Zhuji Realm in no time.
“It’s not hard to crack the tactical matrixes, but the hard part would be how to send Fan Zisang away.”
Su Li habitually stroked her ring finger. She was still too weak and couldn’t fly by driving the sword. She could not defend herself at all, so, it was unwise to show her extraordinary ability in advance.
While Su Li was pondering to no avail, Fan Zisang had finished the discussion.
“That tactical matrix is so insidious that I can’t find it, and nor can Lord Ning. Your Highness, rest assured. For the sake of Junior Sister Apprentice Jin, I will spend three days probing the imperial palace inch by inch. As the distance gets closer, I may be able to sense it.”
Consort Ling was glad to hear that Fan Zisang would offer help, saying, “I will never forget your great kindness.”
Fan Zisang smiled and accepted her thanks. He took out five runes and shared them with the people here. He said, “If you are in danger after I leave, just activate this rune. I will feel the sensation and come back to save you on time.”
After giving them the means to self-protection, Fan Zisang left instantly.
The opening of the Secret Realm of Shattered Spirits was approaching, and it would be a real sin to be delayed in Jincheng Imperial Palace.
Sensing Fan Zisang’s pneuma went away rapidly, Su Li said secretly to herself, “What a piece of luck!” Fan Zisang’s absence spared her lots of work of explanation.
She turned back and stared deeply at Jin Ying. Then she left without any words. In a flash, the petite figure disappeared outside the door.
Consort Ling was stunned, “Ying, she’s your senior sister, isn’t she? How…”
Jin Ying looked a bit complicated and couldn’t tell what it felt like in her heart. She said, “Mother, Junior Sister Apprentice Su is not out of the common. You should neither ask so many questions nor tell my senior fellow apprentice about this.”
Consort Ling was more surprised to hear this, and she sighed heavily after a moment, “Ying, you’ve grown up.”
It was better to chasten and experience in a sect than in the imperial palace. Only a month had passed by, Jin Ying talked much more carefully than before….