Ch 272: Which side do you wish to stand on?
This opportunity for a good chat isn’t easy to come by.
—Rui Bu Si doesn’t stay in one place for long, but the Gloomy Duchess, whether from idleness or excessive fear of death, spends her days either tormenting them or staying with Rui Bu Si.
Finally, the opportunity arose when the Gloomy Duchess exceptionally permitted him and Wu Yan to go out.
Halfway there, having never intended to actually do anything, completely escaping the Gloomy Duchess’s control, and with no Dark Aura surveillance, Jian Ni quickly made a plea:
“Wu Yan, please go to the Infirmary first. I have something to do and will be back as soon as possible.”
Having heard from Xiao Fu Die about some skincare potion recipes, as a skincare activist, the Gloomy Duchess immediately sent Wu Yan to the Infirmary to gather the ingredients.
Wu Yan claimed he couldn’t carry everything alone, and Xiao Fu Die cooperated by saying there was indeed a lot, so Jian Ni was added to the task.
“I understand,” he readily agreed, then hesitated, “But if you intend to persuade Rui Bu Si, I think you should abandon that plan.”
“Why?”
“She and…the Gloomy Duchess are quite different,” he carefully chose his words to avoid offending his conversation partner, “I feel she has very clear goals.”
“Goals?” Jian Ni didn’t share this feeling, unable to recall any relevant details. “What are they?”
To his question, Wu Yan could only shake his head regretfully: “I don’t know. It’s just a feeling.”
A Dark Aura drifted by, meandering across the campus, and the two immediately pretended to be busy.
After the Dark Aura drifted away, Wu Yan hesitated for a moment before deciding not to reveal that he could hear the Dark Great Emperor’s conversations with others due to their past soul exchange.
In the end, he hadn’t really heard anything useful.
Unaware of his inner turmoil, Jian Ni pondered the upcoming conversation: “No matter what, she’s my friend, and I can’t abandon a friend.”
In other words, he would still try to persuade her.
“But she is after all an avatar of the Dark Great Emperor. If she definitely sides with the Dark Great Emperor…”
“Then we’ll defeat the Dark Great Emperor!” The optimistic and positive Flame Star, unlike his companions, wasn’t conflicted. “If the Dark Great Emperor is completely defeated and the Dark Clan surrenders, then she’ll have no choice but to side with us.”
It was as if they were already certain of completely defeating the Dark Great Emperor.
Wu Yan certainly wouldn’t say anything discouraging at this moment. After a moment of silence, as Jian Ni prepared to leave, he finally made up his mind to stop him:
“The Gloomy Duchess doesn’t completely obey the Dark Great Emperor.”
Jian Ni stopped and turned around. Wu Yan looked at him, clenched his fists and continued:
“If you can’t persuade Huang Wu, you can try starting with the Gloomy Duchess.”
His heart pounded, Jian Ni nodded understandingly and left, leaving Wu Yan alone again, lost in his own anxieties.
Did I say that too confidently just now?
What if the Dark Great Emperor knew that his slaves included him, and deliberately staged this with the Gloomy Duchess, waiting for him to pass the wrong information to others…
One thought after another emerged from his mind, his face full of worry, yet his steps continued towards the Infirmary.
He had to quickly gather everything the Gloomy Duchess wanted.
Otherwise, if he returned too late, the Gloomy Duchess would not easily let him and Jian Ni off.
Wait!
His rapid steps stopped, and Wu Yan suddenly broke into a cold sweat.
The Gloomy Duchess didn’t know he had once traded with the Dark Great Emperor, and the Dark Great Emperor didn’t know that he was now the Gloomy Duchess’s slave.
But there’s one more person…
Rui Bu Si sneezed twice in a row.
“Oh, besides Jian Ni, there are others thinking of me now.”
“Thank you, I’m not cold… alright, if you insist.”
Xu Xingchun handed her the clothes while she was speaking; before she could refuse, the clothes were already on her.
“Please continue.” Noticing that the person who had specifically come to talk to her seemed to be in a daze, Rui Bu Si kindly reminded her.
“Knowing what kind of person the Dark Great Emperor is, do you still remain loyal to him?”
“Yes.”
As always, she gave a crisp and decisive answer.
“Between us…”
“Oh, why worry so much?” She offered the suggestion with utmost sincerity, “We’re just on different sides. We can still be friends.”
“Friends?”
“Yes.” Glad he was still rational enough to listen, Rui Bu Si nodded.
“Did you cause Mi Ya Xing’s coma?”
“Huh?” Unprepared for the sudden shift in topic, Rui Bu Si uttered a questioning sound.
Jian Ni sneered: “Doing something like that, and still calling it being friends?”
“Rui Bu Si,” he stood up, “If one day the Dark Great Emperor asks you to kill me and the others, what would you do?”
“Great Emperor, ah… you can choose a way to die,” her expression remained unchanged, as if their conversation was merely a discussion on what roles to play in a drama, “Don’t make that kind of expression, I have work to do, you know.”
“Well, although this will complicate my workload, having known you all for so long, I’m happy to sacrifice my rest time so you can choose slowly.”
“Are you that confident that the Dark Great Emperor will win?”
She didn’t care who won or lost. With the other party mentioning it, she readily made another assumption:
“Then, as a friend, let me choose a way to die.”
“Oh,” she carefully completed her sentence, “If I still have a choice.”
“You—” the composure he’d reminded himself to maintain earlier was now completely gone, “are incorrigible!”
Lie Yan Jian Ni left angrily.
“He’s not quite like I imagined.”
Hmm… he wasn’t chattering endlessly like at the telephone booth, nor did he shout and slam the table after a couple of sentences.
“He’s probably the calmest Flame Star I’ve ever seen,” she observed, analyzed, and concluded, “The Flame Star of the past must have had a Repentance Bean for every occasion.”
“Why aren’t you speaking?” She pinched Xu Xingchun’s cheek. The loyal subordinate’s bad mood was clearly visible.
“What’s wrong?”
When unhappy, Xu Xingchun didn’t want to speak at all.
But if the person asking was the Demon Lord…
“He didn’t drink the Magic Drink.”
“Really?” She hadn’t noticed this. Her gaze fell on the untouched Magic Drink. She realized, “You added something to it.”
“Yes,” her unauthorized action was exposed. Feeling guilty, she made a desperate attempt to defend herself, “He talked too much.”
“I’m sorry, my lord, I know I was wrong.”
Rui Bu Si didn’t see her remorse.
“You’re forbidden from seeing me today.”
Her apology was not accepted.
“For…”
“Tomorrow too.”
Xu Xingchun didn’t speak.
After a long time, she mumbled a muffled “Mm.”
The small woods were cool and comfortable. She watched the sunlight fall upon the Mortal World, sitting in the small pavilion. When she came to her senses, Xu Xingchun’s slow figure hadn’t completely disappeared from her sight.
“Wen Ci, everyone is curious about my stance.” She opened the lid of the Magic Drink and sniffed it. She couldn’t smell anything unusual.
【Which side do you want to be on?】
“Want?” She stopped closing the lid, Rui Bu Si laughed, “I never think about such things.”
She got up, moving from shadow to sunlight, then from sunlight to shadow.
The pavilion wasn’t far from the pond. There was no wind now, and the pond water continued its eternal, restless movement.
The surface of the water, the ripples, circle after circle.
“Wen Ci, I have a question.”
Her fingers moved above the water’s surface. Under the Shi Juan Shi’s influence, the sound between the water molecules amplified.
【Mm.】
“Tell me, will that mysterious River of Time allow the past to flow into the future?”
Having waited a long time for an answer, she had played enough of this childish game and withdrew her fingers, the pond gradually calming.
“A long time has passed, is answering this question that difficult?”
Still, there was no response.
A joyful smile curved her lips: “I think I know the answer. Thank you for your explanation.”
