Chapter 142: Good News~
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Once the two disciples joined forces, they truly became unstoppable!
Ye Qinghan took charge of scouting and clearing the path, while Li Shiyu focused on protecting her senior sister, sweeping away obstacles for her.
Alternating cover, their pace steadily quickened until they swiftly reached their destination.
However, there was no such thing as the item described on the brown paper. Inside the black marble room was merely a desk.
Though called a desk, it was actually a square black marble platform resembling a display case.
On the platform lay not what they sought, but a map.
According to the location marked on the map…
They had been heading in the wrong direction from the very start!
"What do you think, Senior Sister?"
Within the secret realm forged by their master, the only place to rest was the tower. While Ye Qinghan studied the map, Li Shiyao continued to hold up the Chaos Bell, suppressing the ferocious beast.
"Well… the good news is, we have a map now."
"And bad news?" Li Shiyao looked utterly disbelieving, thinking this was finally the end!
Ye Qinghan felt utterly drained. The Master really knew how to design things…
This secret realm was far trickier than the one in the Eastern Domain!
Once inside this secret realm, the two of them were as good as blind!
No visibility! Endless enemies! No use of magical artifacts!
After finally making it this far, they'd hoped to find the incense burner or broken bowl their master sought—even just one would have sufficed. Instead, they only had a worthless map…
"The bad news is, we've been heading in the wrong direction…"
Upon hearing this, Li Shiyu felt like she was about to die…
"Shiyao, rest a bit. I'll lead the way. We'll head left—there's a tall tower on the left where we can rest."
What choice did Li Shiyu have?
What choice did she have but to follow her senior sister's lead?
But trapped in this encirclement, without her Chaos Bell, advancing would only grow more perilous.
"Senior Sister, I'm still holding on. Let's push straight to the tower and get some proper rest."
Ye Qinghan glanced at Li Shiyu with slight surprise as she raised both hands toward the sky, supporting the Chaos Bell. It seemed she finally understood why their master had sent them on this quest.
He had deliberately assigned them different tasks to retrieve distinct items.
Clearly, if they searched separately, they'd never escape. They'd be like headless flies, colliding wildly, both trapped in some unknown tower.
From the very beginning, this had been a two-person mission.
Yet she had abandoned Li Shiyu there from the start, determined to complete her master's task first.
"Alright, Senior Sister will clear the path for you!"
As she spoke, the three-foot-long jade sword rose into the air. Ling Frost's sword intent instantly filled the space. With a single stroke, it parted the clouds, clearing the vicious beasts blocking Li Shiyao's path in an instant.
"Let's hurry!"
Before long, the two reached a new tower.
Li Shiyao's Jade Pendant contained quite a few snacks, and for the first time, Ye Qinghan found her incredibly useful!
Though Li Shiyao's small cloth bag looked modest, it held quite a few delicacies!
Ye Qinghan had assumed it contained only steamed buns, until Li Shiyao pulled out a braised chicken and two flasks of liquor…
"Shiyao, does your little cloth bag have a storage space too?"
Li Shiyao nodded. "The Grand Elder sewed this for me. They say it was made from his wife's dowry."
Ordinary storage rings couldn't achieve this nesting effect, but the jade pendant given by her Master was different. His pendant could contain storage rings—which was why Ye Qinghan could loot a place without leaving a trace.
Thus, Li Shiyu's little cloth pouch could fit inside. However, Li Shiyu likely remained unaware of the jade pendant's extraordinary nature.
Ye Qinghan nodded thoughtfully, impressed that Holy Mountain had treated this little fool so well!
The little cloth bag didn't look particularly pretty; it was quite ordinary, its edges worn and dirty from Li Shiyao's playful antics.
Yet it was clear she cherished it deeply—after all, few possessions earned a place in this little fool's constant company.
If not for her master's instructions, she'd likely find any artifact besides the Chaos Bell too troublesome to carry.
After a simple meal, Ye Qinghan spread the map on the ground, and both heads leaned in close to study it.
"Senior Sister, where are we now?" Li Shiyao seemed to relish the role of strategist, fully immersed in the task.
Ye Qinghan traced a few simple gestures on the map, briefly explaining their route and current location to Li Shiyao.
"Huh? Doesn't that mean we've been going the wrong way?"
"That's what I was saying earlier."
Li Shiyu shrugged it off and continued, "Senior Sister, this map…"
"What about it?"
"Where's the item Master asked for?"
The two looked at the map and exchanged glances…
The map marked numerous locations. Besides the tower highlighted by a red triangle, there were also "supply points" scattered across the wilderness—places similar to where they had obtained the map.
According to the map's description, those supply points might hold magical artifacts useful to them, or perhaps clues…
But Ye Qinghan didn't care much at this moment. Realizing this was the Master's deliberate attempt to foster a sense of cooperation between them, Ye Qinghan naturally had no objections.
As long as Li Shiyao truly understood what needed to be done, their coordination wouldn't require more than a glance to understand each other's intentions. At the very least, they could work together to move forward.
"My guess is that most likely, we'll have to search tower by tower."
This wasn't their first time exploring a secret realm. The patterns within such realms always followed discernible clues. Since their master had spoken so definitively, he wouldn't deceive them. The incense burner and the broken bowl must be hidden within the secret realm.
This secret realm proved far larger than anticipated, with towers erected at regular intervals to allow the pair to rest and regroup.
The range the flying sword could scan barely spanned the distance between two towers. Without a map, even working together, they could easily get lost within this labyrinth.
"Senior Sister, what's this?"
Li Shiyao pointed to the upper right corner of the map, where a square symbol was drawn…
"An exit… or perhaps… I can't be certain either…"
According to Ye Qinghan's understanding, this was most likely the exit or the endpoint. Yet for some reason, the expression on their master's face before departing made her feel this matter was far from simple…
Though things were already far from simple, it certainly couldn't be just that…
Ye Qinghan glanced at Li Shiyu beside her, paused, then asked, "What do you think, Shiyu?"
Li Shiyu felt a bit overwhelmed! Her senior sister was actually asking for her opinion!
Throughout her entire life, only at Lingxian Hall—and specifically during her initiation ceremony—had she ever felt that anyone truly valued her opinion.
Elders had always made the decisions. While the Holy Maiden's rulings carried the weight of the Holy Mountain in times of crisis, she'd never been involved in a major decision where she held real authority.
"Shiyu believes we should first gather… those specks. With good treasures in hand, then… things might become easier later?"
"If we push forward blindly, it will only grow harder."
Ye Qinghan had been uncertain before, but now she was absolutely certain—Li Shiyu had definitely grown wiser!
"Then Senior Sister trusts Shiyu. Let's proceed as Shiyu suggests!"
Li Shiyu hadn't expected her senior sister to agree so readily, prompting her to quickly speak up again.
"Ah? No, Senior Sister, let Shiyu think it over again…"
With her senior sister trusting her so completely, Shiyu felt she should reconsider. She didn't want to be the reason both of them got trapped in danger.
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